Presentation

For casual consumers, this could be the difference between buying a set and choosing another. This section scrutinizes the container and instruction manual you see before anything else.

Note: Product was opened before being reviewed.

In shape, the Glatorian Legends' canisters are almost identical to the winter Glatorian's, the exception being the lid, which is shaped to suggest an arena (older fans may notice its similarity to the Visorak canister lids). Gelu looks down imposingly from the canister's bright background, weapons at the ready. The ever-present Bionicle logo is emblazoned across the top of the front, with Gelu's name in smaller text below it. The age recommendation, set number, Glatorian Legends and Lego logos are ranged across the bottom. I'd like to point out how little extra information is on the front compared to canisters of previous years, maximizing the front of the canister's display potential.

The back of the canister is not so blessed with open space. Crammed above the ridiculous amounts of legal text are: (from top to bottom, left to right): an advertisement for The Legend Reborn, the six Glatorian Legends looking less than their best, how to fire the Thornax launcher, Gelu's B.I.O. code, how to fit Gelu into his canister, and the Bionicle Action Figure Game Logo.

Only one thing is notable about Gelu's instruction manual, and that is that it showcases the Legends and the vehicles twice - once on a wooden floor to promote the Bionicle Action Figure Game, and the second time against their typical thematic backgrounds.

Building

Bionicle is before anything a building toy. This section describes and discusses the building of the set.

When the canister is open and its contents poured/shaken/dumped out, the expected assortment of blue and white pieces are seen in a pile. The building process took me about three minutes. I can't imagine anyone with experience building Bionicle sets taking much longer than that to assemble Gelu, who sports the now-typical hips-on-the-body, armor-on-the-torso, limbs-on-the-joints, armor/weapons-on-the-limbs, headgear-on-the-head build. If one planned to buy a set for the building process, I would recommend they save their money and buy Cendox or Thornatus instead, who seem to have the best building experience to offer.

Set Design

This section examines the set after it is built, as well as new, recolored, or otherwise interesting pieces.

New, recolored, and otherwise interesting pieces are, sadly, not bountiful on Gelu. However, those he does possess are awesome indeed.

In the top row are the only three new pieces included in the set, Gelu's helmet and Ice Slicer blades. While none of these pieces are groundbreaking - one is another helmet to add to the collection, the other two blades with which to do the same - they look wonderfully icy. It is of note that the semitransparent blue parts of Gelu's blades are composed of flexible rubber.

In the second row of the above picture lies the only newly recolored piece in the set, an Inika chestplate in pure white. The third row holds otherwise interesting pieces, the half-snowflakes that premiered as Metus' shield.

However, despite the lack of interesting pieces, what Gelu has is what makes him look seriously awesome. His helmet, Ice Slicer, snowflake armor, and color scheme give him a perfectly icy appearance. I applaud the set designers for inventing this combination of blue, white, and ice-themed pieces to create this visual masterpiece.

Playability

The set has been bought, built and visually examined. This section reviews the experience of playing with the set, including any functions or other outstanding features it may possess.

In terms of poseablity, Gelu possesses the thirteen points of articulation that has become common in today's canister sets. The Thornax launcher, when fired, covers more ground than a squid launcher and less than a Midak, but is still one of my favorite launchers for its versatility - not only does it fire both Zamors/solidified air bubbles in addition to Thornax, but when disassembled, the pieces can be used for something other than a launcher! The pieces' ambiguous shape and pair of connection points provide a wide variety of MOCing possibilities.

When posing Gelu, I did notice one small problem: It is somewhat difficult to pose him in a way that focuses on his weapon. After some contemplation, I have arrived at the conclusion that this is the weapon's fault. I have some difficulty imagining how one would wield a weapon such as the Ice Slicer held like that. Being held in the middle, it is not optimal for bashing as with a club, it possesses no extra elemental or ranged properties, and is too short and wide to be effectively used as a spear. Thus, Gelu's weapon is somewhat difficult to wield, and can be awkward in posing.

Finally, time for the Bionicle Action Figure Game. I will confess that for anyone too old to be considered a kid, the game is boring due to its simplicity. With this in mind, I devised a new way of playing the game that includes melee combat, eliminates the canisters, and is infinitely more fun than the official game.

Conclusion

This section chronicles the positive and negative characteristics of the set, its aspect scores, and any final thoughts on it as a whole.

Pros

What's good about the set?

• Awesome icy theme - it's awesome.
• Well-done color scheme - something some other sets lack.
• Bionicle Action Figure Game - there's no way this can be a con.

Cons

What's not?

• Few new/recolored/otherwise interesting pieces - five is a pittance compared to some other sets.
• Awkward weapon - however cool it may look, something equally icy, but more practical would have been better.

Aspect Scores

What does this set excel at? These four categories rate how it looks, the building experience, its usefulness in terms of parts for MOCing, and how much fun the set is after it's built.

• Appearance: | | | | | | | | | 9/10
• Building: | | | 3/10
• MOCing: | | | 3/10
• Playability: | | | | | | 6/10

Overall, Gelu is the canister set to get if good looks are what you want. However, if this is not a major factor for you, your money would be better spent on other Bionicle sets.

Thus concludes my review of Gelu. Until next time!