(SERIOUS) Why Solek isnt so bad as everyone says (NO JOKE)

[Atobe_Brick]

@Seuss

yeah but fero came with a dinosaur horse thing and a thornax launcher. i tend to be a bit more forgiving of the figures of bonkle vehicle sets anyways

I think this explains it. Mazeka came with cool vehicle, so he gets some flak.

In my opinion, Mazeka by himself is more or less just as good as the other av matoran.

@Marzipancutter

The most likely reason why they made his eyes red is because they were worried that any other eye color wouldn’t be visible through the light blue visor piece.

This probably true. Kongu and Jaller, the only Mahri with greens eyes, are also the only ones without a visor.

[Senit]

Yes it was a joke and

@Ghid

Or maybe he edited that in after the fact

Yeah it isn’t edited

[Biomechanical_Guy]

@Ghid

From where I’ve heard it discussed, it’s the least popular mask from that year.

You dont remeber/know the HUGE backlash poor gali mistika got? People hate that mask

[Ghid]

@Biomechanical_Guy

You dont remeber/know the HUGE backlash poor gali mistika got? People hate that mask

Ahaha, hated is the word you’re looking for. People dunked hard on Gali Mistika for having a very not-Gali mask, but you’ll find the current consensus is the mask is perfectly acceptable as a mask, just not one Gali would ever wear.

The application made people despise the design, but the design is acceptable. This was the case for all the Toa masks that year. Solek’s mask, however, is despised mostly for design reasons.

@TheTDChronicler

i don’t see the same people who hate on Solek hating on Mazeka when he’s even worse

That’s because Mazeka was more or less an additional figure to an anti-air cannon on legs. The focus there is obvious.

[Biomechanical_Guy]

I dont fully agree with you tbh. Ive (almost) never heard any1 dunk on the av matoran masks,everytime its the build (which I 1005 agree, it kinda sucks) . If the mask is even mantioned, its usualy and the only good part.(becouse new mask). IMO Tamnas mask is the worst, there is NO WAY you are telling me these are the same thing.

[Hawkflight]

I have literally never heard any criticism of Solek be based solely on his eyes. Beyond that, and without diving too much into color theory, Matoro’s translucent red is a darker color that contrasts well with his otherwise bright yet pale coloration, while Solek’s eyes are a bright color underneath a bright white mask, and unless you really know what you’re doing, bright on bright doesn’t turn out well.

[Marzipancutter]

@Biomechanical_Guy

there is NO WAY you are telling me these are the same thing.

I was thinking that too at some point but then I remembered this:

and this:

Your rules are made up.

[TheTDChronicler]

lmao I’m dying laughing at these memes

[ToaKebaka]

Even after reading entire topic, I have yet to see a decent argument for why Solek should be inferior to the other two Av-Matoran.

@Ghid

“Solek has no redeeming qualities outside of comparison with other AvToran sets… Every other AvToran build has something going for it, but Solek has nothing.”

What are the redeeming qualities the other two have and Solek doesn’t? First you stated few things he is best at out of all 3 and then just cntinue with the shared cons. As for the mask - I have never heard of any hate toward that one, nor the Av-Matoran masks in general. But even if there is - again why that one? Limbs? each Av-Maoran has slightly different configuration, yes, that is what make them slightly unique - Solek included. Why would 4 same limb pieces be a negative when it is an added flavor of stylistic choice? I don’t see anyone bashing Gali Nuva and Takanuva for the same thing…

I do not care about the rant at the start of this topic, I just want to know why poor Solek has been villainized. I genuinely want to know.

Why? Solek<Tanma; Photok

The way I see it the whole Solek hate is just one huge hate/meme bandwagon with no real basis, that has unfortunately rusted itself firmly into Bionicle community.

[Senit]

I think that the hate comes just from the colors not fitting with Prior ice sets… except he isnt even a ko matoran and even if he was there were some before with dark grey

[Biomechanical_Guy]

At least some mask kinda reseamble what they are supposed to. Not a lot of them but a few of them do. Also it still doesnt fix anything. It just means that more masks have the same problem.

[Hawkflight]

I don’t think the set designers were conscious of which mask was which when they made the sets, and Greg F. was just filling in the gaps with new canon. It should also be pointed out that all the noble masks were made to be similar with the Phantoka’s adaptive Nuva masks, which were based on the original Nuva masks based on the Mata masks. There was three degrees of separation and only Pohatu’s/Photok’s mask inexplicably became more Mata-like compared to the Kanohi Nuva.

[Willess12]

@ToaKebaka

Why? Solek<Tanma; Photok

Simple: let’s look at what the other five Matoran have that Solek lacks.

First off, parts. Tanma and Solek both have two new limb pieces, one of which is in unique colors (Photok’s legs see reuse in the Rahkshi Star, and Tanma’s arms see reuse in Gorast and in a polybag). Kirop has the best limb piece, in TWO colors. Solek, Gavla, and Radiak have only one limb piece, and in the case of Solek and Radiak it was immediately seen again with Mazeka and Vultraz. And in Solek’s case, it’s the worst limb piece – due to the three pin holes at the top, it has a large bulge that makes it hard to put it flat against a torso, and just overall ugly.

Now, colors. Photok automatically gets a boost because he has Mata Feet in orange (a new recolor that has only been seen again with Rotor). Tanma, Photok, Gavla, and Kirop all have unique colors, and Tanma, Photok, Gavla, and Radiak all have bright colors. Solek and Kirop are in boring greyscale.

Proportions: I’ve been over why Solek’s proportions are bad, but to recap: the best proportions with the Av-Matoran build are bent arms, straight legs. Exception if it’s meant to be non-humanoid. With that in mind, Tanma is easily the best. Solek and Kirop have bad arms. Radiak and Gavla have bad legs (Radiak, however, gets a pass due to being quadrupedal). Photok is actually the worst offender here – his arms and legs are both horrendous.

So, to recap:

Tanma: good colors, unique recolors, two good new pieces, best limb proportions.
Photok: good colors, unique recolors, two good new pieces, worst limb proportions.
Radiak: good colors, one good new piece, good limb proportions (for him)
Gavla: good colors, unique recolors, one good new piece, decent limb proportions
Kirop: boring colors, unique recolors, one good new limb piece (in two colors), decent limb proportions
Solek: boring colors, no unique recolors, one bad new limb piece, decent proportions

It’s easy to see here that
Tanma is the best – he has no flaws that aren’t shared by the other five.
Radiak is also good, but held back by a lack of good parts.
Kirop is the opposite, with good parts, but somewhat wonky proportions.
Gavla is a little lower, with wonky proportions and only one unique piece.
Photok is one of the worst, with his horrendous proportions, but he makes up for it with great recolors.
Solek is the only one who has no good parts, and the only one besides Kirop to lack good colors. His proportions are better than Photok, but that’s all he has going for him, and he’s not any better than Kirop or Gavla.

Just for fun, let's run through these criteria with the Agori and stars, too

Raanu: good colours, unique recolors, one reused limb piece and one bad limb piece, horrendous proportions
Metus: good colors, unique recolors(plus torso), one new limb piece, decent proportions
Berix: good colors, unique recolors(plus torso), two new limb pieces(one decent and one bad), best proportions
Zesk: good colors, no unique recolors, one good reused limb piece, good proportions (for him)
Atakus: boring colors (except the swords), unique recolors(plus swords), one good reused limb piece and one reused bad limb piece
Tarduk: good colors, unique recolors(plus torso), two good reused limbs, bad proportions (but makes up for it by being a quadruped)

Tahu: good colors, lots of unique recolors, two good unique limbs, best proportions (woah, he’s the best one here)
Takanuva: boring colors (especially for him, he’s supposed to be GOLD lego, c’mon), unique recolors, one new good limb piece, decent proportions)
Skrall: good colors, one unique recolor(the feet), one reused good and one reused bad limb piece, best proportions
Rahkshi: good colors, unique recolors, one reused good limb, one reused bad limb(gets a bit of a pass though because it’s used to connect the neck, which the other piece can’t do as well), and one unique good limb, best proportions
Gresh: good colors (except the weapons, why did you take his cool colors and make them silver?), unique recolors(plus torso), two good reused limbs (and a unique armor piece, The only Avtoran build set to have that), and best proportions.

[Seuss]

@Willess12

It’s easy to see here that
Tanma is the best – he has no flaws that aren’t shared by the other five.

correct

[ToaKebaka]

When one takes several different viewpoints, I could see how you would systematically come to such conclusion (though not as blatantly as some people would claim). However I do have some problems with these arguments:

• the fact that many parts from Solek were used lter on in may different sets is not really a fault of the original - Solek did ti first.

• the color argument is the one I jave heard in the past, but I have always wholehertedly diagreed with it. Let me explain:

• Shifting focus purely to Toa and Av-Matoran sets from 2008, Phantoka line has bright and vivid colors: lime, orange, white; well contrasted with dark grey neutral. Mistika line on the other hand has very dull and dark colors: dark red, dark blue, black; contrasted not so well with silver neutral - they kind of blend together. So Phantoka bright, Mistika dull. Obviously this was intentional and all 2008 color choices stemmed from the Nuva’s previous color. So when choosing a bright variant of green, they used lime, bright brown - orange, bright white? Well you cannot really go brighter than white, especially if you are already using the brightest white you have at disposal, so white stayed, bright as it was. Saying Solek (and Kopaka) are greyscale or didn’t do anything interesting with color change always seems prepostrous to me because Solek is the brightest Av-Matoran. Those three Phantoka colors definitely aren’t dull, especially when placed next to each other - it is the bright trio.

The recolors are really the only thing that Solek lacks, but that only matters if you are looking to MOC with the parts, not as a standalone set.

• Proportions, well he isn’t the worst that is Photok, as you said. But some people prefer Solek’s limbs instead of say Tanma’s.

It feels like one has to actively look for things to dislike about the set (and from all possible angles), to make this conclusion. If you just buy them, build them and put them together on a shelf, or play around with them, I doubt you would pick out Solek as noticably worse. If one makes a thorough analysis as you did and needs Solek in all of those roles, than perhaps I could see him being weakest from the three, but still not for some of the afformentioned reasons (color argument is the biggest offender).

Overall I wouldn’t really rate any of them over another.

So I guess the person who started the Solek hate club was a MOCist who happend to dislike Av-Matoran and only used them as part bins, found Solek lackluster in that regard and therefore made him the bane of Bionicle??
Solek did not deserve this

[Seuss]

tbh i like photoks proportion he reminds me of the kholi matoran proportions just a bit idk

[Willess12]

@ToaKebaka

the fact that many parts from Solek were used lter on in may different sets is not really a fault of the original - Solek did ti first.

True, but we ARE looking at this from a current perspective. The Solek meme/hate started well after G1 ended.

@ToaKebaka

green, they used lime, bright brown - orange, bright white? Well you cannot really go brighter than white,

I’ll counter you with this: Light Blue

Also, lime green/dark grey and orange/dark grey are nice contrasting colors, while white/dark grey doesn’t have that contrast. Compare him to Metus the following year, and you see what Solek could have looked like.

@ToaKebaka

So I guess the person who started the Solek hate club was a MOCist who happend to dislike Av-Matoran

Actually, the original Solek=worst argument had nothing to do with parts. And the person to start all of this was… Mesonak.

In some TTV podcast years ago, he pegged Solek as the worst G1 set. His reasoning was that the Av-Matoran are the worst, and Solek has the most boring colors, so he’s the worst. (Then some people made a meme out of it) I’ve gone into it far more deeply, and tried to compare Solek to the other Av-Matoran using a variety of different factors, and I have concluded that he is the worst for reasons beyond just his colors.

Also, my analysis of parts goes beyond just moccing. The pieces that Solek has are bad for moccing, and also aren’t even unique to him; but they’re also just bad on Solek. The sideways pin holes mean that his arm collides with his torso, and they just break the flow of the piece and look bad. The tanma leg piece looks much nicer by comparison.

[Eljay]

@Voxovan

In fact I don’t even know why the idea of Solek being the worst set became so widely spread (I mean, I know it’s because Eljay said so)

Wrong.

@Willess12

And the person to start all of this was… Mesonak.

Correct.

We’re watching this topic closely. Keep it civil.

[Sonus]

I just remembered that Solek was a Kopaka fanboy.

[N01InParticular]

Solek is Greg?

Mind blown.

@Willess12

And the person to start all of this was… Mesonak.

Glad you clarified this.