Hero Factory 2013

[Cahillrebel]

Good point. I don't think vehicles with heads and arms would work. However the Crusher almost sounds like a villain set or a vehicle that does crushing.

[Shakar]

ToysRUs has the Summer sets online, with the alternate pics from that German shop site, but bigger.

[Zachattacx]

.....Summer Sets......WHY U NO AVAILBLE YET!

Seriously from prelim to now these sets look better,but then again when doesn't that happen.

It also turns out the Frost Beast uses that certain method of the back design.

[Dorek]

Does anybody actually know what's in that "Furno gift set"? I see it all the time on the TRU page and have no idea what it's about.

[Takanuinuva]

Odd Evo and Aquagon don't seem to be in.

[Kalhiki]

Summer sets already? Geez. This is like the earliest it's ever been.

May need to take a trip to TRU to see if they're in stock. Probably not since they aren't available on the site, but maybe by the weekend (hey, a guy can hope, right?).

Kalhiki

Edited April 29, 2013 by Kalhiki

[Aanchir]

Frost Beast's brain seems to be Transparent Fluorescent Blue, not Transparent Light Blue. Not really noteworthy, but it caught me by surprise since Transparent Light Blue is a more significant part of his color scheme. Then again, I could also be wrong... it can be hard to tell from photos.

Stormer and Surge look nice, but with a few more pieces I bet you could make that back armor fit on a bit more snugly. Frost Beast's armor style still kind of confuses me, since it doesn't provide a whole lot of coverage to the back and shoulders given the number of parts required. No complaints about Dragon Bolt.

Jet Rocka bugs me a bit. I'll have to see a review before passing judgment on the jetpack itself, but as for the figure, I feel his legs are too long for the armor they use, and a smaller (non-XL) torso would also have been preferable to the gappy look his torso armor currently offers. Sometimes I feel like TLG just likes to bump up the heroes according to price point just to make them feel like they offer more value — regardless of whether they already have plenty of value in how well-equipped or well-armored they are, and regardless of whether additional height improves their look. I felt kind of the same way about the medium-sized Hero sets last year... the lower leg beams could all have been one module shorter. But at least they were generally well-armored.

Funnily enough, Evo and Aquagon aren't listed. Thankfully we've already gotten decent pictures of those from the K-Mart website.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Aanchir

[DraikNova]

While I'm not a fan of Frost Beast's particular method of armor connection, it's sword is looking much better than I thought it would. Stormer looks just as awesome as he ever has. Same thing goes for Surge. Boy is he a great parts pack (Hint: yup). Somehow Dragon Bolt manages to look even snazzier than ever. And it turns out I've got a larger budget to get parts for my revamp of it, too. Jet Rocka looks a lot less awkward than I thought he would. I can't believe I haven't noticed that targeting oculus before (or was it even there in the earlier pictures?).

Edited April 30, 2013 by DraikNova

[pocketmego]

I say bring 'em all on. They are all parts to me. ;)

[bacem]

looking at Stormer again, it looks like his helmet doesn't look as big as his Breakout helmet. and those Furno/pyrox flame piece in Trans light blue on his hand looks cooler again now.

[Aanchir]

Cache.LEGO.com has high-res pics of the new sets!

44008 Surge

Package

44009 Dragon Bolt

Package

44010 Stormer

Package

44011 Frost Beast

Package

44012 Evo

Package

44013 Aquagon

Package

44014 Jet Rocka

Package

Sad that there aren't any other pictures of the sets, but I was not really expecting any. In the very least when the Hero Factory site gets updated with the new sets there will likely be high-quality 1000x1000 pictures of the characters with the CGI backgrounds and poses that appear on their packaging.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Aanchir

[Shakar]

I say bring 'em all on. They are all parts to me. ;)

Heh, I dis​agree they're good for parts only, but yes, these guys do have a lot of nice pieces. I wanted tr. blue cladding ever since Ordeal of Fire, I can't believe we're getting it AND in two shades. :wub:

Surge, Stormer and Frost Beast look better than ever. Dragon Bolt is a cool set, but I will probably skip him since I don't have enough space and he doesn't fit in my HF universe well (just like all brain-infected beasts: I prefer criminal villains like in Breakout). Aquagon and Evo are part fodder for my ultimate version of Evo. I happen to like Jet Rocka much more now, that angle looks really appealing to me for some reason..

EDIT: Thank you Aanchir! Those look glorious! Surge's helmet in hi-res...

Edited April 30, 2013 by Shakar

[ZORK64]

I just noticed that Surge is more silver than blue, but he looks still very cool. However, I'm most excited for Stormer and Frost Beast, especially because of the transparent shells they got.

Dragon Bolt looks kinda ugly though. But doesn't matter, I'll most likely get him anyway for parts. Plus, he's blue. I always demanded blue sets since Ordeal of Fire, so I will buy them, now matter how weird they look (besides, many of his parts look cool).

Edited April 30, 2013 by ZORK64

[Takanuinuva]

Surge's Build in the pic and the bag are different. His backpack appears to attach to the normal torso pegs in the main pic. But on the bag pic they appear to attack one peg lower. Which one is correct? This pic from Bzpower's coverage of Toyfair doesn't give any good answers http://www.bzpower.c.../TF13_HF_20.jpg

Edited April 30, 2013 by Takanuinuva

[Devorath]

Does Stormer's helmet remind anybody else of Slizers? That cyborg pattern.

I actually like all of this wave. Hey, it's nothing compared to Bionicle's 4th year, but for Hero Factory, I like it.

[Aanchir]

Surge's Build in the pic and the bag are different. His backpack appears to attach to the normal torso pegs in the main pic. But on the bag pic they appear to attack one peg lower. Which one is correct? This pic from Bzpower's coverage of Toyfair doesn't give any good answers http://www.bzpower.c.../TF13_HF_20.jpg

Hmmm, curious question. It definitely is attached lower on the BZPower pic and package pic, but I can't tell how since it seems to use up most of its connection points. Sadly I fear the out-of-package pic from cache.LEGO.com is most likely the correct construction. It looks great with the new torso shell, perhaps better than it would if it were attached lower, but it does not cover the back nearly as much.

Does Stormer's helmet remind anybody else of Slizers? That cyborg pattern.

I actually like all of this wave. Hey, it's nothing compared to Bionicle's 4th year, but for Hero Factory, I like it.

Nothing compared to BIONICLE's fourth year? You do this year's Hero Factory sets an injustice. Naturally the Toa Metru were quite nice designs, even if they were cloned in every attribute but masks, weapons, colors, and height. Their proportions were generally very good and they had the best articulation of any canister sets to date. But 2004 was also the year of the Vahki, which were identical except for their colors and huge, overspecialized weapons. It was the year of the Metru Nui Matoran, which had baffling posture and proportions (the way their arms stuck out to their sides was extremely awkward). And it was a year of mind-numbingly repetitive color schemes. Sure, it did introduce some nice titan sets and was the first year to implement the friction joint, a great improvement over the click hinges of the 2002 and 2003 titan sets. But overall I think this year's Hero Factory sets manage to outshine 2004 BIONICLE in a lot of respects just in terms of not being clone sets and not having many huge and extremely specialized weapon elements.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Aanchir

[Devorath]

Hmmm, curious question. It definitely is attached lower on the BZPower pic and package pic, but I can't tell how since it seems to use up most of its connection points. Sadly I fear the out-of-package pic from cache.LEGO.com is most likely the correct construction. It looks great with the new torso shell, perhaps better than it would if it were attached lower, but it does not cover the back nearly as much.

Really? I think the lower construction looks nicer.

[Aanchir]

Really? I think the lower construction looks nicer.

With previous torso shells I would feel the same way, but with this one the chest has a strong circular motif that is lined up with the circular portion of the shield piece.

[Takanuinuva]

I dunno Surge's set uses 66 pieces. I've done a moc up of surge's set. If the first pic is correct then Surge's set is missing 3 pieces. The lower way I've tried uses the exact amount of pieces. Here is the lxf file http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/takanuinuva/herofactory/brain_attack_surge_builds.lxf

[pocketmego]

Dragon Bolt looks kinda ugly though. But doesn't matter, I'll most likely get him anyway for parts. Plus, he's blue. I always demanded blue sets since Ordeal of Fire, so I will buy them, now matter how weird they look (besides, many of his parts look cool).

I have to agree. I haven't like the dragon's design since I first saw it. It reminds me of a child's sketch of a dragon, vs a full fledged dragon. What it needs is modding and I might be up for that. Basically, I think it needs to be bulked up and those wings need to be completely reworked. It has potential.

[ZORK64]

Hey, it's nothing compared to Bionicle's 4th year, but for Hero Factory, I like it.

I utterly disagree here, but mostly because I wasn't all too fond of the Metru Nui sets. The Toa Metru had rather crappy arms (similiar to the Rahkshi), the Vahki used the same build (even though it was cool) and the titans weren't mine thing either (except for Toa Lhikan and his epic mount, too bad I passed on it).

[DraikNova]

When compared to the 2004 Bionicle sets, these sets are the best ever.

I have to agree. I haven't like the dragon's design since I first saw it. It reminds me of a child's sketch of a dragon, vs a full fledged dragon. What it needs is modding and I might be up for that. Basically, I think it needs to be bulked up and those wings need to be completely reworked. It has potential.

I'm actually planning to use the official set as an adolescent form of the MOC I'm making. I have to disagree with you about it looking like a sketch, although I've got to admit that we need a specialized wing piece. Some sort of piece that can be folded out, connects to several ball joints (so it stays stable and the folding works well) and actually looks like a wing.

[bacem]

Sure, it did introduce some nice titan sets and was the first year to implement the friction joint, a great improvement over the click hinges of the 2002 and 2003 titan sets. But overall I think this year's Hero Factory sets manage to outshine 2004 BIONICLE in a lot of respects just in terms of not being clone sets and not having many huge and extremely specialized weapon elements.

uhh, friction joint? i thought that piece was new and first used by BP? so, 2004 bionicle actually have that too? which set?

[Takanuinuva]

uhh, friction joint? i thought that piece was new and first used by BP? so, 2004 bionicle actually have that too? which set?

What Aanchir meant was this piece http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x1192px2. Which personally I think they should bring back in the new ball joint style. It would be very useful in the new hero factory building style.

[Aanchir]

What Aanchir meant was this piece http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x1192px2. Which personally I think they should bring back in the new ball joint style. It would be very useful in the new hero factory building style.

The new head piece could be used somewhat similarly to that, even though it's not quite as compact and can't attach to ball joints in the center of a beam. I agree a part with connection points like that could be cool to have, though to be honest many of its applications can also use existing parts like the new head or even just a traditional ball joint (considering most sets to use that friction joint needed additional Technic beams as bracing anyway, it's not like it would add too much additional bulk).

Edited May 1, 2013 by Aanchir