Review:8926 by Dorek

BS01

RETRO

Reviews

8926 Toa Undersea Attack

Review: 8926 Toa Undersea Attack

Welcome to the first of what is likely to be incredibly infrequent installments - an retro review of a set from yesteryear! (In a retro style; on my carpet!)

I happened to to run across this gem at BrickCon '17, sealed, for 50 USD. Our set database kindly informs me that was the set's MSRP, so a pretty sweet deal all things considered.

The Box

We're so used to everything being in boxes these days, but there was a time that was reserved for the larger sets. The front shows a simple scene of the minifig Toa and Barraki riding various mutant creatures and vehicles into battle.

The back is a bit busier, with a detailed breakdown of the ammunition and arms used by the two sides, framed by 2007's mechanical interface style. Also depicted is an enormous scene with an improbably large amount of Toa Terrain Crawlers riding into battle... each set sold separately!

And, of course, there's an old Kanoka Club code... those were the days, my friends.

The Bits

Being one of the playsets, the parts ratio naturally skews toward the System side, although there's a fair amount of figure pieces, and many of the bricks are of the Technic pinhole variety.

The set includes a total of six BIONICLE minifigs, a point of contention back in the day. The figs themselves were revamped the year prior, but maintain that style here. While their posability is nice (a huge step up from 2005!) 2007 was a year where figure diversity reigned supreme, and it's a bummer not to see that translated into their minifig form. Another sticking point was the lack of head/mask molds for the figs, forcing them to produce the small amount of heads in a variety of colors.

On the one hand, yes, it's a shame there weren't enough head molds to go around (not to mention confusing - is this yellow minifig supposed to be Hewkii, or Nuparu since it has his mask?) but on the upside, since the actual Mask pieces never saw alternate colors, it's a boon for people working on that scale to have color options.

At least they gave us every single weapon!

The Build

The minifigs are up first. They don't even bother identifying which minifig holds which weapon, you can just go nuts with it.

The first rideable set is a little skiff accented by some blades and a Zamor bit. There's a lot of those orbs floating around used more as highlights than as ammunition, possibly just to use up stock since the projectiles for this year didn't need them.

Next is a little crab-esque creature. This one's probably the weakest of the bunch, since there isn't any poseability (unless you count the mandibles, and even then); given that everything else in the set ends up using click joints, it feels like they could have included some here, but there's assorted design principles when it comes to multi-pedal stability, so maybe not. Ends up looking more cute than scary, anyhow.

Next up is a... ray, I guess? It uses Mantax's head (and he's definitely a ray) but it's more of a mutant than anything else. Using the Zamor cage for a body was an interesting move that actually ends up pretty inspired, and his upper half ends up being almost all Technic, with a curious spinal tube that I think is meant for friction control.

Even with limited joints, the ray still ends up looking pretty ferocious, and a prehensile tail helps with that too. No minifig riders yet, those come later.

After the two creatures is the main attraction, the ~~genetically~~ mechanically modified Stinger Whale. The whale's body is very boxy, layered with various Technic pins and pinholes that will factor into construction later. Though many larger System sets nowadays take advantage of these fusion aspects to create sturdier frames, there was a time where this technique was more uncommon, generally being reserved for pure Technic sets (and the occasional BIONICLE set, of course).

However, once the core is complete, the whale begins to take on a more... well, we'll call it "organic" shape; more Zamor cages form the base of the lower torso (lending to analogies I'd really rather not think about), while added tentacles flair out to accentuate the undersea look. Plus some blade pieces for added bulk because this is BIONICLE, and what would it be without extraneous weapon parts doubling as parts of the body?

The upper segment of the Stinger whale utilizes more curved and smooth pieces, especially on the outer layer, effectively obscuring a lot of the more blocky aspects that went into the first two segments. It finishes off with a cockpit/mouth design, which is sort of where the reckoning of the concept comes into play; is this a vehicle, or is this a creature? The majority of the design leans toward vehicle, but with enough of 2007's organic aspects that it could sell as a creature. I think I'd personally like a little more "animal" design influences (some more distinct "eyes" might help), although it at least appears to have some.

Buuut since it's still technically a vehicle, it gets some weapons! An extendo-claw for the left side, and a Cordak Blaster for the right. That is, depending on whether or not you believe the instruction booklet, since the tools are actually mirrored on the boxart!

The Cordak Blaster has a tube for simulating some pneumatics, but in a curious twist, it doesn't actually "plug in" to anything, or make an official connection. The angle of the tube means that it's pretty secure regardless, but it definitely feels like they meant to add something there (wouldn't have cost anything extra for a pin, doesn't interfere with any other connections, etc).

Once the whale is assembled, you have your final scene! Minifigs can be placed wherever (I tried to opt for box-accurate poses as much as possible), with whatever weapons you prefer.

The Brass Tacks

Did we like this set? Yes	What We Liked: • Sleek construction - Interesting marriage of Technic and System • Balance - Best standalone playset for both villains and heroes
	What We Didn't Like: • Play features - Lacking and poorly integrated
	Other Comments: I wanted to make a bad joke about whales, but I baloogad it. --Dorek

The playsets were always a curious addition to the BIONICLE line. In lieu of some truly gargantuan sets from earlier years, they opt to shift the scale of conflict down to more traditional LEGO proportions, to mixed success. How you feel about the playsets often largely depends on your willingness to buy into the central conceit as presented. I'm a bit of a mixed bag on it, personally. I loved the 2005 playsets, single-piece minifigures and all, but they just took up too much room and lacked a certain durability I had come to expect from traditional BIONICLE figures, so I never invested in further years.

Toa Undersea Attack actually addresses an area where a lot of other playsets failed by offering a balanced conflict: a large and a small figure for the heroes, and two medium-sized figures for the villains. 2007's playsets also bring the playsets closer to your typical BIONICLE figure than any previous years, pushing the boundaries of what we'd come to expect from their type... at the expense of functionality. 2005 playsets, in particular, had these really cool play features (primarily involving FLAMING BOULDERS) that felt true to the building's designs. Toa Undersea Attack has a fewer amount of play features, and they feel more tacked on.

Ultimately I'm a fan of the set for its really cool construction and how it challenges expectations of what a BIONICLE figure could be, but it definitely lacks any well integrated play features that would have made it a must buy.

2007 Retro Set Reviews (2HY)
	8910	8911	8912	8913	8914	8915	8922	8923	8924	8925	8926	8927	8939	8940
Review #1											By Dorek