Shakar

Beautiful! Yeah, you could make one for the Mask of Control too- the flames exist in trans purple, IIRC.

I could see where they were going for, but it's just bad looking. The sideways gearbox is an interesting idea but it wasn't worth it given the overall result. Really would've been better to use the roating waist torso or a standard gearbox like the SW sets. I'm also not fond of the squat body and tiny limbs. No, the huge right arm doesn't make up for it. And the number of purple used is *gasp* triggering. Trans purple and solid purple can work together (see Onua) but it's just imbalanced here, and the magenta on the chest makes no sense at all. Just stick to a black+trans. purple mask and use a darker purple shade on the chest. Terrible set. Though still better than the waste of plastic that was sold as Bruizer. Thanks for the review.

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.

Ummm what? Umarak the Destroyer is 27 Euro? Not a nice move for a non-licensed set.

W 2016 > W 2015 >>>> S 2015 > S 2016 More or less, it's this for me. Winter 2016 has the edge over 2015 for a greater blend of Technic and CCBS, more interesting colours (trans purple, dark tan, dark blue..), rotating waist, and of course Umarak (which is so much above LoSS it's not even funny). I still love Winter 2015 for bringing some nearly perfect remakes of the classic masks (especially the Akaku and the Pakari), the genius thing that is the gearbox, and the fantastic weapons (which, yes, do embarass the 2016 crystal blade quite a bit). It wasn't very easy to pick the better one between the two Summer waves (or, rather the lesser evil), but I came to the conclusion that Summer 2016 is worse. Sure, Ekimu the Mask Maker is awesome, and Umarak the Destroyer is a much more interesting build than Kulta, but he's still underwhelming compared to the likes of Grievous (and Umarak the Hunter, really), the new parts are less useful and the Beasts look very boring. It's very easy to revamp the Skeletons because their parts (weapons, masks, printed chests) are very cool, but the Beasts look terribly generic, like the 2013 HF villains (ok....maybe not THAT awful). So, yeah, Summer 2015 isn't that great, but at least it brings something more useful to the table than Summer 2016. Ultimately, both waves are pretty underwhelming. That trans. light blue Mask of Creation, though.

Not a good idea The list says each is 24,99 Euro. Kinda justified for the droid (license extra included), but it's insane for the other two. Another Darth Vader? Huh.. would make sense. 3 new characters + 3 classics. It's definitely a safe bet, a less pricy DV with a gearbox seems like it would sell well, and if there's one character that can get a second figure after a short while, it's him. He's the Rocka of Star Wars.

Hopefully we get that new shell the Stormtrooper and the droid use. It looks very useful for large MOCs. Never thought I'd have to thank SW for making CCBS grow, hah. Are these going to be 6? I heard there's going to be Han and Boba (with sand green parts confirmed), dunno about the 6th. I'd like the red armoured guy or Donnie Yen's character (ahem... sorry, not very knowledgeable about SW) personally. EDIT: found a list from a German site with 3 sets and their prices, not sure if I can post it.

BLACK PISTON SHELL! Dark tan hands! And an interesting Technic heavy build. Pretty good.

Too bad that, aside from the droid, the other characters are humans without armour. The only one that I can see turning out interesting is Donnie Yen's character, for a possible new robe part and that weapon. I can see some potential for new dark brown and red shell sizes and possibly a new gun, but that's about it.

A post-Summer set....huh. In a way, it makes some sense, since the 2016 lineup is one set smaller than the 2015 one. But I can't help but feel worried- the more special the set is, the bigger the implication they want to wrap up the line will be. They said they have no info on it. Maybe it's that MoCr+cape polybag, or a special recoloured mask like the trans. orange Hau Mask of Fire. But I don't know if those TRU people count those as sets (technically, they are, but..).

Well, Umarak looks a bit better than I thought. Mainly because his legs are longer and his hands are smaller than I thought, so he looks a bit more imposing and less brute-ish. What I don't like is the Mask, which honestly looks...wrong, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it looks too plump, compared to the original Mask of Control and the Hunter Mask. Since it's supposed to look warped anyway, I wish they went all out with the monstrous look: more pronounced teeth, bigger eyes, bigger overall size, more elongated shape, etc. All this while keeping the MoCo's main features (especially the runes, good job to the part designers for keeping them BTW). As of now it looks somewhat of a a half hearted attempt. Honestly both the base MoCo and especially the Hunter Mask look much more threatening than this. I'm still not a fan of the tr. lime+black colour scheme. Not only is it less creative than Umarak the Hunter's, it also lacks 1-3 additional accent colours (the equivalent of UtH's dark red, dark tan and dark brown). A few gold and/or red spikes would've helped IMO. Ok, rant over. I don't think I'll get this guy, but I can see copying some techinques from him and Uberak (UtD+Beasts) to boost my UtH, which I want to keep as the default form of the character due to how memorable he looks.

Man, Umarak's recoloured mask is SO COOL. Now, to find some use for it..

It's not stated outright, but at least I believe that's the intent. I personally liked the antlers a lot more since they were more unique, but I guess the parts count was already high as it was. They should've used a less harsh colour for those parts, like dark or light bley, so the break between his head and the horns feels less dramatic.

I don't hate the corrupted Mask of Control, in fact I quite like it, but I wish it wasn't tr neon green at the top. In the leaked pics it was fully gold and I had already thought of some uses for it. But now it has the same problem most mask this year have, that you can use it only on a MOC with trans neon green (and none of my ideas featured such colour!). I hope we get an exclusive recolour of it down the line, like maybe something black or gunmetal. As for the shape, I think it should've been less squashed and with more proper horns so it can be used on its own: I know the horns of the original MoCo mutated into those huge gold Ben 10 horns, but four horns would've fit right into the mostruosity that Umarak the Destroyer is supposed to be. Late EDIT: Purpl'd.

That uber Umarak combo model (...Uberak?) looks interesting to say the least. Not to mention HUGE. Really want to see how he's built. I'm still on the fence about the sets, but I'm excited for Ekimu and some of the new pieces and recolours. Man that tr. neon green head is pretty.

Yup, it sure does. It's probably on par with the Mocr for me. Also, it doesn't look like a design the artist came up with - rather it looks like it was copied from a real life Lego piece..

If you manage to get one, definitely get Grievous. He fills all criteria for a great set: good parts pack (shells, 4 lightsabers, bones, and some decent Technic stuff), insipiring build techniques and impressive as a display model (also very sturdy and poseable, so playing with him is fun too). So, whichever the reason you buy him for is, you won't regret it.

While I value character's looks more, I think weapons are important too, because they're tied to the character's fighting style and in a way to their personalities/beliefs/powers. Would you ever give a sword to Pohatu or an hammer to Gali? Or a katana to Onua? Or a spinning blade shiled to Tah- wait, nevermind. You could also imagine Gimli with a bow, or Legolas with an axe. It all feels wrong, because weapons are part of the character too. At least, the Uniters kept weapons suited to their characters. But the crysyal blade creates a sense of uniformity that IMO detracts from the sets/characters, no matter how much it can be justified in-story (Ekimu's box of crystal stuff, etc). EDIT: Been a while since I posted here. Meanwhile, I got Pohatu, and I quite like him. Love the new mask and the mace/spear. I feel like I should post some of my revamped Toa, but I'm still behind with my purchases, and I stole Gali's torso to give it to Onua.

I just realized- his weapon is essentially a gunblade!

I don't have him yet, but I really look forward to getting my hands on Onua, whom I like a lot more than his 2015 version (unpopular opinion, I guess).

Umarak's voice sounds too high for me, I wanted to hear something deeper. Maybe the Italian dub will do something about that.. But I do like the other voices, I don't even mind the modulation, I'm glad they tried doing it for once.

Well, I've followed the topic but never found the right time to reply, so I'll try to sum up my thoughts now: I can't share the enthusiam for this wave that others have shown. I think the Winter wave has much better sets overall, it's not a quantity issue at all. It seems many (EDIT: why was this all-caps? Lol) people here criticize Ekimu for being generic while praising the Beasts for the innovation, but I completely disagree on that. I guess I value looks over function, at least when it comes to Lego. -Starting from Ekimu, I honestly think he's the best set out of the box. He's fully armoured, he has two functions and two weapons! And he's very faithful to his 2015 form. The trans light blue MoCr is gorgeous and I'm glad it didn't fall prey to the BMS (Blended Mask Syndrome™). I'd replace some tr. light blue and gold with silver. But overall, good set, can't wait to get him. -I..don't like the Beasts very much. I can appreciate experimenting, but Scorpio was an experiment too. Scorpio's issue was "function that sacrifices articultation and aesthetic". The Beasts are fully articulated, yes, but Storm and Quake are complete messes. Creative, I guess, but, not worth the result in my humble opinions. -Quake honestly look like a bunch of random parts stuck together, with a purple head and a magenta chest printing that mess up the otherwise clean and fairly good colour scheme. Storm is the most interesting in terms of colours, but he's not as solid looking as Lava and his back is terrible. Meanwhile Lava plays it safe and looks like the best of the bunch, too bad his colours are so overdone. -I'll get Lava and probably Storm since they have pretty good parts, Lava especially can be revamped into one of my villains. Quake is a pass since Terak and especially Onua are far better trans purple parts packs. I fail to understand why the designers think the villains in this "reboot" need to look so awkward compared to the heroes. -I can't defend Umarak the Destroyer. The legs are out of proportion, with tiny thighs and gigantic shins. The arms are.. awkward, and I'm being nice. The entire neck/head section looks like a bunch of parts thrown together. The colour scheme is boring, a far cry from the striking and unique colour palette of Umarak the Hunter. The otherwise good mask is rendered useless by the neon green top. There's not even an extra mask included. -The only good part is the torso build..but that can't justify my purchase, especially since it's made up of parts I most likely already have. -It's unaccetable that Grievous is such a good figure while BIONICLE 2016's main antagonist gets such an underwhelming set. Umarak the Hunter is a terrifying and unique monster, this "upgrade" of his looks like a generic brute. Ah well, looks like I'll save up some money (40 Euro, at least). More bucks to spend for pieces I need. EDIT: fixed some typos.

I just realized..the trans lime green head is kinda like an updated version of the Toa Inika head.

Aw man, looks like we'll have to wait a lot for those sweet sweet sand green shells.

I hope he is. He could trade some bulk (I don't think the final boss should look like a brute) for height. How tall is UtD anyway? Around Darth Vader's height maybe?