Review: 71301 Ketar Creature of Stone

[VBBN]

Set name: Ketar Creature of Stone

Set number: 71301

Pieces: 80

Price: $10.00 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx

Release date: 2016

Today we will be looking at Ketar, the stone-based creature that is loosely based on a scorpion. What's that, a constraction scorpion that's not named Skopio, Scorpio, or Skull Scorpio? I know, I'm in shock. His name is certainly a step forward in creativity, but is the set a step forward for Bionicle? Let's find out.

Box

Front

Ketar's box is the standard hexagonal shaped box, though made of a sturdier material. There isn't anything of particular interest here from the set information, though I do like Pohatu and the golden mask set in the background.

Back

The back of the box showcases set features and his ability to unite with Pohatu. We will visit his unification feature in the Pohatu review, and look at this set as it would be if you purchased it without buying Pohatu.

New and Interesting pieces

Shadow Trap halves

Like the other five individually packed creatures, Ketar comes with the shadow trap halves in a pearl dark gray.

New bits

For new pieces, we get the new blade piece in silver mixed with lime green, the new crystal add on silver with trans neon green, and a new gear piece. He also comes with the new armor piece, and is the only set besides Umarak to include it in pearl dark gray.

Recolors

For recolors, we get the Vorox armor in dark tan, a glatorian neck in dark orange, the beast fin in dark gray. The other fin is already available in reddish brown in two Chima sets- but, It's relatively rare still and new to Bionicle, so it's worthy of including in this section.

Creature Head

The new creature head is included in silver mixed with trans neon green. The mask has three connection points (one on the nose and two clips behind the "ears") and is actually quite large.

Shadow Trap Build

The new trap pieces work pretty well, they are connected by a system clip-hinge which allows for a decent range of motion for opening and closing.

Completed trap

The trap is finished with a red eye and a tail of sorts. Three traps use this chain tail, which I find a bit silly as it can't be posed in any way, but it does make these things look like literal walking traps, so that's cool. Also, each trap has a unique build, and this one in particular uses arms from the Hero Factory minifigures.

Trap closed

The trap can be opened and closed at varying degrees thanks to the hinge.

Ketar Build

Ketar's build starts with an XT4 and the new unification piece. Now we also begin to build his function, and to be honest, it's my least favorite of all the creatures. In general, Lego has been doing a great job at making functions that keep friction- in other words, the functions don't affect the set structurally This function, however, is loose and has no friction whatsoever.

Legs

The legs add a good amount of articulation, and also quite a bit of height to the figure. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the creatures become quite large with their extremities and wings, even more so than some of the Toa.

Tail

He's a scorpion, so he needs a tail. I'm not entirely happy with the design, but we will get to that in a moment.

Head added

We also add on the glatorian necks. With the other figures that use these gears in such a way, they add a bushing so that the extra little bit of axle is covered, but not here.

Pincers

Err, well, not pincers. Ketar instead wields two swords with the crystal parts added on.

Completed Build

Finished

Here we have Ketar completed. Color scheme wise, there's a lot going on here. We have three shades of brown (Dark orange, dark tan, and reddish brown), and while reddish brown takes over the legs, the other two browns aren't nearly as pronounced. I know some people think three browns is a bit much, but of all the colors, brown is my favorite one to mix as it creates a rusted or apocalyptic look.

Profile

Here we can observe the tail a bit better. Unfortunately, the tail can't really strike forward to 'sting', as the Vorox armor restricts forward movement quit a bit.

Function

Onto Ketar's function. When you move the tail from side to side, the swords move up and down. I would have preferred a stinging function, but this is interesting nonetheless. However, as I said previously, there is no friction at all in this function- his arms are difficult to keep in one place, the entire set always wants to teeter-totter.

GET OVER HERE!

Ketar is a bit tricky to pose, like most crawlers. It doesn't help that the arms are on one joint, so you really can't do a whole lot here. That's not to say you can't get him into some interesting poses though, certainly he is more dynamic than 2015's Skull Scorpio.

My sting is sharper than yours

It's quite impressive how large these creatures can get- In hand, Ketar and his Trap feel more substantial than Pohatu as a set.

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

I know a lot of people have been wanting a Pohatu review, so here's a quick look at him and his pet to show off Ketar's size. (Also take notice of my mistake on Pohatu's arm... the reason I have to reshoot his review.)

Overall

Ketar is a decent figure on his own. He's a good size, I like his colors, and he's got a good amount of new and recolored parts when compared to the other creatures in the wave. He could possibly be one of the best standalone creatures, I just wish that his function wasn't so floppy, and maybe if his tail could bend forward more it might help with creating some more dynamic poses. On the flip side, he has the weakest unification mode, as we will see in Pohatu's review- so if you get him, I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy Pohatu just for that reason. Like the rest of the creatures, I would recommend him.

[xboxtravis7992]

But I thought Pohatu hated scorpions?

Nice review. The creatures all look to be very inventive, while reminding us of the Rahi of Bionicle of yore.

[Fulcrumfan91]

Thanks for the review, will Pohatu be reviewed tonight? Or is it just Ketar?

[Dorek]

Yeah, Ketar is probably my least favorite of the creatures. Just really awkward and gangly. Them colors, though...

[VBBN]

Pohatu will come Friday. I will not have a chance to correct his photos until then. Expect the fiery duo tomorrow.

[Dr_Chronos]

I'm already warming up to this little guy. He really stands out from the rest of the creatures. All of his other pals easily resemble real animals, it's not difficult to imagine them as such. Thanks to his sword arms Ketar stands out as some kind of fantasy mechanical scorpion, his structure is so alien that it works. While I'm on the swords I'd like to mention that Ketar uses the crystal addon the best. By combining it with the sword the part really puts it's transitional nature to its best use. It actually looks like it's integrated into Ketar unlike its usual slapped on look on other sets.

Now I'm not a fan of how exposed the Technic portion is on Ketar. It's distracting and ugly to honest. Some cover on the Glatorian necks or the front would have been greatly appreciated. The gappiness of that area wrecks the look of set. Not to mention the potentially good function is plaqued by a lack of friction. Not much to say about the tail since it's just a trigger, but it doesn't look very good. I kinda wish they continued with the alien design and replaced the stinger with some kind of non-functional blaster or sensor. Heck a wrecking ball would have been awesome.

The colors surprisingly work good, although I think the Dark Tan Vorox armor should have been replaced with silver.

Now while the intention was great, the execution is lackluster. Overall Ketar wins me by his unique and derpy charm. I approve of different and even weird designs like Ketar in the future.

Pohatu: Pohatu's forearms are seriously killing my eyes. Stahp! His colorscheme looks better than I thought, but he definitely needs more reddish brown. I need to replace those neon shells for something else.

[MakutaOfWar]

Well, I kept telling myself that I liked Pohatu 2016 more then '15, judging by that last pic I was wrong, but I shall wait for his review before getting into that.

As for Ketar, definitely not the best, but neither the worst. I'd prefer this over Aquagon-er-Evo Walker perhaps. Functions!

[YellowCorvette]

Thanks for the review. Ketar isn't my favourite Creature of this wave because of the exposed Technic build, but he's still a good standalone set to pick.

[Bbrink1996]

Wow, I really like this guy. I did since we first saw him actually. Definitely one of my favorites next to Uxar.

[Logan McOwen]

I like him now a lot more than I used to, but I still think he's pretty sub-par. The function is alright, but the lack of friction is mind-bogglingly sill. And that tail... Yikes.

[Aethersprite]

I like him! It's a shame that his function is so loose, but I can live with that. I'm not planning on getting Pohatu, so Ketar'll be a nice standalone set.

I still for the life of me can't figure out why Lego recoloured the Vorox shell to tan just for this set, though. I wish Pohatu would use it.

[Tahu]

AWESOME!!!!!!

[TheDesuComplex]

I have to say that I do really like Ketar. Not because he is the most solid set- he seems very questionable in many places (Why are one Kaiju Fin and one 4M bone in Dark Bley (A new color for the former as far as I know)? Why is there the extra socket and balljoint underneath the Piece of Unification? Why move his arms so far forward and have his tail made of Technic?)- but for the potential that he brings to the table. I still think it's a shame that you can't wrap his legs around Pohatu's torso (as confirmed by Ta-Metru Defender on BZP), which would help clean up the Unity quite a bit.

If I end up seeing him in stores, he will probably be the first Creature I buy so I can try out as many new parts as possible. Heck, I will probably buy a duplicate for the parts later on.

[Kalhiki]

Gotta vote Below Average on this one. He's just... Really janky. The bottom half is good. But then the function, arms, and tail assembly is just plonked on the top. Doesn't look too great. Though that's not to say he's bad. The Creatures are all pretty cool and I'll get 'em all, but I will say Ketar isn't my favorite.

Also might move the tail to that open axle on his back and just put a gear or something to activate the function. Not a fan of moving his tail to swing his arms.

[VBBN]

I have to say that I do really like Ketar. Not because he is the most solid set- he seems very questionable in many places (Why are one Kaiju Fin and one 4M bone in Dark Bley (A new color for the former as far as I know)?

Likely because Uxar uses five of them.

[Fulcrumfan91]

I don't know why....but I actually really like Ketar. Yeah, his tail is there for show, the crystal 'claws' are flimsy and loose, but the function looks like it'd be really fun to use. Maybe a little more posability and Ketar could turn into a really fun creature. Considering his combination with Pohatu though, I'm pretty sure he'll make a trusty steed for little Nilkuu in my collection.

[CabooseBM]

Got Ketar today, and I can't say I like her very much. The function is weak enough as it is, but being floppy and ugly doesn't help at all. The smattering of browns sucks, and overall she shares the same lack of form that the Uniters do. It's also hard to imagine what function she serves as a backpack, at least Akida provides guns.

I like scorpions, and I like even better that she's a protagonist scorpion, but the execution here is little better than Akida's technic mess.

Edited January 19, 2016 by CabooseBM

[Logan McOwen]

Here's a more elegant mechanism I came up with. This little critter still doesn't really do much good United, but at least he/she/it has some friction at the shoulders now.