Brickthing Posted August 4, 2013 Set name: Frost Beast Set Number: 44011 Price: $13USD , 13 Euro Pieces: 60 Year of release: 2013 Peeron Bricklink Brickset Use the light-blue evil brain to transform into the LEGO® Hero Factory FROST BEAST with spiked ice teeth, frost claws and a frost blade! Following on the Breakout theme structure from last year, both the summer and winter waves of 2013 focus on a single theme, this time with the retro alien-invasion Brain Attack theme. From trailers of this year’s Hero Factory TV episode, we've known about Frost Beast’s appearance for longer than we usually would have, but how does he finally compare in the plastic? The Packaging Front Like the rest of the sets this year, Frost Beast appears in front of a blurred green cityscape. He appears to be summoning a blizzard, although it’s quite contained and close to the ground. Tax-payers of Makuhero City must be pleased that these villains focused their destructive energies into destroying the roads rather than collapsing any of the tall expensive skyscrapers nearby! Frost Beast’s packaging reveals an interesting quirk in the box art renders, where the transparent thigh shell doesn’t appear behind the transparent Frost Blade, leaving an exposed leg bone. (Occlusion helps cut down on rendering times and cleans up complex transparent geometry, but it’s amusing to see it manifest in this way on packaging.) Back Frost Beast stands out well against the green background here, alongside the range of features included in the set – combiners, brain slug infections and 600 game points! Of all the combiners, Frost Beast has had the most success at demonifying the resulting hero, by giving Stormer a wicked pair of spiky shoulder appendages, and infecting the core holder with villainous red spikes. Contents Pieces The pieces of Frost Beast come packed in two bags, for large and small parts, plus a separate torso bone and brain slug. There are 60 pieces in total, half of which (visually) are white, accompanied by a mixture of black and grey bones, and a very generous amount of trans-light blue. Interesting Pieces Highlights of Frost Beast’s inventory include a White HF paw shell, a milky light blue Chima blade, 2 Chima fur pieces in White, four 3/4M Trans-Light Blue shells and four Trans-Light Blue clawed fingers. Trans-pieces have usually only appeared in sparing amounts in various sets, but recently each different colour has been given a chance to appear prominently in multiple sets, with the Summer wave this year being very favourable towards Trans-Light Blue. Other pieces of interest include Frost Beast’s excellent icicle inspired face, the new head piece in Trans-Blue, and an updated version of the triangular 3x5 Technic liftarm. This piece isn’t new for Technic sets, but it’s the first time the updated piece has been in a Hero Factory set. Instructions Frost Beast’s instructions are the same format as usual, showcasing the set with the box art image, but this time without the snow that was accumulating around his feet. Is that black ice on the unusually reflective tarmac? A random instruction page shows the inner workings of Frost Beast’s torso, utilizing the regular, easy to follow visual style. Build Frost Beast’s build is definitely an enjoyable process, owing to the Technic assembly of his upper torso, which shifts Frost Beast’s shoulders out further, and provides space for numerous shoulder/chest armour shells. When the Constraction System was first introduced, it at points actively avoided using Technic in favour of bone-only alternatives, but often at the expense of unneeded articulation points. Frost Beast’s limbs or weapons are very simple, but they serve the purposes and visual style called for by the character. Finished Set NAME I generally prefer villain sets, because they’re able to be monstrous in appearance than Heroes, allowing for more absurd proportions and varied part selections. Frost Beast is no exception, with his hulking top heavy proportions and large under-bite making him into a cartoon icicle version of Beauty & the Beast’s Beast. Side It’s quite impressive how different pieces of Frost Beast repeat icicle patterns and the spiky leg shapes of a brain slug, with only one of the pieces being expressly designed as such for his character. These same pieces in Chima would represent fur and sharp rocks or tooth blades, with the simple adjustment of colours and context. While many of the new pieces have less useful connection points for MOCing, there’s definitely a lot that can be learned from the way that official sets use the new parts that they introduce. Back Frost Beast suffers from an open back, but the effect is partially offset in person by the 3D form of the brain slug spine. While the brain/face interconnection is the focus of the brain slug gimmick, I would have loved to see dedicated back shell piece for the slug tail to rest in, in order to properly show the tail acting as an infected/overridden spinal cord. Thou art all ice. Thy kindness freezes. When not storming Hero Factory facilities and causing general mayhem, Frost Beast is quite fond of Shakespearean soliloquies. Chill out to some cool riffs Frost Beast comes with 14 regular points of articulation, plus movement in his fingers and his frost shoulder pads. The rubbery brain slug does interfere with neck movement, and will pop out of the back if you want Frost Beast to look in directions too far away from directly forwards, but luckily he still looks rather good with his slug tail loose. Instead of a thumb, Frost Beast has four fingers, perfect for rocking out with his electric-ice guitar. Final Thoughts Colour Scheme - 10/10 – Frost Beast’s red highlights can be a little jarring, but it’s important to note that this is a necessity imposed by all brain slugs, and it’s a constraint that Frost Beast embraces with the use of red Barraki teeth scattered around Frost Beast’s body to mimic his eyes and the brain slug “eject-button” horns. It’s funny that for one of the few sets that justify random dots of red within the colour scheme, Frost Beast avoids using any red 2L axles. Parts - 8/10 – If White or Trans-Light Blue are colours that appeal to you, Frost Beast is definitely a worthwhile set to get. Otherwise, while Frost Beast has a fair amount of pieces for his price, he doesn’t offer a superb amount, nor are there any uncommon shells or bones that might make this set more useful for MOCing with. Design - 9/10 – While his ridiculous proportions might be detrimental to a Hero figure, they work well for Frost Beast, since they give him a more interesting build and a more memorable appearance. I appreciate the differences in style between Frost Beast’s cartoony ice interpretations and the elemental ice armour of Bionicle’s Strakk from 2009. While beautiful pieces, Strakk’s Ice parts were fairly single use and clearly ice parts, while Frost Beast’s parts are clearly ice under this context, but would be easy to reapply to other roles as well. Articulation - 9/10 – Frost Beast has a full range of motion and all the articulation points a humanoid action figure tends to have. I’m slightly confused by the Brain Slug design though, because it limits the head articulation when the tail is attached as directed by the instructions, but even the box art admits that it’s easier to disconnect the tail, which the tail will very often too under its own elastic accord. Quality - 10/10 – Frost Beast has no issues in the quality of his plastic or the strength of his joints. While not exclusive to this set, the brain slug is probably the best single piece creature that action figure sets have seen, at least since the days of Krana. Overall - 46/50 – Frost Beast doesn’t stand out as having the most exciting design or most useful pieces of this wave, but he is by all means an excellent set, and a very solid entry as an ice themed monster. If you’re looking for more trans-pieces, consider Frost Beast as a very good option, but otherwise you’ll probably find the winter wave of monster sets more appealing for useful bones and weapon pieces. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leewan Posted August 6, 2013 His legs seem quite small. It's weird, because I hadn't this impression with ZORK's review. It must be because of his massive upper torso armor. But I still think it's a great set, one of the best of the wave, IMO, and I'm eager to buy it. I think I will get him first. And Dragon Bolt or Surge next. Or Aquagon. Well, future will tell. Anyways, thanks for the review, BT. It mustn't be easy to photograph white parts on a white background. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
