Review: Bionicle 2016 Elemental Creatures

We're on to 2016, kicking the final year of Bionicle off with the Elemental Creatures. The Elemental Creatures are ancient beings tied to the elemental forces of the island of Okoto. They live in hidden temples built for each of the elements and were sought out by the Toa to be led to the Mask of Control, which is Makuta's mask for Gen. 2. As we'll see more in the Uniters review, the Creatures can link up with each of the Toa to give them boosted strength and abilities.

Packaging:

The boxes for these sets are the exact same size as the Protectors, and feature images of the included creature in attack. In the background you can spot silhouettes of the Toa as well as a Golden Mask. The top banner has been changed over from dark gray to a green color for the 2016 line.

The back of each box is left pretty simple with a few images of the included play functions as well as a promotion for the uniting of elemental creatures with the Toa, that'll come next week.

The sealed boxes have two tape tabs that need to be sliced open. Inside the box there are two bags of pieces along with the instruction manual. The instructions just as always are packed with comics and promotional material for the new sets.

Build Experience:

The builds took a lot longer than I thought, in total it was a 53-minute build. Each of these sets is much larger than I was anticipating, I'm pretty blown away by them to say the least. Also to address the fact that there's only 5, the Ice Creature is included with Kopaka so we'll get to that when it comes time for the Uniters review.

Shadow Traps:

Each of the five protectors comes with a Shadow Trap, which were used to bind elemental creatures during Makuta and Umarak's hunt for them. I love that each set has a different variation to the traps. The Skull Spiders were just different colors and a solid mold with legs, but these traps have a bit more to their assembly which is nice. They were still the most boring parts of the build, but I like the end result.

The Shadow Traps function by way of a locking hinge piece which simulates the traps opening and closing. Each of the legs has the ability to hinge in case you plan to place yours on uneven terrain.

Uxar (Creature of Jungle):

Up first is Uxar, the Creature of Jungle, which is meant to represent a dragonfly. From a front view Uxar looks a little bit too much dark gray, but from above you can really see all of the green popping through. The headpiece, which mold-wise is the same for all of the Elemental Creatures, has a nice green gradient with some yellow accent horns.

The play features for these sets are so much fun, Uxar's is triggered by moving his backpiece up and down, which causes his wings to flap. The wings make use of some system bricks which was certainly a surprise, but the transparent neon green color is perfect and I love how they blend in with their connections. Each of the four legs can be articulated at their ball socket joints, and the tail can wag a little bit back and forth. This was the first set I built so this was also a bit of a wake up to just how large these Elemental Creatures were going to be.

Ketar (Creature of Stone):

The Creature of Stone, Ketar, gives us yet another scorpion variant to add to Bionicle. The set continues to incorporate the transparent yellowish-green pieces into the stone color pallet, which gives a bit of an energized feeling to the set. The mask mold features a cool gradient but no additional clip on's this time around. There are four identical legs that control Ketar's pose and articulate at their ball and socket joints.

Up front are two Crystal Claw Blades which look a lot like the mold from Onua Nuva. They are each attached to a ball joint which allows for articulation of the weapons. The tail looks a little bit smaller than I would have wanted it to be, it sort of makes the Creature look like an infant rather than ancient. The tail for Ketar can of course articulate a little bit at ball and socket joints, but the big draw to it is that when rotated, the tail controls the claw blades and makes them flutter up and down.

Akida (Creature of Water):

Akida is the Creature of Water and is representative of a shark. I see a little bit more of a fish than a shark, but hey what do I know about marine biology. The color scheme is very pleasant to look at. I do think it would look a little bit better if the orange parts were transparent, but that’s more of an A to an A+ type of upgrade. Akida features something we've never seen in Bionicle before, a stand. The stand is so perfect from a display perspective that lets you prop the set up as if it truly is swimming. The stand is made up of just 3 pieces, and the technic axle just slips into the underside of Akita.

Up front Akida has two Torpedo Shooters which are the same play function that we got throughout 2015. Visually these look great but functionality wise I don't like this function since the studs go all over the place. It's fun, but in no way maintainable, especially for a child. Pulling up on Akida's dorsal fin flips the two Torpedo Shooters down, which I think will make a lot more sense after the Uniters review. The tail is able to be moved around to recreate a swimming pattern which is nice.

Ikir (Creature of Fire):

Ikir, the Creature of Fire, reminds me a lot of Uxar in the sense that there is a lot of gray going on with this model and I wish we got more bits of red. It's also a lot like Uxar from a build standpoint, but is more of a bird of prey, the feet do a great job of embracing that with the claw pieces. The mask while still the same mold as the others has a base color of gold and the transparent orange gradient.

The wings are nicely constructed with the various pieces to give them their crystal appearance, and can articulate at a ball joint. Pushing and pulling on the back feathers cause his wings to flap, which again is very similar to Uxar but certainly not identical.

Terak (Creature of Earth):

Terak, the Creature of Earth, immediately strikes me as the one variation that looks a lot like a Matoran or Protector compared to the others. He is supposed to represent a combination of a lizard and an ape. The purple and gold color scheme once again proves to be simply immaculate. The transparent purple pieces blend so perfectly with the black pieces, very reminiscent of Onepu's Tohunga Set. Just like Ikir this mask is gold but is still the same mold that we saw in the other sets. Two transparent purple horns were placed on here to shake it up a little bit.

The very interesting part to this set visually is that the claws at his hands are much larger than the feet, definitely speaking to the ape influence this set has, but also carries a bit of a mole vibe. Each of the claw pieces can be hinged, and the arm features a few different articulation points to really get creative.

The back can be lifted to raise both arms simultaneously. My one critique here is that this would be better if it were made similarly to Ketar's function where one arm would raise while the other lowers to replicate a digging sequence.

Current Pricing & Final Thoughts:

If you want to purchase any of the Elemental Creatures for your collection you can find them in used condition for about $25 each and in brand new sealed condition they range between $35-50 per set depending on the variant.

Going into this review I was hoping to see that LEGO® learned some lessons from the 2015 line and clearly they did. These sets emulate a lot of the feelings that early Gen 1 sets did, having great value, size, color palettes, functions, and even include some good side builds. We know that they'll be returning next week with the Uniters to add even more play features, but just by themselves these are my favorite sets of Gen. 2 so far.

Score: 8.4/10

Video Review: