REVIEW: 71310 Umarak the Hunter

[VBBN]

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed the review and rest assured everyone else is on the way.

Photo requests will be handled once all reviews are complete (In some cases your request might get answered in another review, so I hold off until the end for that). To answer a question, when you put figures onto Umarak when he has the trap pieces on, his actual arm articulation isn't limited, however not all of the creatures work very will with it. For example, Terak and melum's hands are supposed to rest on shoulder pieces, but with the trap pieces they don't sit all too well. Your best bet for creatures is to use either Uxar or Ikir. (Ikir works the best as his wings are bent back more than Uxar's are.

Oh, and there is no storage for the extra shadow trap parts. Draik's suggestion is the best you can do.

Plain green? I don't see any Bright Green or Dark Green in that picture. Are you sure you're not mistaking the Dark Stone Grey and Silver Metallic parts from the reverse side of his wings for green parts?

Speaking of which, his wings almost look like they're Trans. Fluor. Green in that picture, rather than Trans. Bright Green like the other Jungle sets use. But it's probably just the photography. I guess I'll find out when the review goes up.

They are trans bright green. My reviews during the winter are generally slightly more exposed and given how thin those parts are they appear much brighter than they should.

[Pate-keetongu]

Thanks for the review, VBBN - Looking forward the next ones.

I voted "average". I like the wendigo-like ide behind this guy, and the price isn't bad at all. I also really like the Mask of Control (Some say it look like an old grumpy dwarf; I like old grumpy dwarves). But somehow this looks a bit random. The colors are pretty cool, but a bit cluttered. For example the horns that have three colors on them; Recoloring triple connectors in Dark Tan would have improved it a lot, or they could have used dark brown spider legs (though I prefer having the recolors). I also feel there is too much bley/flat silver, as dark red/trans-bright green and black look great together.

And yeah, the "bow". Spring shooter would have been cooler. Now it's pretty identical to Skull Warrior's bow.

I can't like the legs neither. It's positive that the designers tried something different, but those just don't look good. They might be fun to pose with, though, but of course I can't know that.

[Tarvaxx]

This was a good review! The shoulders are a bit wonky, but the design is actually really cohesive for the most part, and I love the legs. They have that deer hind leg look to them. I know they might not be everyone's cup of tea and they are a bit gappy, but they personally don't bother me. I mean, to me it just solidifies his place as a mechanical freak of nature. XD

[Nuju Metru]

Agh, you beat my review by less than a day (if Andrew posts mine soon)! I agree that Umarak is a solid set, and based on what I've seen of the other 2016 BIONICLE stuff he comes out on top for me, too.

[Kalhiki]

Oh, and there is no storage for the extra shadow trap parts. Draik's suggestion is the best you can do.

Ah well. Yeah, I'll probably just do what Draik said. I just like it when there's an official storage spot.

And there seems to be plenty of areas on him to allow for part storage, so that's good.

[TheOneVeyronian]

Very nice! Out of all the sets, I think I'm going to make this my first Bionicle purchase in the New Year. There's just something about a dark, evil anthropomorphic zombie deer that really strikes a chord with me. Great stuff.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Dark Red barbs though, those are brand spanking new in that colour and I couldn't be more eager to get my hands on a bunch of them. I've been waiting years for that barb to appear in a red colour!

[Onepu the Protector]

Could you please give me a close-up of the mini-comic? :) I wonder if the artstyle changed in any way.

[Scarilian]

I really like Umarak's mask, especially how they went with the black and trans colour scheme instead of the silver and trans which they seemed to be considering. Just helps make him feel like he's an individual threat rather than just another skull villain that Makuta concocted or something similar.

The Mask Of Control, i'm not the biggest fan of. While admittedly it has a similar general design to the Mask Of Control seen in the animations, the smooth head and the general smoothness/curved nature overall just doesnt make it look as intimidating as i would have hoped. I like the ruins on the mask though and the eyes, but other than that it looks less than what i'd hoped for. Hopefully we get a more animated version of the Mask Of Control in a future set

maybe Umarak The Destroyer?

Re-using a similar weapon is a little disappointing, so will probably break apart the bow and use it to add spikes to him instead. He kind of looks better without the 'trap' shoulder pads. Guessing the mouth on his chest is his actual mouth given his mask doesnt appear to have any mouth - though i'll probably use this mouth for a new version of LoSS. Interesting how we get a printed chest piece with eyes in the first year and now a printed chest piece with a mouth in the second... wonder what sort of odd chest piece we'll get in the third year...

Lower legs look a little iffy and a bit disappointed on how the main CCBS body piece is fused with the gear holding piece, would have preferred a way that allowed for more customisation such as having the upper piece have a balljoint attachment so it could be removed from the large body piece - would have allowed us to have titans with individually spinning arms or moving legs or head... so much possibility.

As a set overall, Umarak looks alright. Truth is he'll probably sell really well thanks to the Mask Of Control and being a villain set. Though i'll be interested to see what sort of things they do with the summer villains.

[Shakar]

They are trans bright green. My reviews during the winter are generally slightly more exposed and given how thin those parts are they appear much brighter than they should.

Anime Uxar is saved. Those pieces already exist in trans neon green so it would've been easy to slip in those, but they didn't so I'm glad. At last, the grim era of clashing trans greens comes to an end.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Shakar

[ToaDraco]

I went from really liking this set to loving this set. The cgi does not do him justice, what an incredible set! Definitely a close second favorite from this wave, right after Onua. Also, I actually like the MoC much better than the MoCr. I'ts probably the horns, I like horns. Crowns, not so much, although it's still a fantastic mask. It doesn't appear that the MoC gets a stand like the MoCr does, which is a tad disappointing though it isn't difficult to moc one up with a green base instead of blue.

Edited December 13, 2015 by ToaDraco

[Lyichir]

They are trans bright green. My reviews during the winter are generally slightly more exposed and given how thin those parts are they appear much brighter than they should.

This is a little off-topic, but does that imply that you use natural light for your photos? Because I was afraid I was one of the only ones doing reviews without a decent lighting setup. Our "photo studio" consists of a ream of newsprint that we drape over the end of my bed as a backdrop, and bright (but not too bright) sunlight from the window. Makes it a real pain to try to do reviews in inclement weather.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Lyichir

[Aethersprite]

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed the review and rest assured everyone else is on the way.

Photo requests will be handled once all reviews are complete (In some cases your request might get answered in another review, so I hold off until the end for that). To answer a question, when you put figures onto Umarak when he has the trap pieces on, his actual arm articulation isn't limited, however not all of the creatures work very will with it. For example, Terak and melum's hands are supposed to rest on shoulder pieces, but with the trap pieces they don't sit all too well. Your best bet for creatures is to use either Uxar or Ikir. (Ikir works the best as his wings are bent back more than Uxar's are.

Thanks for that information! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

[DuckBricks]

This seems like a pretty solid set after reading the review. I was at first a bit off-put by the legs but have grown to like them... As others have said, the bow is the only real downside. The Gatling gun stud shooter doesn't really fit with the bow aesthetic and I would have preferred a spring missile instead like the SW Action Figures... Anyway, nice review and looking forward to the rest!

[Lego Dino 500]

I'm pretty excited for 2016 Bionicle now. There's more technic, classic Bionicle pieces, and now we're getting more detailed greebles. It honestly feels like Bionicle is headed back to it's roots, both in figure design and story. Any idea how many more years we'll have Bionicle? I heard three years, but I'm hoping it'll last another 9.

[xboxtravis7992]

^I think Lego has planned "three" but if it sells well it can run another 5, 9, 20, 50+ years. It all depends on sell numbers. Even then, if the theme ends again in 2017, I'll be content that we got a reboot, and the knowledge that someday Lego might bring it back again as Gen 3 :)

Besides, at least the new Bionicle sets would be a better send off for the theme than the Bionicle Stars were...

[btmomegar]

I can't wait to get this set! Umarak seems so much more imposing and awesome than all the skull villains combined.

[Logan McOwen]

I'm sold. He and everything he comes with is wonderful.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Logan McOwen

[VBBN]

This is a little off-topic, but does that imply that you use natural light for your photos? Because I was afraid I was one of the only ones doing reviews without a decent lighting setup. Our "photo studio" consists of a ream of newsprint that we drape over the end of my bed as a backdrop, and bright (but not too bright) sunlight from the window. Makes it a real pain to try to do reviews in inclement weather.

Basically yes, I do have a bit of extra light in the winter (because weather in Michigan is can be so unpredictable) but for the most part I need a light box. Images in the winter are generally more exposed than I'd like, not everything comes out perfect

However, I can say this might be the last round of reviews with my current set up. Provided I get the new wave of Star Wars sets, you can expect that everything will likely take on a gray backdrop, the white and black will be ditched, and overall color should look better as it'll be closer to a light box setup.

[Logan McOwen]

I think a lot of the people commenting on the Piece of Unity being too detailed might not realize how much of that detail is necessary for structural reasons. Granted, the pistons on the sides (which it shares with many of this year's and last year's add-ons) are purely decorative. But the rectangular cavities to each side of the pin holes are not. If that part of the piece were molded solid, then it would not cool properly, and if the "ridges" between those cavities were carved out, it would be too fragile. It's the same reason why this piece has similar cavities on its sides.

Those do not look like structural ridges on the PoU at all, they're much too deep for that kind of purpose. This part is fairly similar in make-up to Takadox and Kalmah's armour parts, and those have no such ridges.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Logan McOwen

[xboxtravis7992]

Those do not look like structural ridges on the PoU at all, they're much too deep for that kind of purpose. This part is fairly similar in make-up to Takadox and Kalmah's armour parts, and those have no such ridges.

I thought the same thing. The Barraki sets were my last G1 sets, and when pictures of the Unity Piece showed up I noticed the similarity.

I however don't mind the extra detail on the Unity Piece, it looks fine to me. It is that new torso which looks over-

detailed

[Leewan]

Thanks for the review, Veebs. This guy is an absolute badass, certainly the only one set of the wave with Terak I'll buy.

[Aanchir]

Those do not look like structural ridges on the PoU at all, they're much too deep for that kind of purpose. This part is fairly similar in make-up to Takadox and Kalmah's armour parts, and those have no such ridges.

The Kalmah armor piece DOES have cavities much like these ones. And just like on this part, they're directly above the section of the piece where the side beams are a full module thick rather than half a module thick. They're just not nearly deep due to the space between the front of the piece and the cross axle holes on the sides being much flatter (just half a module thick rather than two modules). And on the Kalmah piece there's only one such groove on each side because it doesn't have the ridges breaking it up. If these ridges were not present on the Piece of Unification, then there would have to be either an even more conspicuous single cavity on each side, or the section of the part between the front pin holes and the 1-module-thick side beams would be solid plastic and would not cool properly.

The Takadox and Carapar armor shells likewise had large cavities above the side axle holes to allow the part to cool properly. The difference in that case is that the cavities were in the SIDES of the piece rather than the front — the front surface fully covered these cavities in Carapar's case and partially covered them in Takadox's case. Perhaps that might have been a preferable option for the Piece of Unification, but it is essential that the part have cavities of some kind so it doesn't end up with walls a full module thick. The designers had to make a judgment call based on the physical demands of the molding process.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Aanchir

[Dr_Chronos]

Great review!

I liked Umarak before, but I'm absolutely in love with him now. The colors, the build, the mask, everything looks so right. He will be a Day 1 purchase along with Uxar. He doesn't rely heavily on the combination feature to look good which is something the Toa could learn from.

Sole complaints would be the somewhat bland bow and underdeveloped bottom legs, but those are extremely minor complaints.

[GK733]

The Kalmah armor piece DOES have cavities much like these ones. And just like on this part, they're directly above the section of the piece where the side beams are a full module thick rather than half a module thick. They're just not nearly deep due to the space between the front of the piece and the cross axle holes on the sides being much flatter (just half a module thick rather than two modules). And on the Kalmah piece there's only one such groove on each side because it doesn't have the ridges breaking it up. If these ridges were not present on the Piece of Unification, then there would have to be either an even more conspicuous single cavity on each side, or the section of the part between the front pin holes and the 1-module-thick side beams would be solid plastic and would not cool properly.

The Takadox and Carapar armor shells likewise had large cavities above the side axle holes to allow the part to cool properly. The difference in that case is that the cavities were in the SIDES of the piece rather than the front — the front surface fully covered these cavities in Carapar's case and partially covered them in Takadox's case. Perhaps that might have been a preferable option for the Piece of Unification, but it is essential that the part have cavities of some kind so it doesn't end up with walls a full module thick. The designers had to make a judgment call based on the physical demands of the molding process.

Isn't the Unity piece made of harder material too? I'd remember all barraki armor being made of the softer plastic. Could be one reason why there's so many ridges.

[santaends]

Another awesome review.. Umarak's dark tan horns makes my personal to get list. Good range of ccbs parts as well. So glad we got 1 of the previous year's skull torso, breaks the monotony.