Review:70785 Pohatu - Master of Stone
| Pohatu - Master of Stone (2 Reviews) | |||||||||||||
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Reviews
Berrybrick
Country: America the Beautiful Gender: Male
Joined: February 2010 
№ of Reviews: 46 
№ of Featured reviews: 1
Building Experience: Enough is enough
While I was writing my full reviews of the six Toa, I realized that I was sort of skipping over several features that they all share in common because they are all common, so there was really no right place to speak about it except for everywhere (since I'm not a fan of "See my review on Harley Quinn's Unicycle for what I think of this piece" type writing, though I resort to that with some minifigures), but I ended up doing it nowhere. The exception was the boxes, which I really should have waited for this, because every Toa except for lucky Lewa got pretty much the same spiel. So, here we are, with a review of some of the common features of the Toa, and a ranking too.
What I think is the most immediately striking thing about the new Toa is their colorschemes. Even though some of them are poorly plotted (in my opinion) and rely too much on metallics, they really are striking and bright, unlike a lot of figures from before which had dull or dark and boring colorschemes (though not all of the Glatorian were so bad in that regard; mixing a brighter color with a darker one a lot of the time). When stood together, five of them look really good. Unfortunately, Pohatu's dark orange doesn't go with the others so well. His scheme is still really good (I think that he has the best distribution of any of them, for one thing) and I don't think that he would look as good as a figure if he were, say, bright orange or yellow instead, and I think LEGO did what best serves the set.
Secondly, the gearboxes are a big thing. Functions were a stable of earlier BIONICLE sets, but they sort of withered until they disappeared completely to be replaced by gimmicky launchers. It is fun to turn a gear and have the weapon slash (or whatever) through the air, though there isn't always enough friction, and, as mentioned in some reviews, it is more likely that a Toa's elbow or wrist will bend unnaturally when it makes contact with something stubborn enough (which, in some cases, is a lot of things), so that is kind of unfortunate. That seems to include the Toa's masks (especially the Skull Spiders) which, despite reintroducing a knock-off feature, aren't knocked off so easily. Actually, it seems downright impossible.
The Toa's masks have problems of their own. They tend to wobble a little bit, and most of them don't allow light through the eyes very well unless they are backlit. I find Tahu and Pohatu's to be the worse, with their beady eyes and elongated faces. The Skull Spiders are both the sturdiest and best allow the eyes to be seen. They kind of go unsung in my reviews, but they really are a well designed piece.
I think that is about all there is to say about the Toa as a group. It is good to have the Mata back, and I am pleased to see the variety that they come in. Personally, my ranking would go something like this:
- Gali
- Kopaka
- Onua
- Pohatu
- Lewa
- Tahu
That's just me though, and I do like them all except for Tahu, though even he turned into one that I really like after I made some pretty easy mods (shortened the legs, bulked up the arms, gave him some flamboyant shoulder pads). I think that, if you like BIONICLE in any way, shape, or form, and aren't too attached to the old theme to write-off these sets as "too different" (though I think there is an argument to make for the Theseus Paradox, and not just because I love to drop Minotaur references everywhere I can) there is at least one Toa for you.
So, which Toa is everyone's favorite? I wouldn't ask if I didn't actually want to know, so please comment!
Berrybrick
Country: America the Beautiful Gender: Male
Joined: February 2010 № of Reviews: 46 № of Featured reviews: 1
Building Experience: Enough is enough
You are not entitled to view results of this poll.
Back when the larger prelims came out, people cried foul at all six Toa, all six Toa except for Pohatu. Now, the tables seem to have turned and Pohatu is, if even mentioned at all, often criticized for his smaller size and lacking the extra armor (shoulders, back) which most of the other Toa have. Is it all warranted? How does Pohatu rate as a set? Since common opinion seems to be otherwise, I'll say it right here in the opening (shocking, I know!): I like Pohatu.
Instructions/Box
I like the trapezoidal box designs used for most of these sets, it gives them a cool look. They aren't the canisters many people associate with BIONICLE, but I was honestly never the biggest fan of those. They took up too much space and, especially in later years, weren't sufficient for storing sets. Most of the masks on the box art look strange, certainly not as good as in real life, though Pohatu's is better than most. His only competition may be Kopaka and a couple of the protectors (and the skull spiders, those do look cool here). I like the art, with the dusty whirlwind, two moons (!) in a sort-of-reversal of Tatooine, the cacti, and the obelisks. The contrast between the sands and the sky is pretty, but it doesn't stand out as well as some of the other Toa on the shelves. The bags fit inside of the carton no problem and take up enough room. The box does, however, feel a bit thin and could possibly be damaged easily.
The instructions are, thankfully, rather unremarkable. They are easy enough to follow if you are used to LEGO instruction manuals and pay close enough attention. There are no stickers.
Parts
Pohatu reintroduces dark orange to constraction which, I don't believe, has appeared outside of Hewkii's Matoran versions (which used Pohatu's old mask) and the Gukko bird. I could be wrong though. They only come in size four shells here, and there are only four of them, so it's not enough to clad an entire figure, but it's still a cool color. I would have been okay with an orange Pohatu, but this is a nice compromise between that and brown. Also interesting are the four 5M bones in transparent neon green. It looks like transparent yellow on the box, but it's not. Pohatu also has two exclusive boomerangs (made up of four of the same halves), three piston add-ons in silver (more than any other set so far), an exclusive dark orange chest, his mask in dark orange and gold, the new head with green eyes, and, curiously, reintroduces an old Rahkshi spearhead (which Kopaka also shares).
A lot of Pohatu's rare parts can also be found with the Protector of Stone. Though there is one less piston piece, there are just as many dark orange shells and transparent bones.
The Build
Pohatu is built pretty regularly. He has a gearbox, yes, but he doesn't use any clever techniques to differentiate it from the other Toa. It's pretty basic CCBS. There really isn't any competition, he's the plainest.
Figure
Back in 2001, Pohatu had a really odd look. His torso was upside down, giving him a torso shaped like an upside down triangle with really wide hips and shoulders which, as a result, had to be even wider. The Nuva upgrade in 2002 was a little bit better, if only because the chest piece hid the strange shape of his body. It made him short and stout, but it looked better. Though his hips got a lot thinner when he was rereleased as a Phantoka, Pohatu kept the extremely broad shoulders.
For a guy who controls stone, it makes sense that he would be wide, but my "grownup" interpretation of what a Toa of Stone should look like has changed. I always thought of the Matoran of Stone (most notably the aforementioned Hewkii) as more athletic, and I like the Toa to represent "larger than life" idealized aspects of the Matoran (at least generally; I like twisting things too, but these Toa set the standard). The reason for the strange torso orientation of the earlier Pohatu sets was to give him a kicking function and, since he wore the mask of speed, it only seemed natural to me that Pohatu be designed as a runner. There are pretty big runners out there now, yes, but as a sport it has traditionally been run by smaller, lighter people.
And, that's what Pohatu looks like to me: A skirmisher. Personally, I like the asymmetrical look, because I think that it looks like only his right arm (the orange one) is armored, leaving the other one easily mobile. That's one thing which is nice about Pohatu, he and Lewa are the only Toa which are easily posed, and Pohatu is even a little bit better than Lewa. That does come at the cost of shoulder armor, but I think that it makes the Toa look much bulkier and, for the most part, slower.
The boomerangs, though a neat concept, are huge. And also kind of floppy. I do like that they gave him a secondary weapon in the spearhead, though I'm not sure it makes a very convincing dagger. It reminds me more of a tuning fork. I'm not as impressed with his torso design as some of the others, as it ends up looking less like tribal paint and more like some dust and a gash. The metallic lines are almost unnoticeable. Also, Pohatu's mask is a little disappointing. The shape is fine, but while none of the Toa's eyes catch light very well because of the mask's shape, Pohatu's is the worst at it.
Oh, there's a skull spider in this set too. Or skull scorpion, rather. The extra leg as a tail is a nice addition, because it's another piece, but that's not going to earn the set too many points.
Summary
Building Experience: The most basic of the Toa who themselves don't stand out. He only just scrapes a 3 because the gearboxes are new and they do add a bit of Technic.
3 / 5 3 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5 
2½ / 5 3½ / 5
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