Hero Factory 2014 Discussion

[vexorian]

I hope those canopies are stickers. I don't need canopies that say "stormer" on them. Also sad they are apparently clear plastic, that will be so much boring,

[bacem]

I hope those canopies are stickers. I don't need canopies that say "stormer" on them. Also sad they are apparently clear plastic, that will be so much boring,

huh, what did you originally expected?

[vexorian]

I like transparent color cockpits. In this theme there was an opportunity to have them in different colors.

Edit: I found the really high res images and it seems Freeze machine uses light blue wind screen. That's sexy. I just wanted to see more like that. Like trans yellow ones.

It appears Front is not trolling when saying that these use normal-sized minifigure heads. I hope the faces are helmets put over a MF head.

Edited November 13, 2013 by vexorian

[DraikNova]

Monster Fighters head? You mean that they have a flat version of their face on the circular one?

Anyway, I wonder if Breeze will actually try to tame Flyer Beast. It'd be a great chance to reintroduce the special ability she was shown to have in season 1.

EDIT: Look at the second pair of legs on Splitter Beast. You can clearly see a different type of feet with only two minifig-grippable connection points.

Edited November 13, 2013 by DraikNova

[Aanchir]

Speaking of the cockpits, that might just be my biggest complaint.

Obviously to accommodate these sets they need the seat; but the colors of the seats are, so far, orange or lime, and on sets like Evo walker and stormer, they are throwing off the balance. Also I wish we had more colors of cockpits. We have 3 trans black and 2 Trans light blue. Although I'm not a fan of Evo being yellow and trans green, I would have liked to see a trans green window for that set.

I think Stormer Freeze Machine's color scheme works fine. He's had had orange in his color scheme before (Stormer 2.0), and he has a good amount of it in this mech as well. Evo Walker's color scheme doesn't bother me a whole lot either. While I agree it'd be great to have those cockpit elements in more colors, I don't think the colors that were chosen end up hurting any of the sets.

Monster Fighters head? You mean that they have a flat version of their face on the circular one?

MF in this case means Mini Figure, not Monster Fighters.

Anyway, I'm extremely excited about Furno XL Machine's build. I built the basic torso skeleton yesterday, and it's remarkably elegant. I'm going to want to see about using some variation on that in a MOC one day.

I agree somewhat with Vexorian that I'm terribly disappointed not to get that cockpit glass in a lot of exciting colors, but at least it DOES come in some new colors (Transparent and Transparent Brown are new colors for it — it's only ever appeared in Transparent Light Blue in LEGO City). As far as I can tell, the decorations on the cockpit glass are stickers, but I don't mind that, since there are plenty of straight edges to line them up with.

[Shakar]

Someone wisely mentioned the combination models on the previous page.. I think we'll return to the classical formula this time. While the idea of Beast/Machine hybrids sounds cool, the exceution might..lack. The Beasts could combine into a 4 headed hydra monster, while the Machines turn into one multi-pilot titan- the 3 15 Euro mechas, at least.

And in Summer I fully except at least one vehicle set. Now that the pieces required for the pilot make up a insignificant part of the piece budget, the designers can fully commit themselves to design a very cool vehicle model.

[VBBN]

I think Stormer Freeze Machine's color scheme works fine. He's had had orange in his color scheme before (Stormer 2.0), and he has a good amount of it in this mech as well. Evo Walker's color scheme doesn't bother me a whole lot either. While I agree it'd be great to have those cockpit elements in more colors, I don't think the colors that were chosen end up hurting any of the sets.

Perhaps I worded that incorrectly. It's not the fact he has orange that disappoints me, I actually quite like white orange and trans blue together, it's that there isn't enough. Solid orange seat and a small orange arrow on his printed plate, and Trans orange as two little bits on his shoulders. It isn't spread out enough IMO and if a color doesn't fully compliment the set is rather not see it. I can see if they wanted it to be an accent color, but the seat is a fairly large piece and throws off the accent purpose of it. All a matter of opinion, but still.

Besides that gives way to my same argument about the glass; I'd like to have seen more colors for the seats. Not sure what summer will bring, but as it stands orange and lime can only take you so far

[Antrozek]

is there a HD picture of evo walker yet?

[Kalhiki]

Not yet. Or Jaw Beast, for that matter. Sad, really. I want to see what they look like finalized.

[Takanuinuva]

The Beasts could combine into a 4 headed hydra monster

You just gave me an idea when I get Jaw Beast, Flyer Beast and Splitter Beast.

[ZORK64]

I'm sure you're not the only one, I'm still divided myself. On one hand, it's a totally new concept for constraction lines, and the overall execution is very well thought out. On the other, I'm not totally sure how I can integrate these sets in my HFverse.

I think that's also one of the problems I have with these guys. They are a completely different scale than previous lines.

Plus the designs of the mechs are quite inspirational, especially Furno JM. Its shoulder/chest build is unique as far as I can see.

I might be wrong on this, but I'm getting a very strong Furno XL/Frost Beast vibe from Furno JM's shoulders.

will you do a review for these sets?

Most likely yes. In the meantime, I'll start writing those darn reviews for Dragon Bolt and Evo. It really bugs me that I postponed the former's review so often, since I'm now rather short on time.

Don't get too used to it. That's not a feature of the upcoming sets so much as the same regional distinction there's always been. We Americans have had part count printed on Lego set packaging since before my time (so, pre-1990s). Other countries don't necessarily get that privilege, and just because these pictures show packaging with part count doesn't mean it'll have that wherever you call home.

Aw man, that's a total bummer. Well, some things might never change...

[Merc4hire95]

This wave looks like its going to be my favorite this year, simply because it was perfectly executed. I actually prefer clear cockpits, it makes it easier to MOC with than with various translucent colors, IMO.

[Aethersprite]

Someone wisely mentioned the combination models on the previous page.. I think we'll return to the classical formula this time. While the idea of Beast/Machine hybrids sounds cool, the exceution might..lack. The Beasts could combine into a 4 headed hydra monster, while the Machines turn into one multi-pilot titan- the 3 15 Euro mechas, at least.

And in Summer I fully except at least one vehicle set. Now that the pieces required for the pilot make up a insignificant part of the piece budget, the designers can fully commit themselves to design a very cool vehicle model.

Aren't these technically vehicle sets? Anyways, I hope to see more beast like mechs in the summer wave, or mechs with multiple pilots.

[Dorek]

Transformer mechs pleeeease.

[Merc4hire95]

This winter wave looks great, but I definitely hope to see more beasts(fingers crossed for a hydra beast ) and hero mechs or machines in the summer wave. For the most part, this wave should keep me busy. In all seriousness though, I really want a four headed monster, or atleast an official alternate combination build for the beasts.

[Shakar]

[

Aren't these technically vehicle sets? Anyways, I hope to see more beast like mechs in the summer wave, or mechs with multiple pilots.

Well, I mean non-humanoid Machines. You know, space ships and such. I'd like if they took inspiration from Galaxy Squad. And yes, multiple pilot Machines for the win!

I think that's also one of the problems I have with these guys. They are a completely different scale than previous lines.

I might be wrong on this, but I'm getting a very strong Furno XL/Frost Beast vibe from Furno JM's shoulders.

Indeed. They also have a completely different style compared to full scale Heroes, in colours, proportions and parts selection.

If you added a proper torso and head they'd look silly, especially SFM and FJM with their weird proportions. RSM and EXLM are more standard humanoids, but their colour schemes are so much different from those of their pilots. They're clearly meant to only vaguely remind you of their pilot.

It's not bad, humanoid designs were getting stale (inexplicably so, since 2012 was chock full of experimentation). So anything new and inspirational

And speaking of experimentation, I think FJM's shoulders are completely built from bones- I don't see any Technic involved, unlike Frost Beast.

[bacem]

just noticed that the picture of furno jet machine and stormer freeze machine on first page are swapped.

Edited November 14, 2013 by bacem

[Kalhiki]

I can't figure out how FJM's body is built. The shoulders are pretty easy to see, but I also see bones kind of underneath the chest (in the picture, at least), and I can't figure out how they attach or what they do.

[Aanchir]

I can't figure out how FJM's body is built. The shoulders are pretty easy to see, but I also see bones kind of underneath the chest (in the picture, at least), and I can't figure out how they attach or what they do.

I'd build it in LDD, but those hinges are giving me a lot of grief. Let me try and break the skeleton down for you:

• 9x9 torso beam with a Waspix-style 3x3x5 connector block attached to the back.
  
• A 5M A-beam attached to the center ball joint of each shoulder, facing up and back (the lights/jets are attached to the ends of these)
  
• A 5M A-beam attached to the center ball joint of each of the previous beams, facing down and to the sides (the arms are connected to the ends of these)
  
• A 5M C-beam attached to the center ball joint of each of the previous beams on one end and to one side of the Waspix-style connector block on the other.
  
• A 3M A-beam attached to the crotch joint, facing forward (the 5M crotch shell is attached to this)

So all in all, the parts count for the torso skeleton is nine pieces: a 9x9 torso beam (90625), a 3x3x5 connector block (90634), a 3M A-beam (90612), four 5M A-beams (90609), and two 5M C-beams (90622).

I'll have an LDD image (not fully connected) momentarily.

EDIT: Here's an LDD image, with some of the parts color-coded to make the image clearer. All you gotta do is snap the lower end of the 5M C-beams onto the 3x3x5 connector block and you've basically got the torso construction.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Aanchir

[Shakar]

I tried to figure it out but I couldn't quite do it, so thanks a lot. It really is a clever design.

See,THIS is what HF should be. The bone system has a lot of untapped potential. I don't hate Technic of course, but I was saddened by how much it was used this year. To me, it felt like saying that the CCBS can't stand on its own and needs the support of Technic. Now it seems we're back on track, which is awesome.

Fixed some silly typos. Blame TouchPal.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Shakar

[Kalhiki]

Wow. That's amazing. Praise to the designers.

Yeah, agreed with Shakar. We need more of this sort of creativity in designs. And we also see why the Waspix piece is sort of the god-piece. So much connection potential.

[Infernum]

Wow! What a nice design!

[Aethersprite]

That looks great, at least we're still getting new builds out of the 2.0 system.

Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed about the lack of wrist articulation in the new figures. I wish they used the Exo-Force arms. While that means they forgo a connection point at the forearm, I'd rather them have wrist articulation as it does make the figures more expressive.

[bacem]

just looking at walmart's site and found out that all 2014 HF pictures are removed. so it seems we can't expect to find evo walker and jaw beast pictures on there.

[Dorek]

Figures, it's a leak anyway, regardless of "confidential" stamps.

I hope we get more images in general, once the sets come out. We've had a definite shortage lately, and I'd love pictures of the monsters without the minifigs near them.