Vezon

You mean this one?

I can easily agree with you about Rotor being completely awesome. Something to note is that mine actually came with the Av-Matoran jetpack in normal silver. I've heard that the same thing happened to a few other people, though it looks fine since there aren't any other silver or dark silver pieces on the set that the jetpack has to match with in terms of color.

Last night I put together Rotor, and after having some time to think, I'm ready to share my thoughts: Rotor is pretty much everything you could want in a "humanoid" $20 Titan. It has a great look, a pretty interesting build, very good posability, lots of good parts, and a nice gimmick that sets it apart from every other Titan we've seen. The color scheme is great, with the black to orange ratio being near perfect in my opinion. The only thing I'd change would be making the Skrall armor on the thighs orange instead of black. It still looks fine as is, though. As with the medium sized Villains, you either like Rotor's lower arm design or you don't. I like them, personally, and to me they make sense because they feel very robotic, which fits the character quite well. There also seems to be mixed reactions to the helmet. While I was unsure about my opinion when looking at images, I think it fits quite well in person. To the people saying it just looks silly, however: You do realize you're talking about a figure with a giant propeller on its back, right? The only other things to mention are that the feet look a little bit small compared tot he rest of the figure, and that there are stickers (which, again, I don't mind). Rotor's posability is very solid, and although the hip braces limit hip movement a bit, they're designed in a way that allows for a much wider range of articulation than previous hip braces (Tuma). Then of course is the reason for Rotor's name; the giant propeller on the figure's back. Despite not having any gears, the gimmick works very well. In addition to spinning the propeller, there's a joint on the back that allows you to move the stabilizer back, as well as moving the propeller forward. Also the whole thing just looks awesome, giving the figure a lot of character and separating it from all of the other Titans in terms of aesthetics. Something important to note is that various people with Rotor have been saying different things about the color of the Av-Matoran jet pack on its arm. Some have said theirs are normal silver, while others have said theirs are the new darker silver. Mine is normal silver, by the way. It doesn't really matter which you get since that's the only type of silver piece that comes with the entire figure, so there's nothing for it to match with in terms of color. To those here that do have Rotor, could you say what color your jet pack is? Overall, Rotor is a fantastic figure. Out of the Hero Factory sets I have so far (all the Heroes, all the medium Villains, and Rotor), Rotor is easily my favorite. Even if you're not planning to get into Hero Factory, I still think that you should at least get this guy. That's the last of the sets I bought on Friday. The only Hero Factory set left on my list from the summer wave is Von Nebula, which I should find either this weekend or the next.

I put together Meltdown yesterday, but I wasn't able to talk about it due to the site issues. So here are my general thoughts on the figure: Simply put, Meltdown is fantastic. The posability is basically the same as Thunder's minus the giant claw arm. Instead of listing why the guy looks awesome, I'll just tell you to look at any image of it. As for cons, I would list the exposed ball joint, except it's even more subdued than on Thunder. This is mainly due to the shape of the Skrall armor piece. There's also the stickers if you care about that. The only other thing I can think of is that by following the instructions, the meteor blaster is incredibly loose and always falls downward. However, the figure comes with an extra piece that actually fixes it. It's an extra half axle (the piece that connects the ankle armor to the leg). The grey piece holding together the blaster and connecting it to the arm has two holes. The top has an axle in it, connecting the blaster to the arm, while the bottom hole is empty. What you want to do is detach the blaster from the arm and put the extra half axle in the bottom hole so that the half part is sticking out and facing the same direction as the regular axle above it. Then just put the blaster back in its normal spot for the arm. The half axle will fit into the hollow part, which will keep the blaster from falling down. Again, this half axle came as an extra piece with Meltdown, so you shouldn't need pieces from any other set to fix this. In case you somehow couldn't tell, I fully recommend Meltdown. Here's a quick rank of the medium sized villains: 1. Meltdown 2. Thunder 3. Xplode 4. Corroder Later today I'll be opening up Rotor, which is the final figure I bought on Friday.

I opened up Corroder yesterday, but I was out most of the day so I wasn't able to share my thoughts: Corroder is certainly an interesting figure. The first thing to note is that while it can stand on two legs perfectly fine, it looks really bad that way. It's very clear that Corroder was designed with the intention of being a quadruped. The guy looks infinitely better standing on three or four limbs. The color scheme of black and lime green fits Corroder much more than it did with Breez in my opinion. It has the same lower arm piece as Thunder, which connects to the new weapon piece: Corroder's blade/shooter. The piece looks great, although I wish it had more than one connection point, since it can't be held like a normal weapon. One last thing of note is that Corroder comes with a whopping six of them. Pretty much the only other piece of interest is Corroder's helmet, which, like Xplode and Thunder's, looks fantastic. Also, is it just me or does Corroder feel like a mix of all the Makuta Mistika? It has Gorast's color scheme, Bitil's general proportions,and Krika's quadrupedness (and I know that's not a real word). I don't mean that in a good or bad way, but just as an observation. My only real gripe with the figure is that compared to the other Villains, Corroder feels a bit too simple, aesthetically. The only thing I find really interesting about it is how there's an extra lower arm/weapon on the back. It just feels like Corroder's lacking that extra oomph for me to love it. I still like the guy, but I wouldn't recommend it over Thunder or Xplode unless you're really into quadrupeds. Later today I'll be opening up Meltdown, so I'll be sure to share my opinions then.

I built Thunder a little while ago, so I'm ready to share my thoughts: The first thing to note is that the silver on Thunder is a new kind. It's basically a mix between normal silver and gunmetal that looks quite nice. The other big thing to note is that Thunder does not fit in with Bionicle sets at all. While Bionicle sets leaned toward the technological, they still felt a bit organic. Thunder, however, is a full on machine. While the legs are normal, literally everything above the waist screams "I'm a robot!" The helmet is awesome, while the arms are fantastic. They look great, have a very unique build, and (due to the way the lower arms attach to the upper arms) are much more posable than the arms in any Bionicle set. The built in Meteor Blaster helps with the mechanical look, while the claw arm looks cool and mechanical (gear-like details are sculpted into the claw pieces), in addition to being posable. The new piece used for the torso armor and lower arms has great MoCing potential, with two built in plus rods, three plus holes, and and two axle holes. The only cons I can think of for Thunder are the extra ball joint sticking out (nowhere near as bad as the one on Skrall Stars though) and the stickers. Granted, I don't mind the stickers that much since they make the lower arms and torso armor look a lot nicer. Overall, Thunder is my favorite Hero Factory set so far. If you've been looking for a set with a different feel than Bionicle, or if you just like robots, then I highly recommend this guy. Tomorrow I'll be opening up Corroder.

Today I went to two TRUs that were five to ten minutes away from each other. The first had all of the Hero Factory sets except for Thunder, Meltdown, and Von Nebula, while the second one had everything but Corroder, Von Nebula, and the Furno Bike. Between the two stores I went ahead and bought all four medium sized sets, as well as Rotor. I'm opening one a day, with the first being Xplode. Here are my thoughts on it: As someone that was on the fence with getting Xplode, I have to say that I'm really surprised by how much I like this guy. Pictures do not do this figure justice at all. The color scheme is decent and the legs are fine (if a tad boring). The torso, however, has an interesting build and looks great. The weapons are also good, and the helmet is fantastic. The big thing to talk about would easily be the arms. In photos the odd positions of the spike armor (awesome piece by the way), as well as the use of Rahkshi arms (which I typically hate being used) made the arms look quite bad. In person, the armor doesn't look as bad (though still a bit odd). Instead of having the Rahkshi arms like they are in the official images, I positioned them like this (not my photo). Not only does this position look surprisingly good with Xplode, but due to the way the spike armor is attached, it makes the lower arms rediculously posable. Xplode is one of those figures that oozes a ton of character, so if you're into that sort of thing, you'll definitely like this guy. If you're on the fence like I was, I'd still recommend it. Just try experimenting with the arms, since there are lots different ways they can work, aesthetically. I'll be opening up Thunder tomorrow, so I'll be sure to share my thoughts then.

The blue on Surge's armor, as well as Stormer's limbs, are Mata blue.

As of now I have all 6 Heroes assembled. Let me just say first that all of these figures look and feel much more solid than any of the small sets in Bionicle (Stars included). On another note, I won't mention the lack of elbow and knee joints, simply because that's how the small sets in Bionicle always were (as well as the first few years of medium sets). It's not an improvement, but it's not a step down, either. Now I'll give my quick thoughts on each figure in the order I opened them: Furno: This is a great figure. The color scheme is quite vibrant and even a bit unique (keetorange instead of orange). The helmet is also awesome, and actually looks like it has a second face like the Kraahkan. The weapons are slightly too long, but they still look cool (especially since they can go on the arms as rocket jets). My favorite Rookie and tied for 1st as my favorite Hero, overall. Bulk: Let me just say that I feel bad about what I'm ranking this guy because I love this figure. The helmet is neat, the torso armor is great, and the color scheme is fantastic. While the weapon arm is one piece, it's actually not as hollow as the others. On the other hand, it looks odd from the front and back because the shoulder connector is too far out from the arm, meaning it only looks good from the side. My 2nd favorite Alpha member and my 4th favorite Hero, overall. Breez: While certainly a good set, this is definitely not my favorite of the bunch. The weapons and helmet are quite cool, but that's pretty much it. The color scheme is good, but compared to all the other Heroes' great color schemes, Breeze's is a bit boring. My 3rd favorite Rookie and my 6th favorite Hero, overall. Stringer: While not my favorite, this is still quite a fun figure. The torso armor is neat, the color scheme is cool and unique, and the helmet is incredibly awesome. The main downside is easily the weapon arm. Not only is it more hollow than Bulk's (though it's a bit hard to tell because of the dark color), but the shoulder connector is even further out than Bulk's, meaning it looks very bad from the front and back. Also is it just me or does this one feel way more like a Villain than a Hero (must be the helmet)? My 3rd favorite Alpha member and my 5th favorite Hero, overall. Surge: This figure is just plain awesome. The color scheme looks great, fits the electric theme perfectly, and revives Mata blue all at the same time. The helmet, while a bit simple, still looks cool, especially with the lightning patterns on top. Then there are the weapons, which are easily the best out of all the Heroes. Not only do they look amazing, but they're very customizable, too. My 2nd favorite Rookie and my 3rd favorite Hero, overall. Stormer: I opened this one expecting my least favorite Hero, but what I got was something much more. The color scheme is quite good and slightly unique, since I don't think we've ever had an ice set with Mata blue in it. The torso armor is great and fits the ice theme perfectly (though the icicles do interfere with posing on pretty rare occasions). The helmet, while a tad simple, is loaded with character. While the weapon arm is hollow like Stringer's, it works much better as an arm than Bulk or Stringer's. The reason for this is that the shoulder connector is much further into the arm than the ones for Bulk or Stringer's. As a result, Stormer's weapon arm actually looks good from the front and back, giving the arm a much better range of good poses. Stormer seems to be hit-or miss for most people, but for me it's a big hit. My favorite Alpha member and tied for 1st as my favorite Hero, overall. Overall I'd say that the Hero Factory Heroes are a great group of sets. I was expecting something good, but nothing like this. When the small sets are just as great as (if not better than) the Toa Mata, the first medium sized sets in Bionicle, then you know Lego is doing something right. On another note, I just saw the new promo vid, which was really well done.

There's a chance that they're retooled slightly to have the same new sockets as the Ben 10 sets, so those might not be completely old pieces.

I think that's Mata blue.

I'm thinking it connects through the plus hole on the upper thigh. EDIT: Beat :/ Also, is it safe to assume that Blaze has Mata red and not the Metru color?

Actually, Stormer, Blaze, Bulk, and Stringer all seem to have armor over their weapon arm.

The earlier years of Bionicle seemed to be more about gimmicks than the recent years, though. From the Mata, to the Rahi, to the Bohrok, to the 02 Titans, most of Bionicle's earlier sets revolved around gear functions. To be fair, sets like the Bohrok and Rahi had some good ones. However, all that gears did for the Mata and Nuva were raising their arms, which you could already do with one finger. In addition, that gimmick hinders their arms a fair bit. Now look at any of the 2009 canister sets. What's their specialized gimmick that ruins the figure? Squeeze the trigger and a ball fires. That's it. The launcher is small and the mechanism is incredibly simple. I could understand the launchers of 2007 and 2008, but the Thornax in no way overly complex or overly obtrusive. I don't even get what you mean by "moving parts," since the only Bionicle sets with moving parts are the ones with gears.

Last time I checked, gears were play features.