Review: 7165 Natalie Breez

[exxtrooper]

Great review here, finally got a great overview of the basic parts and the body baseplate. Though I think it would be great if their female characters looked more, eh, female? I don't really have any good examples or ideas to make them look anymore female, as this will probably start as a sexist flamewar or something. I didn't quite get that Natalie Breez here was a girl, I think they should work a little more on this or just make all of their characters male, at least in my opinion.

But anyway, these sets are for kids, which is why I think most of these new sets have bigger parts which makes them easier to build. As some people mentioned before, I think these sets are more meant to be action figures from lego. Which is also why I liked bionicle more, as they were more focused on building, at least in the first 4 years, but I'm not going to get into that and get off topic.

But some of these sets can suit my liking, some of the villians coming out soon have lots parts and great constructions, very much like the titans in the bionicle line.

I think Hero factory is a great theme, for kids, bionicle can in no way be replaced by this theme, but the kids love these sets, and lego is probably more after money then making Bionicle fans happy. Most of the people who played with bionicle from the beginning are now tired of lego and/or teenangers or adults even.

I've probably repeated some stuff here but I think I'll leave it like that. I will probably enjoy this theme in my last years of lego, but not as nearly as much as bionicle.

[Superrrrfly69]

Great review here, finally got a great overview of the basic parts and the body baseplate. Though I think it would be great if their female characters looked more, eh, female? I don't really have any good examples or ideas to make them look anymore female, as this will probably start as a sexist flamewar or something. I didn't quite get that Natalie Breez here was a girl, I think they should work a little more on this or just make all of their characters male, at least in my opinion.

But anyway, these sets are for kids, which is why I think most of these new sets have bigger parts which makes them easier to build. As some people mentioned before, I think these sets are more meant to be action figures from lego. Which is also why I liked bionicle more, as they were more focused on building, at least in the first 4 years, but I'm not going to get into that and get off topic.

But some of these sets can suit my liking, some of the villians coming out soon have lots parts and great constructions, very much like the titans in the bionicle line.

I think Hero factory is a great theme, for kids, bionicle can in no way be replaced by this theme, but the kids love these sets, and lego is probably more after money then making Bionicle fans happy. Most of the people who played with bionicle from the beginning are now tired of lego and/or teenangers or adults even.

I've probably repeated some stuff here but I think I'll leave it like that. I will probably enjoy this theme in my last years of lego, but not as nearly as much as bionicle.

Ahah, all of the Alpha Team has the same build, like the Toa Mata. Their basically clones, but with different masks, weapons, and color.

[Zip]

Ahah, all of the Alpha Team has the same build, like the Toa Mata. Their basically clones, but with different masks, weapons, and color.

Erm, no. They also have completely different torso armours from each other, as opposed to the Rookies. If anything, the Rookies are the more clone-ish ones.

[vexorian]

Different pieces do not a different build make.

The toa mata did not have the same build.

[Zip]

In this context, I meant clone as in looking like each other. Thus the Rookies.

[Bfahome]

I think he meant the Rookies, since in context he was responding to a complaint about Breez's build.

Also, waaht. Why do "female" robots have to "look like females"? They're straight-up robots. There's even less of an excuse than there was in BIONICLE.

[exxtrooper]

Also, waaht. Why do "female" robots have to "look like females"? They're straight-up robots. There's even less of an excuse than there was in BIONICLE.

But I liek female robotz ;_;

[Brickthing]

I think he meant the Rookies, since in context he was responding to a complaint about Breez's build.

Also, waaht. Why do "female" robots have to "look like females"? They're straight-up robots. There's even less of an excuse than there was in BIONICLE.

Female robots should look female because they're meant to be female. It makes more sense here than in Bionicle because people being saved by the Heroes need to be able to relate to/understand them, so the Heroes are built to be masculine or feminine like real people. In Bionicle, the only reason there are females is because the GBs felt like it.

[Bundalings]

I know I would be pretty freaked out if a man-bot walked up and started talking to me in a sweet-and-sultry lady voice.

Just sayin'.

[Bfahome]

Female robots should look female because they're meant to be female. It makes more sense here than in Bionicle because people being saved by the Heroes need to be able to relate to/understand them, so the Heroes are built to be masculine or feminine like real people. In Bionicle, the only reason there are females is because the GBs felt like it.

Making them relatable doesn't necessarily mean you have to give them "female characteristics", though. A voice/pronoun would probably be enough, since it removes the odd necessity of calling your savior "it" while also avoiding sexism lawsuits (and yes I'm talking in-universe lawsuits) but also keeps the hero construction process consistent and practical.

I imagine there are custom "upgrades" she could get if she really felt the need to (or, I guess, wanted to, since these bots have programmed emotions [and if she's "that kind" of "girl" {excessive quotation marks ftw |by the way, what's the fourth level of parentheses? I've been wondering that|}]), but judging by the sets/descriptions so far, rookies need to earn their customization. And right now she's still a rookie. So yeah.

[Aanchir]

I think the real issue with female sets looking female goes beyond what any of you are saying. You're all citing in-universe examples, but the real reason is so that despite being robots kids can identify with them as having human personalities. The more human-like their appearance (and the more specialized it is towards their specific gender and personality traits), the easier it is for kids to understand that the figure in question is a "he" or a "she" as opposed to an "it".

This is a knife that cuts both ways. While a feminine appearance helps kids identify a set as female, a lot of the kids who buy LEGO sets of any kind are boys-- and little preteen boys aren't likely to buy a set if it's (pardon my french) "the one with the boobs". Thus the main efforts towards making a figure look feminine are focused on the mask/face, rather than the torso.

The torso should ideally look gender-neutral, which I myself feel the rookie torso does effectively. This is because despite not having any features that shout "female", it has traits that work for a female figure-- namely a slim waist and gentle curves (at least, compared to the existing Alpha Team torsos, which are decidedly more angular).

All-in-all, I think that Natalie Breez is a ''good'' sign in terms of the future of female sets, since she's without argument the first that non-fans can recognize straight-from-the-shelf as being female. And while the main way kids will be able to tell this is by her name, that's all the more reason that Natalie's sales will help determine whether the target market will endorse an obviously female set. If Natalie sells well, perhaps there might be more feminine-looking sets in the future-- but I don't anticipate another Roodaka anytime soon.

[exxtrooper]

Making them relatable doesn't necessarily mean you have to give them "female characteristics", though. A voice/pronoun would probably be enough, since it removes the odd necessity of calling your savior "it" while also avoiding sexism lawsuits (and yes I'm talking in-universe lawsuits) but also keeps the hero construction process consistent and practical.

I imagine there are custom "upgrades" she could get if she really felt the need to (or, I guess, wanted to, since these bots have programmed emotions [and if she's "that kind" of "girl" {excessive quotation marks ftw |by the way, what's the fourth level of parentheses? I've been wondering that|}]), but judging by the sets/descriptions so far, rookies need to earn their customization. And right now she's still a rookie. So yeah.

Reading this while thinking dirty makes this pretty hiarious

All-in-all, I think that Natalie Breez is a ''good'' sign in terms of the future of female sets, since she's without argument the first that non-fans can recognize straight-from-the-shelf as being female. And while the main way kids will be able to tell this is by her name, that's all the more reason that Natalie's sales will help determine whether the target market will endorse an obviously female set. If Natalie sells well, perhaps there might be more feminine-looking sets in the future-- but I don't anticipate another Roodaka anytime soon.

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that Roodaka was perhaps a little "too much", as you were saying, I think something "in between" would work pretty well.

Edited July 19, 2010 by exxtrooper

[VBBN]

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that Roodaka was perhaps a little "too much", as you were saying, I think something "in between" would work pretty well.

I honestly don't see what people have against Roodaka. Of all the female Bionicle characters, she had a lot of personality, especially in the Web of Shadows movie. Her interactions with Sidorak made her all the more feminine. Granted, I felt the whole "engagement gift" idea was over the top in a bad way, but she served the purpose of being a queen of the Visorak. Sure, she had high heels, a slim design, long hair, and rahkashi heead boobs, but thats was all part of her character. Can you image somebody like gali Mistika(ugh) being a queen of something? I think not. She looked more like a titian sized Krekka.

Point is, Roodaka's design was something that she could pull off, because she was impressing sidorak. I loved roodaka's design, personally. But you need to see the character of Natalie Breez. If she is extremely flirty and such, then she would be better with a lighter design. (Or if she is a ninja like Lariska...ah Lariska... AHEM) But if she is a tough warrior like Gali then she is better suited with an armored up design such as the one she has now.

And regarding the robot not needing to be female aspect of thing, Transformers does it, and they pull it off. So I can see hero Factory pulling it off if the designers try hard enough.

[Aanchir]

I honestly don't see what people have against Roodaka. Of all the female Bionicle characters, she had a lot of personality, especially in the Web of Shadows movie. Her interactions with Sidorak made her all the more feminine. Granted, I felt the whole "engagement gift" idea was over the top in a bad way, but she served the purpose of being a queen of the Visorak. Sure, she had high heels, a slim design, long hair, and rahkashi heead boobs, but thats was all part of her character. Can you image somebody like gali Mistika(ugh) being a queen of something? I think not. She looked more like a titian sized Krekka.

Point is, Roodaka's design was something that she could pull off, because she was impressing sidorak. I loved roodaka's design, personally. But you need to see the character of Natalie Breez. If she is extremely flirty and such, then she would be better with a lighter design. (Or if she is a ninja like Lariska...ah Lariska... AHEM) But if she is a tough warrior like Gali then she is better suited with an armored up design such as the one she has now.

And regarding the robot not needing to be female aspect of thing, Transformers does it, and they pull it off. So I can see hero Factory pulling it off if the designers try hard enough.

Hey, I have no problem with Roodaka. But obviously she wasn't tremendously popular with BIONICLE's target audience, or they'd have made more sets with that kind of feminine appearance. I'm not saying that another set like Roodaka would be the apocalypse, only that since it hasn't happened yet it's not likely to happen any time in the near future.

It's not about the designers trying hard enough-- it's about how kids just don't want sets that are blatantly feminine. If they did, I'm sure we'd see some really attractive designs from the Hero Factory design team. But as it is, I don't foresee that changing, just because preteen kids will likely continue to be immature about that sort of thing.

[VBBN]

Hey, I have no problem with Roodaka. But obviously she wasn't tremendously popular with BIONICLE's target audience, or they'd have made more sets with that kind of feminine appearance. I'm not saying that another set like Roodaka would be the apocalypse, only that since it hasn't happened yet it's not likely to happen any time in the near future.

It's not about the designers trying hard enough-- it's about how kids just don't want sets that are blatantly feminine. If they did, I'm sure we'd see some really attractive designs from the Hero Factory design team. But as it is, I don't foresee that changing, just because preteen kids will likely continue to be immature about that sort of thing.

It's not that preteen kids are immature about it, it's that they have no idea what the difference is, thus why we never see any lovey lovey relationships or anything.

EDIT: Tried a quick torso design for her, Gonna change it up a bit later on.

And as you can see, the Rookie armor fitsperfectly with Inika bodies;

[Aanchir]

It's not that preteen kids are immature about it, it's that they have no idea what the difference is, thus why we never see any lovey lovey relationships or anything.

EDIT: Tried a quick torso design for her, Gonna change it up a bit later on.

And as you can see, the Rookie armor fitsperfectly with Inika bodies;

I definitely think that torso design still needs work. It's very flat, not at all streamlined, and not really any more feminine than the main torso design.

And yes, preteen kids are immature. Any time my little brother would see my attempts at MOCing a female figure a few years back, his first question would be "Why'd you have to give her boobs?" He honestly felt that it was wrong and inappropriate (which, of course, translates to "hilarious" for preteen boys, but certainly doesn't translate to buying such a figure if it were on sale).

Nice to see that the Rookie armor works on Inika torsos, even though I'm hoping and praying that that doesn't mean all the MOCs on the Hero Factory gallery are going to be "ultra-heroes" who are like two inches taller than the regular ones. But based on what we've seen in that gallery so far (and, for that matter, on the BIONICLE gallery), people are capable of far worse travesties.

[exxtrooper]

I'd buy a robot with bewbies, and I think some other people would too.

Just sayin'.

<.<

[VBBN]

I definitely think that torso design still needs work. It's very flat, not at all streamlined, and not really any more feminine than the main torso design.

I know, it's only the first design.

And yes, preteen kids are immature. Any time my little brother would see my attempts at MOCing a female figure a few years back, his first question would be "Why'd you have to give her boobs?" He honestly felt that it was wrong and inappropriate (which, of course, translates to "hilarious" for preteen boys, but certainly doesn't translate to buying such a figure if it were on sale).

It's not all about stressing female features, It's about making females have a different design than males. Here is an example I threw together on two toa;

As you can see, the female torso is still bulky like the male one, however it is more streamlined and has a more prominent chest than the design to the left.

Nice to see that the Rookie armor works on Inika torsos, even though I'm hoping and praying that that doesn't mean all the MOCs on the Hero Factory gallery are going to be "ultra-heroes" who are like two inches taller than the regular ones. But based on what we've seen in that gallery so far (and, for that matter, on the BIONICLE gallery), people are capable of far worse travesties.

[ShadowWolfHount]

Breez to me is a alright set, not the best and i also find it odd that the hero core is Trans-Red when the picture on the Canister and Glatorian head have Neon-Orange. The Helmet and Weapons are my least favorite out of the other and the Helmet don't remind me of the Miru Nuva. I do like that there are 3 different color of the rookie chest armor (sadly not one in black ), the color of the set look great and fit really well.

To me Breez 1.0 is just a Average Set.

[LegoPanda]

i think they are just a little better than the things from 2010 the sold as bionicle, since 2008 bionicle wasn't what it used to be, like it wasn't what it used to be from 2001 to 2004, and that was only making it better, from 2008 on it was getting worse and worse