Rahkshi Review

     Welcome to my first full-sized review. For future reference, I will put all of my reviews in this form, whether I’m reviewing the latest Bionicle Franchise, or giving you a consumer’s view of the latest game for the GCN. But enough of this, on with the review!

     First of all are the Rahkshi canisters. The first thing someone would think when they saw a Rahkshi canister is “Wow, I think LEGO put the label on upside down!” This is of course not so. A very interesting thing about Rahkshi canisters is that the lid is on the bottom of the canister rather than the top of it. I cannot even begin to imagine why.

     Another thing that separates the Rahkshi canisters from other Bionicle canisters is the fact that instead of cylindrical, they are (looking from the top down) crescent shaped. This I have come up with my own answer to. They are like that to fit a Rahkshi inside, yet still be compact, because Rahkshi canisters also outsize their Toa Nuva counterparts by a small margin.

     One more explanation to the abnormalities of the Rahkshi canister is to get people’s attention of course. Think about it:
“Round… Round… Crescent Shaped? I want that one mommy!!!”
Or maybe:
“Lid on top… Lid on top… Lid on Bottom? I’m savin’ up for this one!!!”

A few more images: (Click to enlarge)
   

     Let’s start with a thing the Rahkshi are well known for. Flexibility. The Rahkshi are very well articulated, with thirteen points of articulation. The thirteen points are:

1. Neck
2. Right Ankle
3. Left Ankle
4. Right Knee
5. Left Knee
6. Right Hip
7. Left Hip
8. Right Wrist
9. Left Wrist
10. Right Shoulder
11. Left Shoulder
12. Torso
13. Kraata Pan

     Oh, and yes I said torso and kraata pan as points of flexibility. You see, another thing about the Rahkshi is that their torsos are made of multiple pieces allowing their shoulders to twist back and forth. You can cause their shoulders to move by twisting the small piece extruding from their back. Also, pressing a Rahkshi's head downward (clever way of saying, "Bopping them on the head") causes their back to pop open, revealing the kraata inside of it. Both of the triggering actions can be seen below. (Shown by the red arrows)

Here's the same picture, except for that fact that it's zoomed out and there are no red arrows:

     Now, I was wondering why LEGO put an axle connecter as the turn lever on the Rahkshi's back, when all of a sudden it hit me! (BAD JOKE ALERT!) It's so that you can make a shishkarahk! What's a shishkarahk you ask? It's quite simple actually... It's shown in this picture:

(END BAD JOKE ALERT!)

     Anyway, on to the collectables that come with the Rahkshi, the kraata! One thing I noticed about the kraata is that they fit on top of the Rahkshi canister. There are six spots to place the kraata, apparently one for each level, and the shadow kraata (a promo level 7 kraata) goes inside the rahkshi. Here is a picture of the canister lid, with two kraata placed on it:

Another picture, which is on the back of the Rahkshi canister, shows how the back opens up, revealing the kraata. Here it is:

Before I wrap up, the one last thing I have to say is that the wonderful flexibility of the Rahkshi allows them to fold into a semi-compact position. This isn't the greatest of compact folding designs (Remember the bohrok's space efficiency). This is the only diss on the Rahkshi, so I am going to give the Rahkshi a 9.5/10. They're almost perfect, but could have been a little better with the space efficiency. Here's a picture of a Panrahk in "compact" position, ready to go into his canister:

What happens when your Rahkshi watch the matrix one too many times:

Vorahk playing air guitar with his staff:

The Rahkshi posed to the best of my ability as the same way they are on the instructions:

A piccy of a Rahkshi folded from the canister label, but was too blurry to use in the review:

Last but not least, a muffin (don't ask):