Set Review: 70786 Gali Master of Water
Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 at 4:30pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager [Source: Zatth]
Today we're going to leave the protectors and take a look again at the Toa! BZPower Forum Assistant Zatth has taken a look at 70786 Gali Master of Water from the 2015 LEGO Bionicle wave. Will this Toa of Water make a splash in your heart or will she sink like a stone? The only way to find out is to read on!
So since this is a review for Gali, I understand that this time around she has a hard time understanding jokes, therefore I've decided to help out in this review. I hope y'all are on BOARD with that, because if not it's too LAKE to turn back now.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Before we begin, keep in mind Bionicle is back. Let that SINK in. Good? OK.
The box this time around is cardboard-y, but I like that because it means LEGO is saving the environment, and the boxes are easy to store (cue parents everywhere cheering for this development). The graphic is pretty nice, in that it features Gali in an action shot with the Power Harpoon striking the Skull Spider, seaweed and underwater obelisks in the background, and all the graphics go with the FLOW. Also very prominent in the foreground is the altar/shrine with the Golden Mask of Water. Again, the front is very aesthetically pleasing, yet eye-catching.
The back of the box also reveals a good amount of information. It lets you know the mask can fly off and be replaced by the Skull Spider, the gear functions are shown from Gali's back, as well as having the Elemental Trident swing, Graphics for the Protector and Master combiner are included, plus a very nice comic that helps to convey a story for the child to use while playing.
The instruction booklet is pretty basic. The only noteworthy pages are those in the back, which include the Bionicle poster seen at NYCC, a graphic with the six Masters, their Golden Masks, and the Mask of Creation in the centre, a promo for the combiner and the Bionicle app. Not much to PONDer there.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
The build was very much conforming to the CCBS-Hero Factory humanoid build, so there wasn't much that really stood out, save for the armour pieces that protrude from the torso.
I will, however, point out the build of the gear box. Not just because it was a return to '01 Bonkles, but because this build integrates the CCBS build with gear functions. Really let the return of gear functions SOAK in.
I also have to highlight another boon of this building process: the arms don't limp! Even with gear functions, Gali's arm doesn't slop down, but can stay upright. Major kudos to the LEGO designers.
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.
To start off with the pieces, I want to say you get a nice distribution of pieces. With 87 pieces, some being CCBS, others being Technic, it makes for a nice bunch of parts. In terms of new or unique parts, you get a few trans-blue limbs, as well as some CCBS armour pieces. When it comes to colour, you get a lighter blue for the mask and other CCBS armour pieces. The chest piece with its asymmetric printing, and the CCBS/Toa Mata torso/Vahki leg armour piece are gorgeous. Gali's weapons are in just metallic silver instead of gunmetal as they are in Lewa. For mask stuff, you get Gali's mask in gold and blue, a metallic Skull Spider, and the new head with a trans-green eyepiece.
Finally, you get four of the new Skull Spider leg pieces, but the last piece used for Gali's weapon is nice because the axle-hole in the centre ensures that an axle or something similar can't pass through. I am excited to see its MOCing potential.
The Technic pieces used for the gearbox and the Elemental Trident look a bit odd and might put a DAMPer on things, but those can be substituted, so I'm not too worried about those.
Gali's model is wonderful. There isn't any part of the set that looks out of place, except for maybe the little tooth piece coming our of Gali's leg. You really SEA the point of the build, and I am SHORE that you can gleam that from the pictures.
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?
GALI IS SO FUN TO POSE AND PLAY WITH!
Really, though. She can be posed to spring into action, to stand imposing, to swim or to fight. The model really does lend itself to the idea of playability without the model impeding it. You can move the arms and they don't sag, the transformation of the weapon isn't too cumbersome, and the model looks sleek and awesome. You get the sense Gali can go from being PACIFIC to bringing down a RAIN of terror in seconds. And that makes the playability so fun!
The Skull Spider also gives you an enemy to play with, which is very appreciated if you can't buy, say, all the Toa and all the Rahi (speaking from the 2001 standpoint, even though that's now water under the bridge). Fun fight scenes can be had. At no point of playing will you feel BLUE.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- Sleek and natural-looking design
- Cool weapon with dual purpose
- Wonderful colour scheme
- GEAR FUNCTIONS
Cons
What's not to like?
- Some Technic pieces have weird colour schemes
- Can't actually tell bad jokes
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For its price, this would be one of the first Toa I'd recommend getting. A good price, a nice distribution of pieces and colours, and the build is satisfying and fun to play with. Until I get any of the other Toa, I will stand by my opinion that Gali is the best Toa of this WAVE. And while I'm all DRIED up from puns, I will continue to praise Gali. So I hope that when you got the dough, and the Masters come out, you know the answer to the question "What set do we get?! WATER we gonna do?"
The answer is Gali, BTW.
Thanks again to LEGO for sending us these sets to look at, and thanks to Zatth for doing this review. I hope you've enjoyed our look at Gali - feel free to share your thoughts and ask your questions in the Talkback. Of course we're not done yet with reviewing the 2015 Bionicle sets - so keep checking back for more right here on BZPower!
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