just2good

Hero Factory 2014 Discussion

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Same. Walmart doesn't stock any HF around here. I saw a couple IFB wave 1, but nothing from wave 2. And Target only has the Combat Machine.

Makes me wonder...

I too have noticed a sad lack of summer IFB sets at my nearby Wal-Mart. I suppose it's for the best, since I ought to be keeping my finances tight to prepare for BIONICLE's return.

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This whole situation is quite odd.

My Walmart only ever stocked Evo Walker, Jaw Beast, Jet Machine, Splitter Beast, and XL Machine from the first IFB wave.

My local Target only ever stocked Jet Machine, Stealth Machine, and XL Machine.

Now, my Walmart completely cleansed their stock of the first wave and only carry Rocka Crawler, Tunneler Beast, Flea Machine, Combat Machine, and Queen Beast (so, to their credit, a fairly large assortment).

My Target, on the other hand, retained their stock from the first wave and only carry the Combat Machine and Queen Beast.

I also have no other stores in my local area that stock these sets. Just those two.

;____;

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It's almost like they're trying to remove all traces of HF for the coming of Bionicle. Bohrok, anyone?

For me, this started back in Brain Attack, so I doubt it has much to do with Bionicle. I saw maybe... Two sets from wave two of BA at my nearby Walmart. Then they reorganized the shelves, and I never saw HF there ever again.

Luckily, I live by a lot of stores, but still. Target and Walmart are severely short-packed. TRU is the only place outside of Lego Stores that carries the full assortment.

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My local stores stock them all, so I'm clearly not a good statistic :U

It is a shame that we're unlikely to get more Hero Factory. I'd have liked to see some of this year's polybags at least; maybe around the holiday times...

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Walmart on my radar also happens to barely stock any sets, they only now put a handful of IFB Wave 1 sets on shelf's. But whatever doesn't matter because I found a really good toy store near me that has all the latest Lego sets including IFB wave 2 and New Chima Ultrabuilds. :tongue:

On side note I am rather sad Hero Factory draws to its end. I do wish it along with Bionicle co-existed together. With Hero Factory being construction figure line for young fans while Bionicle for older fans. But alas they use Hero Factory build in not complex way so that wont work. :grin:

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Walmart on my radar also happens to barely stock any sets, they only now put a handful of IFB Wave 1 sets on shelf's. But whatever doesn't matter because I found a really good toy store near me that has all the latest Lego sets including IFB wave 2 and New Chima Ultrabuilds. :tongue:

On side note I am rather sad Hero Factory draws to its end. I do wish it along with Bionicle co-existed together. With Hero Factory being construction figure line for young fans while Bionicle for older fans. But alas they use Hero Factory build in not complex way so that wont work. :grin:

I don't think they would have designed BIONICLE specifically for older fans even if Hero Factory had continued. After all, BIONICLE has always been aimed at a similar age range to Hero Factory, and boasted a similar level of complexity. Reinventing BIONICLE for an older audience would not only have been unfaithful to the original theme, it would have greatly reduced the size of its potential audience.

Personally, I find the new BIONICLE sets are plenty complex anyway. The Toa all seem to have gear functions, and plenty of them have more elaborate leg and arm designs than BIONICLE canister sets ever did, many of the "Protectors" ans some of the Toa have elaborately assembled weapons (rather than specialized single-piece weapons like most BIONICLE sets had), most of the "Protectors" have more articulation than BIONICLE's Matoran ever did, and even the Skull Spiders (which take the place of BIONICLE's various mind-control masks like Krana and Infected Kanohi) actually boast four points of articulation.

Edited by Aanchir

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Did HF leave so many cliffhangers?

For example, the sequel story to Brain Attack was cancelled, and instead it featured minifigure heroes and beasts with Invasion From Below, as it is the final series?

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Did HF leave so many cliffhangers?

For example, the sequel story to Brain Attack was cancelled, and instead it featured minifigure heroes and beasts with Invasion From Below, as it is the final series?

The cliffhangers started with Breakout. Plans for the Hero Factory were stolen and were shown to be given to who was presumably Von Nebula. And then the BA one you mentioned (including the mastermind behind the plot), and the end of IFB showed a beast cocoon in the ship as the Heroes were heading back to the Hero Factory.

So, yeah. Quite a bit of unresolved plots. But I think the generally accepted theory is that these were prompts for kids to create their own stories. Which is kinda sad, in all honesty. Villain Factory would have been sweet.

Oh, and the books. I never read them, but apparently it was building up to a giant galactic conspiracy. Then the books were cancelled, and that was never resolved, either.

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Why is HF set to be discontinued next year?

Presumably, the LEGO Group is worried that if they have BIONICLE and Hero Factory running at the same time, they might cannibalize each other's sales and neither will reach its full sales potential.

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I've collected more CCBS sets than I would have ever had in Bionicle sets. That system really works wonders.

Well, we may never figure out those unresolved plot points. Not even the almighty lord Farshtey will give us the answers.

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Probably because he doesn't know; he wrote the books (and scripted the comics, once upon a time), but didn't have much to do with the overall direction of the story.

I'll still miss Hero Factory :<

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Presumably, the LEGO Group is worried that if they have BIONICLE and Hero Factory running at the same time, they might cannibalize each other's sales and neither will reach its full sales potential.

It's a shame HF couldn't continue as a series of minifig-scale sets making use of the robofigs introduced in IFB. Those figures have such potential; I hope we see some BIONICLE playsets that use them, or something similar.

Edited by The Kumquat Alchemist

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I don't think they would have designed BIONICLE specifically for older fans even if Hero Factory had continued. After all, BIONICLE has always been aimed at a similar age range to Hero Factory, and boasted a similar level of complexity. Reinventing BIONICLE for an older audience would not only have been unfaithful to the original theme, it would have greatly reduced the size of its potential audience.

Personally, I find the new BIONICLE sets are plenty complex anyway. The Toa all seem to have gear functions, and plenty of them have more elaborate leg and arm designs than BIONICLE canister sets ever did, many of the "Protectors" ans some of the Toa have elaborately assembled weapons (rather than specialized single-piece weapons like most BIONICLE sets had), most of the "Protectors" have more articulation than BIONICLE's Matoran ever did, and even the Skull Spiders (which take the place of BIONICLE's various mind-control masks like Krana and Infected Kanohi) actually boast four points of articulation.

Well now that you put that way fine but I was just visioning if Bionicle could have potentially be action figure line for older audience and sorta be Technic subtheme again. And sticked with using technic parts with balljoints and connectors like before. But only more complex between Hero Factory and Technic level.

Well.......... I didn't bother think this through now that you mention so much :grin: but gear functions!? To me only Onua seems to have it, while some Toa have "extra gibble" I think its for weapon storage but does make wonder if this time its possible to add a gimmick and still give great array of possibility. I seriously don't want Bruizer all over again, I have tried once revamp Bruizer the way that he still has the gimmick and poseable arm but that didn't work out. And to be honest it will take some time to adapt with Bionicle having Hero Factory build because to me it doesn't seem fitting on some. Probably because parts don't look so detailed like on Bionicle sets before them.

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After they drive back the Beasts, the Heroes must go on the greatest mission yet:

The search for cheap printer ink!

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After they drive back the Beasts, the Heroes must go on the greatest mission yet:

The search for cheap printer ink!

Hilarious.

It's kind of interesting how they're going for "print out some stuff and make your own comic" kind of thing. Usually they just made digital comic makers, which I would have honestly preferred.

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I like the idea behind that comic maker.

It seems more creative that way and there is more hands on involvement with the creating. It's nice to see that it's not completely computer and screen watching orientated.

Although more variation in the drawings and if they were colour-in-able would have been nicer. And just some blank boxes for people to draw their own stuff, with some brief step by step guides on 'how to draw a...' 'hero' 'beast' 'machine' etc.

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After the recently announcement in when BIONICLE is brought back, does it mean that HF is cancelled?

I don't like the word cancelled — it sort of seems to suggest there were plans that got cut short, and we don't know for sure that there were. I prefer "discontinued".

But yeah, it doesn't look like Hero Factory is continuing next year.

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I don't like the word cancelled — it sort of seems to suggest there were plans that got cut short, and we don't know for sure that there were. I prefer "discontinued".

But yeah, it doesn't look like Hero Factory is continuing next year.

Yeah, sorry!

Do HF's official microsite on LEGO.com close very soon?

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Yeah, sorry!

Do HF's official microsite on LEGO.com close very soon?

I doubt it. I'd expect them to keep it around for at least a few months, since this year's Hero Factory sets are probably expected to remain on store shelves for a while. There just won't be new Hero Factory sets joining them or taking their place.

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