VBBN

The time zone converter that was given uses both the 12 hour and 24 hour clock. Midnight is labeled as 00/12 AM, and Noon is labeled 12/12 PM. I find it strange that so many people have confusion about what 12 PM means, yet no one questioned what it meant until after they had missed the deadline. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do. The same deadline and time converter were given on all six sites in the same exact way, and follow the official world-wide time clock guidelines. I don't think I can disclose the official dates, but the rules give you a rough idea; I don't know if we are going to announce the top 5 from each site before the 3 respective finalists are chosen, this is to yet be discussed. When each set of 3 finalists are announced, we might show who the other two that made it into the top 5 were.

By that logic, a clock would never change between a.m. and p.m. 12 a.m. is the beginning of the 12 hour ante meridiem cycle, meaning the hours in the day before noon, which lasts until 11:59 a.m, as of which the cycle changes to post meridiem, after noon, from noon until 11:59 p.m. This is by definition the proper placement of A.M. and P.M. You can also view it in the sense that A.M. is the start of the first 12 hours of the day, and P.M is the second set of 12 hours. On a 24 hour clock, the day begins at 0:00 (midnight) which begins the A.M. cycle. Once the first 12 hours are gone, the clock reads 12:00 (noon) which begins the P.M. set of hours.

A time converter was provided in the official rules (the pdf attached the the first post).

24 CET is the equivalent of 12 AM CET. The contest closed 12 hours beforehand, at 12 PM.

Alright after some behind the scenes discussions, let's get this show on the road. So the contest ended at 12:00 pm CET, as stated in the superseding rules- Most of the sites received a couple entries past the deadline, and to keep things fair, these entries will not be considered in the final judging. There's a lot of statistics to pull and entries to sort through, however here at Eurobricks we have rung in a total of 286 entries! I do believe BZP will be pulling in the largest total of 800+ Now we have got some work to do as we pick the top 5 from each site, and then it's off to Lego for the judging of the winners! I want to thank everyone who came together and put their best work forward to creating villains for this contest. It has been a great way to welcome the return of Bionicle, and it's fantastic to see so many people getting back into the spirit of it. I hope everyone has had fun, and even if you don't make it to the finalist positions, remember that we are looking at likely far over 1000 entries, and that it's very difficult to choose among so many awesome entries! This contest has only been the start, I've got a lot of awesome stuff planned for the Action Figure forum here for 2015, so stick around and see what's to follow! And while the work on our end isn't done yet, I want to also thank the fellow forum staff, Andrew, Eddy, Rack, and Leo, as well Julie Broberg, Sara Moore, and Signe Lønholdt from Lego for helping to make this contest become a reality. This is certainly not the last time that the communities come together to bring you all an epic contest. VBBN

12pm CET is noon.

"When we saw the Zeta land on the beaches of Okoto, nothing could prepare us for what the being would unleash. He comes from the Great Library that lies far in the clouds above us. Zeta was the first to descend, and not even the power of all six Toa could cause him to fall. His weapon disoriented them and filled them with false memories, causing them to go into an endless battle against each other. He still stands on the beach, watching as the six Toa wreak havoc on each other. Anyone who tries to go near him or attack him, quickly find themselves being brought down by a gravitational field that surrounds the Zeta. He was only the first." I was in a purple mood, and wanted to try out some of the new Bionicle parts, so here we have Zeta. I wanted him to have some unnatural alien proportions, so some design choices, such as long arms, long hands, the "chicken leg" design, and of course the shape of his upper body were with that in mind Enjoy!

Don't forget, judging focuses on quality, quantity doesn't indicate high chances in this case.

Finding a lot of cool potential to the skull spider mask thanks to the bar clips.

Set name: Protector of Jungle Set number: 70778 Pieces: 64 Price: $9.99, € Release date: 2015 Packaging and Contents Box Front At this point, we've all seen what the boxes look like, but I'm guessing all you guys want to see is the boxes on your local store shelves. Soon! As always keep in mind that the box is the European variant, so some differences may be present. Box Back The usual slew of features, from launching masks to launching studs to launching spiders. Instructions Once again, standard fare as always. Hey Protector, you're uh, firing in the wrong direction there buddy. New/Interesting Parts Gatling Gun One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar. New Pieces The new head piece, new eyestalk in trans neon green, piston add-on in silver, and new spider leg which is a modified version of a hero factory claw. Standard fare, every set in the wave except for Lord of Skull Spiders and Protector of Earth will come with this same slew of pieces, though colors of course will vary. Recolors One thing that quickly bumps the Protector of Jungle up there on the "interesting" scale is some of his recolored bits. He is one of the three Protectors to get the smaller kaiju feet in silver. he also gets two of the new keetorange 4-length shell that Lewa has four of. Even more interestingly, we get the second shortest unrestricted bone piece in keetorange (four of them) in the set. I do love getting new colors of bones! Masks Fire, Jungle, and Water all feature a color on their mask that isn't really on the figure at all. Water has dark azure, Fire has bright red (though he has one single red shell hidden under his armor), and Jungle has Bright green. Some will argue that it's fine because the color is close enough to the trans colors that they include, but to me, a solid and a trans plastic are different, they are supposed to be, and they do not substitute one another. With that said, the Protector of Jungle is the least offensive in this regard, bright green goes better with trans bright green than the other respective colors match their trans colors. Oh, and you get a dark blue Skull Spider. Building process Action Frame The Protector of Jungle's torso bone structure is fairly similar to the Protector of Stone's. Armoring His color scheme is certainly a striking one, bringing in bright keetorange with the trans bright green. Weapon It's times like these when I just want to wonder "why?" We got some lovely recolored flame piece with the Protector of Stone, but apparently they ran out of budgeting with this guy and instead opted for the old blue and yellow pieces. Even though neither of those colors is on the Protector of Jungle. It's another case of pieces just being there to be there, their is hardly an point to their being on the weapon. You could pretty much stick any two weapon pieces on either side of the gatling gun and still have a decent looking "bow" of sorts. Ideally they should repaint these parts into silver. Finished Set Skull Spider Both jungle sets come with a blue Skull Spider (not the Skull "Scorpion" as seen in the Stone sets.) Front Like the Protector of Stone, the Protector of Jungle has one piston on one of his arms, sort of acting as a shoulder-shield. I love asymmetrical shoulder armor, so this is welcome to me. Profile He does feature back armor. Also you can see he uses two of those minifigure piraka spines in lime green. Another random shade of green, I guess that's to be expected with Jungle. Back As I said earlier, Jungle and Stone both have similar torso builds, and they could have very easily given Stone the same back armor as Jungle has. Well anyway, at least this gives us two of those lovely new keetorange shells- Always nice to have an even amount. Pose 1 I love characters with crossbows, longbows, bow and arrows, and even bowties. I'm not sure if that was the intent here, otherwise the flame pieces are even more random, but I like how it looks with the Protector of Jungle. Pose 2 Also I really quite like this bone structure, it gives him a lot of options when it comes to poseability. Skull Mask Like all of the other figures, the Protector of Jungle can wear the Skull Spider on his face. Conclusion I like the Protector of Jungle. He's got a fun build, a decent weapon, And a good look overall. His color scheme is great, and I don't feel the trans-armor clashes too much with the bright green on his mask. Of course if you have lewa, this guy is a must have as the two look great together. Of the Protectors, I think Jungle would be my third favorite, right behind the Protector of Earth and Stone. What do you think?

Yeah I had gotten two of the golden vahi and two disks in the tub, though I have no idea where my other vahi went. My stupid younger self didn't realize what it was and misplaced it I guess.

My favorite part about big villains. Now in all seriousness, my biggest problem with large figures like 08 Takky and 09 Steroid Nui, is they never had anyone to properly fight. No giant Teridax or anything. People keep comparing it to Transformers, and to further back up DeeVee's claims of why it's not an issue in Transformers, they don't have this problem. For every Autobot, there is usually a Decepticon to counter them. Primus to Unicron, Scorponok to Metroplex/Fort Max, etc. It's cool to have a big figure, but when it comes down to it, I would almost always prefer there be someone to face off against. So for the summer wave, I really hope we get some villains that are equal in size to the Toa, to give them a proper counterpart. LoSS just...fits into a different league.

Not review quality pics of course but this was just some leg testing. (Hence the random grey bones, all of my black bones are currently in Kronos.) It's not perfect and obviously a much better armoring system could have been used especially where the glatorian necks are concerned, but this is to prove my point that articulated legs could have been used. I used a slippery surface and had absolutely no problem posing him, he wasn't fiddly or troublesome, and his functionality still remains the same. I opted to give him different lengths of legs, of course that's personal preference. Oh, and uh ignore the shovel big behind, just kinda stuck it there as a temporary fix. I was thinking more along the lines of a massive Exo-Toa.

I'm quite curious as to the price point of the more "expensive" sets. We are already getting three $20 sets, and the biggest constraction pricetag released in recent years is only $35, I would certainly like to see something much bigger. As it stands, the $20 Toa don't really feel like big sets in fact, Lewa and Gali not only look around the same height, but also feel just as substantial. Something like Witch Doctor's size would be a welcome addition.

As someone who normally hates prints, I absolutely love the ones we got with these Toa, as well as the sticker design for Onua's chest. Can't say I like LoSS's faceprint, but that's a whole different matter.

Isn't mata green (the old "dark green") not even used by the company anymore? I thought it was replaced by bright green. Oh wait maybe system still uses it

Set name: Lewa: Master of Jungle Set number: 70784 Pieces: 85 Price: $14.99, € Release date: 2015 I've never been a fan of jungles. Forests sure, living in Michigan those are practically home to me, but something about jungles just brings about instant dislike for me. I found Lewa's change to being a master of jungle a strange one- unless he starts shooting vines out of his hands and crapping out poison ivy, he will still be the master of air to me. Either way, let's see how this new incarnation of lewa stacks up. Packaging and Contents Box Front The front of the box showcases Lewa sliding down a rather large vine. I'd have liked to see a more classic representation of lewa swingin by a vine, but oh well. We also have the skull spider leaping into the scene, and the mask podium just slapped on. Take note that this is the European packaging, so some information may be different on the box. Box Back I'll tell you what, as strange as Lewa Nuva looked with his katana's propped under his armpits, I really have no idea what this new Lewa is supposed to be doing in his "flight" mode. I'm kind of getting a wingsuit vibe, but wingsuits don't really leave you with effective combat actions with your arms... Instructions I have to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Okoto, structurally it's much more interesting than Mata Nui. News and Interesting parts Head, Eyestalk, Add-ons The new head in silver, eyestalk in trans neon green, the new spider leg, and the piston add-on in silver. Taking a step away from the set for a second, I think by this point you'll have noticed that I keep using this same photo in all of the reviews (and an alternate one for the trans ice blu eyestalk), you really get this same fare in just about every set. Shells First up, we have the basic torso shell and a 4-length in the newer bright green which is close to classic mata green, but there is a difference. You might also know this color as "green lantern" green as the Green lantern set uses this same color. Also, we have the 4-length shell in keetorange. As someone who loves keetorange, I was very pleased to see this color return instead of just using the standard yellow. Armor, Fin, Weapon Next we have the printed chestpiece, which is also a new color for the chestpiece, silver. Although the printing makes that a rather moot point. We also have the "kaiju fins" in silver, and the weapon that both Lewa and Gali share in dark pearl gray. Gearbox The new gearbox is simply an arrangement of beams with spots to hold the large 4-tooth gears. It's generic design leaves a lot of possibilities for future MOCing. Technic Bits I really need a better term than "technic bits." Hm. We have that very awesome pin piece that is relatively new and still rare to get (this set comes with 4 of them) Also we have a new 1x1 pin spacer. You'll be pleased to know that there is a spare one in the set, and also a spare with the Protector of Jungle, so if you get the duo you'll have two of the spacers spare. Masks Alright, let's get this out of the way- I don't like the new Miru. Everyone will have their own opinion of it and I of course invite you to share your thoughts on it in the comments, but I do not like it. It's not that it doesn't look like the old Miru. there are some similarities to it, I guess, but I just think this is one ugly mask. Considering the 2001 and 2003 Miru were my favorite mask of each respective year, that's an extreme disappointment. Building Process Gearbox Lewa's gearbox has an interesting build, mainly in the way that you construct the mounts for the kaiju fins. Also it's to note that he uses 4 of the eight tooth gears to give friction to his arms. Action Frame Lewa's build attempts to give him a more tribal look, and gives him really tall shoulders. I like the idea behind it, but unfortunately it restricts his head movement upward. Seriously, his head will not look upwards, at all. It's actually difficult to knock off his mask because there is nowhere for the trigger to push down, it just hits the top of the gearbox. If I were a kid playing with these, I'd pick Lewa. he's guaranteed to win. Armoring Lewa has really long limbs, and he uses pretty short armor plates. You could say it's for aerodynamics, but once you see his "adrenaline mode," well, he's not gonna by flying much. Finished Build Skull Scorpion Both Jungle sets come with a dark blue Skull Spider. Unlike the Stone sets, they do not have scorpion tails. Front Alright, so he doesn't look horribly lanky. The piston add-ons, while very strange looking right there, do help to fill him out. I tried flipping his thigh armor to the front and it made a world of difference. And i really like hos the silver fins look around his shoulders, even if they add to the already annoying head articulation. Profile One drawback is that Lewa has those connector bricks stuck under his arms for his adrenaline mode. The shoulder construction does look good from this angle as well. Back The silver fin wiggles around which is a minor quibble. Also from here you can see how the 4 technic pins create the shoulder armoring. Pose I think, when the designers made this weapon piece, that Gali was first in mind and then they tried slapping it onto Lewa afterwards. He holds the axes very closed to the blade, and the fact that the handles are another set of swords throws you off. Golden Mask and Adrenaline Mode Here you can see the golden Miru mounted. I didn't mention it before, but I find it ironic that the character with the most cluttered neck/head articulation also gets the largest mask. And there you have it, his adrenaline mode. I understand some of you may see wing-suit aesthetic in his, but this is the lamest adrenaline mode of all of the Toa in my opinion. Now, if there had been a way for the silver fins to flip around and attach the wings to give him gliding wings, I'd have enjoyed this more, but the wings under the arms like that makes it really hard to pose him in any sort of flight mode- not even considering that his head won't look upward. Skull Mask Maybe I've been too hard on him. What's a positive point? I love the silver swords, they instantly brought back memories of the katanas. Oh, and I've come to the conclusion that shiny dark blue plastic will literally go with every color. Power-Up Mode Before I say anything, I'd like to point out one error I noticed in this photo- I forgot to put the little lime green piraka spines from the Protector onto his feet. Not a big loss, but that is one detail he also gains. Anyway, the power up mode for lewa involves the little spines, and giving lewa the two handed weapon, which looks quite in scale with the larger Toa. Again I think it would have been nice to see the swords attach to his back somehow in this mode. Master and Protector Keetorange and bright green. Gotta say, I don't miss lime from Breez one bit. Overall I'm going to come off as pessimistic in this one. He's my least favorite Toa. He's still a good figure, with a great color scheme and the shoulder build is really unique. But a lame adrenaline mode, strange weapons, the head articulation, and of course my dislike of the mask have lead me to put him at the bottom of the list. All of the new Toa are great so being at the bottom isn't necessarily a terrible thing, and I think my pictures will be the deciding factor more than my words, but there he is. And that wraps up my reviews of the six Toa. TIme to finish up the Protectors!

I'm not sure what kind of poses you were trying to achieve, but I have never had issues posing six or eight legged builds, unless something is seriously off balance. 4-legged builds cause me problems, but in this case the front set of legs at that angle really helps to stabilize things. I already tried giving this guy new legs- Instead of the technic beams, I attached glatorian necks to the frame of the body and built legs off of that. Poseability was significantly improved, and the function still worked completely fine. I see no reason why the designers chose this route. (I'll post photos later but I had to disassemble it for the review, gotta remake my design)

Set name: Lord of Skull Spiders Set number: 70790 Pieces: 145 Price: $14.99, € Release date: 2015 The only villain for the winter wave of Bionicle sets is the Lord of Skull Spiders. I won't lie, I'm not a big fan of spider-villains, I find them to be boring counterparts to large bipedal figures, unless they are gigantic. (I'm talking Striking Venom sized here) That aside, the Lord of Skull Spiders (or for the sake of this review, LoSS) has the highest piece count of any of the winter sets and 145, which is interesting considering he's one of the medium sized figures instead of large. He's also the most technic oriented build. So how does he stack up? Let's find out. Packaging and Contents Box Front The front of the box shows LoSS coveting the golden skull spider mask. It's actually a very striking and cool look, with the glowing mask illuminating his eyes. It's actually one of my favorite graphics of the first wave. Something else to note is that, as usual, this is the European packaging, so piece count is absent from the information, among other things. Box Back The back of the box is on the lighter side of action features. Funny, the figure that is completely constructed around a function, ends up having the least functions of the winter wave. His legs snap shut. There you are. No mask launching, no gatling guns, no alternate weapons, power-up modes, etc. So this better be one amazing function, right? Right? Also, as you can see in the animation, LoSS is not intended to have a giant abdomen- it looks more like he's just a gigantic skull spider. Instructions The instructions feature the same image-and what an awesome image it is. New and Interesting Parts Faceplate If you're looking to get a slew of new parts, this isn't the se for you. He doesn't come with a gearbox, gatling gun, the new head or eyestalk, piston add ons, or new shells. Instead he has a different fare, mostly technic but the first highlight is this...printed breastplate. I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with this, I really don't like printed faces like that. Golden Skull Spider Mask In terms of parts, one of the biggest draws for people is sure to be this, the golden skull spider mask. Unfortunately there isn't any spider legs to go with it. Technic Bits Now here are some beauties. First, you get eight of those trans neon orange beams. Then you have the gray technic pin which also comes with Lewa, a part that is relatively new, and never before seen in Constraction. I believe the black one is new, either way both of these are quite rare at the moment and are sure to be amazingly useful in MOCing. It's a shame he only comes with one of the black ones. Building Process The Beginning LoSS has one of those builds where you have no idea what is going on until you are done. Rubber Band...Thing Okay moving on we have... well there's a rubber band..and some other stuff. Yeah, I'm gonna let you just look at the pictures. Gears Now here we have the meat of the build. The yellow gears are what move the legs. Everything else is just a mount for the trigger, essentially. The red piece will connect to an XT4 torso to give him back armor, and the balljoint is for his face. Trigger Next, the trigger is built, and the first set of legs goes on. Legs The face is placed on, and we finish up the mounts of the legs. Finished Build Front Okay, we know he looks decent from the front. It's how you see him on all promotional artwork, and is frankly one of his best angles. Profile It's a bit unsightly, but not horrible. The trigger does look very strange back there, but it works. Back You can see a lot of orange beams. Other than that, there is literally nothing interesting of note here. Functionality His function is, well, lame. Basically when you squeeze the trigger, all six legs swing downward about 90 degrees. I'm sure it's fun for a kid to run around snapping his legs open and shut, but for us it's not the most practical thing. It severely limits his poseability and doesn't offer any posing incentive since the legs snap right back, the function doesn't support his weight completely so his balance is completely off (which in turns makes it hard to pose his legs in what little poseability they do have), and it doesn't really pick up the mask so well. Meh. Pose I use the term "pose" very loosely here, because honestly all I did was raise the front two legs. But, captured at this angle, the set looks menacing enough, which is better than I was expecting. Pose 2 This is about the most you can do with his back legs other than a static pose, or a squished spider pose. Overall He's not great, let's get that out of the way. When you judge this set, you can't hold him to the same level as the other 12 sets in the wave. He's a very Technic oriented build, which is good fun to construct, but not so fun to pose or look at. He doesn't have a slew of new parts, but what parts he does have are decent for the more Technic savvy builders. Would I recommend him? As a build or parts pack, yes. But as a set, I don't like him. He doesn't really fit in with the other sets, won't pose nearly well enough, and quite frankly I don't know how he's supposed to be any sort of threat to Tahu who could probabaly just step on him. Now yes, many will argue and say how wonderful it is that he is a Technic build, and that is poseability is forgiven because of that. However, the Toa took the gear system and created functions that don't interfere with the sets, and actually improve the look of the sets in some ways. LoSS, does not successfully do that. Let's hope the summer wave offers more promising villains.

I'm hoping to get a pet Emperor Scorpion, so here is Scorpy Thanks as always for once again hosting such a fantastic raffle CopMike

Reviews are now live for Protector of Fire and Pohatu Next up I'll take photos of all of the comic images once I have finished up the reviews.

Set name: Protector of Fire Set number: 70783 Pieces: 63 Price: $9.99, € Release date: 2015 Packaging and Contents Box Front Now I could go on an talk about the hexagonal shaped packaging that we have all heard a lot about by now, but let's cut to the chase here. Whoever posed the set with the arm like that needs to be fired. And whoever approved it for the official packaging images, needs to be fired twice. I'm seeing a bit of irony here..."fire"... Box Back Set functions, and a whole lot of chocking hazard warnings. Instructions Standard fare. I will post all of the comics from the insides after all of the reviews are done. New/Interesting Parts Gatling Gun One of the more interesting parts that has made it's way into the Protectors is this new gatling gun. Unlike the Toa who feature gearboxes, these lovely little weapons offer a very awesome new choice of "bionicle launcher" that we have come to expect. The gun is made up of two parts, a dark gray barrel, and a yellow firing pin. Once put together, they do not come apart, at least not without a lot of needless work. The connection is very comparable to the Mata heads with eyestalks. As for the firing power of this new collectible, if anyone is familiar with the minifigure blasters first introduced in Star Wars this year (also seen in wave two of Hero Factory 2014), the force behind the stud is quite similar. New Pieces The new head piece, new eyestalk in trans light blue, piston add-on in silver, and new spider leg which is a modified version of a hero factory claw. Standard fare, every set in the wave except for Lord of Skull Spiders and Protector of Earth will come with this same slew of pieces, though colors of course will vary. Masks The first mask is the Protector's mask, which we get in a mix of bright red and trans yellow. We also have the skull spider mask in spring yellowish green, which is the color it can be found in all of the fire and earth sets. Building process Torso The Protector of Fire and Earth both have some very interesting torso builds. The PoF utilizes a glatorian neck build for his shoulders, which gives him an additional balljoint to mount the gatling gun. Action Frame Oh dear. Those arms are quite unfortunate. By adding the smallest bone element, they could have drastically improved the look and articulation of the arms, but the didn't. With that said, I quite like the build of the torso and legs, and the arms are a simple fix, it's just annoying that you have to source your own parts for such a ridiculous thing to begin with. Armoring It's odd that he has so much trans neon orange when his mask isn't blended with that color. The red chestplate also looks strange against so much trans plastic. Seems to me like a forced way to put those trans neon orange hands into the first wave of sets. Weapon For this build, the gatling gun is mounted to his shoulder. It's a pretty basic use of the gatling gun, but I love shoulder mounted weapons so I have no complaints. Finished Set Skull Spider As I've said before, I love the spring yellowish green as a color, it's very fitting for a face-hugging-spider-of-doom. Although it leaves me wishing for spring yellowish green shells. Front As much as I dislike the arms, I do really like the build of his chest. it's the most well armored of the Protectors, and the gatling gun slung over his shoulder looks quite menacing. Profile Unlike many of the other Protectors, the Protector of Fire's chest doesn't stick out extremely far, giving him one of the best profiles. Back Here you can have a closer look at his custom shoulder build. The gatling gun looks sort of strange from this angle as well. Pose 1 This is about the furthest inward you can put his arms. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the weapons (and apparently neither was the guy who did the box art, he was really struggling to pose this guy decently) I think I would rather have skipped the strange under-handed connection, and instead used the budget of those parts for the arms. Pose 2 If anyone is familiar with the 2007 Transformer's movie, they may remember that Megatron had his fusion cannon built under his arms, and when he put his wrists together the weapon would connect, expand, and fire. I sort of imagined the weapons like that in this pose. Skull Mask The Skull mask can also be swapped out on his face. Conclusion This guy is a real toss-up. On one hand, I love the torso build, it's well armored and looks great. I like the legs, and the shoulder mounted launcher. But the arms are very strange and awkward, the color scheme has too many different shades of yellow/orange (they should have given him more red armor and kept only one color of trans plastic), and his arm mounted weapons are equally as awkward thanks to his arms. He's a fun build, but he wouldn't be my first choice of Protector.

Good catch, thanks! He's not one of my favorites, but given how great all of the Toa are that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Set name: Pohatu: Master of Stone Set number: 70785 Pieces: 66 Price: $14.99, € Release date: 2015 Pohatu. He was always one of my favorite toa. Perhaps it was from my love of brown figures, or his incredibly unique twist on the classic Toa design. We all remember Pohatu as the toa with the upside-down gearbox, giving his legs an interesting yet hilarious looking function. But this Pohatu, is that unique design no more. Now he has a standard gearbox just like the other Toa. But does he still retain that charm as his old sets? Let's find out. Packaging and Contents Box Front The front of the box showcases Pohatu...in a sand tornado? I guess the elimination of a "Master of Air" is going to let the other characters utilize air combined with their elements this time around. Take note that this is the European packaging, so the piece count is not listed on the box- but according to Brickset it's a measly 66. That's either a really low piece count, or a really high price tag. Either way, I can't say it's a thrilling thing. Box Back The back of the box shows off the set functions as well as a comic which (once again) has Pohatu summoning up a tornado. Also it's worth noting that the alternate use of the weapon on Pohatu's feet is in a different orientation on the packaging than you actually built it. The animation shows them as trianges of sorts, instead of just being boomerangs on his feet. Instructions Nothing thrilling. Moving on. News and Interesting parts Armor, Bones, Head First up, we have the new piston add-on and new head in silver. There is a gunmetal spider leg which is a remolded version of a Hero Factory claw, and finally a trans neon green eyestalk, as well as one type of bone element. Weapon, Armor We get a new weapon component, which is half of the boomerang. And the more interesting part of the picture is dark orange 4-L shells and the chest piece, which also features a unique print. Gearbox The new gearbox is simply an arrangement of beams with spots to hold the large 4-tooth gears. It's generic design leaves a lot of possibilities for future MOCing. Masks First we have the new Kakama in dark orange and gold. At first I wasn't a huge fan of this, but after having it in hand you really start to feel resemblances to the original Kakama. The sides could have splayed out a bit more to further channel the original, but it's not bad. We also have the skull spider mask in that devious dark blue. Building Process Gearbox Pohatu's gearbox gives him one geared arm. Unlike many of the other Toa, this assembly doesn't offer any back armor. Action Frame Pohatu was technically one of the two "short" characters originally, although now he's been taken to a whole new extreme. As you can see it's not a short frame by any means, but it is quite short compared to Toa like Tahu and Lewa. Like the Protector, Pohatu has asymmetrical arms, although it's a more extreme level here, with one of his arms being trans neon green while the other is black. Armoring If you detest the asymmetrical build, it is very easy to swap out a bone and shell from one arm and swap it with a set from the other to balance things out, thanks to the same bones and same shells being used on both arms. I can't say I enjoy the fact that many of the Toa this year use silver or dark metallic feet- I would much prefer them to use their own elemental color, similar to Onua and Kopaka. Finished Build Skull Scorpion Like the Protector of Stone, Pohatu comes with a Skull Scorpion rather than a spider. It's a neat change, and certainly fitting for a desert theme. Front Here we have Silverhatu. Either he needed dark orange feet, or the shin shells should have been dark orange, because at the moment it looks like his legs were dangling in silver protodermis paint. Profile From a side view, his isn't too bad. His shoulders aren't very far back, and the head is pushed forward quite a bit, very similar to his older self. Back You get to see more of the beautiful trans bones here. Also of note is a Guurahk staff mounted to his back. We will see where that comes into play in a moment. Pose In the past, Pohatu has used climbing claws and a rock. Now he has...boomerangs. I'd say that of all the new Toa, this weapon is the most random and least like his old weapons, but it's still a very awesome piece and I guess I can see it being used by a Toa of Stone. Golden Mask and Jetarangs Firstly you can see the golden Kakama on Pohatu. Next, his boomerangs can be placed on his feet to give him "hover-board-jetarang-something" feet. Ironically, the Toa who looks most like a runner, is probably going to do the least running. I guess this was the best way to make him fast since the Kakama is no longer a Mask of speed, but still I wish he could just run fast without needing a mask power as an excuse. Also, he can use the Guurahk staff as a temporary weapon while this are on his feet. Given we just saw it in Kopaa, it's a rather boring and stale choice of tool, but at least now we have two of them (since they are in the newer silver introduced with Hero Factory as opposed to the more pearlish silver from before). On a positive note, I love the Bohrok eyes on the "jetarangs" here. They seem like lights on the wings of an airplane in a way. Skull Mask WIth my photos of the Skulls on characters, i've begun giving them more obscure weapon combos. In this case, you can see what the two boomerangs look like in one hand. Power-Up Mode Pohatu's power up mode adds the silver shoulder piece from his protector counterpart, as well as his weapon. I actually like this mode, it gives a nicer look to his "robotic" arm, and gives him a more threatening weapon while his jetarangs are in use. Master and Protector They are certainly daring with their color schemes, but together they look fantastic. Overall Yeah, he's not the same as what we all remember from 2001. Of course, he's also not a gray and orange figure with a massive cannon slung over his shoulder with propellers for arms either, so there's that. There's a lot to take in here- Dark orange, boomerangs, trans neon green bones, and of course the change to a more normal geared torso. He's the smallest Toa, and also totals to a measly 66 piece- 1 less than the Protector of Stone. With that said, he's one of the least cluttered of the new Toa. I'm still not sure entirely how I feel about him.

Sorry that a 14K gold mask and free sets aren't good enough for you. Lego is generously providing these prizes, I think that fact alone should warrant some appreciation. As long as the part exists in real life, then yes.