Hero Factory 2010

[cheesey skrall]

i hope that this line lasts longer than aqua raiders

[BioHero]

I don't get what all the hate is about, these sets are fine. The smaller sets look cool, and that's what they're really meant to do. Look cool, be played with, and maybe even stripped for parts.

That's just what I think.

BIOHERO

[The Alchemyst]

I don't get what all the hate is about, these sets are fine. The smaller sets look cool, and that's what they're really meant to do. Look cool, be played with, and maybe even stripped for parts.

That's just what I think.

BIOHERO

Depends on what you do with them.

Years ago, I just had them on display and played around with them, aka just to look cool, and that went for every set, not just the small ones.

Now that I have MOC'd it's almost all for parts.

[Zip]

Hi-res Toyfare Hero Factory cover.

From here.

You can see that the arm is connected with a normal socket joint to a huge Mega Blok arm-gun piece with a built-in axle. Ick.

Check out the article excerpt:

“The Hero Factory is an enormous high-tech facility that builds futuristic heroes, located in a futuristic city… it is up to users to define the missions and build their heroes.”

And from the wizard world site itself, publishers of Toyfare:

(short version: super heroes and villains theme, massive online community and customization abilities, including the ability to affect the toy line and story line!).

So yeah, if someone can get their hands on this Toyfare issue 151, we might know a bit more about these guys. But for now, the short version tells us a lot already.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Zip

[ShaddowCroc]

YES!!!! That cover definitely proves that the HerO Factory sets have Glatorian heads!!! HOORAY!!!

(Yeah, minor thing, but I really hoped they would.)

[The Alchemyst]

Ick is right. Looks like a couple of these weapons are all attached to those prebent arms...

Without a symmetrical lefty/righty counterpart. ;-;

[Zarkan]

What's more disturbing is that the hand "holding" the gun appears to be molded right onto the same part, instead of being a separate part. Which reduces the already extremely limited MOCing possibilities even more.

[Bundalings]

Those molded weapon arms are... nasty.

Real nasty.

Currently, I'm only interested in the little guys for their faces and feet. Rest looks... bad, even as far as them just being action figures is concerned. I'm very pleased with the look of the bigger sets, though. I hope they stay cool as we get more pics.

[Darkness Falls]

Oh, that's upsetting. The entire weapon arm is a piece- no good. It's like the 2001 sets, but in a bad way. The problem is- articulation only goes so far. You need a gimmick, AKA the flash videos, MNOG, and yes, even Gears, to breathe life into the franchise. I hope this MMORPG is as unique and interesting as the original concepts introduced by Bionicle in order to make this new line stand on its own, because the sets aren't doing enough for me. They're nice, but not nice enough... I need another reason to be interested.

...Like full pictures of Baron Von Nebula.

[vexorian]

Oh, that's upsetting. The entire weapon arm is a piece- no good. It's like the 2001 sets, but in a bad way. The problem is- articulation only goes so far. You need a gimmick, AKA the flash videos, MNOG, and yes, even Gears, to breathe life into the franchise. I hope this MMORPG is as unique and interesting as the original concepts introduced by Bionicle in order to make this new line stand on its own, because the sets aren't doing enough for me. They're nice, but not nice enough... I need another reason to be interested.

...Like full pictures of Baron Von Nebula.

The 2001 sets had a lot more pieces and no weapon was attached to any arm/"hand", it actually had joint parts and axles and pins and even gears. The pics seem like there won't even be pins in the build. Just premade parts with arms that are automatically attached to weapons and a giant torso that already has the articulation balls...

[Darkness Falls]

The 2001 sets had a lot more pieces and no weapon was attached to any arm/"hand", it actually had joint parts and axles and pins and even gears. The pics seem like there won't even be pins in the build. Just premade parts with arms that are automatically attached to weapons and a giant torso that already has the articulation balls...

And asymmetrical arms.

I suppose there's no pin action because gears aren't the main focus.

[Trionx]

It seems like LEGO is aiming more at the younger crowd for the little guys. Which makes the most sense, young kids getting sets want to build something in a couple seconds then the few minutes the giant guys will take.

To be honest, I was getting tired of the canister sets in our dear BIONICLE becoming more simplified for a younger crowd. I like that LEGO drew the line between the simpler and complex sets so that we can focus more on those titans/vehicles. :P

[Bfahome]

On a positive note, the blue guy has some greenery is its paws that could be nice to make some bushes or jungle. If it comes off its handle, that is

Aren't those yellow electrical bolts? Also, almost certain they're attached.

[Darkness Falls]

It seems like LEGO is aiming more at the younger crowd for the little guys. Which makes the most sense, young kids getting sets want to build something in a couple seconds then the few minutes the giant guys will take.

To be honest, I was getting tired of the canister sets in our dear BIONICLE becoming more simplified for a younger crowd. I like that LEGO drew the line between the simpler and complex sets so that we can focus more on those titans/vehicles. :P

I feel that Technic should expand on making fantasy creatures, etc so we can have some semblance of the original complexity of Bionicle sets.

The Bahrag remains one of my favorite sets ever.

[Makuta Plasmix]

Hero factory is much better than Bionicle is/will be because of the new parts and THERE ARE LESS SETS TO BUY. Only 8, rather than 14 sets to get the whole collection. I only wish that Greg is on the story team.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Makuta Plasmix

[jala12]

Hero factory is much better than Bionicle is/will be because of the new parts and THERE ARE LESS SETS TO BUY. Only 8, rather than 14 sets to get the whole collection. I only wish that Greg is on the story team.

But there are more than 8 Hero Factory sets.

[Makuta Plasmix]

10 sets.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Makuta Plasmix

[Bundalings]

But there are more than 8 Hero Factory sets.

But only eight count. The four medium sized sets, the two titans, and the two vehicles. The others are negligible. =P

[80 Dollar]

So they fixed Duncan´s awful color scheme (his torso H piece color). He looks so much better now.

[Rounin]

They look good to me, remember guys LEGO already has us we are not there target audience. The Impulse sets are exactly that sets that non LEGO fans buy on impulse.

[Brickthing]

So they fixed Duncan´s awful color scheme (his torso H piece color). He looks so much better now.

Looking at the Duncan's pieces on the cover, this Duncan is still an early version with rapidly-prototyped parts, so it's hard to tell which colour scheme is the most recent.

Hopefully it's this one though, because a trans-red Glatorian head would make this set completely worth purchasing.

I can't say I'm a fan of the new pieces for these smaller guys. The arm/leg pieces have an awkward bend and an exposed hole on the ball, while the weapon arm is limited to being a weapon arm, making it a lot more limited for MOCing. The helmet looks fantastic though...

From an action figure perspective though, the Heroes have it nailed. Aesthetically they look great, and for their (assumed) price, they're big, posable and playable enough to be worth it for kids wanting action-figure superheroes. I certainly can't wait to see what Ghost makes of them in the commercials!

[vexorian]

Hero factory is much better than Bionicle is/will be because of the new parts and THERE ARE LESS SETS TO BUY. Only 8, rather than 14 sets to get the whole collection. I only wish that Greg is on the story team.

How is the fact there are only 8 do-able sets a good thing? Or do you for some reason felt the obligation to buy all the sets every year? Last year I only got 1 legend and Tuma, not because of lack of availability but because I don't have that much money so I chose what I liked more...

I am sure that if action figurez was all a kid wanted a smart parent wouldn't bother buying ones that have a higher price tag just because of the single second it takes to build them. Perhaps they would buy some actual action figure that can do more things or is a famous superhero and not something as generic as these guys...

Well, it is likely that if the kid throws a tantrum they'll buy one of them. But after seeing how little the set really has to offer, I guess the parent will assume 'rip off' and not buy any HF set anymore.

And asymmetrical arms.

I suppose there's no pin action because gears aren't the main focus.

The gears only caused at most two axles to exist. The remaining pins and axles were for the "building toy" part of the experience. Since the body was composed of a torso and many axles to attach joints instead of a single torso with everything pre made and no axles at all. The toa mata were at least flexible. Sure the torso kind of sucked, but the rest of the pieces were all non-specialized. You could at least make a matoran with just the parts in one can. And if you had two you could make scorpions or things like that. Seeing these things, with weapons that only work for a specific kind of limb, it is dissappointing as a building toy.

Edited January 16, 2010 by vexorian

[VBBN]

I just hope that we get some trans red, green, or dark blue glatorian heads. 
 

I see some cool colors in our future, not trans though

[The Crazy One]

I just hope that we get some trans red, green, or dark blue glatorian heads.

Who doesn't?

[Leugi]

"(short version: super heroes and villains theme, massive online community and customization abilities, including the ability to affect the toy line and story line!)."

This thing is quite interesting... Also to note it's a massive online community, which doesn't necessarily mean mmorpg... hmn... And... the "ability to affect the toy line"?, That's also intriguing, how will the online community will get that (incredibly useful) ability?