First up is GAHDOK. Bits of story info suggest that GAHDOK has all the powers of the TAHNOK, NUHVOK, and PAHRAK, while CAHDOK would have the powers of the other three BOHROK breeds.

Okay, the first thing that just about everyone seems to notice is the vaguely chickenish shape to the body. Well, except for the head and the “wings”. Those look considerably more dangerous than what you typically find on poultry.

The more I look at them, the more I like the body design. Sure, it still has a couple of problems, like legs which look a lot more posable than they actually are, but it’s got huge thighs, which suggest it is a powerful runner, and the tail is shaped like it’s supposed to provide a means of balancing at high speeds, and it also makes a comfortable pistol-grip for the attack mechanism. And the head looks (and acts) like something straight out of the Alien movie series.

Also of interest are the new pieces, like PAHRAK hand-shields in red (GAHDOK) and blue (CAHDOK), a whopping twelve sets of the new ball-joint from the Super Battle-Droid, and BOHROK eyes, #2 plus-rods, and the friction plus/pin combo all in opaque white.

My biggest complaint about this one is that the legs look like they should be super-posable, but the paired joints on the upper legs prevent them from pivoting, so the knees basically work like hinges, while the ankles work like ball-joints.

The attack feature is a neat idea, has some interesting components, and can be rather effective, but I found that you have to give a really solid tug on the trigger mechanism to get the head to snap all the way forward. A gentle pull will only result in the BAHRAG looking like it’s roaring at the sky. I have a feeling that some of the younger crowd might have trouble making the attack mechanism work, though I should point out that the recommended minimum age is 9, so they really weren’t designed with the 4-6 year old crowd in mind.

There is a dark-grey bar that is locked in place by a removable belly. Removing the belly will allow this bar to snap upwards through the back, which will prevent any and all movement of the attack mechanism. Similar to the MANAS, scoring a clean hit on the right part of the opponent will prevent that opponent from being able to attack. However, it should be pointed out that these are the first models sold at regular retail that do not come with MASKS of either the KANOHI or KRANA variety, so that removable belly is the only vulnerable part. This is very important, since a MATORAN isn’t going to do any good by throwing a disc at it, and it’s highly unlikely that the TURAGA, TOA, or TOA NUVA can actually yank it out with their attacks. If anyone has a chance at it, I’d have to go with the original ONUA and GALI, though the EXO-TOA still seems to be your best bet. It’s kind of amusing that the story works completely counter to this theory.

And then there’s CAHDOK. Not much to say here, beyond the obvious switch from red to blue (and I think the blue would look a lot better with light-grey instead of dark-grey). The only other two differences I’ve found are the eyes being mounted on different color plates, and the forehead decorations have been changed from Dinosaur flippers to thin tubes. I’m really not fond of the tubes in lieu of the flippers. They don’t like to lay flat, and there are other problems as well.

Again, the attack is basically the same as with GAHDOK, but those forehead tubes tend to get snagged on the neck assembly when the head is snapped forewards.