So I got Meltdown.

He's pretty okay.

I like the parts.

And I have plans to upgrade him much. Or at least I would if I wasn't afraid of my parts shattering.

I'm probably also going to get a hero a some point. Currently it's a toss-up between Bulk and Stormer. Opinions?

Edited October 31, 201014 yr by Bfahome

So I got Meltdown.

He's pretty okay.

I like the parts.

And I have plans to upgrade him much. Or at least I would if I wasn't afraid of my parts shattering.

I'm probably also going to get a hero a some point. Currently it's a toss-up between Bulk and Stormer. Opinions?

Good purchase - Meltdown is my favourite out of the four medium villains, for both the parts and character. I wouldn't trust the feet, but the Ben 10 thighs are fine and I'm fairly certain the new sockets are safe as well so long as you connect/disconnect them properly.

Although I have Jet-pack Bulk rather than normal Bulk, I'd say that Stormer is better, unless you really love the single silver Glatorian hand and silver Hero parts. Stormer looks tougher and has more character in his helmet, and the weapons arm does have an alternative use unlike Bulk's (so far). Plus, he's the team leader.

Its just my opinion, but I cannot see why so many people love Meltdown. For me it has to be Xpload all the way, but I'll admit it was close.

Its just my opinion, but I cannot see why so many people love Meltdown. For me it has to be Xpload all the way, but I'll admit it was close.

I myself have liked Corroder since pics first emerged. But I agree that Meltdown has an amazing design. The fact that his two differently-functioning arms have symmetrical designs is a nice touch, and I can't help but love the Cyclops look. Color scheme's not too bad, either.

X-Plode is also pretty awesome, but I can't help but think he'd have more design consistency if he used the pieces from Krika's front legs on his staff rather than the ones from his rear legs. Not that his current design isn't awesome, but it still could have been cool had the other piece been used.

Good purchase - Meltdown is my favourite out of the four medium villains, for both the parts and character. I wouldn't trust the feet, but the Ben 10 thighs are fine and I'm fairly certain the new sockets are safe as well so long as you connect/disconnect them properly.

Although I have Jet-pack Bulk rather than normal Bulk, I'd say that Stormer is better, unless you really love the single silver Glatorian hand and silver Hero parts. Stormer looks tougher and has more character in his helmet, and the weapons arm does have an alternative use unlike Bulk's (so far). Plus, he's the team leader.

I know the Ben 10 pieces are solid, and I greatly look forward to the newer new socket pieces of next year. I wasn't talking about Meltdown's pieces so much as all my other pieces.

Yeah, the reason I can't decide is because I want Bulk's black limb pieces and stuff.

I know the Ben 10 pieces are solid, and I greatly look forward to the newer new socket pieces of next year. I wasn't talking about Meltdown's pieces so much as all my other pieces.

Yeah, the reason I can't decide is because I want Bulk's black limb pieces and stuff.

Surely if it's just an upgrade you won't be adding too many new articulation points, and can use pre-2008 sockets for any that you do add.

If you want Black legs, Breez would be better, because then you get four legs rather than two with a pairless third.

Surely if it's just an upgrade you won't be adding too many new articulation points, and can use pre-2008 sockets for any that you do add.

If you want Black legs, Breez would be better, because then you get four legs rather than two with a pairless third.

By upgrade I meant somewhere between a modification and revamp, since I wasn't quite sure which it would be And most of my long black sockets are either post-08 or off being used somewhere else. :|

But I also sort of want the silver pieces and I don't really want the lime pieces and I don't like Breez that much and oh I don't know I'll flip a coin or something.

Just discovered something cool when I thought to check the AMEET website after far too long. There are two upcoming Hero Factory books here and here. They're each 32 pages long (about the length of many of the "mini books" mentioned here.

The first one's titled "LEGO Hero Factory: In the Service of Galaxies" and the second one is titled "LEGO Hero Factory: Galactic Villains" (at least, that's what I can gather from Google Translate and some guesswork). Blurbs on the cover suggest that each contains a comic/story by Greg Farshtey: the first one's is called "The Measure of a Hero" and the second one's is called "Bad to the Bone". These may be the comics we already know about; I'm too lazy to check.

I finally managed to see the Hero Factory TV series, and I noticed an interesting character feature. I doubt I'm the first to notice, but I couldn't find a mention of it here, and it's a neat thing to know. Okay it was mentioned on BZP in August, but still, I made a screencap. In the second and fourth episodes, there is a giant robot that attacks a city:

Which is the winning entry made by krischan for BBCC53 hosted on BZPower during April/May 2009. The winning entry was supposedly going to be featured in BIONICLE, but that never happened. Looking over the specifications that LEGO provided that discourage the use of Kanohi and being mistaken for a Toa, it seems that this robot's use in the HF TV series was already planned, meaning that BIONICLE was intended to be replaced as early as the beginning of April 2009.

I just think it's nice to see that the model was finally used somewhere, and it looks really impressive in the TV series. It's certainly much better than the alternative of a large blocky robot that can't be built in real life, which makes me wish that they request fan models for future TV series/films more often. Imagine if the giant Kahgarak in WoS was built out of pieces to scale with the rest of the characters!

I finally managed to see the Hero Factory TV series, and I noticed an interesting character feature. I doubt I'm the first to notice, but I couldn't find a mention of it here, and it's a neat thing to know. Okay it was mentioned on BZP in August, but still, I made a screencap. In the second and fourth episodes, there is a giant robot that attacks a city:

Which is the winning entry made by krischan for BBCC53 hosted on BZPower during April/May 2009. The winning entry was supposedly going to be featured in BIONICLE, but that never happened. Looking over the specifications that LEGO provided that discourage the use of Kanohi and being mistaken for a Toa, it seems that this robot's use in the HF TV series was already planned, meaning that BIONICLE was intended to be replaced as early as the beginning of April 2009.

I just think it's nice to see that the model was finally used somewhere, and it looks really impressive in the TV series. It's certainly much better than the alternative of a large blocky robot that can't be built in real life, which makes me wish that they request fan models for future TV series/films more often. Imagine if the giant Kahgarak in WoS was built out of pieces to scale with the rest of the characters!

Pretty epic. I'm glad to see LEGO wasn't just planning on using that winning entry for something second-rate. Modeling a model like that in 3-D? That takes skill.

And also, the giant Kahgarak was to scale with the other characters... if you're using the minifigs from the playsets. Good luck trying to make a scale model of Roodaka, though.

Edited November 12, 201014 yr by Aanchir

Maybe they meant it to be a Rahi like Keetongu. But then bionicle's cord was cut and they had to think of where to put it to keep the promise.

But I like the theory about they knowing about the switch to HF since mid 2009 better.

Maybe they meant it to be a Rahi like Keetongu. But then bionicle's cord was cut and they had to think of where to put it to keep the promise.

But I like the theory about they knowing about the switch to HF since mid 2009 better.

Well, I believe I remember reading something about how they had been planning on Hero Factory since even earlier. But it seems likely to me that they didn't know quite when they'd end BIONICLE and bring in Hero Factory-- that's evident by the fact that a movie treatment was prepared for a movie in (presumably) late 2010, which hinted at the possibility of at least two waves of new sets (Mata Nui's Glatorian allies in their new armor, and the six Element Lords). It's likely, though, that by Spring 2009 the treatment had already been scrapped and plans were fully in place to end BIONICLE and bring in Hero Factory. And they'd have to have been soon after that, in order to give Tinseltown Toons enough time to work on the Hero Factory mini-movie/TV mini-series. Not sure how long these movies take to make but I'm pretty sure it's at least a year.

I thought I saw somewhere that HF was originally planned to co-exist alongside Bionicle. So I'm pretty sure that Hf wasn't originally planned to replace Bionicle.

-ES

I thought I saw somewhere that HF was originally planned to co-exist alongside Bionicle. So I'm pretty sure that Hf wasn't originally planned to replace Bionicle.

-ES

Well, that helps me understand things a little better. I had a feeling I had heard something about HF plans starting around 2007, but then I figured I must be misremembering because they couldn't possibly have been planning to end BIONICLE quite that soon. Now it makes a bit more sense that HF planning would have started early.

I had figured it was going to be used as a Baterra model.

I just checked the LEGO website front page, and one of the main animations is a beautiful one of Preston Stormer charging his Hero Core and preparing for battle. Check it out! I'm not sure how frequently the front-page animations change, but since this is the first time I've seen this one I'm sure nobody here would want to miss out.

It's just a 5-second animation, but it's still very nice. I really ought to check the LEGO.com front page more often; I've come to appreciate all the flash animations I've seen and I'm sure there have been some I've missed out on.