REVIEW: 71309 Onua Uniter of Earth

[VBBN]

Set name: Onua Uniter of Earth

Set number: 71309

Pieces:143

Price: $20.00 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx

Release date: 2016

As the final review of the winter 2016 sets, we have a look at Onua. Onua has toned down on his extreme proportions since last year, but how does he stack up? Is he the best of the Toa this wave? The worst? I guess you will have to read on.

The Box

Front

We see Onua using his hammer-drill, with Terak and a shadow trap looming in the background.

Back

The back shows the set features, a comic, and the unification gimmick.

New and Interesting Parts

New bits

For new bits, we have the piece of unification in gold, the new armor piece in gold mixed with trans clear (an odd choice) and the new, shorter eyestalk in trans light blue.

Colors

For some interesting colors, we finally have studs in trans dark purple, as well as two segments of M-F bones and the 4m armor shell.

Mask

While Onua's Pakari was the smallest of the masks in 2015, we take the opposite route here, with Onua's being the largest of this wave, save of course for the Mask of Control. Personally I think somewhere in between this one and 2015's would be the sweet spot, this almost seems a little too wide, and looks as though it would fit better on the 2015 Onua.

Torso Shell

Onua's torso shell is in black- a welcome change from preliminary images which originally displayed it as being cast in gold plastic. Of the colors released so far, I personally feel this is the best color this torso shell has come in. Black tends to hide detail more, and in this case it makes the extremely mechanical piston detailing seem more tame.

Turntable Torso

Like the other large sets of this wave, Onua has the turntable torso and a new hip piece. This hip piece attaches quite firmly to the torso, and it rotates with a decent amount of friction. While you can remove the hip piece with some force, I wouldn't recommend it, as it can cause this friction to be reduced. I also wonder how long the friction in the hips will stay over time, as usually joints become looser as time goes on.

The Build

Torso

Like Tahu, Onua's torso becomes fairly wide, and uses a slightly more custom build than that of the $15 Toa.

Frame

Onua has asymmetrical arms. Now the only reason I could possibly think of for this was due to the hammer- this arm joint might provide more stability as you spin Onua, and cause the hammer to fling around less wildly. While this might be good in theory, there are two issues. 1) The hammer isn't nearly heavy enough to require that kind of precaution. 2) In practice I didn't notice a difference, even when trying it with older, looser joints. So, I dunno, I'm just annoyed I got shafted a purple bone here.

Weapon

Onua's weapon is, once again, a hammer. This time though, the head is made up of a drill and a stud shooter. It's pretty cool, though I wouldn't recommend grabbing it by the drill as it's very easy to fire off a stud accidentally.

Finished Set

Front

Color wise, Onua is great. I didn't like his random silver accents in 2015, so it's nice to see his color scheme have a bit more direction (though I wish we would get those feet in black...) His purple has been replaced by trans dark purple which looks quite nice, though again it's odd that we see trans clear on the crystal pieces. Also note that I choose to position to the skull bodies on his shoulders at a frontward angle, I think it adds to his bulky look and shows us more of that wonderful color.

Profile

He has big feet, that's for sure. Like Umarak and Kopaka, Onua has a spare disc full of ammo for his stuf shooter.

Back

We chose to take a nap

I really like how Onua works. He doesn't use the piece of unification as armor, the torso shell doesn't stick out as much as the other characters, and generally things mesh together a bit better. Proportions are also pretty good, I know some people miss the extremely wide proportions of 2015, but I like this. He still feels wider and bulkier than the other 2016 Toa, yet he manages to not look as overly huge.

Welcome to Onu-Koro!

Now let's get on to something I don't like- putting something with uneven weight on a spinning axis. I am talking about, of course, the hammer. The head, in order to spin, is only attached via one pin, and it spins too freely for my taste. I do like how it looks, but functionality wise it can be a bit annoying.

...shall posses the power of Thor

One complaint i had originally about Onua was his empty shoulders, however the shoulder pads are on two different balljoints, and can easily fill in those spaces. It doesn't really affect his arm articulation much either.

Gold Mask

Gold mask looks good here. Had Onua followed his preliminary design, there would have been too much gold, but the black chestplate looks so much better and I'm glad for this finished product. (What's that? Covering a figure in gold doesn't make them a good set? I guess Tahu missed that memo.) Also take notice that I have left the shoulderpads here like I see most people positioning them, which makes the area between the shoulders and the torso look gappy, so I generally avoid doing this.

Size Comp

Unification

Onua's unification with Terak is similar to Kopaka and Melum, in the sense that Terak basically forms a helmet and double shoulder pads, which can be a little unwieldy on top of the ribcages.

Profile

Onua becomes even bulkier than his 2015 form, which could be a selling point for Terak's combination.

Back

The function from Terak doesn't work in this mode, similar to Melum.

Overall

I like Onua. I know I have been pretty sour toward these 2016 Toa, but personally Onua is my favorite of the six. He has a good color scheme, good proportions, a great selection of new and recolored parts, and still feels bulkier than the other Toa which helps to set him apart. Really my only complaint about him is that the hammer top spins a bit too easily, and of course his unification mode isn't anything special but that is more of Terak's fault than Onua's, but other than that I would definitely making this guy one of your first purchases.

[One Very Agile Cat]

I totally agree about the mask size. I'll take this over Onua being a pinhead. I also really love these colours.

[Takanuinuva]

Trans Purple Studs!

I'm super glad Onua comes with 12 of them plus one extra. It means they won't be too pricey once they start popping up on bricklink. And Korgot will finally have trans studs like her Protecter teammates

[Dorek]

I do miss the exaggerated proportions of 2015 Onua (who's still one of the best BIONICLE sets, nevermind the generation) but they did a good job in capturing the same sort of essence for this one. The drill spinning annoys me too, but overall it's a good weapon, and his color scheme is has one of the best distributions.

Good review.

[Aethersprite]

Thanks for the review. I love Onua! He and Kopaka are my favourite Toa of the wave - maybe the only 2 Toa I get. Love the mask, and I don't mind his narrower shoulders. What irks me is the asymmetrical arms (and, yes, the fact that we got shafted a purple bone), but that's easily fixed. Can't wait to get him!

[Kalhiki]

Thanks for this and all the other reviews!

Onua is pretty great now that I look at him. And thanks for showing him with the shoulder pads facing forward! I was wondering if that was possible, and I'm glad to see that it is. Looks so much better.

[YellowCorvette]

Thanks for the review! Onus looks great as a standalone set, but I still didn't like the Technic wheel on Onua's leg and his Unity mode with Terak.

[Tahu]

Thank you for the review! Onua looks really great! Merry Christmas!

[Dr_Chronos]

Great review. Of all the Toa I think Onua is the best, and he's the only Uniter that will be a Day one purchase for me. I like his previous incarnation more but to honest both are fantastic sets.

[Fulcrumfan91]

Onua's a fantastic set, honestly, I find very little to complain about him. Great colours, good mask, awesome creature, decent combination, excellent weapon. He's awesome.

[arc]

"I miss the bent neck" -onua mata, reviving bionicle ep.5

I'm in the camp that liked the 2015 version, and I kinda miss the burly and stout onua with this one, it's definitely not bad, probably one of the most solid toa this year, just not quite how I would've liked it done. Still a fine set however.

[Aanchir]

"I miss the bent neck" -onua mata, reviving bionicle ep.5

I'm in the camp that liked the 2015 version, and I kinda miss the burly and stout onua with this one, it's definitely not bad, probably one of the most solid toa this year, just not quite how I would've liked it done. Still a fine set however.

I'm glad they at least kept his big shoulderpads. But I agree, I wish his chest were wider and he weren't so tall. I'll definitely be aiming to make some changes in a revamp.

[Logan McOwen]

No complaints here.

Oh wait, just the one - Trans. clear crystals? Really?

Edited January 4, 2016 by Logan McOwen

[Aethersprite]

No complaints here.

Oh wait, just the one - Trans. clear crystals? Really?

I can't understand this choice for the life of me. It's not like the piece is only used in one set (in which case it would justify it being trans clear, to give it greater reusability), but Terak uses two of the exact same piece as well! I wish Lewa, Gali or Tahu had their crystals in trans clear instead, while we get trans purple for Onua and Terak.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Lockon Stratos

[Aanchir]

I can't understand this choice for the life of me. It's not like the piece is only used in one set (in which case it would justify it being trams clear, to give it greater reusability), but Terak uses two of the exact same piece as well! I wish Lewa, Gali or Tahu had their crystals in trans clear instead, while we get trans purple for Onua and Terak.

Maybe it could be that LEGO intends to use this color combination on another set in the summer? Or maybe for some reason the gold+tr. bright bluish violet combination just didn't look good on this piece in practice. On the plus side, Onua and Terak both have more than enough purple that the lack of it on the crystal add-on doesn't make their color schemes feel washed-out.

What bothers me more is the lack of that jagged crystal motif on Onua's weapon. All the other Toa have that motif on their masks, weapons, and armor, but Onua only really has it on his mask and armor. Maybe if either the drill piece or the saw-blade piece had been purple it might've been enough. But just the cone and the ammo aren't enough to really convey that crystal feeling to the same degree.

[Aethersprite]

Maybe it could be that LEGO intends to use this color combination on another set in the summer? Or maybe for some reason the gold+tr. bright bluish violet combination just didn't look good on this piece in practice. On the plus side, Onua and Terak both have more than enough purple that the lack of it on the crystal add-on doesn't make their color schemes feel washed-out.

What bothers me more is the lack of that jagged crystal motif on Onua's weapon. All the other Toa have that motif on their masks, weapons, and armor, but Onua only really has it on his mask and armor. Maybe if either the drill piece or the saw-blade piece had been purple it might've been enough. But just the cone and the ammo aren't enough to really convey that crystal feeling to the same degree.

Maybe you're right about the piece being reused in summer.

As for Onua's weapon, I really like the way it's built! The lack of a crystal motif doesn't bother me as much. Perhaps the shape of the drill piece is unnaturally crystal-ish enough?

Edited January 5, 2016 by Lockon Stratos

[Lyichir]

Maybe you're right about the piece being reused in summer.

As for Onua's weapon, I really like the way it's built! The lack of a crystal motif doesn't bother me as much. Perhaps the shape of the drill piece is unnaturally crystal-ish enough?

The shape is fine; I think my brother was referring more to the COLOR—or lack thereof. The silver drill winds up being so much less vibrant and colorful than the other Toa weapons. Maybe if the drill could've been Trans. Bright Bluish Violet (or even Medium Lilac, like the shells on last year's Onua) it would've looked better.

[VBBN]

I think it would've looked great in trans purple, not so much if it were solid purple- I'm not a fan of how the new crystal weapons don't use trans colors, it makes them look less like they are from the same set of armor as the golden masks and the crystal add-on pieces. Sure it might keep the same crystal shaped motif, but then what's the point in making them dual-blended colors if they aren't supposed to represent the same thing as the masks and armor? Since all of the purple from last year's Onua has been replaced in wake of trans purple, it wouldn't exactly make sense given his altered color scheme.

[Lyichir]

I think it would've looked great in trans purple, not so much if it were solid purple- I'm not a fan of how the new crystal weapons don't use trans colors, it makes them look less like they are from the same set of armor as the golden masks and the crystal add-on pieces. Sure it might keep the same crystal shaped motif, but then what's the point in making them dual-blended colors if they aren't supposed to represent the same thing as the masks and armor? Since all of the purple from last year's Onua has been replaced in wake of trans purple, it wouldn't exactly make sense given his altered color scheme.

My thought about solid purple would be that it wouldn't be any [/i]worse than the other weapons that way, and that Onua still has solid purple on his torso print. I'd rather have transparent colors for it and all the other Toa weapons as well, but if Lego just didn't want to cast the drill in Trans. Purple for whatever reason (they've never molded that part in a transparent color, for starters, and the fact that an axle has to run all the way through it might look sort of odd), then solid purple would've probably been the next best thing. Instead we get silver, which is neither a new color for the part nor nearly as visually interesting as the weapons of the other Toa.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Lyichir

[CabooseBM]

One of the nice things about this set is how nice he is as a parts pack, aside from the terrible, disgraceful torso piece everything is appreciated.

That said, like Gali, Onua's parts just don't come together as a coherent whole character design. His proportions are stretched out and he no longer feels like the biggest Toa. The build felt like a lot of work for a weak overall result. The new torso shell sucks, as expected, but the print is nice and I still love the Nuva Symbols. Unlike last year's gearbox the gimmick set up here really limits the proportions you can get out of the basic torso parts, with a single option for torso length. He is a poor update to the Master of Earth and I am happy to scrap him for parts.

His color scheme is about as good as his 2015 version. More focused, even, with just gold, black, and trans purple as colors. There's some silver and gunmetal but they seem neutral at this point. *Shrug*

United, I feel he still doesn't accomplish at thirty dollars what the Master set did at twenty, and so you end up with one half-hearted, soulless robot set and a cute mole compared to the two very well built sets you get with the Master and Protector sets of 2015. And the compromises made for the gimmick robs the Uniter of a sense of completeness on top of the amalgamate nature of his build.

Man, what a bad set. The bar's been set pretty low, so I hope 2017 is better.

EDIT: Also the hammer actually isn't bad and feels like a good evolution of the 2015 hammer, wish it didn't spin though.

Edited February 22, 2016 by CabooseBM

[Anthony12901]

Other than the hammer sometimes swings around just because, Onua is pretty awesome. It's kinda sad that O don't have the Onua from 2015. He LOOKS and IS awesome, isn't he?