REVIEW: 71306 Pohatu Uniter of Stone

[VBBN]

Set name: Pohatu Uniter of Stone

Set number: 71306

Pieces: 90

Price: $15.00 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx

Release date: 2016

What's that? You wanted brown to return to Bionicle? Fine you bipolar fandom, here's three browns! Well, something like that. Pohatu is back for his second round in Bionicle G2, and thankfully we still haven't resorted back to the awful idea of propellor arms. Right, well let's get on and see how Pohatu has turned out this go around.

Box

Front

As usual we see Pohatu in his CGI pose, set information, and the newest Bionicle head at the top.

Back

The back features Pohatu as well as Ketar and their combination feature, and the now-standard mini comic.

New and Interesting Pieces

New parts

In the way of new parts, we have the shorter eyestalk in trans light blue, the new "piece of unification" in silver, and the new sword in silver blended with lime. Now we do also have the crystal add ons, which are silver blended with.... well, in my extremely exposed photo you can tell it's blended with trans neon green. In hand, however, the blending with silver has created a very strange shade of green that lies between trans neon green and trans bright green. It does look a bit off.

Torso Shell

The new torso shell comes in dark tan, and as you can see the printing also brings in dark orange and brown in.. digital camo?

Turntable Torso

Like the other large sets, Pohatu includes the new turntable torso. With the new hip piece in place, you get a rotating hip with the same amount of friction that a friction bone adds. It is no necessary to use the gears if you don't want, you you just have to turn the waist by turning the figure itself instead of a gear.

Recolors

For interesting colors, we have Vorox armor recolored in silver, a dark orange glatorian neck, and a 4m shell in dark tan.

Masks

As per usual with this way, Pohatu comes with his mask in both his main color blended with silver, and gold mixed with his respective transparent color, in this case neon green. Now I don't mind the crystal-like top of the mask, but I do have to the say the silver limits re-use in MOCs to an extent, because you have to find a way to work with both the mask's main color and silver.

The Build

Torso

His torso uses the new turntable frame, and while it's not an overly complicated build, it is a fun change from the usual torso beam we get with CCBS.

Shoulders

Like Lewa and Kopaka, Pohatu has a unique and custom shoulder build. I actually do like this build, even though it looks under-armored from the back. it looks visually more appealing than Kopaka's from the front, and doesn't create the strange articulation that Lewa's does.

Frame

Pohatu does stand taller than his 2015 frame, due to an extra module of length in his legs and the longer torso.

Finished Build

Front

As far as his color scheme is concerned, there is of course three browns- as mentioned in Ketar's review, I don't entirely mind a bunch of brown colors. It makes me think of rust and carries a post-apocalyptic look to it. However I do feel that trans neon green is a bit overpowering here, the lower arms are just way too bright. I really think dark tan shells would have worked wonders here. Also notice that Pohatu keeps his "silver boots" look, which I guess is what we get now instead of his toe-kicks.

Profile

You know I must say, while my initial concern about these figures was the gear on their rear, it's really not very obtrusive at all.

Back

In general the back is very under-armored, and of course we see the fault with those custom shoulder pads.

Toa! Hey, that's great. I always wanted to be a Toa. Just one question: what's a Toa?

Pohatu's weapon is a two handed weapon, of course to fit with the spinning waist. He has a simple blade with a rock attached to the end (a nice nod to 2001). The blade is simple and I do prefer it to his boomerang-things from 2015. Although do be careful when using the waist function, that rock flings around wildly and will hurt if it hits your knuckles. I speak from experience.

We're going to do a Pohatu on him

Pohatu's articulation is, of course, great, one of the things this wave really has going for it. Even Pohatu's shoulders offer some of the most articulation of the custom shoulders, and they don't seem to hit his face as much as Lewa or Kopaka's.

Oi!

Pohatu has one of my favorite weapons of the wave, because it's quite simple and really works well. I mean really, my favorite weapons are simple ones that work. Not overly-complicated ones, or ones with silly functions.

I'll hit 'im in the head with me rock, that's what I'll do!

With his golden mask. Also I chose to use the weapon's handle and combine with the the rock to make a mace of sorts.

United

Well, here he is with Ketar on his back. Yikes. While the rest of the figures in the wave generally look better in united mode, I can't say the same here. Ketar really doesn't incorporate well with the larger figures. His legs are just sitting there, the blades sit at the characters sides and keep flopping wildly because of the function, and as you'll see below..

Profile

He definitely makes the largest backpack of the creatures.

Back

Now I guess you could try to tuck the stinger down somewhat to lock the function and get rid of some of the back carriage, but then there really wouldn't be much of a point in uniting.

Overall

I do like pohatu as a standalone set. I think the trans neon green is a bit unnecessary and I would have liked to see the three browns play a more active role here, because I feel like too many colors are fighting to be that "dominant" color. Design wise, he's not too awful, I do like the shoulder build and range of articulation, though from a back view he suffers a bit. Proportions aren't bad, and I find that his extremely detailed torso looks somewhat acceptable in the dark tan, though I wish we had seen some more dark tan to serve as the primary color, possible use those dark tan Vorox armor shells from Ketar. Of the three $15 Toa I think he may be my favorite, though hopefully from review photos everyone will be able to decide if he is the right set for them or not.

[Kalhiki]

With these pics, Pohatu looks better. Not as pale, but I still would have preferred his burnt orange of 2015 over the dark tan.

I have to say, Pohatu is one of the weakest of the waves (along with Gali, in my opinion). Pretty boring design, weird shoulders, bad Unity mode, and... God, those forearms.

He seems to share the same fate as 2015 Pohatu. Can't go wrong with a basic design, but at the same time, he doesn't offer really anything interesting.

Overall, not bad but not good either. I have mixed feelings.

[Fulcrumfan91]

I love Pohatu. Awesome set. That's all I can say.

[YellowCorvette]

Thanks again for the review. Pohatu looks good as a standalone set, but he should have more brown in Pohato's armor and Pohatu's Unity mode is my least favorite of all the Toa's Unity mode.

[Takanuinuva]

I think Pohatu would be a bit better if the Vorox armor was Dark Tan instead of Silver. His forearm and lower leg armor Dark Brown instead of trans neon green and silver. And if the reddish brown connectors on his weapon were black.

[Aethersprite]

I don't have the space for him, but Pohatu is definitely my favourite of the $15 sets. I wish he had more dark brown, but I'm glad he doesn't have an overabundance of silver like Lewa and Gali. That tan torso works wonders. Thanks for the review!

[Dorek]

Yeah, my least favorite of the Uniters. He's not "bad", he just can't do anything exceptionally well. And the lack of dark tan and burnt orange, when those should be his primary colors, is incredibly disappointing.

[Dr_Chronos]

Pohatu looks much better in this review, probably because of the poses. This time the custom arms really strut their stuff. Still have my issues on the colors and whatnot, but as a standalone set Pohatu seems pretty solid. He's probably the only Toa who looks worse in his Creature combo though, which is a shame. I think I'll pick him up if I feel the need.

[CabooseBM]

Not a huge fan of this, keeps the problems of his 2015 incarnation while ditching all the best parts of the design. Dark tan was not a stellar choice to use on it's own, and might have looked much better with a stronger Dark Orange presence. There's also an overall feeling of just being a collection of parts rather than parts that come together as a whole that's endemic to this wave.

also

Pohatu is back for his second round in Bionicle G2, and thankfully we still haven't resorted back to the awful idea of propellor arms.

Why don't you come over here and say that! These propellor arms aren't just for attractin' mates! >=(

Edited December 19, 2015 by CabooseBM

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Pohatu looks very cool, but I must stress he needs to be modded. Upper arms aren't as bad as I envisioned but those lower arms are eye-searing. They almost gave me a headache IRL just looking at them.

[Tahu]

AWESOME!!!!!!

[Logan McOwen]

The colours are so washed out on this guy compared to his 2015 iteration, it's ridiculous. Dark tan was an awful choice, at least to the extent they've gone with it. The camo printing doesn't make up for that, either. On top of that, the lower arms stick out like a sore thumb, and the upper arms are a very peculiar build. And that mask feels a lot less chiseled and a lot more effeminate/youthful than the last, which makes Pohatu look a lot less stern and imposing than he did this year.

However, I'm willing to concede that I like Pohatu a lot more than I did initially. Now I've seen his upper arms from more angles, I don't mind them as much. He has good proportions, and a nice weapon. The dark tan just doesn't feel very Pohatu-y, though.

I'll probably buy Pohatu at some point for parts.

[arc]

I'm still not a huge fan, but I do like the new pohatu more than other toa from this wave. I think maybe changing the tan in his legs to orange, and put the tan shells in place of the green on his arms would be a major improvement. Might have to try that.

I'm not fond of the weapon though, a staff thing with a blade on one side and a rock dangling from a chain on the other? Ok then. I'll take the boomerangs.

Also not Into the unity thing, especially with this one. But that's not a big deal as I don't really care for ketar.

I don't take any issue with the mask, and don't see how it's feminine, it's a mask. Maybe pohatu is just more in touch with his feminine side and is cool with that.

Also the technic arms don't bother me as much here as they did on kopaka. Still a little wierd, but not that bad.

But overall not to bad, definitely could've had some improvements like the eye searing lower arms and odd weapon, but much better than some of the other toa this wave has to offer I think.

[btmomegar]

I believe the Nuva symbol on the chest is misprinted. It looks different than on the mask and the box.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

If you're taking picture requests can we see Pohatu with Dark Tan/Orange shells on his lower arms?

[Onepu the Protector]

These forearms give me a seizure...

[Still Raindrop]

This is the first time that printing really killed a set for me--or, rather, pushed it over the edge. I just can't get behind that digital camo. I don't exactly know why, but it's just a little too far for me. Like if, in G1, the vehicles had not just a HUD (which was fine), but also a mobile Wi-Fi connection that the Toa could use to access troubleshooting.axalara.com.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tea Weevil