Set Review Rebuttal: 8972 Atakus
Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 2:58pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager [Source: Adventurer]
When the new sets are released BZPower always tries to review as many as possible by a variety of different staff members in order to get a number of different opinions on the sets. Some people don't think that's enough, however, so we thought we'd try something new. Back in December, Darth Vader reviewed Atakus. Today, Adventurer provides us with a rebuttal to that review, letting you know where he disagreed.
A couple things about Rebuttals and how they work:
- Rebuttals will be posted within one month of the original review's posting date.
- The rebuttal format will have the same sections as the normal review.
- If the person doing the rebuttal has no disagreements on a particular section of the review, that section will be excluded.
- The final section, instead of having 'Pros' and 'Cons' will be called 'Why You're Right' and 'Why You're Wrong,' directed at the original review.
- Pictures are not required, but can be used if desired.
- Only one rebuttal will be done per set.
With that out of the way, I give you BZPower's first Set Review Rebuttal: Atakus.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Atakus's build is what I expect of a small set; a quick and simple build that will have the set built and ready in a matter of moments. I feel that Darth Vader was expecting something which he wouldn't find in a small set. He may have been expecting something like the (awesome) Muaka for $7, but I am satisfied with what was given here, probably because I knew what to expect.
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.
In the first line of this section, Darth Vader mentioned the head looked like Iron Man's head and complained that the nostrils were too big. *Takes off helmet/mask and looks at it.* I didn't even notice them or think they were nostrils when I first looked at them. Furthermore I don't see how they make the head look odd or weird in anyway. The fact that it looks like Iron Man doesn't bother me at all either, Iron Man MOCs will be easier now.
Now, we also have the hands. Many fans have asked for years to have hands on canister sets and now we actually have them on small sets AND canister sets. I like these hands, they look better than that standard joint piece and unlike DV, I do not think they look goofy. To me they look fine. Yes, I will use the, "Bionicle beings aren't human," argument, but only because it's true. If I wanted something that was proportionate to a human I'd buy a World War 2 replica doll or something. Bionicle sets are great as they aren't like so many other things. Yes there are imitators and there were many similar things (Lego and non-Lego) before it, but I find that Bionicle still looks unique.
One of my favourite sets is Axonn and that is partially because of his hands (and the oversized axe). These oversized hands almost give him a cartoonish look which I (and others) find pretty appealing. Imagine what Axonn would have looked like if his hands had been in proportion with the rest of his body. And that is of course assuming that you notice the hands at all and how outrageously out of proportion they are.
While I do agree with DV that the weapons are kind of weird due to the way they seem to jut out from the handle. However, he seemed to only focus on this and not really tell us anything about the weapon's positive sides. The patterns on the bulk of it look cool, the point looks cool and I reckon a pretty cool weapon could be made by having two or four of them in a staff similar to Takanuva's Power Lance or Maxilos's staff. He also didn't give the glow in the dark feature enough credit. At night time I was surprised to see I actually noticed them glowing in the dark, and due to the pattern it looked awesome.
I like this mask, as DV said in his review, the pattern in the top of the mask looks cool (though imagine how much cooler it would look if the head was glow in the dark). The eyes and those little blade like things that come out on either side of the mouth are nice too. Where I disagree with him is that the length of the mask looks, again, "goofy." I'll admit, I love it when stuff is exaggerated in sets (eg. Muaka's giant mouth, Axonn's giant hands etc...) and this is no exception. I don't know what it is, but I love the length of this, I can imagine how awesome it would look if Atakus was a real being and whenever he moved his head, he had this huge "fin" moving with it like stiff hair.
DV said this when talking about the ability to pose this set, "The set can pose decently, though with the limbs all stuck in that wretched ninety-ish degree angle, you'll be hard-pressed to find one that looks particularly cool." I'm not sure about you, but I think Atakus looks pretty cool standing with one sword raised in the air and the other blocking. Though that could just be me.
The biggest criticism of the Agori (and Zesk/Fero) is probably that they are basically Av-Matoran with new hands, masks and weapons. Well, the same could be said of the Av-Matoran themselves, they are all the same. Yes, something new would have been nice, but I am under the impression that the large majority of Bionicle fans only buy a few sets a year and I'm guessing many would have bought one or no Av-Matoran. As a result, there is still a large market (many of whom I hope read this) who this set would still be a great purchase for. I believe that the 2009 Agori are basically better versions of the 2008 Av-Matoran and if someone missed out on them, this is a great chance to get a counterpart to your canister set.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Why You're Right
What did you agree with?
- Repetitive design is annoying for those who already own multiple Av-Matoran
- Glow in the dark swords are cool
- Mask is decent (though I would personally replace the word decent with good)
Why You're Wrong
What did you disagree with?
- Hands are not goofy
- Mask is not goofy
- Set is not goofy
- Re-used design does not make this set terrible as was implied
- Price is bad, yes, but this is something we have to learn to live with; it is not actually a problem with the set
- Weapons look cool, not ineffective when posed in combat against another Agori. Poor torso mold? What?
I would say buy this set if you like black, glow in the dark weapons, a coolish mask, you want a counterpart for a black canister set or if you missed out on the Av-Matoran and Atakus catches your eye.
So, perhaps you agree with Adventurer's thoughts on on Atakus, and maybe your thoughts are more in line with Darth Vader's. Probably you have your own thoughts, but hopefully the review and the rebuttal have given you some insight into the set. As always, keep checking back for more reviews, rebuttals, and the latest Bionicle news!
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