The Island of Karza Nui

Lego Batman Released

2008-09-23T14:01:00.001-04:00

Today the countdown reaches zero, and Lego Batman: The Video Game is released in stores.

Purple Parts Discontinued

2008-09-02T12:33:00.003-04:00

It has just been announced at Brickfair, that LEGO will no longer be making sets with Purple in them. This may cause some slight problems with the Joker and Penguin's costumes in the LEGO Batman sets for next year, but Purple has never been a very common color in sets.

The reason for this, is that it was too hard to create Purple in the same shade every time, which is why Danju, Onepu, and the Dark Panther were all different Shades.

Lego Batman Happy Meal Toys

2008-09-02T01:39:00.004-04:00

To celebrate the release of LEGO Batman: The Video game, McDonald's will be coming out with LEGO Happy Meal toys, starting on September 12th.

Also, if you look around the site, you'll see we've decorated to celebrate the game, 21 Days left according to the countdown meter...

Set Review #41: Nuparu Inika

2008-09-01T23:28:00.003-04:00

Today we have our Second review of the Toa Inika, last time we reviewed Matoro for Set Review #30, in July 2007.

THE BOX: The Inika Canisters were the largest ones ever (Though I haven't had one next to a Mistika Canister to be sure.), and had a lightning filled backround, with a wire fence in the foreground.

Nuparu had one of the best Box Arts of all off Inika, and he is one of the few sets to look better on the Box than in the Set.

THE PARTS: Nuparu has the Flat-Style Inika foot, and the thick-style Inika Armor. The set also comes with a Light up power Drill, and really cool Claw pieces.

THE FEATURES: Nuparu has a couple good features. There's the Red-Light up weapon, and the Inika Zamor.

THE WEAPONS: Nuparu has the most weapons of all the Inika. The light-up drill has a small red "Lightsaber" piece that connects to it, and is used as the aiming sight for the Laser Drill.

Nuparu's claws are a good part of the set, they look very good on the set, and have a lot of MoCing possibilities.

THE ZAMOR: Nuparu has a Multi-Shot Launcher, which can hold up to four Red/Orange Zamor. The problem with the multi-shot launchers is that the top Zamor usually falls out when the bottom one is fired, but this can be fixed easily with only a couple small connectors.

THE MASK(S): Nuparu has the Kanohi Kadin, mask of Flight. The Kadin is a good looking mask, with spikes all over, and an opening for Nuparu's "mouth".

THE COLORS: Nuparu is almost completely black, with some New Dark Gray hands, feet, upper legs, and arms. The set only has a little bit of silver, unlike the huge amounts on the Toa Mistika, and it is on his claws.

THE STORY: Nuparu was one of the Six matoran that traveled to Voya Nui to find the Toa Nuva. They were met Karzahni for a sort time, and escaped from him in the Toa Canisters, they were transformed into the Toa Inika by the mysterious Red Star.

As the Inika, they defeated the Piraka, found the Ignika, Mask of Light, and Saved the Nuva and Voya-Nuians.

The Mask "ran away" from them, and went into the Pit, where the Inika followed it, and were transformed into the Toa Mahri.

FINAL SCORE: The Inika sets did have a slight few problems with them. Their heads were just green and white blobs and weren't able to be used with other masks without a modification (Instructions to do this are avalible here: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=262738 ). There's also the thing with the top Zamor falling out I talked about in the Zamor section of this review.

Lastly, the larger Inika body dosen't look quite right with Nuparu's mask, and he would have looked better with the Thinner one (So would Matoro too actually.), but that would have left it so that only Hewkii had a wide armor, so the sets would have ended up too much alike.

8.6/10

LEGO TV Show in the Making

2008-08-28T15:09:00.002-04:00

The creators of the LEGO video games are making an all new LEGO Batman TV series, not much is known about it at this time.

New Theme for 2009: Power Miners

2008-08-27T22:37:00.003-04:00

A new theme with be released next year, called Power Miners.

Official description from LEGO:

[Launching in January, Power Miners will have year-round marketing support including a full PR campaign focused on the childrens’ press, online marketing, Lego Club campaign, in-store promotions including Toys R Us end-caps from February and FSDUs and window displays for independent stores.

Power Miners features a team of miners that dig into the Earth’s crust and encounter half-rock/half-crystal monsters. The range features collectible vehicles and mini-figures and monsters.]

Sounds a lot like Rock Raiders to me.

September-October LEGO Magazine Shipping

2008-08-27T13:12:00.003-04:00

Even earlier than the last issue, reports of the Latest LEGO magazine arriving have been discovered.

Set Review #40: Doc Ock's Hideout

2008-08-26T23:51:00.003-04:00

Today we are going to review a set from 2004's Spider-Man 2 theme; set #4856.

THE PARTS: Doc Ock's hideout contains a lot of parts (nearly 500). It is one of the few sets anymore that has a baseplate, used as the water around the docks.

The Dock building has a pretty good size, large enough to use for a lot of action.

An interesting part of the set is the machine inside of the building, it has all kinds of electricity shooting out, and rotates.

THE MINIFIGS: The minifigures are one of the best parts of this set, and it comes with plenty of them.

Doctor Octopus is the most interesting minifig because of his four tentacles, which allow him to climb on the grips all over the outside of the building. The only problem with the claws, is that they loosen up after too much use, and aren't able to hold on as well anymore.

The other interesting minifig is Spider-Man (Also with an out of costume form), Spider-Man is a really great looking minifig, and he comes with a LEGO webline, which can connect to any brick stud, and it works wonderfully.

The Other two minifigs aren't especially interesing.

THE CONSTRUCTION: This is a fun set to build, there's the main building, a small boat, and Spider-Man's catapult, so that he can swing into action.

The construction of the bbuilding is good, it has a lot of secrets, like the breaking wall, and a removable roof.

THE FEATURES: This set has quite a few features. There's the spinning generator, Spider-Man's catapult, and the breaking wall, as shown on the box art.

THE PROBLEMS: This set does have some problems as well though. The building isn't the sturdiest design, but keeps from collapsing, the coloring of the power generator is not very good, it ends up looking out of place with the rest of the set, and Spider-Man's catapult is not too usefull.

FINAL SCORE: Doc Ock's Hideout is a set with a lot of playability, it has a lot of fun items, and even includes a special "radioactive" spider, that hangs on the catapult.

It is a fun set, but may be difficult to find now.

9.2/10

Set Review #39: Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb

2008-08-25T01:37:00.003-04:00

Now for our second review in the Indiana Jones series, set #7521.

THE PARTS: This set has a lot of tan parts, snakes, minifig items, and even a little bit of gold. It also includes a skeleton, with new Arms.

THE FEATURES: This set has a lot of features; Falling Statues, which fall down when you ake out an axel, then crash through a wall, revealing the skeleton hanging down.

This set probably has the largest amount of snakes in any LEGO set, at the top there is a small holder for all of the snakes, when you pull down the holder, the snakes four out of it, and onto the characters below.

THE PRICE: This set is a good deal, you get a great set with lots of interesting items for only $19.99.

FINAL SCORE: This is my favorite of the three Indiana Jones set I currently own (others are Set Review #37: Motorcycle Chase, and Jungle Duel, which has yet to be reviewed.), it has a big room, and looks very good on a shelf.

This is a really great set, one of the best of 2008.

9.3/10

Three new LEGO stores open next month!

2008-08-24T10:09:00.003-04:00

Next month, three all-new LEGO Stores will be opening, the Store locations are as follows:
Arden Fair Mall, Sacramento, CA
South Shore Plaza, Braintree, MA
King of Prussia Mall, King of Prussia, PA

More information here: http://shop.lego.com/stores/?domainredir=legoshop.com

Still none in my area...

Set Review #38: 8910 Kongu Mahri

2008-08-23T20:34:00.002-04:00

Next we have our first Toa Mahri review, I'll start with Kongu, who was the last Mahri I got.

THE PARTS: Kongu has some Metru Green armor pieces, Gray Vahki and Toa Metru legs. One interesting piece is Kongu's "eyes", which are similar to the Metru eyes, but they have a plus slot insead of a back, this is used to build some kind of bulb onto Kongu's head.

THE CORDAK: Kongu has two Cordak launchers, with a ton of red ammo (the only color corday are made in).

THE FEATURES: Kongu's only feature is his two Cordak Blasters, which are far better than the Squid Launchers, which were seen before them.

The Cordak are placed are Placed in the six slots on the blaster, and can be fired rapidly. They work well, though not as much as the Midak Skyblasters or Zamor.

The main problem with the Cordak is that the missiles do not always fire if you don't press the button hard enough.

THE CONSTRUCTION: Kongu was probably the most Original of the Mahri, he has a whole new body design body design, which was later reused for Toa Phantoka Pohatu in 2008, and it does fit a Stone Toa better than a Air Toa.

THE STORY: Kongu was one of the Six Toa Inika who traveled to Mahri Nui to chase after the Mask of Life. The mask transformed them all into the Mahri, so they could survive underwater, where they faced the Barraki, the "Spiny Piraka" (as I mentioned in the Zaktan review), Gadunka, Hydraxon, Makuta Teridax in the form of Maxilos, and much more.

They destroyed the stone cord connecting Voya Nui to Mahri Nui, and were transported back to Metru Nui.

THE MASKS: Kongu has the Mask of summoning, which is a pretty good looking mask.

THE COLORS: Kongu has just enough Metru Green to balance out his Gray, and it turns out quite well, unlike Lewa Phantoka, who had more Gray than green.

FINAL SCORE: Toa Inika Kongu was one of my favorite Inika, but the Mahri version of him is not near as good.

First, he is built more like a Stone Toa (the Mahri did have a strange way of having building styles more suited for different elements), Next, Kongu has no regular weapon, only two Cordak blasters.

Lastly, Kongu isn't too bad of a set, he is actually better than some of the other Mahri, like Hewkii, but not quit as good as some of the Barakii or Piraka.

Kongu's final score is just behind that of Zaktan's; 6.8/10

Set Review #37: 7620 Motorcycle Chase

2008-08-22T16:21:00.005-04:00

Up next we have our first Indiana Jones Set review, the Motorcycle Chase.

THE PARTS: The set comes with two motorcycles, it has one standard cycle, made with the bike body, a coving, and wheels. The second Motorcycle is more interesting, it has a side-car, which can break of and work as a seperate vehicle.

THE COLORS: Both motorcycles are Black, with a Dark Gray covering. The small booth is all tan and black, with two brown boxes to hold small items.

FINAL SCORE: This is a good set for the price ($9.99), with three great minifigures, and a lot of nice vehicles and items.

No major problems in the set.

8.4/10

New Playable Character Revealed for LEGO Batman: The Video Game

2008-08-19T23:18:00.008-04:00

Several new images of Batgirl from the new LEGO game has been released.

Here they Are:

First 2009 Images

2008-08-19T22:48:00.001-04:00

A Brickshelf folder has been found to contain the firse images of the New Pirates, city, and racers for next year.

Link: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=337640

Pirates Return in 2009

2008-08-18T22:23:00.003-04:00

Next year, LEGO is finally making a new series of Pirates System sets, for the first time in twelve years (not counting Duplo and 4 Juinors).
So far the sets named are: Brickbeard's Bounty, Cannon Battle, Pirate Survival ("impulse set"), Kraken Attackin', Loot Island, Shipwreck Hideout, and Soldiers' Fort.

Set Review #36: 8903 Zaktan

2008-08-17T23:29:00.003-04:00

Next up for our reviews is for another of the Piraka, we previously covered Vezok in April 2006, as set review #11, and Thok ten reviews later.

Today we have Zaktan, who was the leader of the Piraka.

THE PARTS: Zaktan has plenty of interesting parts, the first you notice is the spine; the spine is made of rubbery plastic, and covers the Zaktan's skull, back, and arms. The biggest problem with the spine, is that there are almost no uses for it in custom creations, as it is all one huge piece. Zaktan's spine, is less likely to be "deformed", unlike some of the other Piraka, which can sometimes have spines that seem melted in places, most commonly in Hakann.

Zaktan, like the other Piraka, has light-up eyes, and Glow-in-the-dark teeth.

Zaktan uses the second type of Piraka foot, which is larger, with two toes, and is shared by Thok and Avak.

The only ofther piece not included in any other set is Zaktan's two sided weapon, it is both a tri-blade, and a claw.

THE ZAMOR: Zaktan includes four Zamor, in several shades of green.

THE CONSTRUCTION: Zaktan builds exactly like the other five Piraka; The process only takes a few minutes, but is a very good design. More recently, a good deal of canister sets have reused the Piraka design (as well as the Inika design), these include; Hahli Mahri, Kalmah, Tahu Mistika, and more.

THE FEATURES: As mentioned before, Zaktan has light up eyes, Glowing Teeth, as well as a Zamor launcher, which is among the best working projectiles.

THE STORY: Zaktan was the leader of the Piraka, who were the main villains of 2006. The Piraka were six Skadki (plus Vezon, who was a "double" of Vezok) who left the Dark Hunters, and hunted for the Mask of life.

The Piraka took over the island of Voya Nui, acting as Toa, and defeated the Toa Nuva much to easily.

As they hunted the mask, they faced the New Toa Inika, and lost.

The Piraka were last seen in 2007, where they faced the Inika (now the Mahri) once again. This time, the Piraka had been transformed from water they traveled trough during the hunt for the Mask of Life, and had been reduced to their spines, they were once again defeated.

Untill his transformation, Zaktan (and his weapons) was made of many microscopic protodites, and could separate them to avoid attacks in battle.

FINAL SCORE: Zaktan isn't much different from the other Piraka, besides his coloring of Sand Green and Metru Green, but does have a good weapon.

His spine and short arms also make posing the set a problem, so final score is 7/10

Set Review #35: Bordakh

2008-08-04T11:58:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Karza-Nui's 100th post, a review of one of 2004's Vahki, Set #8615: Bordakh.

THE PARTS: Bordakh's head is built of three pieces, plus connectors, there's the main head in the center, the mouth-kanoka launcher, and the special orange 'eyes' that surround it all.
Bordakh's staffs have been used often in the BIONICLE System sets, such as the Battle for Metru Nui. Bordakh and the other Vahki were the first sets in hears to use the original Toa arms, and in a new Color too! They also had the original Toa feet, which were still common at the time, last used in Takanuva. The feet are connected to the Vahki leg pieces, which a bit round.
The Vahki were Clone sets, the only difference between them was the colors, and staffs.

THE KANOKA: Bordakh includes one Ga-Kanoka, with a number at random.

THE FEATURES: The Vahki were the last sets to include a full Gear function, after them, gears had gone out of use completely by 2006, with one 2008 set (Set #8953: Makuta Icarax) using them as part of his weapon.
The gear funtion in this set is similar to that used by the Rahkshi and Matoran (It even uses a Matoran Body), when the knob on it's back is turned, Bordakh will swing it's arms from side-to-side.

THE STORY: The Vahki are the police of Metru-Nui, and were sort of villains for 2004.
Makuta Terridax, disquised as Turaga Dume, sent the Vahki after the Toa Metru.
The Vahki were all destroyed by the Visorak invasion in 2005.

FINAL SCORE: I have always thought of the Vahki as the least memorable of BIONICLE characters, even BIONICLE author Greg Farshtey has called them his least favorite characters.
Bordakh's head is the best part of the set, but I do like the colors of some of the other Vahki better.

6.5/10

July Lego Magazine shipping

2008-07-02T15:01:00.002-04:00

The Newest edition of the LEGO magazine, and Brickmaster Magazine is now arriving in the mail, this month also icludes a new BIONICLE comic, and the Brickmaster Set this month is an exclusive Indiana Jones vehicle.

Also, all of the Sumer sets are now avalible from LEGO Shop at Home, and should be arriving in stores shortly.

Summer LEGO beginning to Appear

2008-06-05T13:54:00.003-04:00

The first of the summer sets have arrived in stores, what I've seen are the new Agents series, and the latest Batman sets.
Also LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original adventures is avalible.

BIONICLE Legends #10 Avalible!

2008-06-01T14:25:00.003-04:00

The 25th BIONICLE book (tenth in this series) Swamp of Shadows is now avalible on Amazon, and bookstores around the U.S.

March 2008 Lego Magazine Arriving

2008-03-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

The latest issue of the LEGO Magazine has begun arriving in mailboxes, the magazine also includes the first BIONICLE Comic of the year, featuring a new artist.

BIONICLE Legends #9 Avalible

2008-02-29T20:19:00.003-05:00

I spotted the first BIONICLE Book of 2008, Shadows in the Sky, today at Barnes and Noble's.

2008 to be Final Year of Exo-Force

2008-02-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

LEGO Exo-Force will not continue into 2009, due to low sales.
Just like Knights' Kingdom II...

Set Review #34: Blade Titan

2008-02-03T14:26:00.000-05:00

Our first set review of the year is set 8102, from last years Exo-Force.

The Blade Titan looks similar to the Grand Titan from 2006, Same Pilot, same Color (With white), and similar weapons.

THE PARTS: BT has a pair of Takanuva swords in red with a sort of clear white seen in the image below. Also, just like in all of the 2006 Exo-Force, Blade Titan uses tons of Stickers. Another useful part is the brick with BIONICLE Joints and Sockets, which creates many MoCing possibilities.

THE MINIFIGS(S): BT comes with Takeshi, in a different costume from 2006, it looks a lot cooler, with gold armor.

THE FUNCTIONS: BT has a nice spinning shield, It is one of my favorite parts of this set, and can be seen above.

FINAL SCORE: This a good set, one problem is that it looks so close to the Grand Titan, but is built quite differently. The second Year of Exo-Force also has quit using the Light up bricks from 2006, but the feature isn't missed much.

The Blaster cannon on this set looks alot like the Grand Titans, but I prefer the Grant Titan's to this one.

The Legs of the Titan are built with Knight's Kingdom joints, but the arms are made with the new Brick/BIONICLE parts I mentioned earlier, these arms are much better than the ones from 2006, which were thin conector pieces.

The box of this set makes it look more like the Grand Titan than it really is, so this set isn't a bad choice even if you have the GT.

Finally, this set's original Price was $14.99, a good price, but you should be able to find it for less, being on of last year's sets, as I did.

9.4/10

Another New Year!

2008-01-01T10:38:00.000-05:00

2008 Begins with the new BIONICLE Phantoka, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Spongebob, City, and Mars Mission sets!