Review:70788 by Swert

BS01 Reviews

70788 Kopaka - Master of Ice

Review: Kopaka - Master of Ice

When we heard rumors of the return of BIONICLE for 2015, we were all teased with the blurriest of a glimpse of a photo of who we later learned was Tahu. A question posed on many minds: Would there be the other five? Would they look like their 2001 counterparts? Is Swert padding his review again? (The answers to all three is… yes : D) Kopaka is rather unique as a set. It’s certainly Kopaka, as you can see in the mask, but it isn’t even close to being the same Kopaka we’ve seen. And I mean that in a good way.

The Box

Full Disclosure: None of the sets I review are mint from the box. I built them with the intention of owning them first, reviewing them second. Also, none of my reviews will feature a critique of the Skull Spiders, as I have nothing further to add to the many reviews already posted. Thank you for understanding.

The Bits

With a whopping piece count of 97 parts, Kopaka clearly dwarfs four of his teammates (Onua has 108). Notable parts include the new Mask of Ice in both white and pearl gold, lots of armor parts in both white and pearl gold, Rocka 3.0’s Lion fist elements in pearl gold, three of the new transparent “lightning bolt” elements (definitely not Lego's official part name), two white swords (matches the ones in Tahu’s set) and plenty of gears to satisfy your building itch.

The Build

It’s rather interesting how large the Toa frames look when I build them without the armor parts. It’s pretty interesting a decision on the designers’ part to give Kopaka the trans-ice blue hands connected to the same color upper arm parts, plus then give him white feet.

Okay, I’m getting it out of the way right now. Yes, he looks like an American Football player. The Rocka fists look very much like shoulder armor, and it’s actually impressive how they pull off the look. One drawback is when posing Kopaka like this (which I imagine I’m probably the only one who did so) makes him look like a hunchback. The back armor is pretty lacking a bit, but at least they did something back there. I especially love the addition of the bottom calf armor parts, though I wish they had continued that look going up.

Kopaka's weapons are a unique callback to both the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva forms of Kopaka from Generation 1. The Frost Shield act as both his shield and his ice skates, giving him a unique look when he's in his skiing mode. The ice spear is a unique tool, though rather simple in design. When compared to the Frost Shield, though fits in well with his design. The addition of a #1 technic connector allows him to grab it in his left hand, adding to the playability and also fills in a blank axle.

The Brass Tacks

Did we like this set? Yes	What We Liked: Great parts Fun posability *Great parts pile
	What We Didn't Like: Didn’t come with Protector of Ice’s parts initially … Running out of complaints… Skull Spiders? That works
	Other Comments: The only reason I would ever buy a Protector of Ice… ever. --Swert

I wasn’t sure how I’d like Kopaka, but he’s easily in my top three Toa sets this year. Kinda wished they would add more parts from Protector of Ice to pad him up… then again, he’s bulked up enough as it is.

2015 Set Reviews (1HY)
	70778	70779	70780	70781	70782	70783	70784	70785	70786	70787	70788	70789	70790
Review #1	By Cholie	By SPIRIT	By Dorek	By SPIRIT	By Dorek	By SPIRIT	By KZN02	By SPIRIT	By Swert	By SPIRIT	By Swert	By SPIRIT	By Cholie
Review #2	By Swert	By Dorek	By Swert	By Dorek	By Swert	By Swert	By Cholie	By Dorek	By Dorek	By KZN02	By Dorek	By Dorek	By SPIRIT