UMBRA is an interesting set which I have mixed feelings about. Making his appearance on the shelves late in the year (Though there are those who’ve had him for a while) we have only seen pretty much box pictures of him. We all must know by now the LEGO company has been very good at getting pictures that show the best of their sets, think about how KREKKA’s box pose blotted out all those gaps in his design., and you’ll understand what I’m hinting about. He seems to have built up a lot of hype in my opinion, which the set itself doesn’t exactly live up to. I paid about $25.00 dollars USD for this set without the shipping, and for the price he just seems to lack compared to the other Titans this year. I would say how much AXONN lacks compared to BRUTAKA is how much UMBRA lacks compared to AXONN, and the only thing that at all justifies the price would be his having the two light-up tools and maybe the pistons, but even there I think he’d be more worthy at $20.00 USD, otherwise if you own him already or only want him for the parts and not the set itself you may get more for your money going with two INIKA sets. Part wise he doesn’t boast that much in certain respects, but the keetongu yellow shoulder parts will be liked along with the various other odds and ends that may fill some gaps in your MoCing needs. His part supply does make me wonder if he was intended to be used for a combiner, maybe we can expect some new instructions later this year but I doubt it. He seems most off all to be a sort of filler set just for collectors in my opinion, and he is a decent set despite what I don’t like.

Design/color scheme

For the design of the set most of the work went into the torso and shoulder, and perhaps the staff and the feet too. The rest just seems to be color coordination and the minimum to make him stand up with some armor here and there.

Head/torso armor

The best work by my opinion is his torso, though I wish it was a bit more sturdy in soke respects it kinda feels slapped together when your building it. The torso is basically a PIRAKA torso with the two TOA METRU gear covers attached the same way as VEZON’s. Then a keetongu yellow metro foot plugs into the holes via black pegs and creates a sort of depth in the arnor and ties the colors of the shoulder together. The construction extends downward from the torso where a VAHKI hip lays and one more metro gear cover creates a hip, similar to how myself and many MoCers have been doing already. From the hip two flexible tubes arch to his back, something I didn’t notice before on the pictures we’ve seen already, and it doesn’t really add to the set that much, however I’d love it if some armor were placed instead of the tubes to cover up that black axel spine

The head is simple, axels where used to make the back spine that initially held the set together for construction, at the top of which you place a three size plus rod and a spacer and plug in a metro head there, and make the simple constructions for the shoulder pads and attach them there. As for the silver spikes on the shoulders, a couple plugs are used to hold each one in, but they don’t lock into place and can be knocked around into unwanted angles and ruin some of his look. Lastly he has those orange light-up eyes.

Arms/tool

The arms are simply arms until you have the double sided tool constructed. The instructions tell you to attach the lower arm so that the better looking side is up which is neat but it lowers articulation at the elbow. I never tried reversing them but doing so might give you better poses with their somewhat limited range of motion. Despite the lack in articulation you still get some decent movement but it does leave you wanting more, with the shoulder pads getting in the way some of the time. The last bit of detail would be the black throwbot feet acting as fingers to create the illusion the staff is held and not built into him.

The tool feels rather flimsy altogether, and the long slim piece used to reinforce it doesn’t seem to do the best job but it’s better than nothing, though I think it makes the tool bow slightly at an unwanted angle. Towards the middle we find a Rhotuka launcher. Normaly there’s nothing special about something like this, since they all are basically the same, it may be neat how you plug them in however, and the way it is attached may interest a few people. Then we also have a flipper to hold the green/silver mixed projectile in place (of which two are included with the zip cord, not shown on the box) which itself does the job, but not the best job possible. I should also note keeping the zip cord in place isn’t recommended for looks but it stays in pretty well unless you hold him upside down. The tool of course has MATORO’s light up tool on one side, and HEWKI’s light up tool on the other. HEWKI’s tool has that plug used to hold the axe at another angle which caused it to be flipped backwards in order for UMBRA’s fingers to be plugged into the sockets making up part of the tool, making it something making it a tool you can’t just unplug and set to the side unless you dismantle or redesign it. Hmm, it seems to me that when pressed at the same time the ice sword flashes faster than the axe? Probably just me. It might be interesting if UMBRA had two of the same tool but for variety you might consider this better.

Legs/feet

Though the construction is expectedly more complex than the arms in order to use those pistons, again they are simple. The way the pistons attach to the upper leg however may be vary useful for MoCers, though I would recommend a design allowing the piston to move side to side so you could angle the creations foot better without warping or maybe breaking any of the piston parts as I have feared. In UMBRA’s case having wheels maybe he doesn’t need to angle his feet that much but it would be helpful. The nuva claws that make up his armor come in silver instead of the yellow we have for the shoulders, I do wish he had all four of them in the yellow variation and some silver parts in his upper legs per color scheme and MoC parts.

The feet are very simple, and my guess is the wheels aren’t a new element with all the wheels I’ve seen already. Another member who’s had him for some time now said “Don’t get the set for the wheels, you will be disappointed”…Agreed. I would like it if the feet had more armor, perhaps some green metru leg armor and maybe some other details, but as is they work very well as feet for standing him up which does surprise me. As for rolling him along during play, give him a push and let him roll on his own, he will probably flow over.

Size

He’s shorter than BRUTAKA for sure, and probably on par with AXONN and only a smidge taller than the INIKA.

Playability/display

As with most of the recent sets he lacks any real mechanism and is more of an action figure. To display he is a good set, and he seems like he’d be very fun to play with, though for any toy he will wind up just setting on the shelf after a while or in a MoC. During play you will often be annoyed at how the pistons aren’t quite adjusted to his design perfectly and may come loose depending on what angles you move his feet or how they get in the way when bending his knees. Collectors like myself will enjoy him, but if you’re the type not to buy every single set I can’t say I’d recommend him, since he’s more of a “get him if you like him” set. Since he might be somewhat limited and being a Walmart exclusive for the time being, maybe he will be worthwhile and add some variety.