Review: Invasion From Below Combo Models

[VBBN]

Hello and welcome once again to a review of the 2014 Hero Factory sets. Today, we will be taking a look at something different, the combo models.

Lego has indidcated that the instructions for these combo models will be available on the lego website soon, my guess is closest to the release date. Once again the release dates for these sets is January 1st for the majority of the world, and March 1st for the U.S. I'd also like to once again thank The Lego Company and the Eurobricks Staff for this opportunity to bring these reviews to you today.

I was going to stick these at the end of each review, but to save redundancy, I figured I'd throw them all into one topic to share you with you.

If you haven't already, check out the reviews of the individual sets:

44015: Evo Walker

44016 Jaw Beast vs. Stormer

44017: Stormer Freeze Machine

44018: Furno Jet Machine

44019: Rocka Stealth Machine

44020: Flyer Beast vs Breez

44021: Splitter Beast v. Furno and Evo

44022: Evo XL Machine

The Combos are shown at the end of all of the instruction booklets;

Combo 1: 44015: Evo Walker + 44018: Furno Jet Machine

Front

This combo model utilizes a two-pilot design. Some people speculated there might be a combo model that has a pilot for the mech and then a pilot for the weapons, similar to the Bridge Walker from Exo-Force. Unfortunately, this thing is extremely unstable. It takes a Hero Torso, flips it so that it's actually flat, and then you use the Waspix wing connector to form the hips. Here is a photo to demonstrate what I mean.This creates a massively bulky upper half, once you add on the turbines, the two cockpits with minifigures, and the extremely long arms. As a result, the legs completely give out half of the time. Action pose wise, his arms are also too heavy and commonly fall down.

Back

The back has exposed balljoints, though there isn't really much witht he leftover parts that could fix that up properly.

Action Shot:

That's about the best you can do. As long as the arms are, they have virtually no articulation due to the armor placement and he has a tendency to fall forward due to the weak legs.

Combo 2: 44017: Stormer Freeze Machine + 44019: Rocka Stealth Machine

Front

On the other hand, this combination is far superior. It's bulky and looks more proportionate. He also stands up a lot better than the other combo, and still has a unique design. You actually take a hero torso and flip it, giving him very wide hips, which complement the bulk feet and ankles. I'm also glad they used the Stormer XL feet from Freeze machine here, they work very well. This does create one problem. You can't see it here, but in a moment you will. One other thing, they took the Spinning weapond from Freeze machine and added on the claw assembly you can see there. A nice and innovative weapon.

Back

No, he does not have invisible helps, those are in fact white panels that decided to rebel against my camera. Only thing really notable here is the containment pod on his back.

Action Shot:

Here you can see the one issue that results from the flipped torso: The shoulders. Or rather, a lack thereof. In order to bring his shoulders out far enough they had to use the shortest bone to extend them out. Once the arms go on, they drag the piece down, making his arms a bit long and awkward to pose. it's not as bad as the Evo Walker+ Jet Machine combo, but it can still be a bit finicky to deal with. overall though, this is the best of the 4 combo models and I recommend taking the time to build this one.

Combo 3: 44016 Jaw Beast vs. Stormer + 44020: Flyer Beast vs Breez + 44021: Splitter Beast v. Furno and Evo

Front

Here we have the one combo model people were wanting, a "hydra" monster, one with multiple heads. It only uses 3 of the 4, the other one being used as part of the tail as you will see. Honestly, this beast is just a mess. The three headed design is cool, but the three heads take up a huge amount of room and look ridiculous on such a small body. (They also clank into eachother more than I would like) The arms are set behind some of those "fin" pieces. His torso is two torsos put together, so the fin issue also happens with his legs. What I mean is, you can't move his legs backward or his arms forward very well , or else you just split the thing into two piles of parts. Also it basically just uses Flyer beasts hands, which means one of them is a standard sized Hero Hand. I do really love the foot however, which combined the two foot sizes and places two of the trans neon orange claw pieces on.

Back:

The back ends up looking more cluttered than I had thought. The tail is very long and doesn't like t pose very well due to its weight and the large armor piece on it, and as you can see the lower jaw from Jaw beast becomes the end of the tail. You can see what I mean about the limited legs and arms here.

Play Feature

Like Flyer beast, you can attach a Hero onto it's back via the 2x2 brick with socket. Furno now wields the chain weapon, though the effect doesn't seem to work as well on this figure as furno just looks to be flying through the air. I guess he would be slung around, so props for realism? One thing I'd like to mention, breez is only attached by 2 of the studs on Flyer Beast. Furno uses all 4, and it's actually a bit difficult to get them all attached, as the foot joints are quite tight.

Action Shot

He poses...okay I guess. I think the main point of interest here is the 3 heads, because you can have them all doing their own things. I don't like the arms much (though at least the big claw finally gets a longer arm), though the tail is quite nice by utilizing all of the trans light blue joints in one chain. Overall an okay build that could be great with modifications, worth building and checking out.

Combo 1: 44015: Evo Walker + 44018: Furno Jet Machine + 44017: Stormer Freeze Machine + 44019: Rocka Stealth Machine + 44022: Evo XL Machine

When you see the title above, you think, "Wow! This is going to be a really huge and impressive mech!" And you know, I am thankful for the opportunity I've been given. But I have to keep my opinions true and sometimes that means being harsh on something; Because the following "combo" model is the biggest Joke I have ever seen.

May I present to you,

что ебать. This is official? Not let me first explain the concept here; As you know, Evo XL uses XT4 torsos as his shoulders. As a result, he has two extra ball joints on each side once the model is finished. These 4 extra balljoints connect one arm from each of the other 4 Hero sets. The instructions show you how to "build" the arms, but all you do is pull off the arm from each mech that has the printed piece on it. An example of how ridiculous this is, the furno arm can't even move the way they instruct for it to be connected. With Stormer's arm, you even put in the 1/2 gray pin into the turbine piece. On the Freeze Machine, this connects the ammo belt. On this set, it serves no purpose whatsoever. The only arm I do like is the Evo Walker arm, which creates a fairly nice shoulder mounted cannon. (And conversely, it has another Evo printed plate, so you could leave it on here if you'd like.

I guess I should clarify my thoughts here before I seem completely opposed to this. I like the idea. The thought that each mech would contribute an arm to the XL to fight off the 3-headed combiner is a cool idea. I just wish this thing was built better. If you try to do anything dynamic with the legs, this happens;

His waist cannot hold up the extra added weight.

So there you have it, the 4 combo models for the first wave of sets. I enjoy the designs of the first two mechs, and while I like the concepts of the other two, I think the execution is lackluster. Please help The Lego Company out by sharing your thoughts on these combination models so that I may pass your comments onward.

Thanks for reading!

[Infernum]

I like the two headed concept of the first one but... I feel the execution is lame.

The second combo has a great shape, though the color scheme is poor.

The third is an interesting idea. Love the three heads, and the use of one for the end of his tail. Could still be a lot better. I'm modding.

The last is just...

[Aanchir]

I think all four are fairly nice concepts. The first one's left arm is a bit ridiculously long, but otherwise I think it looks excellent. Very vibrant, and the two-cockpit design is brilliant.

The second one is less visually interesting since it doesn't have so many bright colors, but it's a nice, complex design that makes up for the boring design of Stormer Freeze Machine. Although you claim it's awkward to pose, it looks excellent in all of your photos.

The third one is a bit disjointed, but overall it looks quite nice. I can see why it'd be awkward to pose though. I guess this somewhat explains why Splitter Beast has those friction joints.

The final one, which I take it was too big for your normal photo space, actually doesn't bother me a whole lot aesthetically (in fact it's quite a brilliant concept for how simple it is), but the structural flaw you point out is a serious issue. I think that Evo XL Machine's swiveling waist probably should have been designed with more friction to begin with, perhaps using a ball joint in a similar fashion to the classic Toa Kaita Akamai.

What's interesting to me is that the combination models have been returned to the instruction booklets! This was not something I would have expected at all, since they're not advertised at all on the packaging.

[VBBN]

Indeed Splitter beast's friction joints seem to be aimed at the combo model. I also at one point though maybe that's why Evo Walker has an orange seat, because the two-cockpit design would then have matching seats. Alas, the canopies are different colors, so I haven't the foggiest.

And I do agree the Evo combiner is a brilliant concept, but I just can't help feeling it was very rushed. (And I took his photos on the black backdrop so you could see the Stormer arm, original photo attempts made it disappear)

And The combos are shown on the instructions in that art image however the actual instructions for them are going to be featured on Lego.com close to the set release dates. (Lego sent me early PDFs so I could accurately construct them)

[Kalhiki]

Concept wise? Sure it's there. Execution... Not so much.

The fist is adorable and looks nice, but the awkward angles of the cockpits makes I look kinda funny. But I do like its short stature.

Freeze and Stealth is probably the best out of them all, but the arms are the only drawback.

Kaiju combiner... Good, but just seems like a beefed up Splitter Beast in the long-run. And a clunky appearance doesn't do anything for him.

Evo XL to the extreme: Like I said at the start, concept is there, but the execution in lackluster. Just strapping arms to an already massive figure just seems really cheap.

[Mesonak]

I swear, I can respect and appreciate the effort with the first three. Execution may be mediocre/bad however I think with some touching up they may be on to something.

That last one though... I just find it incredibly hilarious. Especially the picture where it can't support itself. XD

Still, I like them somewhat and may refine the ideas once I get a hold of the sets myself.

[DraikNova]

Like everyone else has said, second is nice with maybe one or two easily fixable problems and the third needs a small rearrangement of armor pieces. The others are more or less what we had as the Savage Planet and Ordeal of Fire combo's. In other words, quite, quite visually terrifying, but in a bad way.

[bacem]

Like everyone else has said, second is nice with maybe one or two easily fixable problems and the third needs a small rearrangement of armor pieces. The others are more or less what we had as the Savage Planet and Ordeal of Fire combo's. In other words, quite, quite visually terrifying, but in a bad way.

wait, savage planet and ordeal of fire has combos!?

back on topic, i quite interested on the build of the mechs. both of them have interesting build. for the monster, not so much. it's interesting, but can be executed better. wait, what's that last one? a big meh, for me.

[Aanchir]

wait, savage planet and ordeal of fire has combos!?

Yep! You can see them all in this gallery (not mine).

I don't think there was anything wrong with the Ordeal of Fire combi models. They were pretty boring humanoids with somewhat awkward proportions and articulation, but visually, they looked about like what you'd expect from a combi model. The color schemes weren't even too bad — each had only three or four non-neutral colors, and two were mere accents. So really no worse than the classic Nui-Kopen from BIONICLE, and in some ways arguably better than the well-loved Toa and Toa Nuva Kaita models, or the slightly less memorable Bohrok Kaita models that came between them.

Likewise, I think the first and third combi models here looks quite nice. You can't judge combi models by the same strict standards you'd use for set designs because they are inherently limited to a certain parts palette. The important thing is that they do something new and interesting with those parts, and that they put at least a bit of thought into how the colors and motifs are distributed.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Aanchir

[bacem]

Yep! You can see them all in this gallery (not mine).

I don't think there was anything wrong with the Ordeal of Fire combi models. They were pretty boring humanoids with somewhat awkward proportions and articulation, but visually, they looked about like what you'd expect from a combi model. The color schemes weren't even too bad — each had only three or four non-neutral colors, and two were mere accents. So really no worse than the classic Nui-Kopen from BIONICLE, and in some ways arguably better than the well-loved Toa and Toa Nuva Kaita models, or the slightly less memorable Bohrok Kaita models that came between them.

Likewise, I think the first and third combi models here looks quite nice. You can't judge combi models by the same strict standards you'd use for set designs because they are inherently limited to a certain parts palette. The important thing is that they do something new and interesting with those parts, and that they put at least a bit of thought into how the colors and motifs are distributed.

oh, right. that one. forgot they exist. when i heard about combi, i immediately tough about the titan combi.

[Timeline15]

I actually don't think the all-mech combiner looks at all bad. I grant you the flimsy waste is an issue, but the look really works, and if something as slight as an illogically placed pin bothers you, you're analysing too thoroughly. The Hydra looks pretty cool too, just wish the armour was slightly less awkward...

[bacem]

I actually don't think the all-mech combiner looks at all bad. I grant you the flimsy waste is an issue, but the look really works, and if something as slight as an illogically placed pin bothers you, you're analysing too thoroughly. The Hydra looks pretty cool too, just wish the armour was slightly less awkward...

the all-mech combiner indeed din't look bad. it's just it doesn't look as original as the other. it's literally evo XL machine with additional limbs.

[VBBN]

I actually don't think the all-mech combiner looks at all bad. I grant you the flimsy waste is an issue, but the look really works, and if something as slight as an illogically placed pin bothers you, you're analysing too thoroughly. The Hydra looks pretty cool too, just wish the armour was slightly less awkward...

My point isn't that the pin bothers me, it was to support my point that all this is, is the arm of each mech. My issue here is the lack of creativity. Granted the limbs are proportionate to his standard arms, but I really wish we had gotten something more out of this.

[Timeline15]

My point isn't that the pin bothers me, it was to support my point that all this is, is the arm of each mech. My issue here is the lack of creativity. Granted the limbs are proportionate to his standard arms, but I really wish we had gotten something more out of this.

Its probably because I used to watch so much power rangers, but I'm more than used to colourful machines swapping arms. I agree that I really would have liked a more complex combo ala an actual 'megazord', but this makes sense, as it kinda looks like something the heroes' Mechs could actually do during the fight, rather than HF's normal miraculous ability to upgrade the heroes in minutes for whatever threat they're facing.

[Cirkit]

I expected so much more from that three-headed beast. Didn't think the colours would look so badly together, but.. they do.

I do like that it's three of four in one, but maybe we should see who can make the best version of the illustrated beast with the pieces available?

Also thought the Evo-Walker/'Furno Jet Mech of Awesome' Combo would be different. I like the tilted torso, but that seems to be the only good thing about it, and even then.. Hmm.

Evo's Walker with all those extra arms seems a bit.. extreme. Excessive. It reminds me of what I did once with my old Makuta(2003, Teridax, the main one and the most Ruthless of all the Makuta) set, when I added on more and more until it was unrecognizable.. and couldn't stand up on its own. Just like this. Difference being that I named mine 'Marius'.

Stormer's is best, I agree with that. Sure the shoulders are a bit weird thanks to the flipped torso. But... I do like the bulky look that it gives because of it. The spinning-claw function is way cool, and I like the Savage Planet paws as shoulder bulk. Very cool.

I hope the next wave has some better 'official' combos.. that and I hope people decide to take what they see here and do more with the ideas. I wouldn't mind seeing the dual-cockpit idea but with Stormer and Rocka's machines..

[BrickBuilder3213]

When you said that the combo models were in the booklets... Can we see the official pictures of them? :D