Hero Factory 2014 Discussion

[Shakar]

I can't believe they managed to get Surge's and Bulk's eye colours wrong, they basically swapped them. I can't tell whether Bulk's head is printed or not.

But the sets do look pretty great. Flea Machine has a silver shell on its body so there might be a printed shell on the other side afterall. Speaking of printed shells, Crawler has the print design from Stealth M. on a gold shell.

I -think- there's a new minifig gun too.

[ShadowWolfHount]

Okay I really dislike the minifig Bulk and Surge helmets, Surge more because with Bulk Helmet at least it look more like the main helmet but what is with Surge, it don't look like Surge at all, it's more of a different character because it don't look like his main helmet or his 2.0 helmet/headgear.

after taking a closer look, it feels like rocka crawler is dancing...

Well he maybe playing some songs , and hope not JB.

[DraikNova]

I don't like Surge's helmet one bit. It loses his unique extremely lengthened chin, making him look even more generic than Evo, although I do spot a blue modified plate to hold his data pad, which I think is new. I don't really care that much about Bulk's fig, and it looks pretty fitting in Crystal Beast's image. Speaking of which, if the eyes are as slit-like as they appear on that image, the printing will be pretty easy to cover up, so that's a plus. I like how the Anchor Machine uses a tr. blue gun barrel piece, as it'll help me with my IfB revamps. The look of Stormer on the Queen Beast's picture is pretty awkward, though, and the flame-like eye printing seems too close to the edge of the head piece for my liking.

It also appears that calling the Combat Machine an bad moniker was incorrect. It has the most weapons of any vehicle, including a massive (relative to the figures) plasma gun, eight ten missiles and two of the smaller guns. So yeah, it can probably tear you to shreds.

EDIT: Check out the shots of the locations in the mini-movie. Would anyone mind taking screenshots of them?

I also just realized that you can see the Queen in the background of the other Beasts' bag art. It really makes you realize how huge they are. Just look around and get an impression of what twelve meters/forty feet really is, and you'll know the scale of the Kaiju Queen. Feel free to be scared once you consider that Jaw Beast is like a smaller, plucked T. Rex.

EDIT2: I almost forgot. Turns out the cocoons have the axles attached to them, which means we won't have to worry about a lack of friction as much as we had to with some later Bionicle pieces.

Edited February 13, 2014 by DraikNova

[Timeline15]

do my eyes deceive me or does the queen use one of the new chima armour pieces on her dorsal area?

also, combat machine looks a LITTLE better like this, but still not great.

[DraikNova]

Yup, she does, in combination with a tr. neon green 3 length shell. It was already brought up earlier, though.

[Bfahome]

Looks like I'm gonna have to get Flea Machine and Tunneler. Pretty neat designs, plus those podthings are cool.

[Shakar]

I guess the Chima armour does match the crown and the staff (I knew there was a gold piece here, I just couldn't tell which it was).

Surge's helmet looks kinda bland, I agree. Bulk's looks very true to the character however.

And, anyone noticed Tunneler Beast's eyes are white and pupiless? My guess is that he's blind, like some IRL animals living in caves.

[Vinyl Scratch]

So the original ending was the Queen and all of them being in a peaceful relationship with the heroes but LEGO asked them to change it 12 hours before production finished? That... Kind of explains the semi-wanky ending, I guess. Would've liked if they kept the original ending there.

[Dorek]

The smaller sets aren't as interesting, but anything Drill Machine and up seems pretty boss. Definitely going to have to pick up most of these.

[Aanchir]

That behind-the-scenes video was fascinating. You really get a feel for how much of a triumph this was for an ad agency and a VFX studio that had not really collaborated on something this ambitious before. If I'm not mistaken, the largest collaboration they had done previously was the BIONICLE Mistika mini-movie focusing on the collection of the keystones, the discovery of the vehicles, and ultimately the awakening of Mata Nui. But that didn't come close to 22 minutes in length, and did not tell a story nearly as thorough or self-contained as this one. It was basically a heavily abridged version of the events of that year — still an artistic triumph, and certainly as epic in tone as the BIONICLE franchise deserved, but not the same as a full 22-minute TV special.

At the same time, it does sort of explain some of the perceived flaws in the mini-movie, though it does not quite justify them. The fact that the ending was changed so abruptly really highlights just why it left so many unanswered questions (like where the acid pool drained to and whether the queen might have survived). You can sort of understand their desire to keep the Queen Beast looking "beastly" and dangerous even up until the end, and I definitely appreciate that this didn't have a perfectly neat and tidy ending, but the execution of those changes leaves something to be desired. It would have been easy to answer some of those questions by either having Bulk confirm that the Queen Beast survived or having its roar echo through the caverns as they were leaving. As it is, her survival is just barely implied by the draining of the acid pool and the fact that the heroes followed through on their promise to seal up the tunnel.

Overall, I think the folks at Advance and Ghost did a fantastic job for their first endeavor of this caliber, and I hope they continue to collaborate on future projects like this, whether those be for the Hero Factory theme or other LEGO themes.

As for the new set pictures, it's great to be able to see these sets more clearly.

Queen Beast looks fantastic, though I feel like her front legs could use an additional joint just like her back legs. Great to see that amazing new shell detail being used in Hero Factory. Can't wait to see it in more colors. Surge and Rocka Combat Machine looks all right, but you can definitely tell that parts of it are a little bare-bones. It's not going to be the next Dragon Bolt or Evo XL Machine, certainly.

Bulk Drill Machine looks fantastic. Very nice beefy structure, and cool functions. Breez Flea Machine looks quite nice. I am slightly disappointed with the claw function, since it is clearly just a flick missile rather than having something where you pull back and release the claw to fire it. But maybe it works better as a flick missile. I guess that remains to be seen. Certainly the winch is a really cool feature.

Rocka Crawler looks cool for a small set. I'm surprised that it has a new, Warm Gold printed shell instead of just reusing the Silver Metallic one from Rocka Stealth Machine. I don't care either way, though it's a bit of a disappointment that it got a new printed shell and Breez Flea Machine seemingly didn't. I like the new Surge and Bulk mini-heroes.

Tunneler Beast looks fantastic, though I don't know if this is its best angle. Crystal Beast looks awesome in the official pic. I like that the nest appears in the backdrop of all three beast sets. The cocoons look great. The blue-backed jumpers also look nice, though I'm disappointed that none of the new sets have red jumpers. I wonder if the Combat Machine uses black-backed jumpers so they don't match the machine's color.

[Metalshadow]

New sets look quite cool.

So the original ending was the Queen and all of them being in a peaceful relationship with the heroes but LEGO asked them to change it 12 hours before production finished? That... Kind of explains the semi-wanky ending, I guess. Would've liked if they kept the original ending there.

Where was this stated?

Edit: Nevermind, completely missed the video post. Definitely would've been a better ending, I think...

Edited February 13, 2014 by Metalshadow

[Mesonak]

Wow; that BTS video was fascinating stuff. Makes me appreciate Invasion from Below a little more now that I hear of some of the work and difficulties that went into it (especially the ending). It's no secret I wasn't its biggest fan, but it's nice seeing things from Advance's perspective. That map of the cave was also fascinating and I want an HD image of that ASAP. As far as sets are concerned, I was going to wait for Toyfair before typing up opinions, but I'll go ahead and do it now.

Crawler Machine: At first I thought it was a waste of a set (and I still think so), but I actually kinda love the thing. It's small, concise, and looks imposing enough all things considered.

Tunneler Beast: This guy is legit. He's like the Thornraxx of this wave for me; small, custom build, and pretty nice looking overall. Throw in Surge (who, by the way, looks nothing like Surge) and we've got ourselves a nice set.

Drill Machine: Fantastic. Nice design, and the drill function is great too. Bulk also looks quite nice.

Crystal Beast: Pretty much the same. Great parts, looks good, bit bland otherwise. I'll pick him up, however. :P

Flea Machine: This one's up in the air for me, and I'll need to wait for Toyfair to see some better pictures before deciding. If its build is stable (AKA not like Evo Walker's) it could be one of my favorite sets. I just really love how it looks.

Combat Machine: This one's a similar case to the Flea Machine; it could go either way. I don't really like either of the models separately, but together... it looks pretty good. I wish a blue-backed red jumper was included in this set, but I understand the need to differentiate the color scheme from the vehicle.

Queen Beast: Evo's Machine looks cool (better than the Walker), and the Queen itself looks... interesting. Definitely a plus as far as uniqueness is concerned, and I'm grateful for that, but time will tell if it works out okay. The upper body and the wings are great, but the lower body is a bit strange looking. The torso-legs transition looks pretty strange, and I wish the legs were identical, but overall... I say it's pretty good.

Overall, wave 2 is fantastic overall; time will tell if the sets end up being great but, as it stands, they impress me quite a lot. Definitely a step up from wave 1.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Mesonak

[DraikNova]

If they had wanted to show how powerful the Queen is, they should have let more of the mechs survive. The ending as it is just gives an impression of her hand-to-hand combat abilities, but an actual demonstration in the form of a face-off would have been more impressive, although it would have required more time than the twelve hours they had. If preserving the original ending is what you want (and I am all for that), just having the Queen break the heroes' weapons and Evo's mech with ease would have sufficed. All things considered, they did a good job considering their time frame.

[ZORK64]

Hooray, new pics! Time to join the fun of commenting them!

Rocka Crawler looks very sturdy and mech-like, which I like. I think he'd look better with bigger and beefier tools/weapons. I'm not too keen on gold though.

Tunneler Beasts is yet another one of these little sets which don't offer many parts, but make up for it with a very pretty coloration. Red and Grey work well together since Protoman, and Surge (whose helmet looks odd on these pics, but still alright to me) sets a nice contrast to the monster in this set. Also, red is a very common colour in Hero Factory, so a red Beast Head is a great addition for MOCing. Tunneler Beast got very good chances of landing in my collection.

Aw yeah, Bulk Drill Machine looks neat. I like it's sturdy, massive look, though something about that drill doesn't sit fine with me. Perphaps it's position, which doesn't seem to make much sense (unless it can move forward enough to drill the earth in front of it). Silver and Orange work well, I wonder just like everyone else about his eye colours (though I have to admit, I hadn't noticed it myself at first). Anyway, I really like Bulk's helmet.

Crystal Beast is, well, a Beast with lots of trans-blue pieces. And Bulk. Sure buy.

Breez' flea machine shares it's basic design with Bulk's Drill Machine, but the design works better here since it's more fitting to Breez' catching device.

Surge's and Rocka's Walker/Glider combo looks good, and I like blue anyway, so I might pick this one up too, but I'm not sold to 100% yet.

Now, the mighty Queen Beast is a mixbag for me. On one hand, the set comes with plenty of pretty neat pieces, and both Evo's Walker and the Alien Queen look very, very cool. On the other hand, this set might be really expensive. I guess it will depend on the price if I'll pick this one up or not.

All in all, since I've warmed up to the whole concept, the summer wave appeals more to me than the winter wave now. The beasts are more impressive, and the heroes use mechs that don't look like headless constraction-sized characters anymore.

Edited February 16, 2014 by ZORK64

[EVO97]

I was finally able to check my local Walmart for the Winter/Spring wave. The only set that they had was the Furno/Evo vs. Splitter Beast for $19.99

[Mesonak]

I was finally able to check my local Walmart for the Winter/Spring wave. The only set that they had was the Furno/Evo vs. Splitter Beast for $19.99

Wait, really? ._.

What state do you live in?

[VBBN]

I -think- there's a new minifig gun too.

I just see the SW blaster and the standard gun from the first wave with the minifig binoculars attached to it, not sure if those were what you were seeing.

[EVO97]

Wait, really? ._.

What state do you live in?

Alabama. I was pretty surprised, as normally it takes a while for us to get new sets. I didn't pick it up though. I am planning on buying the EVO Walker and FURNO Jet Machine, and I don't want too many minifig repeats.

Edited February 13, 2014 by EVO97

[Shakar]

I just see the SW blaster and the standard gun from the first wave with the minifig binoculars attached to it, not sure if those were what you were seeing.

Yeah, those ones. I really don't follow SW at all so I assumed them to be new. I had a gut feeling they showed up somewhere else before but I had no clue where to search (that, and I was on my phone).

Well, first off they finally did it, they finally managed to make minifig sized launchers. Second, I see they use the good old round 1x1 as ammo, that makes them pretty customizeable (you can give each Hero the ammo colour you want, as if they were mini-Zamors).

[Timeline15]

So the original ending was the Queen and all of them being in a peaceful relationship with the heroes but LEGO asked them to change it 12 hours before production finished? That... Kind of explains the semi-wanky ending, I guess. Would've liked if they kept the original ending there.

oh, so THAT'S why the moral point of the episode was thrown out thw window in the last 5 minutes. This explains a lot at least...

[Mesonak]

Alabama. I was pretty surprised, as normally it takes a while for us to get new sets. I didn't pick it up though. I am planning on buying the EVO Walker and FURNO Jet Machine, and I don't want too many minifig repeats.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I live in Mississippi so if the sets are out for you they'll hopefully be out for me soon as well. I'll have to check... thanks for the heads up.

[EVO97]

Yeah, I know how you feel. I live in Mississippi so if the sets are out for you they'll hopefully be out for me soon as well. I'll have to check... thanks for the heads up.

No problem, I just hope that the rest of the wave isn't delayed even further. I was on Toys N Bricks earlier and someone there said the Splitter Beast set was the only set of the wave that they found at their local Walmart

[Mesonak]

No problem, I just hope that the rest of the wave isn't delayed even further. I was on Toys N Bricks earlier and someone there said the Splitter Beast set was the only set of the wave that they found at their local Walmart

Well, to be fair, if they're rolling out some of the sets now that's already more than two weeks earlier than their March 1st release date. It wouldn't surprise me if it was gradual, but hopefully that's not the case.

[Kalhiki]

Alabama. I was pretty surprised, as normally it takes a while for us to get new sets. I didn't pick it up though. I am planning on buying the EVO Walker and FURNO Jet Machine, and I don't want too many minifig repeats.

That's cool to hear. I'm in southern Illinois, so hopefully they're here too. I may be going to the Lego store this weekend, and with other stores along the way, maybe I'll find something.

[EVO97]

Well, to be fair, if they're rolling out some of the sets now that's already more than two weeks earlier than their March 1st release date. It wouldn't surprise me if it was gradual, but hopefully that's not the case.

You're probably right. I've just really been looking forward to these new sets.