Hero Factory 2012

[Shakar]

I see, thanks Vader.

I bought my first 2011 sets via Ebay towards the end of December, so I don't know the exact date where they begun appearing. But don't new sets debut on Ebay before they hit stores? Now that I think of it, back in 2008 I bought all 6 Phantoka on Ebay a few days before Christmas...

[Omicron Squad Leader]

But don't new sets debut on Ebay before they hit stores?

They have to be available in stores somewhere for people to list them on eBay, it's not like Transformers where figures are stolen from factories before they are released... So no.

Edited November 25, 2011 by Omicron Squad Leader

[Dorek]

It all depends on who has the sets and who is willing to flip them on eBay. Some people see sets earlier in the year (I've gotten sets in December many-a-time) if they go to the right place, and some people are willing to turn around and make a quick buck. So even if they aren't widespread, some stores still have them for whatever reason.

[xxlrocka]

3 pieces will yield 5 different shooter combinations. All 5 can fire a Zhamor sphere, while only 3 can fire a Spike Ball

thanks!

[Nightcruise]

I'll probably buy copies of the smaller sets. Do wish bigger shell parts will come up in the trans neon green color in future waves.

[VBBN]

Definatly will be getting multiples. Not really as big of a concern to me to buy mulitples now, since it's generally cheaper to get these sets than bionicle were, at least how much they were in the start when toa were a standard of 8$.

[Aanchir]

Definatly will be getting multiples. Not really as big of a concern to me to buy mulitples now, since it's generally cheaper to get these sets than bionicle were, at least how much they were in the start when toa were a standard of 8$.

Well, to be fair BIONICLE Toa in 2001 were only around $7, at least according to Brickset. But at least the price-per-piece of the latest sets is beginning to become more equitable. Not because the prices were totally unfair in earlier waves, but because it gets tiresome hearing about how the older sets were better because they cost less.

Incidentally, do we have piece counts for all the sets? I only can find the ones for those we've seen on cache.LEGO.com. Evo has 36 pieces, Toxic Reapa has 42, and Rocka has 55.

[Dorek]

Yeah, we do, they're listed on the Amazon.de pages.

Jawblade: 45

Surge: 39

Splitface: 50

Breez: 55

Thornraxx: 44

Furno: 56

and Black Phantom has 124.

Not too bad, all things considered. Splitface and Surge apparently got the short end of the stick, but ah well.

[Shakar]

Actually, Evo is the "small" set with least pieces (36).

Comparing Jawblade's piece count to Splitface's, the difference between small sets (8-9 Euro or so) and medium sized sets (11-12-13 Euro, depending on shops) appears to be nowhere as stark as it was in the past waves. Actually, I didn't even realize that there were supposed to be small and medium sized sets before I saw the different sized canisters..

Edited November 29, 2011 by Shakar

[Mesonak]

Jawblade, Surge, and Toxic Reapa are on Toysrus.com, being sold in stores and online, for $9.99. An increase in price from what I had expected, but hopefully it's just TRU's usual markup. Edited December 1, 2011 by Mesonak

[Nightcruise]

Thanks for the info, going to try to find TR then.

[Shakar]

Good. My favourite part of the year, the new sets reviews wave, should start soon. I hope the price increase (if it isn't simply TRU's fault, of course) doesn't carry over to Europe- 9.99 Euro for the Heroes on S@H is enough.

EDIT- Wait, TRU site says Jawblade is 30 cm long. Is that possible?!

And forgot to say- even though I don't try to build most of them, I'm really happy that Lego is exploring new possibilities by creating Hero+Villain combiners. Yes, Bionicle did that as well, but it's a first for Hero Factory. I can't wait to see what they came up with- I didn't like Surge+Splitface, but I'm sure there will be better ones.

Third edit (I just won't shut up, it seems)- did anyone notice that the TRU site called Jawblade "overgrown tadpole"? I thought (who didn't?) he was a shark...

Edited December 1, 2011 by Shakar

[Darth Nihilus]

EDIT- Wait, TRU site says Jawblade is 30 cm long. Is that possible?!

I think it might be, if he has all his fins extended and his neck stretched. But I may be wrong, I'll find out when I get him out of the box I guess.

[Aanchir]

Good. My favourite part of the year, the new sets reviews wave, should start soon. I hope the price increase (if it isn't simply TRU's fault, of course) doesn't carry over to Europe- 9.99 Euro for the Heroes on S@H is enough.

EDIT- Wait, TRU site says Jawblade is 30 cm long. Is that possible?!

And forgot to say- even though I don't try to build most of them, I'm really happy that Lego is exploring new possibilities by creating Hero+Villain combiners. Yes, Bionicle did that as well, but it's a first for Hero Factory. I can't wait to see what they came up with- I didn't like Surge+Splitface, but I'm sure there will be better ones.

Third edit (I just won't shut up, it seems)- did anyone notice that the TRU site called Jawblade "overgrown tadpole"? I thought (who didn't?) he was a shark...

It's using "overgrown tadpole" as a demeaning insult, the same way a person in an action movie might call a T-Rex an "overgrown chicken". It's not meant to imply that he's an actual tadpole, but just how the hypothetical narrator isn't afraid of Jawblade just because he's a big, scary shark.

Jawblade is at least 20 centimeters long not counting his arms or weapons, so if those are bent forward at all then 30 centimeters doesn't sound at all unrealistic to me.

Surge's description suggests that the launchers are just "plasma guns". Not too fond of this, chiefly because a) it seems terribly unimaginative and b) it reminds me of the even more unimaginative "plasma gun" that Stringer was equipped with in Savage Planet. With previous weapon names like "Radioactive Sludge Shooter", "Lava Sphere Shooter", and "Meteor Blaster", I was hoping for something a little less generic.

The other weapons are kind of imaginative, even though Jawblade's "magma blades" seem a little bit weird on a water planet. In that case plasma weapons might have made more sense.

All in all, though, I'm excited for what next year has to bring.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Aanchir

[Kalhiki]

Neato.

And, what exactly are Reapa's "crushing claws"?

Plasma Guns... Lame. I'll still use them as EMP Launchers to stun the villains. Plasma is overused, anyway.

Kalhiki

[Dorek]

I remember in an interview when Hero Factory was just starting out, one of the designers said that since Plasma was a popular concept in the BIONICLE fandom (based on research or some nonsense) that they had integrated that into the story; I thought it was weird, since we hadn't seen any examples of it, but now it seems to be more popular =P. I'm okay with a plasma gun, because then at least we have something to call ALL of them. There's no way they can be different weapons. But, it remains to be seen what HF.com will do with it; they got hella lazy this past round, so I'm hoping that with this new wave, which is already drastically different from the past one, they will step up the web presence.

Anyhow, I'm definitely gonna check out TRU tomorrow. Hopefully they'll have some of these sets.

[CabooseBM]

Neato.

And, what exactly are Reapa's "crushing claws"?

Plasma Guns... Lame. I'll still use them as EMP Launchers to stun the villains. Plasma is overused, anyway.

Kalhiki

I think I'll add EMP launchers into my fanon somehow, even if I still like Plasma Guns as a generic weapon like the Hero Rifle.

Yaaaay fanon!

[nuparu51]

All of the sets, except for Furno and Splitface are now up on Toys R Us.com.

[Dorek]

The LEGO Hero Factory EVO (6200) buildable figure features:

*Hero cuffs, plasma ball shooter, anti-toxic power boots and tank arm

That's what I'm goddam talking about.

Edited December 2, 2011 by Dorek

[Vinyl Scratch]

Tank arm.

...

Bloody hell yes LEGO.

[Play With Fire]

Why does Evo only have anti-toxic boots? Is Toxic Reapa only going to aim for his feet or something?

Also, it mentions Breakout as being a game "sold separately" from the figures. So I guess it's a game you purchase? Thought it would just be on the Hero Factory web site.

[Shakar]

Combine with 6202 ROCKA for an even bigger model!

Oh my. This is going to be fun.

[Kalhiki]

Evo is so full of win. Tank arm? Yes.

And the boots explain why his lower legs and feet are gunmetal.

Others are still pretty good. Wonder what it means the the Breakout game is sold separately.

Kalhiki

[Dorek]

Why does Evo only have anti-toxic boots? Is Toxic Reapa only going to aim for his feet or something?

Also, it mentions Breakout as being a game "sold separately" from the figures. So I guess it's a game you purchase? Thought it would just be on the Hero Factory web site.

Well, he is on Reapa's home; presumably it's a toxic environment there as well XP. Yeah, it is weird that the game says "sold separately", but it would be a neat concept, in the wake of LU's demise.

Oh my. This is going to be fun.

Dude I knooooooow. Gonna be a large, badass combiner.

Evo is so full of win. Tank arm? Yes.

And the boots explain why his lower legs and feet are gunmetal.

Others are still pretty good. Wonder what it means the the Breakout game is sold separately.

Kalhiki

I don't know if those are canon or technical explanations, but damned if I'm not going to consider them accurate.

[Mesonak]

Recently found some early pictures of the sets in their packaging on a spanish shop site; compiled them into my gallery here, along with the finalized packaging. Not really anything extraordinary (and they're all really bad quality), but what the hell, I'll post them anyways.

Some notable things are that Furno doesn't have his tubes, his trans-red armor piece on his right shoulder used to be normal red, some sets (Evo) use the old Hero Core design, Surge's gun used to be bright yellow, none of the heroes have their now-present chest detailings, and there are minor coloration oddities here and there with pieces. Also, the "Breakout' game image used to be a cool image of Rocka with handcuffs instead of Black Phantom smashing through a wall. Kind of interesting cause it's also like that on his box here. Interesting how I never saw that.

Regarding the whole "Breakout: Sold Seperately" discussion, that's probably just Toysrus's way of letting consumers know that the game is not included in the set. There's also a good chance the people that wrote the description for TRU's site don't know that Breakout is a game you play online.

Course if it turns out to be a retail release I wouldn't mind in the least. Would probably be a better game for it.

Finally, the sets are gone from TRU. Not sure why, but yeah. Also, Tank Arm? That's awesome.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Mesonak