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Set Review: Bionicle 70795 Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder


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Mask Maker Mask

Here comes the duel of the century, or at least until next year's big Bionicle sets come out: Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder, in the plastic flesh and ready to review. This is the largest set of the summer 2015 wave and features some heavy-hitting characters. Also of note it that the Mask of Creation is included, making it seem like a must-have for all fans. Is it worth it, or is it just all flash and action? Read, and watch, on to find out and to see how to win a copy of your own.

 

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I'm gonna miss the Bionicle reviews when these Skeletons run out. So far I've been mildly excited for Skull Grinder/Mask Maker, but after seeing the reviews I have to own him. The Mask of Creation is so gorgeous, Ekimu is just perfect, and I like Grinder's big bad persona.

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This is the only set I know I will be getting from the summer wave, so it's good to hear that it is a great set overall. Ekimu looks great with his updated Protector build, and Skull Grinder looks really cool too. But I am willing to admit that the Mask of Creation is probably the main reason I'm getting this. I'm just happy it has two good sets to go with it. :P

 

Thanks for the review!

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I was intending to get this set anyways, and this review has only reinforced that sentiment. That said, $0.18 a piece seems pricey. Wasn't it like $.10 back in '07-'08?

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Decent review.

 

The horns on Skull Grinder, while new for 2015, did not debut on him. They first appeared in Flame Yellowish Orange (Keetorange) on several of this year's Chima sets, as a flame detail for vehicles and weapons. It also appears in Spring Yellowish Green in some of this summer's Ninjago sets. Skull Grinder is, to my knowledge, the only set to feature that part in Black.

 

Interestingly, despite the bulk of the gearbox, Ekimu is only slightly larger than the Protector of Fire, with only slightly wider shoulders, a slightly more pronounced chest, and the addition of lower arms.

 

The mask stand is indeed a bit of a disappointment, especially considering it could be improved substantially by replacing the top four pieces with a single one of these.

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Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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As others have said, I don't think Skull Grinder is too boney. He's basically a skeleton with some bulky armor around him, so the wonky proportions make sense. I feel that if he had as much armor on his limbs as the Toa, he wouldn't really look like a skeleton anymore. He would then just look like a guy with a skull mask, or a Hollow from Bleach; which would still look cool either way, but it would take away the undead theme. Think of him and his Skull Warriors as being similar to Stalfols from TLOZ: Evil skeletons with armor here and there.

 

As for the set, this is a must have! I had no idea Ekimu could fire studs from his hammer, which is pretty neat. If it gets annoying, however, I'll simply remove them. Getting a Bionicle character that's mostly gold with that energizing blue makes him really cool. I also like to think of him as the definitive Protector set, having best design and doesn't appear to have any real flaws, unlike some of the others.

 

Skull Grinder (seriously, is this guy going to have an official name?) looks really awesome, and the trans orange with the dark colors give him a lava feel, even if he doesn't have any fire powers. I feel that Skull Grinder will be enough for me when it comes to the villains. Like Ekimu, I find that Skull Grinder is the definitive Skull Warrior. I'm also glad that you didn't make fun of his horns in your review, since some people seem to do that. Personally, I think it makes him look very scary and ferocious, so I have no idea why people make fun of them. They don't look as outlandish as, say, the Fire Lord's horns.

 

Lastly, the Mask of Creation is the icing on the cake. I think the mask looks great on Skull Grinder, giving him a very interesting look. His evil eyes and dark design make the mask look very eerie. The gold goes well with the trans orange as well.

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The set look awesome!:D It has a lot of story potential. It's epic to see Ekimu fighting against the Skull Grinder over the Mask of Creation. The Mask of Creation looks very cool, and I would like to get it when the set comes out in the U.S. Ekimu's hammer and shield look awesome. I like the designs on them. Very nice gold and transparent blue colors on him. The Skull Grinder looks epic, too. He is a bit skinny, but the bulky armor is a nice way to make him look cool enough to buy. I like his skull-like mask, horns, weapons (the claw weapon and its pieces the most), and colors. He looks very epic with them. Overall, these features make me really want to get this awesome set!:D

Edited by Lenny7092

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Cool review! As Lyi said, improving the stand is fairly easy and I'm not sure why LEGO did it the way they did.

Skull Grinder has a great balance of powerful armor and skeletal limbs. My biggest gripe about Skull Grinder is how empty his chest is from side view. I think that could have been fixed without too much difficulty, but perhaps it would have pushed it beyond the desired price point. His horns do a good job helping to differentiate him from Skull Warrior.

Skull Grinder's weapons are cool, although I've heard some claims that the friction pins and 8-tooth gears in his shoulders have a hard time supporting his right arm with that massive staff. This can easily be fixed by using a dark stone grey double pin/axle instead of a black double axle/pin, or even swapping the black pin beneath it for a second double pin/axle and a second 8-tooth gear.

The Mask Maker is pretty much flawless. No, his eyes don't match the animations, but that's not really a big deal in my opinion — LEGO media gets BIONICLE eye colors wrong all the time. His color scheme is well organized, and both his masks look great. With both a shooter function and a gear function he definitely stands out from the regular Protectors, but without being too different in size than the Protector of Fire (his shoulder joints are actually even narrower).

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Skull Grinder (seriously, is this guy going to have an official name?)

 

Actually yes, his name - as revealed in the July/August LEGO Magazine - is "Kulta."

 

Oh, cool! I wish I could still get those magazines.

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Skull Grinder's weapons are cool, although I've heard some claims that the friction pins and 8-tooth gears in his shoulders have a hard time supporting his right arm with that massive staff. This can easily be fixed by using a dark stone grey double pin/axle instead of a black double axle/pin, or even swapping the black pin beneath it for a second double pin/axle and a second 8-tooth gear.

Jang has a video on how to fix the shoulder friction on his YouTube channel.

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Is it just me, or are the pads on Ekimu's shoulders new molds?

 

Reletively.  They were in some of the Chima Ultrabuilds last year... you know, the ones that never made it to North America. (Although I guess one came with the Queen beast.) (Edit- Kapura'ed)

 

Great review of a great set, Ben! Liked the detailed shots of the Mask of Creation. Totally picking this up as soon as I can. B-)

 

:music:

Edited by xccj
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Skull Grinder (seriously, is this guy going to have an official name?)

 

Actually yes, his name - as revealed in the July/August LEGO Magazine - is "Kulta."

 

Ah, good to have a source on this. I'd seen people referencing that name without context, so I wasn't sure if it was canon or a popular fan name.

 

~B~

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I got the new set today at my local lego store here in Vienna and I am really happy that I bought it. The mask of creation itself is really a stunning design and looks very solid.I kinda wounder what the combiner on the backside of the box is. Combining with Skull Scorpio makes a bigger guy with the mask of creation on it. I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

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I'm only getting Skull Scorpio for completion purposes. 

 

I'll probably also get another for that combiner, it looks pretty interesting. 

 

And I'll be adding more gears so Kulta can actually hold his arm up. Should have been done in the set anyway. They did it well on the other Toa sets, so why not here?

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I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

I don't think it'd be Takanuva. It was stated at the NYCC panel last year that there wouldn't be anymore characters from Generation 1. Besides, LEGO wouldn't have him as a combiner.

 

And I'll be adding more gears so Kulta can actually hold his arm up. Should have been done in the set anyway. They did it well on the other Toa sets, so why not here?

Because of the budget, probably.

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I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

I don't think it'd be Takanuva. It was stated at the NYCC panel last year that there wouldn't be anymore characters from Generation 1. Besides, LEGO wouldn't have him as a combiner.

 

So if there does end up being a 7th Toa, it'll be a new character. We'll just have to wait and see what next year has to offer I suppose.

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I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

I don't think it'd be Takanuva. It was stated at the NYCC panel last year that there wouldn't be anymore characters from Generation 1. Besides, LEGO wouldn't have him as a combiner.

I think they meant "Takutanuva", and by "like Takutanuva", they meant "an actual, in-story fusion between a good character and an evil character". Personally, I doubt it (Skull Scorpio's inclusion would make it a less-than-perfect comparison), but you never know.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

I don't think it'd be Takanuva. It was stated at the NYCC panel last year that there wouldn't be anymore characters from Generation 1. Besides, LEGO wouldn't have him as a combiner.

I think they meant "Takutanuva", and by "like Takutanuva", they meant "an actual, in-story fusion between a good character and an evil character". Personally, I doubt it (Skull Scorpio's inclusion would make it a less-than-perfect comparison), but you never know.

 

Ah, that makes more sense. I agree that Skull Scorpio doesn't make it any better. I'd be happy with just Ekimu and Kulta fusing, without the presence of Skull Scorpio.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmOivfPPx3o

 

Found a fix for the arm, showing it in more detail. 

 

The one of the few times I'll mod a set. 

 

I already mentioned that video here: 

 

Skull Grinder's weapons are cool, although I've heard some claims that the friction pins and 8-tooth gears in his shoulders have a hard time supporting his right arm with that massive staff. This can easily be fixed by using a dark stone grey double pin/axle instead of a black double axle/pin, or even swapping the black pin beneath it for a second double pin/axle and a second 8-tooth gear.

 

Jang has a video on how to fix the shoulder friction on his YouTube channel.

 

I'm wondering if I can leave Ekimu with just one supporting gear for his hammer arm, then give the other one to Kulta.  If Ekimu can do without two supporting gears, then I won't have to buy any extra pieces, which would be nice.

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I wounder if it really is like Takanuva? I don't really like the Skull Scorpio set on its own.

I don't think it'd be Takanuva. It was stated at the NYCC panel last year that there wouldn't be anymore characters from Generation 1. Besides, LEGO wouldn't have him as a combiner.
I think they meant "Takutanuva", and by "like Takutanuva", they meant "an actual, in-story fusion between a good character and an evil character". Personally, I doubt it (Skull Scorpio's inclusion would make it a less-than-perfect comparison), but you never know.

Ah, that makes more sense. I agree that Skull Scorpio doesn't make it any better. I'd be happy with just Ekimu and Kulta fusing, without the presence of Skull Scorpio.

I imagine the situation might be a sort of combination of Takutanuva's fusion and Makuta's earlier absorption of Nidhiki, Krekka, and Nivawk.  Maybe Kulta tries to fuse with Scorpio to become stronger (since apparently he created it/them), and Ekimu jumps into it or gets caught up in it somehow.  Or maybe it's Scorpio that gets caught up in the Kulta/Ekimu fusion.

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I imagine the situation might be a sort of combination of Takutanuva's fusion and Makuta's earlier absorption of Nidhiki, Krekka, and Nivawk.  Maybe Kulta tries to fuse with Scorpio to become stronger (since apparently he created it/them), and Ekimu jumps into it or gets caught up in it somehow.  Or maybe it's Scorpio that gets caught up in the Kulta/Ekimu fusion.

Or Kulta fuses with Scorpio to fight off the influence or powers of Ekimu.

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What a fine review! If I wasn't already convinced of my desire for this plastic wonder, this review settled any doubts.

 

It has imperfections, such as the lack of sufficient friction pins on Grinder's gear function, and the gappy torso, but being a mass-produced set with a myriad of design constraints that I cannot even begin to imagine, these faults can be justified, and easily fixed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We don't get many dual-figure sets so this is a rare and special occasion. And man, does it look like it delivers. I'm really liking Ekimu's more complex Protector build and Skull Grinder (or should I say Kulta?)'s larger-than-normal Skull character design. Both of them have coherent colour schemes and what looks to be some fun builds. And man, that Mask of Creation looks absolutely beautiful! It's a shame about Kulta's gappy chest, but hey, that's a relatively small complaint for such an awesome set. I really can't wait to pick this up. Thanks for the review!

 

-NotS

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just won this set from BS01's Skull Week contest. I'm so looking forward to getting it!

Oh sweet! Congratulations, glad to know who the winner is.

 

It's a great set, you won't be disappointed.

Edited by Nescent
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