The Iron Knight

I'd imagine not much, if the dude just went to a pick-a-brick wall. All those parts seem to be available from that.

Deadpool and Nick Fury minifigs. Right on, LEGO. Anyway, I think I'll wait to see what the Hero Factory sets are like before buying any of the superheroes. All the recolored parts may well be featured in the next wave, so no real point for me to get any of these if that's the case. Honestly, I hope there does end up being a green hero. Seems at least somewhat likely, glancing at Green Lantern.

Well, to update that, all the summer Hero Factory sets are now on the TRU site. So I learned something - Scorpio's apparently $25. Is that one of those TRU markups or was that always the original price?

Hey, can anyone who's been to the Pick-a-Brick thing in the LEGO stores tell me how good the Hero Factory part selection is? I mainly want to get various armor cladding in a few colors along with varying skeleton pieces, though I don't know if it'd be a better deal just to use the online Pick-a-Brick or check out what they have in-store.

It's the marbled black/silver chest piece, which would be exclusive to the Recon Team members created by people.

Actually, it looks like individual parts will have less than ten colors to use. I think it's based on what colors a given part has been released in, so it's likely that only existing 2.0 and 3.0 parts will be in the thing, minus the Recon Team chest piece.

Aw, why couldn't one have been Furno?

My thoughts: Heroes: Rocka 3.0 - Man, this dude looks pretty sweet. Colors are a bit jumbled - gold, black, white, and pearl dark grey (?) - but I've gotta' say, probably one of the better heroes of the first three waves in terms of overall aesthetics. I don't like the small armor bits being on his upper legs; I think they could've easily just been two gold five-length armor panels, but that's really my only true complaint. Never have liked the badges, but I suppose they were inevitable. I'm actually hoping pearl dark grey is a color on Rocka, though, as that'd bring up the possibility of having his fist being in that color, which would be pretty sweet. Also liking the white head/core. I think that looks pretty sweet. Nex 3.0 - Well, I suppose this would be my second least favorite of the heroes. He's not bad, but... he's pretty much his 2.0 form in terms of design. Furno and Stormer, at least, had new armor setups and things that made them unique, but I don't see anything "stand out" about Nex. I think the two orange fists in one set are a plus, though. Stormer 3.0 - All I can really say is that this isn't exactly a "stand out" set, either, unfortunately. I suppose that the clonism of these sets from the previous wave makes the three returning from the 2.0 wave less... well, exciting. I also don't really like his mask too much. Like Nex, he's just a tad boring. I guess the cool thing is that he has those hero spikes in blue, unlike his 2.0 set, but other than that, he doesn't bring too much to the table, I don't think. Bulk 3.0 - Definitely tied with Stringer for my favorite of this wave. Orange head and core look nice, and it's good to have some recolors, but I suppose the main thing that I like is the fact that he's silver. Decent recolors, and I think it's just a really cool color, less showing off than gold, but still nice and metallic. His mask looks awesome, as well, and he's also the cheapest set with two silver fists yet. Stringer 3.0 - I've heard people hoping that he has orange as opposed to yellow-orange, but I couldn't disagree more. I've not seen primary black/secondary yellow-orange since Oohnorak, and I think it looks great here. I'm hoping for two black fists on him, but I suppose that the Hero Creator on DesignByMe could also allow for that. His bear mask looks awesome, too, and makes for an impressive figure. Again, I'm not a fan of those tiny little armor pieces on the legs, but I think that's easily overlooked. Furno 3.0 - I've never liked Furno. Really, my only reason to get the first two sets of him is to finish off my first and second wave collections, as well as the third. Still, he looks far less silly than his 2.0 form, and the hawk mask looks decent enough. The odd thing about him, IMO, is the total lack of armor on his upper legs. ? Why? I'd prefer the small armor pieces over nothing, and this legitly is nothing. An odd little quirk, I guess. Villains: Waspix - It looks like Bitil but better. Well, expect for maybe the mask/head. The legs seem a bit unarmored, but for an insect, I suppose it works. The four arms are a nice touch, and work well on this set, though I'm still not sure how much I like the unarmored-ness. The blade weapons on the upper two arms look neat, as do the trans-yellow wings on his back. Raw-Jaw - ¿Qué carajo? Um... what is it? I guess would be the first question to ask. Its preliminary (and hopefully final) name "Mamut" hints at a mammoth or something of the sort, but I'm not too sure that I see it. Overall, it has a very odd aesthetic, but I think that it's an interesting set, and it shows that this new building system works well on animals... or whatever Mamut's supposed to be. Also, I can tolerate most corny names, but I think "Raw-Jaw" takes the cake. Please really be called "Mamut." Fangz - Now this is a sick-looking set. This really shows off how this new system can be used on animals, and is easily my favorite of the three. Hind legs look a bit frail, but that's really my only issue with this one. Otherwise, this looks to be a very well-designed, very nasty set. Titans: Scorpio - Not sure how I feel about the lime/black/red, but this is definitely a very interesting (if not expensive; twenty-five dollars for this <110 piece set when the Fire Lord was only twenty?) I think the Thornax would have been better off being recolored into red, but the stinger looks pretty cool. The lime Waspix head also looks better here than in yellow, I think. I suppose I'll have to get this one to see if it's really worth its price. Rocka XL - A little similar to the Fire Lord which, while not bad, isn't something I'm too big on. It also doesn't improve much on the Fire Lord's main two flaws - the upper thighs and the arm restraints. I'd say the gold Zamor's a cool addition, but I've like ten of those from Zamor packs. Gold Thornax would've also looked cooler, I think. The Witch Doctor - God damn. This could easily be the best Hero Factory set released by summer's end. White, red, and black all look really nice in one color scheme, though I do wish this set actually had some more red. In terms of appearance, he's a giant skeleton villain. And that's extremely well-pulled off here. His skull mask looks far better than the Piraka skull, and most everything from the Ben 10 tails in white to the red parts seem to work together to form an extremely awesome skeletal appearance. I wish his staff had a longer hilt, but that's an easy fix if I were to bother.

Whoops, forgot to update the XPlode links. Should be up and running now. I've been contemplating working on a new variation of Jairo Jiménez, so I appreciate the review. If I can find some lime Mahri Matoran blades or something of the sort, I'll give your suggestion a shot, though I think I'm going to try and integrate the 2.0 system into his build later on. As for the larger handle on the whip, any suggestions there? The weapons were kind of just thrown on, but if I were to improve them, I'd appreciate some advice.

Jairo Jiménez Jairo Jiménez (traditional Spanish pronunciation) was once a member of the Villain Factory before going rogue. He joined Hero Factory under the condition that he was to be protected from the organization he was once a part of. He isn't trusted by his new allies, though he has proven himself useful, subduing Vapor, Thunder, and another bot named Hound at least once each. He is armed with a Plasma Whip, which superheats whatever it comes into contact with. He is also armed with a Disintegration Blaster, the abilities of which are self-explanatory. Furthermore, he is fitted with giant claws for melee combat, while two small rockets are attached to his body, allowing for flight. Lastly, unlike a lot of heroes, he is also capable of speaking Spanish. [I] | [II] | [III] | [IV] | [V] | [VI] | [Gallery] ______________________________________________________________ Crime Boss XPlode: Not too much to say, just a little throw-together in LDD. [I] | [II] | [III] | [IV]

Just noticed - Mamut/Raw-Jaw looks to have the Ben Ten feet (from the sand green one) recolored in red. These sets really don't look too bad, though; I'm gonna' see what I can get this summer. I want the villains and titans, at least.

I kinda' wish the spine and head pieces were separate (if not only because I want a yellow Rahkshi head =P). A new staff head design would've been cool, too. Overall, though, it's pretty cool.

I've been a long-time fan of BIONICLE, one who's stuck with it for ten years, despite its ups and its downs. I like the BIONICLE Stars, don't get me wrong, but an UCS Great Spirit set would be a much more appropriate sendoff, would it not? I support this idea one hundred percent. Personally, I'd like it to be 50% SYSTEM parts and 50% BIONICLE/TECHNIC, just so it can be accurate to the CG versions of the Great Spirit. I'd also like it to be around 60cm in height and around $150 (USD) or so. I'd also like for the eyes to be able to be swapped from green to red, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anyway, I hope that this idea works out; it'd be the perfect sendoff for my favorite theme. -Iro

Put that in spoilers just in case. And, yes, I'm gonna' buy the movie. I'll just have already seen it once before.

I'll take either. The Piraka were awesome.

Maybe "Piraka" is that one set that got scrapped. The one of the Piraka snakes. That'd be cool.

The eyes in the set are different. Not the box art.

I'd like to see Tren Krom Lewa and Vezon as canisters. That'd be cool, admittingly. But Element Lords would be soooooo muchnbetter...

You know, it occured to me that maybe "Gresh" and "Skrall" are placeholder names? Kinda' like how "Brutaka" was Hakaan's placeholder name? Or how "Vastus" was Gresh's. Maybe we're going back to the MU for a year, and then in 2011 occurs where TLR leaves off.

But Takanuva was released twice with the same name (in '03 and '08). I checked both my instructions and boxes for both sets, so it's still -somewhat- plausible. But, damn it, I hated the Matoran Universe clashing with Bara Magna in an alternate universe. If this is real, how the hell am I supposed to like it in main story?

Not exactly, though. Metus and Raanu both have blue eyes and shoulder pads as opposed to yellow eyes and none.

Your link needed fixin'. I don't believe that source, anyway, it's not in any way credible.

If it's too long, perhaps you can cut out a bit of dialogue that you feel the story could do without..?

Okay, that's understandable. But that's on Bara Magna, when he's a pilot for a living. Here, he's just another fighter in a war filled with them. But here we have two armies, and there's stuff going on all around. It seems a bit dull if you stick to one fight when there's dozens of other fights going on at the same time. The only thing I'd change would be adding better endings and transitions to the fights.

Sorry if I appear to be rude, but that's cheap revenge. Maybe have him further Surel's crippling, so readers can understand the revenge here.