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    Discuss This Story
    Piraka Avak and Reidak: Grinning Grimaces
    ReviewTuesday, January 3rd, 2006 at 11:32pm
    [Source: Takua11 Hagah]
    With 2006 finally here and LEGO's heavy advertisements on the Piraka, most of you are probably getting pretty psyched about the whole story and characters. Am I right, or am I right?

    Piraka Avak and Reidak

    The first thing you are going to notice when you see the Piraka is, "What big teeth they have!" They'll respond, "The better to glow with, my dear!" Well, actually, they probably won't say dear, but for the sake of the example we'll just go with that. And so, yes, teeth. I was skeptical at first about their big grinning chompers, but they eventually grew on me and I now call them awesome. And yes, they glow in the dark. How cool is that? At night they look quite scary, especially Reidak since he has more design to his mouth than Avak.

    But, before we jump into the sets, we must first look at the canisters!

    The canister is shaped like the ever so popular bohrok-style can. On the side there are small domes running up the can. You open the top by screwing it off, but we should all be accustomed to that by now. One notable thing on the lid is the face. Yes, there is a face that is supposed to resemble the rogue hunters themselves. On the top of the can you will notice the words, "Try Me!" That is totally cool for most kids, but for a mature buyer, that is scary. Who wants dead eyes because kids kept pressing the button? I suggest you grab the Piraka that you want from the back of the shelf, where most people won't touch.

    The art on the can is actually drastically different from previous sets. If you notice, the background is solid white with some geographical feature beneath their feet. A shadow of Voya Nui can be seen, along with the dots and caution lines which echo of war and steel, Voya Nui's theme.

    The back of the cans are also a bit different than the norm. It shows the corresponding Piraka standing before a white background, showing off all they can do. Some other small boxes show his spines, glowing teeth and light up eyes. Nothing too impressive here.

    Now, I was going to show off the individual pieces first, but I assume you are all dying to see Piraka (even though it's not like you haven't seen any yet) by now.

    When I first built Avak, I was actually quite impressed. The constructions was a bit different than normal, due to the ball joints on the torso instead of on the limbs. One thing that will catch you off guard is their height. They are much shorter than they look, they are as tall as Toa Nuju. Their legs are quite long, but that is too make up for the shortness of their torso.

    The lower shins are longer than Toa Metru/Vahki limbs and are the length of Rahkshi legs (something we have been needing for some time now). The lower leg is actually my favorite style leg so far, along with the upper leg cover which is as long as the Toa Metru T-Bone shaped joint connector. I also am quite fond of the foot design on both of the Piraka. I personally like the looks of Avak's feet over Reidak's.

    Another impressive design is the face/spinal piece. Even though it is almost a useless piece, unless you are quite a creative MOC'er. However, it does work quite nicely on the Piraka and make for a totally new design never before used on BIONICLE.

    If you want an image in your head of how a Piraka would look without armor, look on at your own risk.

    Avak: The Trigger

    The most notable feature on Avak's face would have to be the two tusks protruding out of the side of his head. His spine looks like razor sharp teeth.

    Another important factor on Avak would have to be his new brown not used on BIONICLE before. You probably have seen it on the Wookie Catamaran and other sets. His tan is also a new tan that I have not seen on any set ever. He his also slightly taller than Reidak due to his feet are a little higher than the clawed feet which raises his height a stud. He does not have silver like we have seen in the past, but actually a Steel Grey that was found on Makuta back in 2003. I actually like this color very much, and is surprisingly a very good color that you can pretty much throw in anywhere in any amount and still look good.

    His weapon has a jackhammer on one end and a pickaxe on the other. As you can see in the image, the Pickaxe function looks rather odd. But, I wouldn't say that too his face, I did, and below was the last thing I saw before stars clouded my vision.

    Another important factor of the Piraka is their pose factor, and they are probably the most posable sets to date with 13 points of ‘good' articulation. Due to the thickness of the spine, the head is forced facing upwards all the time and not much freedom to turn side to side. That is why I move the tail up one notch to let them stand upright and to allow more freedom. Even though it shortens their tail, they have more functionality. For an image of their pose capabilities, look below (and yes, he is also standing on a soft surface. Quite impressive)

    Reidak: The Tracer

    The most notable feature on Reidak's face would be the large eyes and large chin. His face is in a snarling position, making him quite intimidating. His spine is rather odd, making him look like he has rabbit ears, but from the back, it looks awesome.

    Fortunately, black is a good piece for MOC'ing, and Reidak has lots of that. One disappointing thing would be his coloration, Black with grey. Every single black BIONICLE set to this date (Save Nuhvok-Kal) has used grey as the secondary color. Not impressive nor creative. But, it still goes nicely, and also he has two of those long Visorak T-Bone joint connectors in grey which has only been found on Roodaka up to this point (also Balta). The gold armor he has is more like that of Danju from Knight's Kingdom. I personally don't like it all that much, mostly because no other BIONICLE set uses that gold.

    One thing I can say is that I have never been fond of the Earth Character's industrial tools. I am in no way a fan of real-world construction tools such as drills, saws, jackhammer. I think that LEGO should be more creative with the Earth characters and give them something not related to digging. One more complain I have with Reidak is the length of this tool. He holds it very awkward and it is too long. But, that is my personal opinion and you can judge that for yourself when you own him.

    Even though Reidak is my least favorite Piraka, I do not hate him in any way. I just don't happen to like him as much as the others. Reidak is awesome, as so are the other Piraka. But, these were the only two available at Disney World. Beggar's can't be choosers and I am quite happy with what I have.

    Zamor: Little green spheres

    Not much to say about Zamor, except they rock! They may not seem impressive at first glance (they are just plastic marbles after all), but once you get your hand on one and a launcher, you'll have a Zamor launchin' jamboree! Well, maybe you won't, but you sure will have loads of fun with them. In 2004 there was Kanoka. They were rather accurate, but kinda' odd to launch and not heavy enough to knock something down with. In 2004 there was Rhotuka, a revolution in the ripcord helicopter business. Sixty feet was incredible, but, there was hardly any accuracy at all. You could aim at something and it would strike a foot off. I loved Rhotuka, but they shot just too far. And right now my brother has a Rhotuka stuck on the roof in a gutter. Not fun.

    But, now come along Zamor spheres and guess how far they shoot? Sixty feet? No. Thirty feet? No. Try fifteen feet? No. How about six to ten feet? Yes. Six to ten feet is not impressive at all, but far more reasonable in my book. I don't want to journey to Africa just to retrieve my Zamor like I would have to every time I launched a Rhotuka. Ten feet his actually a decent distance for a marble to launch. And, they are a lot heavier than I once expected. Once they reach the end of their flight, they drop like a rock. Don't worry, they signify where they landed with a thud so you probably won't lose them easily. Luckily, you can load Zamor and launch them rapidly. I challenge MOC'ers right now to create a rapid fire launch system for the Zamor.

    Now, you are probably asking, "How do the Zamor spheres launch? Do you pull back then release?" The I tell you, "They can work that way, if you want to dismantle the launcher. I suggest you push the pin in. That way you actually do something impressive." The pin then forces pressure on the sphere, eventually forcing through the claw at the end, launching the sphere ten feet if you did it fast enough. I suggest you don't aim at eyes or faces, because they shoot really fast. The reason they go so short is because of their weight.

    Piraka: Complete list of parts

    Piraka: New list of parts

    Eyes in the Dark

    Another highly notable piece and function would have to be the revolutionary light up eyes. Worry not, my fellow members, the eyes also function perfectly with Toa Metru heads! Hooray for intelligence on LEGO's part! Many people are skeptical about the eyes, but don't fall into that trap. You can still hold them up to the light and they function just as the standard Toa Metru/Olda eyes. In fact, I hope that LEGO continues to put light up eyes in their sets.

    And now, for your viewing pleasure, PIRAKA VS. TOA NUVA!

    And so ends our review of the Piraka. You have my opinion, and I say rush out to your nearest TRU or LEGO Outlet store. I also suggest you order them off of S@H and Amazon. They are awesome and I hope you agree. If you have had any questions, I hope I have answered them for you. And if you have any more, please PM BZP Member Takua11 Hagah.

    Please stay tuned for further perspectives on these and other Piraka sets.

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