REVIEW: 2283 Witch Doctor

ZORK64 · May 4, 2012

Yeah I know, this review comes so late it doesn't make any sense to write it, but just like with Breez, I took the pictures back then, so I will write this review better late then never.

However, this time, I can partly justify the delay of the review. I didn't bought Witch Doctor right after his release because he was too expensive in my eyes. But thanks to clearance sales in various toy stores around January/February, I happen to find Witch Doctor for 20€ instead of the original 34,99€. Since I still spot him in various stores for that price, a review seems still to make sense.

Witch Doctor (also known as Aldous Witch) corrupted the animals of the planet Quatros with his skull staff to help him mining all quaza of the planet, and only the Hero Factory can stop his evil plan which would eventually destroy the planet!

Set name: Witch Doctor

Set Number: 2283

Price: 34.99 Euro

Pieces: 331

Year of release: Summer 2011

The Box

Surrounded by his loyal minions, Witch Doctor fires his red energy sphere at anybody who dares to buy him. Thanks to the size of the box, there are many neat details to spot in the background, like the temple (which is also featured in the animated episode) or a oddly coloured Raw-Jaw.

The back of the box shows the typical comic-like scenario, which ends this time with a showdown between Rocka XL and Witch Doctor, and the very bottom shows his launcher.

One thing I'd like to mention about boxes is that you're always supposed to open them at the bottom, which confuses me. Why am I supposed to open it at the bottom, not at the top like the canisters?

WD's box is the tallest box of the 2011 summer wave, which makes sense since he's also the largest (and most expensive) set of this wave. His box is a bit narrower than Rocka XL's, though.

Inside the box

...are many plastic bags and the instructions.

The building instructions, which feature a slimmed down version of the box image.

A random instruction page, which should make clear that this guy is not your average 2.0 hero...

The parts

According to HEROsector 01, Witch Doctor contains 331 parts (I think you understand why I didn't counted them myself). Alongside various armour shells and bone pieces he comes also with a lot of TECHNIC pieces, similiar to the various titans of BIONICLE.

I think this pretty piece originates from the TECHNIC line, mostly because it looks like an engine block to me. Either way, a very nice piece for MOCing purposes.

This piece has probably also a TECHNIC background, but I'm not entirely sure.

Witch Doctor's skull mask (which comes twice because of his skull staff) is the only HF piece that is exclusive to this set. The shape of the skull got something Alien-like going on. It looks menacing and creepy, if you ask me.

It connects the same way like the heads of the smaller box sets of the same way.

The build

Witch Doctor combines the building system of the 2.0 bones with the building style of older large sets, like Von Nebula or the many BIONICLE titans. It takes notably more time than any other 2011 set of Hero Factory, but the instructions do a great deal by leading you through every single step of the build.

The torso

The build begins at his hip...

...and continue with the torso.

The instructions reflect the higher complexity of the build by giving more detailed overviews on various sections, as demonstrated on this picture.

The completed torso section.

The legs

After the torso, the build continues with the feet.

That chunk of red balls are the ankle joints.

The core skeleton of the legs is built with the HF limbs. I put one section of the upper leg on the ground so you can see it a bit better.

This chunk of red balls...

...become the hip joints!

After both legs are built and attached to the torso, they get armoured.

The arms

The arms themselves are a bit easier to build in comparison with the legs. They start with a simple skeleton, which is then covered by various pieces of armour and stuff.

The claw/launcher, which is attached to his left arm. It ironically mimics the flip around-option of the tools of the 2.0 heroes, since one side is the launcher, while the other one is a massive claw.

The skull staff also uses many of those red balls for it's skeleton.

Then, we attach all the stuff to the torso (alongside with a few horns)...

After that, he gets his head and voilà - Witch Doctor is completed!

The finished set

Witch Doctor is huge, monstrous and evil. And he looks pretty cool while being all of this.

His colour scheme of white, red and black (and some bright grey here and there) works pretty good, thanks to his decent colour scheme.

Front (Sorry for the blurriness here).

His rear looks a bit hollow, but not as bad as the rear of a few other sets. In short, it's okay.

From the side, his head looks even more Alien-like.

His head flipped upward, just so you know.

WD's legs look a bit chicken-like, if you ask me. He feels also a bit like a chicken walker to me when I posed him.

Aside from his odd knee joints, his legs are both stable and fairly poseable despite WD's humungous size thanks to the odd joint system.

His shoulders are also relying on this system. And it works a bit better than the shoulder support on Fire Lord or Rocka XL.

Playability

If you want a really huge bad guy for your heroes to fight, Witch Doctor is the right guy for the job.

Or if you got Rocka XL, you can play the clash of the titans!

Here a size comparison with Stormer 3.0, Rocka XL and Black Phantom. Witch Doctor is currently the tallest Hero Factory set - and it seems likely that he won't lose this title in the coming wave.

Final thoughts

If you suffer a lack of white shells (and shields), bones or TECHNIC pins or are looking for a really large set, Witch Doctor is the perfect choice. I admit that his initial price was a bit harsh, but since he went on sales, odds are good that you might find him for a much cheaper price. And if you happen to do so, go for him, because even if you don't like his design (which was also one of the reasons why I didn't bought him first, to be honest) he comes with just so many pieces that he's also a great parts pack for MOCists now.

Edited May 10, 2012 by ZORK64

Front · May 9, 2012

Thank you for the review. I like how you showed some of the complex sub-assemblies, and I remember how fascinated I was by those when I built the set for the first time.

In my eyes this set is the best Bionicle/HF, among those I know.

It's a unique set.

Erland

Part Design