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How Would You Have Handled the Kanohi Kaukau?


Kanohi Kaukau Color Approach  

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I've been thinking recently that it looks like LEGO may not have had an entirely clear idea on how to handle the different variations of the Kanohi Kaukau from the get go and I suspect they may have even experimented with matching the mask color to the color on at least some Toa Mata, which might explain why we got a trans-yellow Kaukau even though none of the Toa are even remotely yellow.

Considering how only some of the solid Toa colors can be approximated with transparent plastic (looking at you, Pohatu) and also considering the fact that the six Kaukau are already the odd six out of thirty-six by design, do any of you think that it may have been a better idea to just match those to the eye color of each Toa instead? Of course, that would've required that some Toa have better eye colors to begin with (looking at you, Tahu), but does anyone agree that that would've been an overall interesting and perhaps more consistent approach? If we consider the eye color of each Toa their "tertiary color," then that decision would've made sense in terms of uniformity and consistency.

Personally, I can easily imagine a scenario where the Toa Mata had Toa Metru eye colors and each Kaukau matched each Toa's eyes. Here's how that would've looked:

  • Lewa with a trans dark red Kaukau
  • Kopaka with a trans medium/light blue Kaukau
  • Gali with a trans orange Kaukau
  • Tahu with a trans light green Kaukau
  • Onua with a trans dark green Kaukau
  • Pohatu with a trans dark blue Kaukau

Perhaps it's a little counter-intuitive, but I do see a great deal of appeal in this approach. What do you guys think?

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I'd say no, mainly on the basis that you would have one transparent color on the head of the figure while the rest of their body is a different color. Like, with Gali, you'd have a mostly blue figure with a random yellow/orange head, and the same eye color behind the visor wouldn't contrast as well. Sure, Tahu and Pohatu make it difficult with their eye colors and the inevitable mask colors LEGO went with, but personally, I think the best move was to make the mask be a close approximation of a transparent version of their armor color. Plus, it's more consistent with the collection of masks and looks better aesthetically. But that's just me.

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The eye colors you got seem to match the Metru eye colors actually, not the Mata eyes. So it would be with the Mata eye colors:

Gali: Trans Neon Yellow

Lewa: Trans Neon Green

Tahu: Trans Neon Pink

Pohatu: Trans Neon Orange (actually the color of the Kaukau he got IRL)

Kopaka: Trans medium/light blue

Onua: Trans dark green

But as I pointed out already, Pohatu did in fact already get a mask that matches his eye color! So in a sense, his oddball mask fits already with your proposal. When we consider the European Misprints both a Trans medium/light blue and a Trans Neon Yellow Kaukau's exist, so we could experiment on how it looks on Kopaka and Gali, while Onua could take Lewa's official Trans dark green mask for himself. Unfortunately if you want to recreate this in real life, Tahu and Lewa would be impossible without some heavy customization; since the Kaukau was never cast in their respective eye stalk colors. Ultimately, it would probably result in the same view as Pohatu, each mask would very heavily contrast with the color schemes of the Toa by taking what is at best a tertiary color on the original set and turning it into a secondary color. If we could turn back the clock to the design phase of the mask, it would have been neat to have had the Kaukau to be two separate pieces, a trans-clear visor and a solid face mask; similar to the style we saw in MNOG. I don't know though if a two piece mask with a separate visor would have been tough enough to handle the rough "mask game" play suggested with the sets though, so a single piece was probably the more solid option for the toys. 

A few MNOG and MNOG II shots to showcase what I mean with how the games depicts their Kaukau's. 

hqdefault.jpg

default_425px-Gali.png

250px-Nuri.png

 

Edited by Xboxtravis
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4 hours ago, Xboxtravis said:

The eye colors you got seem to match the Metru eye colors actually, not the Mata eyes.

I know, that's why I said "I can imagine a scenario where the Toa Mata had Toa Metru eye colors" as in my opinion those were overall better looking than the original ones. It's a proof of concept is all. I do also know that Pohatu's mask matches his eye color; that's partly the reason this topic occurred to me in the first place.

Personally I think the main reason Pohatu's Kaukau is disliked is because it's the only major discrepancy. If the all of the Kaukau were to follow the same logic, perhaps they would've looked more harmonious. Of course for this to work, there would have to be very good eye colors for all of the Toa Mata.

Clearly it's just me though. What you suggested for the visor may have been an interesting concept to explore.

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I've never really worried about putting the Kaukau (or Rau for that matter) with any specific eye color because you can barely see the eyes, if at all, from the front. MOCing with those masks as a child, it always felt like a waste to me using an eye stalk at all with those masks. Though it does look fantastic with Piraka eyes.

Not sure where, but I once read that Onua's Kaukau is actually what Pohatu's shade of brown looks like transclucent, hence why Pohatu got orange.

Your mention of a trans-light green Kaukau made me realize I'd never thought of it but want one now.

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I'd only change Pohatu's Kaukau to be an actual translucent brown. Yes, I know they probably tried it back then and it didn't work out, but almost 20 years on, I think it could be down in a way to more closely match Pohatu's brown coloration and still be transparent. Otherwise, I wouldn't change any of the other standard Kaukau mask colors. I have always had a desire, though, to acquire the trans-yellow Kaukau misprint in order to give my post-Quest for the Masks Gali a Golden Kanohi that actually allows her to "see" out of. That solid gold Kaukau from the Krana packs is just atrocious; the silver one doubly so.

As far as eye colors go, I was never a fan of Onua's (and other Onu-Koronan) eyes being that dark green color. It never shone as well when light passed through it. Maybe trans-violet would've worked? A very light violet?

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On 8/2/2020 at 12:44 PM, Bionicle Guru said:

As far as eye colors go, I was never a fan of Onua's (and other Onu-Koronan) eyes being that dark green color. It never shone as well when light passed through it. Maybe trans-violet would've worked? A very light violet?

Fun fact, they were supposed to be Glow-In-Dark milky white!

Besides the teaser video, if you look at the combiner build instructions in the back you can see Onua's brainstalk is not dark-green like it is printed in the rest of the manual. Incidentally, the Lewa prototype had a green axle rod instead of the typical black axle.

I guess they weren't translucent enough, or perhaps since the brain stalk is notorious for snapping into the Toa head very securely the material did not meet Lego's standards?

prototype onua.png

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4 hours ago, chuckschwa said:

Fun fact, they were supposed to be Glow-In-Dark milky white!

Besides the teaser video, if you look at the combiner build instructions in the back you can see Onua's brainstalk is not dark-green like it is printed in the rest of the manual. Incidentally, the Lewa prototype had a green axle rod instead of the typical black axle.

I guess they weren't translucent enough, or perhaps since the brain stalk is notorious for snapping into the Toa head very securely the material did not meet Lego's standards?

prototype onua.png

That video is...something else, I'll tell ya. Hard to conclude what the original intent was by having a clear or milky-white eye stem, since the prototypes shown all have Hau Kanohi. But that scan of the Kaita instructions give further credence to this concept. Wow, and all these years, I thought the clear eye stem on the pages was just a printing mistake (no green ink), not a hold-over from the prototype stage.

Makes me wonder about other curious parts shown, like the third ball for Pohatu's parts diagram, but the actual set contained only two balls, one for each shoulder. And in the Mania Magazine that summer, there were instructions for a Fikou tree spider that you could build from Pohatu and Onua, but the instructions called for three ball pieces, and between both sets, there were only two. Very interesting find, thanks for pointing it out! And yes, I would've liked the milky/glow-in-the-dark version of Onua's eyes a lot better than the dark green!

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I would go for a complementary color rather than a matching color (i.e. orange eyes for a blue Kaukau, red eyes for a green Kaukau, etc.).

I probably wouldn't change Onua or Kopaka.

I'd switch Lewa and Tahu's eyestalks. Gali would get orange eyes.

Pohatu would get blue eyes; I'd give him a trans-brown Kaukau as well instead of trans-orange.

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On 8/2/2020 at 7:44 PM, Bionicle Guru said:

That solid gold Kaukau from the Krana packs is just atrocious;

Hoho, wait till you hear about the trans-gold Kaukau.

Some good stuff posted on here while I wasn't looking. This is the first time I'm seeing the glow-in-the-dark eye stalk on the instructions. Great stuff.

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2 hours ago, Illuminatus said:

Hoho, wait till you hear about the trans-gold Kaukau.

Some good stuff posted on here while I wasn't looking. This is the first time I'm seeing the glow-in-the-dark eye stalk on the instructions. Great stuff.

Wait, are you talking about an actually-released trans-gold Kaukau? The "olda", not Nuva or G2 version? And not the trans-yellow Kaukau misprint mask from 2001?

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55 minutes ago, Illuminatus said:

Yes.

Hmm, looking at Bricklink, would this be classified as "Metallic Gold" for color? Judging by the photographs, the standard color for the gold Kanohi Kaukau that came in the Krana packs is labeled as "copper" by Bricklink. Guess I'll have to do so more digging on the origin and availability of these masks, but at least it looks to be more affordable to obtain than the trans-yellow Kaukau!

And tangentially, looking at those prices for trans-neon orange/trans orange Kaukaus makes me feel like I'm sitting on a goldmine with my three spare ones!

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i don't get why people want to screw with the Kau Kau! it's a fine mask (except for the trans-orange Kau Kau, screw that!)! it's honestly my favorite ov the six Kanohi used by the Toa Mata (mostly cuz' Gali is my favorite Toa, so there's that! lol)! as for the glow-in-the-dark eye stalk for Onua, i have never heard ov this! why is it that i'm finding out all this stuff i'v never heard about JUST NOW?! lol oh well! 

but, yeah, the trans-orange Kau Kau should be replaced with either a trans-brown Kau Kau (if possible nowadays) or just a solid brown Kau Kau to match the rest ov Pohatu's brown parts! i'm sure these two possibilities are doable and i encourage anyone who is willing to try it to go and see what they can come up with! whether it's 3d-printed or standard injected-molding plastic (like all other Lego pieces) something's got to replace the hideous trans-orange Kau Kau! i'v seen it on Pohatu Mata before and it just looks so wrong! lol :) 

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