Set Review: 7135 Takanuva ("Stars")

It's been another long ten months since I did anything. Well, I have few sets to review, but here's one of them.

Takanuva ("Stars")


The Package

It's what catches your eye as the set lies on the shelf, and is the selling point.



Taken by itself, it's not a very large or flashy canister. However, if you think of it as just a container for a small set like Takanuva Stars (or mini-Takanuva), it's large and showy indeed. Never before have the small sets been given their own, fully plastic canisters (the cardboard-plastic boxes of the Av-Matoran and Agori don't count). Still, the BIONICLE Stars are the only BIONICLE sets for this year, so it's understandable.



Just like the front, the back of the canister commands you to "COLLECT THE GOLDEN BIONICLE", and shows you which golden pieces you can get from which sets. There's also the obligatory BIO Code (I still call them Kanoka Codes) and pseudolegalese.


The Instructions

Are they easy or hard to build from?

They're much like the Av-Matoran and Agori instructions, and they instruct you to build a similar oversimplified set from similar oversimplified parts - except they're in the form of a proper canister-set booklet this time. "O rly?" you ask. "Trust me," I reply.



The back isn't new - a similar encouragement to "WIN" as on other instruction manuals.



But - horror of horrors - they don't have an ad for other BIONICLE sets inside the back cover, nor even a nice City or Atlantis ad. Inside...



... are some even more oversimplified action figures.


The Pieces

The most important part of the set, and what I buy them for.

So I open the set up expectantly and find...



The exact same parts used to build the set! Amazing.

So there are a few new and different things. The feet are a new piece for 2010, and could be fairly useful. The mask is an Avohkii from 2003, slightly recolored (this time around, it comes in pearl silver, rather than the three options from 2003 of glittery transparent, dark gold, and the old "protodermic" silver), and this actually is the first set since then to include the piece. The arms/legs are a new recolor of a standard Av-Matoran limb. The shoulder armor has been produced in white before, but also not since 2003. The highlight is the chest armor and extra "GOLDEN" armor, which is a singularly odd and interesting piece. (Sorry, forgot to put the golden armor in the picture below...)



The remaining parts - hands, foot sockets, head, and blades - are all simply reused parts, and are pretty common by now. The handles for the blades aren't new at all, but they are interesting because they're the kind that have a stopper at the end.


The Finished Set

This is what it's for, people. The finished product of your labors.

After a minimum of work, you get a figure that's rather stiff, and similar to the small sets from the previous two years, but with some points of interest due to his nonstandard armor and feet.



As seen from the back, though, mini-Takanuva looks far too much like your standard Agori/Av-Matoran.



Despite all that, mini-Takanuva is good for a few fun poses.






Final Thoughts

All in all, is the set worth the purchase? Or should you have kept the money?

So, he's not bad as a small set, having some interesting/useful recolors and new molds. On the other hand, as one of the only six BIONICLE sets of 2010, he really isn't the best set they could have released.

Pros:
Avohkii again
Torso armor in both gold and white
Toa Nuva shoulder armor in white again
Amusing as a stand-alone set

Cons:
Generic blades carried over from previous years
Low on poseability
Head piece has tended to snap in previous sets
Semi-hollow generic limbs carried over from previous years
Pricy

So I would only recommend him if you can find him on sale somewhere - his full price is a little high, and he's not exactly the most impressive way to end this year of BIONICLE sets. But if you do buy him, he's actually quite a good small set.


Well, I hope you enjoyed this late review of a set that's actually from this year. I've failed to post more often yet again, but maybe next year. Leave a comment if you have feedback, please - it's always appreciated.

Happy holidays, too.