First Look: Terak, Creature Of Earth

The thumbnails can be clicked to see a larger picture. I recommend checking out my review of Kopaka and Melum which may cover some details on shared features I didn’t want to repeat. If there is anything you want to know more about, you can ask on our or send an email, and I’ll try to respond directly and update this post with the requested details.

The Box

The front of the box does a good job of representing Terak’s front, however his back and it’s construction is left you your imagination. He appears to be leaping onto the Shadow Trap he comes packed with, as if to attack it. This is more or less an excuse to pose him in mid-jump to show off his finer details. I’m curious why they didn’t opt to show him using his claws to dig? The Shadow Trap’s details can be seen clearly enough, though it would take a sharp eye and some pre-existing knowledge to identify the clicking hinge.

The back of the box seems more or less dedicated to Onua, who is shown clicking together with Terak. Underneath are few panels demonstrating Terak’s action feature, the size of his head piece, and the closing jaws of the Shadow Trap.

If you look at the details of the background, a number of interesting details can be seen. For one, the front of the box shows Onua fighting off shadow traps to the right, while a shiny golden mask is waiting to be claimed to the left. On the back of the box, you can make out Umarak’s tiny shadow. The scenery

He is a cave dweller, if the underground cavern imagery wasn’t obvious enough.

Inside The Box

The Complete Set

The complete set gives you Terak and a single shadow trap.

Terak

Terak appears to be a bipedal mole creature, though I feel his leaping box pose and digging claws lend to the idea he might occasionally walk on all fours. He feels like a beefed up version of Melum, who has roughly the same design in mind. Thankfully he does not have the wobbly arms that Melum got stuck with, since he has two pegs connecting the arms to the rest of the body.

He only has a slightly better balance than Melum, since his longer legs give him a better footing. I think someone missed an opportunity to design a new foot element just for these top-heavy characters.

Action Feature

Terak’s arms move up when you raise his tail, and go back down when you lower it. The mechanism is simple, but it affords him a great deal of interactivity. His hands and arms can be adjusted so he can “dig” through piles of smaller elements and bricks. The claws also allow him to hold pieces so that he can catapult them forward or backward. Out of all the elemental creatures, I think Terak has the most versatility.

Of course, his huge hands and top-heavy body will require you to hold him in one hand while moving the tail. There appears to be no single pose that can keep him upright in both arm positions, unless you movehis arms out sideways so that his wrists just appear to turn in place.

His action feature has another drawback, as the pieces need to be tightened down every so often. I also worry about the leverage on the tiny pieces that make up his gear box, as I have a constant problem with those parts cracking under “normal” conditions. I worry that the leverage on those part from this particular construction could increase those chances.

Shadow Trap

Terak would not be a particularly good value for $9.99 USD if he did not also come with this accessory. The shadow trap is employed by Umarak The Hunter, who is in turn employed by Makuta. Each of the elemental creatures (save for the one packed with Kopaka) comes with a trap adapted to a particular environment. In this case, the drill tipped legs are probably for “anchoring” it into the ground hard ground until Umarak can capture it.

I think the shadow traps are adorable, especially Terak’s variant. His tiny little legs and huge jaws make for a number of interesting poses. Best of all, his tiny legs fold flatter underneath his body than the other trap

The shadow traps have one of those clicky hinges at it’s center to lock it in place on a victim, or to pose him. A couple free swiveling pegs with studs on the end reinforce the cheeks of the jaws. One of these pegs will have an eye on one side, and maybe an accessory on the other side.

While I like the clicky hinge, I wish it came with a spring to make it pinch shut like grocery clip, since the clicky hinge often was just loose enough not to stay attached to Terak. I also wouldn’t mind a trigger pin to make it close on someone a victim walking by. I suppose thats a project for another day.

Shadow Trap’s Locking Positions

The shadow trap has an impressive 9 positions it can lock into. Too bad the traps don’t also come in other camouflaged colors, like green with silver teeth. I could have made a lovely Toa Of Plant Control with a couple of these growing our of his/her back.

In Summary

Terak has fewer pieces than I would have liked, making him scrawnier compared to some of the other creatures. He does look good and has one of my favorite action features among his kind. Best of all, he has a decent supply of purple, as well as a good color palette for custom creations.

Parts Of Interest

Now that we have finished with the complete characters, lets move on to the parts that caught my eye.

Terak’s Skull

His skull piece is exactly the same shape as other creature skulls, but with a lovely mix of gold/bluish purple.

Trap Parts

These pieces are the same shape, although asymmetrical so they can interlock with eachother. The piece felt sturdier than I expected, down to the individual teeth, but it wont be surviving a full on shoe attack.

Purple Claws

Just long enough to be useful for grabbing, and the right shape to be an excellent peice for custom creations. Better, yet, its in purple!

Mini Drills

These litttle peices are kind of rubbery, so they wont be scratching a table so easily. You even get an extra since it qualifies as one of the pieces The LEGO® Group gives you a spare of. In fact, I think I will be testing it as a stylus tip for my 3DS. (Don’t worry it has a screen protector installed just to be safe).

Tiny Clip Things

These attach to the tiny plugs on the drills so you can attach them to the trap’s body. They are tiny enough that they can be used for high detail creations, and with the drills attached, about the right size to be a custom Toa’s fingers.

Purple!

And of course I will point out every purple piece I see. Terak comes with an admirable number of these transparent claws, and Ill argue he needs four more for his toes and balance. We also have the long overdue trans purple armor plates, and a new, albeit smaller bone piece for his legs and neck.

0 Comments

Reply