Set #8981-1: Tarix

[The Host]

Tarix

GOLD!!

anywho, the review of Tarix, Glatorian Champion and cool coloured set. (GOLD)

Canister Design/Box Art

The canister is very nice to look at from the front, with Tarix standing in not the greatest pose but better than some. The blue elemental background is very nice, and blends nicely with the Tajun warrior. Turning it over(you may want to do this near the garbage can) you may want to puke. As with all of the winter canister sets, the Glatorian and his agori counterpart are posed on a bleak sandy region in the WORST pose ever. Also, the bottom half of the image is dominated by legal stuff(GASP!)
but at least this side wasn't turned towards you in the store...

The Build

Upon arriving home, you tear open the canister, carefully avoiding looking at the back, and you discover a nice glossy instruction booklet and a bunch of pieces. WITH GOLD! You open the booklet and begin to build the set, and you realise: IT'S AN INIKA!!
But it's not, it say so right on the canister: Bionicle Glatorian. Well, it's an inika build, and that sucks. The nice thing is, it's not completely inika. The shoulder armour on the front is different, and the tube thingy is mahri-esk(but who needs one in a desert?). The hands are nice, as are the feet(which feature mata blue colouring.). Overall, if you've bought any set since 2006 that was a canister set this build should be done blindfolded.

New and Recoloured Pieces

Okay, so the set is inika, but that doesn't mean there are no interesting pieces. Here they are:

New:
-Iron Man Head(which is actually the 2009 Glatorian Head)
-Tarix Helmet
-Thornax Launcher
-Thornax Exploding Fruit(which would have been more cool had it exploded irl)
-Hand Pieces
-Water Sword thingys
-Life Counter
-Straight Hordika Piece

The really interesting ones here are:
-Iron Man Head, which comes in lime green, which is cool.
-Tarix Helmet, which is the most mask-like helmet this year
-Hand Pieces(although not unique, they come in MATA BLUE!)
-Water Sword Things, which are nive pieces, part blue, part gold.

Recoloured Pieces:
-Nuparu Inika Feet
-Inika Shoulder Armour

Yeah, those are the interesting ones.
-The feet are in Mata Blue, and
-The shoulder armour is in GOLD!

Playability

So ypu've put this set together, and it's quite nice to look at, for the most part. But it is fun to play with?
Yes.
Although the swords are held in wierd positions, and the Thornax Launcher can get in the way, it is still fun to play with, and can do some pretty cool poses.

Final Thoughts

Once its all said and done, should you get this set? Well, let's take a final look at things.

Pros:
-Gold Pieces
-Mata Blue Pieces
-A few new molds
-Lime green head piece
-Hands
-Somewhat changed build

Cons:
-Its a modified inika
-mata blue pieces stand out
-tube thingy is odd

Yes, there are more pros than cons, but if you were looking for a new set I'd say try Strakk, who's somewhat different. The mata blue and gold pieces are nice, but the mata blue stands out and would have been nicer if there were more than 4 of them. Oh, and my set came with one extra Toa Metru spin piece(the one that goes into the Metru body and attaches to a gear to make stuff spin. It's white in Metru land but bley in this set), but not enough spike pieces for the shoulder(only 3 instead of 4). Luckily I took one off of Karzahni, but the pieces weren't packedged right...
If you really like the look of this set, then go get it, because its not half bad. However, I think the 2009 blue sets were done last, and got the least amount of attention, because both Kiina and Tarix are sub par IMO. They both have stuff to make up for it, but overall they fall ebhind sets such as Gresh,  Strakk and others.

7.5/10