Hero Factory 2013

[Aanchir]

I've always preferred the smaller sizes for Hero characters, although I've been able to make exceptions with some of this year's larger sets (reducing their height only by one module rather than to the same height as Stormer 2.0, which was my original intention). So I'm not too upset about the heroes all being at the same price point next year.

Rocka's theme has never been totally clear, by the way, though his chest pattern in the Breakout wave seem to pay tribute to his origins in the Savage Planet wave.

[Shakar]

Indeed, he and Evo don't seem to have recurring themes. I guess that makes their sets more..unpredictable?

As I said before, the Heroes we're getting are the 4 who were released as mid size versions this year. Maybe in Summer we're getting mid size versions of this year's small size Heroes (Evo, Surge, Stringer, Nex). Since the XL form is going to Furno this time, I guess Stormer is going to be a mid size set. Of course this is just speculation, but I'd love to see, for example, what crazy equipment they could give to Nex thanks to the higher piece count.

As for the "small Heroes vs mid size Heroes" debate, I'm going to say I'm ambivalent. The 2.0/3.0 design was perfect for small Heroes. I prefer the Breakout design on taller Heroes, due to the more streamlined shape of the new torso plate.

I modded the small Breakout Heroes (well, I'm missing Nex) to make them as tall as Furno and the others, but I did make them all shorter by 1 module (well, except Rocka and maybe Bulk in the future). I like how Heroes look smaller, more chibi-ish than Toa in any case. They look..cute. Badass cute.

I wonder if they're going to come with a new torso plate, by the way..I'd be fine if they continued to use the Breakout chestplate, really. I love those chest designs.

Edited September 20, 2012 by Shakar

[TheRedGuy]

I like the small Heroes. I love it when things are small. Easily transported and fun to play with. Plus, compared to larger Villains, it makes it seem like they're at a disadvantage. Then, when they win, it seems like more of a heroic accomplishment.

But that's just me.

Really interested to see what the sets will look like. I can't see a theme going on, so I assume the Heroes will have reletively generic armor and not mission specific. As for villains, well, names somewhat give the general vibe. Pyrox will probably be fire based, Bruizer is the heavy weapons/bulk, etc.

Kalhiki

That's exactly why I like larger villains.

[Aanchir]

Indeed, he and Evo don't seem to have recurring themes. I guess that makes their sets more..unpredictable?

As I said before, the Heroes we're getting are the 4 who were released as mid size versions this year. Maybe in Summer we're getting mid size versions of this year's small size Heroes (Evo, Surge, Stringer, Nex). Since the XL form is going to Furno this time, I guess Stormer is going to be a mid size set. Of course this is just speculation, but I'd love to see, for example, what crazy equipment they could give to Nex thanks to the higher piece count.

As for the "small Heroes vs mid size Heroes" debate, I'm going to say I'm ambivalent. The 2.0/3.0 design was perfect for small Heroes. I prefer the Breakout design on taller Heroes, due to the more streamlined shape of the new torso plate.

I modded the small Breakout Heroes (well, I'm missing Nex) to make them as tall as Furno and the others, but I did make them all shorter by 1 module (well, except Rocka and maybe Bulk in the future). I like how Heroes look smaller, more chibi-ish than Toa in any case. They look..cute. Badass cute.

I wonder if they're going to come with a new torso plate, by the way..I'd be fine if they continued to use the Breakout chestplate, really. I love those chest designs.

Well, Evo's got a consistent "tech" theme just like Nex has, but while Nex's theme specifically involves networking/communication, Evo's design theme seems to be heavy weaponry. As Mr. Makuro introduces them in Ordeal of Fire, "Nex is a communications expert and Hero Outreach," whereas "Evo is artillery". Their Breakout set designs echo these established design themes.

Rocka's theme is really the most vague simply because when he was introduced, his design theme was based on the very mission-specific 3.0 wave of sets. So while his personality was well-established in the Savage Planet story arc, we never really learned anything about whether he had a specific design theme.

It also should be noted that Rocka broke from the tradition established in previous waves in that he had neither a first name nor a promotional nickname, whereas Julius Nex is "The Tech-Head" and Nathan Evo is "The Steamroller".

And I agree the smaller look for the heroes looks kind of cute, but really I like them shorter to set them apart from Toa in a different way. In general, Hero Factory sets have had pretty good proportions since the 2.0 wave, but I think the taller Hero sets break from this a bit in that the legs of the medium-sized Heroes are longer than they should be relative to the bodies. It's worth noting that the mid-range hero sets this year have about the same proportions as Knights' Kingdom II figures, except that unlike Knights' Kingdom II figures they don't have a "crotch" that extends very far below the hip joint, which makes the visual proportions seem a bit more skewed.

One reason I definitely like that we're switching back to smaller Hero sets is that I was personally quite worried that things would go in the opposite direction, and we'd see the size of Heroes increase every year much like we saw with a lot of BIONICLE figures (though, to be fair, after around 2006 the average size of canister sets stayed pretty consistent-- the sets just began to vary between very short and very tall characters).

[DraikNova]

If the Villain names are indicative, the list order might hint at the matchups:

Furno XL vs Pyrox - both fire themed

Bulk vs Bruizer - they follow The Big Guy/The Brute trope(s)

As for Rocka vs Scarox and Breez vs Ogrum- don't know. Breez's theme is wind/sky, I guess- so Ogrum may be a flying villain. As for Rocka- what is Rocka's theme supposed to be?

Honestly, Scarox sounds more like he (or maybe she) could be a flying creature, like a humanoid ThornRaxx.

[lemmyfan396]

Hmmm,that do is a great point,and Ogrum sounds a bit more 'Ogre' styish,maybe Rocka will go kind of back to a half animal creature to beat this one.

Also,aside from Jetbug and Rotor,all hero facory flying creatures since Savage Planet's name ended with an x,

Waspix

Thornraxx

So maybe Scarox do is a flying villain.

Edited September 21, 2012 by lemmyfan396

[DraikNova]

I kinda doubt that two characters with the same theme, Furno and Pyrox, will face off against each other. So my guesses are:

Rocka vs Pyrox

Bulk vs Bruiser

Furno XL vs Ogrum

Breeze vs Scarox

[MakutaNocturn]

I kinda doubt that two characters with the same theme, Furno and Pyrox, will face off against each other. So my guesses are:

Rocka vs Pyrox

Bulk vs Bruiser

Furno XL vs Ogrum

Breeze vs Scarox

Why the hell are you writing so much useless posts in all topics? There are always a few posts on each page in most of the topics I read How can you guess that? You haven't even seen these tiny photos in preliminary catalogue! IMO it's good that smb dies. But it's not good that the most badass guy ever is dying... Why they don't destroy

Makuro?

[DraikNova]

Because that would be to destroy a character they've used in every episode of the show till now.

[Cirkit]

2013 Lego hero factory names of sets released on (LINK) smashing bricks (LINK) underneath superheroes, creator and chima. They are:

Furno XL (£14.99)

Pyrox (£9.99)

Rocka (£7.99)

Scarox (£7.99)

Bulk (£7.99)

Bruiser (£9.99)

Breez (£7.99)

Ogrum (£9.99)

(Changed into pounds.)

Hmm, interesting.

Someone mentioned how they would have expected a "Furno XL" to follow after Stormer, well here we go.

Pyrox sounds like a fire villain, pyro + x. Could easily be something else, but I have doubts.

Rocka again. Will he keep his crossbow or will he up/down/inside-out-grade?

Scarox sounds like a scorpion. Or a desert-theme character. Course, as lemmyfan396 mentioned above, it could be a flying character, but then could the same be said about Pyrox?

Bulk, nice. Hoping to see more 'bulk' in the form of those new squarish armor pieces on the shoulders and legs, wouldn't mind if they were silver.

Bruiser's name sums up what he's about. The villain Bulk, but like the other brutes not as smart. Bulk could use that to an advantage...

Breez is back! Yay! Wonder what happens with her and Thornraxx anyway?

Ogrum. A troll? Another brute? A drunk(og-rum)? Could he have not paid his tab and instead wrecked havoc in Makohero City?

I won't really give any further input about the new sets, but it is an interesting lineup, and I hope to see what TLG has planned soon enough.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Cirkit

[Aanchir]

Because that would be to destroy a character they've used in every episode of the show till now.

True that. If a character who appears so frequently in the show were killed off in another medium entirely, it would surely confuse people who don't follow all aspects of the theme. I think that's one of the things that made the BIONICLE storyline so convoluted: it was fine in 2001 to let the different media cover different parts of the story, because things like the mask quest followed an obvious pattern and it was unnecessary for any one medium to fill in all the gaps. But by 2003, the BIONICLE story was being told in bits and pieces across a lot of media. BIONICLE at that point crammed the majority of its story into the books, which did not have lasting success and as such were not always accessible to all fans.

I think the BIONICLE story was probably most accessible between 2006 and 2008, since you could get the whole story (or the important bits at any rate) from either of two media: the comics and the books. 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009 excised the most important story moments from the comics so that people who wanted the whole story would have to watch the movies or buy the movie novelizations. It's ironic that one of the time periods blamed for the story becoming so convoluted was in fact one of the most straightforward for a casual fan (i.e. a fan not concerned with getting every detail) to follow.

Hero Factory seems to be taking a somewhat different approach than BIONICLE did. In Hero Factory, pretty much every story medium is largely independent of the others. The increasing continuity in the Breakout special might cause a change in that trend, but as of right now you don't need to follow more than one medium to have a grasp of where each story begins and ends.

[DraikNova]

Scarox sounds like a scorpion. Or a desert-theme character. Course, as lemmyfan396 mentioned above, it could be a flying character, but then could the same be said about Pyrox?[/b]

If Scarox is a scorpion, I would like to see a tan and green colorscheme.

[lemmyfan396]

Scarox sounds like a scorpion. Or a desert-theme character. Course, as lemmyfan396 mentioned above, it could be a flying character, but then could the same be said about Pyrox?

Hmmm,indeed,now that you do say that,Scarox could be a scorpion,if so,I hope to see a mix of brown and tan armor/bone pieces.

Pyrox could be a flying character that uses Fire ( like jetbug ),but if most people say Furno XL is going against him/her,then Furno XL needs wings/rockets/... too,and that could mean a new Titan build...

But Pyrox probably isn't going to be a flying one...

[Shakar]

Brown isn't going to be used, simple as that.

I'd like underused colours like dark azure and dark red to return though.

[lemmyfan396]

Aww,too bad,I really thought brown and tan were a perfect combination ( -> armor shells of Vorox ).

Dark red seems pretty cool,since in an old MOC I made the dark red of bionicle really didn't go along with the red of HF.

[Aanchir]

Brown isn't going to be used, simple as that.

I'd like underused colours like dark azure and dark red to return though.

Dark Azure isn't really used in any BIONICLE or HF parts, so I'm not sure what you mean by "return". Are you confusing it with classic teal (Bright Bluish Green) or Medium Azure (used in Thornraxx)?

But it's not impossible for it to show up. Personally I'd rather see more parts in colors like Bright Green (Green Lantern's primary color), Dark Green (classic green), or Bright Orange. The first two are used very scarcely but are bright, lovely colors that stand out from the Bright Yellowish Green used in Hero Factory. The third is used quite frequently, but there aren't nearly enough decent Hero Factory parts in that color.

Dark Red, Earth Blue, and Earth Green are popular requests for Hero Factory, but personally I don't think they work quite as well for HF as they did for BIONICLE. I quite like how HF has stuck to brighter colors; the kinds of colors a non-initiate might associate with LEGO. We can have a few of them, perhaps as accents like in Black Phantom, but I wouldn't really like seeing heroes or villains using those as primary colors when we could be getting brighter, more versatile colors or neutral colors like blacks and grays.

[Shakar]

I mean "being reused after 2012". I like their uses in Thornraxx and Black Phantom.

I agree darker colours should be just used as accents- I don't want HF to fall into 2004 or 2008 Bionicle levels of grimness. A white and earth blue set would be excellent.

[DraikNova]

Personally, I think a tan and lime combo would be reasonably plausible. We already have a lot of lime parts, so the only new parts would have to be the tan ones..

[Kadabra]

To me Scarox seems like a scarecrow rpthemed villain - Maybe he'll continue Splitface's theme of Batman inspired villains and be a fear-based Scarecrow ripoff?

[Jetrax99]

I'm really hoping that Furno XL is an entirely new build to differentiate him from Stormer. Also, am I the only one hoping for new helmet designs for the heroes next year?

And as for Scarox, the whovian in me wants him/her to yell "EXTERMINATE" at least once if they make an episode.

[Dorek]

The helmets better be a new design =P. Haven't gotten a repeat of helmets two years in a row. Makes you wonder if we'll get helmets like the 2.0 style again, or what.

[Shakar]

Well, I wouldn't mind 2.0 helmets- that is, keeping the top helmet part and coming up with new gear designs. You know, I'd love to complete my Stringer/Bulk/Rocka 2.0 MOCs without resorting to painted pieces..

Can't believe we haven't had pics yet. I'm not complaining (I know scanning the catalogue is a very risky thing to do), just a bit surprised..

[DraikNova]

I personally hope we get something like the 2.0 helmets, but, like Shakar said, with new gear.

[Shakar]

Maybe we're just pointlessly speculating, and they're going to use the 1.0 helmets again.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Shakar

[Jetrax99]

Still waiting for pictures