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Summer Set Thoughts, Part 1


Aanchir

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Glatorian Legends

The Glatorian Legends are an interesting bunch. Certainly they can be regarded as more "generic" than the original Glatorians, but they manage to use innovative new weapons, masks, and combinations of old pieces to establish overall unique looks. I'll address them one at a time.

Ackar
Ackar is somewhat disappointing with his almost exact Toa Inika build. The Mahri blades which act as his shoulder armor are a neat idea, but sadly one that does not match any of his other armor styles, and furthermore doesn't evoke at all as awesome a feel as some bladed shoulders of the past. A Berix mask does a good job as a fire-themed mask, particularly in its forehead area (the wildness of the back of the head is a bit more watery in feel, but still manages to pass as fire). Which is not to say a mask that better matched his spiky new firesword (another awesome piece) would not have been preferable.

The most notable thing about Ackar, of course, is his Mata red primary color. This is not a color that has been absent from BIONICLE, but certainly a welcome one in some of the newer, more conventional BIONICLE armor pieces like the Inika torso, the Metru waist, and the Vahki leg. I also welcome the 2008-era joints in red-- they have avoided breaking for me so far, anyhow.

On Ackar? I can't be so sure Mata Red works here. After all, Tahu Mata and Tahu Nuva both featured black as a liberally-applied neutral color. Ackar's only neutral color is a poorly-distributed dark bley, and it fails to work even nearly as well-- in fact, it is more of a hindrance to color scheme since it is only highly-visible on the hands. I'd have even preferred to further overload the red in his color scheme and use the red hands from Skrall.

The torso armor is forgiveable, both because it is orange and because it is perhaps the best armor for Glatorians. It resembles a common style of armor used by Roman soldiers, after all, and features no pistons denoting it as mechanical in nature.

Gelu
Gelu is one of my favorite Glatorian Legends. He not only has a good color scheme (the same Strakk uses, but differently arranged to build uniqueness). An Inika-style build like Ackar, I have to say I prefer Gelu due to his clever use of Metus's snowflake-shield halves on his shoulders. And of course the Jaller Inika armor is as valid here as on Ackar, and the Vahki legs help the variation even further.

I like Gelu's weapon-- it appears to be a multi-crossbow. I fear "no weapons with functions" might apply here, however, and thus we might not be seeing it as more than a blade. I hope such is not the case.

Gelu reminds me of Samus for some reason. It's not a bad comparison, and I hope he gots an awesome role in story to suit his awesome appearance.

Vastus
Alas, Vastus, I cannot get a good read on you. I look at the set and already find minor annoyances, such as the seemingly unnecessary lack of back armor, the dubious thigh armor on his torso (I'll have to try it out for myself to see if it deserves any merit whatsoever), and the silver spines on his shoulders. Hordika legs are not my favorite leg armor due to their awkward proportions and shape. I suppose it works for Vastus, though, despite no obvious attempts at making it stylistically consistent with anything.

The eyes of his mask are crafty-looking, and I can see this character as an almost definite villain. The vine motif contrasts with Gresh's more benevolent motifs to establish a sinister persona. Speaking of which, those shoulders strike me as a piece that will never be used again on a set that works well with them. Hope LEGO surprises me.

And finally the blade. I believe there's a name for that type of blade which is not quite a scythe, but none jumps to mind. It is certainly awesome, though I am questioning the placement of the Thornax launcher at the end. Clever, but does it work? I cannot predict the effect it might have on the set.

Stronius
Here we see a brilliant set. It manages to use one new piece-- the torso armor-- as both torso and shoulder armor, which is a plus. And let us not ignore the mask, which certainly manages to feel superior to the Skrall mask, even if I still like the Skrall mask considerably. The replacement of the Skrall's red with dark red also builds the level of sinister might implied, even while reducing contrast. I assume this will be the named Skrall we've been told about, and I am without a doubt impressed.

A club is a clever weapon that BIONICLE may have gone on far too long without. I cannot tell quite how it is constructed, but somehow it avoids looking plumb useless and instead serves as a weapon suited to use by this set and perhaps elsewhere.

Note that here we can see Hewkii Mahri's style of using Knights' Kingdom mace halves as thigh armor, only it works far better on this set which spreads the spiky motif all across the armor. This stands out as perhaps the most creative of the Glatorian Legends, or rather the best use of such creativity.

Kiina
Kiina is peculiar to say the least. Using a more feminine, more creative torso style, this set manages to avoid similarities to too many sets. Unfortunately, the rest of the set is not quite so impressive.

I didn't mention the new joints on Vastus, but Kiina makes good use of them as well. They will certainly prove useful in the future. Were they a necessary creation? That remains to be seen. The new arm/leg armor piece is already in use on one of the upcoming vehicles, proving that it has potential beyond this set.

Kiina's mask has so far only appeared in a peculiar plastic, making it harder to judge. Presumably it will be light blue, but I'll try to avoid judging it with that prediction in mind. It manages to look feminine, offering further evidence that this might be the female set we've been expecting. The way it drapes over the shoulders is a nice creative touch.

I find fault in Kiina in that the arms and legs seem far too long. True, she might be a good set to use the thin Rahkshi shins on, but without added length to her torso it proves awkward. Perhaps the thighs also play a role in her gangliness-- I might have preferred more conventional thigh armor to thicken them up a bit. Will the set work well with so many new styles? It remains to be seen, but I can't say I'm as confident here as I am with Stronius.

Mata Nui
What we've all been waiting for. I can't say I'm disappointed with Mata Nui's stature as a canister set, or even with his Keetorange armor-- after all, it is very likely that gold was the color LEGO used it to evoke in Keetongu, Umbra, and Toa Ignika-- three other characters with lofty importance. The new Ignika does not bother me much-- I'm surprised the people complaining about the round head didn't speak up about the Mistika canisters as negatively.

Mata Nui's armor is a bit disappointing-- his torso uses the exact same armor as Onua Mistika. With such a versatile piece used as the upper half I'm surprised LEGO couldn't have done something more creative. His lower legs feature copious Keetorange and little black, and one wonders whether some blended parts or purely black parts might have helped the set's overall look.

His shoulders use the same piece used for his tool, which is also the same used for the hilt of Ackar's sword. A bit much for one year, perhaps, but somehow I doubt such an awkwardly-shaped piece runs any risk of becoming the next Gali hook or Staff of Light. But anyhow, the piece works well in both its applications in this set.

An oddity (neither negative nor positive) of considerable note is the means with which his thigh armor is attached. It's the old ball and socket piece from Technic, a piece which to my knowledge hasn't even seen a minor use in BIONICLE outside of a rubber-band holder. But anyhow, it does the job better than any part I can think of, so hats off to LEGO for that decision.

Mata Nui, while not the best incarnation he could have, certainly stands high above my own intentions for him in depicting the ruler of the Matoran Universe.

~~~~~~~

That's all I've got for now, but I'll be sure to share my thoughts on the vehicles soon. Hint: I'm impressed. ;)

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I was quite happy with Mata Nui's chest piece myself. Partially because I like like the piece itself, and its much better than if they'd used one of the Inika torso armors. Vastus is a bit of a shame, because with such unique looking mask and shoulder pieces he has a lot of potential. Its just a shame hes just so under-armored. :(

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Guest kopakanuva13

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I share your opinions on Stronius =D

Even though in his original pics he looked somewhat vertically impaired, the ToyFair pictures are impressive ^^

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I was quite happy with Mata Nui's chest piece myself. Partially because I like like the piece itself, and its much better than if they'd used one of the Inika torso armors. Vastus is a bit of a shame, because with such unique looking mask and shoulder pieces he has a lot of potential. Its just a shame hes just so under-armored. :(

I have to say I prefer the Inika torso armor for Glatorian, if only because they have fewer pistons and can thus pass as normal armor for mostly-organic beings. The armor chosen for Mata Nui has large, obvious pistons and not nearly as good torso coverage. I'm also a bit disappointed that it was done identically to on Mistika Onua Nuva when the piece has so much room for creativity using few additional parts.

 

I share your opinions on Stronius =D

Even though in his original pics he looked somewhat vertically impaired, the ToyFair pictures are impressive ^^

Yeah. His upper arms may or may not be a problem, although it's obvious they would have impaired his poseability if they were armored much. And besides that, he seems next to flawless.

 

Wow. You spent a lot of time on this blog.

I usually do when it's a review/rant like this. Thanks for taking the time to read it! :D

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