Ekimu the Mask Maker

Managed to pick up Dr. Manhattan - er, Ekimu the Mask Maker - at my local Toys R Us about a week before the release date. Lucky me, as he is sure to please the fans of the new Bionicle, young and old alike. Let's have a look. Ekimu has been working out over the past few months after his battle with the Skull Grinder last year, and the results are great. He features a new transparent light blue chestplate with all six Toa symbols, and an all-new seventh symbol of an anvil and hammer. He comes with two masks - a powered-up transparent light blue Mask of Creation, and a gunmetal-to-transparent-red-orange Hunter Mask (which will make a fine sub for the Mask of Ultimate Power, IMO). He features the same two-piece torso joint that all six Uniter Toa have, and wields an upgraded Crystal Hammer of Power and a charged-up Sawblade Shield. He has lots of trans-light-blue and gold, and is sure to be a hit with the kids. So do I think Ekimu is worth your $14.99? Yes, yes I do. But, I can't help but wonder... Who masks the Mask Maker? Hmm... more less

My son got this for Christmas and he loved it! He like the uniqueness of the shield design, the way that the body is turnable, and that he was able to get this hard to find figure. Item arrived quickly and was priced reasonably. more less

In terms of Toa-sized heroes this year, Ekimu takes the cake as my favorite. He ditches the flat build of the Uniters, and opts for a better overall looking build, with nice features and a great color scheme. more less

71312 is, I think, a really good set. I say "really good" and I mean just that; this version of Ekimu brings a lot of interesting stuff to the table, from his dominantly-transparent color scheme, to his sturdy-looking silhouette, to his dual gear functions, and a gorgeous recolor of the Mask of Creation. But the set isn't perfect. The legs, from a design standpoint, are weak, and 71312 comes with a disappointingly small number of new or recolored pieces. Overall, though, I think the good outweighs the bad here, significantly, and believe Ekimu to be a must-have for a BIONICLE collector. more less

Ekimu's gotten some flack for looking generic, and in a sense he is; he's got everything the Toa have had, yet doesn't have anything new to his name. But he most definitely doesn't need it. The gearbox AND the waist articulation are fantastic features of their own, and work surprisingly well in tandem. He comes with two beautiful masks in brand new colors. He's got useful weapons and a solid construction. He takes everything we've learned over the past 1.5 years and pushes it to the pinnacle of what it can do. Maybe the trans-light blue can be a little much, but Ekimu is one of the wave's must-buys regardless. more less

Ekimu the Mask Maker to me is perhaps the surprise package of the summer BIONICLE wave. What I thought was going to be another relatively generic run-of-the-mill Toa build turned out to be a rather interesting build and the result of that build is a solid, complete-feeling and well-designed figure with only a few minor issues that are mostly very easy to fix. more less

Once built, the new version of Ekimu is easily recognizable despite his increased size (30 modules/9⅜ inches/24 centimeters in height). He may not use a whole lot of new pieces, but the amount of parts and colors shared with his previous form works to his advantage by creating a sense of continuity between his previous and current forms. The increased amount of Tr. Light Blue, especially on his torso and mask, gives him a sort of “spirit" look. more less