Review:70786 Gali - Master of Water
| Gali - Master of Water (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.
This is the fourth version of Gali released since 2001. It doesn't bear a whole lot of resemblance to any of them though, aside from some vague similarities in the mask department to her first two releases and the Nuva incarnation's double-bladed axe (which I will be calling a labrys from this point on because it's easier and I want to show off that I'm a pedant). Thankfully, she bears pretty much no resemblance to her last version which is probably one of the worst BIONICLE canister sets ever.
When I first saw images of 2015 Gali, I wasn't too excited, but now she has made me reevaluate my life: I've realized how just about every song I know about water is either awful, obscure, or tragic, the exception being "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid Well, let me say, in the words of a singing crab (RIP Singing Squid), "Things are always better, down where it's wetter, take it from me!"
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 boxart look strange, certainly not as good as in real life. Gali has some of the least interesting background art, on account of basically just being a lot of blue in an uninteresting shade (being so close to the one Gali wears) with some flora to the sides. Looking at it again, there seem to be some pillars or obelisks, but I hadn't noticed them before. The slots on the mask of water's "tram" are really emphasized; her goggle lip too, making it look like she has nostrils. It is strange, but it is actually one of the more flattering shots of the mask on these boxes...they really didn't do the best job with them on these. The golden mask seems a bit stretched, too. I also can't help but notice that most of her yellow pieces are hidden in the art. 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
Gali isn't the blue we remember; she's dark azure now, a rare color which she is introducing to constraction (and is the only set this year which includes it). It is kind of a strange choice, since a few parts were molded in medium azure for Hero Factory over the years, but I think I like this darker shade better. Aside from the Mask of Water, there are only four shells in the color, and they are all size 5. Hopefully more are released in the future.
Gali also includes some transparent light blue bones, the same ones used by Kopaka, plus two of the shortest ones, which were previously used only by a few Chima ultrabulds (which were unavailable in the US). Gali also has the new axe-heads (which double as wings or, in this set, fins) in silver, plus two silver piston add-ons, the new head with a transparent neon green eyestalk, and an exclusive chest printing. When it comes to getting new parts, Gali might not be the absolute best choice, but with a healthy dose of gunmetal and silver pieces, she is certainly a useful one. The new parts that she does have and the exclusive dark azure pieces put her right up there with Lewa, in my opinion.
The Build
Gali is practically built the same way as all five of the other Toa. Now that I am finishing these reviews, I realize how stupid it is to have a section for the build, and a rating at the conclusion (but I've kind of been using that for fudge anyway...). I do think that the transparent bones and the dark azure shells make it sort of fun, kind of in the same way that building The Knight Bus with all of those purple bricks was, but it's a shallow pleasure (p-unintended) which doesn't last long.
Figure
Anybody want a history of feminism lesson? No? Okay. Maybe later. Right guys? Guys? Hm. I'll try to suppress my urges.
So...Gali looks like a man? No. She doesn't. I mean, if I didn't know that she was female, I probably wouldn't guess (I actually think that with his eyeholes and smaller build, Pohatu probably looks the most effeminate) but as I place her next to Tahu, Kopaka, and the others, she does look the most effeminate. Her mask's chin helps, as do the muscular legs, and, oddly enough, the shoulder pads. The way that it slopes doesn't make her look like a hunchback (as I feared at first) but actually creates the illusion that her shoulders underneath are slender and lithe. I'm impressed. Props.
What really impresses me about Gali though is her color scheme. It is just about perfect. While all of the other kind of just splash on metallics and transparents here and there and voila powerfulwarrior™ to the point where it feels like only half of them are even somewhat sensible (Pohatu and arguably Kopaka), and that's before we get into the symbolism, Gali is the only one who pulls it off and still manages to feel relatively elemental. The azure goes gorgeously with the gunmetal, which in turn looks great over the transparent light blue. The silver doesn't look out of place, either, and the little yellow bits even provide some nice contrast to the azure (thanks to the chest print). The only parts I really have an issue with are the upper arms, which have the only dark gray bones (I would love to see the other Toa use the elbow technique which Pohatu employs) and the transparent shells kind of feel out of place. I would have liked to see those in dark azure instead, I think.
Admittedly, I'm not so fond of Gali's weapon. It's overlarge, and looks kind of stupid. The labrys part is better than I thought it would be (since I'm kind of apprehensive about that piece), but the trident butt is just kind of tacky. I do applaud the choice of a labrys though, both as a callback to Gali Nuva and because of its function, but also because (as my nerdy research has brought me to learn) the labrys was a symbol of the Ancient Cretan goddess religion, and has been adopted by feminists as a symbol. This proves that LEGO has a feminist agenda and that bonkle is not sexist I'm sure it's coincidental, but it's a neat bit of trivia concerning the only female Toa. Though the weapon is fine when it is just a giant fork for the adrenaline mode, as a labrys it is large and heavy and sometimes causes Gali's arm to become bent out of shape when it is swung. This isn't the only set where it happens, but still, it's kind of awkward.
Gali's chest print borders more on the alien side than the tribal, so it's not as much to my tastes as the others, but it's still gorgeous. Beautiful colors with gunmetal, azure, yellow, and metallic blue. Her mask, despite hardly bearing resemblance to the old Kaukau renditions (for the better, in some instances) is one of the best molds the new line has to offer. Gali is also one of the few Toa who looks good in her golden mask too, I think. It still seems out of place, but it works nicely with the azure and gunmetal without overbalancing the figure (Tahu, Kopaka) or clashing (Lewa). Her skull spider, being silver, also kind of matches, but I don't care about how that looks so much.
Summary
Building Experience: I've admitted my treachery. Fudge! This section won't count:
3½ / 5
4 / 5
4 / 5
4½ / 5
4½ / 5
4½ / 5
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