As this blog's here, I thought I may as well use it to review Antroz, who I bought only an hour or so ago.

I'm going to skip the packaging. It's interesting, the front detaches and the canister lid is small, almost invisible and pops off. Anything else you can learn at face-value through the numerous images available online.

Yeah, no images either. Well, no images intended at the time of writing this sentance. Who knows what might happen?

Images there be!

So, the parts! They're...dark. Very dark. What you'd expect from a mixture of black and dark red, really. Plenty familiar here, although the new pieces really dominate the scene. The wings are very nice creations; huge, batlike and spiked and really defining the set well. The torso is much larger than I thought. Love the design, too. Very nice indeed. I can see a lot of MOCing potential there - something you've no doubt heard numerous times from numerous sources. So what? It's true!

Well, apparently generally accepted opinion actually, but that's besides the point. The weapons are unusual, curving to a very sharp and deadly looking point. I imagine them being unwieldy, but that's probably just me. A very solid design without many gaps or spaces, but fairly detailed. Not my favourite tools, but I do like them.

New parts

The Matoran connector piece looks astoundingly useful and is simplistic in its design. Was that last part even necessary? Who knows? Anyway, moving on. The Mask. Wickedly fearsome with spikes protruding from numerous locations. Its wider base reminds me strongly of the Olmak. I can imagine Brutaka's Olmak looking something like that after its mutation. It's a very large mask too, and like all the evil guys in this half of the year (except for Icarax, who just had to be different) is two-toned, combining Antroz's red and black colour scheme to good effect. It's a nice touch and the colours work well together, but I imagine it reduces MOCing potential slightly. Nevetheless, I love the mask - although in reality it's more of a face. I mean, who's gonna manage to bite someone with a mask? Tricky, at the very least.

Finally, the Tridax pod and launcher. The chestpiece is made of a softer plastic than other parts, which I didn't expect at all. it's obviously designed to fit snugly onto the main torso, and so it does, following the shape perfectly. The design is spiked, like so much of this set, and really befits the set well. It has an extra connection point at the back too, so I can imagine some creative uses for it being found. The pod itself is highly reminiscant of the old Rock Raiders rocks and other similar pieces, and even comes with axle connection points on the top and bottom! Unlike the rocks each part curves, so there's only one (two if you're pedantic) way(s) to put it together. I must see how well Pohatu (old version) can kick this thing.

Now, the shadow leeches! Aaaaahh, wonderful things! They feel great to hold - so squishy and spikey! The combination is truly divine. Then there's those wonderful faces - they do make me laugh. I also love how they can connect to sets! A couple of them have currently become confused and tried taking the place of a Matoran on Antroz's back. Not sure he's too happy about this.

Get. Off. Now.

Okey-dokey! Now, the set itself! Quite fun to build, if very simple. Didn't bother with the instructions - then, I don't think a canister set has been invented yet that I've genuinely needed them for. The torso adds the only real element of interest, as everything else snaps together like all the other sets over the past two years. Very generic arms and legs with, of course, the obligatory Metru head. Really getting tired of that piece. I thought it looked quite frankenstein-esque when I first saw it, and my opinion hasn't changed.

As I mentioned, the arms and legs are very simple. So simple in fact, there's no variation in them at all and you can do the same thing four times.

Arms are the same as legs...right?

Having the set built, I'm not quite as impressed as I was when I saw pictures of him [late edit] actually, I've changed my mind since I wrote that. I am[/late edit]. The feet are a bit odd, as the sudden inclusion of gunmetal grey looks out of place. Most of the set is also black rather than red, which is supposed to be its primary colour. Kinda dissapointing there. The Tridax launcher also slips nicely back into the body, hardly standing out at all which makes the set appear quite flat. Some new limb pieces would have been nice too. As a last negative comment, the tools are really quite strange. If you face them forward they stick out awkwardly, but if you face them sideways it can look less natural. What to do, what to do? I don't know yet. On a final final note here, the torso looks a bit empty. The upper torso is nice, having the tridax launcher, but the lower torso (particularly where the two pieces join) looks very thin and empty, being only one hole wide at a certain point. A smidgen or two of red wouldn't go amiss there either.

I...AM...COMPLETE!

Ok! That will do for negativeness, I think. What's good about this set? Any fans of poseability will, naturally, be overjoyed. All the standard points of articulation (why does that word apply to points of movement and methods of speech?) plus those for the wings, which add a new dimension to the set. I really do thing the wings make the set, adding a bit more bulk and giving it that fearsome bat-like appearance. It wouldn't be the same without them at all. It's also possible to push the head all the way back so it faces up; ideal for flying. This guy definitely looks best soaring through the sky, although he'll have to settle for ground-level work most of the time. I think my arm would get tired otherwise.

Obligatory nonchalant front pose

It's a bit irksome that every movement of the arms causes the wings to move, but it's not that big a deal. I think they provide enough extra playability (or poseability. Or both) to more than make up for that. He's a very menacing figure, and poor Lewa's looking quite scared. Or, he would, except his mask only shows one expression, so he's not looking very scared at all really. A pity he doesn't have his old Nuva mask anymore. They could have compared fangs!

Now then, what haven't I talked about? What playability feature have I neglected to mention? The Tridax launcher of course! I've only tried this out a couple of times, and it's pretty fun. Not really designed to be a launcher, more a scatter bomb to be dropped on unsuspecting foes from above. Is that a bad thing? Not really, no. He's designed to be played with as a flying set, and it's very satisfying to see a glowing orange orb smack a Toa clean on the head before scattering leeches all over it. Poor Lewa. He's not having a good day.

Don't expect to be setting any distance records at all. Infact, perhaps it's better to cut out the last three words of the previous sentance. As I said, definitely not intended as a projectile. Be warned! Leeches are tricky creatures to control, and despite Greg's assurances that they move like snakes, it is my opinion that they get around by hopping, jumping and bouncing. They're unfriendly critters too, making every possible attempt to escape into those hard-to-reach places, and seem to have a natural affinity for dark spots below large piles of sets, books or whatever that you simply don't know are there. I guess as creatures of darkness, that's only natural.

Another fantastic feature is the ability for this year's canister sets to pair up with their smaller counterparts. Sadly I don't own Radiak (one of the two Matoran I have yet to find), but I've played about with Tanma and Lewa a bit and the feature is pretty cool. The Makuta do it slightly differently, with their Matoran sitting at a 90-degree angle. I guess they're supposed to appear upright when the Makuta are flying. A pretty nifty idea, and finally brings back the notion of playing with sets together rather than as individual models. I still miss the days when all the sets could interact with each other by knocking off each other's masks.

So, what do I think of the set overall? I like it. Actually, it's grown on me over the course of this review. The head-wobbling is a bit annoying, but I might see a way to fix it already. See? I'm such a genius!

Alright alright. You don't have to disagree so loudly. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, final thoughts! It's a very nice looking set. Could do with some more red, but all the sets this year seem to be suffering from a colour deficiency. If I was going to make a canister Makuta, this is the way to go. Tall, menacing with a powerful appearance, not to mention the whole bat thing...yeah. Very nice! It's got plenty of poseability plus a function that is NOT a cheap tag-on launcher that's huge, cumbersome and terrible looking on half the sets equipped with it, which is a major plus in my book (wait, I have a book now?). The weapons are quite cool looking, but look odd when held and aren't my favourite, given my lack of preference for that kind of weapon (swords ftw!). Just a personal thing, though.

I've been waiting for new limb pieces for quite some time. Still waiting, sadly. Still, the Piraka limbs look good on this set, and its nice to see a relaxation of the constant Metru and Vahki legs. They have quite a distinct style which doesn't really flow with this year's sets.

So yeah. Overall I'm very impressed by this guy. I'd give it 8/10 and would definitely recommend it to anyone who's been sitting on the fence about buying it for a while. I only bought it because my local store had run out of Kopaka sets (and was only going to buy him because they'd run out of all sets except him and Antroz), but I've yet to regret it! If anything I'd say it was a better purchase.

I might decide to review Lewa sometime. That's if he's in a fit state to be reviewed, anyway. Being a Toa, he attempted to sabotage the review by killing off Antroz. A bit rude, really. I mean, What's Antroz ever done to hurt anyone?

Fortunately, he didn't do too well and I managed to capture the highlights of the confrontation!

"You think your pathetic weapon can harm a Makuta, Toa?"

 

"A Makuta...who can teleport!?"

"You won't be needing that anymore."

 

"Such a valiant attempt. But now..."

 

"You will join us!"

Villains really like the sound of their own voice, don't they?

Well, that wraps it up for this review! Don't expect many more - I only did this one on a whim. Who knows what I might decide to do next?