Luke McAwesome Posted September 26, 2009 Hello! Oddly, today, I'm bringing you a review of a BIONICLE set. Normally, I'd being doing a System review set, but I figured that this guy deserved a review. Enjoy! 8989 Mata Nui Name: 8989 Mata Nui Year: 2009 (Wave 2) Theme: BIONICLE Sub-Theme: Glatorian Legends Pieces: 52 Minifigure(s): 0 Price: USD 12.99 │ AUD 19.99 │ CAD 14.99 │ GBP 8.79 │ EUR 11.99 LEGO S@H Brickset Peeron BrickLink This is the canister version of what we've been waiting for for 9 years. 9 years! (10 for you Europeans out there!) I'm not really a big BIONICLE collector these days, but I had to pick this guy up, because I've been waiting for him since 2001. The great spirit, Mata Nui. Let's hope he's a as great as his soul. Chapter 1: The Box/Canister and Instructions Front The canister itself is well detailed, and the yellow caught my eye immediately; and my Wal-Mart has a big LEGO isle. They had four other Glatorian, but they were missing one in the wave. The brightness also makes it very nice. Back The back shows other details about the set, other sets, how you can fit the figure in the canister, etc. Other Glatorian The other five sets in wave 2, but it also shows the set you've bought. The Legend Reborn Notice that the disk of the movie is decorated wth the Glatorian "maze" insignia. I think that's really cool. LEGO had to put an ad for their newest BIONICLE film on here, it just wouldn't be right without it! The movie was released on September 15th, 2009, for future record, and I must ad that the film is very good! The voice of Kiina was annoying for a certain amount of time, but it grew on me. Life Counter Image A pic of the life counter; I think this idea was brilliant. A game for BIONICLE that can be played just by getting the figures! Of course, that means if you have 1, you have to get another to play the game, right? One of LEGO's "Get-Rich-Quick" schemes, I would expect. Instructions The instructions have a cropped image of the front of the canister. Basically, it's an amputated Mata Nui. His legs got cut off at the knees. Random Page Page 9 shows the left leg being assembled. The instructions also have part call-out, which I haven't seen on a set in a long time. I always seem to get the wrong sets. Parts Page 52 parts, each put down here. I'm happy that LEGO does this. It's fun to look and see if there are any mistakes as bad as the IJ Lost Tomb set's part page. Actually... nothing can be that bad... Chapter 2: The Loot Here's our loot; an instruction booklet, and 54 parts; with two being extras. Thornax Launcher Parts This is by far the best working launcher LEGO has made for BIONCLE yet. It shoots far, as well, and just looks plain cool. The spikes are rubber, and the entire Thornax part is rubber(Harder than the spikes), except fior the black band. That's solid plastic. Life Counter Here's what makes BIONICLE a joke game, the Life Counter. It has six different printed edges. It can connect to any axle, too. Here's the sets that it comes blank in. I had no idea this part was so old. It's from 2007! Hands/Fists One of my favorite new BIONICLE parts... the hands/fists! These part are awesome, and it has one axle hole on each side of the fist. There's a barrier in the middle to stop axles from going all the way through. This part should've been made years ago. Shin Guards Another nice new part. I can see this part being used as shoulder armor, or perhaps chest plates. But I have a complaint regarding these parts! The part is supposed to attach to this pin which makes the shin guards very loose and wobbly. This is annoying. I wish LEGO would have just attached it to one of these pins and that would have solved the looseness issue. Scarabax Shield/Shoulder Armor/Blades These parts are cool, they come in pearl gray and bright light yellow. Four totalled. The silver ones are attached to this fist and creates what LEGO calls a "Scarabax shield" because "Click" becomes Mata Nui's shield in the movie, I believe. But, still, the shield is useless, because of the skeletal design. If anything, it'll make him more vulnerable. The crescent moon blades create a hole-y shield that a weapon could easily go right through and stab poor Mata Nui in the head. And the fact that if a Thornax was shot at the center of the entire shield, it would hit Mata Nui's hand. Ouch. And the bright light yellow ones are used as shoulder armor that repeatedly whacks Mata Nui in the head. Ouch x2. Head The first thing I noticed about the head was that it resembled Iron Man. How fitting. But the head's axle holder is suprisingly on the top of the head, instead of on the mouth. Now, the main reason we have this set: The Mask of Life The return of the fabled Mask of Life! This is apparently what the entire BIONICLE story revolves around. And we get it in bright light yellow. Why?! Why?! *sobs* They couldn't have made Mata Nui some special silver Toa? No. It had to be bright light yellow. The axle to hook into a head is on the top of the mask, which makes attaching it to older heads impossible. Chapter 3: The Build Now, we move on to the build. The build itself is the same as all BIONICLE sets. Short. But it was fun building the figure I've been waiting 9 years of my life for. Which arouses plenty of questions for me. "Why now?" "Why not a few years ago?" "Why were there only six toa, and not Mata Nui?" But, I'm satisfied now. With a bright... light... orange... Blech. Step 4 Step 4 has the torso partly complete, a mix of bright light yellow and black. Legs The legs are complete. Once, again, notice the "Shin Guard Factor". Arms The arms are rather simple, which I don't like. I wish LEGO would attach some detail here and there. Make my thirteen bucks worthwhile, guranteed. The shoulder parts are also a new part. They look like a modified version of this double ball joint connector. I like it. The Fist of Fury Notice how the thumb is in the middle of the hand. I guess anything goes in BIONICLE land. Arms Attached The shape is really starting to come together, once the arms are attached. Head Connector This is a new part, as well. Just from this one figure, I've gotten so many new parts! I'd never even heard of this part before. So, this part can have a ball joint socket, or in this case a head, attached, as well as one pin, and one axle. And that's just what it's gonna do. Head and Neck Assembly This is what the head and neck look like together. Now, we attach it... Attached The main structure is now complete, so we have to add details. But first... This is the axle hole in the top of the head. This is where our Mask of Life hooks in. Mask Attached Huzzah! The legendary Mask of Life is now on the sacred Great Spirit in his Toa form. Yay(?)! Thornax Launcher The Thornax Launcher... Simple, but so, so, very awesome. I love the simplicity of it. Two bendable part,s a rubber spiked ball, and a baby barf colored Toa to hold it. What more could you ask for? Scarab Shield The Scarab Shield is just two parts, and a fist. Life Counter Assembly The Life Counter assembly is made up of only a few parts. One thing of notice is the use of an old Toa Metru chest piece as the main part of this small assembly. Simple, yet effective. Attached The Life Counter is attached, and Mata Nui is almost ready to head to the arena! Shoulder "Armor" Attached The shoulder armor is attached. Remember what I said about him getting whacked in the face...? Chapter 4: The Completed Set Yay! We finished the set! It was easy, but it was enjoyable for such a small set. He may look strong, but his defenses are weak. The shield is worthless. "Forget Click, get a sword, dang it! You don't stand a chance against Stroniu-"*squash* Yeah, he may need something to defend himself against Stronius and his giant club of doom. Extra Parts Just a couple more pins to add to the collection. I didn't expect much from this set. Pose Time! Let's see some poses! "Let me ask you something... Do you feel lucky, punk?" "Darn it... I knew I should've gotten the machine gun... This shield is pathetic!" "Look into my eyes... Your soul is stained by the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain!" -Ghost Rider _______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Playability: - 8/10 - The set can be posed, you can have a battle between the Glatorian, or even have Mata Nui be a time-travelling DeLorean DMC-12 Toa/Great Spirit! Price: - 6/10 - The price is just too much. I like the figure, but if I hadn't been waiting for him for so long, I probably wouldn't have bought him. $12.99 for 52 parts, is just "Meh." Design: - 8/10 - One of the only design flaws is the shoulder armor. They whack him in the face like Hinckley whacking Siegfried with a paddle, which makes some poses impossible. Parts: - 7/10 - Bright light yellow wouldn't have been the color choice I would have picked, but I'll live. Silver still would've been nice. Overall - 7/10 - The figure is nice, the colors are iffy, but do-able. The design is good, except for the shoulder armor. And the price is bad for 52 parts, but the figure is still nice. The playability is fun, he can do so much! Shoot a bird, wipe his... car... with a Shamwow, or attack a cat, he can do it all! (None of these included) I would reccomend this to any BIONICLE fan, seeing as we've been waiting for this for so long. He's finally here! $12.99 may be expensive to me, but some of you guys have almost every BIONICLE figure, so it probably means nothing to you. --- Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this review. -Striker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctordark Posted September 26, 2009 Very nice review I wasn't sure if I wanted this or not. But I think it looks pretty cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Front Posted September 27, 2009 Excellent review, nicely organized, fine pictures. I like the fact that non-bionicle collectors go and and buy this set Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickthing Posted September 27, 2009 Excellent review, nicely organized, fine pictures.I like the fact that non-bionicle collectors go and and buy this set I often find it surprising how many AFOLs actually buy BIONICLE sets, they just don't admit it. Thanks for the great review Striker! This was the first Legends set that I got, and it's got some great parts, and it's Mata Nui, despite the awkward proportions. It's a bit sad that it's a yellow-orange set instead of gold, but it's understandable from a designer's perspective. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bfahome Posted September 28, 2009 They couldn't have made Mata Nui some special silver Toa? No. It had to be bright light yellow. There's already been a silver Ignika (two, if you count Vezon's head), and a second/third would be pushing it a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
