Review:70787 Tahu - Master of Fire/Brikkyy13

Brikkyy13
Country: Australia Gender: Male
Joined: December 30, 2012 № of Reviews: 15 № of Featured reviews: 0
Building Experience: Lifelong

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Hello all! Today I bring you another BIONICLE 2015 review, this time it's the flagship set: Tahu! At 89 pieces, this is one of the three larger Toa with the high $20 (USD) pricepoint. So, how good or bad is this set? Read on to find out! Before I start, I would like to apologize for the bad quality photos, my camera ran out of battery during the photoshoot, so I did have to improvise with my phone.

Box, contents and build[edit | edit source]

The box, like all of the other new sets, is a flimsly hexagonal cardboard box. The front has the bell-bottomed fire wielder riding the lava waves, and the back has him showing off his gear function. Yes, gears are back!

The instructions are oriented landscape instead of portrait, and feature the same image as on the front of the box. The inside cover has a comic that is an extended version of the one featured on the box.

A smorgasbord of new pieces are included in this set. These are:

The gearbox
The Mask of Fire and Skull Spider masks
The head and eyestalks
The armor clip-on piece that looks like an original mata torso (six in gold included)
The massive sword/board piece

I, personally, haven't seen these pieces before so I am assuming these are new, but I am not 100% sure. These pieces are:

A redesigned 8-tooth gear with additional ridges on the top/bottom
A CCBS spacer joint

With these parts I'd like to go into a bit more detail. On the left is the chestpiece. Though it isn't new, it does have some excellent printing. I really like it, but I do understand why many people hate it. The only gripe I have with it is that it's asymetrical, but that's just my OCD tick :P. On the right we have the new Mask of Fire (FKA Hau). Initially, like most people, I absolutely hated it... until I had it in my hands. What seemed oversized and square turned out to be amazingly sleek and... well, perfect. Sure it's not as rounded as the original Hau, but it's an amazing revamp. It may look unattractive in photos, but trust me it's excellent.

The build is your standard constraction build: legs, torso, arms, finishing touches. Easy, simple, quick build that offers no challenge to experienced builders such as myself, however I'm sure it would be a challenge to the younger builders; I remember when I was 8 years old having trouble snapping my new BIONICLE sets' joints in place.

Finished Product[edit | edit source]

The first thing you build is a bright-green Skull Spider. I think that these Skull Spiders are amazing, they have amazing articulation for only 5 pieces, though I do wish that they would include more than one in each set. When the figure is armed with swords/axes/guns it seems like overkill. To me it seems like trying to destroy an ant with a tank.

Now for the main part of the set... TAHU! After 5 long years we have our precious Toa of fire back! This is the 5th version of the character to be released, and the 3rd that I have gotten (I also have the 2001 and 2010 versions). This iteration stands very tall, and towers over almost all of the figures released this year. The features that stick out the most are the two sets of swords: Small, gold ones and large silver ones that double as a surf board.

One of my favorite functions of this set has to be the swords. One set doubles as an awesome surf board, and the other doubles as wings.

The surf board swords clip together via ridges and are supported by a black connector piece. Two are included in the set and they are huge. If stood upright next to Tahu, they will come up to his chin. If Tahu wants to go surfing, the board attaches to his feet via two connector pegs. As for the other set of swords, when they are not in use Tahu can store them on his back. These are awesome, because each sword holder is on two joints, which means they have an incredible range of motion and can be used to make amazing poses. The sword holders are positioned on either side of the big yellow gear.

Ah, the yellow gear, the best function of the set. Turn that and the arms swing back and forwards! Now, unlike the original gear functions from '01, these gears have friction! The friction isn't exactly the best, but it will keep the arms from falling most of the time.

If you look under the gear, you'll notice something that Hero Factory never had: back armor! It's so good to finally have a figure that's complete on both sides and not just the front!

The final function of the set is the pop-off mask. The mask clips onto the side of the head much like a minifigure helmet visor, and will be sent flying when the eyestalk is pushed down. Once the mask is off it can be replaced by two things:

1: The Skull Spider. When the Skull Spider clings to the face of Tahu and takes over his brain the figure turns from hero to villain, and looks incredibly menacing.

2: (singing) The GOLDEN MASK. The supercharged version of the red mask included in the set. In the story, this mask is supposed to enhance and power-up Tahu. When he puts on his mask, he throws his gold swords on his back, splits his board in two and gets ready to kick some bad-guy butt.

I think the gold mask really works with the color scheme. I love the look of both sets of swords... the wings and the giant blades... awesome. As awesome as they are, my only gripe with the set lies here. When their separated, the instructions call for the swords to have the black connector parts showing, and that really ruins the look.

I hate how it breaks up the "sleekness" of the figure. Luckily, I've developed a solution!

Take annoying parts off.
Remove back armor
Add one clip to one of the two empty holes in the gearbox
Add the other clip to the hole in the connector
Attach to the unused hole in the back armor
Reattach back armor. You're done!


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Final Thoughts[edit | edit source]

Other than those small gripes with the asymmetry, Skull Spider and swords I don't really have anything else to say. The set holds up really well to the original '01 version and is a great companion to the Protector of Fire.

If you're looking to get one of the new BIONICLE sets, and are willing to drop a little bit more $$$, then I definitely suggest this one. It has amazing value and looks awesome. What are your thoughts on the set? Express them in the comments!

Overall