Brickthing Posted August 4, 2013 Set name: Dragon Bolt Set Number: 44009 Price: $20USD , 25 Euro Pieces: 149 Year of release: 2013 Peeron Bricklink Brickset Attach the multicolored evil brain to transform into LEGO® Hero Factory DRAGON BOLT with powerful biting jaw, flapping storm wings and more! 2013’s Brain Attack is different from previous Hero Factory themes, in that the Heroes are not pitted against individual villains, but rather hordes of mind controlled monsters that would usually be peaceful. As a lonesome dragon infected by a special glowing brain slug, Dragon Bolt is probably the closest set to a regular villain this year, and is also the biggest “villain” of this year’s sets. The Packaging Front While previous sets this size came in boxes, Dragon Bolt comes in a resealable bag, about 1.5 times the size of the regular sized sets. More so than other sets, the bag seems extremely full of pieces, which is no doubt a great selling point for the set, although Dragon Bolt doesn’t contain noticeably more parts than any other set at this price point. The bag is a better format I think, because boxes tend to come with a lot of Danish air. For some strange reason there’s a flying brain slug in the background, a detail that isn’t in the background of other boxarts. Perhaps it’s controlling an invisible monster? Back On the back of the package there is the usual range of diagrams and ads – the set’s action features, a scale size comparison, game points and the ever lovable disclaimers and legalese. The size comparison (and box pictures in general) completely undersells the head piece, which is actually quite long. Contents Pieces Dragon Bolt comes contained within three plastic polybags, plus an extra polybag for the large pieces (wings, brain slug, torso bone), probably to help with packing so many parts into a single bag. There are 149 pieces in this set, which comes mainly from Technic parts and wing pieces. There are a lot less bones than in previous Titan sets, although the bones that are used are very useful. The shell selection is good but not notable, and is equivalent to the shells you’d find in two $10 Hero sets. For Dragon Bolt’s parts per dollar, the piece assortment is definitely better than smaller sets, especially because it avoids parts that you probably have enough of already, such as regular torso bones, hands and chestplate pieces. Pieces of Interest Highlights of the set include 2 Black Chima teeth, a small torso bone, the new Hero Factory head in trans-neon green and numerous Technic pieces new (or in colours new) to Hero Factory sets. Dragon Bolt has four reinforced joints and three 3L beams w/ Balljoints, which will no doubt be a useful boost to a MOCist’s collection. Dragon Bolt comes with four exclusive types of pieces – 2 Blue spear pieces, 4 Yellow ninjago blades, Dragon Bolt’s head piece and a GITD Brain Slug. The final pieces of note are the Yellow dinosaur tails, which although they aren’t new recolours, before Dragon Bolt and Aquagon, they previously were only available from a massive Creator set (6751 Fiery Legend) and a Ninjago polybag. Dragon Bolt’s brain slug is created from two separate material – a soft rubbery material for the body, and a hard plastic for the eyes and axle attachment point underneath. The rubber is a dual mix between trans-blue and yellow - the same blend as the lightning pieces used in this set and previous sets such as Speeda Demon and Voltix. Instructions Dragon Bolt’s instructions came slightly crumbled in the bag, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed by some time underneath a heavy atlas. The instructions are the larger format, and you proceed along through the steps at a nice pace, usually adding multiple parts per step. A random page from the booklet, where we use the small torso bone as the basis for Dragon Bolt’s upper neck. The instructions are easy to read, and you should have no difficulties identifying the parts called for at each step. Build First we start with the torso and legs, which are the only fairly regular sections of the build, before moving onto the tail and neck. So far Dragon Bolt’s construction uses bone and Technic elements very well together, to form a stable and part-efficient construction that has no unused ball joints and very little Technic elements visible from the outside of the model. We then build Dragon Bolt’s jaw and head, which although has some unsightly blocky liftarms, the overall effect is very functional and does bear resemblance to a dragon. Especially when you consider the requirement for simplicity and the fact that only one piece out of 20+ parts that are used in the head is specifically crafted for use as a dragon head; it’s a very interesting construction to build. Finally we make the wings, and attach them to the space left for them on Dragon Bolt’s back. Whether you like the look of the final wings or not, this construction is definitely the highlight of the build. The usage of the small electric pieces and the compact yet highly functional wing flapping mechanism are both very interesting and entertaining to build. Overall, Dragon Bolt has an absolutely fantastic build experience, especially compared to other sets of his price point, which are only able to offer at best innovations in joint reinforcement. Dragon Bolt is able to do a lot with the proper selection of Technic elements, but the wings teach a lot about mechanics that I very much hope will be included in future sets as well. Finished Set Wings up Wings down I’ll get this discussion out of the way first, because it greatly affects how I consider the worth of this set. Firstly, Dragon Bolt doesn’t look like a very good dragon. His head is gigantic relative to his body, his neck is ridiculously short, his wings are rigid and would provide hardly any lift, his jaw lacks teeth, and his legs are disproportioned and non-reptilian. If this were a MOC people would be quick to point out that dragons are usually much bigger and elegantly shaped. But secondly, this isn't a MOC, but rather an official LEGO set, which is made entirely with legal connections, works under a cost/piece effectiveness budget, has working wings and a jaw, incorporates a brain slug, and it ultimately does look like a dragon. And it does all of this with less than 150 pieces, for the mere price of $20 USD. BIONICLE’s only attempt was the Kardas dragon, which used around 4 times as many pieces and still barely resembled a classical dragon (even with consideration of it being a combiner set). My perception of how difficult it is to create a good looking dragon might be slightly skewed, I don’t think any observations I could make are of any merit, because I wouldn't have believed making a decent $20 dragon set was even possible. I'll proceed as if this wasn't a dragon but some generic monster set instead, but my consensus is that the very fact that this set exists makes it incredible. Side Dragon Bolt Is quite short from the side, and has a good thickness to his body, although his neck doesn’t flow into his spine/tail line. Reinforced joints are used around his shoulder area, to hold up his heavy head and support his upper arms, where most of his weight is directed through. The colour scheme is generally quite good, but it does start to get messy on the torso area. I think it would have been better if this set avoided dark grey, especially on the tail. Just about any pieces could have been used for the “club” at the end of the tail, and while the two Yellow dinosaur tails work well and balance out the yellow on the model, I’d have liked to see something more spiky/barbed/electric that added a bit more to the overall length of Dragon Bolt. Back Dragon Bolt doesn’t suffer from an exposed back, but is instead exempt from aesthetic standards due to the button which you press down to make the wings flap. I’m not convinced that it needed to be red - it’s not too hard to remember where the button is, especially if you built the set. As usual with LEGO, it’s a very easy fix to swap the colour to blue or black if it concerns you. With his belly on the ground, Dragon Bolt can sense the footsteps of his prey from miles away... Making good use of the brain slug colours, Dragon Bolt’s wide eye holes create green eyes with GITD pupils. His only 2 teeth are spaced strangely on the semi-loose Technic liftarm, but the jaw articulates with a perfect arc, and the HF foot is repurposed well considering it probably wasn’t intended to be a jaw when it was first designed. Urgh, Hero metal and quaza! Not really my tastes... Much better! Dragon Bolt flies back to his den, proudly carrying his hunt for the day. Final Thoughts Colour Scheme - 9/10 – Dragon Bolt follows the lightning colour scheme established by Surge, but with the addition of GITD and the removal of metal colours. The dark grey bones probably could have been better as black in some areas, but aside from the torso the colours scheme is mostly well executed. There are no exposed red axles, although the new Tan 1 ½ pins threaten to become distracting in the future. The main adjustment that would have improved my perception of the colour scheme would be if the trans-neon green was replaced with trans-yellow, which Lightning sets have teased but never embraced. Parts - 9/10 – For his price, Dragon Bolt provides an excellent number of pieces, with numerous useful bones and Technic connectors. On the flip side, there are no recolours of shells and the weapons included are either in odd colours or in exorbitant quantities, so if you prefer making humanoids, buying some of the smaller sets instead might be more useful. Aside from the lightning pieces, brain slug and obligatory Hero Core, Dragon Bolt doesn’t have any specifically Hero Factory pieces. Design - 10/10 – As I said before, while Dragon Bolt is by no means a perfect dragon, it takes a lot of skill to create a simple dragon, under the constraints of set design. The highlights of the design are definitely the wings and their mechanism, which alone are worth 10/10. Articulation - 10/10 – I’m not sure how many points of articulation you’d expect for a dragon, but the (roughly) 22 points of articulation included in this set are sufficient to give Dragon Bolt an excellent range of motion. I particularly like the articulation in the neck, which tapers visually and functionally from double reinforced joints for strength at the base, to a single joint at the top of the head, for freedom of movement. Quality - 10/10 – Dragon Bolt includes a lot of different types of pieces, and they’re all high quality, including the rubber bands, which are the kind with a circular cross section that don’t dry out and become brittle with age or sun exposure. Overall - 48/50 – In my opinion Dragon Bolt is a very special and rare set, because I wouldn’t place it as a must-buy for the final model or as a parts pack, but rather for the build experience. Dragon Bolt is excellently crafted under the constraints a $20 set is placed under in order to be fit for production. The wing mechanism is a simple and compact fully-functional contraption, offering functionality that is usually reserved for the larger Technic-based vehicle sets. If you miss challenging and interesting build processes or the gear-based mechanics of BIONICLE sets, Dragon Bolt is definitely a set worth picking up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dorek Posted August 5, 2013 I'm just about to build this guy, so... you better be right =D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted August 5, 2013 Regarding Dragon Bolt's small size, I think part of the reason you get that impression is because you have the neck angled up so high. If the neck is angled in more of a forward direction, like on the LDD model I made back when we only had a few pics from Toy Fairs and I was doing my best to reverse-engineer the design from those, his head doesn't seem so disproportionate to his body and the brain slug's tail rests more or less flat against the back of his neck. It also helps to keep the legs more bent, rather than as straight as you have them in many photos. He doesn't have to be pressed against the ground, but the image where you have him in such a pose is a little more flattering than some of the others. I feel that if he were made much larger, he'd be less swooshable, which would be a huge affront to his playability. The tail could perhaps be made a bit longer but I hardly think it's essential. Keep in mind that the typical hero figure is similar in height to a Toa Mata or Toa Nuva, and even the medium-sized heroes are only around the height of a Toa Metru. As such a monster or villain hardly has to be comparable in size to BIONICLE's largest titans like Kardas to seem formidable. I like the red button because it's fun to imagine it as a Legend of Zelda–style weak point. To disable him you have to hit his back, right between his wings! Overall I can't think of the last time I had this much fun with a Hero Factory set. There have been plenty with nice designs, but few that automatically present so much storytelling and play potential. Saturday evening after I built him, I had a fantastic time swooshing him around the Brickfair exhibition hall! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dviddy Posted August 12, 2013 This is one of my favourite sets ever from the constraction lines. He's just so swooshable and the wing gimmick is crazy fun. On the contrary though, I think he looks very much the part of classical European dragons, though the neck does lose the flow. I remember building the set and just marveling at how simply TLG made the torso shaping into such an organic looking dragon torso. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bfahome Posted August 13, 2013 Yeah I <3 this set. My one issue with it is the head mold, because to me the snout kind of looks like a duck's bill. But other than that, all-around fun and swoosh and glow in the dark! (I'm having the Razcal's Glider problem all over again, since I bought the set as much for the parts as the design, but now I love it and I don't want to take it apart. :( ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Front Posted August 13, 2013 (edited) Thanks to designer Matt for doing this set http://flic.kr/p/9kYmwR Edited August 17, 2013 by Front Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
