Lava Beast

Once again LEGO has decided to make a a creature that would live with thousands of it's own species. Lava Beast is supposed to fly? Not with what LEGO calls "wings." I suggest using Ikir's gear box to fix the wings. Lava Beasts are certainly huge, burning, rocky menaces to be reckoned with. The corrupted Mask of Fire can fit well in the beast's hand thanks to the ratchet joints,you just have to play around with it. The new Beast Mask is very interesting , and it gives Lava Beast a very evil appearance. I thought that the jaw piece was good. I think that the overall set was good, and the price reasonable. more less

Lava beast is, in my opinion, the coolest looking of the beasts. He comes with some decent new parts and recolors, and has a decent build. Unlike the other two beasts, his functions aren't quite as unique, but I think they work for what he is. He's well proportioned, poses well, and manages to make the jaw piece look, well, somewhat alright. If you are looking to pick up any of the beasts, Lava here would be my most highly recommended in terms of being a solid, well-built figure. If you are looking for a more interesting build, the other beasts may suit your fancy more. more less

My biggest gripe with Lava Beast is the utter apathy I feel when I look at him. There's no "Oh that's cool!" thing to him. Not even something as awful as some of the later Bionicle G1 canister sets were (Hewkii Mahri, I'm referring to you here). He seems cool in some positions and for some angles, but overall, he's just, well, meh. more less

Lava Beast is definitely a mixed bag, but when he works, he works. There's a sense that not much thought went into the lower half of him, but in a weirdly intentional way; he's supposed to be pretty raggedy, to let the cool parts really shine. With the neat blades on his arm and the surprisingly mobile head, he makes up for the disappointing jaw that will unfortunately come to hobble the other beasts. more less

I've seen a lot of negativity about these Beast sets. This seems to be a bit of a trend with Bionicle, which tends to get more weird and experimental with its monstrous villains at the expense of the solid, well-covered builds typical for more heroic sets. Ultimately, however, I do enjoy these sets for what they are. They have very unique looks and functions, which, while not all consistently effective, offer fantastic variety. As for their parts selection, while I do think last year's villain sets offered a better spread of new parts with slightly more versatility, these Beast sets still hold their own, including their fair share of interesting new molds and recolors as well as a few very useful rare parts. All in all, while I would not consider these sets as essential as the Creatures and Toa from earlier this year, they're still a great choice for constraction fans looking to expand their selection of parts, or Bionicle fans who want to bring their 2016 collection to completion. more less

Despite it's very generic build and lackluster functions, Lava Beast proves to be a decent model that is fun to pose and is the most coherent of the three Beasts in terms of aesthetics (aside from the questionable lower legs and the gap in the upper torso). At £9.99/$14.99 for 114 pieces, Lava Beast is also a useful source for parts including some rare and exclusive parts, especially if black and trans-neon orange is your thing. more less