2009 era lime joints.
Now that's a force to be reckoned with...

The sphere launcher parts from BIONICLE are very cool. Found their way to NINJAGO and Chima eventually. And this is actually the BIONICLE arc I vaguely know the story of, so it’s nice to have a general idea of who this guy is.

@legoninjago69 said:
"why does the bottom of his staff shoot a spiky ball?
I guess if you really don't like the ground..."
That's a Thornax Fruit. I know, a bit hard to believe, but the old leak images were more convincing as fruit. They were blue with yellow spikes similar to the small claw pieces that were introduced with the Vikings sets. For some reason it's explosive, so that ground better watch out!

Ah yes, snake man.

His Thornax launcher is a lot more cumbersome to use than any other Glatorian, mainly due to the fact that his launcher resides inconveniently at the base of his Venom Spear. This, combined with the spear’s ridiculously short handle and his bulky shoulder armour, makes him possibly the worst figure to use in the Glatorian game, as he can’t pose, can’t deflect and can’t shoot.

Remember, this is BIONICLE's 20th anniversary year!

Back in the summer of 2009, Vastus here was one of six "Glatorian Legends" released in anticipation of the upcoming fourth and final BIONICLE film, "The Legend Reborn". Unlike some "legends", like Gelu (who never appeared) or Stronius (who was reduced to a non-speaking role), Vastus actually had a small role in the film, and so I found it worthwhile to buy him and add him to my collection. Incidentally, this meant I had my first full set of six BIONICLE canisters sets since 2007's Toa Mahri lineup. A good return to form for me as a BIONICLE collector!

Anyway, that small role in the film came about when the empowered Glatorian led by Mata Nui arrived in the village of Tesara. Vastus, the prime Glatorian for Tesara, was engaged in a fight with the prime Glatorian of the Water Village, Tajun (recently ransacked). Mata Nui tried to alert the gathered crowd to put aside the Glatorian combat and realize the danger that the Skrall army posed, as they were on their way from Tajun bent on conquest. Mata Nui's pleas fell on deaf ears, however, until Ackar, the prime Glatorian of Vulcanus, shocked everyone into silence by discharging a pillar of flame from his sword. Being a peer of Ackar's, Vastus stopped the fight with Berix and implored of Ackar how he was able to perform such a feat. Taking one of Berix's blades to demonstrate, Mata Nui used the power of the Mask of Life to restore the blade and activate the power of Water inside Berix. Astounded, Berix and Vastus pledged fealty to Mata Nui and his allies and agreed to aid in the defense of Tesara against the Skrall. It is presumed that Vastus had his weapon restored by Mata Nui and thus became another "Toa of Air" like Gresh before him, partaking in the battle that ensued afterwards.

In this scene, a facet of BIONICLE was brought full-circle. In 2001, we were introduced to mighty Toa who were masters of their elemental powers and devastating warriors, albeit ones ignorant of their destiny and the true extent of their universe. In 2009, we met mighty warriors called Glatorian on another planet who fought to keep the peace between their Agori villages with brute strength, ordinary weapons, and raw survival skills. In their hearts, though, they had the potential to be like the Toa. And Mata Nui, the archetypal "stranger in a strange land", awoke that in them, literally and metaphorically. It reminded the fans about what it meant to be a hero, encapsulating the lessons learned by the Toa Nuva, Metru, and Inika/Mahri. In that way, a small part of the legend of the BIONICLE endures, beyond its toy-centric fiction and in the hearts and minds of its fans for decades to come.

@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"2009 era lime joints.
Now that's a force to be reckoned with..."

We're doomed!"

They’ll be no escape for the princess this time.

The Glatorian are some of my favorite canister-sized Bionicle sets, because of the very elemental-looking feel they have... something I think other Bionicle sets of that era kind of lacked. Just in this set alone, we got three exclusive new molds that never came in any other sets... the mask, the shoulder armor, and the dual-molded blade piece. All those new parts make up for an excellent looking figure that very much looks like it belongs in a jungle setting.

@brickengineeringdude said:
"Do lime joints deteriorate faster over time?"

No, the sockets just break very easily. But thankfully, that problem got solved in 2011 when CCBS introduced a much stronger and more durable socket system.

In Finnish, vastus means 1. resistor 2. resistance 3. challenger 4. opposition

I was literally just thinking about Bionicle last night, due to this year being the 20th Anniversary. What are the chances of getting a Bionicle RSotD right after that? :o

That said, I never had this guy. I kinda fell off the Bionicle train in 2009 - though I DID get Kiina of the Glatorian Legends wave, since I was intrigued by her unique torso design that was built around, of all things, a Vahki leg piece instead of the very standard Inika torso sported by the rest of this wave. Vastus does look cool, though... I admit, I didn't even notice his snake motif until it was pointed out in the comments above, so that maybe shows how little my attention was on this wave at the time!

Nice colour scheme, though!

I'm curious about the lime joints; I had several on 2007 sets like Ehlek and Lesovikk crack like you say, but I thought they solved the problem with the introduction of the updated mould in 2008 since my Lewa Phantoka that year had no such problems. Am I missing something?

@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"I'm curious about the lime joints; I had several on 2007 sets like Ehlek and Lesovikk crack like you say, but I thought they solved the problem with the introduction of the updated mould in 2008 since my Lewa Phantoka that year had no such problems. Am I missing something?"

The new socket mold they introduced in 2008 was even worse than the 2007 one... at that point, all the colors broke easily, not just lime. As I already said above, the problem only got solved in 2011 with the introduction of CCBS in Hero Factory.

So at the end of 2008 BIONICLE gave us what might just be the greatest plot twist of all time, and the 2009 and 2010 stories came to explain what happened.

Long ago, before the Toa Mata were even created, the Great Beings who created the Matoran Universe lived on the luscious world of Spherus Magna.

The different elemental tribes praised and worshiped the Great Beings for their impressive inventions, however as the Great Beings delved deeper into their labs and work the tribes became more divided and hostile toward each other and lost their Unity.

Most of these tensions were small scale bickering, until the discovery of a remarkable substance at the planet's core: Energized Protodermis. A substance that could be reformed and shaped to create any other material, or could mutate living creatures into more powerful forms. The Elemental Lords started a full scale war as their Agori villagers and warriors extracted as much of the precious liquid as possible.

The war was grand enough to catch the Great Beings eyes, and they made a terrible discovery, if too much Protodermis was taken from the planet it would explode! It was too late to stop the conflict and save the world, but not to late to find a solution.

Thus, the Great Spirit Robot was born. A 40 million foot tall machine, run by the Mata Nui AI and run by a series of "nanobots" known as Matoran. The GSR was to fly off of Spherus Magna and study other alien races in the hopes of finding out how to rebuild and reform society, and eventually fix the broken world.

The GSR was successfully launched, but shortly after the war reached it's peak. The Energized Protodermis was completely extracted, and the Shattering took place. Spherus Magna burst into three smaller worlds, the desert planet of Bara magna, the ocean moon of Aqua Magna, and the jungle moon of Bota Magna.

With most of the planet's water and plantlife gone, the people of Spherus Magna began to suffer. Resources quickly became scarce as the elemental tribes took shelter in the few remaining hubs of elemental activity.

The war had opened the eyes of the Agori. In full on warfare, all parties are harmed, and so the Glatorian system was born. The old soldiers and warriors of the war were reformed as Glatorian gladiators. Whenever there was a disagreement between trade routes or resources, each tribe would send a Glatorian to fight in the arena, with the winner's tribe getting the resources.

Vastus here didn't have too much of a story role. He was the Prime Glatorian of the Jungle Tribe and as people pointed out before helped Mata Nui when the Skrall abandoned the Glatorian system and tried to bring Bara Magna back to full fledged warfire!