Hero Factory 2012

[Studs Not On Top]

3 versions and 3 hands between them. Intentional?

How will he hold the Hero Cuffs??

Great new picture of XT4, and the more I look at him the more I agree he sports a new torso. It will no doubt be great for small MOCs.

I'm pretty sure Nex uses an old laser in yellow-lime.

Just curious, what color are the System pieces used on Bulk's shoulder cannon? They look gold to me but I can't tell.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Studs Not On Top

[Aanchir]

How will he hold the Hero Cuffs??

Great new picture of XT4, and the more I look at him the more I agree he sports a new torso. It will no doubt be great for small MOCs.

I'm pretty sure Nex uses an old laser in yellow-lime.

Just curious, what color are the System pieces used on Bulk's shoulder cannon? They look gold to me but I can't tell.

I think they're Warm Gold (same color gold used in Ninjago, 2006 BIONICLE, and all versions of Rocka), but I could be wrong.

[Shakar]

I'm confused about the colour, too. What I'm sure about, is that those pieces are in the same colour of his torso decoration.

I initially thought about dark tan, but gold wouldn't be bad at all. Still, it puzzles me that they chose to insert a fourth colour in his design, a colour that is used in a grand total of 5 pieces.

[Aethersprite]

Speaking of Bulk, I can't seem to spot where trans-green is used on him. Lightsaber blades in the 2.0 shield piece, perhaps?

[Shakar]

Yup, there. I has hoping for them to be tr bright green since those are really rare (they appeared in, what, 2 SW sets?) but alas they are not.

I'm wondering how Stormer is going to fight SD. The other Heroes, the winter ones at least, had some sort of equipment to fight their respective villain (Breez's rocket boots, Evo's toxic proof armour..).

But Stormer seems at disvantage- SD is likely going to be really fast, and for the mission Stormer..gets turned into a heavily armoured giant? Seems weird to me, so I thought of a possible explanation- what if those plane-like things aren't just there for decoration,and actually let him fly at high speeds?

[Brickthing]

But Stormer seems at disvantage- SD is likely going to be really fast, and for the mission Stormer..gets turned into a heavily armoured giant? Seems weird to me, so I thought of a possible explanation- what if those plane-like things aren't just there for decoration,and actually let him fly at high speeds?

Knowing the TV series, I'm sure that could be a probable explanation, but when it comes to catching agile motorcycles, a high speed steam-train doesn't seem like the best choice of locomotion.

I think that by simple nature of SD's pursuer being Stormer puts SD at a disadvantage. Whether it affected set design or not, the TV series also features Stormer in both the summer and winter storylines, and a high speed Frost-like Stormer wouldn't suit the enclosed prison spaces of the Breakout story.

[MakutaDreadscythe]

But Stormer seems at disvantage- SD is likely going to be really fast, and for the mission Stormer..gets turned into a heavily armoured giant? Seems weird to me, so I thought of a possible explanation- what if those plane-like things aren't just there for decoration,and actually let him fly at high speeds?

I'm going to assume the plane things are missiles?

[Rocketbilly]

looking at that video again, I'm still seeing Stringers helmet as being Titanium Metallic rather than black. Can anyone else see this?

[Dorek]

It's not; compare it to his own shoulder pads, and you can see the color disparity. It's just because the helmet has a glossy finish to it.

[Rocketbilly]

It's not; compare it to his own shoulder pads, and you can see the color disparity. It's just because the helmet has a glossy finish to it.

Ahhh! thanks for clearing that up.

I'm releived, I use the helmet for my own character, and I've been wanting to make new variants of him...they all require helmets.

[stupidlol]

The first wave of Breakout sets just hit Singapore. Picked up Rocka today, and I love him! The bandolier wasn't as stiff as I thought it would be, in fact, it's almost perfectly flexible. The hex energy shield is awesome. A pity none of the summer sets use this piece. I can't wait to get the other sets! (I'm planning to space them out, so I won't die waiting for summer.)

Now some judgement on the summer sets:

Speeda Demon and Stormer XL are okay. Not planning to get either.

XT4: Has the potential to be a fairly okay set, but I'll wait for more pictures/reviews before I pass full judgement on this guy. I probably won't pick him up, though.

Nex: Yucks.

Bulk: I need this guy! Although I'm still not too enthusiastic about the heavy use of gunmetal, he looks okay with it. Nothing some modding can't fix. His chest pattern has definitely got to be my favourite of all the Heroes. Still curious on how his shield/rocket launcher attaches, though.

Core Hunter: Am I the only one who can't seem to make out how his helmet looks? Otherwise, nice as expected. I love his colour scheme and the way he's built. Bought on sight.

Voltix: An okay set. I might pick him up, but nothing impressive.

Stringer: The trans-blue chest is GLORIOUS. The blue armour pieces compliment it well, and his huge launcher looks great. I can see how it resembles a guitar, but I'm not too sure how that works... Anyway, fantastic set. Bought on sight.

Overall, I must say that the summer wave does have its plus points, but overall as a wave it looks to be not as good as the winter wave.

Hey I'm from Singapore too do you think they're available at United Square's TRU?

[vexorian]

XT4's might be, since it has no hands to speak of, but Nex's is most definitely a lightsaber or something similar, since he is holding it like a sword, in his hand.

Both lasers are way too proportionally thin to be used as swords. It is not like laser swords are exclusive to SW nor is SW their origin.

[Aethersprite]

Hey I'm from Singapore too do you think they're available at United Square's TRU?

They should be. The Breakout sets have been around for about a week already. I bought Rocka at a toy shop at nex! (No pun intended.)

Speaking of which - how is Nex going to hold the Hero cuffs if he doesn't have a hand? My guess is that he has a hand underneath that laser weapon thing, however unlikely that is.

[Mesonak]

It's a similar issue with Breez; she can't either. I assume they just store them on an armor piece, and if you want them to hold their cuffs, just remove one of their weapons (or, in Nex's case, his blaster).

In the TV show they'll likely depict him as having a hand underneath his laser, but in the set... yeah.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Mesonak

[Dorek]

They actually can hold the cuffs with weapons, still (at least, Surge can), and I imagine Breez could. It's a little tricky to angle it, but doable.

However, Nex tragically does not have a hand joint, it seems. It'll be easy to replace that, but still. Kinda sad.

Edit: Also, is Bulk's torso gunmetal? Looks like it to me.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Dorek

[Aethersprite]

They actually can hold the cuffs with weapons, still (at least, Surge can), and I imagine Breez could. It's a little tricky to angle it, but doable.

However, Nex tragically does not have a hand joint, it seems. It'll be easy to replace that, but still. Kinda sad.

Edit: Also, is Bulk's torso gunmetal? Looks like it to me.

Yup, it is. I think one of my main complaints with Bulk is that he has too much gunmetal on him - he almost looks like he's wearing an entire suit of gunmetal, with his silver head and hand coming through. Nothing some modding can't fix, however. (Sorry, Bulk 3.0!)

Pity about Nex, but I won't be getting him anyway. I have no idea what Lego was thinking when they designed him. Messed up colour scheme, crappy weapons. What a waste of a set.

[Dorek]

Maybe they'll actually address it, like Evo's gunmetal parts. Then again, maybe not.

However, this makes me realize that none of the summer Heroes (except for Stormer, kinda, and since it's a different piece, doesn't really count) have their primary color as their chest plate color; Nex is white, Bulk Gunmetal and Stringer trans blue.

[Shakar]

Yeah, that's always been my main problem with them. Stringer can be sort of fixed using Core Hunter's torso but...well, you end up losing the sweet sound wave chest pattern, not to mention the MAGIC OF TR. BLUE.

Nex and Bulk are pretty much hopeless, however- if you want to mod them like I want, you need to work around the white/gunmetal.

I guess you can say I got used to that aspect of their design, but I'm not exactly hot about it.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Shakar

[Aethersprite]

Yeah, that's always been my main problem with them. Stringer can be sort of fixed using Core Hunter's torso but...well, you end up losing the sweet sound wave chest pattern, not to mention the MAGIC OF TR. BLUE.

Nex and Bulk are pretty much hopeless, however- if you want to mod them like I want, you need to work around the white/gunmetal.

I guess you can say I got used to that aspect of their design, but I'm not exactly hot about it.

I'm okay with Stringer's and Bulk, to be honest. The colour of their chest pieces match their primary colour pretty well. Nex, on the other hand... Well, the white stands out too much. I'm not exactly a fan of the white on Furno and Breez, and on Nex it's way overdone.

[Shakar]

I'm okay with them too- mine is mainly a consistency issue, since they break the pattern the winter Heroes(+Stormer) follow. Maybe I'm a bit too obsessed with this, but I feel Heroes should have at least some things in common (like the printed badges from last year, this year's "Zamor guns" and printed chests, etc..), since they are mass produced robots.

Villains all come from different species (except the Fire Villains, I guess), so I'm fine with them being different from eachother. Though I'm really starting to think BP, SD and Voltix belong to the same species, at least the first two I mentioned.

[Studs Not On Top]

Some proper posing can make any set look good. I feel like XT4 is going to be the guy you put all your extra bones on-- and he still manages to look cool.

[Kalhiki]

XT4 looks sooo good. Still not sure what to think about the tubes coming from his chest, though...

Say, how'd ya build his body?

Kalhiki

[Aanchir]

I'm okay with them too- mine is mainly a consistency issue, since they break the pattern the winter Heroes(+Stormer) follow. Maybe I'm a bit too obsessed with this, but I feel Heroes should have at least some things in common (like the printed badges from last year, this year's "Zamor guns" and printed chests, etc..), since they are mass produced robots.

Villains all come from different species (except the Fire Villains, I guess), so I'm fine with them being different from eachother. Though I'm really starting to think BP, SD and Voltix belong to the same species, at least the first two I mentioned.

I feel you. I also am a bit upset about the lack of consistency (although personally, I think Bulk's torso looks closer to the Silver Metallic of his helmet than the Titanium Metallic of his thigh armor-- I could be mistaken though).

I kind of wish that at least some of the new Hero sets had the same style of shin armor as Breez, Furno, and Surge, since that lends itself to such a stylish appearance. I guess keeping Breez, Surge, and Furno similar in terms of color scheme organization and armor style maintains that unity they had in the 1.0 sets, but still it would have been nice to see that consistency extend further across the Breakout wave.

I suppose Stormer's leg armor is similar in style (attached to the side with a wider section towards the foot), but it's kind of a disappointment not to see it with Bulk and Stringer in the very least.

Another disappointment for me, consistency-wise, is that Stormer has a 2.0 hero torso rather than a Breakout torso. I think, if he had the jointed abdomen design of the Breakout heroes he'd look more consistent with his teammates, which I think is important when he's at such a vastly different scale. But admittedly I don't know how well that would work, since it might not work well aesthetically with the big chest piece.

On another note related to Stormer XL, do his "wing" pieces seem more likely to be printed or stickered? I can't tell myself, although the norm in Hero Factory these days seems to be printed parts.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Aanchir

[MakutaDreadscythe]

On another note related to Stormer XL, do his "wing" pieces seem more likely to be printed or stickered? I can't tell myself, although the norm in Hero Factory these days seems to be printed parts.

I'd imagine they'd be printed, they've demonstrated that they can print on elaborate surfaces with Splitface's torso printing.

[Shakar]

I feel you. I also am a bit upset about the lack of consistency (although personally, I think Bulk's torso looks closer to the Silver Metallic of his helmet than the Titanium Metallic of his thigh armor-- I could be mistaken though).

Nice to see somebody who feels the same. I'm sure the torso is titanium metallic, it looks way too dark to be a simple lightning issue.

I kind of wish that at least some of the new Hero sets had the same style of shin armor as Breez, Furno, and Surge, since that lends itself to such a stylish appearance. I guess keeping Breez, Surge, and Furno similar in terms of color scheme organization and armor style maintains that unity they had in the 1.0 sets, but still it would have been nice to see that consistency extend further across the Breakout wave.

I suppose Stormer's leg armor is similar in style (attached to the side with a wider section towards the foot), but it's kind of a disappointment not to see it with Bulk and Stringer in the very least.

I'm quite fond of that shin style too, I extended it to Rocka and I'm going to do the same with Stringer. I'm keeping Bulk's shins as they are, since I'm very fond of that new armour piece. I'm doing something to Nex's shins too, but I haven't decided which of the two designs I'm going to use.

Another disappointment for me, consistency-wise, is that Stormer has a 2.0 hero torso rather than a Breakout torso. I think, if he had the jointed abdomen design of the Breakout heroes he'd look more consistent with his teammates, which I think is important when he's at such a vastly different scale. But admittedly I don't know how well that would work, since it might not work well aesthetically with the big chest piece.

I personally hope those two pieces look good together- I have an idea for a MOC that would make a nice use of Hulk's green torso. I think the combination would look great: that huge chest is ridiculously MANLY as it is, that "six-pack" from the Breakout torso would be the icing on the cake. I guess you want to use Nex's white torso? I'm going to try that, but I also wonder how Stringer’s torso would look.