VBBN

Both Lewa and Tahu look good combined and you get the functionality of the wings still working. I think Onua is the best Toa of the wave and would recommend him, though his combo mode isn't anything special. This argument only works if someone is a fan of LEGO and buys exclusively CCBS. If I purchased a whole wave of Bionicle, I'd be trading off the purchase of a larger system set or a Hot Toys figure or an upgrade for my project car (lol). And, if you don't really like the sets, that's just a silly reason to buy them all. Obviously costs are different for everyone, $200 seems petty compared to a 35K car I've been looking at, but every amount of money you spend will have a trade-off, It's not how cheap something is, it's what you'd rather spend your money on. While that may be true, Bionicle parts like masks that are 10-15 years old still hardly fetch high prices on Bricklink, unless it's an occasional rare item like the protopack chrome Hau or a VMKK or something. I fall into a similar situation. Of course this time around EB was not offered the Star Wars sets, and while I would love to bring reviews of them here, I have to weight out those costs.

My issue is more that the villains we do get don't really "size up" to the heroes they are supposed to fight. With Hero Factory, we had a nice balance of varying sized of both heroes and villains. With Bionicle, it was apparent last year that most of the skull villains were smaller and less imposing than the Toa counterparts, and based on what I can see from the next wave, the beasts will be no different. So far Umarak and Kulta are really the only two "large" sized ones that match up to the Toa's stature.

Bricklink has a separate section where you can sell MOCs. If you do follow that advice here please remember Eurobricks has a policy on advertising:

I actually really like how Ekimu is looking. The trans blue doesn't bother me at all (Though you know something is wrong when tahu has more gold than Ekimu...), in fact I prefer it to essentially getting tahu with trans blue instead of orange. While I have distaste for the piston torso piece, I think it could look quite good in trans light blue. I think it might be raised up behind him, since you can see an unidentifiable large part behind his head that's not a part of the face or horns.

Gotta be honest, the 60s batcave is one of my least favorite Batcaves of all time. Not because of it's (obviously) older styling, but I didn't like the layout and the tan colored rocks were strange, and look even stranger here in toy form. I'm loving the Batmobile though, and some of those minifigures look great; but not $270 great. (Also looks like this set couldn't escape BURPs, even with all those brick-build formations)

Huh, upon closer inspection to Umarak's box at the figure in the background on the right that's actually Ekimu kneeling like he is worshipping something, an interesting pose for him to be taking on there.

So the beasts come with Tahu, Kopaka, and Onua's masks in black/trans bright green, once again we don't get a full set because of the amount of villains. Umarak doesn't seem to come with one- any ideas what mask Ekimu is standing on?

Obviously these are preliminary and even what we will see at toy fair next month aren't final, but Umarak the Destroyer is one of the biggest disappointments in terms of what I thought it would be versus what it looks like it actually will be. I am glad the beasts are bipedal though, hopefully they are all fairly big and not as tiny as the skullies. Edit: oh goodness me how did I not notice those shins on lava beast...

I still wish HF had continued along but focused more on the minifigure scale- it could have become a glorious new Exo Force. And there really is no way to say how well Bionicle is selling when you don't have the company financials in your hands. Basing it off how many sets you see on store shelves means literally nothing, because it depends on how many people are buying, when they are buying, store sales, hell even the rate that the store restocks inventory on their shelves can make it seem like some sets are selling better than others. It's doubtful the wave is doing bad enough that they would deem it non-cost effective to continue with a 2017 wave, especially since at this point the 2017 sets would already in development stages. The sets have only started to see release and have hardly had any marketing, whereas the Force Awakens sets are likely being placed at the forefront of some TFA displays in stores and in advertisements where a much larger STar Wars fanbase will see them. Personally, If 2016 is any indication of where the theme is going, I won't be nearly as invested in it as I am other themes- Star Wars 2016 is already looking more appealing to me than Bionicle has. Obviously after my reviews many people see me as being sour toward the 2016 Toa, but I just don't really understand where LEGO is trying to go with the sets. CCBS was a far different aesthetic than G1's BBS, and while I think 2015 was on the right track toward keeping the heart of CCBS but giving us hints of the older aesthetic, 2016 just takes it a step too far in the wrong direction for me. It's almost like LEGO isn't sure how much of the CCBS to keep, and how far into the "intricate" styling of G1 to bring in. Maybe 2015 was like Hero Factory's first year where it was a bridge of sorts, to take our familiar pieces and bring them into a different them, then evolve it from there, but, well, it's not really a style I like so much.

I think it would've looked great in trans purple, not so much if it were solid purple- I'm not a fan of how the new crystal weapons don't use trans colors, it makes them look less like they are from the same set of armor as the golden masks and the crystal add-on pieces. Sure it might keep the same crystal shaped motif, but then what's the point in making them dual-blended colors if they aren't supposed to represent the same thing as the masks and armor? Since all of the purple from last year's Onua has been replaced in wake of trans purple, it wouldn't exactly make sense given his altered color scheme.

That would be your opinion, no different from us reviewers being "cynical" about them. I am in no position to force my disagreement with your thoughts at you, but every time I see someone who likes the 2016 sets automatically dismiss the thoughts of reviewers and assume they are on some kind of love/hate bandwagon it irks me as it isn't true at all.

So I got the Phase I collection finally- The one with the silver SHIELD case, all of the movies on Blu Ray (and in blu ray 3D if it was made in it), and a whole slew of extra stuff. Really awesome set, tons of great tangible stuff from the movies like blueprints, ID cards, documents etc, and I love the artwork that all of the movie's sleeves have on them. I will be getting Phase II soon and will be sure to take photos of the two sets together once I do.

Agreed that this was a great year for movies, but I couldn't disagree with you more on your ruling of Jurassic World. My top ten of 2015 in order (with one being favorite): 1. Star Wars The Force Awakens 2. Mad max: Fury Road (It wasn't necessarily my favorite, but it's a damn cinematic masterpiece from a filmmaking perspective.) 3. Jurassic World 4. Ant-Man 5. Kingsman The Secret Service 6. The Martian 7. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation 8. Avengers Age of Ultron (I'm a huge fan of the MCU, but I gotta rate this one lower on my list because 'Age of Setups for future MCU movies" would be a more accurate title. Throughout the whole movie I was just thinking 'Oh hey look a reference to Infinity Wars/Black Panther/Civil War...I'm sitting here watching this movie because it's out but really my excitement is toward the movies this one is building up to.) 9. Furious 7 10. Spectre As a honorable mention, one movie that wasn't on your list as it was a B-list movie is MI-5 (no, not mission impossible.) It's pretty much just another Mission Impossible/James Bond/etc kind of movie, but I thought it did a good job at keeping you guessing as to whose side one of the characters was on and the angles they were playing.

Being more Technic based does offer more in the way of creative builds and I made some really awesome frames (one even utilized the torso hip articulation as shoulder joints) the problem is putting anything over the frame. When the majority of the parts you have to work with are the unification piece, vorox piece, and crystal add-ons/the torso shell, you are just left with just a measly pile of shells. While it's understandable Wairuha would inherit the more greebled look of the individual Toa, it just looks...gappy and unfinished. That, and there is a laughably little amount of each color of shell. Two white, two dark blue, 4 trans dark blue, 4 dark azure, 4 bright green. (and keep in mind the quantities of 4 are small 4m shells) Also on a side note the unification piece is a lot harder to use as armor than I initially thought. Great for structure, not so much for aesthetics

Yeah, capes are supposed to have the fuzzy side out- easiest way to see lego illustrate this is with Vezon, since he has an assymetrical cape you can see which side it instructs you to place against his back. With that said, I have never actually done it that way as I prefer the opposite.

Well my attempts to make a Wairuha today met complete failure. The color scheme is a mess, I can't get cohesive armoring (the three torso shells are miserable to work with as anything other than a chest plate), and just nothing was going my way it seemed... I think I might need to add the parts from their respective creatures to make something halfway decent.

In the future it's more constructive to a thread like this to explain your thoughts- why do you think it's odd? What constructive feedback do you have? A post such as yours doesn't add to the discussion. Thanks

For the record, no, I do not have these in hand for review, I'm not sure if we will be getting them or not. I do want them all, (maybe not as much as the Hot Toys versions ). Right now the only ones I will be grabbing on the spot are Rey and Phasma, but these look really good, a good step above 2015's.

inb4 Telltale Games presents: Bionicle But yeah, I love the style and hope it looks as good on screen as I think it will.

Not a whole lot no, all of the toa have two friction extenders in each leg so it's really just a matter of getting the feet right, but the stability management is a trait of all the sets in general. if anything Pohatu's is the worst because so much of Ketar is just sitting there dead center on his back. The handle of a Tonfa is almost always set about 1/4 of the way down the total length of the weapon. Not only are Lewas far, far too long to be practical, the handle is set almost centered. In this application, the length of the blade that sits under his forearm is too long as is, so turning the weapon, as you would do with a Tonfa, serves absolutely no purpose.

And that marks the end of this wave of reviews. Below is a direct list to them all, remember if you haven't commented/voted in the polls please do so! LEGO looks at what you have to say and how you rate the sets, so using those reviews is a great way to get your opinion out there! Umarak's review has done fantastic stats wise, but some sets like Terak are going to need some help. 71300 Uxar Creature of Jungle 71301 Ketar Creature of Stone 71302 Akida Creature of Water 71303 Ikir Creature of Fire 71304 Terak Creature of Earth 71305 Lewa Uniter of Jungle 71306 Pohatu Uniter of Stone 71307 Gali Uniter of Water 71308 Tahu Uniter of Fire 71309 Onua Uniter of Earth 71311 Kopaka and Melum Unity Set 71310 Umarak the Hunter

Set name: Onua Uniter of Earth Set number: 71309 Pieces:143 Price: $20.00 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx Release date: 2016 As the final review of the winter 2016 sets, we have a look at Onua. Onua has toned down on his extreme proportions since last year, but how does he stack up? Is he the best of the Toa this wave? The worst? I guess you will have to read on. The Box Front We see Onua using his hammer-drill, with Terak and a shadow trap looming in the background. Back The back shows the set features, a comic, and the unification gimmick. New and Interesting Parts New bits For new bits, we have the piece of unification in gold, the new armor piece in gold mixed with trans clear (an odd choice) and the new, shorter eyestalk in trans light blue. Colors For some interesting colors, we finally have studs in trans dark purple, as well as two segments of M-F bones and the 4m armor shell. Mask While Onua's Pakari was the smallest of the masks in 2015, we take the opposite route here, with Onua's being the largest of this wave, save of course for the Mask of Control. Personally I think somewhere in between this one and 2015's would be the sweet spot, this almost seems a little too wide, and looks as though it would fit better on the 2015 Onua. Torso Shell Onua's torso shell is in black- a welcome change from preliminary images which originally displayed it as being cast in gold plastic. Of the colors released so far, I personally feel this is the best color this torso shell has come in. Black tends to hide detail more, and in this case it makes the extremely mechanical piston detailing seem more tame. Turntable Torso Like the other large sets of this wave, Onua has the turntable torso and a new hip piece. This hip piece attaches quite firmly to the torso, and it rotates with a decent amount of friction. While you can remove the hip piece with some force, I wouldn't recommend it, as it can cause this friction to be reduced. I also wonder how long the friction in the hips will stay over time, as usually joints become looser as time goes on. The Build Torso Like Tahu, Onua's torso becomes fairly wide, and uses a slightly more custom build than that of the $15 Toa. Frame Onua has asymmetrical arms. Now the only reason I could possibly think of for this was due to the hammer- this arm joint might provide more stability as you spin Onua, and cause the hammer to fling around less wildly. While this might be good in theory, there are two issues. 1) The hammer isn't nearly heavy enough to require that kind of precaution. 2) In practice I didn't notice a difference, even when trying it with older, looser joints. So, I dunno, I'm just annoyed I got shafted a purple bone here. Weapon Onua's weapon is, once again, a hammer. This time though, the head is made up of a drill and a stud shooter. It's pretty cool, though I wouldn't recommend grabbing it by the drill as it's very easy to fire off a stud accidentally. Finished Set Front Color wise, Onua is great. I didn't like his random silver accents in 2015, so it's nice to see his color scheme have a bit more direction (though I wish we would get those feet in black...) His purple has been replaced by trans dark purple which looks quite nice, though again it's odd that we see trans clear on the crystal pieces. Also note that I choose to position to the skull bodies on his shoulders at a frontward angle, I think it adds to his bulky look and shows us more of that wonderful color. Profile He has big feet, that's for sure. Like Umarak and Kopaka, Onua has a spare disc full of ammo for his stuf shooter. Back We chose to take a nap I really like how Onua works. He doesn't use the piece of unification as armor, the torso shell doesn't stick out as much as the other characters, and generally things mesh together a bit better. Proportions are also pretty good, I know some people miss the extremely wide proportions of 2015, but I like this. He still feels wider and bulkier than the other 2016 Toa, yet he manages to not look as overly huge. Welcome to Onu-Koro! Now let's get on to something I don't like- putting something with uneven weight on a spinning axis. I am talking about, of course, the hammer. The head, in order to spin, is only attached via one pin, and it spins too freely for my taste. I do like how it looks, but functionality wise it can be a bit annoying. ...shall posses the power of Thor One complaint i had originally about Onua was his empty shoulders, however the shoulder pads are on two different balljoints, and can easily fill in those spaces. It doesn't really affect his arm articulation much either. Gold Mask Gold mask looks good here. Had Onua followed his preliminary design, there would have been too much gold, but the black chestplate looks so much better and I'm glad for this finished product. (What's that? Covering a figure in gold doesn't make them a good set? I guess Tahu missed that memo.) Also take notice that I have left the shoulderpads here like I see most people positioning them, which makes the area between the shoulders and the torso look gappy, so I generally avoid doing this. Size Comp Unification Onua's unification with Terak is similar to Kopaka and Melum, in the sense that Terak basically forms a helmet and double shoulder pads, which can be a little unwieldy on top of the ribcages. Profile Onua becomes even bulkier than his 2015 form, which could be a selling point for Terak's combination. Back The function from Terak doesn't work in this mode, similar to Melum. Overall I like Onua. I know I have been pretty sour toward these 2016 Toa, but personally Onua is my favorite of the six. He has a good color scheme, good proportions, a great selection of new and recolored parts, and still feels bulkier than the other Toa which helps to set him apart. Really my only complaint about him is that the hammer top spins a bit too easily, and of course his unification mode isn't anything special but that is more of Terak's fault than Onua's, but other than that I would definitely making this guy one of your first purchases.

Set name: Terak Creature of Earth Set number: 71304 Pieces: 74 Price: $10.00 | £xx.xx | €xx.xx Release date: 2016 To finish up our creature reviews, we will have a look at Terak, Creature of Earth. Terak shares a similar look to Melum, however as you will see he does in fact have a different mechanism. Is our little earth dweller here worthy of your money? Read on to find out. The Box Front Like other Lego sets, we have have the CGi image, set information, and the current year's header. That poor shadow trap looks to be running for it's life on it's stubby little legs while Terak holds his hands up menacingly. Back The back shows set features, the unification gimmick, and safety warnings. Moving on. New and Interesting parts New Bits We have the new piece of unification in gold, the new gear, and oddly enough crystal armor in gold mixed with trans clear plastic. I don't entirely hate this, because it reminds me of the lightstones of G1, but I find it an odd choice seeing as the other sets all have crystals with their corresponding trans colors, so why wasn't this one mixed with trans dark purple? Trap Halves Here we have the new trap piece, both of which are identical and come in dark pearl gray. Head Like all the other creatures, Terak has the same head piece, this time in gold mixed with trans dark purple. (In this case, I'm glad they didn't go with trans clear.) Recolors Some delicious trans dark purple pieces in the form of the second longest M-F bone (which has gotten quite a few recolors this wave) and a 4m shell. The Build Shadow Trap The "Earth Trap" isn't the most exciting of the traps, but I do like how he has little drills for feet. Torso Terak's function is a distinct change from Melum's, which uses a similar build to Ikir and Uxar. Instead, we build up something that only uses one of the new gear pieces, though it uses a similar looking lever to Melum with the spike and all. Legs We add on legs which are taller than Melum's, and mount his shoulder pieces. Arms Again, his arms aren't entirely different from Melum's, though they are more compact and well armored due to the different function, and he has four fingers on each hand instead of two. Finished Set Front Color wise, Terak is spot on. He has a good distribution of black, purple/trans purple, and gold. He also looks more filled-in when compared to Melum due to the shorter arm construction. Profile Like Melum, I get some Bohrok vibes from his proportions. Like the other creatures, the actual mechanism for the function is well integrated into the figure. Back Here we can look at his function. When you pull up on the pearl dark gray pieces, his shoulders rotate up, thereby moving his arms up. There is some friction due to the blue 3m pin. Mole by day Articulation is good and you can get him into a variety of poses. While the function might not have the strongest friction, you can easily just move the arm on the balljoint. 5 dollar foot long Since the easiest set to compare him to is Melum, another advantage Terak has is the longer legs, which allow for more noticeable changes in his stance. Bohrok I mean, even if he wasn't specifically based on the Bohrok, you can't deny the similarities. Overall Terak definitely ranks as one of my favorite creatures. He has a great color scheme, a simple but effective function that doesn't affect the set, some good new and recolored parts, and an overall solid design. When compared to Melum, the function isn't any better or worse, but the arms look better overall on terak as they are more filled in, and the legs extra length make psoing more interesting, even if in the slightest. Terak isn't the best in united form, as we will see, but on his own he is a good set and I would recommend picking him up.