REVIEW: 71311 Kopaka and Melum Unity Set

[xboxtravis7992]

The mask was not supposed to have a round 1x1 plate fitting into the scope, but I had huge problems getting the mask pretty with just a hole, so designer Chrisian proposed the use of the plate just before we initiated mould construction. That simply enhanced the mask 100 % i my opinion.

Erland

Technical Element Design (TED)

Yes very interesting fact. I can imagine building a "corrupted Kopaka" would be easy with this, just switch out the trans blue stud with a more sinister color...

[Aanchir]

The mask was not supposed to have a round 1x1 plate fitting into the scope, but I had huge problems getting the mask pretty with just a hole, so designer Chrisian proposed the use of the plate just before we initiated mould construction. That simply enhanced the mask 100 % i my opinion.

Erland

Technical Element Design (TED)

Christian told us about this during his presentation at BrickFair New Jersey in October — didn't realize that you were the engineer in that scenario! Glad he was able to come up with a solution that worked for everyone!

[One Very Agile Cat]

I really like Kopaka's mask, especially with the stud in it. Very Nuva-like but still it's own thing. I also like the blue arms. It's different, and adds a bit on contrast but still works because it's a blue. Definitely gonna try and add some armour or something to the upper arms. There's holes (currently occupied by grey pins) that'd be perfect for sticking a ball or those semi-new connectors. Especially since the lower arms are so bulky. I also don't think the crystal add-on looks good on thighs, and even though Tahu already does it, I may swap the leg armour pieces for better proportions. That said, limb length-wise Kopaka looks really well-proportioned unlike Gali.

Shouldn't be hard to alter this to my liking.

Edited December 16, 2015 by One Very Agile Cat

[BIONICLEFANCLUB]

Daymn son, where'd you find.

[xboxtravis7992]

^Lego's PR team sends Eurobricks advanced copies to review. It says so in most reviews for this wave.

[Bbrink1996]

Really great set, can't wait to pick him up. :)

Also, if I may ask VBBN, in your opinion, which creature do you think is better? Melum or Terak? Since they are so alike and all.

[DOTM Shockwave]

Kopaka looks pretty bad looking, mainly it's the random dark blue shells on his arms and the gold on the addon piece.

VBBN, how does Kopaka, or any of the Toa, look with the 2015 version's torso shell.

[wghost]

Kopaka was definitely my favorite from the first wave of G2 and, in my opinion, the new Kopaka is vastly inferior to the one we've got this year in terms of proportions, color scheme, mask, weapons and subsequently, overall look. The gun is nothing to run wild about in my eyes and similarly, the sword is nowhere near as good-looking or stylish as this year's shield. And those golden pieces on the thighs. Ouch.

[VBBN]

Really great set, can't wait to pick him up. :)

Also, if I may ask VBBN, in your opinion, which creature do you think is better? Melum or Terak? Since they are so alike and all.

I prefer Terak's look because I like his colorscheme more and his function leaves him looking more armored overall 9and he has a slight bit of a height advantage which makes posing his legs easier.) Melum has a neater function, but other than that I think he falls short.

Kopaka looks pretty bad looking, mainly it's the random dark blue shells on his arms and the gold on the addon piece.

VBBN, how does Kopaka, or any of the Toa, look with the 2015 version's torso shell.

Will take a photo soon (Only have Tahu built) but... not good. It looks even worse on a 2015 set because unlike the 2016 sets, the extremely smooth aesthetic of 2015 makes the chestplate stick out like a sore thumb. That and it's sort of a larger shell so it doesn't work as great with their masks.

[DOTM Shockwave]

Will take a photo soon (Only have Tahu built) but... not good. It looks even worse on a 2015 set because unlike the 2016 sets, the extremely smooth aesthetic of 2015 makes the chestplate stick out like a sore thumb. That and it's sort of a larger shell so it doesn't work as great with their masks.

That's disappointing, how do the 2016 Toa look with their 2015 torso shell?

[Umbra-Manis]

Can we see Kopaka with Gali's crystal addons in place of his own and some white shells in place of the dark blue ones?

[TheDesuComplex]

After having this duo in-hand, it amazes me just how great Kopaka is. I like how his custom shoulders have the axis of rotation in the torso itself, which is much closer to how actual shoulders work than what we are used to. The Piece of Unification on his legs works really well to represent shin armor thanks to the taper at the bottom, and his thighs being a bit bigger also works well. These small details, combined with the overall proportions of different parts, really does make him feel like the most human Bionicle set we have ever gotten. I am not too sure about his gun though- the stickers on the shield are nice and all, but I can't really get into his gun (or any shooting function for that matter). His sword is great and works well. The Dark Blue shells are an odd choice, sure, but they look pretty great if you put extra stickers from 70788 on it.

Melum, on the other hand, isn't that great. I wish his PoU was gold to match his head and crystal armor. I like the gear function, but it does not work well with something that isn't a flying beast. He feels stubby and small compared to Terak. And, of course, he is missing an ice-themed Shadow Trap. In the end, he does NOT feel like he would have stood up as a standalone set and he doesn't add much to Kopaka in Unity form.

[Aanchir]

Melum, on the other hand, isn't that great. I wish his PoU was gold to match his head and crystal armor. I like the gear function, but it does not work well with something that isn't a flying beast. He feels stubby and small compared to Terak. And, of course, he is missing an ice-themed Shadow Trap. In the end, he does NOT feel like he would have stood up as a standalone set and he doesn't add much to Kopaka in Unity form.

Incidentally, I was earlier counting up the pieces from each figure to see how many Kopaka uses and how many Melum uses. It turns out Kopaka uses a solid 131 pieces (counting both his masks and his sticker sheet), close to Tahu's 132. So contrary to what many have said, he is effectively on par with the other $20 Toa as far as piece count is concerned. Conversely, Melum uses a measly 40 pieces — far fewer than any of the other Creature sets. So I think this set is more like a $20 Toa and a $5 creature (or perhaps an $18 Toa and a $7 creature) than a $15 Toa and a $10 creature.

[GK733]

(or perhaps an $18 Toa and a $7 creature) than a $15 Toa and a $10 creature.

That has been my thought from the start. Kopaka isn't a $ 20 toa nor $15. You also have to notice that Tahu has many more larger pieces than Kopaka and is primarly built of the more expensive CCBS elements while Kopaka uses the cheaper technic to create something as simple as an upper arm. But the fact he has blaster alone brings him closer to $ 20 point than of $15.

But the true reason for the price is Melum, who has no trap and less parts than Terak and none that large either.

People bring up the MMvSG often with this but they have to realize Ekimu and Kulta are primarily composed of CCBS parts which tend to be more expensive to produce than general technic.

While Kulta couldn't pass as $ 20 set and is closer to $18 Ekimu easily tops the prize of a generic protector due to the gearbox and the MoC stand.

[ciano]

I was wondering why they'd pair Kopaka with Melum exlusively, and not sell them separately like the others. It seemed like such a random choice! But this thread leaves me with no doubt in my mind. TLG knew nobody would buy Melum on his own because his unity mode brings nothing new to the table. But they knew Kopaka was a desirable Toa, so they effectively made Kopaka more expensive in order to move a less desirable product off shelves with him.

[Lyichir]

I was wondering why they'd pair Kopaka with Melum exlusively, and not sell them separately like the others. It seemed like such a random choice! But this thread leaves me with no doubt in my mind. TLG knew nobody would buy Melum on his own because his unity mode brings nothing new to the table. But they knew Kopaka was a desirable Toa, so they effectively made Kopaka more expensive in order to move a less desirable product off shelves with him.

Nope, impossible. The range of price points for a given wave comes before any sort of finalized design work is done, so Lego most likely wanted to pair one of the Toa with their creature in a $25 set from the get-go. Kopaka was designed for this price point, as a Toa who was slightly larger than a $15 Toa and slightly smaller than a $20 Toa, and as such Melum had to be smaller and use fewer pieces than the other $10 Creatures. In other words, Melum's size and similarity to the other Creatures is most likely a result of being paired, and definitely isn't the cause.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Lyichir

[GK733]

Nope, impossible. The range of price points for a given wave comes before any sort of finalized design work is done, so Lego most likely wanted to pair one of the Toa with their creature in a $25 set from the get-go. Kopaka was designed for this price point, as a Toa who was slightly larger than a $15 Toa and slightly smaller than a $20 Toa, and as such Melum had to be smaller and use fewer pieces than the other $10 Creatures. In other words, Melum's size and similarity to the other Creatures is most likely a result of being paired, and definitely isn't the cause.

I think their main idea was not to make a two-pack, but to ensure we get a $20 villain as many complained of LoSS being very underwhelming.

[geezerman402]

It sure didn't help that LoSS wasn't even constraction :p

[Darking]

It sure didn't help that LoSS wasn't even constraction :p

Uh... Was it a buildable action figure? Yes? Then, it was a constraction set.

[Lyichir]

Uh... Was it a buildable action figure? Yes? Then, it was a constraction set.

Yeah. Trying to exclude Bionicle figures from the constraction genre based on a perceived lack of posability is a slippery slope. If you exclude the Lord of Skull Spiders, you might as well exclude the original 2001 Gali and Onua (who had the exact same number of points of articulation), as well as all five original 2001 Rahi sets (which all had even fewer points of articulation).

[Aethersprite]

Just built this guy today. He's pretty good! I love the new Akaku. Hands down one of my favourite G2 masks. The silver marbled blend is also gorgeous. Wow.

I love how Kopaka's shoulders look. Very sleek and imposing. They limit articulation quite a bit, but they look fantastic so I don't mind.

My main gripe with the set is the gold crystal pieces on his thighs. Ugh. I ripped them off almost immediately after building him. I was happy that Lego replaced gold with silver as Kopaka's main secondary colour, but they just had to include those 2 pieces on his legs. I'll definitely replace them with silver/trans-blue ones from Gali when I get to Bricklinking.

Melum is okay, but I wish he had longer legs. As they are, articulation is extremely restricted.

[ZORK64]

I just got Kopaka today, he's my second set of the current wave (my first was Umarak). And after actually building this guy, I must say I like him more than I first expected. While his proportions (the large torso but the rather sleek limbs and somewhat short arms) are still not my cup of tea, they look better in real than on pictures.

I also like his weaponry and the unity feature, though I do think that Melum would've looked more impressive with wings rather than paws, especially when it comes to the unite feature.

[Jetrax99]

I just got Kopaka today, he's my second set of the current wave (my first was Umarak). And after actually building this guy, I must say I like him more than I first expected. While his proportions (the large torso but the rather sleek limbs and somewhat short arms) are still not my cup of tea, they look better in real than on pictures.

I also like his weaponry and the unity feature, though I do think that Melum would've looked more impressive with wings rather than paws, especially when it comes to the unite feature.

But Melum being a flyer would throw off the balance the team has in their united forms. Tahu and Lewa have wings, Gali and Pohatu have tails and shoulder weapons, and Onua and Kopaka have larger shoulder pads.

[ZORK64]

Well to be honest, I would give all of them wings. ;P

[Onepu the Protector]

One of my friends wonders if the new crystal blades are partially rubber. Can anyone tell whether they are or not?

Edited February 11, 2016 by Onepu the Protector