[REVIEW] 5002941 : Hero Pack

[Leewan]

Set name : Hero Pack

Set number : 5002941

Pieces : 9

Price : Free (Gift with purchase in Lego Stores and on the s@h)

Release date : February 1-14 (Europe) / March 1-20 (North America)

Links : brickset / bricklink / flickr gallery

Join the heroes in the BIONICLE® universe!

Join the elemental masters and protectors in the BIONICLE® universe with this awesome Hero Pack! Check out the translucent orange mask and build the evil Skull Spider. Also includes a sticker sheet, booklet with comic strip/character line-up and a cool double-sided poster featuring the precious masks and an island map. Makes an ideal gift for fans of LEGO® BIONICLE building sets.

• Features a translucent orange mask, buildable Skull Spider, booklet with comic strip/character line-up, sticker sheet and a cool double-sided poster with island map and mask overview
  
• Build the Skull Spider
  
• Learn about the BIONICLE® universe
  
• Makes a great gift for fans of LEGO® BIONICLE® building sets
  
• Pack measures over 6” (17cm) high and 6” (17cm) wide
  

Packaging :

The set is a polybag, so the package is obviously... a bag. There are two dents on the right side, to facilitate the opening.

The front of the bag shows its content (a double-sided poster, a sticker sheet, a booklet, a dark blue Skull Spider, and, of course, the star of the set, the trans-neon orange Mask of Fire) over a fiery background (probably lava). We also can see a column, and a pedestal, similar to those on which the Golden Masks were found by the Toa. The most notable thing about the bag, which many of you must have noticed, is that it doesn't use the final Mask of Creation design as a logo, but an earlier version, that was seen on the pictures which leaked last July. The reason for this change is unknown. Okoto is definitely an island full of mysteries...

The back shows various warnings and production and distribution information, over a rocky background.

Content :

Once you open the bag, you find the poster (folded, of course), the booklet, the sticker sheet (of which I'll soon provide scans), and a small bag which contains the parts.

The poster is double-sided : one side shows the Master's Masks (and their set numbers, so kids will know which set to buy to get them), and the other one is a map of Okoto, with the Golden Masks' locations. Surprisingly, the Mask of Stone looks reddish brown on the packaging, and almost dark red on the actual poster.

The booklet starts with a shorter version of Tahu's comic. Then there are instructions for the Skull Spider, and a double page showing the six Toa.

Mysteriously, Gali and Onua don't have a colored halo around their names and titles like the other ones. You can see the other pages in the flickr album.

The sticker sheet is... glittering. That's some seriously fabulous stuff, kids.

The Skull Spider is your regular Skull Spider, nothing different from usual, which is a bit disappointing. A red, purple, or even glow in the dark Spider would have been more interesting.

The Mask of Fire is undoubtedly the most interesting part of the "set", and it's a beautiful part, halfway between the NYCC exclusive translucent mask and the regular red mask that comes with Tahu.

Conclusion :

The Mask of Fire is with no doubt the highlight of this polybag, it's a beautiful part. The poster is nice too, especially the map of Okoto. The rest of the content, though, is frankly uninteresting, and the Skull Spider could have been in an exclusive color too, but let's remember this set is mainly addressed to the people who don't know BIONICLE (for example the comic in the booklet is a very good way to tell people what's the purpose of the mask and the spider which comes in the polybag), and should help them to discover its universe.

[Logan McOwen]

The MoF is indeed the real star of the show here, and my gosh, it's definitely worth getting the Hero Pack for. It really does look stunning. The map comes in at a close second for me, as the style of the illustration is gorgeously traditional - almost like something from one of Tolkein's novels. That, and it's surprisingly big! I'm surprised they managed to fit it into that little baggie. Oh, and of course, it's always good to get an extra Skull Spider!

Other than that, the rest didn't appeal too greatly to me. Those stickers are quite garish if I'm honest, but I'm sure kids'll enjoy sticking them on their pencil case, 3DS or whathaveyou. The comic book is a nice little bonus, and reminds me of those which we got with the Rahkshi sets back in '03, but it's hardly anything particularly ground-breaking.

So all in all, I think this is definitely something big Bionicle fans should try to get their hands on, but I wouldn't dish out too much wonga for it. If you miss the promo period, I'd recommend you wait for the map and/or the mask to appear on Bricklink or eBay, as those are the things that are really nice to have.

If I were to have changed anything about the Hero Pack, I'd have ditched the stickers, and recoloured the Skull Spider to either red or purple. If there was enough room left in the budget, it'd be neat to include a head for the mask to be worn on, so that kids could use the mask on a new character without disassembling their Toa and Protectors.

Edited February 16, 2015 by LewiMOC

[VBBN]

Good review Leewan,

Not too long yet until i can grab one of these for myself. Stars of the pack look to be the mask and the map for sure, and I'm certainly wont argue with another skull spider- I've found them to be quite versatile.

[Alexander The Great]

These stickers are too rainbowish.

[Shakar]

Opened this the other day, the mask looks absolutely fantastic, even better than I thought.

And I totally used those glittery stickers.

[Leewan]

Thanks for your comments guys ! BTW, I've just added some scans of the booklet and the sticker sheet to the first post.