Mesonak

Gonna have to agree with Dorek here, this seems way too suspicious and convenient.. Though to be honest, I've always referred to him as Daniel Rocka anyways, ever since that name first surfaced, for the sole reason that it sounds cool. So whether it's official or not, it doesn't change anything for me. -Mesonak

Yeah, it's likely a scenario where one Thornraxx committed a crime and was jailed, then teamed up with the other villains to escape from prision, returning to his home planet in hopes of finding salvation, which he either does or does not find (depending on how deep they want to go; likely the former). Or not. I guess we'll see. Also, set listings on Amazon.fr. Notable details include product descriptions and piece counts. Rocka Furno Breez Surge Evo Black Phantom Splitface Jawblade Toxic Reapa Thornraxx Haven't gotten around to translating the descriptions yet; I'll do it later, if I haven't already beaten by the time I get back (which is unlikely ) -Mesonak

I looked at the head sculpts of Jawblade and Fangz the moment it was first brought up in dscussion, and noticed no similarities at all. From the eyes, to the design of the head, to the jawline, even to the color, I found that no viable comparison could be made. Unless I'm just not seeing something? -Mesonak

I've said this before, and I've said this again, Splitface has never struck me as an Xplode/Thunder combo. The only things similar are the head scult and the fact that he has red on him, like XPlode. Thunder idn't even have gunmetal. =/ -Mesonak

It's supposed to be a summer 2012 wave. If it was real, we wouldn't see pictures till December at the earliest. -Mesonak

Same with me; those came in so few sets, too. Going to have to order some more off of Bricklink at some point. -Mesonak

The commonly used trans-red eye-piece seems to break more than most, but those are also available in the greatest quantity, so meh. -Mesonak

Glad I'm not alone; I count 7 and 4 respectively. Not rough with them either, just normal use. -Mesonak

Front, with that one sentence you made my day :D If I can just get my hands on Toxic Reapa, that one pair will be all I ever need. I have several pairs from BIONICLE sets of old, and nearly all of their joints have cracked. But so far, not a single broken HF socket. Thanks very much for sharing this information; any chance the transparent head piece the heroes use will get a similar redesign? -Mesonak

Ditto for me. I initially hated these guys for their overall look and feel, but over time, I've realized that the only things keeping these guys from fitting in as Hero Factory sets are their head pieces, which I think turn a lot of people off immediately. I've also grown to appreciate the Joker set more and more, which is a stark contrast from when I first saw him, immediately classifying him as the worst one. And then I saw Captain America. :P -Mesonak

Yeah, Aanchir still found them first. Once he made his post, I replaced the images (which are now inferior in quality) in my gallery with the Hi-res ones that he found. Was going to make a post stating this but I had to take care of some business away from the comp. Sorry!

Already on it. :P Thanks for the links, Aanchir. -Mesonak

That's the 2.0 torso with wide shoulders on Jawblade, not a new piece. The torso is turned so it lays flat(like how Raw-Jaw, Fangz, even Scorpio had it), giving the set the animalistic appearance. Nothing new there. -Mesonak

They're all over here along with the HF pics.

Apologies for disrupting the conversation you guys've got going on, but finalized pictures of the 2012 sets just got found by yours truly (on the same site that the finalized Ultrabuild sets were found at). Here's the link for those interested. I went ahead and compiled all the pictures found into a gallery along with the prelim pictures. That can be found here. They all look almost exactly the same as they did before, except Black Phantom which looks to be quite a lot better than I had thought he'd be, even though almost nothing has been changed except the pieces now have that glossy effect that they always do when finalized -Mesonak

Yeah, you're correct. The prices for a lot of previously announced sets (Ninjago, Friends, Hero Factory, even the Ultrabuild sub-series) don't match up with what we've heard previously. They're all overly inflated on that site. The Marvel sets are no exception.

Found the names of the marvel sets for later this year here. Just scroll down a bit and you'll find them. Likely not the final names, but still. Noteworthy nonetheless. Gives you an idea of what the sets will be like.

Front was referring to Breakout, Vinyl. Though yeah we'll probably have HF in the summer. As far as Splitface, I have a feeling that all Front means is coloring. As in, complete color splitting. Red limbs, gunmetal limbs, etc. But that's just me.

This is very underwhelming, though I'd accredit it to the grainy quality of the pictures, and that they're obviously preliminary. They all look very generic and uninteresting. The minifigs are going to be the stars of the show this time around, I can already feel it. I'm going to withhold my judgement for a bit longer; glad we finally got some pictures.

...? This comic is a retelling of the fourth episode of Rise of the Rookies; it has no bearing on the 2012 story.

If only the link worked.

The pieces' overall aesthetic, being smoother and more streamlined than BIONICLE's detailed pieces, works much better when used in combination with the traditional lego bricks. The attachment points also work much better; unlike BIONICLE, which had attachments firmly rooted in technic (rods and axles), HF has the double-pin connection system, the scale of which is mainly used by sets from System, as well as minifigures.

This method has worked wonders for me over all the years that I've owned the Mata; I've had to do it numerous times, with no damage to any of the parts.

I see no problem with the 1.0 heads; they breathe a lot of the sets original characters back into their designs; the designs of most of the sets (bar BP and Splitface) are solid. I see no problem with this wave, and gladly prefer a prision break arc to some of the more ridiculous theme ideas (wild west, carnival, etc.)

I don't see the problem with people wanting gears back; many people enjoyed the functions they brought to the sets, and thats fine; it explains why they were so popular. Really was a stroke of ingenuity on Lego's part. I personally hated them, because they limited play, posability, and even display; they obtrusively portruded from the backs of the Toa Mata/Nuva, and in sets like the Rahkshi/Hordika/Vahki, lended themselves to really odd torso structures and side-functions that detracted from the overall experience. The only sets where I enjoyed gears, honestly speaking, were the larger sets where they were integrated better and the Bohrok, where they meshed seamlessly with their design without adversely affecting the posability. But hey, that's just my opinion. :P As for the books, I'm happy to see those re-introuced. Hopefully this will lead into full-scale chapter books set in the HF universe; I'd enjoy that.