Toy Fair 2014: Hero Factory

[Hapori Tohu]

Toy Fair 2014 was a blast as always, but now it's time to sift through the hundreds of pictures and share them with you all. First up, we have Hero Factory, <a href='http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?showtopic=12072'>as requested by you</a>! What will the second half of the the Invasion From Below bring? Read on to find out!

 

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[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

I like the eggs- the way the tops of them curve back them remind me of the Alien eggs. Intentional? Maybe. Also that Crystal Beast is worth buying just for all that trans blue. Model is eh, but a great parts pack.

[Gatanui]

Dat trans-bue. The summer line-up looks pretty decent. I guess I'll try to get Crystal Beast and Breez Flea Machine. Thank you for the pictures! BZPower always has the best ToyFair coverage. Nice banner on the front page, too.

 

-Gata

[Aanchir]

Decent coverage, even if there weren't a lot of photos. I don't think that the walker in Queen Beast looks "unfinished" at all — ball joints make excellent knob-like feet for an non-humanoid multi-legged model in my opinion. Just look at the Mahi!

 

I'm also quite fond of the other machines and beasts in the summer lineup. Rocka Crawler is nice and small but still unique in its design and armament. It looks more sturdy and complete than Evo Walker for sure. Tunneler Beast is almost certainly the best set this year at the $10 price point, and one of the nicest beast sets overall. Of course, it helps that it has far more pieces than any of the other sets at its price point.

 

Bulk Drill Machine and Breez Flea Machine are both very nice multi-legged walkers that use clever techniques to mount the cockpit. I don't mind flick-fires and really never have. However, I don't like how wide the ones on Bulk Drill Machine make the drill housing. I think they'd have looked better on the legs. An easy fix, I suppose.

 

Surge and Rocka Combat Machine is hard to judge, because it's posed horribly, even compared to the posing at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. It'll probably be hard for me to really judge that set until I see a review by someone who's a little more experienced with action figure sets than the people setting up this event. Looks like the wings fold back? I imagine that would make the combined version look better.

 

Queen Beast looks like a good set, but once again is assembled and posed horribly. They even got her chest plate upside-down. My one major gripe about the intended construction is that I feel like the front legs should have one more joint, just like the back legs.

 

Hard to say just yet which sets I'll be getting. In the first wave, the must-haves for my family were obvious: Furno Jet Machine and Evo XL Machine. They were beautifully unique both in terms of appearance and construction. But in this second wave, there aren't a whole lot of sets that beat the rest of the pack: they all have a lot of uniqueness to offer. I think my brother and I will definitely be getting Breez Flea Machine and Bulk Drill Machine, and I'm starting to lean more towards Tunneler Beast and Rocka Crawler or Rocka Stealth Machine than Surge & Rocka Combat Machine (of course, once reviews show up that perspective may change). So far, my list of "must-haves" has been pretty heavy on the battle machines and light on beasts, and I imagine I'll want to do something about that considering how many great pieces the beasts offer.

 

Overall, it's a very nice lineup that definitely does away with the heavy emphasis on humanoid builds from previous waves. I think there's plenty of mileage left in the "battle machine" concept and I hope to see many sets or at least MOCs that push the concept in new directions.

[Protodite Karzahni]

That's funny, I hadn't expected the eggs to be part of the toys. I just thought they were part of the show to make the creatures seem a little more organic and...y'know, to ensnare the heroes occasionally. They look fairly cool if I do say so myself, which is more than I can say for the rest of the sets. Again, they all seem a little too cluttered for my liking and I'm still not sold on the overall premise. If I was going to get one, I might get Crystal Beast as I admittedly do love the surplus of transparent blue pieces, especially in the bones. Not that I definitely would. I doubt I have a place for them anymore.

[Toa Zaz]

It's a relief to see that the Surge machine is $25, the same as Evo XL Machine (the Surge machine has one more piece-count). I was worried that it might be more expensive because it comes in a box, not a large bag.

[Aanchir]

It's a relief to see that the Surge machine is $25, the same as Evo XL Machine (the Surge machine has one more piece-count). I was worried that it might be more expensive because it comes in a box, not a large bag.

Yeah, I wonder why it is that they used different packaging? Maybe the size and shape of the pieces is a factor — the large, thin wing elements on Surge & Rocka Combat Machine might not fare so well in a tightly-packed bag, whereas the largest parts from Evo XL Machine were considerably sturdier.

[Bfahome]

Looks like I'm out $35 total (10 for Rocka Crawler, 10 for Tunneler, and 15 for Flea Machine). Not too bad.

 

Also, what pieces are used to connect the pod thirds? I imagine one of the triple axle connectors, but is it the male or female one and are there any additional pieces?

[Aanchir]

Looks like I'm out $35 total (10 for Rocka Crawler, 10 for Tunneler, and 15 for Flea Machine). Not too bad.

 

Also, what pieces are used to connect the pod thirds? I imagine one of the triple axle connectors, but is it the male or female one and are there any additional pieces?

In the official image for Breez Flea Machine, it looks like the female one. I don't believe there are any additional pieces, since Huw from Brickset didn't mention any when describing their construction in his London Toy Fair coverage.

[Bfahome]

 

Looks like I'm out $35 total (10 for Rocka Crawler, 10 for Tunneler, and 15 for Flea Machine). Not too bad.

 

Also, what pieces are used to connect the pod thirds? I imagine one of the triple axle connectors, but is it the male or female one and are there any additional pieces?

In the official image for Breez Flea Machine, it looks like the female one. I don't believe there are any additional pieces, since Huw from Brickset didn't mention any when describing their construction in his London Toy Fair coverage.

 

Oh, yeah, that's pretty visible isn't it. Though I don't think I'd seen that image yet. Thanks!

 

Also yay. pieces I don't have yet. :3

[Black Six]

 

 

Looks like I'm out $35 total (10 for Rocka Crawler, 10 for Tunneler, and 15 for Flea Machine). Not too bad.

 

Also, what pieces are used to connect the pod thirds? I imagine one of the triple axle connectors, but is it the male or female one and are there any additional pieces?

In the official image for Breez Flea Machine, it looks like the female one. I don't believe there are any additional pieces, since Huw from Brickset didn't mention any when describing their construction in his London Toy Fair coverage.

 

Oh, yeah, that's pretty visible isn't it. Though I don't think I'd seen that image yet. Thanks!

 

Also yay. pieces I don't have yet. :3

 

Yes, it's just the female one. I believe the axles are molded into the 'petals.'

[Kaxix]

First of all, thanks for the pictures.

 

Honestly I don't think I am going to buy any of them (perhaps only for some great pieces). Most of them are ok, but no one seems to stand out.

My favourite is the combat machine.

I really don't like the queen beast because of its colour scheme.

[fishers64]

I like the Combat Machine - seems like a good alternative to buying two sets just to get Rocka. Also wings.

 

I like the rubbery cocoon pod things as well, and good to see Breez getting a machine.

[believe victims]

The Combat Machine continues to be unimpressive, surprise surprise.

 

The Crawler is surprisingly nice for such a small, humanoid mech. The gun sitting on top is a bit odd, though.

 

Oddly, I rather like Bulk's machine. With its leg armor and body, quite frankly, it's got more of Bulk's personality than his BA form had.

 

Once again, to me, the clear winners to me are the beasts. My biggest gripes with them are that tunneler looks a bit odd straight from the side, because then you can see the gap between his armor and his body, and that Crystal Beast's neck seems too long. I know it had to be to put the other spike on it, but it makes the large head stand out far too much.

[J46 Nui]

I like that all of the new mechs are non-humanoid. It adds a nice bit of variety to the line. But why is there no Nex toys? Did his sets not sell well or something? I haven't seen him since Breakout.

[Waaja]

Once I saw the Episode for this saga, I was like:

 

"Why are all the summer mechs spider/ insect things?" Too much of an idea would just ruin it, and I'd say the summer wave is pretty bland.

 

I have kind of lost the feeling of hype whenever I see the next wave of sets. No idea why, but HF doesn't seem to perk my interest since the start of this year. True, there was some nice change in set execution, but everything just went down, starting with the changes in the film.

 

Ah, oh well..

[Scrash]

I like that all of the new mechs are non-humanoid. It adds a nice bit of variety to the line. But why is there no Nex toys? Did his sets not sell well or something? I haven't seen him since Breakout.

i always figured that since Bulk is pretty much the new orange-ish guy, Nex is kinda redundant, and Lego doesn't really see the need to make the two or three new molds/recolors that a whole new Nex would need?

 

ditto with Stringer, except he's more the redundant orange-ish/yellow-ish/bluish guy.

Edited February 18, 2014 by giantpurplejerkface

[Lenny7092]

I love the designs on the summer sets! The multi-legged mechs look very cool and interesting. The cocoons are very realistic looking. I like the new blue color on the backs of the new jumpers. The new beasts are very neat.

 

I didn't expect the Crystal Beast to have trans-blue pieces, but the pieces are very neat! I guess that's why he's called "Crystal Beast" because the pieces are like crystals, being transparent. The pieces also make him look like he is made of crystals, which is a great way to call the beast its name.

 

The Tunnelet Beast has wield-looking eyes, but the cocoon piece on his back is a nice touch to make him look like a some kind of bug.

 

The Queen Beast's chest's position looks very strange, but her design is awesome!

 

The Rocka and Surge Combat Machine is very huge! Well, that is because of its long, double-jointed legs! But it looks awesome! Wow!

 

I like the Rocka Crawler Machine. It looks so cute because of its design, and it is small! Aw!

 

We get to see Bulk and Surge as more new Hero minifigures. It's strange that they got newly designed helmets, which are unrecognizable and unfamiliar, and don't like their traditional 1.0 helmets, like the other Heroes do. I mean, why is that? Bulk's helmet looks like Drilldozer's, and Surge's looks like Rocka's.

 

It's too bad that we still don't see Stringer or Nex. I mean, I miss them, and why are they not still being included in any way last year and this year. I hope that we will get a chance to see them next year.

 

Anyway, the summer sets look like that they are worth buying, and I believe that they are going to make this summer great, interesting, and awesome when they come out.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Lenny7092

[Sybre]

Well, the time approaches once more. I have a yearly tradition of buying all the Stormer sets each year. You can bet money that I'm getting all three this year!