VBBN Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 Set name: Skull Warrior Set number: 70791 Pieces: 102 Price: $14.99 | £12.99 | €14.99 Release date: 2015 Unleash the Skull Warrior’s huge Freeze Bow rapid shooter!Put the freeze on intruders to the ancient city with the ferocious Skull Warrior! Repel approaching LEGO® BIONICLE® heroes by unleashing six successive shots from the huge Freeze Bow rapid shooter. Activate the battle bash function and overcome any opponent in close combat. Rip off their masks with the hook blade and channel their elemental power to awaken more of the Skull Warrior’s undead comrades! Features a Skull mask and mask pop-off trigger, shell with cool metallic-effect chest decoration, battle bash function, Freeze Bow rapid shooter, hook blade, silver-colored bones, translucent rib cage and posable joints Turn the wheel to activate the battle arm! Rip off LEGO® BIONICLE® hero masks with the hook blade Fire the Freeze Bow rapid shooter! Durable design for intense action play Stands over 7” (20cm) tall Combine with 70792 Skull Slicer and 70793 Skull Basher to create a multi-headed warrior using building instructions available online at LEGO.com/BIONICLE/bi Hello everyone and welcome to my review of Skull Warrior! When images first appeared of the Skull villains, Warrior looked to be the weakest of the wave in my opinion, however after having him in hand he is now one of my favorites of the wave. Will you decide he is worth picking up? Read on to decide for yourself! Packaging and Contents Box Front Like the first wave of sets, Skull Warrior comes in the new hexagonal shaped box. Keep in mind this is European packaging, so some of the information on the front and rear of the box may vary depending on the country, The box art is nice, with an interesting structure in the backdrop, and also we see what is assumed to be Kopaka's hand reaching for his mask. Skull warrior is shooting is Freeze Bow in the direction of where Kopaka would be, and looks alright, no strange posing going on here. Box Back As usual the rear is full of safety warnings, product features and of course a small comic strip showing the struggle between Kopaka's mask. There is also a combo model, between Slicer, Basher and Warrior displayed. News and Interesting parts Bones and Weapons First and foremost, a silver torso bone! It is of the narrow variety, however it's nice to finally get a new color of torso bone, considering we haven't had new colors of it since 2011. There is also a new silver bone that is meant to represent an actual bone. While a cool piece, I'm wondering if we are going to see this get overused in anyway that causes sets to be under-armored in the future. The friction joint, while not new, has a black rubber insert inside of it now instead of clear. Also we have one of the two new weapon molds, a simple sword with hooks on it to pull off Toa's masks- or other skull villain's masks if Skull Warrior is having "one of those days." Armor All of the skull villains have this new dark pearl gray armor add on. It's a cool design, although I'm not a huge fan of the fact that we are only getting it in one color this go around. We also have a new main torso shell in trans light blue, which is nice as we haven't had a new torso shell since 2013 and this one comes in 5 colors in this wave, plus a black color with the upcoming General Grievous. Masks I'm not sure if Lego was just trying to figure out a way to shoe another mask into these sets, but only getting 4 out of the 6 Toa's masks in this wave is annoying. Well, in any case, you get an Akaku in gold mixed with trans light blue. (I would rather have gotten a new skull spider color but woe is me) What is far more interesting is the dark pearl gray skull mask, which looks GLORIOUS. Of the two new skull mask molds in this wave, I find this one far superior to the Basher/Grinder one. Similar to the 2011 Hero Factory villains and Waspix/Scorpio(No, not that one, the other one!) he shares this mask with another character, Skull Grinder. I would be annoyed that they just reused a mold, but I will take this mask in any color I can get. Misc Parts We have a new printed chest piece, which isn't as cool as the Toa's but still really neat to look at. The Stud launcher is molded in a trans light blue, the center firing pin in a light gray, and also the eyestalk in trans neon orange. Building Process Gearbox Skull Warrior's gearbox isn't the most creative of the villain's functions, but it works well. The handle on the back is extra long because he does have storage for his spear as you'll see soon. Action Frame Of the villains, Skull Warrior is the most asymmetrical. Different leg builds, and one arm made completely of bones. Given that these guys are supposed to lok like they just rose from the ground, I really like this look, and in fact I think he pulls off the undead look better than any of the other villains. Armoring Since you can't add armor to the new bones, this does result in much thinner limbs. Spear The spear is actually quite impressive in size. Interestingly, this is how it is constructed, with the mount for placing it on his back. When you place it into his hand, the spear splits in two to fit around the hand piece. Freeze Bow Skull Warrior also comes with a large bow made with the stud launcher. Now this is called the "Freeze Bow" what exactly is it shooting? Snowballs? That's effective. Finished Build Front view His finished look is...interesting. It's very asymmetrical, and he's armed to the teeth. We of course cannot ignore the color scheme, which combines trans light blue with trans neon orange, two colors that normally I wouldn't ever put together, because, well on a figure who seems to like freezing powers it doesn't look right. But eh, it's interesting to look at and doesn't look bad necessarily. Profile Views One side is slightly bulkier than the other. I guess he used to arm wrestle before he, you know, died and whatnot. I understand they moved the gearbox handle back to avoid clashing with the spear but that might be a little overkill. Weapon Storage Hooray for spear storage! Firing Bow The bow is neat and fits into his hands fairly well. Confident Pose The extra long handle on the bow does allow for some interesting poses. In this case it almost looks like a massive pickaxe, which was actually what I thought it was at first (because really putting two long tails on it doesn't mean you can call it a bow, but whatever.) Spear I love that he has a spear. For those wanting to army build, this is a great way to vary them. Also, his gear function is entirely based on this weapon, because once swinging arm doesn't work with the two handed bow. With Mask So if you don't have Kopaka, this is about the most fun you'll get out of this mask. Now as thrilling as a skull spider, but it's a neat mask. Also notice how he is holding the bow- this is a third point that he can hold on to. AM I PRETTY NOW? Yes. Yes you are. Size Comparison For all of these reviews (except Scorpio) I'll be using Tahu as a point of size comparison, because I'm pretty sure everyone in their right mind will have him at this point. Overall If you want a skull villain that actually looks like they just rose from the ground, Skull Warrior is the one for you. He has a good choice of weapons, an effective function that doesn't interfere with poseability or the look of the set, weapon storage, an awesome mask, and a striking color scheme. He is the "ice villain" of the wave in a sense, and of course if you want the new Akaku for your Kopaka this is the guy to obtain for that bonus. Parts wise you'll get five of the new silver bones and a silver torso bone, plus trans light blue bones and the new chest armor. Overall one of my favorites of the wave. He lives up to the undead name, can easily be used a generic army builder, and has a good build. I'd definitely recommend making this one of the first grabs of the wave. Quote
MakutaOfWar Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 Wow, he looks fairly solid compared to what I originally thought, nicely armored considering his theme. XD Quote
dviddy Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 One of these days I'm going to get you and I in a room, with all the other BZP and BIONICLE reviewers, and we're going to teach them how to do photos. These are great. Quote
Logan McOwen Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 Love this fella. Like you say, he's armed to the teeth. He feels like a very archetypal Skull Creature design, which I like about him. The blended MoI is probably the nicest of the bunch, closely contending with the blended MoE. Quote
TheDesuComplex Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 My favorite part of this set is his asymmetry; despite looking like a jumbled mess at first glance, within the context of story (them being half-decayed zombie soldiers) it works super well and represents it the best out of all the Skull Villains. I also like how they gave him both a bow and a spear, which was a thoughtful inclusion. This is the best 'troop builder' set we have gotten out of Bionicle because we looks visually interesting and there a lot of easy ways to customize him. One of these days I'm going to get you and I in a room, with all the other BZP and BIONICLE reviewers, and we're going to teach them how to do photos. These are great. Will this seminar be possibly open to the public? I might need a few of those tips myself. Quote
Aanchir Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 Good review! When I first saw the Skull Villain pics, I was a little disappointed that they introduced a new add-on instead of giving us the previous piston add-on in colors like Titanium Metallic or Black, but having seen more pictures I think the corroded metal look suits them better. And the layered texture is reminiscent of the foreheads of all the skull masks. The light grey firing pin for the six-shooter is not entirely new, since it's been in some of this year's Star Wars sets, but I definitely think it suits the Tr. Light Blue shooters better than a yellow one would. This guy's color scheme is definitely exciting, with the reddish orange bits spread tastefully throughout the model. It's interesting how in an analogous color scheme like that of the Protector of Fire or Tahu, the color feels fiery, but when used as a contrasting color like on most of the Skull Villains it takes on a decidedly more evil flavor. I think the color schemes of these villains in general would be a lot more boring without that evil reddish glow tying them together. Skull Warrior's asymmetry is quite effective, I think. I love that he can store either his spear or his bow on his back. Even though he has one of the simpler gear functions, I think the choice of two different weapons (one close-range, one long-range) is a great gimmick to set him apart from the rest. The Freeze Bow is a bit unusual in that it's the only weapon of the five villains with an obvious elemental theme. Maybe it's powered by the drained energy of the stolen Golden Mask of Ice? Quote
GK733 Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 The thing that most bugs me with this guy are those white studs. There is absolutely no white in his build besides them and the chest print. They gave Ekimu light transblue studs, why not the same for him, or trans orange? Quote
Lyichir Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 The thing that most bugs me with this guy are those white studs. There is absolutely no white in his build besides them and the chest print. They gave Ekimu light transblue studs, why not the same for him, or trans orange? Maybe he's firing knucklebones? I don't think Trans. Light Blue or Trans. Fl. Reddish Orange would work that well—the former would just blend into the launcher (which works decently for Ekimu's hammer, but not so much for a bow) while the latter might call to mind fire rather than ice or non-elemental energy. Silver Metallic could possibly work (and is indeed a color that exists for the part), but it's possible Lego wanted to avoid a color like that due to being too similar to actual physical bullets. Quote
Leewan Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 My second favourite set of the wave, behind MMvsSG. There's nothing too special about him, compared to the other medium sets, but at least everything is well-executed. Maybe he's firing knucklebones? Nah, they're snowballs, I guess. So when you think about it, Kopaka is a poor Master of Ice : he looses his mask because some undead skeleton guy throws snowballs at him. Quote
Aanchir Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 His weapon is identified as a "freeze bow", so I'm guessing that yeah, the studs are supposed to be snow or ice. Perhaps the reason they're Tr. Light Blue is that unlike Ekimu (whose launcher doubles as a melee weapon), they didn't want the ammo to blend in with the shooter. Quote
GK733 Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Well yeah... Orange would had been associated with fire, tr light blue wouldn't work and trans white studs would just be too hard to find. But it didn't need to be a freeze Bow, obviously it will not have a significant impact on story, almost any other neutral color would had been fine. Quote
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