Review: 44020 Flyer Beast Vs Breez

[VBBN]

Set name: Flyer beast vs Breez

Set number: 44020

Piece Count: 91

Year Released: 2014

Price: $14.99 USD, 14,99 EUR (?)

Useful Links:

Sometimes I think beasts are mistaken. This isn't an evil monster rising from the ground to harm civilization, it's Breez's loyal stallion, that she enjoys riding into the sunset. The weapon he holds is a radio antennae that had been broadcasting the musical works of Miley Cyrus, which has now been silenced. We have to learn to understand these beasts, and how they can be true Heroes themselves.

On an alternate viewpoint, he is a horrible abomination who is waiting for the chance to crush Breez in his jaws as he ravages Makuhero city, bringing an end to civilization as we know it.

Either way sounds equally as fun to me.

Before we begin I'd like to once more thank The Lego Company and the Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring these reviews to you today. I'd also like to once more stress that the release date for these sets is January 1st for the majority of the world, and March 1st for the U.S.

Packaging

Bag Front

The bag is the usual bag we have come to expect with modern day Hero Factory sets. As with all of my reviews today, the packaging is the European variant, hence the lack of set information on the bottom left corner. Flyer beast is shown flying about, though i have no idea how his skeletal wings possibly propel him. I've come to a different conclusion; Breez is actually helping him out, using her immense leg strength and thrusters to pull him up. Look at how happy he looks! D'aw.

Bag Back

Back shows features of the set, mainly the opening jaw, claw, ability to attach breez, and shows a 1:1 scale of the minifigure.

Contents

Instructions

The instructions just show off the exact same image as we just saw.

Random Instruction Image

The colorization is easy to distinguish, as with the other sets. Black is outlined in white, to set it apart from dark gray. Also pictured above shows the construction of the grabbing claw. Note the fact it has no lower arm, the claw makes up the majority of the arm. This is not a good thing.

New parts

The larger feet are quite nice, offering 3 clip points and various connection spots at the heel.

Here we have a look at the parts included. The lovely trans orange chain, a black 2x2 brick with socket, the printed component, the "fin," and though it's not new i decided to throw the azure bone into here. I haven't specifically shown this in any my my reviews, but these azure bones are in all of the kaiju sets. For those who want a lot of these, you'll end up picking up a bunch if you get all of these; Though like many others, I need azure armor before I can really enjoy it.

Head

The head is constructed with two pieces: A lower jaw, and an upper jaw. The lower jaw has two pin connection ports and an axle connection point. The top only has one pin connection point on the "nose" The jaw is connected by a simply hinge system that gives him a ratcheting jaw that can "click" into two different open widths. I also wanted to show off both sides of the head, as you can see one side is printed to show a "scar" on his eye.

Minifigures

The minifigure's build starts with a skeleton torso, which gives her hip, shoulder, and head articulation.

Breez is the other minifigure besides Stormer to include the new torso armor in silver.

Front

And here we have Breez! I...Really like the overall look of this fig...this...uh..what the megablocks happened to her head? I was never a fan of her Brain Attack head, but if this is supposed to be referencing her standard helmet, they really missed the ball here. It's oddly short at the chin, and due to the round shape of the minifig head, it's completely lost it's angular shaping. The microphone is also a bit strange, and I would rather have not had that added on. While it adds more visual detail to the mouthpiece, it just doesn't look good to me. I'm sure some people will love this, and I understand that the minifig head shape is what caused this, but in comparison to the other helmets it is a bit unfortunate.

Side

From the side view, we can see a couple things. Firstly, you can once again see that her helmet has almost no angular visuals, and has been dumbed down to an extremely rounded shaping. Secondly, you can see that a gap is created by the new torso armor, however this means it is compatible with standard minifig torsos. The last, and most exciting feature is the thrusters. While Stormer and Evo make use of the wrist clips for the Datapads, Breeze uses the leg clips for the constructs you see above. While many may not like the look of the thrusters, I like that they were included and add personality to the minifigure itself.

Back

From a back view, you can see the peg that connects her to...Oh, that's right, she dosn't have a mech. Lego, you know you could have given us a Breez set instead of, oh I don't know, two Evo sets, right?

Accessories

Breez gets a weapon crafted with the orange chain. Unlike the one used in the Splitter beast set by Furno and Evo, this one is used by only her, and uses black lightsaber hilts instead of exo force robot hands. I must say, this one looks a lot better-Oh, and you get an extra black hilt, so you get 3 in total. Not sure how exciting this is for people, but before this set I only had one from the Indiana Jones set. As the owner of a pitch black sigfig who needs black weapons and accessories to complement him, this is a welcome addition to my arsenal.

Flyer Beast

Build Photos

As we begin to build Flyer beast, something interesting is added on; The 2x2 brick with socket onto his back. What is the purpose of this? perhaps we will find out soon. Let's keep going

Full Structure.

It's not exactly the most inspiring bone structure, and I will tell you right now that the left arm is the absolute worst part of this set. We will take a closer look at that in a minute as well.

Weapon

An interesting component of the build is the tower of sorts. It's not exactly complicated, but interesting to see being used.

Front

When complete, flyer beast strikes you immediately with his bright combination of yellow and azure. I actually quite like the colors here, and the black helps to offset the brightness overall. Design wise, there's a few problems. Firstly, he has a normal hand holding onto the tower. A massive beast with clawed feet and a very nasty looking left hand, yet he has a standard hand on the other? I understand they needed to attach that antennae somehow, but come on. Speaking of that massive grabbing hand, the design is okay, but the lack of a lower arm ruins any dynamic posing ability it carries, and makes it look extremely goofy in most poses. The tail is nice, and the wings, while I think "skeletal" is just a way for Lego to give an excuse for these horribly unconvincing wings, actually don't look too bad. I do not want this trend of bony wings to continue however.

Side

Nothing exciting here, though you can see that the claw arm looks proportional, until you start to move it. I would rather have seen a disproportionate, massive, mutated arm of sorts.

Back

You'll notice once again that 2x2 brick with socket. The more observant of you likely know where this is going. Something else I'd like to point out here, the yellow bar on his right hand. Is that supposed to be a handle? On a tower? Would have made more sense being black, but alright.

Connection Method

Now let's have a closer look at that brick. At first I thought they would use this as a means of attaching the tower onto his back so he can fly into space and become a satellite, but I suppose I'm wrong..

From the Back

Aha! Breez can stand upon this, allowing her to look as though she is actually flying with her thrusters. After some awkward positioning, you can acheive to put her in the pose on the front of the packaging.

Front View

With the chain in Flyer Beast's mouth. It's a nice way to display Breez anyway, since she lacks a mech. (hough I don't think Flyer here is too happy about it. Also notice that one of his eyes is printed to look like a scar. )

Complete Set

Overall, Flyer Beast vs. Breez is a nice set to grab. Out of the 4 monsters (I could splitter as two), Flyer Beast is my second favorite to Jaw beast, and is somewhat tied with the larger of the two splitter beasts. The main downfalls of the set lie in that lack of a lower arm, and strange hero hand on the right arm. His color scheme looks nice and the wings end up being fairly convincing. Breez is a great minifigure, and I really like how they gave her the thrusters and a means of actually attacking Flyer Beast. Overall worth grabbing, though I do think the standard cost of these sets is getting a bit too high.

[Infernum]

Thanks for the great review! Love the color scheme! Too bad I can't get it until March.

[Csacsa234]

Thanks for the reviews! I'm mostly interested in this one, because Breez is my fav Hero and the beast itself looks great. The color combination is a bold and bright choice but I like it. This line with the minifigs is better than I expected.

[Aanchir]

Great set.

Breez's new helmet is not the best, but it's not the worst either. I think it suggests her classic helmet enough to be effective. As for her lack of a mech, I imagine the reason was to keep the total element count for the first wave down — after all, this way, no Bright Yellowish Green shells or beams need to be kept in production, and there is no need for an additional printed shell. In any case, it shouldn't be hard at all for MOCists to cook up something suitable.

I don't think Flyer Beast's asymmetry really hurts him much at all. The size of his claw helps make up for the shorter arm (though a longer arm would still have been nice — a black 3M beam for his lower arm would have been more than sufficient), and the printed shell isn't so inconsistent with the unprinted one on the other leg that it really throws off the balance of detail.

I think the wings are also very effective. Despite comparisons to the wings of the Batman constraction set, these are MUCH better since they have an additional joint and don't have such a terribly huge gap between the two "fingers". Those tail pieces are always a nice piece to have and they are very consistent with the aesthetic of the beasts.

I don't think the cost of the medium-sized sets is getting too high either. It IS higher than it was last year, but keep in mind that medium-sized constraction sets like this have been the same price for five years, and that in terms of piece count these are larger and more complicated than any of those. Flyer Beast vs. Breez has 91 pieces — even if you subtract the nine pieces for the mini-robot, Flyer Beast still has 10% more pieces than any BIONICLE canister sets or medium-sized Hero Factory sets have ever had. These sets' piece counts even greatly surpass those of the Chima and Super Heroes constraction sets, which were priced exactly the same ($14.99).

Beyond that, I like that the prices are all in multiples of $5 now, so it's a little easier to compare their contents. Splitter Beast is equivalent in price to two Jaw Beasts, Furno Jet Machine is equivalent in price to one and a half Evo Walkers, and Evo XL Machine is equivalent in price to two and a half Evo Walkers or an Evo Walker and a Furno Jet Machine. I hope this pricing scheme sticks around for several years to come.

[vexorian]

My favorite Kaiju , although that doesn't say much. At least this beast has some personality due to the "wings" and spikes. This is the most likely way I'll be getting the awesome trans orange chains. Plus it is the only set with Breeze on it.

I can't think of a worse bone color than Azure, and LEGO seem to be using that color in ALL the Kaijus. What a shame.

[Kalhiki]

I know you were joking about Flyer Beast being Breez's pet, but. What if she does tame him? She can talk to animals after all. Plus, that would give reason as to why she doesn't get a mech; she flies on the Beast.

Anywho, great review. Never realized how striking Flyer Beast really is. Excited for this one. And Breez also looks fairly nice. I'll probably build a mech for her one of these days.

[Mesonak]

This set is pretty great, overall. I do have to agree with you on the claw arm being too short, however, and the absurdity of him holding the radio tower with a normal fist. Still, that's easily fixable stuff. As it stands, this guy has a fair amount of personality to him and I plan on picking him up.

And as for Breez... eh. Love the figure, dislike the helmet. I don't think it's terrible; it still looks like Breez. I jush it was a bit more tall and angular.

Great review nonetheless.

[Aethersprite]

Thanks for the review! I'm disappointed with the short left arm, but I love that they included a platform for Breez to stand on.

[Brickus]

Thanks for the review, the only thing that bothers me is the weapon.

[Fikko3107]

Well, there goes the theory that these monsters, like the Kaijus in Pacific Rim, are biologically engineered. It wouldn't make much sense for someone to bio-engineer something with one eye scarred. Then again, it might just be a recent battle damage, though it doesn't really feel like something the Heroes would do, you know?

[Lyichir]

Well, there goes the theory that these monsters, like the Kaijus in Pacific Rim, are biologically engineered. It wouldn't make much sense for someone to bio-engineer something with one eye scarred. Then again, it might just be a recent battle damage, though it doesn't really feel like something the Heroes would do, you know?

Or it got into a fight with one of the other monsters (we don't know whether they're friendly with each other). Or it accidentally collapsed a building on top of itself or something.

[Aanchir]

Well, there goes the theory that these monsters, like the Kaijus in Pacific Rim, are biologically engineered. It wouldn't make much sense for someone to bio-engineer something with one eye scarred. Then again, it might just be a recent battle damage, though it doesn't really feel like something the Heroes would do, you know?

Maybe the scar was given to it by another of the monsters. Perhaps they're ruthless and destructive enough that they got into a few scrapes during the rush to the surface, or perhaps Breez was using her "reins" to drive into territory another monster has already claimed as its own.

[DraikNova]

Slightly worse than I thought it would look, but I'll probably get it; completion value, and no matter what the show might...show, my headcanon will be Breeze taming this monster. So yeah, I'm getting it for extra parts .

[UberlegoTV]

Wow , this set is really cool! Definatly my second favorite!

[Pate-keetongu]

I think this is best of the wave. Not perfect, but quite cool nonethess. The hero hand sure looks odd, but I happy to get it as I have only 3 and it is very irritating to have odd number of those (black is the most universally useful color anyway). It's always nice that a constraction set has some nice SYSTEM bits (the tr. orange chain is wonderful, the black lightsaber handles pretty useful, the minifig armor is cool, the girdes piece will come handy...) and HF pieces are not bad neither: The Azure bones are sweet and the new feet look rather interesting. I just wish it could have two of those cool printed shells; Pretty much same problem than on Raw-Jaw which is design-wise one of the best HF sets so far. Oh well, gotta use in on a torso then, or on some gadget as a coordinate system.

[Vinyl Scratch]

Or it got into a fight with one of the other monsters (we don't know whether they're friendly with each other). Or it accidentally collapsed a building on top of itself or something.

Considering Splitter Beast, I'd say they're friendly with each other.

[Shakar]

No surprises here, the set is just like it appeared in the renderings. Good design, good colours, but I still strongly dislike the left arm and the wings: I'm definitely going to revamp those two parts. I really like the head, the scarred eye is a great touch..though my favourite design still belongs to the orange Splitter Beast head. I love how all Beasts have multiple set of eyes- very alien.

As for Breez..not perfect, but it's a good enough representation of her, I'm cool with it. Now, she just needs her own Machine..

Thanks for the review.

Considering Splitter Beast, I'd say they're friendly with each other.

No idea on what happened to Flyer Beast's eye, but SB's situation might be an exception- an example of symbiotic relationship.

[Cirkit]

Nice to see Breez getting the chance to shine. Hopefully, whenever the episode airs, she'll get more lines, and have a chance to use her special ability. Perfect chance, considering.. well.. the beasts attacking the city.

Speaking of which.. azure and yellow. I like it. The wings are a little too skeletal for me, but in the trailer for the episode, it seems to work well for the beast. I like the scar on the eye.. wonder what happened there? That claw-arm would be better if it had an elbow or something, but I still like the multitude of those new spike parts.

I'm still really digging those feet.

Breez's helmet looks weird, minifig-style. Not as swoopy as the original. Shame. I do really like the thrusters, and the way you get to put her up there, to control the beast like a bull.

Wish she had a mini-mech or something. Or a gun. Nothing says 'animal lover' like having a gun :p

I'm sure a mech could be easily built for her. It's nice that she's getting included this wave.

If I can get my hands on this, I'm sure that I'm probably going to make whooshy noises with the beast as it flies through the air :p

[ZORK64]

I'm actually surprised how well yellow and azure work together. I dunno, but I haven't thought of that combination yet.

Flyer Beast looks pretty sweet, and I'm totally hyped for azure bones. Breez is also nice, but I don't care all that much for her by now tbh.

[Logan McOwen]

This is also one I may grab. I personally am loving Breez's minifig iteration - suits her character.

And oh my gosh, if I get Jaw Beast too, I'd be able to have an entirely black beast head!

Edited January 15, 2014 by LewiMOC

[ShadowWolfHount]

To me, the set is not that good at all, the color looks really odd but i like that they did a color that they haven't don in Hero Factory, The short arm with the grabbing claw is really bad and i think that grabbing claw should have been on a bigger set then Flyer Beast, the wings well... the thing is... I HATE THOSE WINGS SO MUCH . there really bad and the tails piece is really Annoying and the neck of the set in too long and skinny.

With the radio tower, it's easy and i do like that used it, make it look like he going ti use it as a weapon... to takedown JB. The Breez minifig is not that good, the armor is good and like that they use a skeleton bady ,arms and legs i don't like and with the helmet, i agree with you %100

The set is not good but that a lot of good parts but not those ANNOYING WINGS .

[EVO97]

I just got this set for the Breez minifigure to complete the team, but I actually really like the Flyer Beast, maybe even more than Jaw Beast

[Bfahome]

Maybe the scar was given to it by another of the monsters. Perhaps they're ruthless and destructive enough that they got into a few scrapes during the rush to the surface, or perhaps Breez was using her "reins" to drive into territory another monster has already claimed as its own.

Or maybe a couple of the heroes took some flare guns and did something really stupid.

As for the set, meh. I got it because I needed Breez, but compared to the other Kaijus, Flyer Beast wasn't really that interesting.

I already rebuilt it into a four-legged scorpion thing, and I'm probably going to use its parts in a crab Kaiju when I get the chance.

[Agent Fusion]

@Bfahome

Cool! Can you post some pictures?

Edited April 29, 2014 by Agent Fusion

[Bfahome]

@Bfahome

Cool! Can you post some pictures?

I guess?

I call it "Tongue Beast".

Three guesses why.