The Manas are a weird set. They are Bionicle's only battery-powered set to date. Occasionally, when Lego themes branch out into battery-related functions, they don't always work well. Does this happen to the Manas? Not in the slightest. The Manas are an incredible set that only have a few shortcomings.

Pros:

.For 2001, the IR controllers work great!

.The Motor and the controllers are exclusive to this set

.2 Turaga Onewa masks in yellow, and 2 Turaga Whenua masks in orange

.The punching function works fantastically, and is very fun to use.

.Unique colour schemes (White and Orange/Yellow and Black) that aren't often seen.

.Long battery life (Built-in sleep mode to save battery)

.Complex and unique build

.Can choose to control one or both crabs with a single controller

Cons:

.Not much posing (I personally think this is fine, since few Rahi sets have much)

.Requires 12 AA batteries (3 per crab, and 3 per controller).

.This set contains 442 parts, and had a $90 price tag in 2001. Now, you'd be looking at around $200+ for a used copy

Despite how expensive this Rahi set was, and still is, it's a fantastic technic build, and the RC elements work shockingly well. If you find a reasonably priced listing, I'd greatly recommend that you check this set out. 5/5

This set is a fun set to have and it's fun to play with as well. The build took me a while but it's fun to build this set for sure and we also don't need to worry about stickers. This is the ONLY remote-controlled BIONICLE set which LEGO ever made. There're some nice buttons on the remote control which makes this set able to maneuver and tho move th claws. I also like the design for both mana creatures we get in this set. It's a great set to have a good battle and I'm sure that this will go up in value in the future. As I told you in the beginning: It's a fun set to have - even for pieces which you can use for future MOC's (My own creations) and/or brickfilms for sure.

All in all this set is an great set and I would HIGHLY recommend you to get this. You can find this set on eBay, BrickLink and Amazon for sure. Here is the link where you can check out the full gallery I made for this set on my website: http://www.klokriecher.de


Videos I made of this set:

Stopmotion 1
Stopmotion 2
Review

One of the awesomest sets ever! I love to battle these with Spidermin (see Lego.com) all the time! The only thing I would fix is the masks on the yellow one; for they fall out very easily. Also, the little tripper thing is really annoying.

Pros:
-Remote Control!
-Can do Battle with each other!
-Arms move while running
-Tank treads
-Instructions to make GIANT model

Cons:
-Some modifications are needed to make it punch harder
-Masks one yellow one come off very easily

Overall:

9.9/10!
A definite must have for a Bionicle and battle fan!
Buy it if you can!

Brick it up!

-Wadaltmon

All the fun of the 2001 Bionicle series rolled in to one set. The Manas were the top of the Bioicle line for 2001 at $90.00 US and they are worth every penny. You get on one but TWO remote controlled crabs to do battle. As they roll forwards or backwards the claws move back and forth like boxing gloves. This allows them to hit each other and trip a lever that will disable the Mana until you reset it. The remotes have a very long range and can even go around corners. If you have the chance to get the Manas do it, you will not be disappointed.

EDIT DECEMBER 2020: Well I just rebuilt one of the Manas, and after troubleshooting it, I found solutions to many of the issues I was having as a kid that I had mentioned in this review. I will consider rewriting or redoing this whole review once I have built the other Manas and I can compare them both more objectively.

I got this set for as a gift around 2003 or 2004; which normally would have been pretty amazing to find a set from 2001 several years later. However, even as a kid I soon discovered that this pair of crustaceans were among the weakest additions to the Bionicle line.

Parts

So the biggest issue here is the whole IR/Motor bricks. This was years before Lego had their reliable Power Functions System developed; so the Motor is completely incased in one giant motor block which powers the crab, and also contains the IR reciever and the Battery Box in the same casing. This is where I had problems as a kid building this thing; one of the motors was dead on arrival, and the other had a glitch which caused one of the treads to not have as much power as the other. Literally, these motor parts; despite being exclusive to the set, are probably among the worst Lego pieces ever made.

However there are a few pieces here which I am glad have made it into my collection, the treads are a nice addition. However the best 4 pieces here are the two Orange Ruru Masks (which were only available in orange here and in randomly packed mask packages) and the two Yellow Komau Masks (which were exclusively in yellow in this set). Sadly four special pieces were not enough to save this set from its other disasters.

The build

The build here is decent, but is basically building Technic functions and then slapping them on to the large motor casing. The build is nearly identical between the two crabs, other than their colors and some variations in their upper shell.

The completed model

Well the Manas certainly look cool as a display piece; but they are a failure as a toy. The motorized functions are supposed to allow them to roll around and punch with their claws; however the motor issues I have with my copy cause them to not work properly. It really is a shame that such a nice looking design was ruined by the use of that one overly large and trouble prone motor brick... Due to these issues; my Manas are currently disassembled; their pieces floating around in my random parts bin.

Overall opinion

If anybody wants to recreate the Mana crabs in Bionicle lore, they would be better of building a nice MOC than buying this seriously flawed set. Seriously, I had more fun watching the Manas in the cut-scenes of the Mata Nui Online Game than I had while playing with the actual set. I am glad I have the masks from this set, but there is really nothing else that positive about this set. This Rahi set is worth skipping over.