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    Discuss This Story
    Set Review: 8686 Lewa Nuva
    ReviewSunday, January 6th, 2008 at 12:09am by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
    [Source: Great Being #1]

    It's that time once again. Yesterday we brought you a review of one of the 2007 playsets. Today Great Being #1 reviews Toa Lewa Nuva. Read on to see how this hero has changed since we last saw him in 2002.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 01

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    Lewa, the fierce warrior of the Air! The CGI picture on the front of the canister really captures this. The front was designed really well in my opinion. Everything meaningful has it's own section thanks to the swampy vines. Lewa is in one while his fired Midak, ages and piece number, warning and, LEGO logo are in other sections.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 02

    The back of the canister seems to be split in two. The lower half contains a bunch of warnings and information while the top shows some poses of Lewa and Tanma, instructions on how to fire the Midak Skyblaster, a link to the website and, your "B.I.O" code (I'm guessing this is the new Kanoka code).

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 03

    When I had first seen this year's canisters I had been disappointed. I had thought that they would be the Mahri canisters just with a swampy surrounding instead of the underwater one. Boy was I pleased to see that wasn't the case and that you could store the pieces this year.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 04

    The instruction manual isn't anything extraordinary, it's just the picture of Lewa from the canister.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 05

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    At first when you dump out the set you see a lot of gray, almost as much lime, and quite a bit of silver. I was quite surprised by the amount of gray and I think a little bit more lime would've been better.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 06

    The building is pretty easy as it's the basic Toa we've seen in the last couple of years just with a couple extra steps. It shouldn't take longer than five or six minutes.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 07 TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 08
    Oh no! I'm just a Toa Inika!

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    Lewa comes with a variety of new and old pieces. Most of the set features old pieces that have been recolored and the rest is new pieces. The Booster Jets and the Sword are awesome new pieces. The old but recolored pieces are very useful for MOCing especially with this big array of dark gray.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 09
    Left: New/Rare pieces Middle: Minor variants of old pieces Right: Recolored old pieces

    Now to explain my middle section: It consists of socket pieces which have be slightly altered and do not have holes in the sides anymore. The double-sockets also have an outline, which visually joins 2 of the 3 pinholes. These sockets also appear to have been strengthened as they easily support the weight of the Midak and haven't broken or cracked after quite a bit of putting together and taking apart.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 10

    Lewa was designed very well. His front is well armored. His back is also though the legs are bare as always. The silver of his weapons and equipment blend very well into this color scheme though I have to admit the color scheme is a bit off for a Toa of Air. Yes the lime is a very nice green but there is too much gray. Phantoka Lewa Nuva and Kongu Mahri have both had gray as their primary color and green as their secondary. Gray isn't a very good description of Air. Lewa though is a bit better than Kongu because his lime contrasts well whereas Kongu's green blended in with the gray a bit more.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 11 TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 12

    Lewa has the standard 13 points of articulation but there is one minor problem. Lewa's shoulder blades (the Twin Cutters) and Jet Boosters restrict the upward motion of his arms. Although this isn't good it's nice to see that the joints are now a lot stronger and seem to be able to put a Toa in poses you weren't able to before because of the size and weight of the blasters and his own body.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 13 TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 14 TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 15

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

    Now as for the Midak my emotions are mixed. It is a very cool weapon and fires well but it reuses Zamor spheres. It's nice that you can now reuse your old ammo but it is a bit redundant as this is the third set of canisters to have them.

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 01

    Now I do not have Tanma or any of the other Av-Matoran but I have put (thanks to additions) Dekar on Lewa and it was very fun to pose them.

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • Lots of new pieces!
    • Stronger joints! Lime doesn't break!
    • Weapons and equipment!
    • Color Scheme blends well!
    • Attaching Matoran!
    • Great for MOCers!

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Arm articulation problems.
    • Too much gray.
    • Zamors?
    • No new limb or body pieces.

    All in all I have to say buying Lewa is worth it. Though if you have spare lime armor pieces I wouldn't hesitate to put them on. And with that see you next time!

    TN 8686 Lewa Nuva Review 16

    So there you have another 2008 review. Be sure you thank Great Being #1 for checking out Lewa Nuva and sharing his thoughts on the set. We have plenty more reviews coming up, so keep checking back for more!

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