KRIKA review preview

[Imatron]

This is basically the rough draft I have so far, feel free to comment and suggest additions, pictures will only be on the front page news version.

Krika, First Look.

Whats black and white with spines all over?


Cannister

Krika and the rest of the Mistika come with one of the more interesting cannisters in the past couple generations, and I personally find them very clever. I had not even seen the cannisters at the toy fair preview, and only got my first look scrounging through LEGO Shop @ Home and BZPower. They've dropped that horrid frame that accompanied the Phantoka, which was a drastic downgrade compared to the frames that the Mahri toa journeyed to the shelves in, which could at least become part of the building experience with some clever MoCing. While these cannisters show nothing easily MoCed with and no intended connection points to build onto, these asymmetrical cannisters have a giant Kanohi Ignika carved into the lid. While no cannisters are really different other than the color of the lid and the sticker, the stickers are reversed for the villain, and switches the Kanohi Ignika's corroded side to the "front" of the cannister while the smooth side is reserved for the three returning Toa Nuva. The security sticker continues to be a thorn for young and old LEGO fans alike, and is just as hard as ever to open the cannisters, if not more so than previous years. Theres no indicated spot to open from but i recommend cutting the security section of the sticker and pushing/pulling the lid from the side of the lid, rather than from the face of the ignika or it's back end. For display purposed the cannisters are best left standing each on their own spot of the shelf since, while it can still be done and is intended to be stacked, the smoothed down right or left corner of the lid also makes any higher stacked cannisters more likely to slide off the side that makes up the Ignika's face. The last that I care to elaborate on is that while the cannister is as disposable as any LEGO product packaging, it's built to be re used unlike the previous year's Phantoka cannisters and you can also expect to partially take apart these bulky toa and makuta if you expect to fit them back inside.

Parts

Krika has several parts of interest, though most have been recycled from the matoran and makuta of the Phantoka line. Sadly the jump in oil prices have taken their toll, being made of oil and shipped on fossil fuels the Phantoka and Mistika cannister sets have either been adjusted to or released with the 12.99 price, which takes it's toll on parts cost especially for the MoCers who rely on mostly spare cannister sets. The cannisters made the biggest jump and are probably footing the extra costs of the larger boxed sets. This new cost makes it harder to call a set like this affordable or worthwhile to MoCers who might be interested in the few specific parts Krika contains, but all things considered the average MoCer probably wants his translucent white and red spines, if not his chest plate, four black av-toran limbs, and eight white revamped sockets. If it's the case of his spines, he has four of lesser blood-spines as I call them that his dominating lower arms are comprised of, and two of the greater blood spines that make up his feet/lower legs, and lets not forget his skull spine/mask (yes Id say it qualifies as a mask, given how he's built and "wears" it) which also poses some very useful MoCing. Unfortunately I don't have the camera skill to get a good depiction of this. I like to call the blood spines by this name since they look organic and like your looking at the red blood flowing through his translucent skin. The skull spine isn't as versatile as to what can be attached to it, however it isn't so obviously a face that it can only be used as a face. The bloodspines when lit under a black light seem to absorb it's purple glow but unlike other white parts that seem to shine under a blacklight, it doesn't radiate the light back like other translucent parts tend to do, in short they don't glow under the blacklight though other parts that do will glow and shine through them. His chest plate, while I'm sure we can use as many new parts as we can get, seems like a disappointing solution to filling the gap in his chest thanks to a lack of shadow leeches and a tridax pod. While a tridax pod wouldn't necessarily fit in with his design, I would rather have a tridax pod in place of that chest plate.

Projectile/blaster and it's components

I am happy to report that the projectiles are not foam, and are durable and stable munitions. They are basically enlarged cordak munitions in concept, but you will find they are not interchangeable between cordak launchers and the new air pumps. You will also find that these are easier to fire than cordaks, and will not fail to fire very often, unlike how most could expect to find one or two cordaks from their six-shot volley still firmly stuck in the cordak launcher. The air pump's ammo has two stabilizer flaps that are very flexible and not at all in a bad way. The flaps look like they could pose some skillful aiming by adjusting the flap vertically or horizontally before firing but I'm not to sure how well it would really affect aim. The ammo is also easily identified and not as easily lost as lets say, the shadow leeches and the cordaks which will make locating the fired rounds considerably easier, much to the delight of parents worried about the ammo getting stuck or lost in something like a vent. The basic cannons are composed of four parts, two three sized plus rods, the barrel and the air pump. The sturdy air pump fits loosely into the backside of the barrel, while the size three pins keep the pump from falling out, so the pins aren't really snug against the pump but simple the mouth of the pump has a rim that catches on the pins. the barrel is very sturdy and also adds a visually appealing pair of guards that protect the more vulnerable air pump from crushing, though the air pump isn't particularly fragile. Ive experimented with it and it seems when firing a round, that the pressure of your finger creates a temporary air proof seal right where it contacts the barrel to keep a good launching velocity. The idea was proposed to me that they might be able to improvise as a water gun. This is indeed possible , though it works better when you keep pressure on the air pump to maintain the airtight seal, as the water gives it enough weight to break the seal when held at certain angles. The mouth of the barrel and the mouth of the air pump isn't optimized for shooting water obviously, but you can launch a water based projectile at enough of an ark to make it a satisfactory tub toy, though you might get a much better result by filling it with water AND adding the standard air round, but thats more of a water powered missile than a water delivery system. I haven't experimented with firing the blaster while still submerged just ender the surface of the water which would keep you from losing water from the middle. You could also try using a small rubber band seen in earlier sets to increase the grip and airtight seal of the barrel, or adding a frame that puts a little bit of pressure on the air pump at all times to prevent the seal from coming undone, thanks to it's very versatile construction that allows for alot of customization. You can expect this projectile system to be well appreciated as is, but when you consider what else it and it's components can do, this may very well be a key part in some revolutionary MoCs, if not just a fun missile launcher.

Krika as a whole

Krika is probably the simplest of the Mistaka makuta, your basic four limbed guy with a missile launcher, he doesn't have much to boast other than being a tall stalkey creature who draws your attention. The makuta and toa now share the same projectile, and not being required to have the same torso, each of the makuta's natural weapons and appearance seem to have been emphasized as a result, and Krika especially pushes this since his skull and spines are just absolutely cool to look at and make him an awesome character to pose and play with. He does have his drawbacks, and while he is cool, he is basically an over sized Radiak with a missile launcher mounted to his back. he also suffers from bobble-head syndrome like the phantoka makuta but it isn't as obvious since the missile launcher is attached to the same pin that hold his neck in, which weights it down from wobbling so much. You will also find that when you attach the missile launcher as instructed, the ridges of the pump will occasionally catch and get stuck on the ridges of the socket, but you can easily plug it into the other side so it cant do that, assuming your not one of the individuals that MUST have it be exactly as the instructions at all times in, which case youl just have to let go carefully after firing, but it doesn't seem to pose a risk of damaging the pump. I mentioned earlier that the skull qualifies as a mask, but it will only fit his specific head, or a head that is designed to wear it. Upon reaching it's instructions in the manual, or by speculating based on the lack of any other parts that look suitable for a head, you will discover that his head is simply a socket with two red eye parts like that of the barraki stuck into it, and the skull's plus peg attaches over-top of said socket. In my persona opinion, I like to call it a head and a mask rather than a barraki style skull since the unmasked face indeed looks like a simple head with eyes, and makes him about as creepy looking without his mask on, though his head really helps tie the limbs together.

[mhwang]

Very descriptive and you used a lot of text. I would have added some pictures and an overall score out of 10. But this review is still pretty good