Hero Factory 2011

[Mesonak]

Rise of the Rookies had the Atlantis movie as a bonus, and it wasn't added to the running time. I predict Savage Planet will be 88 minutes long.

Edited July 17, 2011 by Mesonak

[Aanchir]

Ordeal of Fire is definitely being included with the Savage Planet DVD.

Interesting. I also see that Mark Hamill is mentioned as a voice actor. I wonder if he'll be voicing Witch Doctor.

I think this is a good place to add that I really am not too happy with recent LEGO DVD releases. The first two BIONICLE movies were what I really considered ideal, containing plenty of bonus content. Web of Shadows was a bit less interesting, with no interviews or other bonus content that really gave you a good look at stuff outside the movie itself. And the more recent DVDs (BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn, The Adventures of Clutch Powers, and Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies) all are completely devoid of bonus content besides the extra shorts. I understand that direct-to-DVD movies don't generally have a huge budget, but as MoL and LoMN demonstrated, they don't have to feel like bargain-bin rubbish.

[Bfahome]

Interesting. I also see that Mark Hamill is mentioned as a voice actor. I wonder if he'll be voicing Witch Doctor.

If so then I'm going to be annoyed because come on there was just a guy named Fire Lord and you skip him? >:I

[Blaver]

Interesting. I also see that Mark Hamill is mentioned as a voice actor. I wonder if he'll be voicing Witch Doctor.

Mark Hamill was the voice actor for Von Nebula, wasn't he?

[Mesonak]

This image was recently extracted from the HeroPad on http://herofactory.lego.com. You can find it there under the name "Concept Art"; presumably they were going to release it later via promotional code.

Looks very interesting, and shows off the intended feel of the Savage Planet; I remember the symbols and clusters of eyes well, from the prototype canisters/box art. Of note are the altered Raw-Jaw and Fangz designs; while awesome now in their own right, it's a shame how much potential was wasted (in my opinion of course).

Also of note is the mata green-looking hero swinging from a vine in the top of the upper-left panel. Looks very interesting, and I wish it was released.

[Jouster]

This image was recently extracted from the HeroPad on http://herofactory.lego.com. You can find it there under the name "Concept Art"; presumably they were going to release it later via promotional code.

Looks very interesting, and shows off the intended feel of the Savage Planet; I remember the symbols and clusters of eyes well, from the prototype canisters/box art. Of note are the altered Raw-Jaw and Fangz designs; while awesome now in their own right, it's a shame how much potential was wasted (in my opinion of course).

Also of note is the mata green-looking hero swinging from a vine in the top of the upper-left panel. Looks very interesting, and I wish it was released.

Seen this a few days ago. I just wasn't allowed to share it though.

[Aanchir]

This image was recently extracted from the HeroPad on http://herofactory.lego.com. You can find it there under the name "Concept Art"; presumably they were going to release it later via promotional code.

Looks very interesting, and shows off the intended feel of the Savage Planet; I remember the symbols and clusters of eyes well, from the prototype canisters/box art. Of note are the altered Raw-Jaw and Fangz designs; while awesome now in their own right, it's a shame how much potential was wasted (in my opinion of course).

Also of note is the mata green-looking hero swinging from a vine in the top of the upper-left panel. Looks very interesting, and I wish it was released.

Apparently, it has been released via promotional code-- specifically, through some countries' LEGO Club newsletters. This bugs me, because so far it seems as though Germany has now gotten at least three HeroPad codes that haven't been released in the US. In the meantime, I really need to renew my subscription to LEGO Club Magazine so that if codes start showing up there I won't miss out on them.

What interests me most, of course, is that some of the hero designs seen here appear in more than one picture. So I wonder if any of them ended up becoming the heroes who actually ended up in sets, and if so which heroes inspired which sets. The colors seem largely random, and the animal characteristics we're familiar with seem mostly absent from the designs, so this could be very early concept art before the idea of animal heroes was agreed upon.

[Brickthing]

Thanks for sharing those images. I enjoy seeing art from early in the conceptual stages of sets, and these images are especially nice. The vast open environments remind me of Karda Nui, and the jungles of Avatar's Pandora. It's interesting to see that animal villains was one of the primary ideas that has stuck right through, before the concept of Witch Doctor and animal-themed Heroes emerged. It's hard to tell from the detail of the art, but I'd say that this concept art could have been made before Hero Factory was even launched, going by the Hero cores and feet that match 1.0 designs.

In response to wishing some of the pictured designs were released, this concept art looks like it was made very early on, with the purpose of setting the tone/theme of the Savage Planet wave. All of the Heroes and Villains would be quick "filler" characters, made to populate the scene, and the artists wouldn't have spent much thought about whether/how they'd become actual sets. None of the heroes resemble existing Heroes, and it probably was established at the time that each wave would primarily use existing characters.

[CabooseBM]

I really like the white hero with the bunny ears, he's really endearing.

[Front]

Even though it was a very early image, you can see that the claw shells survived into the actual 2011 summer sets. Things just tend to become a little smaller and less impressive, when it has to be made for real.

[Zwen]

Aldous Witch is there? Looks like they use new shooters. I would like to know what was the reason to change everything. I mean, it's very different to be a concept.

[Aanchir]

Aldous Witch is there? Looks like they use new shooters. I would like to know what was the reason to change everything. I mean, it's very different to be a concept.

My guess is that it may have just been part of a series of sketches to demonstrate the different sort of settings and themes that could be used for hero and villain sets of different waves, back when Hero Factory was just in its infancy. I could be wrong, though.

[dviddy]

This bugs me, because so far it seems as though Germany has now gotten at least three HeroPad codes that haven't been released in the US.

Germany is TLG's largest market. Why wouldn't they pander?

[Phantoka Kopaka Nuva]

The green Hero looks like Gresh, don't you think?

[Zwen]

Aanchir, I agree with you, I really think that it could be just a piece of a long gallery of concepts, you know, this is just preliminar, they don't have draw the new armor plates, and the leg armour looks like a 1.0 version. Also, looks like the heroes were not the actual heroes...

[ZORK64]

Even if it's a really early concept art, I still wish they'll made some of the things we seen there which weren't made yet, like that villain in the upper left (that dark guy with the glowing lines) or the leg armour with those "wings" on them (or a separate wing piece to put on the shell armour we already got).

Oh, and the arm cannon from that white/orange guy. I so need this for a Samus Aran MOC (alongside with a fitting head, of course).

And I also like "Bunny Ear Hero", especially on the right picture he looks really cool.

[Aanchir]

Even if it's a really early concept art, I still wish they'll made some of the things we seen there which weren't made yet, like that villain in the upper left (that dark guy with the glowing lines) or the leg armour with those "wings" on them (or a separate wing piece to put on the shell armour we already got).

Oh, and the arm cannon from that white/orange guy. I so need this for a Samus Aran MOC (alongside with a fitting head, of course).

And I also like "Bunny Ear Hero", especially on the right picture he looks really cool.

I think the dark guy with the glowing lines is just the same as the yellow and gray gorilla guy near the bridge, but with a recolor. Kinda like the yellow Raw-Jaws on Witch Doctor's box art. If not, he's at least a variation on the same idea, and definitely seems to have inspired Raw-Jaw's posture. Similarly, the white beast in the cave seems like it could have inspired Fangz.

[Pro_Ice]

Here's the HeroPad code for the concept poster: 493567.

[Studs Not On Top]

I thought I'd share a modification I would make to Nex 3.0:

With the number of printed armor pieces appearing this year, paired with the use of stickers in 2010, LEGO could create some visually unique heroes and villains in the future.

[Aanchir]

I thought I'd share a modification I would make to Nex 3.0:

With the number of printed armor pieces appearing this year, paired with the use of stickers in 2010, LEGO could create some visually unique heroes and villains in the future.

Pretty nice! Kind of reminds me of some of the camouflage stickers in the final wave of Exo-Force sets!

At the same time, I have to say I kind of prefer the sleek simplicity of Nex's color scheme without stripes. Don't get me wrong, those 3M shells look great with those stripes, and would be awesome in a set (even though it may be a while before they could print those across the front and side surfaces like that, and stickers would be even more complicated). But I think printing on the chest piece and helmet would distract from the mechanical texture of both these pieces. Perhaps it would look better in actuality than in this digital mock-up, however. No real way of knowing at this point.

[Studs Not On Top]

Pretty nice! Kind of reminds me of some of the camouflage stickers in the final wave of Exo-Force sets!

At the same time, I have to say I kind of prefer the sleek simplicity of Nex's color scheme without stripes. Don't get me wrong, those 3M shells look great with those stripes, and would be awesome in a set (even though it may be a while before they could print those across the front and side surfaces like that, and stickers would be even more complicated). But I think printing on the chest piece and helmet would distract from the mechanical texture of both these pieces. Perhaps it would look better in actuality than in this digital mock-up, however. No real way of knowing at this point.

Thank you! Like Exo Force, printing could be used in a way that adds detail to plain bricks. I do like the sleekness of the new heroes as well as their color schemes, but when we start getting different heroes of the same colors, they'll need something to be more unique. Applying the design would be difficult. We'll just have to wait and see.

[VBBN]

Thank you! Like Exo Force, printing could be used in a way that adds detail to plain bricks. I do like the sleekness of the new heroes as well as their color schemes, but when we start getting different heroes of the same colors, they'll need something to be more unique. Applying the design would be difficult. We'll just have to wait and see.

Yes but exo force was one of the worst offenders of the DSS, and having clear backed stickers stopped after the first year.

[Zwen]

Looks like they are having a good time. I want to know what kind of event is this.Presentation of HF sets in Kiev

[Nike2032]

Looks like they are having a good time. I want to know what kind of event is this.Presentation of HF sets in Kiev

Woah, thats alot of witch doctors

[Studs Not On Top]

Looks like they are having a good time. I want to know what kind of event is this.Presentation of HF sets in Kiev

What a great way to get the younger audience involved. If I had been part of an event like this, I would feel very lucky.