ChaoticTempleKnight Reviews: Solek

LEGO Community Reviews
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Hello everyone! ChaoticTempleKnight here to legitimately review set number 8945: Solek

Oh boy do we have a controversial set here. I am going to be completely honest; I always wanted a Solek set when I was a teenage tyke back in 2008. For some reason I bought Tanma though… Anyways, since I just got this today, I figured I might as well type a review of it.

I’d dare say that Solek is one of the better Av-matoran sets when compared to Tanma and Photok

Obviously these are going to be my opinions (I cannot stress this enough).

Pros:
- The color scheme is actually pretty good. Solek is an Av-Matoran in the G1 story line, but changes his armor to look like Kopaka of whom he looks up to. Obviously the designers of this set wanted to give Solek an Ice motif to go along with Kopaka and it works. White and grey are Ko-Matoran colors (despite Solek being an Av-Matoran). And this color scheme actually reminds me of the original Kopaka who was white and grey. Mind you the eyes could have been ice blue; but Solek is actually an Av-Matoran, so I will let it slide for now.
- The build is solid. Yeah, the build of the set uses chunk parts. But to be fair, they do give off a matoran vibe. I can say for sure that Solek is a matoran. Plus the choice of parts gives Solek realistic proportions which is always nice to see.
- We get a noble Akaku. I wish we had gotten more noble mata masks, but what we got are great. Anyways, it is great to see what the noble versions of the mata masks are. And the fact that they use axle connectors sweetens the deal. Don’t let the CGI fool you, the mask is actually pretty small.
- New pieces. We get the jet pack, the Karda head, the Karda body, a new version of the mata feet, Karda limbs, new hands, and the noble Akaku.
- The limbs have potential. The limbs have 3 axle holes and 3 pin holes. Dang son, that is a lot of possibility. It’s certainly better than the other Av-Matoran…
- This set can combine with Toa Phantoka Kopaka. While a little awkward at first, this set can combine with Toa Phantoka Kopaka. Definitely a good thing to see.

Cons:
- The parts are brittle. DO NOT TAKE THIS SET APART ONCE YOU BUILD IT. The sockets are brittle and will break unless you are really careful. But don’t worry about the mask, that won’t break.
- The limbs are pre-bent. This would have been a dynamite set if the limbs could move. Tis a shame.
- No new weapons. I wish Lego had made new weapons for the Av-matoran. Seeing weapons from 2007 is a little disappointing.
- This set uses chunk parts. While it gives off a matoran vibe, the chunk parts have very little MOCing potential.

So would I recommend this set? Yes. If you are into retro sets and like what you see, definitely buy it. Just be mindful of the brittle sockets.

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To be honest, I also used to really want solek-and I do agree with all of the points on here.

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Good review

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I have all the av-matoran and I do like Solek, the only thing that makes the set worse than my favorite (Tanma) is his mask. The lower half just looks ugly to me.

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It’s a good review, but, like most of your reviews, it has many grammatical errors. The misuse of punctuation happens to be the most painfully evident here, unfortunately.

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Why didn’t you point it out before then? Don’t be afraid to tell me I messed up somewhere in my typing.

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Well, you still are. There’s an apparent lack of commas, and a semicolon isn’t used for a dependent clause. :wink:

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Good and honest review.

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He says, while I continue to mourn my broken Photok mask.

Solek was always my favorite Av-Matoran and remains the one out of my three to break the least over the years, so he definitely ranks high for what he is in my mind.

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Shoot, it did? Sorry to hear that, I legitimately thought those parts were fairly sturdy. Honestly A good part of what hooked me on Solek was his lore in that he idolized Kopaka (if I’m remembering that correctly) and that endeared him to me. I would say I need to take inspiration from that for my novel series, but I may have already done that, ha.

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To be fair, those parts are sturdy. I guess I unfortunately dropped mine at the wrong angle, and the mask snapped off at the base of the axle connector, rendering it and the head pretty much useless.

I’d forgotten that part! I think you are remembering correctly. I enjoyed that as well, particularly as it made for some interesting contrasts between Kopaka’s reserved nature and Solek’s enthusiasm.

As a fellow novelist, I assure you that you can mine as much inspiration as you want. =P

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