[REVIEW] 70786 Gali: Master of Water

[Shakar]

Well, in the Italian catalogue they refer to all Toa with the masculine "Maestro", which does mean master as in "expert" but is far more used (and in the female form, it's almost exclusively understood as such) with the meaning of "(elementary school) teacher" (well, at the very least in Northern Italy). If they choose to use "Maestra" for Gali.. it's going to sound pretty awkward. I would've probably picked "Padrone/a" myself (which means ruler or owner, but can also mean master or expert), but guess I can't expect much from the same people (probably) who thought that translating Witch Doctor into "Dottor Witch" was a good idea.

Rants aside, great review and photos VBBN! Like many, I had a lot of doubts about Gali's mask, but it has since grown on me a lot, now I think it suits its owner very very well (I think this piece played its part). They're not as blatant, but the similarities with the 01-02 Kaukau masks are still present.

The rest of the set looks excellent as well: she has a good colour scheme and a decent colour organization and layering (I have some doubts about the silver torso and the 3M tr. light blue shells, as the colours are being already used on the add-ons and the bones respectively) and yes, she looks like a girl (without resorting to, ahem, bioniboobs) for once! The Brain Attack torso, the narrow shoulders, the small shells on the arms/ large shells on the legs combination are great design choices that manage to build a good representation of a female biomechanical warrior.

My least favourite part of the set is probably the weapon- a double bladed warblade is a great homage to Gali Nuva and suits her personality, but it's way too big and those yellow pieces look ugly to me, that and the trident looks a bit too MOC-ish to me. Ah well, I guess I don't appreciate that much, but I never was a big fan of the Nuva secondary weapon modes either (except Tahu's lavaboard).

EDIT: Fixed a few typos.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Shakar

[K-Nut]

I must say, Gali seems to be the simplest of the new Toa, which is absolutely wonderful. In fact, all of the smaller Toa seem much better as a group than the larger Toa (who are still great). I also think that Gali has the best accessories of the Toa. They all fit with her design so subtly; much more so than those of the other Toa (especially the huge, imposing designs of Tahu, Kopaka, and Onua especially). To me, she seems to be the best designed Toa with these new pics. The design really reflects the characterization of Gali. I'm very impressed with the various designs of these new sets.

[ToaDraco]

I really like how Gali looks. Her weapon looks great but seems way too big. I'm really glad she looks feminine as well. The mask definitely looks more like the Kaukau Nuva than the original Kaukau. I'd rather it looked more like the original mask but it looks great just the same. I was puzzled by the red pins and additional yellow bits at the top but you've cleared that up nicely. I think I like her adrenaline mode looks better with a mermaid fin. Hopefully that will be used in some promotional material and in the episodes. I will definitely be moving her shoulder armor to the torso piece so it won't have the aforementioned issues.

[Strakk]

Well, in the Italian catalogue they refer to all Toa with the masculine "Maestro", which does mean master as in "expert" but is far more used (and in the female form, it's almost exclusively understood as such) with the meaning of "(elementary school) teacher" (well, at the very least in Northern Italy). If they choose to use "Maestra" for Gali.. it's going to sound pretty awkward. I would've probably picked "Padrone/a" myself (which means ruler or owner, but can also mean master or expert), but guess I can't expect much from the same people (probably) who thought that translating Witch Doctor into "Dottor Witch" was a good idea.

Actually in the Italian version of lego.com\bionicle, they call her "Maestra", so I guess the title written in the catalogue was simply wrong. I'd have chosen "Padrone" that basically means "Lord".

Thanks for the pictures and for the review! At first I didn't like Gali that much, but now I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy the set.

The mask is okay, but I would have liked it to be more similar to the original one.

[Igniton]

The best set from this wave!

[Jakura Nuva]

"Master of Sexiness"?

If only the guys from the TTV Boards were here right now XD

Anyways, great review. Gali definitely ranks in my Top 3, along with Tahu and Kopaka. Her weapon seems a bit... unwieldy, I guess? I would've preferred two smaller axes - then again, that would be too similar to Lewa :P.

Either way, she's a great set. Going on my wish list!

Edited December 9, 2014 by Jakura Nuva

[Logan McOwen]

Gorgeous. That's the word for Gali. Not a fan of the awkward "girly" head-tilting in your photos though :P

[bjj8383]

May be my favorite, due to the weapon, feet, and shoulders.

[LK901]

I think the mask could've had a more feminine look. Other than that, great set and even better review!

[Voxovan]

I think the mask could've had a more feminine look. Other than that, great set and even better review!

It's definitely more feminine than her previous masks though.

[One Very Agile Cat]

It's definitely more feminine than her previous masks though.

It certainly is. I would prefer not to have a super-girly mask. The original Gali wasn't super feminine. She's a warrior, afterall. Just as long as it's not like the Mistika version. Gali's probably the most perfect, not in need of mods, of the new sets.

[MrManiac]

I actually wasn't planning to pick up this set until I saw your review here. You're right, Gali is just fantastic. Probably the best looking of the ones I have so far, especially with her big honking battle-ax.

[zero1312]

I love this set, but I cannot decide how to display her. With flippers on her feet or with her "trident".

[Blast]

Gali is so cool, I swapped her axes with Lewa considering Gali actually has gunmetal on her colour scheme and it flows better and blends in so much better in her Mermaid Mode.

It's a tie between her mask, Lewa's mask and Pohatu's mask for what is my favorite Mask of the 2015 Toa and interestingly enough those are all from the three smaller Toa.

[Still Raindrop]

Things sure have changed--but I think she keeps the spirit of the original quite well!

[Shakar]

That's what I like about these sets. They might not be 100% accurate to the 01 versions (but really, it'd be boring if they didn't bring anything new to the table), but they manage to convey the spirit of the sets and the characters very well.

[Aanchir]

I ought to mention just how great this set's proportions are compared to previous Toa. Seriously, last week I pulled out Toa Metru Vakama from his canister (the Toa Metru being extremely popular in terms of their proportions and articulation), and the new Gali totally blows him out of the water (no pun intended). Her shoulders are less absurdly broad, her torso less flat and narrow... even her arms and legs have better proportions. Same applies for the taller Toa Metru like Nuju and Nokama.

It's great to see how far set designs have come in the past ten years!

[ZORK64]

I just recently bought Gali, and I really like her design... even though I don't care much for her flippers, she's wielding an axe all the time while hanging out here.

Also, this Gali actually manages to teach me another subtle trick to make characters look more feminine: Lowering her shoulders. It's very simple, yet it never occured to me that it would achieve such an effect.

As for the mask, I'm completely fine with its look. It looks much sleeker than her previous masks, but isn't necessarily a "female" mask, like Kiina's or Breez' helmets are (even though I like those very much). It hits the sweet spot of being gender-neutral.

[Aanchir]

Also, this Gali actually manages to teach me another subtle trick to make characters look more feminine: Lowering her shoulders. It's very simple, yet it never occured to me that it would achieve such an effect.

Actually, Gali's shoulders are the same height as Tahu's or Pohatu's. They just aren't raised like Lewa's, Kopaka's, or Onua's, or widened like Tahu's, Kopaka's, or Onua's.

[ZORK64]

Actually, Gali's shoulders are the same height as Tahu's or Pohatu's. They just aren't raised like Lewa's, Kopaka's, or Onua's, or widened like Tahu's, Kopaka's, or Onua's.

Oh, I completely forgot the shoulder height of Tahu, as I already took him apart for a MOC (which is actually a mix of him and Kopaka), I only remembered he also had rather broad shoulders.

It's even more odd now considering that Tahu has similiar shoulder armour, so apparently it's just the narrower shoulders again, just like with Kiina back then (at least build-wise).

[Aethersprite]

Just built Gali yesterday, and I absolutely adore her. She's the last of all the Toa I build, and easily blows the other smaller sets away. I'd say she's easily one of my faves of the new Toa. The build isn't special, and initially I was a bit put off by her heavier use of silver and gunmetal (which I'm so sick of due to their prominence in HF), but they go so well with the trans-blue and azure. Also, the Kaukau is gorgeous. I was quite impressed by the Pakari and Kakama, but the new Kaukau is hands down my favourite of the new masks, even though it's the one that least resembles the original.