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REVIEW: 71313 Lava Beast

Set Opinion  

43 members have voted

  1. 1. How would you rate this set?

    • Outstanding
      10
    • Above Average
      16
    • Average
      13
    • Below Average
      2
    • Poor
      2


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Set name: Lava Beast

Set number: 71313

Pieces:114

Price: $14.99 | £9.99 | €14.99

Release date: 2016

Welcome to my review of Lava Beast! Is this fiery demon a worthy purchase? Are those trans black pieces? Does his mother actually love that face? Let's find out!

These sets were graciously provided by LEGO to review- All thoughts in this review are my own opinions and not those of LEGO.

Front

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Lava beast is surrounded by quite a sickly and corrupted looking backdrop, with a kneeling Tahu set behind him. Please note that this is the European packaging, and as such the information displayed on the front of the box may vary in regards to showing piece count, hazard warnings, etc.

Back

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The back highlights the set's features, and also a combo model with Umarak the Destroyer. I haven't looked at the instructions for this model just yet, but visually it looks similar to the Evo XL machine combo, where the end result is essentially Umarak with a few random beast bits thrown about. Eh.

Interesting parts

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Firstly, lets look at the recolors- The standard 'skull" piece is now introduced in trans neon green! We also have the blade from earlier in the year in black mixed with orange (and you get four of them!). Lava Beast has a special chest print, which rounds off the recolors- with once exception, which we will get to momentarily. As for new parts, first we have the new crystal piece in trans....black? To get a CCBS piece in trans black is interesting, certainly I won't argue with a new trans color being introduced. On the other hand, this means we don't get this piece in trans neon orange, and I do hope we see such a recolor somewhere down the line. (And conversely, I hope we get more trans black parts to make this one more purposeful...)

Next, we have the beast mask, which looks decent, but does of course suffer from what I call "Hewkii" syndrome, in the sense that it's more of a half mask that doesn't cover the face entirely. We also get the new lower jaw piece, which...I don't like. At all. My first problem with this piece is it just looks ridiculous on the finished beast, which you'll see among all of the beast photos. It also only comes in gunmetal, which matches none of the beast's faces (However, it does look best on Lava Beast, since black is a close tone.)

Mask

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We also get Tahu's Hau recolored in red blended with trans neon green. It's meant to evoke a "corrupted" look, and as such it doesn't look quite so great on the Toa. It's a cool idea, but personally I would have liked if the blend was something more akin to the original poisoned Hau Nuva.

Torso

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Lava Beast is the only of the three beasts to utilize the turntable torso.

Legs

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The beasts each have a unique custom shin build. While that sounds cool in theory, the actual execution here is...is...well, I'm not sure this one took as much thought as it should have. Also notice the stabilizer on the back of the foot, a welcome addition.

Hands

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Lava Beast also gets some custom hands with articulated fingers!

Head

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Quake beast reminds me of Bruizer, and Lava Beast here brings back memories of Pyrox- once again we have a fire villain with horns, because it's not a fire villain if it doesn't have them. Clearly. The trans neon head is appreciated as it gives more eye color to the face! We finish this off with the lower jaw- notice that if you want to close the jaw, you will trigger the mask to fly off. That's a shame- I think it would have been cool if they had made some mechanism where you could have "snapped" the jaw with a function at the back of the head.

Frame

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We add the head on with the help of a construct involving a shadow trap halve.

Wings

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Another "function" is these wings here. It's simple, and basically you can turn the large gear to swing out the upper blade.

Front

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Lava Beast ties together quite well! I really enjoy the look of the wings here- at first I wasn't a fan of them in the way that I had seen them posed, but they add a real menacing wingspan to the beast.

Side

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Since his head sits forward quite a bit, it does fill in his torso a bit.

Back

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I'm really not sure what effect they were going for with the shadow trap piece, but it works. Unfortunately his back is quite bare and exposed.

From fire itself

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I must admit, while Lava here was at first my least favorite of the beasts, having him in hand has propelled him to being my favorite. He just looks evil. More than the other beasts, and even surpasses Umarak the Destroyer.

You're mine

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The wings add a really cool visual flare to the beast- They pose well with his arms, and the added finger poseability really brings out some fun poses with this one.

A deal to be made

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THe wings can turn into a more traditional weapon as a sort of straight blade, which works. I don't tend to keep them in this position, but this gives purpose to the spinning waist gimmick.

Size Comp

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He does fall a bit short compared to his arch enemy Tahu, standing about a head shorter.

Corruption

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Unlike the other two beasts, Lava Beast doesn't get a proper trap to hold the corrupted mask, instead he hold with with his claws. All things considered, this is a more secure connection than the trap halves on the other beasts, which you can see in their respective reviews.

Overall

Lava beast is, in my opinion, the coolest looking of the beasts. He comes with some decent new parts and recolors, and has a decent build. Unlike the other two beasts, his functions aren't quite as unique, but I think they work for what he is. He's well proportioned, poses well, and manages to make the jaw piece look, well, somewhat alright. If you are looking to pick up any of the beasts, Lava here would be my most highly recommended in terms of being a solid, well-built figure. If you are looking for a more interesting build, the other beasts may suit your fancy more.

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My favorite of the beasts. The decent head mobility makes a huge difference when talking about the jaw, and the flame blades are goofy but fun (and recolored!).

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Very clearly a well designed set. It is also above average for me because I can't stand how they've been using that torso build....it just feels weak. The functions are nothing special, but the colours and overall look are excellent. He's on par for me with SB

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Lava Beast is excellent, I'm really impressed with him. Like you say, he does just reek of "evil". The trans black crystall shells (which should've been addons, not shells) look brilliant over the top of trans orange bones, giving the impression of crystalline lava on his body - I mean, we had solid balls of air and light in G1, so why not crystallised lava? The chest print is magnificent, and oh-so reusable. The custom hands/claws are brilliant, especially paired up with those wonderful... wings? Plumes? Weapons? Whatever they are, they're cool, and really help Lava Beast look more evil and dragon-like. The head design is interesting, but I've found that the extra balljoint is a little bit problematic when moving his head about the place. The empty back is a sad consequence of low parts budget, that I think could've been negated if it weren't for those awful lower legs - What is with these Beasts and "zomfg custom!!!!!" legs? They look bloody awful.

Anyway, Lava Beast is definitely my favourite. 9/10.

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I've come to really love this guy. He's got the most consistent (if overused) colour scheme, most useful parts and actually looks GOOD- that is, something I'd like to buy and revamp into something bigger, unlike the other two Beasts.

The back and the legs aren't the Best, but for 15 Euro it's ok.

Thanks for the reviews.

Edited by Shakar

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Did you really find Lava Beast the most impressive of the beasts? He was one of the least impressive to me. Visually, he's got a fairly basic physique (apart from the absurd lower legs) and a color scheme that tries to make four different types of orange work together and STILL ends up looking less interesting than the other Beasts thanks to the overall lack of any contrasting accent color. His functions both work well but neither is all that dynamic or visually impressive. The hands and neck are the only real parts of him that stand out as a net positive.

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Much like Quake being an example of neat idea, poor execution, Lava Beast seems to the example of tried and true. Not much in terms of creativity, but the overall looks great (legs aside).

Don't know if I'll get him, though. Been trying to limit my spending, but he's definitely an option.

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Voting above-average for this one as well. Not my personal favourite but I admire the consistency of Lava Beast, and those trans-black shells are something else. He definitely exudes evil very clearly, however his hand-blades look a bit unwieldy IMO.

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I wouldn't be so hesitant to buy these, especially not Lava Beast as he is my favourite, if the heads/masks had been better. As it is, the weird static jaws and the chin of the neon head coming through bug me somewhat.

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I can definitely appreciate this being the most aesthetically unified of the Beasts with the demon motif, and the four (!) 5M bones in the Tr. Fl. Reddish Orange color alongside providing the new crystal shells in Tr. Brown. The 'wings' certainly do look weird, but I do enjoy the odd function they do have to them. I just wonder where the Tr. Fl. Green went?

Edit: Since I don't have much to say about him otherwise, I will go ahead and mention the Beast heads. Using the normal head in a transparent color to represent the eyes is a stroke of genius and I love the mold for the 'mask', I am definitely in the camp of not liking the jaw. I would have much rather had the jaw molded to look like a mutated and corrupted half of a shadow trap- they could have even used the shadow trap piece itself. One way to help the gap is to switch these pieces and the red axles out with this piece- bringing the jaw up half a module helps a little to close the gap and make it seem more like the chin of the head is the membranes within the mouth cavity, which I believe was the intent.

Edited by TheDesuComplex

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f. One way to help the gap is to switch these pieces and the red axles out with this piece- bringing the jaw up half a module helps a little to close the gap and make it seem more like the chin of the head is the membranes within the mouth cavity, which I believe was the intent.

That's a good idea, I'd like to see what that looks like now...

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Nice review. :thumbup:

was on the fence about picking up this set until I saw it priced accidentally for 10.99 at my local TRU. I wasn't disappointed. The proportions and possibility is excellent, and it looks perfect in my NK Lava Monster army.

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Nice review. :thumbup:

was on the fence about picking up this set until I saw it priced accidentally for 10.99 at my local TRU. I wasn't disappointed. The proportions and possibility is excellent, and it looks perfect in my NK Lava Monster army.

It was priced the same at mine, so I picked it up yesterday. I have yet to build it, but I'm looking foward to it quite a bit as this looks to be my favorite of the beasts. Was going to pick up ekimu as well, but he was marked up all the way to $22.99. Ouch.

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Lava Beast is the only Beast I have yet. He is a really awesome figure. I love how evil he looks. I have him on display fighting Gali and Akida (my only 2016 Toa so far) surrounded by a horde of Skull Spiders and Shadow Traps.

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