Hero Factory 2012

[ZORK64]

Huh, from my Glat (and Av-Matoran) heads is no one broken so far. But 2009 joints (usually the regular ones, but also a few hands so far) were doomed. I got the odd feeling that most of the 2008 ones are still intact (except with a few lime ones). Same goes for the joints of the first HF-wave, though I'm extremely careful with these.

[JaeYeon eom]

made public new hero factory book in Korea's internet book store.

but it is DK reader...amd Greg Farshtey isn't wrote it.

paperback

\

http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewEng.laf?ejkGb=BNT&mallGb=ENG&barcode=9780756695286&orderClick=LAI

-link

Edited October 26, 2011 by JaeYeon eom(South Korea)

[Front]

No matter what kind of LEGO part that break or fail in any way, I strongly suggest that LEGO costumer service are contacted about the problem. You may be lucky and get replacement parts, and LEGO get the information that can be used to make future products better.

Erland, Part Design

[Darth Nihilus]

Okay, here's the way I see this new line:

The villains have escaped, but some wierd occurence has merged them together. The heroes are outfitted with unique gear and sent on solo missions, each with their own villain to face.

The combos of villains are:

Toxic Reapa: Meltdown/Waspix/Corroder

Thornraxx: Jetbug/Rotor

Jawblade: Fangz/Raw-Jaw

Splitface: Nitroblast/Drilldozer/Xplode/Thunder

Black Phantom: Von Nebula, Fire Lord, Witch Doctor

Now, the Hero/Villain fights, as seen on the boxes:

Breez vs. Thornraxx

Surge vs. Splitface

Furno vs. Jawblade

Evo vs. Toxic Reapa

Rocka vs. Black Phantom

My thoughts on each set:

Thornraxx: I like the new color, and the pieces are nice, but overall not that appealing. 6/10

Jawblade: The recolored Furno pieces are a nice addition, and the parts look very useful. 8/10

Toxic Reapa: By far the best villain of this wave. I love the lime green and the mask and launchers look really nice. 10/10

Splitface: Another good villain, the mask looks great. Probably will get three, one to paint completely red, one to paint completely silver, and the last to leave as is. 9.5/10

Black Phantom: The best titan of this theme. Design is reminicent of both Fire Lord and Von Nebula, looks quite good. 9/10

Furno: Not my favorite, mainly because of the reuse of that god-awful mask. The turbines are a nice addition though. 6/10

Rocka: My favorite Hero. The mask is very similar to Bionicle, and the crossbow is quite cool. 10/10

Evo: The mask is great, but the lack of unique weapon signifigantly takes away from its appeal. 7/10

Surge: I like the Lime Green, and the lightning is a good recolor. Surge's mask was my favorite 1.0 mask, and still looks quite good on this new hero. 8/10

Breez: Her mask was one of the better 1.0 masks, but looks off on this new body. 6/10

Those are my thoughts about this wave. The most appealing ones are Rocka, Toxic Reapa, and Splitface.

Now to wait for the pics of the summer wave to come!

[Metalshadow]

No matter what kind of LEGO part that break or fail in any way, I strongly suggest that LEGO costumer service are contacted about the problem. You may be lucky and get replacement parts, and LEGO get the information that can be used to make future products better.

Erland, Part Design

Oh, don't worry, I've already done that numerous times. It would still be really nice to have a head with the new joint structure, though.

[Aanchir]

I dislike the idea of past villains merging into the new villains. For one thing, it seems more suited to a science-fantasy story of BIONICLE than the more "soft science-fiction" story of Hero Factory. Second, it seems like a meaningless gesture to fans from the beginning that would simply confuse fans who weren't familiar with previous years. Third, it makes the 100 years of Hero Factory's service prior to 2010 seem meaningless if we're to assume that all the villains involved in the breakout were captured during RotR or previous missions. And finally, it undermines the uniqueness of these new villains by trying to draw connections between them where there really are none (Jawblade, for instance, has nothing in common with Fangz or Raw-Jaw besides being animal-based).

Overall, I feel such a decision would weaken the story in many ways and strengthen it in none.

[Kalhiki]

If they were merged villains, the Savage Planet animals wouldn't be included. They were enslaved, so have no reason to be imprisoned.

And I agree, no merging old villains. New villains are better.

Speaking of merging, do you think we'll get combiner models for the Heroes? I'd like to see what combinations they could make with all the new parts.

Kalhiki

[Mr. Gundam]

If they were merged villains, the Savage Planet animals wouldn't be included. They were enslaved, so have no reason to be imprisoned.

And I agree, no merging old villains. New villains are better.

Speaking of merging, do you think we'll get combiner models for the Heroes? I'd like to see what combinations they could make with all the new parts.

Kalhiki

I wonder that myself, I enjoy LEGO return to adding combiner models with each new release. I not sure how it will be done with five heroes tho. I'm guessing the two smaller ones will become a combiner while the big three becomes the other.

[The Crazy One]

Wait, by merging to you mean to older villains have combined, or that a villain has changed form, or that a villain who was present in earlier story arc but not realeased as a set? I'm confuzzled.

[Aanchir]

Wait, by merging to you mean to older villains have combined, or that a villain has changed form, or that a villain who was present in earlier story arc but not realeased as a set? I'm confuzzled.

By merging, I meant older characters combining like Darth Nihilus mentioned above. I think it's a really terrible idea. But there's a lot of people who see the new sets and assume "OMG there's similarities to older characters so there must be some connection!"

It's like how everyone assumed the figure on the Gear Up poster was some form of Makuta, except even more ludicrous since these are all known to be named characters with different names than previous sets, rather than completely unknown characters.

[Vinyl Scratch]

So then by your theory, the fact that SplitFace looks like Thunder and Xplode combined, with the fact that it has almost the same design as Thunder's head is just a pure coincidence?

Huh.

[Bfahome]

So then by your theory, the fact that SplitFace looks like Thunder and Xplode combined, with the fact that it has almost the same design as Thunder's head is just a pure coincidence?

Huh.

The only similarity to Xplode that I see is the fact that he has red on him.

Also, there may be similarities to Thunder's helmet, but that doesn't mean he's the same person.

[Mesonak]

I've said this before, and I've said this again, Splitface has never struck me as an Xplode/Thunder combo. The only things similar are the head scult and the fact that he has red on him, like XPlode. Thunder idn't even have gunmetal. =/

-Mesonak

[The Crazy One]

Oh I see. It's a silly idea (no offence to who thought it). Wasn't Thunder some sort of working robot, so he would have been made in the same design as Splitface. See, if there are intended similarities there is a solution. I HIGHLY doubt robots would combine. Tis a bit silly.

[Aanchir]

So then by your theory, the fact that SplitFace looks like Thunder and Xplode combined, with the fact that it has almost the same design as Thunder's head is just a pure coincidence?

Huh.

Yeah, I think it's coincidence. Besides the big, square chin there really aren't any obvious similarities to Thunder, and, from my perspective at least, none to XPlode (the red side reminds me more of Hellboy than any Hero Factory character, personally, and has a smooth, almost organic appearance as opposed to XPlode's signature spikes).

Oh I see. It's a silly idea (no offence to who thought it). Wasn't Thunder some sort of working robot, so he would have been made in the same design as Splitface. See, if there are intended similarities there is a solution. I HIGHLY doubt robots would combine. Tis a bit silly.

I don't think we ever got much in the way of backstory for the first wave's minor criminals, besides that most of them were criminals even before being enlisted by Von Nebula. You might be thinking of the second wave's villains, who were mining robots. With that said, the idea that there are multiple robots in Hero Factory that look somewhat similar isn't too far-fetched no matter what the villains' origins.

[Antrozek]

So then by your theory, the fact that SplitFace looks like Thunder and Xplode combined, with the fact that it has almost the same design as Thunder's head is just a pure coincidence?

Huh.

because Splitface and Thunder have somewhat the same face structure, doesn't mean they are the same, HF is not really the kind of line that does put much of story on their characters, they like to keep it basic, bad guys are bad, good guys are good, Splitface must be some criminal with double personality, and because of the background he and surge are in, seems like he is some crazy smart dude.

but those are only theories too, can be wrong as well

[Jouster]

Breakout 2012 game image (Kind of blurry, also, a big THANK YOU to Black Phantom from Probionicle.ru)

Edited October 28, 2011 by Jouster

[Omicron Squad Leader]

Breakout 2012 game image (Kind of blurry, also, a big THANK YOU to Black Phantom from Probionicle.ru)

Looks cool, and at least we can see where the pins on the new Hero Cores are now.

[Aanchir]

Breakout 2012 game image (Kind of blurry, also, a big THANK YOU to Black Phantom from Probionicle.ru)

Obviously, too early to tell for sure, what with how blurry those pics are, but the graphics look like full 3-D. Pretty nice, IMO, and I hope it's evidence that TLG is dedicating a more significant budget to the HF web content (I felt Creep Crushers was pretty lousy in terms of graphics and gameplay).

[Studs Not On Top]

The game looks cool! A nice Bionicle Heroes feel to it, and definitely a step up from Creep Crushers.

...Is that Stormer?

[Dorek]

That game looks mighty fine. Creep Crushers was quirky and unique in its own way, but then they repeated it with Jungle Crushers; definitely looking forward to this.

And yeah, I had heard some talk of the Hero Core containing a game code, but didn't think I was allowed to say anything =P. Obviously the Hero Core has a flat back, but two pins seems like it takes up too much room. And takes away from some customizing, but ah well. Design choice.

[Rollbar]

I HIGHLY doubt robots would combine. Tis a bit silly.

In all seriousness though, I think that Splitface was all organic (The red half), but then he was blown/cut in half, and rebuilt (The grey half).

[Darth Nihilus]

The only similarity to Xplode that I see is the fact that he has red on him.

Also, there may be similarities to Thunder's helmet, but that doesn't mean he's the same person.

There is a similarity between him and Thunder that cannot be denied, and don't you think that TLG would make a merketing ploy like that? I wouldn't put it below them.

@Aanchir: You might want to have a look at Jawblade's mask again. Maybe compare it to Fangz's.

[Mesonak]

I looked at the head sculpts of Jawblade and Fangz the moment it was first brought up in dscussion, and noticed no similarities at all. From the eyes, to the design of the head, to the jawline, even to the color, I found that no viable comparison could be made. Unless I'm just not seeing something?

-Mesonak

[The Crazy One]

Snippy snippy

In all seriousness though, I think that Splitface was all organic (The red half), but then he was blown/cut in half, and rebuilt (The grey half).

Hush you. Not all of us are Transformers fans.

Edited October 28, 2011 by The Crazy One