POHATU: MASTER OF STONE

BIONICLE

They say good things always come in threes. I think. Somebody says that, I’m pretty sure. Wait, maybe that’s bad things. Huh. Never mind then.

The point I’m getting at is that today marks the third, and final (for the time being, anyway), of the new Bionicle reviews. I’ve looked at Lewa, Master of Jungle, and Onua, Master of Earth. Now I’ll be looking at the Master of Stone (which is 100% completely a different thing from Earth!), Pohatu. For those of you not familiar with Bionicle, he’s the brown dude.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pohatu was released in the first set of the 2015 Bionicle releases. Like Lewa, he’s one of the “normal” releases, meaning he’s a basic model. Pohatu is about 7 ¾ inches tall (making him the shortest of the Toa), features 13 points of articulation, and is assembled from 66 pieces. Of all the new Toa, Pohatu features probably the most radical departure from his original look. The key difference is that both the original and Nuva versions of Pohatu were assembled with the torso upside down, to allow for his kicking feature. This gave both of them a rather distinctive pear shape, which is completely absent from the new Pohatu. While it’s sad to see the kicking feature go, I can’t say I miss the prominent gut that the original Pohatu sported. Moving past torso orientation, the design has some pretty cool new touches. The asymmetrical arms are definitely a highlight, as they add a lot of character to the figure. The movement of the shin guards up to the knees is also a great touch, as it calls back to Pohatu’s more leg oriented attacks. Pohatu’s mask is actually a pretty straight update of the original, just streamlined a bit to match the character’s new aesthetics. Like the previous two figures, Pohatu isn’t too reliant on paint; for the most part, his pieces are molded in the desired colors. His color scheme has been changed to make the brown more orangey and include quite a bit of silver. He’s also got a fair amount of transparent green, which always a plus! There is some paint detailing on the chest plate, and that’s pretty cool as well. Like Onua, the original Pohatu didn’t have any weapons. For this figure, they’ve given him a pair of boomerangs. They have a hinge joint in the middle, so they can be straightened or folded up if so desired, and they can also be attached to the bottom of his feet to serve as hover blades of a sort. Pohatu also includes a side weapon (and I think he’s the only one who gets one), which is a dual bladed fork looking thing. In addition, he also includes a spare mask in gold and a skull spider guy, which is notable for its extra leg at the top of its head.  Pohatu features an action feature that is similar to the other two, allowing his arms to be swung back and forth.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Pohatu was another purchase from Target, a result of Tim and me “trolling for Bionicles.” I actually got him at the second Target we went to, not because he wasn’t at the first, but because my resistance to the figure broke during the drive between the two. I’m weak. I’m glad I decided to pick up Pohatu because he really offers a great update on the original design. Lewa is still my favorite overall figure, but I think Pohatu’s my favorite of the new designs. He really turned out nicely.