Entry posted by xccj
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I mentioned my interest in getting some of these pens for the masks. Well, I managed to purchase two, and they finally got in. (I’m still not done with my search… four more to go.) Since I have them, I’m going to make it into a review! (Can’t go on the front page tho. Something about an 11 year old, rare-to-begin-with product that’s super hard to find even nowadays...)
First off, the packaging for this is very neat. I believe it follows the standard design for Lego pens back in the day; it shows off the pen and a bunch of the extra beads. This one also has a purely Bionicle touch. The top and bottom piece (the bottom is actually within the plastic container) are the colors of the classic canister lids; basically, a shade of green and grey that were never seen in the actual sets. 
Behind the pens is a map of our favorite island (remember when it was actually an island and not some giant underwater robot’s camouflaged face?)
The back of the package (not pictured ) shows off how you can customize the beads on your pen, and lists some of the features, including 13 bead elements, a soft grip, replaceable cartridge (wait, this thing has ink in it too? What, are we supposed to use it to write?) and a pen stand (This is supposed to be made up of the two colored plastic pieces, but they’re a loose fit, and it’s stretching it to call it a feature.) Then, of course, it also makes sure to point out that it includes a collectible Kanohi mask of power that can attach to the pens. Neato. Also included is a generic picture of the Toa and a short Bio. Did you know Lewa was the youngest of the Toa, and that Onua has infrared vision? I sure didn’t! (Oh wait, these were the discontinued Toa bios that didn’t make it to the official storyline but still ended up on some of the non-set merchandice.)
Then there’s the beads. Each pen comes with 13 of them, plus the two body pieces of the pen, and the collectible mask. The Toa share a similar variety of beads. Lemme list them out.
- Each has an identical black Bionicle bead, with the word printed on one side and the symbol printed on the other.
- They each come with a black bead with the Toa’s name printed on it.
- Square beads with the letters of the Toa’s names printed on the four sides… in Bionicle text. (How this works for longer named Pohatu and Kopaka, I dunno, maybe they don’t have these beads.)
- A square bead that has the silhouette of the Toa on two sides, and then a landscape image on the other two sides.
- [*Square beads that show the Toa’s weapons on two sides (hatchet for Lewa, claws for Onua.)
- A square bead representing the Toa’s Turaga. The noble mask is printed on two sides, and the Turaga’s silhouettes are printed on the other two.
- Two round beads that show off landscapes again. (A forested mountains in the clouds for Lewa, and a cave’s interior for Onua.)
- The rest of the beads for each Toa are just generic shapes in the Toa’s respective colors. Onua actually had one additional square bead, which has the elemental symbol of four elements printed around it. (Pb for Lead, Mn for Magnesium, U for Uranium, and Fe for Iron.) I guess these help show that he’s an earth Toa. I’m sure they could’ve given Lewa one with elements that occur in the air, like Nitrogen or Oxygen.
- One large bead in a transparent color (trans lime for Lewa, trans dark green for Onua.) These are the beads that the masks attach to. The mask attachments themselves aren’t very solid, but somehow there’s enough friction that they manage to stay on. When putting them on the pens, a top bead can help secure them on. But I had something different in mind…
Okay, I admit, the masks are a little wonky on the minifigures. A redesign is in order. But these masks will certainly help in the creation of a mini Toa Mata. Oh yes, they will. Now I just need to locate 4 other masks so I can create my mini Mata team! *Future note... I totally did this.*
As for the pens. Well, there was a lot of great detail put into all the beads, from the mask to the various silhouettes. And you can stack about 6 of the beads on the pen at a time, and you have enough that you can do a decent job of customizing it. The pens themselves are actually pretty worthless; in the eleven years, they’ve since dried out, so if I want to use them I’ll have to figure out how to replace the ink. But back in the day, I think these would’ve made for a fine Bionicle writing utensil. As it is, the old 2001 elements bring back a nice wave of nostalgia for me, and I can find ways to use these beads for decorations. (After all, they do all somewhat fit on top of studs.)
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