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Kiina And Berix


xccj

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(Original Post date September 21st)

 

glatorian-kiina-berix.jpg

 

So the newest additions to my Bionicle collection come straight from the new movie... well, not quite, but they both have roles in it, with some of the more annoying lines too, I might add. :glare: Oh, and they're both blue. So let this be a duel set review! I'll start off with the bigger of the two..

 

Kiina

 

Kiina, the only female set of the year. She's a major character in the movie, even if her voice made me cringe through most of the previews. (To be fair, in some of the other scenes in the movie, she's not too bad, but thats still not enough to overcome the rest of it)

 

The first thing that stands out with the set is the custom torso. On one hand, I applaud Lego for this. If they're so interested in reusing pieces, maybe they should do more with other pieces rather than the Inika/Piraka torsos. On the other hand... this feels poorly executed. I must admit, the initial design works... you get four ball joints for arms and legs, and a rather ingenious addition for the head joint. But when you fit on the arms and legs, the body suddenly seems very short. I mean, seriously, her body is about the size of one of the new light blue joint pieces, making the ridicular arm-the-same-length-as-the-legs problem even worst with the squat body. (I think in the official review they said it's the same dimentions as an Agori body). Yes, Lego, good job for trying to customize the body, but can't you try and make it a little taller? I miss the good old days when bodies were made of multiple small-ish pieces. (Except the only good example I can come up with are the Rahkshi... hmm, the Toa have always had big body mold pieces, haven't they?) Well, regardless, I remain unsatisfied.

 

I guess the other remarkable thing about Kiina is her new style of armor, which has this wavey manta-ray look, IMO. (Like seriously, Rahi MOC time) And strangely... they give her depth. If you look at her from the side, the armor sticks way back behind her, kinda blocking the otherwise thinish body. However, they still feel a bit awkward, as is any type of armor that sticks out and catches other parts of the set, hindering mobility.

 

The mask/helmet is... well, okay. It's bigger than some of the other helmets, which I've thought were freakishly small. The color blend of silver and dark blue reminds me of Hahli Inika's armor... pieces of which I've never used before, but which would probably go nicely with Kiina. I wonder if I can incorperate them into a Kiina remake before BrickCon...

 

Other bits include the tridents... neat weapons, but kinda specialized and silver anyway. (I think they had a little bit more color in the movie) And a few more things about the body... ignoring that the porportions are off, there are a few changes I'd make. I flipped the Life Counter piece on her back to face down, because otherwise it looks odd sticking up into empty space way behind her neck. Furthermore, the Vahki limb that serves as her neck is only held in by one 3 long pin. They could've used two more plus rods to secure the Vahki leg onto the Hordika head pieces. And the plus rods could have even been blue... after all, that color for once fits in with the theme.

 

Speaking of color... dark blue and light blue. A combo we have seen before, but it's not bad, and we get to see light blue in some new pieces (Inika clawed feet, hands, new socket joints) Even if Kinna isn't a spectacular set, the pieces are adequate. (Oh, I guess she also has a Thorax launcher, but I don't really care about that anymore)

 

Additional notes: Well, I did create a Kiina redesign for BrickCon. Originally I tried to beef up the body to go with the limbs, but failed horribly. So instead I kept the same basic body and instead shrunk down the limbs and such, as can be seen here. This way, the Torso actually looks pretty decent, and it wouldn't make a bad canister set (except, of course, Lego would never used a small arm design like that. :( ).

 

Berix

 

The collector of rare things in Bara Magna. We helped him out in the MLN game, saw him getting assisance in the comic, and he appears in the movie (but is he the traitor??) I can't say, but I will tell you how he is as a set.

 

Well, he's an Agori. Basically an Av-Matoran. AKA mostly lame except for weapons/helmet.

 

He comes in all shades of blue, but primarily those found on Gali Mata, which is a plus. I like Mata schemes (as with Ackar) The gold Chronicler Staffs are okay... I have one from Iruini, so nothing new. (And that shade of gold was better) He has a light blue flame sword, which is nice. And he has Ackar's helmet in blue. Hmm. Oh, yeah, and he has Solek limbs, which are new for me, although not nessesarily "new."

 

Strangly enough, when I look at him, I see a blue Tahu Mata. Really, although the wavely parts of him could go with water, they work better as flames, and by attaching the gold Chronicler staffs to his feet, he's got himself a wicket lava board. Plus, he's about as big as Tahu (except maybe in width) with about the same amount of articulation. (Give or take a gear function)

 

All in all, he was just about worth the price I paid (aka $0) Unless you're a completist, I wouldn't grab him unless you can get a deal. As for Kiina... well, she's average as Glatorian go. I'd recomend Stronius or Mata Nui over her, but her build is certainly cooler than Ackar or Gelu. (Although I do like Ackar's color scheme more.) If you're a completist or need new pieces, go for her, but I wouldn't recomend her as your sole Glatorian Legends purchase. (And don't get her just for her "custom" build, which I feel is overrated, even if it is a step in the right direction.)

 

T~L

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I liked her custom torso. I don't think it's the problem of the torso that it looks so small, it's those long arms that every Bionicle canister set is now required by law to have or something.

 

I will agree that her fin-armour is maybe a bit too long. It looks a tad awkward

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My copy of Kiina (modified with much better proportions) is currently giving Berix a rib-cracker á la TLR post-Skrall battle. :D Love that image.

 

Also, good job posing Berix as channeling Tahu. ^_^

 

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