Tag Archives: Lego

#1482: Lady Robot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

LADY ROBOT

LEGO MINIFIGURES

It’s been a little while since I’ve looked at a Lego Minifigure.  I have quite a few, and they’re sure to show up en masse on my randomized list of figures to review, but so far they’ve managed to be pretty sparse.  Not to worry, I wouldn’t let that go on for *too* long.  Just two years, 11 months, and 12 days.  That’s not long at all!  Today’s review combines several of my favorite things into one: action figures, Legos, and robots!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Lady Robot was mini-figure #16 in the 11th Series of Lego Minifigures.  She’s meant as a companion piece to Series 6’s Clockwork Robot (which remains a favorite of mine).  The figure stands about 2 inches tall and has the standard 7 points of articulation.  The Lady Robot uses the standard Lego body, with a unique head, and a collar piece which can have a clockwork key piece attached to it.  The Lego body is already blocky, so it lends itself pretty well to the robotic nature of this figure’s design.  All of the non-standard pieces are borrowed from the previously mentioned Clockwork Robot.  They’re really nice pieces, and definitely do a good job of capturing the aesthetic of this old-fashioned wind-up robots. The paint is what really separates this release from the prior one.  She’s in the same pale grey as the Clockwork Robot, but the accent colors are pinks and purples now.  It’s actually worth noting that they didn’t just do a palette swap am the colors.  All of the detail work has been changed up, to create this almost parody of stereotypically feminine design concepts.  Given the aesthetic they were going for on the Clockwork Robot, this one is actually rather clever, albeit in a kitschy, goof-ball sort of way.  She’s packed with the standard display stand.  It’s her only extra, but I’m not sure what else she should have been given.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this figure in Rehoboth Beach, from Browsabout Books.  I was there for my friend’s wedding, and was killing some time the day before.  I spotted this series in the bookstore, and was immediately grabbed by this one in particular.  I picked up a few of them, and actually lucked out and got her on the first try.  She’s pretty fun overall, and a fantastic companion to one of my favorites.

#1259: Colossus

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

COLOSSUS

MARVEL BOOTLEGO

Hey, remember when I reviewed those knock-off Lego mini figures last week?  Well, how about one more?  Last week’s mini figures were based on Game of Thrones, which is a property that Lego doesn’t, and never plans to, hold the license for.  Today’s focus, is a slightly different story, hailing from the Marvel side of things.  Of course, it’s still a character that doesn’t yet have an official Lego figure, which is why I’m reviewing a less legitimate version.  Without further ado, here’s that merry metal mutant, Colossus!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As noted in the intro, this guy’s an unofficial product.  As such, he’s not strictly part of any series or assortment.  Also, unlike the prior BootLegos, he’s not part of a larger set that I can find.  The figure’s about 3 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation (though, there’s not really much movement in the neck, thanks to the hair).  If the height didn’t already cue you in, he’s patterned on the “Big Fig” body that was first introduced for the Avengers mover version of the Hulk.  While Colossus is usually depicted a little slimmer than the Hulk, this is actually how the character was depicted in Lego Marvel Superheroes, which gives him an extra sense of officialness, since any legit Colossus seems likely to be built this way.  What I personally find interesting is the fact that this guy’s a wholly original sculpt.  Every other one of these I’ve picked up has uses stock Lego pieces, but this guy’s totally unique.  I’m honestly curious if there’s actually a Colossus in the works from Lego, since it just seems odd for this one figure to be all-new.  If he really is a unique sculpt, he’s a very good forgery.  The sculpt is pretty solidly done, with all of the proper details outlined.  The only real issue I have is the hair, which has actual texture, which just doesn’t seem right for Colossus; it really should just be smooth.  A closer look at the piece makes it look like it might be an upscaled basic spiky hair piece, modified to fit the body.  That would certainly explain the extra details.  As nice as the sculpt work is, the paint does seem to be a slight step down.  red seems a bit deep in shade, and the edges are all pretty sloppy.  There’s also a splotch of red on his right arm, which is super distracting.  Lego’s well-known for their high standards of quality control, so this guy’s lack of said QC kind of shatters the illusion.  I mean, he’s not terrible, but he could be better.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this guy at the same time as the GoT mini figures.  The vendor had a special deal for three basic mini figures and one Big Fig, which is what I opted to go for.  Colossus is one of my favorite X-Men, so I was hardly going to turn down the chance to get a Lego version of him.  He’s not quite as good as the other three, but he’s still pretty fun!

#1253: Game of Thrones “Legos”

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

TYRION, JAIME, & BRIENNE

GAME OF THRONES BOOTLEGOS

Most of the stuff I review on this site is totally legit, and totally on the up and up.  That being said, most toy collectors will run into at least a few bootleg action figures throughout their collecting career.  I myself have always been pretty fascinated by bootlegs, but I think the most fascinating thing is just how far they’ve come.  Back when I first learned of them, they tended to just be cheap re-molds of official products, with a pure focus on producing the cheapest item possible in the hopes of ensnaring an unsuspecting buyer.  While that sort of Bootleg still exists, there’s been a serious upswing in Bootlegs that can well and truly pass as an official product.  Sometimes it offers collectors a chance at a cheaper version of an expensive figure (as seen with the knock-off Ninja Turtles I looked at last summer), but with increasing frequency, they’ve started expanding collections by offering things you wouldn’t be able to get through legitimate means.  Like, say, if you wanted a set of Legos based on the characters from Game of Thrones…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The three Minifigures presented here are based on Brienne of Tarth and Tyrion & Jaimie Lannister, as seen on HBO’s Game of Thrones.  From what I’ve been able to find online, there’s twelve of these figures out there, with Jon, Joffery, a White Walker, Drogo, Daenerys, Ygritte, Varys, Melisandra, and Arya all also being represented.  I’ve seen a number of different company names attached to them, which is pretty typical with these sorts of lines, since they aren’t strictly legal.  It looks like they’ve just started showing up in the last year or so.

Tyrion is kind of a lock with any GoT merch, even the illegitimate stuff.  He’s seen here in this season 1/season 2 attire, and his lack of a scar shows he predates the Battle of Blackwater.  His base body is a good mimic of the standard Lego faire, to the point the most people would be unlikely to notice.  There’s a little more give to the plastic than there would be on a real Lego product, but that’s about it.  He uses the smaller leg piece, to help make him shorter than the others, as well as the surfer dude hair, which is actually a pretty good fit.  Like his construction, his paint is a pretty good mock of the actual Lego stuff; you can clearly make out the important details on his vest, and his face is a halfway decent Lego-ization of Dinklage.  His scuff is a bit dark I think, but that’s about it.  Tyrion’s gimmick is drinking and knowing things; knowing things is a bit hard to indicate through accessories, so he has to settle for just the drinking bit, with the included golden goblet.  It’s half as tall as he is, which is more than a little amusing.

Jaimie may not be GoT’s most pivotal character, but he’s one of the more intriguing ones (for me anyway).  He’s had a diverse selection of looks throughout the show’s run, but this figure goes for his Kingsguard look from season 1, just like his Funko figure did.  It’s probably his most distinctive look, even if he didn’t spend a ton of time in it.  He uses the Snape hair, which is a reasonable fit for the character, I suppose.  He’s also got the standard knight’s armor piece, and a cloth cape.  The cape I think is the piece that most gives this away as inauthentic; it’s just not the same quality as the usual Lego capes.  It’s not awful, but it also hangs a bit weird.  Jaime’s paint is decent enough, and I really like the chainmail details on the arms and legs.  That being said, the decision to mold his body in all white feels slightly off to me.  Maybe more of a cream color would have worked better?  He’s packed with a fairly standard broadsword, which suits him well enough.

Brienne is one of my favorite parts of Game of Thrones.  She’s one of the few noble characters to have stuck around, and I continue to enjoy her in every appearance.  Here’s hoping she gets more to do next season!  This figure appears to be based on her early appearances, back when she was lugging Jaime around.  I think.  The cape is throwing me.  She uses the generic hairpiece used for the likes of Cyclops and Hal Jordan, along with the same armor piece used for Jaime, which captures her general look pretty well.  She also gets a cloth cape and skirting under her armor.  The cloth pieces are a little more convincing here, but still a little off.  Her paint isn’t quite as finely detailed as Jaime’s, but it looks like her to me, so I’m satisfied.  In particular, I really like that look of determination on her face; it’s so Brienne!  Like Jaime, she includes a basic broadsword.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these up from one of the venders at this year’s Farpiont.  I was just wandering through the dealer’s room, and I casually looked over at the Lego table, when a Drogo caught my eye.  They had the whole set of twelve, but I ended up going with the characters that looked the best, which were these three.  It’s so odd to have Legos of this sort of property, but I’m certainly not complaining.  I think Brienne’s my favorite of the set, with Tyrion not far behind.  Jaime’s okay, but seems the most off of the bunch.  Still, all three are solid little figures.  Now, I just need to avoid falling down the bootlego rabbit hole completely.  That would be bad.

#1181: Clone Commander Cody

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CLONE COMMANDER CODY

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

commcodylego1

Alright, let’s start off week three of the post-Christmas reviews by looking at…something from the same line as yesterday.  It’s like something different, only the exact opposite!  Like yesterday’s review, today’s subject comes from the somewhat contested Star Wars prequel trilogy.  In fact, he’s even the same actor as yesterday’s character, thanks to the wonders of cloning!  Yes, it’s everyone’s favorite clone commander who tried to kill Obi-Wan in Episode III, Clone Commander Cody!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

commcodylego2Commander Cody was another figure from the first assortment of Lego Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released during 2015’s Force Friday event.  Amazingly enough, Cody was the only Storm/Clone Trooper variant available in the first assortment.  The figure is assembled from 82 pieces and, like Jango, stands about 9 1/2 inches tall.  In terms of construction Cody is very similar to Jango, using most of the same basic pieces.  Upon closer inspection, several of the body pieces are clearly designed to be Clone Trooper armor, and it seems they were rather hastily refitted to be Jango’s distinctive Mandalorian togs.  That being the case, a lot of the pieces work a lot better for this guy, and he makes for a more faithful recreation of his on-screen counterpart.  The helmet, while still not as spot-on a recreation like K-2’s head, it’s more complex design makes for a more interesting sculpt than Jango’s.  I personally could still stand to have a little more detail present, but I definitely like this one.  Of the three Constraction figures I’ve looked at so far, Cody has the best paintwork by far.  Not only is the white and orange nice and vibrant, but he’s also got a ton of great detail work, especially on the torso.  There’s some fantastic weathering going on here.  Cody includes his larger blaster rifle, which is a surprisingly good recreation of the rifle seen in the movies.  That’s it.  No action feature for this guy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Jango, Cody was a Christmas present from Super Awesome Girlfriend’s parents, picked up during the same Walgreens sale.  Cody’s not my first choice of Clone Commander (Rex would be first, followed closely by Gree), but he’s not a bad character, and I’d be more inclined to pick him up than Jango.  The end result is definitely a superior figure to Jango, and probably one of the better Constraction figures Lego’s put out.  K-2’s still my favorite, but this guy’s a solid follow-up!

#1180: Jango Fett

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

JANGO FETT

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

jangolego1

We close out my second week of post-Christmas reviews today, taking a look back at the line that kicked of this year’s gift reviews two weeks ago.  Yes, it’s a look back at Lego’s line of Constraction Figures.  Last time around, I was looking at one of the characters from last month’s very well-received prequel Rogue One.  This time, I’m looking at a character from a prior prequel (a pre-prequel, if you will), generally less well-received, especially as time has gone on.  Yes, it’s none other than Blue Boba Fett Jango Fett!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jangolego2Jango Fett was part of the first assortment of Lego Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released on Force Friday 2015, alongside Luke, Vader, General Grievous, Obi-Wan, and Clone Commander Cody.  The figure is built from 85 pieces, and when fully assembled, he stands about 9 1/2 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation.  Jango definitely takes some liberties with his design, especially compared to K-2.  All of the important details are there, of course, but greatly simplified, and made to better fit the Constraction Figure aesthetic.  After the rather faithful head sculpt on K-2, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by the much more simplified sculpt seen here.  It’s not  awful or anything, and I guess it matches the rest of the body a bit better, but I do sort of which it followed the film design more closely, or at least had some sharper detailing sculpted in.  Alas, it was not to be.  Legos are generally lighter on the paint, but this isn’t the case with Jango, who has quite a bit of detailing, in order to showcase his heavily weathered armor.  It definitely goes a long way to make him a visually interesting figure, and makes up a bit for the slightly less detailed helmet.  Jango includes his two blaster pistols (which have, like him, been Lego-ized), which he can hold or “holster” on his thighs.  He also has an action feature on his jetpack which launches the rocket at the top when the button at bottom of the pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jango here was a gift from Super Awesome Girlfriend’s parents.  Apparently, there was a sale on Star Wars toys at Walgreens and they took advantage of said sale to pick me up several things.  I hadn’t really every thought to pick up Jango of my own volition, but he’s certainly one of the cooler figures in this line, and I don’t *dislike* Jango Fett as a character.  Not a bad figure!

#1166: K-2SO

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

K-2SO

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

k2solego1

Behold!  The gift reviews commence!  As I’ve done the last few years, I’ll be kicking off the Christmas gift reviews not with a Christmas gift, but instead with my anniversary gift from Super Awesome Girlfriend.  Think of this as “Day 0” of the Christmas reviews.

So, have you guys had enough of Star Wars?  I sure hope not, because I’ve got more Star Wars stuff.  It’s like there was a movie this year or something.  As I noted in my review of that movie that was released this year, my favorite new addition to the mythos is definitely that lovable security droid, K-2SO.  I’ve looked at the two Hasbro versions of the character, but there are a few other companies who have taken a shot at him, including LEGO, whose figure I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2solego2K-2 is one of the three Rogue One-themed LEGO Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released alongside the rest of the Rogue One products on Rogue Friday.  The “Constraction Figures” are similar to LEGO’s Bionicle and Hero Factory lines, but based on their licensed properties (mostly Star Wars as of late).  K-2 is built from 169 pieces (which is over 60 more pieces than either of his compatriots uses) and when fully assembled, the figure stands just shy of 12 inches tall (so he’s about 1/8 scale) and has 13(ish) points of articulation.  The Constraction stuff tends to take a lot of liberties with the source material in order to fit the LEGO style a bit better, but K-2’s design, being already robotic in nature, has actually made the transition a lot less changed.  There’s obviously some tweaking to streamline him ever so slightly, and there’s the whole “made out of LEGOs” bit, but he’s surprisingly accurate to the source material.  Particularly noteworthy is the head, which is pretty much just a straight recreation of his on-screen design, rivaling even Hasbro’s Black Series figure in terms of accuracy and quality. There’s a part of me that sort of wants to start compiling a Mego-style Rogue One crew just to go with this head sculpt.  The body is a slight step down, but for being built pretty much entirely out of pre-existing LEGO pieces, it’s still quite accurate, and certainly impressive.  LEGOs are generally light on the paint, and while this is mostly true for K-2, he does get some nice work on the shoulders, and some downright impressive work on the head (once again rivaling the Hasbro version; they really brought their A-game on the head).  While K-2 has no accessories, he does get an action feature.  It’s nothing major, but when you press on K-2’s back, his shoulders swing forward.  If you position his arms right, you can get him to do sort of a smashing pose this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the intro, this figure was an anniversary present from my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  She was well aware of how much I liked K-2 and made a point of making a trip out to pick this guy up for me after we saw the movie.  I actually almost picked the set up myself while we were out and about on our anniversary, but she quietly steered me away (in hindsight, I should have noticed that she was encouraging me *not* to buy a figure.  Really a dead give away).  I really like this guy a lot.  I’m not super into doing licensed characters in this style, but K-2 is a good fit for the style, and a lot of work obviously went into making the final product as cool as possible.

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.