The Elemental Blades

[Anthony12901]

So when I bought the 2016 figures I saw that the crystal blades weren't translucent. That kind of disapointed me. I thought they would look better if they were translucent. Do you agree with me or not? Please tell me why if you agree or disagree.

[Junior Shark]

I actually just posted a similar reaction in the 2016 Set Discussion topic. I, too, thought the crystal blades would be translucent. My internal confusion probably stemmed from the presence of trans colors on the new crystal armor pieces.

At first I was pretty disappointed. But now they're starting to grow on me. They could look a whole lot worse. Despite my increased liking of them, I still think trans colors would have been waaaay cooler!

[DOTM Shockwave]

I was also disappointed, cept I thought they were going translucent. While I like the blades, I feel they would've looked a lot better if they were either transparent or translucent.

Edited April 22, 2016 by DOTM Shockwave

[Logan McOwen]

I was also disappointed, cept I thought they were going opaque.

They are opaque though?

[Kalhiki]

It doesn't bother me too much. I think they could've looked pretty rad if they were translucent/transparent, but I can't complain.

What really bothers me is how flexible they are. Over half of the crystal blades I've gotten have been warped or bent when I got them out of the box. I'm sure a little heat-treatment can bend them back straight, but it's still an annoyance.

[Junior Shark]

What really bothers me is how flexible they are. Over half of the crystal blades I've gotten have been warped or bent when I got them out of the box.

+1 This is my biggest gripe with them. Definitely more than half of the ones I've gotten were bent out of the box.

[Anthony12901]

It doesn't bother me too much. I think they could've looked pretty rad if they were translucent/transparent, but I can't complain.

What really bothers me is how flexible they are. Over half of the crystal blades I've gotten have been warped or bent when I got them out of the box. I'm sure a little heat-treatment can bend them back straight, but it's still an annoyance.

I do also think they would look awesome translucent. What do you think they'ed look like if Onua had one?

+1 This is my biggest gripe with them. Definitely more than half of the ones I've gotten were bent out of the box.

Really??? Mine never came warped, but I only got Gali, Pohatu, Onua, and Tahu, and soon to be Kopaka and Lewa.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Anthony12901

[DOTM Shockwave]

They are opaque though?

D'oh, translucent was the word I was looking, not opaque. Fixing previous post...

[Kalhiki]

I do also think they would look awesome translucent. What do you think they'ed look like if Onua had one?

I don't know considering his crystal add-ons are clear. But y'see, Onua doesn't have any crystal blades to begin with (neither does Terak), so translucent blades still feels like it could've been an option for everyone else.

[Aanchir]

I don't really know if it'd have made a difference if they were translucent. They still wouldn't fully match the transparent parts of the characters, since molding them in polycarbonate wasn't an option. Actually, I almost think the color matching might even be BETTER with the blades as opaque colors than as translucent colors. If I compare Rocka and Frost Beast's blade pieces IRL to Lewa and Kopaka's elemental blades, the elemental blades actually feel like a closer match for the other Tr. Bright Green and Tr. Light Blue parts, since they aren't as light and milky-looking.

The only elemental blade color in the Toa and Creature sets that really bothers me is Tahu/Ikir's Bright Orange elemental blades, since they doesn't really match the hue of his Tr. Flu. Reddish Orange parts. Bright Red might have actually been a closer match there — it certainly worked alright on the chest printing of the Skull Creatures.

On a side note, I do feel like it's a darn shame that Onua doesn't have any real crystal motifs on his weapon. Even if he didn't use the elemental blade piece specifically, any part with a sufficiently crystalline texture could have helped him feel more consistent with the other Toa.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Aanchir

[Junior Shark]

On a side note, I do feel like it's a darn shame that Onua doesn't have any real crystal motifs on his weapon. Even if he didn't use the elemental blade piece specifically, any part with a sufficiently crystalline texture could have helped him feel more consistent with the other Toa

Agreed. Even just scaling up Korgot's hammer from last year would've been acceptable.