Set Review: 8947 Radiak
Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 8:25pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager [Source: Great Being #1]
It is time once again for another BZPower set review. Today Great Being #1 provides us with a look at another set, this time the corrupted Matoran Radiak. Is this little bad guy a worthy companion for the larger Makuta? Read on to find out!
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
The small set boxes have greatly improved in my opinion. The plastic stalactites and stalagmites are very well made and very detailed. The middle cardboard section is nothing new though. It's cool picture of Radiak posed in front of some stalagmites. The back is also similar to years past with some pictures of Raidak and Antroz and with a bunch of warnings.
The instructions have changed back to a fold out sheet this year. A very good idea seeing as a booklet would have been a waste of paper as there are only 4 steps to build Radiak. They are fairly bland though as there is no background. The awsome picture on the cover and the poster on the back make up for this though.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Of the 16 pieces that come with Radiak 8 are new molds, 4 are old molds with variations and 4 are old molds. As witht he rest of the Matoran, his weapons are the old molds (2 Staves of Light and 2 Electro-blades). The new pieces are very creative this year. The body has five balls and is all one piece. The arms and legs are bent at a 90 degree angle and one end is a socket the other a ball. The head is very wierd as it is all one transluscent piece and has a socket attached to it. As for the mask it is a miniature of the Jutlin.
The building process is very easy and should not take you more than a couple of mintues (and that's if you're not using the instrctions). It is a simple Rahi build. All you have to do is attach the weapons to the legs, the mask to the head and the legs, head and wings to the body.
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.
The finished Radiak is very interesting with his spider-like appearance and wings. His red and black color scheme blends very well. The only problem with the set design in my opinion is the placement of the wings. While on his back they look horrible if he is walking on all fours. There is a simple solution though. All you have to do it put the wings in the back of the head when he is in that position.
As I said earlier Radiak's Kanohi is a miniature of the Jutlin with it's sharp side things and the fanged mouth.
Left: Radiak's Mask Right: Kanohi Jutlin, Mask of Corruption
Below are the fasinating new pieces. I beleive that these will be very useful for MOCers as they have new properties and have different conections and come in a variety of colors (depending on the Matoran you get). The head is very detailed and reminds me very much of the Mctoran haeds.
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?
Raidak may not look very poseable but he actually can put in a variety of positions using only 3 legs or kneeling on his 2 hind ones. He can also bow by bending his forelegs. It's very fun playing with him and Antroz.
His Transformation
I am your master!
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- New body/limb pieces!
- Nice color scheme!
- Awesome Mask!
- Non-Humanoid!
- Fun to play with!
- Great for MOCing!
- Even more fun when with Antroz!
Cons
What's not to like?
- Expensive.
- Old Weapons.
- No Projectile.
With all that said I think Radiak would make a great stand-alone Matoran because of his unique Rahi-like appearance and would go even better with Antroz. Radiak is on the borderline value for price in my opinion; then again almost everything here in Canada is over-priced so his price would probably be OK in the US. I suggest if you're buying Radiak though to buy Antroz as well as it makes the playing way more fun!
That concludes our review of Radiak, which hopefully you found insightful and informative. We don't have plans for a review next week, but that's because BZPower will be at Toy Fair in New York City checking out all the new Bionicle and other Lego sets! Stay tuned for our coverage from that event and all the latest Bionicle news!
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