Hero Factory 2010

[Aanchir]

I personally have a fondness for stickers, and thus like to get a good idea of what the set would look like with them applied. But of course it comes down to the reviewer's personal preference.

[Captain M]

Will you be applying stickers to the sets that include them? I personally have a fondness for stickers, and thus like to get a good idea of what the set would look like with them applied. But of course it comes down to the reviewer's personal preference.

Stickers? Ewwwww, what ever happened to printed bricks?

[Aanchir]

Stickers? Ewwwww, what ever happened to printed bricks?

Since when do Technic-based sets of any sort whatsoever use printed bricks? The Throwbots visors and disks and the Roboriders face-shields are the only examples I can think of, and we all know how useful those printed pieces were in the long run.

Besides, I definitely prefer stickers in most situations. It makes patterns into a legitimate part of building the set-- kind of the opposite of the "juniorization" AFOLs tend to whine about. It gives the option of using parts with or without stickers, and allows for more theme-specific decorations. And perhaps most importantly of all, it greatly reduces the cost of the parts in a set-- after all, you need special machines to print each uniquely-shaped part, whereas all a sticker requires is printing and cutting. What's not to love?

[VBBN]

 I will be applying sticker after I make copies of them, so the sets in the reviews will be fully stickered.

[dviddy]

Since when do Technic-based sets of any sort whatsoever use printed bricks? The Throwbots visors and disks and the Roboriders face-shields are the only examples I can think of, and we all know how useful those printed pieces were in the long run.

Besides, I definitely prefer stickers in most situations. It makes patterns into a legitimate part of building the set-- kind of the opposite of the "juniorization" AFOLs tend to whine about. It gives the option of using parts with or without stickers, and allows for more theme-specific decorations. And perhaps most importantly of all, it greatly reduces the cost of the parts in a set-- after all, you need special machines to print each uniquely-shaped part, whereas all a sticker requires is printing and cutting. What's not to love?

Something we can agree on! Stickers are far preferable to printed pieces. I consider 'cleaning' the print off of bricks something I won't do, and so stickers let me either use the design or not (usually or not). Also, this way the stickers could potentially be used for something else too. Saved for a MOC, or something.

[vexorian]

Practical concerns with stickers : Hard to put correctly with only one try, piece becomes un-washable and they wear off easily greatly reducing the set's life span. Specially now that LEGO seems to use only white stickers instead of the transparent ones. My Tuma's stickers are already wearing off and also the white border has become noticeable, I am really considering to get rid of them.

In technic sets they are usually ok because technic stickers usually add no detail whatsoever so you can get rid of them anyway. Nevertheless, I have a couple of parts from technic sets that were printed. Oh and for things like slizers, bionicle and HF they will completely blow because of the heavy use the sets will get by kids playing with them. The use of stickers in villains is very liberal and I have seen plenty of them in spots that will be vulnerable during a kid's usage. I think plenty of kids will lose their stickers the first year... assuming they actually manage to put the stickers correctly in the first place...

I agree that stickers are good when the design is awful and you don't plan using the parts for that set, but then again maybe the better approach in that case is not to buy the set anyway. If you just like the idea of being able to use the parts in MoCs then wiping the prints works just as well, considering that once you remove a sticker for more than a couple of seconds it will never be usable again for that part anyway.

[Aanchir]

Practical concerns with stickers : Hard to put correctly with only one try, piece becomes un-washable and they wear off easily greatly reducing the set's life span. Specially now that LEGO seems to use only white stickers instead of the transparent ones. My Tuma's stickers are already wearing off and also the white border has become noticeable, I am really considering to get rid of them.

In technic sets they are usually ok because technic stickers usually add no detail whatsoever so you can get rid of them anyway. Nevertheless, I have a couple of parts from technic sets that were printed. Oh and for things like slizers, bionicle and HF they will completely blow because of the heavy use the sets will get by kids playing with them. The use of stickers in villains is very liberal and I have seen plenty of them in spots that will be vulnerable during a kid's usage. I think plenty of kids will lose their stickers the first year... assuming they actually manage to put the stickers correctly in the first place...

I agree that stickers are good when the design is awful and you don't plan using the parts for that set, but then again maybe the better approach in that case is not to buy the set anyway. If you just like the idea of being able to use the parts in MoCs then wiping the prints works just as well, considering that once you remove a sticker for more than a couple of seconds it will never be usable again for that part anyway.

I never have had any trouble with stickers wearing off except when they were used in a totally unfeasible place (for instance, the Plankton figure in the Build-A-Bob set). Even sets I've played with a great deal haven't had that trouble, nor have parts that have been tumbled around in a drawer full of pieces. As for removing stickers, if you put them on wax paper or something then they're totally able to be used again. You just need to remember where you put the wax paper.

Meanwhile, all of the places where stickers are used in HF are smooth, panel-like areas, where they should adhere fairly well and be easy to align. And all of the HF stickers are designed to fit smoothly inside the borders of the piece, with easy diagrams in the instructions showing where they go and how they line up. Plenty of toys-- Beyblade "battle tops" come to mind, as well as plenty of remote-control or electronic toys-- require kids to apply stickers of about the same stickiness and material (but often much, much smaller) during the construction process, and needless to say Beyblade tops and remote-control toys go through a lot more trauma than any BIONICLE or Hero Factory part ever would.

As for whether pieces with stickers can be washed, I wouldn't know for sure. But the washing practices that LEGO encourages are very specific-- no submerging pieces in a chemical detergent or hot water of any temperature. I imagine that there would be no difficulty in surface washing a part with a sticker, which is the most I think I'd ever have put my BIONICLE parts through anyway (I've gotten plenty of faded Nui-Rama parts and misshapen axles at yard sales because some people thought just using the dishwasher would be a good idea).

Also, DV, stickers are the least of things we could probably agree on. I always find your reviews to be very convincing and realistic depictions of sets, and they give an honest assessment of a set's advantages and disadvantages. We disagree on some things, but probably not as much as you'd think.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Aanchir

[Captain M]

There's a new promotional video for HF on their website. This one really gives insight on what their missions will be like.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Captain M

[---Vertea---]

that video was up on youtube a few pages back, actually. nice that the site finally posted it.

REally cool animation, and it looks like a slightly exaggerated style in some of the scenes, which looks pretty good.

[The Crazy One]

There's a new promotional video for HF on their website. This one really gives insight on what their missions will be like.

Isn't that what I failed to post earlier?

Meh, I don't think stickers are such a problem unless you playfully chuck you figures around your room, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

[The Dor]

Isn't that what I failed to post earlier?

Yup, except on the actual HF website now.

Also, all the sets are available on S@H in the US now.

[The Crazy One]

Yup, except on the actual HF website now.

Also, all the sets are available on S@H in the US now.

So Meltdown etc. are on now? They weren't earlier.

[---Vertea---]

I'm really very surprised the villains aren't widely available by now... I suppose it means that we still have something to look forward to, but I REALLY want to see a Meltdown review :P

[VBBN]

Meltdown is on his way to my house as we speak.

[vexorian]

Meltdown is on his way to my house as we speak.

Yay! that and vapour are the villains that appeal the most to me, except vapour's set is probably going to be horribly expensive so really looking forward to meltdown's review.

[VBBN]

Yay! that and vapour are the villains that appeal the most to me, except vapour's set is probably going to be horribly expensive so really looking forward to meltdown's review.

I'll probably get Vapour, Rotor, and Furno Bike off of S@H so I can get VIP points.

[Destructive Soul]

I got Von Nebula today at Toys R Us (they had all the villains, Furno Bike, and the Dropship). Building him as I type this.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Destructive Soul

[---Vertea---]

meltdown review on Youtube:

[duncan bulk]

That was posted yesterday. I plan on getting all of the canister sized villans and Bulk and Stormer before Christmas and I hope to get to get the rest of the sets for Christmas but first I have to focus on getting all of the MEtal Fusion beyblades before Christmas along with another Launcher Grip and a Stringer Launcher as well but since I can't seem to upload videos anymore I'll have to upload pictures when I get the sets sorry.

[Captain M]

Even though it's an awesome line, I only plan on getting a few HF sets. I don't want it to end up like my Bionicle collection- I bought most of the sets and after a while I just let them sit there, and I would hardly even touch them. It's kind of a waste of money to buy most of the sets, and then not do anything with them.

[---Vertea---]

Even though it's an awesome line, I only plan on getting a few HF sets. I don't want it to end up like my Bionicle collection- I bought most of the sets and after a while I just let them sit there, and I would hardly even touch them. It's kind of a waste of money to buy most of the sets, and then not do anything with them.

sad as it is, I find myself agreeing. My Bionicle sets are gathering dust in my closet- and taking up a whole lot of space. I will likely end up selling most of them, only keeping the parts I like or parts that are really good for LEGO MOCS. Probably a few of my fave sets as well, but the majority of it hasn't been touched in a LONG time.

The HF sets are cool- REALLY cool- but I will honestly rarely use them. I will pick up only Corroder and Meltdown- if any.

[Delta 38]

I wish LEGO would stop it with the canisters. I initially thought they were great for storage, but the piece amount in sets even as old as roboriders were never that large. So I eventually ended having too many canisters and too little pieces to use them. I eventually even used them for system bricks and still, too many canisters hanging around.

I agree. Boxes would be much better. I don't keep them anyway.

I'm not too fond of Rotor's (or Vapour's) mask because there aren't eyeholes. It's a bit strange that they didn't include any for that particular piece...

[---Vertea---]

did y'all see this?

Looks like a corroder review

[80 Dollar]

I've just recieved Thunder. I'm not doing any reviews but if you guys want, I can answer some questions or take some pictures...

[minifgure_fan]

Not that this has anything to do with any other stuff on this page, but I looked back through the beginning of this topic, and realized that everyone was doing a lot of whining about how Hero Factory and Ben 10 were replacing Bionicle and stuff like that, and I realized in a few years when Hero Factory comes to an end, we'll all be doing the exact same thing!

Oh, and I recently got Furno. He's actually pretty good.