...I has them.

First, the job. I'm interning at my local paper (which my family essentially owns). I've mostly been doing copy editing, and managed to catch at least two instances where LEGO was not in all caps as it should have been. But two days ago I also got to check out the new hospital being built in a neighboring county with the photographer, which was a neat experience. And yesterday I got to meet the editorial staff.

Now, for the Tahu, or rather the Tahu and Krika. I has them, and I'll give a brief review. Sorry, no pics, still need to get my camera software installed.

Presentation

From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

First of all, the canisters look awesome. As you're probably aware, the lid is molded in the shape of the Kanohi Ignika, with heavy wear and tear on one side. On Makuta canisters the Ignika faces left, displaying the worn side in front, while on Toa canisters the Ignika is reversed, showing the smooth, pristine left side of the Ignika.

The stickers on the canister are beautiful, featuring to the delight of many (excluding those who need their parents to buy "Mistika" sets) the word BIONICLE in large lettering across the top of the front sticker, with Mistika and the LEGO logo across the bottom. On the back the word Mistika is presented at the top of the canister.

A border around the front sticker widens on the side closest to the Ignika's face, displaying the concentric circles and Vitruvian figure of the Codrex. This pattern used in the border is used more prominently on the back of the canister.

Within this border, perhaps too subtle to be seen unless you have the actual canister or a large photo, are the hexagons typical of Phantoka canisters, this time merely as a texture across the edges of the swampy background.

But beware-- this work of beauty that is the Mistika canister is Karzahni to open, presumably the price we have to pay for such spectacular canister design. Thankfully the perforation lines in the sticker are aligned so that none of the text or pictures are cut into, but even once the stickers are split or cut opening it remains a hassle. As with the Phantoka canisters, there is a half-octagon-shaped hole smaller than the top of the box, so disassembly is assumed to be necessary to stow the completed set and in mosty cases is (Lyichir, my brother, was able to store Gorast just fine).

Building

Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

Tahu, to the relief of those who bought the Karda Nui Matoran and hoped to MOC with the pieces, has an abundance of pins and axles; so many that he has a small plastic bag as packaging for his smaller parts. Krika has no such abundance, his only axles being the two that hold his Nynrah blaster together and the one that holds the Nynrah blaster on his fifth arm. Krika, as you would naturally assume from that, is a simple snap-together build, although one who has not paid close attention to pictures will still need to use the instructions to construct his head, neck, and fifth arm (Don't feel bad, I had to check and make sure I was adding the fifth arm right, as I'm sure many people will intelligently do even if they remember how it was shown in pics).

Tahu, on the other hand, is a mild adventure to build: He may be another simple, "build-from-the-pics-on-the-box" construction, but using the instructions you'll notice that the Piraka thighs used for his forearms are attached like Kopaka's according to the instructions, with the "open" part facing forward when the arms are straight. This boosts his poseability a decent amount-- ironic, since it did the opposite for Kopaka.

Set Design

Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

Tahu proves himself to be every bit as good as I'd anticipated. I'll warn you that in overall shape his Hau Nuva is vastly different than previous forms of the Hau and Hau Nuva. But it lends a look very suitable for the newer and more responsible Tahu.

His limbs are beautiful-- more beautiful than I had anticipated, even though I was already warming up to them as soon as I tried using Metru armor on Kopaka to get a better idea of how such a leg would look on a set. No angle suffers for the use of the thinner, shorter armor pieces-- they contribute well to his athletic look, and while he looks less heavily armored there as he does elsewhere he still maintains attractive proportions.

The back of his legs feature a silver claw piece also featured in the same color on the Gorast and Bitil sets. I dislike when a new piece is used so casually on more than one set in a series, particularly on a set representing a different faction, but the parts look good even if they'll be immensely difficult to stylize in my drawings or any others where they are meant to look distinct from Gorast's tools or Bitil's upper legs.

Tahu's torso does not look as hollow as sets such as Hewkii Mahri or Gali Mistika thanks to his jets, whose attachment points fill in the chest cavity slightly. He still looks pretty awful from a direct side view, but most poses won't require such an angle. His silver jets (another new piece, also featured in silver on Gali Mistika or in red on Onua Mistika) look best at an angle at which the left edge of the left jets lines up with the right edge of his left shoulder joint. Hope that wasn't too complicated.

The upper jets feature small dark red wings, also released in Mata Red in Onua Nuva for those seeking to revamp the set in that color (hint: use Hakann's hip/waist joints) or in silver on Gali Nuva and various other sets this year. Stylistically they could look decent next to Kopaka's larger wings but look nowhere near as similar as I imagined when the first pics of the sets came out.

His spinning blade, admittedly, does not scream "Tahu". It lacks the flame motif of his previous weapons, and on their own the blades look small-- nowhere near as awesome as Brave Dragon's concepts for their use as individual daggers. The three "rotors" match the motif of many BIONICLE wings, featuring a triangular hole near the tip, and attach to a rod much like the older ball joint. It remains to be seen if these will remain tight-fitting on an axle after much removal and replacement, but I'd exercise caution in how often I MOC with these parts. Other than that one axle hole, there are no intended attachment points on these pieces.

The silver of his parts is not the same light and marbled silver we saw in 2006, and is a much more consistent color. And no, it doesn't seem to overpower any of the Mistika color schemes except Gali's, and even for her only at certain angles.

Krika uses the same chest armor as Onua Mistika, which surprisingly looks as good in the back as it does in the front. On Onua it looks muscular, while on Krika it seems thin and sunken, already demonstrating the part's versatility.

Krika's back blades are surprisingly huge, with large spines that seem to attach to pistons, the purpose of which I have yet to identify. They're not as curved as they have looked in some pictures. The front blades are larger, but not by much, and feature the smaller, more organic spines also seen on his head piece (more on that later). Between the spines on the flat end of the blade is a small section of webbing that resembles the texture of Gorast's wings, not featured on any previous BIONICLE sets.

Krika's mask, besides its "antennae", is TINY. I warn you now. It gives Krika a wonderfully gaunt look, as well as boosting his appearent height, but the mask will likely look awkward in a lineup of Kanohi.

The Nynrah Ghost Blaster has abundant connection points, although two are used to hold the soft button piece onto the blaster. The button piece, a translucent red on the Makuta blasters and transparent black (the tinted glass color used on various System vehicles, or on Onua Mata's Kaukau from the mask packs) on the blasters of the Toa Nuva. Be wary-- the translucent red color of the Makuta blasters is actually normal Mata red in very thin plastic that allows some light through-- it will probably look better with Mata Red than the transparent red used in various eye pieces.

Playability

The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

The Nynrah blaster would seem to vary in strength between sets. My little brother's Onua set has an immensely powerful blaster, regardless of the attachment, while the blasters of my Tahu and Krika sets pale in comparison. Spinning or pressing the button sometimes gets it into a position in which it is tighter, which would seem to be beneficial to the strength of launching, but I advise against doing this too much as it may or may not wear away at the plastic and eliminate such "tight spots" for good.

Tahu's spinning blade, propellorlike as it seems, does not spin as easily as smaller LEGO propellors, in which a quick brush with the finger or a small breath will send spinning for a number of seconds. It takes a quick push of one of the rotors to get Tahu's blade spinning for a maximum length of about three seconds, and requires repeated pushing to keep it spinning longer. Note also that if you press the Gahlok-Kal shield (the round piece which attaches the blade construction to Tahu's hand) in against his hand completely, the blades will spin very poorly as Tahu's wrist joint will push the axle out of its free-spinning position.

Krika is a relative hassle to pose. His "knees" may bend inwards accidentally when posing, and keeping three of his limbs steady while moving the fourth into a more ideal position is a tedious trial. Still, it is more the number of his limbs that are needed to support his weight than any faulty joints or poor design that give him this problem.

Tahu offers many opportunities for poses, though the jets on his shoulders inhibit his neck movement a considerable amount, but no more than restricting him to the sort of poses possible for a human. His height is not as awkward as I'd feared next to the taller Kopaka and Lewa Phantoka, but rether just a bit shorter. His mask's top fin raises his height just enough to distinguish him as the leader, while his slightly shorter stature helps reflect his less bossy and reckless role, ready to listen to the advice of those he leads.

Final Thoughts

Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

Pros

What's to like?

• Tahu's proportions are far from awkward for those typically seen in BIONICLE, and far suitable to some seen as of late.
• Versatile new pieces, as well as a lot of pieces in silver among the Toa Nuva.
• Collectibility-- because Tahu will look great alongside your Phantoka sets.
• The Nynrah blaster is fun to launch once you get it going.
• Lots of new dark red pieces, namely the 7-length double joints and Inika feet on Tahu.
• The sinister and ghostly presence of Krika on an eye-level shelf.
• Fabulous-looking canisters.

Cons

What's not to like?

• The Nynrah Ghost Blaster is like a box of chocolates-- you never know what quality of launching you're going to get.
• Krika's mask will be awkward for MOCing, as will his other blended parts for their lack of similarity to any other prolific colors in BIONICLE.
• Tahu's mask is not so clear as a new Hau Nuva, even if it would seem to me to suit the character.
• Lots of the pieces could be gotten in other sets.
• Canister wrangling is not the funnest of sports.

Overall, if I were chiefly an MOCist, I'd veer away from Krika. While it might be good to show up your peers by using such awkwardly shaped and colored pieces, Krika has few versatile parts to add to your collection for a monstrous price. I'd wait on him until he's on sale, since you aren't so apt to need his parts for MOCing as Tahu's. Krika is also only so fun-- shifting his pose is a hassle that could get in the way of spontaneous play.

Tahu would be a good set for MOCists and collectors alike for his great pieces, beautiful look, and stylistic flair (my dad even noted without prompting that these sets are stylistically far better than older sets). I'd recommend him to anyone who wants him for his pieces, for reference in drawing, or just for being Tahu, Toa of Fire.