Review: Official Set 8755 - Keetongu

The first of our Titan sets from 2005 is Keetongu. The last of his kind, Keetongu offers hope to the Toa Hordika thanks to his incredible knowledge of poisons and their antidote. As an added bonus he’s also one heck of a formidable ally in their fight against the Visorak horde.

Keetongu comes with 203 pieces and is rated for ages 8 and up.

Packaging

Keetongu’s box offers us a grand look at the build on the front of the box. The model appears to be crashing through a large hole, and in the background, we can see a mountain landscape covered in fog, along with Visorak webs. There is a large label on the bottom that gives us the set name in front of a Metru Nui skyline.

The sides of the box show off the three titan sets of 2005 and have a pretty neat web design spreading across the background.

The back of the box has a ton to look at, the main highlights being two large images of Keetongu that highlight his play functions. There’s also two images at the bottom that reveal two potential titan combination models that Keetongu can be used in.

I bought this set in used condition, so I received merely a large bag of parts, but if you were to buy this set sealed you would receive three numbered bags along with the instructions and advertisement material from 2005.

Base Model Review

The build was a very enjoyable one which offered several really interesting mechanisms (more on those later) and took me just over 25 minutes to complete. The bright light orange color really pops, and given that we have not seen this color before in a Bionicle set, it also helps to sell the lore that Keetongu is the last of a Rahi species. The color scheme also extends to the Rhotuka spinner, which is an exclusive red color, marking the powers possessed by Keetongu that allow him to heal others from various poisons.

The articulation as usual is pretty top notch for Keetongu. The only disappointment could be considered in the head design, where you can move the eye around, but cannot rotate the entire head assembly due to the construction of the Bohrok face shield on the top of the build. I did however have a very large issue with the condition of my rubberized joints. Just as we’ve seen several other times, the joints really do not have any friction, and this causes the legs to slip out entirely too much. It’s actually become quite hard to even get Keetongu to stand up without falling over. The only way around this is to buy this set in brand-new condition, where you are pretty much guaranteed to have rubberized joints in perfect condition.

There are two main play features that are included in this build: the spinning shield, and the Rhotuka spinner. The shield is what I believe to be the first dynamic shield so far in Bionicle, and I absolutely love it. It adds a bit of extra life to the finished model, and makes this set stand out from others that came before it. By twisting a black Technic axle that extends up the right forearm, the shield will spin around with great speed, simulating his ability to block off attacks from his enemies.

The other play function, the Rhotuka spinner, is of course the same as the other 2005 sets, but it’s actually build into this model in a very pleasant way. After unlocking two red plates, the chest flips down and then pops out, exposing Keetongu’s Rhotuka spinner. From there you can grab the rip cord off Keetongu’s back and then insert it into the spinner mechanism. Again, this adds a bit of extra fun to the model and makes the spinner feel a bit more prestigious since it’s sort of locked away behind chest armor.

Other than the poor aging of my rubber joints, the only other issue I have with Keetongu is the simplicity of the arms. I understand it makes for less weight and assembly but given the amazing leg designs of recent titan sets it would be a pleasure to get some really intricate arms sooner or later to really make for an incredible titan set from top to bottom.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Keetongu was a really fun build that packed in some really awesome play features. It’s definitely not the best titan set we’ve gotten so far, but by no means does it disappoint. The bright light orange color was a nice shake up that also helped to reaffirm Keetongu’s lore.

If you’re looking to pick this set up for yourself, first ask yourself if you’re going to be okay with rubber joints being in iffy condition. If so, you can buy this set used for around $35. If you really want to ensure that this set is rock solid, you can purchase it brand-new for around $100. If you ask me, I’d just go ahead and buy this set in sealed condition before prices skyrocket over time.

There’s a lot to love here, but the bad joint conditions and simple arms hold this set back from being a top-tier titan. That said, I still highly recommend adding Keetongu to your collection if you can.

SCORE: 8.3/10

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