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On Mistika Height


Aanchir

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A lot of people have formed opinions of these sets based on height. Some of these are reasonable. Some of these are not. I'd like to offer some of the info I managed to put together from the newest images.

 

"Bitil/Gorast is too short"

Hardly. The base of Gorast's head when the legs are stretched out (You have to assume a knee joint on Matoran legs, but this is typical of all accurate height measurements) is exactly the height of the base of an Inika's neck. Her legs, when outstretched, are likewise the same height as Inika legs. Her height with neck stretched vertically is therefore 28 modules, not counting the extra height added by her mask. With neck horizontal her height drops considerably to 24 modules, but I have yet to see an official image of Gorast in this hunchbacked pose.

 

Meanwhile, with his neck stretched vertically as seen in the S@H image, Bitil is in fact the tallest of any of the Mistika, at a whopping 29 modules. A horizontal neck places him at a shorter 25 modules. For reference, we have never had a Toa set of this height besides Takanuva. The maximum normal Toa height encountered so far is 27 modules on Onua Mistika, Jaller Mahri, and Nuparu Mahri. 26.5 modules is the height of a Toa Inika, and what I typically regard as the "normal" Toa height for Toa of 2006-2008. 25 modules is just the edge of what I regard as "normal" height and posture, and is the height of Hahli Mahri or Tahu Mistika.

 

"Krika is awesome because he's so tall"

 

Krika... poor, poor Krika. Assuming his rear leg blades are 10 modules tall (a reasonable assumption), his legs are like Gorast's the same length as Inika legs when outstretched (remember that this is impossible in the set, but necessary in determining his true height). 16 modules, the longest we've ever seen legs on a canister set besides Lewa Phantoka with his taller-than-average feet. Fair enough. Interestingly, Antroz's legs and torso are the same height as Krika's. We find that from base of "feet" to base of neck both Krika and Antroz are 27 modules high. Huh. Looks like Krika is pretty tall.

 

Don't count your squids before they hatch. With a five module neck, Krika should be far taller than Antroz with neck stretched vertically, right? Yes and no. It is impossible to stretch Krika's head to full vertical height on account of the orientation of his head joint. Thus, at most Krika is able to reach 29.5 modules in height, one half a module taller than Antroz (and this is assuming his leg joints are able to bend, which they aren't). As anyone knows, it's hard to make an exciting pose with any of your figures' legs stretched rigidly to their full length, so of course Krika is still bound to look very tall when posed next to your other BIONICLE sets. I'm not saying he's worthless for his height. But anyone who is of the belief that Krika is of some gargantuan form under which Tahu can get a decent amount of shade is in for disappointment.

 

"Tahu and Gali are too short / Onua is too tall"

 

The first one is a misconception, but the reasoning behind it is entirely accurate. How in the world can our formerly hunchbacked Earth Toa be the tallest of the Mistika? But Tahu and Gali are of no unusual height. Tahu, as mentioned before, shares his 25-module height with Hahli Mahri. Gali is merely one module shorter due to her creative but perhaps (depending on your opinion) out-of-place neck configuration. Onua, to my and others' regrets, is the aforementioned maximum Toa height of 27 modules. LEGO disappointed me quite a few times with his set, but this isn't the place to rant about that, only to present concrete facts about set height.

 

"Takanuva is too tall"

While I love tall Takanuva to pieces, for the purposes of my drawings keeping his proportion with other sets even nearly the same is inconceivable (remember I work in HSB). Av-Matoran under the energies of Karda Nui are taller than other Matoran, true, but not by too much. At most their height comes to 19 modules with legs outstretched (Source: Solek). The normal height for Matoran has remained pretty consistent since 2004 as 16 modules (story-wise, one bio). Thus, they are over 1/5th of the height of a normal Matoran due to Karda Nui's energies.

 

I do not mean in any way to imply that Toa and Matoran are due the same effect from Karda Nui's energies, or any energies that have as of yet remained unexplained. But Takanuva has grown from an assumed 26.5 modules of modern set height to 42 modules in height! He has therefore grown by almost a full bio, or 15.5 modules. Some might be apalled at this. I just find it an inconvenience that I will have to cope with in my drawings and in my fervent Takanuva/Gali shipper status (though after he leaves Karda Nui this will no longer matter so much). Certainly from a set standpoint the height is more than made up for by the creativity and beauty of the set.

 

And last, like the last not dealing with the Mistika themselves,

 

"Trinuma is definitely not 9 feet tall!"

Like the last, this is true. Trinuma in the set rises to 30 modules counting his horns, whereas 9 feet would be closer to 32 modules. I'm sure it's a height difference most people can live with. As with Takanuva, I'm impressed enough with Trinuma not to care.

 

I hope this entry has been enlightening, even if it does not change your opinions on the sets. I do not mean to change your opinions with this entry, although some of your opinions could in my eyes do well from a change. But I want to make sure that Mistika buyers know what they're getting when they purchase one of these new sets, and plan for the one they will truly enjoy most based on their own preferences.

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Their heights are all somewhat wacky; however, it seems that yes, Krika should give Tahu some decent shade while he's doing some energy draining. My revamp should do that.

 

I am doubting that Gorast really walks around with her neck stretched out like that. It seems quite uncomfortable. As with Bitil/vertical neck: he would never fly around with his head stretched out for all to smite. He's a Makuta; they're the hunchbacked neevil guys, yes?

 

Takanuva, yes, is massive. But we do have an explanation for that, and I believe that as a Toa of Light, he would most likely have more light in him than a Matoran of Light, so, he is probably not on the same growth scale. It might actually be a good thing that he's now a giant- a bit more prominent in the story, as his previous part was not very large.

 

Trinuma is a bit short for his stature. (Ooh, double negative!) With or without his horns. Unfortunately, he uses some of the longest legs we have seen. This could be remedied by having some sort of red Mantax feet, although those do not exist.

 

 

~:k::s:~

 

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Their heights are all somewhat wacky; however, it seems that yes, Krika should give Tahu some decent shade while he's doing some energy draining. My revamp should do that.

 

I am doubting that Gorast really walks around with her neck stretched out like that. It seems quite uncomfortable. As with Bitil/vertical neck: he would never fly around with his head stretched out for all to smite. He's a Makuta; they're the hunchbacked neevil guys, yes?

If Bitil's is stretched out straight forward there's even less armor around it. A vertical neck does better to establish the neck as just a seperate piece of the torso, and was actually one of the concepts I had at one point for a Gali Phantoka due to its attractively arched back (I dropped the idea because it began to seem too complex for a canister set if I were to armor it).

 

And Gorast's seems to make the most sense at a sort of an angle, not quite vertical but not quite horizontal. Anything short of that, particularly too horizontal, would indeed seem too wacky, as if she had a broken neck. Vertical, however, would seem to work OK, though I prefer the intermediate due to it giving her a more mosquitolike posture.

 

Takanuva, yes, is massive. But we do have an explanation for that, and I believe that as a Toa of Light, he would most likely have more light in him than a Matoran of Light, so, he is probably not on the same growth scale. It might actually be a good thing that he's now a giant- a bit more prominent in the story, as his previous part was not very large.

As I said, we can't expect Toa and Matoran to react in the same way, based on the reason you just provided. But it still seems a bit awkward.

 

Trinuma is a bit short for his stature. (Ooh, double negative!) With or without his horns. Unfortunately, he uses some of the longest legs we have seen. This could be remedied by having some sort of red Mantax feet, although those do not exist.

 

~:k::s:~

 

Someone *coughBundacough* recommended Niazesk-like feet, but I feel that's a tad too animalistic for the guy who otherwise screams "Captain America." Anyway, I doubt there's any simple remedy, but I find Trinuma to be a pretty good build, making the height difference from how he was described seem less important. But then, I was a fan of the Karzahni set (which I still don't have). I'm clearly willing to make exceptions from time to time.

 

Red Mantax feet would work pretty well. Maybe in TNB Trinuma was wearing clogs? Or stilts? :P

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Their heights are all somewhat wacky; however, it seems that yes, Krika should give Tahu some decent shade while he's doing some energy draining. My revamp should do that.

 

I am doubting that Gorast really walks around with her neck stretched out like that. It seems quite uncomfortable. As with Bitil/vertical neck: he would never fly around with his head stretched out for all to smite. He's a Makuta; they're the hunchbacked neevil guys, yes?

If Bitil's is stretched out straight forward there's even less armor around it. A vertical neck does better to establish the neck as just a seperate piece of the torso, and was actually one of the concepts I had at one point for a Gali Phantoka due to its attractively arched back (I dropped the idea because it began to seem too complex for a canister set if I were to armor it).

 

And Gorast's seems to make the most sense at a sort of an angle, not quite vertical but not quite horizontal. Anything short of that, particularly too horizontal, would indeed seem too wacky, as if she had a broken neck. Vertical, however, would seem to work OK, though I prefer the intermediate due to it giving her a more mosquitolike posture.

 

Yes, Gorast must be mosquito-like. However, from a practical standpoint, Bitil's neck should not be straight up. Even if it's just to make it appear separate from the rest of the torso. You don't expose your neck, unless you want your head to come off.

 

 

Takanuva, yes, is massive. But we do have an explanation for that, and I believe that as a Toa of Light, he would most likely have more light in him than a Matoran of Light, so, he is probably not on the same growth scale. It might actually be a good thing that he's now a giant- a bit more prominent in the story, as his previous part was not very large.

As I said, we can't expect Toa and Matoran to react in the same way, based on the reason you just provided. But it still seems a bit awkward.

 

Yes, Taka is rather... huge now. Truly massive. He should have been somewhat smaller, probably.

 

Trinuma is a bit short for his stature. (Ooh, double negative!) With or without his horns. Unfortunately, he uses some of the longest legs we have seen. This could be remedied by having some sort of red Mantax feet, although those do not exist.

 

~:k::s:~

 

Someone *coughBundacough* recommended Niazesk-like feet, but I feel that's a tad too animalistic for the guy who otherwise screams "Captain America." Anyway, I doubt there's any simple remedy, but I find Trinuma to be a pretty good build, making the height difference from how he was described seem less important. But then, I was a fan of the Karzahni set (which I still don't have). I'm clearly willing to make exceptions from time to time.

 

Red Mantax feet would work pretty well. Maybe in TNB Trinuma was wearing clogs? Or stilts? :P

 

 

Karzahni's set was a bit... peculiar. Yes, Trinuma is a quite nice combiner, knowing what it came from.

 

Clogs sounds good.

 

~:k::s:~

 

Reason for edit: Quote tags fixed.

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The only Mistika height issues I have are with Gali's neck and Onua's... tallness. Gali's neck is an easy fix, just add another pinaxle. But Onua... is unfixable without a major revamp.

You should link to this in the Official topic. Along with some valid discussion, of course.

BtB
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Their heights are all somewhat wacky; however, it seems that yes, Krika should give Tahu some decent shade while he's doing some energy draining. My revamp should do that.

 

I am doubting that Gorast really walks around with her neck stretched out like that. It seems quite uncomfortable. As with Bitil/vertical neck: he would never fly around with his head stretched out for all to smite. He's a Makuta; they're the hunchbacked neevil guys, yes?

If Bitil's is stretched out straight forward there's even less armor around it. A vertical neck does better to establish the neck as just a seperate piece of the torso, and was actually one of the concepts I had at one point for a Gali Phantoka due to its attractively arched back (I dropped the idea because it began to seem too complex for a canister set if I were to armor it).

 

And Gorast's seems to make the most sense at a sort of an angle, not quite vertical but not quite horizontal. Anything short of that, particularly too horizontal, would indeed seem too wacky, as if she had a broken neck. Vertical, however, would seem to work OK, though I prefer the intermediate due to it giving her a more mosquitolike posture.

 

Yes, Gorast must be mosquito-like. However, from a practical standpoint, Bitil's neck should not be straight up. Even if it's just to make it appear separate from the rest of the torso. You don't expose your neck, unless you want your head to come off.

 

The point is, it's not to make it appear seperate. It's to make it appear like a part of the torso. This way it has armor on either side, making it a sort of central part of the torso rather than a neck (which the Vahki head already has). It's not so much exposing the neck as exposing what I said; a part of the torso. It also renders the torso more conventional, removing Bitil's hunched look which in my eyes doesn't suit his beetlelike nature. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason this style neck was used was to prevent a hunch, since otherwise a different style of head could just as easily have been used on this torso. A Solek-style Matoran torso would also have worked, except then the neck and shoulders would both be too low, rendering Bitil as short as many imagine him for his style of torso.

 

 

Takanuva, yes, is massive. But we do have an explanation for that, and I believe that as a Toa of Light, he would most likely have more light in him than a Matoran of Light, so, he is probably not on the same growth scale. It might actually be a good thing that he's now a giant- a bit more prominent in the story, as his previous part was not very large.

As I said, we can't expect Toa and Matoran to react in the same way, based on the reason you just provided. But it still seems a bit awkward.

 

Yes, Taka is rather... huge now. Truly massive. He should have been somewhat smaller, probably.

Probably. And of course, knowing Krekka, Gadunka, and other titan-sized sets, it's entirely possible that in story his relative height is vastly different. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

Trinuma is a bit short for his stature. (Ooh, double negative!) With or without his horns. Unfortunately, he uses some of the longest legs we have seen. This could be remedied by having some sort of red Mantax feet, although those do not exist.

 

~:k::s:~

 

Someone *coughBundacough* recommended Niazesk-like feet, but I feel that's a tad too animalistic for the guy who otherwise screams "Captain America." Anyway, I doubt there's any simple remedy, but I find Trinuma to be a pretty good build, making the height difference from how he was described seem less important. But then, I was a fan of the Karzahni set (which I still don't have). I'm clearly willing to make exceptions from time to time.

 

Red Mantax feet would work pretty well. Maybe in TNB Trinuma was wearing clogs? Or stilts? :P

 

 

Karzahni's set was a bit... peculiar. Yes, Trinuma is a quite nice combiner, knowing what it came from.

 

Clogs sounds good.

 

~:k::s:~

 

Reason for edit: Quote tags fixed.

I liked Karzahni, even if he differed greatly in posture from the form we'd previously seen. I still intend to make a Karzahni pre-pit MOC using a variety of ideas I've come up with.

 

The only Mistika height issues I have are with Gali's neck and Onua's... tallness. Gali's neck is an easy fix, just add another pinaxle. But Onua... is unfixable without a major revamp.

 

You should link to this in the Official topic. Along with some valid discussion, of course.

 

BtB

I probably ought to. I'll see about that pretty soon.

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I don't think it's that Krika's so tall that people rave about, but simply the sheer amount of volume he takes up. When in a Vahki-like pose, which is conveniently what he looks most intimidating (and AWESOME) in, I'm told he's bigger than any other canister set ever. And that's from the people who saw him in person.
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I don't think it's that Krika's so tall that people rave about, but simply the sheer amount of volume he takes up. When in a Vahki-like pose, which is conveniently what he looks most intimidating (and AWESOME) in, I'm told he's bigger than any other canister set ever. And that's from the people who saw him in person.

Perhaps. I've just never heard it phrased like that. Usually people just go on about how "HUGE" he is, and I interpreted it as tall. Perhaps that was a misinterpretation. Either way, it was worth it to investigate the Mistika heights if only to have discovered such unexpected traits as that Gorast and Krika both have normal Inika-length legs.

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Ah, yeah, that's definitely what huge means in the context of Krika, the sheer space he takes up... unless you squeeze him into a silly sort of ballerina pose like on the cover of BL10. :3
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Ah, yeah, that's definitely what huge means in the context of Krika, the sheer space he takes up... unless you squeeze him into a silly sort of ballerina pose like on the cover of BL10. :3

...I love the BL10 cover... :(

 

Anyway, yeah, and even if you do that the cover makes it perfectly plain that he's not very tall at all unless you take into account the implied knee joints. So I'm hoping people aren't expecting much of his height.

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