DuplexBeGreat

Umarak referred to solely as "the evil Hunter". The Mask of Control referred to solely as "the Golden Mask". Goal being to "save the world" instead of, y'know, Okoto. I liked this commercial more when I couldn't understand what the narrator was saying.

So, based on the leaked images, I think it's pretty clear that the fan theories about the MoCo turning Umarak into a mindless beast were correct. While I personally was hoping that "the Destroyer" was a more regal/noble version of the Hunter--- like a sort of arrogant villain who believes he should rule to bring about a more "peaceful" world, or something like that--- that is sadly not the case. Instead, we get an Umarak who is on the same level as his new Beasts. A few details that I wanted to point out--- Ekimu's right arm seems to be black-accented, while his left is gold-accented. I think this means Ekimu's been corrupted in some way, to the point where he has to fight the corruption to remain good. The Mask that Ekimu is standing on kinda looks like Umarak the Hunter's Mask turned black. As I said in the Set Discussion: I really hope this leads to some sort of "redemption" story where the heroes must calm the rampaging Umarak the Destroyer by returning his Mask to him, turning him "good" and thus giving him our first complex villain story arc of G2! As for the Corrupted Toa Masks... I'm not going to speculate on those. They turned out to be much less important in 2015 than we expected, so who knows what they'll do this time around.

Wow, these came way sooner than I expected. Ekimu: I'm hoping that this amount of trans-blue is very, very preliminary. The image quality makes it hard to tell how that color distribution will look as a real set, but so far I'm not impressed. I like the build, even if it is simple. Also--- does anyone else see this? He seems to have a sort of Splitface-esque aesthetic going on, where his right arm is black-accented and his left arm is gold-accented. Interesting story ramifications--- Ekimu has been corrupted?! And I really want to know what the Mask under his foot is. The fact that he's standing on it implies it's not something that belongs to him, or to another hero. There's an ominous volcano in the background of his box art. Umarak: Um. I was really hoping that "the Destroyer" would become more grand, more regal, more... I don't know. This design isn't inherently bad, it's just not what I was hoping for--- even if my hope was completely unsubstantiated. I do like the build for what it is, though, and the head design with the corrupted MoCo and giant, er, mouth? seems pretty interesting. I can't see the Beasts' images very well in this quality, but for the most part they don't seem too bad to me, despite what others have said. I'm glad that Storm Beast mixes in some darker blue instead of just being Kopaka's trans-blue. Thoughts on the Corrupted Masks will have to wait for clearer images. And yes, I'm getting MAJOR Brain Attack vibes from these guys. EDIT: Tumblr page on which I found the images claims that the Mask under Ekimu's foot is a full-black Umarak the Hunter mask. That's certainly plausible from these images, and if that is the case, I really hope this leads to some sort of "redemption" story where the heroes must calm the rampaging Umarak the Destroyer by returning his Mask to him, turning him "good" and thus giving him our first complex villain story arc of G2!

Purchased Uxar, Lewa, Kopaka & Melum, and Umarak off of Amazon just now as my first round. After adding Uxar to my shopping cart I was shown a list of "Other people who bought this also bought:", organized by popularity. Amusingly, the last two on the list were Pohatu and Ketar.

"Although Vizuna had heard legends of the Toa since childhood, they had only recently arrived on the island. Of the six, he had met only Lewa, Master of Jungle, who wore green armor, and was armed with swords and battle axes that could be transformed into an X-glider that allowed Lewa to fly. But because Vizuna was so familiar with the legends, he easily recognized the other Toa." Urrrrrgh.

Oh my, it looks even better than it did before. Can't wait for the review.

The review pictures have improved my opnion of Onua, but I'm still not sure about that weird asymmetrical arm.

Daaaaaaang. I was bandwagoning initially, with the whole "he has too much gold" thing, but WOW he really does have altogether way too much gold.

Interesting thoughts! I didn't literally mean that I see the character as representing an "Angel of Death", I just meant that I liked the aesthetic... but I'm glad it inspired you to expostulate on this! :P

I still don't get why everyone sees Melum as soooo vastly inferior. If Terak didn't exist, Melum would be fine as a set. You're not looking at this objectively--- Melum has maybe 5 fewer parts than Terak does. That doesn't justify making it cheaper than every single other creature.

Massive official image dump? Probably should've expected this would happen right when I leave for a week. Time for updated personal opinions. Rahi/Creatures: I already loved Uxar from the leaks, and this makes me love him even more. The aesthetic is solid and there aren't any details that stick out more than necessary. The color is gorgeous, the insect concept is cool, and it's neither too simple nor too complex. Definitely going to be among the first ones I get. My opinion of Ketar has definitely increased, but I'm still not sure if I'll be getting him or not. It's a nice concept and design, but the colors don't work too well in my opinion--- just like with '15 Pohatu and Nilkuu--- and the tail's connection pieces don't appeal to me. Akida looks cool, very cool. The clashing colors work perfectly, the design is solid, no real complaints. That said, I personally don't care much for a creature that can't walk, so probably not getting this one unless the combination with Gali turns out to be a must-get. Ikir is... less impressive that I originally thought. Fire, cool. Birb, cool. He just looks... I don't know... skimpy? I get that they're working with a limited piece count, and a lot of work went into the wings, but still, it just seems like his torso isn't enough of a torso. I'm undecided. Terak is still very nice. Wonderful colors, cute yet powerful creature aesthetic, no major sticking points. The WOW effect has worn off, so he's less amazing than from the leaks, but probably still my second favorite creature. EDIT: Not sure how I didn't notice this before, but Terak has non-trans purple spikes and gray secondary coloring on his armor. I really don't like either of these things. Not so sure about this guy any more. Toa/Uniters: Lewa is just... wow. What is it with the Jungle characters looking so freaking fantastic this wave? I love everything about this guy. Color scheme still looks great even without Keetorange; it's not worse, just different. His grey "hair" actually doesn't look too bad thanks to the grey armor all over the place. His weapons appeal to me a lot more than they did at first, and his body structure seems to fit the character personally. And then I look at the combo between Lewa and Uxar, and just WOW! So. Freaking. Majestic. Those wings... that helmet... the overall concept, the motif, the I-don't-even-know-what-I-just-love-this-so-much. Even the gold mask looks more like an eye-catching highlight rather than an out-of-place gimmick. Definitely getting both these guys and combining them. My only complaint? The red axles used in Lewa's weapons are ridiculously distracting and detract immensely from the set's appearance. Wait a moment. Fawning over Lewa to a ridiculous degree? Hating red axles? I'm literally Eljay right now. Moving on to Pohatu. Like his Creature counterpart, he looks a lot better than in the leaked images, but I'm still undecided on whether to get him or not. The colors are... interesting, I'm just not sure whether they fall on the "weird" or the "creative" side of that line. The dual handed weapon actually seems to work quite well. His lower legs and feet definitely need more brown of some kind. His combo model is very bulky, and gives off the vibe of "tribal warrior", not sure if that's intentional or not. It actually manages to significantly improve the overall color scheme by bringing together the displaced colors from each set to match each other. The tail does seem somewhat out of place, though. Gali is another one that I like a lot more now that I've seen the official images. In my opinion, she pulls off the asymmetry way better than Pohatu did. Her weapon is a cool design, and the combo model is another amazing work. She actually looks like a fish, which is a good thing. The tail works a lot better than Pohatu's combo model as well. Not much else to say about her. Moving on to... Tahu. Sigh. My problem with him isn't the gold, as it is with many people, as much as it is the... lack of cohesion. It seems like they just slapped random armor on him as much as they could, without any actual thought involved. I really, really don't like his mask design, and the weapons are too bulky. I agree with others that he is waaaaay too tall. I'm not sure why he's the only Toa that I absolutely can't stand, but... there you have it. I will say, though, that his combo model isn't too bad, with the exception that OH GOD WHY WHY WHY does he have those THINGS on his feet?! What the Karzanhi?! I get that it's supposed to tie in with the blue printing on his chest piece, but UGGGGHHHHHH it just doesn't work! There's not nearly enough blue in the rest of the set to make it look like a solid contrasting color, and it just comes out as... bad. It's way more noticeable and horrible in the combo image than in the Tahu standalone images. Onua was my favorite of the Uniters in the leaks... not so much anymore. I wasn't sure why people were complaining that he had lost his bulk, but now I can definitely see why that's a problem. His mask isn't too great either, and while the purple is a nice color for him in theory, it's just applied in all the wrong places. Probably not getting this guy. His combo model doesn't help either, with Terak's legs sticking out awkwardly and the overall effect of the combo not adding anything to him other than shoulder padding. I may get Terak, but not Onua. Other/Large sets: As before, I like Melum despite what other people say about him being a "worse Terak clone". I mean, yes, he's a clone, but I think he still looks cute and a solid design. Having a silver chest plate with the rest of his armor and his head being gold is... weird... but doesn't take away from the overall look of the set too much. Kopaka, though. I feel like there was so much potential here, but it was wasted. His build is great, amazing, love it. But the colors just screwed everything up. Random dark blue armor?! Why?! A total lack of gold in his upper body and arms! A white-and-grey mask just DOES NOT work! His weapons look great, as do his legs, but the upper portion is just ugly. The mask design really doesn't appeal to me either. The combo model looks slightly better, but it has the same problem with the creature's legs that Onua's does, and overall I'm just really disappointed. And finally... the big man himself. Umarak, the Hunter! Mata Nui, that name is awesome. Right. The set. I'm in the "weird-but-makes-it-work-really-really-well" camp. His colors, focusing more on black but still using a delicious dark red, and adding in that wood-y brown, do an amazing job of giving off the right villainous vibe. The trans-green scattered throughout the set, especially on the mask, looks creepy and improves the design even further. The tan horns on the bow and mask seem ridiculously large at first, but as with the rest of the set, it just somehow works. The mask's design is beautifully evil as well, and thankfully it's black! That magazine image had me worried. I haven't even started on his details! The trap pieces for shoulder armor are an ingenious idea that works really well. The way that his bow curves unorthodoxically is also neat and accentuates the idea that Umarak is not your average being. The random chains here and there? Love it. The hip-mounted blade? LOVE IT. The technic legs are weird, but wonderfully nostalgic of the Titans from '05 and on. And then we come to the images of him combined with the Creatures, and I start screaming freakishly. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. I actually didn't anticipate that Umarak would have a combining function, but GOD it works so well... in particular with Uxar, who, if I haven't already said it enough, is my favorite Creature. I may just need to get TWO Uxars just so I can combine him with both Lewa and Umarak! The wings--- the regalness--- the angel-of-death motif--- the GREEN--- AAAAAGH! Umarak-with-Uxar is too perfect! Alright, I'm done. TL;DR: UXAR UXAR UXAR LEWA LEWA LEWA UMARAK UMARAK UMARAK alsoTahusuckskthxbai

Hold on, when was anything confirmed to be a creation of Grinder? The box descriptions say he used the MoC to do it, but the animations seem to imply he'd never worn it before he used it to defeat the Toa.

Yeah, same, I just don't think they'd actually do that at the rate they're going. We'll see what they do with Umarak, but for now the best I would hope for in this situation is a minor reference to Roodaka being a "master of treachery" or Brutaka being an "ancient being who once served the light".

I'd rather they bring back a few characters from G1's middle years (such as Roodaka or Brutaka), but without making any explicit connections to G1. Just like we have new versions of the same Toa, we'd get new versions of other classic characters. There's no need to even remotely hint that there's "another world" as long as they introduce them properly (heck, they could even take the Skull Grinder approach and give them no introduction at all other than "this is one of Makuta's many servants"), so I think it would be a nice way to please older fans without confusing younger ones.

I wouldn't have a problem with stickers if they didn't inevitably come off and leave behind residue.

I disagree. The beauty of G1 is that after 2004, we had a whole *universe* out there, with plenty of room for headcanons, original characters, and everything. Now we just have a single island, and it feels like there's no room to manuever because every moment of the Toa's journey is accounted for (at least once they got inside the City, which is where all the action takes place anyway.)Edit: To clarify. I don't expect them to stay on Okoto forever. But as long as they are, there just doesn't seem like any potential for creativity.

There's a difference between "micromanaging canon" and having, at the very least, ONE appearance of a fairly significant weapon. He was seen actually putting the hammer together--- it was created right there, on the spot. The shield definitely didn't exist at that moment. You can say that he may have picked it up later--- but you can also say that he didn't.

But the fact that they displayed it alongside next years pieces suggests greater significance.

Awesome. I'm looking forward to watching this.

Oh, I don't doubt that. I'm just wondering why everyone seems to assume that our current Toa will get a third remake in 2017 when there's no precedence for that.As for Takanuva, I think it's safe to say at this point that Ekimu represents Takanuva for this story.

How do we know there will actually be new 2017 Toa (or new versions of the current ones)? There weren't any in 2003.

I really loved this episode. I could find almost nothing to complain about. The voice acting, the sound effects, the sequencing--- everything was delivered very well, in my opinion. I did notice a small animation goof. In the scene where the Toa get hit by Grinder and their weapons and masks go flying, Onua is standing to the "right" of Gali (from the viewers' point of view), yet his weapon is positioned to the left of hers. Additionally, in the final scene, none of the Toa have their weapons... except Tahu and Lewa. Okay. Still, neither of these things reduces the enjoyment of the episode for me. I think it was a fitting ending to the year, though I am disappointed that Ekimu simply remade their old masks. I mean, what's even the reason that they get new ones next year, then? Edit: http://i.imgur.com/oHweWIu.png Ekimu jumps on Tahu's back to hit Kulta. I find this very funny for some reason.

I would love something like that. We desperately need worldbuilding in a visual media.... Though at the same time, I'm slightly worried that the jocular approach that Lego has taken towards side-stories in the years since 2002 (see: The Yoda Chronicles) would result in these new animations being less story-focused and more comedy.

I just hope it doesn't turn into a situation where these four episodes are all devoted to the story of the Winter arc, and then the series "continues" with each successive arc squashed into one episode each.

That's why I said almost.And there's no need to insult me by saying something like "Don't get it?" I'm just giving my opinion on the animations.