I really like the look of the (un)official builds for the Summer sets. I just wish that I could see how the Surge & Rocka Combiner Machine's skeleton is built...

you can, if you watch the intire video carefully, since you can see it from almost every angle.

Yellow Nex.

Absolutely.

Yellow Nex? Why not actual Nex?

(i need to stop)

WHY WAS THAT SET NOT A THING!? Why instead did we get Rocka actually DOWNGRADING to a smaller, weaker mech, rather than giving it to another hero? And no, you may not stop until you have made a machine for stringer. DO IT NAOH!!!

WHY WAS THAT SET NOT A THING!? Why instead did we get Rocka actually DOWNGRADING to a smaller, weaker mech, rather than giving it to another hero? And no, you may not stop until you have made a machine for stringer. DO IT NAOH!!!

DON'T GIVE ME IDEAS

DON'T GIVE ME IDEAS

stringers boomer machine: large, boombox type sonic cannons slung over the shoulders, trans blue hex shields in place of hands. maybe wings? dunno.

also, for some reason i imagine nex would have 4 arms and different tools on each one, being the tech-y guy he is

I plan on making mechs for Stringer and Nex and I think I'll incorporate your ideas into them. I'll have to wait till they update LDD with the new IFB parts

Uuuuuh LewiMOC can we get the LDD file for that? I'd really like building it eventually.

Looking at these models, although not 100% accurate, and given a little bit of thought, the summer wave doesn't really bring any new parts apart from Queens wings and new minifigs. While this is an amazing year it's quite lacking in the new parts department, though I'm still quite fond of it.

At first I was planning to just buy a couple from the first wave as the summer wave most likely brought in a lot cooler sets, but given the parts selection most of these can be built from the sets of the first wave. Which is good because I'm quite an impatient man.

Though I'll still buy that double cockpit walker/glider type thing, simply because it just looks so damn cool.

Keep in mind that a lot of the most useful parts from the summer Breakout sets, such as the XT4 torso, the 3M double ball cup from Stormer XL, and the 3M beam with center ball joint from Stormer XL and Speeda Demon, were not evident to everyone from early pics of those sets. So it's possible that there are similar "hidden treasures" in the summer Invasion from Below sets.

That's quite the point you make there Aanchir. Of all the sets, we should keep an eye on Surge's Machine and on the Queen for interesting new parts. JANG's models might be pretty accurate but he's not all knowing, so I think some things are missing (especially on those two sets).

I think somebody should build Invasion from Below mocs that can fit regular sized heroes. (wink wink nudge nudge)

I think somebody should build Invasion from Below mocs that can fit regular sized heroes. (wink wink nudge nudge)

That'd be an interesting challenge. I wonder what the best way to build a windscreen for a model that size might be. The windscreens in the Invasion from Below sets are around the same size as a hero. Even the biggest single-piece LEGO windscreens aren't nearly big enough. So you'd have to do something more elaborate if you wanted to maintain accuracy.

It's not the ideal shape, but I think two of these could be big enough. Also, since I bought Rocka's Machine, I tried different windscreens with the new cockpit part. Unfortunately, those I tried (this and this) don't fit, they both hit Rocka's helmet. x/

It's not the ideal shape, but I think two of these could be big enough. Also, since I bought Rocka's Machine, I tried different windscreens with the new cockpit part. Unfortunately, those I tried (this and this) don't fit, they both hit Rocka's helmet. x/

Two of those arranged how? One on top of the other, they'd be far too tall and narrow to really convey the appropriate look. Next to each other, they'd be close to the right height and width but entirely the wrong shape.

I think the best way to get the right shape and size would be if instead of using a proper transparent windscreen, you created a rollcage-like frame out of Technic angle connectors.

A rule of thumb I've been using is that a typical 2011-2013 hero figure is about 3.5 times the height of a 2014 mini-hero figure. As far as I can tell this is pretty much true of any hero figure around 22.5 modules (7 inches/18 centimeters) tall, in the very least. With that in mind, the ideal windscreen/rollcage would be about 20 modules tall, 14 modules wide, and 14 modules deep.

Edited January 19, 201411 yr by Aanchir

I've been building regular hero sized vehicles, and I have been using designs similar to that of a rollcage. Since there are very few window parts that are large enough to cover even a minuscule amount of an entire hero's body, I usually leave the spaces open or I use parts similar to that of Jet Rocka's canopy piece. However, they only manage to cover the head and some of the chest. I might post an image of one of my Hero mechsuits that I built that includes a windscreen.

Edited January 19, 201411 yr by Zenerius

Next to each other, they'd be close to the right height and width but entirely the wrong shape.

That was my idea, and indeed, it looks totally different from the original windscreen :

I think the best way to get the right shape and size would be if instead of using a proper transparent windscreen, you created a rollcage-like frame out of Technic angle connectors.

Yeah, good idea.

With that in mind, the ideal windscreen/rollcage would be about 20 modules tall, 14 modules wide, and 14 modules deep.

Alright, nice to know that !

>watches the episode again

>Rocka is labeled as Daniel Rocka in the credits once more

SUPER OFFICIAL NOW

I wonder.. were Nex and Stringer not as popular as other characters? Or did their sets not sell well? That might explain why they weren't included this wave.

Still, I feel like we could have used our favorite Techie this time around, and Stringer too.

On a different note, I like the look of the Surge walker machine thingy. Looks interesting. I wonder how the winged part will connect/disconnect?

Not only is Rocka named Daniel... but Bulk is now named Bulk Chad Randau.

I wonder.. were Nex and Stringer not as popular as other characters? Or did their sets not sell well? That might explain why they weren't included this wave.

Still, I feel like we could have used our favorite Techie this time around, and Stringer too.

On a different note, I like the look of the Surge walker machine thingy. Looks interesting. I wonder how the winged part will connect/disconnect?

Darker sets such as Stringer have a history of not selling as well, but obviously that doesn't explain Nex getting the shaft, per se. Perhaps he just wasn't a top seller, or maybe he'll pull an Evo-like comeback in 2015.

I don't mind the omitting certain characters on the whole (Breakout was ridiculously crowded, even with the characters not included in the main story), and last year gave us an acknowledgement of all the Heroes at one point or another. Given more side-material (books, etc) I'm sure we'd see the characters again, but we're probably not going to see much of that anymore, which is a shame.

Not only is Rocka named Daniel... but Bulk is now named Bulk Chad Randau.

Lol, I was just talking about that elsewhere. It's a pretty glaring error, despite not being very important, but ah well. I just like that Advance cared enough about the universe to acknowledge their full names, even if those names don't get used anywhere in the story or sets anymore.

With Stringer, his set designs are (from a kid's point of vew) pretty dull, due to his Black colour. I'm not surprised that Lego don't really make him anymore. Unless of course they bought him back with some brighter coloured armour or something...

I imagine that's the reason with Stringer. Still surprising to me, though, since Onua, Whenua and Nuparu obviously sold decently enough for black Toa to survive throughout the entire run of BIONICLE (unlike what happened with brown sets).

However, I really can't explain Nex. It appears (solid) orange in general has been forgotten. BA Bulk, Bruizer and Splitter Beast avoided it as much as possible, limiting it to just a few bits and prefering tr. reddish orange instead. Transparent shells were one of BA's main motifs, but there's hardly an excuse for IfB sets.

I don't like the whole "black doesn't sell" idea. Like Shakar said, Onua and company must have sold well. Not to mention we got black figures in pretty much every wave of Bionicle.

And with Stringer, you'd think the secondary color (orange/trans blue) would at least make him a little more appealing. But what do I know? I can understand him being omitted from Invasion from Below, though since all the villains use black and azure (a shade of blue). And Nex just doesn't make any sense at all considering his more appealing bright colors.

Either way, I'm kinda happy some characters were dropped. A smaller cast is much easier to keep track of and handle. I'm just sad it had to be these two (if they are gone forever, that is).

Kids love generically evil-looking characters, so black looking evil wouldn't explain it. Even if they're not canonically evil, black is often considered a "cool" color anyway. The chance for Stringer to have a snazzy-looking black and blue mech is one of the reasons I want the minifig + mech thing to continue for another wave.

Oh boy, here we go. Remember

? Well I have a new episode of Alternate Factory !

Just after we shot the video for the combo between all the beasts, I saw all the leftover pieces from the combination, and thought I could work on something bigger, since the original combo was too small for my taste. I really wanted to use the head of the beasts to do a pincer, so here it is. I decided to keep the color scheme limited to mainly black, azure and orange/trans orange, so the beast could look menacing, which is the biggest problem of the original combo, with the yellow, transparent colors and whatnot. However, I did decide to keep the feet and part of the tail design, as it looked really good to me.

Also, like with the previous one, the video (in french only, again, sorry) will show you the steps to build it, so you can recreate it yourself, if you like it !

Wow! That combination looks incredible! I might have to try it!