OK, in order of set number, we start with Kopaka Nuva. He is basically a Toa Inika in stature, with shorter legs, but longer arms. That may not be good. Also, his colour scheme is very much like his old self, minus the blue eyes which are green (but they are the chopped off green eyes, so it's OK) The mask is much like a Great Matatu rather than an Akaku Nuva, but it looks good. The aeroplane wings, heh heh, make him look sharp, they don't hinder him at all. And, he has back armour, which is a plus, but it's their mainly for the attachment of Solek (more on that later). His Ice Bayonet is lacking, as all it is is a spike on the end of his Midak Skyblaster. An interesting new coloured piece is the Hahli foot, in white. Much better than the blue/white marble version. I like Kopaka, because he still looks cool, and...proud even, with that pose of him holding up his bayonet and Midak.

I concur, mostly, although I'm not too sure about the plus hole in the back of his head...

Kongu Lewa (that's three times I've done that now!) has many old pieces in new colours, for instance the Mantax feet, the chest armour, etc. Again, he is much like a Toa Inika, but there is enough difference this time not to matter. There seems to be some of Matoro's twin cutters on his shoulders, as well as what appears to be jetpacks to propell everyone's favourite Toa of Air through the air. One can assume that Lewa will also have that back armour on him as well, but we're yet to see yet. His weapon is HUGE, and looks a bit peculiar with him. It's sort of like a Hordika-fied Staff of Loyalty, which I adore. Finally, his mask is like those of 07, with the clear blue sphery bit behind the actual mask. The mask itself reminds me of a Kiril, mixed with a bit of Miru Mata. One thing that will concern me is the lime joints; we don't want a repeat of this year.

Yes, the lime joint are a worry... anyway, the weapon doesn't look HUGE, not sure where you're coming from. But it is bigger than his old katana.

Pohatu Nuva is orange. Now I've got that off my chest. No seriously, he's orange. I'm not a great fan of this change in colour, but we'll wait and see till we some pics of the sets themselves. Anyway, Pohatu is very much like Kongu Mahri, which is a change from the other two. This of course will make him alot shorter, but he was always a short Toa anyway, so that's OK. I like the Kongu Mahri design. I won't mind it being used again, since I haven't (and probably won't) get Kongu Mahri. Our ol' Stone Toa has some interesting new arms, but they are designed like that to accomodate his...propellers. They will spin around like in the promotional pics from what I can tell, so at least that's something. They spin thanks to a plus rod that goes through the arm and attaches to the spinners, and you spin it around with the little grip piece you have at the back. Very nifty. His Midak is attached to his shoulder, much like Maxilos and the Cordak, and it looks good there. Even though I'm against the orange (it should be more a fire colour, but I can understand WHY they usde it), there is a nice array of old pieces in that colour, which is good. His mask is left to be desired though. It's like a Vahi with the blue bubble to cover the rest of the face. Not a good idea. Makes him look very exposed. Still, the design of the mask is pretty cool. Like the set itself.

On the contrary, I love him in orange and I love the mask. Best mask of the bunch.

Before I discuss any more sets, I'll divulge my thoughts on what these three sets have in common. The Midak Skyblaster. It is basically another ball shooter, the same shape and size as the Zamor and Airbubbles, in a new blaster. The blaster is much slimmer than their Cordak relatives, and is mix of black and silver, very neutral colours. You put the Midaks (or whatever) into the blaster, assuming that all four you get in the set fit in there, then when you release the cap, a Midak will fly out. Seems like a good idea, hopefully it will work. They certainly look cool.

Up until today's instruction release, I thought the Tridax pods were cooler, but these things look awesome. I'm a little annoyed that they used the same piece for the ammo, I was hoping they'd open up like the Tridax, but I can live.

On to the Batkuta sets, we start with Antroz. It seems we may be back to Mata red, although I'm not entirely convinced. The only new interesting parts are the wings, his mask (which is great!), weapons, Tridax Pod, Shadow Leeches, Tridax Pod releaser thing, and the torso itself. There isn't much I can say about him without looking at the other Makuta, so I'll leave it at he's pretty cool. Great to see some new mask for bad guys! All the Makuta seem to have orange eyes now.

Put simply, I agree. I wub Antroz.

Vamprah brings the return of Mata Blue as a major colour scheme, with many old pieces in that old classic colour, as well as some in silver. There is a return of Gali's Hooks, as well as new wings in Black/Silver AND Blue/Silver. Not really any legs at all, just some black double joints and some Mahtiran Electroblades. The mask is a mix of Blue and Silver, and sorta reminds me of the Arthron in a weird way.

Vamprah = Win. That is all.

Chirox, ah Chirox, one minute I hate your guts, the next you couldn't be any less awesome. He is pretty much ALL black, apart from silver here and there. He has the same wings as Vamprah, only in the black/silver variety of course. There are silver 'swoosh' armour, found in black on Nuparu Mahri. There is a return of Hordika limbs, not seen since the Hordika. There are two toed chicken feet instead of the three toed variety we've seen alot in days of late. His arms are really weird, they are a mix of the wings and arms. Spread them out and they're really big. Alot of articulation for cool poses there. You can see the two different 'modes'. one for when he is flying, the other when he's 'normal'. His weapons are sort of like thinner Staves of Command, or maybe a walking frame. XD The mask is sort of like a smaller Mantax head, only much cooler. As a whole he looks good, if a bit weird when he's flying, with all those limb bits.

Funny, I like him less now... Still good though.

With these Makuta comes the other 'weapon', the Tridax Pod. When you release the Tridax Pod holder, it falls out and out of the Pod comes four Shadow Leeches. These guys look nasty, like the Sea Squids. Whatever power these guys have, it'll be interesting.

I'm sure the leeches will be better in the story than in the sets, they look kinda goofy...

With all the canister sets, there is the problem with the canisters themselves. They are not canisters, like the Toa Mahri. They don't even have that functionality the the Mahri's did, with the pin holes. This is a big minus, I don't think I'll see any point in keeping these. Certainly useless for storage. They come in cool colours, and they could find uses, but as of right now I see none.

I think they are canisters. Their backs don't look like cardboard to me. We'll see, I guess.

On to everyone's [should be] favourite, Toa Ignika [XD]. Reading what that character's personality is, he's great. On to the set, the only really interesting thing is the Ignika itself. That will be the seller for the set. Otherwise, there isn't much to say. It's another yellow Toa, almost a clone of Lesovikk this year. There are no really new pieces, not even in the board. Still, it will be a MOCers delight, as there is a large menagerie of good pieces there. It has a sword (same piece as Hewkii's Aqua Warblade), a Midak Skyblaster (yay!) and a Skyboard, which looks...really cool. The Ignika...so silver...he comes in a normal box, which at the moment is about the best packaging so far for '08.

Kinda neutral on this set at the mo'.

The Matoran sets are chock a block full with new pieces! Tanma's mask is very close to the new Miru Nuva, and he carries Katana just like the Toa used to. The body, legs and arms are all new, and he has a jetpack on his back, which is perfect.

I wub him.

Solek is much the same, although his mask differs more from the Akaku Nuva does, which is weirder, and he carries some of those shoulder blades Hewkii Mahri has.

I wub him.

Again, Photok is much the same, although the legs are grey, and the feet are orange, which is nice. The mask is an improvement of the new Kakama Nuva, and he carries some Chronicler staff heads.

I wub him.

As you know, these Matoran attach to the backs of their respective Toa Nuva. The way the Matoran's torso's are structured enables to attach them to the pins on the back of the Toa (bit awkward, surely). This is an ingenius way to sell the smaller sets, so they look cool with their canister counterparts. And it works. It will be fun when Tanma is 'flying' while Lewa is flying.

Yeah, it's great. I'll probably keep them on their Phantoka guys, even. Saves space.

I don't know what happened to poor Radiak, but I don't deem him a Matoran. He's a freak. Possibly my least favourite set of '08. Has little wings though, which is cool, but otherwise he's very...Fenrakk like. And back are those oh too common Staff of Light heads. Mask is an exaggeration of Antroz's.

I wub him. Meanie. >>

Gavla is alot more normal, although she too has wings. She has those two toed chicken-feet too, and they look good. Her mask is close to Vamprah's, although simpler. She carries halves of Carapar's claw.

I wub her.

Kirop is much like Gavla, although of course his mask is close to Chirox's, with four 'teeth' instead of two. He has Matoro's Cutters as well.

I wub him. Get the picture? XD

These guys also attach to the backs of their respective Makuta, although the way this happens they have to have their hands go over their shoulders as well. Looks cool with Chirox.

I think it looks a bit more awkward with the Makuta, if you know what I mean...

These Matoran give the appearance that their limbs can bend, but I don't think they do, which is a shame, because that would be leap for small sets. Alas, that's probably not true. As for their boxes, they are much like their canister counterparts, so this might be bad. However, the nature of the packaging may still work for storage anyway, but we'll have to see.

I'm pretty sure they work for storage. As for the limbs, I'm quite sure they don't bend.

One last thing. You may notice now the design for the joints has changed design, the first time since the Slizers/Throwbots in 1999! Change for the better I'd say, as they look smoother now, without those holes on the sides. That will also help hide those red plus rod and blue pins, although I've never really complained about those...

Hmm, never thought of that. Cool.

Well, that's my thoughts. Yeah, nice pun for "my thoughts" by the way. Darn your punnage.