Tag Archives: Bionicle

Guest Review #0029: Kopaka

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

KOPAKA: MASTER OF ICE

BIONICLE

Kopaka2015a

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check out Timsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

Okay, Ethan’s been on my case for not having any guest reviews lately, and that’s fair. Although in my defense I’ve been very busy with very important stuff like Youtube and Amazon. But anyway, Bionicle. Boy do I love Bionicle. Remember way back when I said Beast Wars was my jam? Well forget that, Beast Wars pales in comparison to Bionicle in my books (and I do actually have books). Of the original six Toa, my personal favorite was the arctic badass otherwise known as Kopaka. After the whole Hero Factory debacle, you can imagine my disappointment when it seemed like Bionicle had come to an end. Then, out of nowhere, it was back. Naturally, I texted Ethan the news along with my plan to find these new figures. Thus our adventure began anew.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kopaka2015bKopaka was released as part of the revived Bionicle series earlier this year. He is one of the larger deluxe Toa along with Onua, and I guess Tahu but mehhh… He is the tallest of the lot at about 8 inches tall and features 13 points of articulation (15, counting the big shoulder pads). Each Toa having differing heights and builds was something I was pretty excited about because it makes them seem more like individual characters as opposed to cookie-cutter stamp clones with different colors. His mask this time around is a neat little blend of his original Akaku and his Akaku Nuva masks. Also, it seems the designers felt like forgoing his classic sword and shield combo for a spear and shield: a little disappointing for nostalgia’s sake, but I’m cool with spears so it works out. Kopaka’s set is made up of 97 pieces, mostly molded in clean white and funky transparent blue. He also features a fair amount of gold pieces such as his chest piece and big chunky shoulders. I was initially a little hesitant about Kopaka having gold as such a prominent color but it’s grown on me, plus it makes his gold mask seem less out of place. Kopaka does actually feature some paint on his chest piece which adds some cool detailing to an otherwise flat surface. There is more detailing on his legs as well but for whatever reason, these are handled through the use of stickers. I’m not sure why they couldn’t just paint them the same way they did the chest, but they look fine so it’s not really an issue. In addition to his spear and shield, Kopaka comes with a gold version of his mask and a silver Skull Spider which seems to be the new reimagining of Krana, just minus the whole Bohrok thing.

 THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is all my fault, I’ll admit that. I picked Kopaka up from Target after “convincing” Ethan to “help” me track down these new Bionicle figures, as well as a couple Nerf guns for myself. Having spent an entire day at Ethan’s house with several huge tubs of Lego pieces rebuilding the entire original Bionicle roster, I had a sneaking suspicion he might also be interested in the news of the reboot. As I mentioned before, Hero Factory was a huge disappointing end to the original Bionicle line and after seeing how Lego handled the redesigns, it was just a matter of time before we got them. But it is all my fault, though.

#0475: Pohatu

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

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.

#0474: Onua

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

ONUA: MASTER OF EARTH

BIONICLE

Okay, time for more Bionicle stuff! It’s like potato chips; you can’t have just one! This time around, it’s the Toa (now “Master”) of Earth, Onua. With the original Toa, Lego grouped them into two groups of three that were meant to stick together. Onua was grouped with Tahu and Pohatu, but I had him for quite a while before getting the other two. For my figures, he always stuck with Lewa, Kopaka, and Gali. I always felt Onua had one of the more unique designs, and that’s only been more apparent with the new figures. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Onua is part of the first assortment of the 2015 Bionicle line. He’s one of the three larger “deluxe” releases. Onua is about 8 inches tall (he’s a little shorter than Lewa), has 14 points of articulation, and is built from 109 pieces. While he’s a little shorter than Lewa , he’s like three times as wide, which is quite impressive. In the original line, Onua was the same size as the others, though a lot of the other material indicated he was the big bruiser of the group. So, the increased size of the figure for the new line is definitely a cool touch. While Lewa offered an amalgam of his original and Nuva looks, Onua seems to be sticking pretty strictly to his original design. The mask in particular is a pretty straight update of the original, brought up to the more modern standards of building. The body is the biggest (heh!) deviation point, as it’s more organically built, and it doesn’t use the same chest plate and such as the other figures. Onua actually features no paint. His pieces are all molded in the appropriate colors and the detailing on his chest piece is a sticker, as opposed to the paintwork on Lewa. The color choices are probably my only issue with the figure. The original figure was done in a simple gray and black. This figure has added gold and purple to the mix, and while the additional colors do make the figure stand out a little more, they are a bit too present on the arms and legs. The original Onua didn’t have a weapon, just big clawed hands meant for digging. This Onua has been given a giant hammer as his weapon of choice. But it’s more than just a hammer! It can be disassembled and the two pieces that make up the bulk of the head can be placed in Onua’s hands, replicating the big claw hands from the original. Onua also includes a gold version of his mask and a skull-spider thingy, this time molded in a really great pale green. Like Lewa, Onua features a gear feature which swings his arms up and down, which is cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Onua was picked up from Target at the same time as Lewa. Onua was probably my second favorite of the originals, so getting the new one was pretty important to me. While I don’t quite like Onua’s update as much as Lewa, it’s not bad. All in all, Onua’s a fun update on the original figure, and he looks really great with the rest of the set.

#0473: Lewa

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

LEWA: MASTER OF THE JUNGLE

BIONICLE

I like Legos. This shouldn’t really be surprising, as I could hardly be a self-respecting toy fan if I didn’t like Legos, one of the most popular toys of all time. Legos are a lot of fun, whether it’s a specific set, designed to be one thing, or just a pile of standard bricks, ready to be anything.

Of course, I’m still primarily an Action Figure kinda guy, so they tend to be my focus. Back in 2000, Lego blurred the line between building toy and action figure for the first time with the introduction of Bionicle. I was a huge fan of Bionicle, especially the line’s first six “Toa.” I didn’t stick with the line super long, but I loved those first few figures immensely. The line went on a bit of a hiatus a few years ago, but 2015 marks the grand return of the line, bringing back those first six figure in new, updated forms. Let’s start things off with Lewa, Master of the Jungle (formerly Toa of Air), my personal favorite Toa.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lewa was released as part of the first assortment of the new Bionicle line, released in January of 2015. The original Toa were all the same basic size and price point, but Lego is mixing things up this time, offering the characters in regular and deluxe releases. Lewa is one of the three “regular” releases. In his fully assembled form, Lewa stands roughly 8 inches tall, has 13 points of articulation, and is built from 85 pieces. Lewa’s design has been altered quite a bit for the new line. In general, he’s been made a bit more proportionate, looking more like an actual person. His color scheme has also been tweaked to add yellow and silver to his design, which takes the place of some of the lighter green on the original. Perhaps the biggest change is Lewa’s mask, which is much less boxy and square than the original. It seems to be an amalgam of the original design with his Nuva design. The end result is something not unlike Marvel Comics’ Ultron, which is certainly not a bad thing in my opinion. A straight “sculpt” review would be a bit difficult on a figure of this nature, however, I will say that this figure lives up to the Lego standard of exceptionally designed, implemented, and tooled parts. All of the pieces snap together like they should, and they stay together, allowing Lewa to serve as a proper action figure. For the most part, each of Lewa’s pieces is molded in the appropriate color, which means no paint. However, he does have a little bit of detailing on his chest plate, which is cleanly applied and adds a nice bit of variety to the final figure. During the transition to Nuva, Lewa went from a single axe to a pair of swords. Both are pretty equally associated with the character, so I’m sure it was tricky to pick which one would serve as the weapon for the re-design. Lego took an approach of “why not both?” and gave Lewa TWO axes, the handles of which also serve as swords. The axe heads can also serve as a set of glider wings, somewhat replicating the alt-mode of Lewa Nuva. In addition to the axes, Lewa also includes an extra mask, molded in gold, and a skull-spider thingy to fight. The mask can be swapped by using the “mask launch” feature, and either the gold mask or the skull-spider thingy can be placed on his face. The original Bionicle figures each had a gear driven action feature, and they’ve brought those back with these guys. When the gear on Lewa’s back is twisted, he swings his axes back and forth. It’s way cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is all Tim’s fault. He texted me a few weeks ago telling me he was “trolling Targets for Nerf guns and Bionicles” and asked if I wanted to join. How can you say no to that? Anyway, we ended up finding all the Bionicle we were looking for. I got Lewa, as well as Pohatu and Onua, and Tim got Kopaka and Gali (No one got Tahu, because he’s just… the worst…). Lewa is my very favorite Toa, and I’m thrilled to see him back in the line. This figure takes the best elements of the original Lewa and Lewa Nuva and melds them with some pretty great updates, resulting in a really fun figure.