Review:71305 Lewa - Uniter of Jungle/Berrybrick
Berrybrick
Country: America the Beautiful Gender: Male
Joined: February 2010 
№ of Reviews: 46 
№ of Featured reviews: 1
Building Experience: Enough is enough
Hello, Lewa fans. This is probably the only review of a 2016 Toa coming from me. I also have Tahu, Kopaka, and Gali, so feel free to ask me about them on my talk page, chat, or in the comments below, but I think that reviewing Lewa alone should cover what is communally good and bad about these four figures (or maybe even all six of the Toa; though still a solid set, Onua loses a lot of the 2015 model's character whilst Pohatu is just icky).
There are three things from Lewa's Master form that I miss seeing on this model. They are:
- Transparent neon green eyes, since Lewa was the only Toa to retain his original eye color through all of his incarnations until now when they decided to give all six of them transparent light blue eyes. The light blue eyes themselves aren't terribly distracting though (despite being an inconsistency that actually bothers me; I am often pretty relaxed about these things) but that is because the new eye piece is a terrible mold in a terrible color, bringing about terrible light piping. It wasn't so great on last year's figures, but eye color is even less visible now.
- Removal of a secondary color; though it didn't need to be flame yellowish orange like the last Lewa, aside from a few yellow axles, this set reverts back to the terrible tendency of Air (well, Jungle now) sets in BIONICLE's original run to pair one shade of green with silver or gray. Granted, Lewa's green is vivid enough that this isn't as unforgivable as it was before.
- Though I found Lewa's axes last year ugly, they gave the figure more personality than these blades which are remixed on four out of five of the other Toa plus a couple of of the Beasts coming in the Summer.
In addition to standard CCBS parts, Lewa mixes in new and old elements. While introducing the piece of unification (which is a little bit ugly but makes up for it with bountiful connection points), a blended crystalline add-on (which I dislike, especially in its application here), and a new chest-piece which is a gross opportunity thrown away. Lewa also gets a new torso with a turntable waist which is conducive to better proportions (if you want to hear more, ask me about Tahu: let's talk about Tahu and me, all the good things, and the bad things...), which I was excited for, but now I think that what I like most is the Vorox armor that they dug up and recast into silver. Also worth noting is the eyestalk which was mentioned above, and Lewa's new mask, which is a humungigantic improvement over the hideous one he had last year. However, I am a bit apprehensive of using it because of the crystalline texture it has which, were it not molded with that part in silver, I think Lewa could pull off.
Lewa's build is a bit unorthodox, since the unification gimmick (which I can't properly use because I don't have Uxar) allows him to use TECHNIC built shoulders. He also takes it a step further, with custom shins and upper-arms using the Vorox armor. I like these custom limbs, even with the knobby knees, because it gives Lewa both personality and a cohesive design. Looking at the other Toa, I think that the only other one who accomplishes that is Onua, and only if I ignore the version from last year. Tahu and Kopaka have personality, but come off messy. Gali is coherent, but leaves something to be desired. (Pohatu could probably be lumped with Gali, but I think that his color distribution keeps him from it.) Like Onua, Lewa doesn't give quite the same vibe as he did last year, but I like this one more. He looks lithe and agile, like a trickster spirit. The overall vibe of the figure is good.
The details however, are not so wholly lovely. I love Lewa's legs (aside from maybe the friction joint at the ankles), so I won't comment on those here, but from the waist up is where he has issues. The turntable torso gives the potential for better proportions than last year, but Lewa doesn't utilize its full potential. His legs are in good size compared to it, but his arms are not. They have been shortened by two modules from last year and are placed at the same height, but with a longer torso which makes them much too short. Gali has the same issue, and while I think it is worse there (Lewa's custom upper-arms helping to draw attention away), it is really weird that they have the same length of arms as a much taller figure like Tahu, yet their shoulders are positioned higher. While the height of the shoulders themselves doesn't bother me (I think it adds to Lewa's personality, and it is a carry over from last year), the orientation is strange, with the Hordika neck balljoints facing backwards, making posability a bit awkward. Also, the use of the crystal add-on on the elbows gives me the impression of chicken feathers on an otherwise streamlined design, though, because I am an equal opportunity doomsayer, I don't think that they work terribly well on any of the Toa.
What is worse than all of that though is the new torso piece. What I appreciate about it is how much TECHNIC it hides. I dislike pretty much everything else about it. Being one piece prevents interchangeability with last year's chests, which I prefer because they don't blaster the Nuva symbol (I appreciate the callback, but not how it specifies pieces to characters or even "powered up" versions of them). While Lewa's chest design probably is one of the better ones this wave, it is still dull and lacks the colorful quasi-tribal flair that the chests had last year. Also, you may have noticed all of the extraneous detailing on the piece and it really is extraneous. Ideally, they would have introduced a new plate to cover the stomach, which juts out a bit to allow space for the TECHNIC fixings while still using the super chest as an add-on.
However, my problems with the torso do not stop there either. Though this isn't so much an issue with Lewa the set, it still is with the pieces that compose him. The turntable torso gives the figures which use it a longer neck than before, but it isn't so noticeable. This is because the new masks and chests have been designed in conjunction to cover up most of that extra module. When the new masks and torsos are used in conjunction, this is okay. Problems arise when the old chests or masks are used on the body and it creates an unsightly long neck, which is worse than the no-neck that some of the Toa (Lewa included) had last year. It might have been nice if there could have been an adjustable neck like the other new torso introduced in some Star Wars sets have, but I can see how hard that would be to connect without relying on the piece of unification, which would then inhibit adding gearboxes to these figures. I like the better proportions that these new torsos allow for, but if the Star Wars torso used by Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren is an option, I think the turntables are more trouble than they are worth.
But still, in spite of all of that, Lewa is still a good figure; not just a parts pack like Gali. He has a good air about him, and of the four Toa I have purchased this year, he is the one I would recommend if asked without stipulations.
- Pros
- Good character
- Improved mask
- Vorox armor
- Cons
- Strange shoulders and stubby arms
- Generic weapons
- Reusability (or lack thereof) of certain parts
Building Experience: I don't think that Lewa is the most complex of this year's more TECHNIC heavy Toa, but I think that he does it the best, keeping it simple but interesting. I think that this is about the best a humanoid canister set can do:
5 / 5Parts: I don't know if Lewa is the absolute ideal don't miss parts pack, but that depends on what you are looking for. A turntable torso, Hordika and Glatorian necks, Y-joints, silver Vorox armor, a piece of unification, and the Bohrok eyes help to make it. I'm going to knock half a point off, however, for that terrible torso armor:
4½ / 5
Playability: The swiveling waist isn't so great a gimmick as the gearbox. Additionally, the mask-popping feature is impeded and the shoulder articulation is awkward. There is no extra (like a Skull Spider), and even though Lewa stands up as a set, the unification feature is a reminder that something (Uxar) is missing:
3 / 5
Figure: Lewa does a good job of conveying personality with high and narrow shoulders, knobby knees, spiky armor, and a mask which doesn't look like something Ultron and Kermit's lovechild is wearing to scare clowns. Weapons, however, are a bit lacking, and there are some elements which the last Lewa did better. Judging this model on its own merits, however...:
4½ / 5
Value for Money: I don't think that the terrible design of some parts is a huge issue here:
4½ / 5
Overall: This time Lewa is my favorite, and though that isn't saying much in this wave, he is deserving of some praise. He is proof that the designers still have an idea of what they are doing in this new day of conflicting textures, unbalanced color schemes, and questionable part design:
4½ / 5
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