I made a blog entry about the Mistika a while back. It was quite negative, I seem to recall. Now that I own the three Toa, I thought I should post an updated account of my opinions.

I'm still not happy that these are the Nuva. The only set out of all the Toa who's stayed true to his colour scheme is Onua, and the only one who looks anything like his 2003 counterpart is Takanuva. I'm not going to talk about Takanuva, though. I've already done a review of him. Now, the Mistika feel pretty much like your average run-of-the-mill churned out Toa set - at least since 2006. Basic builds focusing on a Piraka/Inika torso, familiar limbs and a few slapped on parts. I'm also really dissapointed to see the projectile weapons become their main - and only - weapons. The tools are often the high point of the set, and one of the clinching reasons for buying Lewa was his incredible tool. I really love melee weapons (although I frequently complain to anyone who will listen about how hard they are to draw) and it's a shame to see them go. The Nynrah Ghostblasters really aren't an adequate substitute. I am quite impressed at how different each Toa's blaster looks, though. Tahu's looks like quite a simple one-handed blaster, Gali's looks more like a powerful two-handed weapon while Onua's looks like the biggest gun from the heavy weapons department. It's a nice touch, even if it is achieved using only one or two pieces. Nevertheless, their firing capabilities are poor compared to the Midak Skyblasters and the ammo keeps on falling out.

Appearance wise, they look great. The bright silver adds a balance to the darker colours, although I find it dominates somewhat. A bit unfortunate, seeing as silver is not supposed to be their primary colour last I checked. Still, the result is satisfactory and they look very heroic. One frustrating point is the red and blue pins and rods. In the past, blue pins would blend in with the blue sets and strive to annihilate every other colour scheme possible. Now it has a parter, the red pin, which is even more devastating and is particularly effective against blue sets. Why, lego? Why? I mean pins is one thing, but sticking giant red fins and jets on a black set which already has three different colours in it? What are you thinking!?

There are one or two variations in build, but nothing substantial. I wasn't expecting Gali's neck to connect the way it does - or Onua's, for that matter. I also...no, wait, that's about it for surprises. No, wait, I've got another one! The jets on Onua attach differently to how I might have expected, sticking out at an angle. Nice touch, I thought.

Playing with them is quite fun, but the group just doesn't look like at team anymore. With the old Nuva you could tell they belonged to the same team as they followed the same colour scheme conventions and used the same body, armour legs etc. (but still managed to be unique, I might add). The six Nuva now look like random Toa thrown together from seperate corners of the universe with the odd similar feature strung on somewhere. Perhaps if they'd kept the grey as the secondary colour, or even better given the Phantoka silver, it might have worked. Still, the Mistika are a nice bunch of sets despite this.

My main complaint is, as I've said before, their lack of similarity to the original Nuva. I cannot even begin to assosciate one with the other, which is quite frustrating. A pity, because I do like them. For further Inika/Piraka rehashes they're good and do the job very well, but they're also Inika/Piraka rehashes and so are hardly deserving of new group names.

The Makuta, on the other hand, I adore completely. I didn't like them that much when I saw them, and didn't really like them until I had them out and built. Pictures really do not give an accurate impression of a set. Take Krika, for example. Initially I thought 'oh no, another annoying unposeable four-legged thing'. The four legged thing actually makes him more poseable, will you believe. He can stand perfectly upright unlike Vamprah, or he can be stretched out so far his body is horizontal. Either way, it looks awesome!

The other two sets are great two. Bitil is the one I was most anticipating getting my hands on, although I'm still not sure why. No, no! I'm not saying he's bad! Quiet those misguided thoughts! Of all of them, Bitil is the most humanoid (well, he is humanoid) and still manages to be very tall despite having a short torso. He also uses a yellow colour not seen since 2003 on Jaller! I wasn't sure whether he used that colour or Keetorange when I saw the pics, but it's great to see an old colour return! He also has very interesting tools and a great way of attaching the wings, although I find it hard to think of them as wings.

Gorast looks awesome and looks menacing in absolutely any pose you might put her in, but is the most awkward to play with. The short arms make posing them difficult, as does the attachment of the wings. It's a cool idea but one that, in the end, dissapoints when it comes to playability.

All of them use a black Metru arm to attach the head to the torso, which in every instance except Krika allows considerably more poseability. Krika's more difficult because of how the head is attached and the huge spikey thing that stretches back over his head. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, I really like this setup. It's especially good for Bitil as it adds significantly to his height and allows the Makuta to go from tall, imposing masters of shadow to necks-bent-forward hissing monsters. Except Gorast. She's always going to be short.

All in all the Mistika are a nice group of sets, although the Nuva feel nothing like the Nuva and I sometimes find it hard to imagine the three mutated monstrosities to be proud members of the Brotherhood, but who cares? They look awesome! In conclusion, Nuva quite good but not the Nuva, Makuta very nice indeed.