Hero Factory 2014 Discussion

[Darren H]

44015 EVO Walker EUR 9,99

44016 Jaw Beast vs Stormer EUR 9,99

44017 STORMER Freezer Machine EUR 14,99

44018 FURNO Jet Machine EUR 14,99

44019 ROCKA Stealth Machine EUR 14,99

44020 FLYER Beast vs BREEZ EUR 14,99

44021 SPLIITTER Beast vs FURNO & EVO EUR 19,99

44022 EVO XL Machine EUR 24,99

I have a feeling the 'vs' villains are roughly "brain attack" brains sized. Simple builds of only a few pieces, that can attach or 'fuse' with the hero or something similar. I further believe that they villains combine into a larger beast / villain. Jaw beast would most likely have a large jaw - for a little critter, but he would act as the head. Flyer beast would act as the torso and wings of the larger beast and splitter could be the arms or legs - I don't know. Also, I think the 'machine's are smaller 'vehicles' that are interchangeable between figures - like a 20 or so piece build jet pack; skimobile or what-have-you.

I think overall, this theme will be focused on small add-on pieces or combining pieces to make interesting combinations or larger figures.

But that's pure speculation.

Darren.

[Vinyl Scratch]

I have a feeling the 'vs' villains are roughly "brain attack" brains sized. Simple builds of only a few pieces, that can attach or 'fuse' with the hero or something similar. I further believe that they villains combine into a larger beast / villain. Jaw beast would most likely have a large jaw - for a little critter, but he would act as the head. Flyer beast would act as the torso and wings of the larger beast and splitter could be the arms or legs - I don't know. Also, I think the 'machine's are smaller 'vehicles' that are interchangeable between figures - like a 20 or so piece build jet pack; skimobile or what-have-you.

...

You know, you might be on something.

What if all of those Splitter, Jaw Beast and Flyer Beast are components of a proper villain, yet their own smaller villains at the same time? If you want the big baddy you'd need to buy all of the sets. It'd be clever from LEGO to do that.

[Dorek]

Damn... that'd be awesome. I'd love to see that. And purchase it.

[Mr. Gundam]

Bring back?

My fault

I mean the sets like in bionicle 05-06.

[Corydoras]

Saw small pics of the new sets. This wave is called: Invasion from Below and it features the heroes in chibi (minifig) forms piloting mechs and battling giant villains (I mean regular HF-sized figures). I don't collect HF, but I honestly think the sets look cool and certainly wouldn't disappoint fans of the theme.

[bacem]

Saw small pics of the new sets. This wave is called: Invasion from Below and it features the heroes in chibi (minifig) forms piloting mechs and battling giant villains (I mean regular HF-sized figures). I don't collect HF, but I honestly think the sets look cool and certainly wouldn't disappoint fans of the theme.

saw the pic? where? wait, minifigs? that means we get HF minifigs next year?

[Corydoras]

Yup. That's how it looks like.

[bacem]

Yup. That's how it looks like.

well, that's quite new. is the mech used system parts or full HF parts?

[Shakar]

So all good guys are minifigs piloting mechs?

[Corydoras]

well, that's quite new. is the mech used system parts or full HF parts?

HF parts.

So all good guys are minifigs piloting mechs?

Yes, even the orange XL guy looks like a mech with a minifig sitting in the cockpit.

[Shakar]

Thanks a lot. Just one more question: how are the VS sets organized? I mean, I can't imagine 2 or 3 full size figures in a single set at those prices. Is it a villain+one or two minifig?

[Aethersprite]

What the- Minifigs?! That's an interesting turn of events. Given the popularity of minifigs and the general lack of interest in the HF line, this move was probably made to boost HF sales.

Anyway, if this is true, we can probably look forward to new skeleton torso pieces that can accommodate minifigs.

I'm still a little skeptical, though. It might be chibi figures after all, that were mistaken to be minifigures.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Lockon Stratos

[just2good]

I'm not a Hero Factory fan, but I might get some of the mechs with minifigure forms. Sounds interesting.

[vexorian]

What HF has as advantage over Bionicle is that they are supposed to look inorganic. So maybe the minifigures will look ok this time. But the Bionicle minifigures set a very awful precedent.

[bacem]

What HF has as advantage over Bionicle is that they are supposed to look inorganic. So maybe the minifigures will look ok this time. But the Bionicle minifigures set a very awful precedent.

the bionicle minifigs were weirdly shaped and not quite compatible with normal minifigs parts. i hope this HF minifig were more normal, like a normal minifig with printed parts, a helmet, and weapons.

What the- Minifigs?! That's an interesting turn of events. Given the popularity of minifigs and the general lack of interest in the HF line, this move was probably made to boost HF sales.

Anyway, if this is true, we can probably look forward to new skeleton torso pieces that can accommodate minifigs.

I'm still a little skeptical, though. It might be chibi figures after all, that were mistaken to be minifigures.

there is no need for new torso piece to accomodate minifig. we can still work it out with existing parts, without depending on system parts.

[Chro]

Yeah, but that's his secondary color.

My point is that his color scheme was always orange and black until it was suddenly and unexpectedly changed to black and blue. :P

Anyway, minifigs? This will certainly be interesting, though I can't say I like the sound of it.

[Shakar]

I guess this explains the higher price tags- printed minifig parts do bump up the price, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, this is just really weird and unexcepted, yet it might be of Lego's best decisions for HF yet. CMF and Space are hugely popular, so Hero minifigs might be useful as robots/aliens for Space fans. Bionicle looked really weird to most AFOLs, HF is much more standard sci-fi in terms of looks.

I hope Lego learned their lesson from the Bionicle playsets. Just good ol' minifigs this time.

[Corydoras]

Thanks a lot. Just one more question: how are the VS sets organized? I mean, I can't imagine 2 or 3 full size figures in a single set at those prices. Is it a villain+one or two minifig?

Yes, you guessed correctly. BTW, the pictures I saw were very small and I'm not sure if they are actual minifigs or just minifig-sized. Their legs look very different from regular minifig legs (more detailed and robotic, reminiscent of the Exo-Force robot villains), but most of them appear to have normal minifig torsos with some logos printed on them. The white one has what looks like some removable armor piece, something much like the space marine gear from CM.

[Phantoka_Chirox]

Pictures are so close, I can almost taste it

Edited October 9, 2013 by Phantoka_Chirox

[Gatanui]

What the-

If this indeed true, it may be the biggest revolution to LEGO constraction yet.

-Gata

Edited October 9, 2013 by Gatanui

[Shakar]

If so, then the minifigures might use this http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=13249 to connect the standard torso to the new legs.

Still don't see why they came up with new legs, especially if the Heroes need to sit inside the cockpit..

[Gatanui]

Pics or I'm gonna die!

-Gata

[Aanchir]

Well, color me surprised. I think this could be the most radical change we've ever seen in any character-driven theme to date. Unless you count LEGO Creator...

Part of me is very worried about how this will turn out. Since 2011, Hero Factory has mostly done a good job of maintaining a relatively consistent scale with its sets, and basing everything around the same building system. This is definitely going to shake things up a great deal, and I'm not sure what it might mean for the theme or for constraction sets in general in the long term.

Another part of me is optimistic, though. I've been yearning to see constraction parts being used more extensively for minifigure mecha and monsters, and while I wasn't anticipating that sort of thing coming about within the Hero Factory theme, this will be a great opportunity for the CCBS to break down some of the barriers between it and System building. If the figures are indeed close enough to minifigure size to be swapped out with regular minifigures, it could entice System builders to dabble in constraction themes even more effectively than the constraction series for Super Heroes and Legends of Chima, both of which were more or less independent of the minifigure-scale sets within those same themes.

Shame that despite having minifigure-sized characters, there aren't any signs of location-based sets or side characters like Zib and Makuro, both of which could be much more feasible in playsets than as stand-alone sets of their own. But who knows? This is just the first wave. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a Hero Factory playset.

What has now been described (constraction-scale villains and mechs with minifigure-sized pilots, plus the "Invasion from Below" tagline) gives me a really strong "Pacific Rim" vibe, which is promising, since we know Ghost is working on animation for the TV special for next year. Guess what major theatrical film they recently worked on!

The "Invasion from Below" tagline does make me worry that the setting might be Makuhero City again. I love the opportunity to see more of the Hero Factory's hometown, but keeping that same setting for two years is a little bit boring, especially after the Breakout series showed us just how expansive the Hero Factory universe is. And again, there's the potential for a Hero Factory playset, which could be promising.

Regarding the minifigure structure, I hope that they are designed with mixing and matching of parts in mind, much like the BIONICLE minifigures from the 2006 and 2007 playsets. While the idea that they might use regular minifigure torsos is intriguing, I don't think I'd be too happy with worrying about the arm connection becoming weaker if I were to mix and match their arms.

[Dorek]

When he says "minifig", why did we suddenty abandon the idea of Mixels scale parts? Sounds like that's exactly what's going down.

I dig "Invasion From Below", as cheesy as that is, especially given the ending to episode 10: Brain Attack. I'm pro for the whole shaking things up thing. It'll certainly be something to get used to, but I imagine we're going to get some cool vehicles and tech out of the whole thing.

Of course, wishful thinking says we get a 40 dollar mech with a constraction-scale figure in the summer, but thaaaaaat's just me.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Dorek

[DOTM Shockwave]

I'm going to have to see images first, but I'm not liking what I'm reading about next year's HF sets.

Edited October 9, 2013 by DOTM Shockwave