"stylistically, they are more or less interchangeable", dont u c, aanchir, thats the problem, the frames are too interchangable, too similar, w/ Bionacle there mass varriations, such that the shells themselves looked like they from different series, yet the characters all fit in 1 neat little series, w/ thick plot, awesome powers, & awesomer characters. Now w/ Hf all the shell look as thou their all from the same character & the characters themselves dont vary much either their personalities & colors is all that seperate the Hf heros

No, I wouldn't say that's true at all. In Hero Factory, what makes the characters different from one another is the design of the models, not the design of the parts. Evo from the Breakout series looks radically different from Surge from the Breakout series because although they are the same size and use the same torso shell, Evo's central design motifs are his armored boots and Tank Arm, which gives him an asymmetrical design. In contrast, Surge has a different boot design and two muscular-looking shoulders with upward-facing spikes on them. His design, other than his weapons, is symmetrical. Then throw in the villain sets from that wave which shared the same price point (Jawblade, Toxic Reapa, and Thornraxx) and you have a very diverse range of character designs, not unlike the Glatorian wave of BIONICLE.

Even the 2.0 heroes, the most uniform series of heroes since the theme's first wave, showed how non-specific parts could be used to make a number of unique character designs. Every figure's legs were armored differently, but unlike in BIONICLE this didn't mean using different specialized part designs for the legs of each figure: it was all done with just three different beams and three different shells. Contrast this with every BIONICLE canister set design from 2003-2006, where the colors, story roles, masks, and weapons were the only things making the members of each group substantially different from one another. Even the Glatorian are no more unique than the heroes and villains of the Breakout series.

I think the Heroes should take to the skies.

I mean, come on, LEGO! You just need one of those really small torsos, some pins, and a few bone pieces to make wings you can just pop onto the beck of any ol' Ultrabuild. I know, I've done it.

No, I wouldn't say that's true at all. In Hero Factory, what makes the characters different from one another is the design of the models, not the design of the parts. Evo from the Breakout series looks radically different from Surge from the Breakout series because although they are the same size and use the same torso shell, Evo's central design motifs are his armored boots and Tank Arm, which gives him an asymmetrical design. In contrast, Surge has a different boot design and two muscular-looking shoulders with upward-facing spikes on them. His design, other than his weapons, is symmetrical. Then throw in the villain sets from that wave which shared the same price point (Jawblade, Toxic Reapa, and Thornraxx) and you have a very diverse range of character designs, not unlike the Glatorian wave of BIONICLE.

Even the 2.0 heroes, the most uniform series of heroes since the theme's first wave, showed how non-specific parts could be used to make a number of unique character designs. Every figure's legs were armored differently, but unlike in BIONICLE this didn't mean using different specialized part designs for the legs of each figure: it was all done with just three different beams and three different shells. Contrast this with every BIONICLE canister set design from 2003-2006, where the colors, story roles, masks, and weapons were the only things making the members of each group substantially different from one another. Even the Glatorian are no more unique than the heroes and villains of the Breakout series.

Everything you say here is pretty dead on. With the exception of maybe a better back armor solution, it's hard not to feel like LEGO has ultimately perfected the character building system. It matches LEGO bricks in terms of addictive snapping together pieces and parts and the possibilities are extremely extensive.

Hero Factory's biggest weakness is the very cardboard storyline its wrapped around.

Hero Factory's biggest weakness is the very cardboard storyline its wrapped around.

I pointed this out in the main HF2013 topic, but man, the story in the books has gotten much less cardboardy. XD

No, I wouldn't say that's true at all. In Hero Factory, what makes the characters different from one another is the design of the models, not the design of the parts. Evo from the Breakout series looks radically different from Surge from the Breakout series because although they are the same size and use the same torso shell, Evo's central design motifs are his armored boots and Tank Arm, which gives him an asymmetrical design. In contrast, Surge has a different boot design and two muscular-looking shoulders with upward-facing spikes on them. His design, other than his weapons, is symmetrical. Then throw in the villain sets from that wave which shared the same price point (Jawblade, Toxic Reapa, and Thornraxx) and you have a very diverse range of character designs, not unlike the Glatorian wave of BIONICLE.

Even the 2.0 heroes, the most uniform series of heroes since the theme's first wave, showed how non-specific parts could be used to make a number of unique character designs. Every figure's legs were armored differently, but unlike in BIONICLE this didn't mean using different specialized part designs for the legs of each figure: it was all done with just three different beams and three different shells. Contrast this with every BIONICLE canister set design from 2003-2006, where the colors, story roles, masks, and weapons were the only things making the members of each group substantially different from one another. Even the Glatorian are no more unique than the heroes and villains of the Breakout series.

I have got agree with you. Just look and 6223 BULK and 6293 FURNO. The designs are completely different.