Dekar

Reviews

Entry posted by xccj January 13, 2007

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Okay, I finally purchased some of the new 2007 sets. Precisely, the Po-Matoran Dekar. This Matoran has some high points and low points. I'll sort them out in this review.

First of all, I love the body design. It’s made from those +00+ boards that I use to build custom Matoran (seen here). Plus, the new weapons are unique… think about it, a new weapon mold for a Matoran set! I can see future uses of them in MOCs. And then there’s a new mask. I never got Toa Norik, so this one’s new for me… and in a new color too. The mask’s structure is not completely like the Toa Metru’s mask… the plastic is a bit more flimsy.

Some bad parts… well, the head. It’s the same Metru head that was seen with the Matoran last year. Only this time… plenty of room for eyes. But do we see eyes… no? C’mon, Lego, is it that hard to include glowing eyes for the smaller sets? You did it with the Matoran Metru… Also, there’s the re-use of the zamour launcher. It’s cool compared to the Piraka’s, but after the Inika, I can’t handle a zamour launcher without a magazine. (Although the shoulder attachment device is startlingly simple yet effective…) For further review, Ill compare this little guy to some other well known sets.

Dekar and Toa Onua Mata.

Did I say little? This guy is nearly as tall as Onua! He’s about one mask shorter, but still, he’s not the little Matoran looking up to the big Toa. That was something I always looked for in Matoran… is their size reasonable to the Toa’s size. While Dekar is smaller than the Toa Inika, I sure hope he doesn’t encounter the Nuva, or else they’ll mistake him for some obese Matoran. J/K. Anyway, another nifty comparison is the price. This guy was $5.99. The Toa Mata were, what, $6.99, or was it $7.99? Anyway, the little sets back them (Turaga) were simply $2.99. That’s a major price increase, in my humble opinion. That the “small” sets are now as costly as the older canister sets is kinda freaky. And hear this. Dekar is made up of 36 pieces. Onua was only made of 30. One thing that’s happening with the little sets is that they’re becoming more complicated than the older canister sets… now is that a good thing or a bad thing? Price wise, I’d say bad. (Even though Lego has legitimate reasons to raise the price, I’m sure). Piece wise- not so bad. There are some pieces I could use in my collecting with Dekar.

Dekar and the Voya-Nui Matoran

Well, in case you forgot, he’s slightly taller. But here’s the main thing I want to note here. The Matoran of Voya-Nui all had about 9 points of articulation (‘cept Kazi, but his build was cool). Dekar has only 7 (one up on Onua Mata). The lack of moveable hands is gone with this guy, which makes arm movements tacky at times. (And the arm with the zamour launcher… it’s a nightmare for him to move that one and retain a good launching position). So I won’t see Dekar doing any funny hand-stands this year… we’ll have to leave that to Garan and the gang (who continue to hold the record for most points of articulation for a smaller set). And then there are the boxes they came in. Pictured above was Dekar’s box compared to Onua’s canister. They’re the same height, if you take off the canister’s top, and that make’s Dekar’s box tall. I didn’t have one to compare it too, but I’m sure his box was massive compared to the Voya-Nui Matoran, in height and width. That’s more shelf-space it’s taking up.

In conclusion, I’d say Dekar is the beefed up Matoran. More pieces, larger pieces, larger size, larger box, larger price. What this guy lacks is articulation (in some ways) and general Matoran-ness. This guy could’ve been taken as a Toa a couple years ago. I’d rate him third in the Matoran series, behind the Voya-Nui Matoran and the Metru-Nui Matoran… but he is better than the 03 Matoran, Bohrok Va, and Rahaga…

And that’s it. But I’ll probably buy is Matoran partner anyway. You know, for the pieces. And Because I’m totally obsessed with Bionicle and will likely buy all sets that I can.

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