Pohatu, the stone spirit, is immensely strong and can literally move mountains. Pohatu can cause massive rocks to explode like bombs, or roll with great precision towards any attacker. His huge feet contain great power, destroying even the toughest rocks with a single kick! Liked by all the Toa for his kind nature and rock-solid dependability, Pohatu is slow, but friendly and dependable: whenever there is trouble, Pohatu will always be there behind you, an immovable force that few enemies can dislodge. Pohatu inhabits the foothills of Mount Ihu, moving slowly but sure-footedly among the rocks and boulders at the base of the great mountain.

Pohatu, the Toa of Stone, is part of Lego's new Bionicle line. For more basic information on the world of Bionicles, read my essay on the whole series at http://www.epinions.com/content_2090508420

These figures are all terrific fun; you get the experience of building your average Lego set, but instead of a house or pirate ship, you have a moving action figure once you're finished. The main body of the Bionicle story revolves around the collection and use of various masks, and Pohatu comes with Kakama, the Great Mask of Speed, which looks vaguely insectoid to me.

All the figures are comprised of the same basic parts, just molded in different colors. But Pohatu is a bit different than his robotic brethren--each of the Toa have an action feature, manipulated by a series of gears that you assemble inside the body. In most of the figures, the gears are in the shoulder, and move the arm. However, Pohatu's torso is inverted, so his gears are located in his hip and give him a kicking action, which stands out nicely from the other figures. He also has the only weapon that isn't connected solely to his action feature: Pohatu's weapons look like hydraulic hammers (one attached to each foot, not just the foot controlled by the gears), and allow him to kick the little boulder accessory that's included in the set around like a soccer ball.

He has ball-joints in his shoulders, hips, wrists and ankles. The figure is built of a brown torso, mask, and feet, light tan limbs, head and weapons, and a translucent orange "brain" that also shows through as eyes. Comprised of 49 pieces in all, set number 8531's hunched posture sees him standing approximately six and a half inches tall when fully assembled.

As part of the kickoff of a new line, and a whole new world of marketing for Lego, Pohatu has the typical high quality we've come to expect from the company and is great action figure to boot.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 6.99
Type of Toy: Action Figure