Review: Official Set 10203 - Voporak

The last of the 2005 Bionicle Titan combination models is a monster one. Using parts from all three of the base 2005 Titan sets, we built Voporak, the iconic servant to The Shadowed One. Voporak has incredible powers that allow him to control temporal fields that can drastically age things as they are thrown his way. He uses these powers along with his great strength to carry out tasks that will please The Shadowed One.

The Shadowed One can be built by combining the parts that come with Keetongu, Sidorak, and Roodaka

Packaging

Unlike the other two titan combination models from 2005, Voporak does have an exclusive box that was released with the instructions. This exclusive includes the parts to all three 2005 titans as well as a printed instruction booklet for Voporak himself.

To build this set, it was necessary to take apart all of the titan sets and pile up their pieces.

Review

Being a set of this scale, it was a longer build than normal. In total, the build came out to be 1 hour and 7 minutes, which by no means is the longest Bionicle build, but it’s definitely pretty high up there. It was a fun build, but quite repetitive. A lot of interesting building techniques are spread throughout the assembly, which makes for a few fun moments when you see it all combing together.

The finished model has an incredibly daunting look. Voporak possesses a very imposing presence, and without a doubt would strike immense fear into his enemies. The detail and sculpting seen throughout the model only enhances the scale even more by creating the illusion that there are a lot of smaller technical mechanisms throughout Voporak. One of my favorite little details is the inclusion of some detail on the back of the model. It’s mainly just one single torso piece on the upper back, but it adds so much value to the overall look of the model by blending everything together and making a display that’s gorgeous from all 360 degrees.

The limbs are quite thick on Voporak, especially the legs. The legs are essentially tree trunks that cram as many pieces as possible into them. The resultant is a very solid, fluid leg system that have to be one of the best leg designs I’ve seen in a Bionicle set. The arms are a tad bit too small if you ask me, but it’s clear the designers did add a little bit of extra bulk and features to the arms to balance it all out. Each arm has a mounted weapon at the upper forearm/elbow region that mimics the spinners we saw in Keetongu and Roodaka. These themselves are nothing new and don’t blow me away or anything, but what I do really like here is that the designers still included lower arms and hands on top of including these mechanisms. It’s the little things like this that I expect to see in a large titan combination model. We have the extra pieces so why not try to use them all and create a character as complete as possible.

One of the downsides I saw in this set unfortunately does take away from the great leg design. The legs are for the most part composed of “double” joints at the ankles and knees, but only uses a single rubberized joint to connect to the hip. This makes the hips very mobile and great for playing, but the stability is a bit mediocre, and this limits the display options you can pull off on your shelf. I found myself able to stand Voporak straight up or a bit hunched over, anything else would cause the legs to flip out or topple over.

Just above the hip connections are two arms that really just confuse me. They stop with a ball joint and that’s it. No hands, no weapons, just small arms. I’m not sure what the purpose of these are, maybe they’re what Voporak uses to create temporal fields. One of these arms does have the Rhotuka Spinner mechanism attached to it which makes it a little bit useful. The Rhotuka spinner function is nothing new here, it works the same as Roodaka’s where a small assembly can be pulled off the rip cord, causing the spinner to take flight. Just as it was with The Shadowed One, I really don’t care much for it, and I wouldn’t have been too mad if it wasn’t included, it generally feels like they just wanted to include this function in another set build.

The only other thing that bothers me is something I’ve been flopping back and forth on, which is the head design. The head is essentially the same as Roodaka and The Shadowed One, but this time there’s a top fin and a bit of a tail sticking out of the back of the head. These are nice touches, but the main head and eye assembly is very close, if not identical to the ones we’ve gotten before, so it’s just a little stale at this point.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that Voporak is my favorite of the 2005 titan combination models. The menacing presence tied along with above average detail and sculpting makes for a very enjoyable model. The play functions and articulation are there, but there’s nothing that’ll blow you away on these aspects of the set.

If you’d like to purchase this set for yourself, you do have to spend a pretty penny, but believe it or not, this is currently the most efficient way to get all of the 2005 titan sets. As of August 2021, Voporak can be bought online for around $130 in used condition and $275 in sealed condition. These are high prices, but when you look at the combined price for all of the 2005 titans, it comes out to be around $150 in used condition and $375 in new condition. As you can see the only difference is not receiving the individual boxes, but you’ll get the same pieces for a cheaper price.

Is Voporak a more iconic character than The Shadowed One, no. But he does make for a fun set and some nightmare fuel for your Matoran.

SCORE: 7.7/10

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