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Set Review: 8945 Solek
 Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 5:03pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: Gatanui] Today we wrap up a portion of our set reviews. BZPower Forum Mentor Gatanui gives us a review of the last Matoran set, Solek. Does this simple guy belong in your collection? Read on to find out!
And once again BZPower presents you another set review - my second review and BZPower's last Matoran review this year - the review of Matoran Solek! Presentation
The box is very interesting. It consists of a cardbox 'tube' with two plastic pieces located at the poles, representing stalactites and stalagmites, although they rather look like ordinary rock.
And the card box itself shows some beautiful CGI art.
However, apart from that, the can isn't so special. But it's the best package of a small BIONICLE set seen so far, mainly because this is the first can for small sets where you can store them well. Building
You cut off the hard white plastic strip surrounding the can, take of the tape, turn the can upside down - and you stumble upon unnecessary building instructions and 14 pieces - not worth 6.99 EUR/5.99 USD/7.99 CAD in my opinion. I will sum up the building quickly - you take the torso, connect the legs and arms to it, connect the head, hands and feet, and finally attach the mask, the jetpack and the blades. That's it! The building takes the time you need to read this paragraph or fewer. I think this is really a disappointment - the building is usually the best part of the set in my opinion, but this time...
Set Design
For this set, you don't really need a list of new pieces - just take feet and blades off, and there you go! Actually Solek himself could be the list of his new pieces:
Or you can even leave the feet on the set - although you don't see it inmediately, these Toa Mata feet have a slight difference from the former used from 2001 to 2007:
Apart from that, all other pieces have very interesting designs, especially the new head piece:
Unlike earlier head pieces, it does not need an eye piece, since the head itself is glowing trans-green already. Too bad the old masks with the LEGO System stud don't fit at all on this new head piece anymore. The arms/legs remind me of the Vahki limbs, but also a bit of the Toa Mata arm pieces from 2001, used on all Toa Mata except for Pohatu.
It's strange these pieces only appear in white at the moment, but I am sure we will see them in other colours in future. The other piece that catches your eye is of course the Kanohi mask. It's a bit similar to the Akaku Phantoka and I like it a lot as a mask, except for its form when seen in profile.
Of course there are also the torso, the hand pieces and the jetpack, but I will skip these as there is not much to say about them apart of that they are new, neat-looking pieces, and that has been already said in a lot of other earlier BZPower Set reviews anyway. Overall, I think the design deserves a plus, although I think there should be more LEGO Technic elements like axles and pins. Playability
Solek is very poseable, although not as much as most canister sets due to the fewer articulation points, only 9 to be exact. Anyway, that's more than the Toa Mata or Toa Nuva had!
You get the most fun out of Solek when letting him fly! It even becomes much better when letting him fly teamed up with Kopaka.
It should be noted that Solek is fun to play with in close combat, but due to the lack of a projectile launcher he is worthless for long-range battles. Poor Solek does not have a lot to defend himself if attacked by a flying Makuta, so better watch out for the shadow leeches!
Luckily, the Toa are never far away, so Solek could get rid of those shadow leeches in time to go on with the review. Final Thoughts
I would suggest waiting until a sale appears before buying Solek. But when you will have bought him, you will be certainly glad you have done so! Here is where my second review ends. I hope you liked it and I am looking forward to your feedback in the talkback! And now - let the battle for power continue!
So that's the last of our Matoran reviews for this year. Be sure to thank Gatanui for the review and keep checking back for more set reviews, including one of a much larger set that's coming up. Stay tuned!
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