MakutaDreadscythe
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Everything posted by MakutaDreadscythe
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They aren't useful on their own, the purpose is to loosen the joint as in some batches the friction makes it impossible to use the waist gimmick, or very tough with a lot of screeching. The idea is to disassemble it to loosen it but it varies. Sometimes it loosens it only a bit but enough to where it doesn't squeak, other times it doesn't have much effect, and other times it loosens too much making the figure top heavy.
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For sake of a warning regarding the waist gimmick. Be careful when trying to loosen the joint by forcibly taking the two pieces apart. The friction can go from tough and squeaky to very slippery (a la Teridax '03) with just a single attempt. Not so bad for Lewa or Pohatu but Onua suffers badly due to his weapon.
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Not sure if I said before but yeah. The wave as a whole is mixed but I do like it so far, though I haven't got any of the creatures yet besides Melum. I put the problems down to a few things. First, the torso. It's both a blessing and an annoyance at the same time. I prefer it to the CCBS torso in that there's room to customise it without being extraneous like Darth Vader's CCBS set. On the other hand it feels 1M too tall and the waist function is annoyingly inconsistent. The torso shell is overly detailed much to the chagrin of a majority of fans but I'll admit it's grown on me. I just wish it was slightly less detailed and allowed for the addition/removal of a superhero chestpiece or a similar alternative like the Kalmah version of the Hordika foot where it's similar but not the same. That blade piece is cool and it works really well with the gimmick but I don't think they did enough to differentiate the weapons compared to last year. Colour distribution is questionable and the trans-colours are a smidge overused IMO (Pohatu's cool but those nuclear arms are eye-searing).
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Still looking over them myself. Very initial thoughts. Ekimu sucks. He is the definition of generic. He does absolutely nothing intersting, his colour scheme reminds us that translucent rave parties do not make for an appealing colour scheme, and is boring. Beyond belief. Umarak is...well okay. I don't know why I expected something civilised from something called "the Destroyer". He at least fulfils that. Again though he just looks sort of bland, especially compared to his Winter counterpart. Also for the love of god that had better be trans yellow. Lava Beast is the blurriest so I can't really judge things like the colours and function. Those legs though. Oh man. If you thought the custom limbs were obtrusive on the first wave, you haven't seen this. No coverage, the balls aren't aligned properly, every advantage of CCBS gone. It's not even an interesting custom build. Just...I don't know. Something to note on the beasts is that they have corrupted versions of the largest toa masks (Tahu - Lava, Onua - Quake, Kopaka - Storm). Quake shows off the new parts better. Face piece looks neat. Colours aren't total megabloks. Etc. Storm is still in progress.
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Decided to order Onua and Kopaka after spending time with the other sets I got previously. They did look better than the other toa but I wanted to hold off so it didn't feel disappointing. Also Melum will end up being the first experience woth some of the creature pieces. As cool as they are they don't immediately interest me. On the whole the wave is a mixed bag. There are some really neat ideas here and there but the execution isn't very smooth. The waist gimmick is really cool once it works, but the QA is lacking; some pieces have too much friction and is squeaks horrendously, others are bordering on being too loose, but not quite. Finally a majority of the masks are really really nice, better than the Nuva masks IMO and really feel "upgrady" to me.
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I would give either Tahu or Pohatu a look at some point. Having them in hand I can safely say they're my favourites. Pohatu modded without his nuclear arms looks pretty solid and his weapon demonstrates the new function really well, particularly if you swap the position of the flail and the sword.Tahu is really not as bad IRL compared to pictures, he really just glows well. Would I prefer more red? Yeah, probably, but he sorta works somehow, and his swords are really cool IMO. TLDR Pohatu is the best '16 toa. Try him.
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That's the point I was making. He still looks bad IMO and the limits in articulation are baffling.EDIT: Built Tahu and Gali now, as well as applied mods where possible. Tahu: Okay so he doesn't have a lot of red, only three pieces even. However I think it's okay. The colour scheme as it is more solid red seems a bit unnecessary. It looks way better in person than on camera. His torso curiously was quite loose, so I switched it with Pohatu's more sturdy (albeit somewhat sweaky) torso. Other than that he's a lot more solid than people give him credit for. Definitely recommend along with Pohatu (my personal favourite of the toa at the moment). Gali: Originally an afterthought I got her for the sake of free shipping (and because I don't have an immediate interest in the creatures). Unfortunately my hunch was correct and she's easily my least favourite. To sum it up she's disproportionate, the mask feels off, and she's boring, which is the worst thing a figure can be.
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Only built Pohatu, Lewa and Umarak so far, current thoughts. Pohatu: Colours need work but I feel he's a big improvement over the incredibly bland Pohatu 15. Torso swivel squeaks tremendously, and feels like it'll break if I try to take it apart as suggested to loosen the joint. CCBS bones on the whole feel too tight and squeak on all of them. Lewa: Same CCBS issues as Pohatu, worse due to the Skrall connection which had I not replaced the thigh bone and hand joint with slightly older parts I have no doubt the Skrall piece would break within mere days. The friction extenders actually have less friction than the bones! And those shoulders are megabloks awful. His arms are comically short because of the shoulders and he just looks bad. It took me a half hour to build him not because it was hard but the techniques had me wondering what in god's name they were thinking. Fifteen minutes was spent sipping tea being philosophical. Umarak: I'm beating a dead horse when I say he's the highlight of not just the wave, but G2. This is what G2 should look like IMO and he really puts the other sets this wave to shame with how awesome he is. Everything WORKS. The torso swivel isn't broken, the bow is cool, he just has character man!
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That's actually an interesting point. Then again HF 2.0 had teething problems of it's own. I'm getting used to the aesthetic and it's a bit more interesting but some design choices are pretty weird like Lewa's shoulders. I do appreciate the other features they've added though, including the IMO underrated waist articulation.
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Tea is amazing. I'll remember that for next time, not that it matters I'd have been busy tonight anyway. I don't feel this year's sets are lazy at all, just not executed with the best of grace. That waist articulation bruh! We got waists!
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Lucky, was out when they came so I gotta wait till tomorrow. Good thing I'm stocked up on tea.
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Have to agree on the articulation, however I will say I appreciate they're trying to do something a bit different with CCBS, despite the questionable execution, and I like the aesthetic for the most part (torso shell is a bit of a stretch though).
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Done my order too, gone with Umarak, Pohatu, Tahu, Lewa and Gali. Not much interest in the creatures yet.
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They're up on the LEGO shop in the UK for purchase now! Begin the hype.
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REVIEW: 71306 Pohatu Uniter of Stone
MakutaDreadscythe replied to VBBN's topic in LEGO Action Figures
If you're taking picture requests can we see Pohatu with Dark Tan/Orange shells on his lower arms? -
I honestly would be okay with a return to normal brown if we're using dark tan, I think it works better personally but that's just me. EDIT: Posted this in the Gali review but I feel it's applicable generally so I'll add it here too. One problem I've seen brought up is the peculiar proportions the sets have, and it's a valid point, though I'm glad some change is being attempted, the torso looked a smidge small on the Masters but nothing too bad, and hey, waist articulation. That's really nice to have! However some sets do look a bit...well weird somehow, despite all having the same length of arms. Figured out what's bugging me in that. Onua and Tahu don't have bad proportions with the exception of the latter's lankiness, same with Kopaka, but then we get to the three smaller toa. The legs don't bother me much on them and they look balanced, but the shoulder placement is too high on them, higher by one module than the taller toa who have longer legs/thicker builds. This sticks out horribly on Gali and Lewa as their hands don't go much further than the hips, Pohatu's are very slightly better. But hey, nothing a few mods can't fix eh? Oh, and Umarak is the greatest thing since sliced bread. TLDR Smaller toa have shoulders higher than larger toa giving them proportions that make the torso look like a greebled banana.
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Anyone spotted these in the UK yet out of interest?
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Finally figured out why her proportions are a bit bonkers. See I was looking at all the toa in succession to see if it was the torso and it does play a part somewhat (one module shorter might be a benefit) however the other toa don't look too bad. Onua and Tahu don't have bad proportions with the expeption of the latter's lankiness, same with Kopaka, but then we get to the three smaller toa. The legs don't bother me much on them and they look balanced, but the shoulder placement is too high on them, higher by one module than the taller toa who have longer legs/thicker builds. This sticks out horribly on Gali and Lewa as their hands don't go much further than the hips, Pohatus's are very slightly better. But hey, nothing a few mods can't fix eh? TLDR Smaller toa have shoulders higher than larger toa giving them proportions that make the torso look like a greebled banana.
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Bionicle 2016 Story Discussion & Rumors
MakutaDreadscythe replied to VBBN's topic in LEGO Action Figures
Gotta say that poster has me massively excited to see what they do with the characters. Something I find quite curious is some of the artistic liberties they take with the sets, some more notable than others, that better convey the ideas of the sets and some of their flaws. Firstly the masks have a lot more of their primary colour with the silver only really used where the crystals start, which greatly benefits some masks. Tahu has thicker legs showing red behind the piece of unity and generally using a lot more red. Lewa curiously does away with the Vorox armour on the lower legs despite it clearly being shown on the shoulders. Even then the shoulders show it attached more like Gali's shoulder armour. It also shows off his weapons very well. Gali's dark azure looks much darker and the trans dark blue is of similar colour. The Vorox thigh is also filled in. Pohatu looks great, and also seems to replace the silver with gunmetal, which I think would have been really cool in the actual set. He also uses more dark orange and dark tan, as well as using Lewa's original shoulder setup. Interesting. Kopaka's unity legs are filled much like Tahu's and the shoulders also seem filled in more, as well as being flush to the shoulder. Onua's only real change is the feet being very slightly smaller. Other than that nothing, because Onua is clearly the best set of 2016, even for LEGO seeing as he has the least liberties taken. -
Having another look at the set the textures are still bad but I can get past it. What's more of an issue are his colours and lanky legs. Legs can be bulked with shells, maybe shrink one module for red upper thigh bones. Sounds insane but I might also give him some silver on his hands and shoulders to even it out a bit, gold by itself looks horribly gaudy IMO.
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REVIEW: 71305 Lewa Uniter of Jungle
MakutaDreadscythe replied to VBBN's topic in LEGO Action Figures
It's not that we're culturally ignorant for the most part, just that even then as tonfa they look somewhat different. I personally prefer twin katanas but hey, to each their own.And for the record I hate his shoulders, not the upper arms but the hordika neck orientation. The sacrifices to articulation for sake of being different really bothers me. -
REVIEW: 71306 Pohatu Uniter of Stone
MakutaDreadscythe replied to VBBN's topic in LEGO Action Figures
Pohatu looks very cool, but I must stress he needs to be modded. Upper arms aren't as bad as I envisioned but those lower arms are eye-searing. They almost gave me a headache IRL just looking at them. -
Just looked on the UK LEGO shop, they have Tahu, Gali, Onua, Kopaka and Umarak as coming soon with descriptions and prices. You'll be pleased to know that the smaller toa have been reduced from £13 to £10! I'm gonna guess that creatures are priced at around £8 but we'll see.
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I must be the only one looking forward to Pohatu. The weapon redeems him and looks to be less of a pain compared to the boomerangs, he has more brown tones and feels a bit more interesting than 15 which felt a bit bland. Of course he has his problems, those trans-neon green shells are eye-searing and the lack of dark orange is puzzling. Also of note are those interesting, if not monstrously impractical upper arms. I'd rather just mod it to do what Gali did with her shoulders and upper arms, just borrow some PoS shells.
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Cheers for the review, only need pics of Pohatu now. I'm actually really excited for him, something about him calls out to me, I don't know what it is though.