Random set of the day: Gali Nuva
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8570 Gali Nuva, released in 2002. It's one of 28 Bionicle sets produced that year. It contains 44 pieces, and its retail price was US$8/£4.99.
It's owned by 3212 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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Looks like Bionicle is becoming the new Clikits. 3rd set in the past 5 days....
I did say Huwbot liked Bionicle yesterday.
It was kind of a bummer that they switched to opaque colors for this version of the mask. The clear Kaukau for the first generation was really cool, especially since that meant that the other five colors were clear, too. The Hau Nuva and Akaku Nuva recall their original versions the most, while this one and the other three were more different from their originals. Gali's new Kaukau actually looks like Tahu's first-gen Hau in a lot of ways. You know when you see concept artist draw a bunch of variations of a design before they settle on one? It almost feels like those two masks could have both belonged to a group of variations when TLG was deciding on what the Hau would look like.
The KauKau mask that looks like a Cow face!
I like a lot this set has in terms of the tools, like the fin hooks and propellers. But any sense of feminine looks Gali had were slowly being lost (not that the original was super feminine either, but she had subtle hints towards that look). The 2008 version with the waffle iron eye being a step further backwards.
Fortunately the 2015 Gali was a strong return to form for the character's design motif.
Bionicle always struggled actually with women character designs in G1. They were either clones of the same design used for the men, or they were... Roodaka with her Rahkshii head breasts, stiletto feet, and ponytail hair. I still remember my mom looking through the Lego catalog that year and asking "why does this Bionicle have boobs?" 2015 Gali was the perfect balance, enough curves to show she was a woman, but not so overdone like Roodaka was.
That is one of the better image-background photoshops I've seen on a LEGO box in a long time.
I remember receiving Gali Nuva from my uncle when I was eight years old and he had "grown out" of his BIONICLE collection. Really liked the duality of her weapons changing them out from Aqua Swords to flippers!
Given that Pohatu kept his upside-down body and Onua his low slung head when they switched to Nuva, it’s a shame they didn’t get any of Gali’s subtle differences in. It’s not like it really gave away she was female, if Lego were concerned about a boys not wanting to buy a toy that was a girl
Hey, another BIONICLE set? AND I just got in my complete set of Nuva in the mail to boot! I think Gali could've been made more unique/feminine/like her previous form by turning the legs upside-down. Then her hips would be wider, AND it'd harken to the Mata form since those had the legs turned upside-down.
Also, the Nuva legs in that color look like bell-bottoms to me.
Hello, old friend. Long time no see.
The fabled kanohi CowCow
I love Bionicle and I always will. They called me a madman.
Well, I'm not one to bemoan two Bionicle sets in a row... :D
I'm not altogether sure where I stand, nostalgically, with the Toa Nuva. They certainly don't have the same pull for me that the original Mata had; but at the same time, there is still *something* about them that I still feel attached to. I think that's because of the movie's animated designs of the characters, which so thoroughly won me over as a kid. The way they made these characters feel so *alive*... ^^
I remember Gali was the fourth Nuva I got; I picked her up while we were visiting my great-aunt in Anglesey in the summer of 2003. I don't know why that memory, specifically, stands out to me, but it does... and I also remember that, along with Tahu and Kopaka, she was my favourite of the new Nuva designs. I wasn't so sold on Lewa, Onua and Pohatu's redesigns, for whatever reason.
...just realising now that Gali's torso is awkwardly bent back on itself in this picture. Huh. I knew the Bionicle renders didn't always respect the sets' lack of articulation, but that's one of the most extreme examples of it that I've seen.
Wow, Bionicle being allowed is starting to skew things with the randomizer. Still no regrets, I love it!
I still have a sealed copy that I need to build someday. It looks pretty good to me on the pictures, but yeah the mask could be a bit better.
Poor Gali, couldn't catch a break after her mata mask, This one is weird, the waffle eye one was weird, Her first G2 one was pretty good and then the uniter one was like a ripoff of Rey's mask from star wars Episode 7