Hero Factory 2014 Discussion

[Kalhiki]

Oh ho ho ho. The packaging art looks incredible! So glad to see clean versions of them. Hopefully we'll get the wave 2 artwork as well!

[Mutant Orc]

I would also like to see the wave two art there too! I am very fond of the comic style and the artwork used in the IFB line, it looks great.

It would have been rather interesting to see a Wolverine figure, although he'd probably have consisted of a lot of yellow with some oversized paw-hands with claws (not very interesting really). Although, he could well have come with a few dark blue pieces (the comic Wolverine had blue on him right?) which would have been very nice.

[Jetrax99]

Just got Evo XL Machine and Flyer Beast vs Breez a couple days ago.

The XL's legs don't look as bad in person as I though thet would. I still wanted to implement the mod I did in LDD, but sadly, the cross axle slots on the technic beams I was going to use all cracked open.

Flyer Beast is nice as well.

And the minifigs are cool.

Don't care much for Breez's chain weapon though.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Jetrax99

[Logan McOwen]

Interesting detail about the beasts for this summer... they're all female. Certainly a pleasant surprise, since the last year of sets with two female villains was 2002, with Cahdok & Gahdok.

Yeah! Take that Patriachy!

please don't kill me

Edited August 28, 2014 by LewiMOC

[Agent Fusion]

Fight the power, I guess?

[TwistLaw]

So, how will you deal with the end of Hero Factory?

By now we have almost every winter leak, and HF is nowhere to be seen, further confirmation of the return of an old theme we all know (and love ).

[Dorek]

Could be on a break, like Ninjago did; I'm not overly worried. If it's axed, that sucks, but it had a good run.

[TwistLaw]

Sure, but do you really think LEGO will ever consider to bring it back? Genuine question.

They could alternate cycles of BIONICLE with shorter runs of HF.

[Aanchir]

Could be on a break, like Ninjago did; I'm not overly worried. If it's axed, that sucks, but it had a good run.

Ninjago's break was an unusual case, though, in that the LEGO Group didn't realize they WERE going to continue it until they saw that interest in the theme was significantly greater than they expected. If they COULD have kept it going non-stop, they would have, but by the time they realized just how much potential the theme still had, it was too late to rush a wave of sets to production for summer 2013.

In this case, I think Hero Factory has basically run its course. It COULD be brought back, but its fanbase isn't anywhere near as huge and dedicated as the Ninjago fanbase, so I don't think there will be any "surprises" of that magnitude for the LEGO Group.

It won't be difficult for me to move on, since there will still be new sets with the same building system and I wasn't really getting my hopes up for any resolution to the theme's loose ends. Even if there are some dangling story threads left behind, it's not like they were story threads that had been progressing in any way since they were first established. They were just sort of created and abandoned, which is disappointing, but not as disappointing as when you've been faithfully following new developments in a storyline for months or years and then they come to a sudden halt.

[TwistLaw]

If they COULD have kept it going non-stop, they would have, but by the time they realized just how much potential the theme still had, it was too late to rush a wave of sets to production for summer 2013.

So how was it possible for BIONICLE to get TWO waves in 2002 when the line was supposed to end in 2001?

Edited August 29, 2014 by TwistLaw

[Kalhiki]

I thought it was supposed to end in 2003?

[Aanchir]

So how was it possible for BIONICLE to get TWO waves in 2002 when the line was supposed to end in 2001?

Even if at some point in its development, BIONICLE was meant to end in 2001, I have a feeling that by the time the first wave of sets in 2001 came out the designers had realized they had to prepare for the possibility of it continuing further. Of course, I'm sure they were likewise prepared for the possibility of ending it quickly if its sales didn't meet expectations.

And as I said, the LEGO Group was caught by surprise by Ninjago's sales strength adn the dedication of its fanbase. This was not because they didn't know it would be popular. Like BIONICLE, it was designed to be a craze. But its popularity was presumably not expected to continue to grow like it did.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Aanchir

[The Kumquat Alchemist]

Even if at some point in its development, BIONICLE was meant to end in 2001, I have a feeling that by the time the first wave of sets in 2001 came out the designers had realized they had to prepare for the possibility of it continuing further. Of course, I'm sure they were likewise prepared for the possibility of ending it quickly if its sales didn't meet expectations.

And as I said, the LEGO Group was caught by surprise by Ninjago's sales strength adn the dedication of its fanbase. This was not because they didn't know it would be popular. Like BIONICLE, it was designed to be a craze. But its popularity was presumably not expected to continue to grow like it did.

Designed to be a craze? I can see that for BIONICLE, but as someone who didn't look closely into Ninjago, I'm curious were you see that aspect of it. The named characters and world-building were evident in Ninjago even early on, but I never payed close enough attention to its marketing media to see a parallel between it and BIONICLE's massive hype.

I thought it was supposed to end in 2003?

Do you mean at the start, or end of 2003? Because LEGO meaning to end it at the start of 2003, only to see its popularity continue, would explain the lazily-made Bohrok Kal.

Edited August 31, 2014 by The Kumquat Alchemist

[Gatanui]

Designed to be a craze? I can see that for BIONICLE, but as someone who didn't look closely into Ninjago, I'm curious were you see that aspect of it. The named characters and world-building were evident in Ninjago even early on, but I never payed close enough attention to its marketing media to see a parallel between it and BIONICLE's massive hype.

Ninjago got a massive amount of promotion, including a 40-minute movie, a song, a graphic novel and a handheld video game all in its first year. The success led to a 13-episode TV series in the second year, the first of its kind for LEGO. As far as I know, Ninjago was LEGO's most succesful product launch in the entire company history. Ninjago has been hyped more than BIONICLE ever has in its target audience.

-Gata

[The Kumquat Alchemist]

Ninjago got a massive amount of promotion, including a 40-minute movie, a song, a graphic novel and a handheld video game all in its first year. The success led to a 13-episode TV series in the second year, the first of its kind for LEGO. As far as I know, Ninjago was LEGO's most succesful product launch in the entire company history. Ninjago has been hyped more than BIONICLE ever has in its target audience.

-Gata

Thanks! That's what I get for focusing on sets over story.

[Aanchir]

Designed to be a craze? I can see that for BIONICLE, but as someone who didn't look closely into Ninjago, I'm curious were you see that aspect of it. The named characters and world-building were evident in Ninjago even early on, but I never payed close enough attention to its marketing media to see a parallel between it and BIONICLE's massive hype.

I'll let Scholastic's blurb for the LEGO Ninjago Official Guide speak for me: "Ninjago is funny. Ninjago is action-packed. Ninjago is Lego's biggest new initiative since Bionicle!" The number of sets it got even just starting out is also a pretty good indicator of how successful it was anticipated to be. A lot of detail about the planning for Ninjago can be read in Brick by Brick.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Aanchir

[Kalhiki]

Do you mean at the start, or end of 2003? Because LEGO meaning to end it at the start of 2003, only to see its popularity continue, would explain the lazily-made Bohrok Kal.

End. The whole Mask of Light deal, defeating Makuta, and awakening Mata Nui. I thought I heard somewhere that that was where they wanted to end, but they decided to continue it.

[SneakySqeaky]

End. The whole Mask of Light deal, defeating Makuta, and awakening Mata Nui. I thought I heard somewhere that that was where they wanted to end, but they decided to continue it.

That would make a lot of sense. "Tada we did what we wanted, okay bye." Then the whole Metru Nui thing was a way to slap on a continuation. They figured it out in time for the movie because that sets up the next arc and mentions them going back to their home. So what does that mean? Edited September 1, 2014 by SneakySqeaky

[Jetrax99]

Ok, can we move all this bionicle talk out of this topic and into a bionicle one?

[Dorek]

Another spread in the LEGO Magazine; features the combiners in battle, with some random stats thrown in. Vaguely trying to pass them off as canon, but hey, watcha gonna do.

[Agent Fusion]

I'm not sure whether I'm just looking at it wrong or not, but the tail on the beast combiner seems to be built incorrectly.

[Dorek]

Does somebody want to get the product landing image(s) for Hero Factory now too? :U

[bacem]

Does somebody want to get the product landing image(s) for Hero Factory now too? :U

i want...

[Mesonak]

Does somebody want to get the product landing image(s) for Hero Factory now too? :U

Low blow, man. The wounds are still fresh.

;_______;

Edited September 9, 2014 by Mesonak

[Dorek]

I was more referring to the current 2014 one =P. I'm still holding out hope for HF 2015, man.