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Which mechs are better? Exo-Force or Hero Factory IFB?


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Ooh. That's tough. I only have a very small sample size from exo-force and none from HF... But mty flamethrower mech was really cool. Too bad it's scattered all over my room in various containers... But the Little robo-dude is still intact.

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Hero factory mechs are nothing but a cheap knock-off, the original exo-force sets were waaaay better with: superior design and creativity, a much more in-depth and enjoyable story, and superb bonus buildings to go along with the mechs (i.e. Sentai fortress, golden tower, sentai gate).

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They're kind of different styles. Exo Force was flashy and extravagant, like the classic giant battle robot style, while HF 6.0 is more grim and technological, like modern CG sci-fi movies. I like Exo Force more myself, but I don't have any HF sets so I can't really talk.

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I like the Exo-Force mechs a lot more, they had more personality and I liked the builds a lot better. Those light up bricks were super neat, too, and the minifigs were pretty dang cool. Only thing that I don't like 'bout em is that, being more system based, they were waaayyy more fragile than the IFB mechs appear to be, and more difficult to pose/balance.

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Exo force easily. The hero factory mechs are a complete joke. I like the hairstyles that came with exo force, and I loved the fact you could combine the mechs as well, those models were humongous.

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I have one Exo-Force mech and two IFB mechs, and I can easily say the Exo-Force mech comes out on top. It can be a little annoying to pose them, but they are a lot sturdier than they look and many of the later Exo-Force mechs incorporate Bionicle pieces very well. Invasion from Below mechs are very cool, and they use the minifigures way better than Bionicle could have done. Exo-Force mechs are sturdy, look cool, have characters with a definite anime feel to them, and came with many new and awesome pieces. IFB mechs can only fit one of those categories in my opinion- the last one.

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I voted "both had pluses and minuses". Exo-Force's sets weren't necessarily clone sets, but they were often much more similar than each other than they needed to be given their size and part count, and many of them were extremely fragile, making them less than ideal for play. Hero Factory's mechs are less complex but generally more diverse and a great deal sturdier.

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I went with Exo-Force. While the IFB sets are cool, they just don't seem to have that same mechiness that the EF sets did.

 

Plus Exo-Force had quite a few varied designs. Humanoids dominated, but there were things like the Sonic Phantom, Storm Lasher, and Striking Venom which added some variety.

 

Also the robots were cool and different.

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Plus Exo-Force had quite a few varied designs. Humanoids dominated, but there were things like the Sonic Phantom, Storm Lasher, and Striking Venom which added some variety.

I dunno, I think this year's HF lineup has likewise done pretty well in terms of variety. It's hard to make a comparison because Exo-Force had so many more battle machines: seventeen bipedal battle machines and four non-bipedal ones in its first year, versus just five bipedal battle machines and five non-bipedal battle machines in Invasion from Below. Exo-Force does have the distinction of having battle machines with wheels and/or treads, something Invasion from Below lacks, but if they had anywhere near the same number of battle machines then there might very well be some wheeled vehicles in the Hero Factory lineup (though perhaps not — after all, Exo-Force's seven-set final wave did include two non-bipedal walkers, a flying machine, and a tank).

 

Really, there are a lot of things that make it a rather unfair comparison. Hero Factory, like most years of BIONICLE, doesn't have a lot of large, expensive sets. Exo-Force had several. The average price point for Hero Factory is much lower. A $15 Exo-Force set is still roughly the same size as a $15 Hero Factory set... but that's not accounting for factors like inflation that affect their actual value-for-money. Beyond that, it's a comparison between a constraction theme and a System theme, so factors like piece count can't really be compared fairly. Constraction sets have pretty much always had fewer pieces on average than System sets of comparable size. It's part of the reason why BIONICLE and Hero Factory alike have a poor reputation in many AFOL communities.

 

The differences in building style also make a big difference. Constraction models can be much easier to build and design than System mecha, and they have much greater stability. But the parts are optimized for building articulated figures, so the ability to rebuild them into non-articulated models like jet aircraft is more limited than with System-based mecha. Constraction themes' ball joints have a greater range of movement than ratchet joints, but without a friction joint or other means of reinforcement, they cannot reliably support as much weight. Hero Factory models have nowhere near as many stickers as Exo-Force sets, but some people (including me) consider stickers a part of the building experience and not an undue burden of any kind.

 

With these factors in mind, I think Invasion from Below battle machines measure up quite well to those of the Exo-Force theme. I hesitate to call them better, though. Each theme has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and it's very hard to weigh those against each other. It would be like trying to compare the 2008 Takanuva set with Titan XP from the Make & Create theme or Alpha Rex 2.0 from the Mindstorms theme. They're fundamentally different types of sets, even if the subject matter (large, detailed humanoid robots) is similar.

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Exo-Force is a lot better in my Opinion, even if Hero Factory have that amazing cockpit but with Exo-Force, it a lot better for kids to play with and have a lot of good stuff for MOCers to use. Plus with it come to story, Exo-Force have one it's not big but at least it's a story and with IFB... Stop the Kaiju and that mainly it.

Another thing is that Exo-Force don't use the same part/color over and over again like Hero Factory. So this is why I think Exo-Force is better then IFB.

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Exo-Force is a lot better in my Opinion, even if Hero Factory have that amazing cockpit but with Exo-Force, it a lot better for kids to play with and have a lot of good stuff for MOCers to use. Plus with it come to story, Exo-Force have one it's not big but at least it's a story and with IFB... Stop the Kaiju and that mainly it.

Another thing is that Exo-Force don't use the same part/color over and over again like Hero Factory. So this is why I think Exo-Force is better then IFB.

Exo Force's in-depth comic series easily surpasses Invasion from Below's single TV episode as far as story is concerned, but I didn't factor that into my decision because the topic was just asking about the mechs themselves.
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Hero Factory is a constraction line. Exo-Force, by and large, is not. By this I mean that it is 95% normal Lego pieces with only a few special joints and things thrown in to make them a functioning, playable mech-figure. In addition, the Exo-Force line of Mechs is quite varied in design, in comparison to the 2-legged humanoid and spider mechs of Hero Factory - Yeah, there's the four-legged spider, but you've got the Iron Condor, your generic Thunder Fury, the various flying ones and the animal themed ones at the end of the line. I never really loved Exo-Force as much as Bionicle, mainly because I could only purchase one or the other, but I think the storyline and mechs are still head and shoulder above the Hero Factory pretender.

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Exo Force's in-depth comic series easily surpasses Invasion from Below's single TV episode as far as story is concerned, but I didn't factor that into my decision because the topic was just asking about the mechs themselves.

 

I know, I just added it for.... no reason

But ya Exo-Force just kills IFB in just about everything but the cockpit in my opinion.

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I don't like deciding between two different types of lego, like system and technic, but the Exo-Force mechs were just so detailed and awesome. Considering they are system they can fit in a lot more detail down to the stud. All in all Exo-Force has my vote.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Exo Force, definitely. The mechs were cool and creative, and had a very cool anime feel to them. The IFB sets are rather bland in comparison, and some of them look just plain unfinished.

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Exo-Force, except for the Jungle wave, has vastly mechier mechs than IFB. The Jungle wave was more hit or miss for me because the new torso piece made for weirder-shaped mechs, so they went from more Gundam/Eva sleek shapes to these stocky, pod-bodied mechs. I prefer the former, and that's what Exo-Force gives. It has an edge in terms of sleekness, being mostly System, while HF is constraction, but the Exo-Force mechs just feel overall cleaner.

 

Part of that difference, of course, could be the origins; Exo-Force is very clearly a direct tribute to Mecha Anime, so chances are they were going for that specific mecha aesthetic, and for the most part they pulled it off. IFB, on the other hand, is riding a wave of popularity generated by Pacific Rim, which is a tribute to both mecha and kaiju genres. Because of this loose basis, being loosely based on a tribute rather than directly inspired by the genre, and also in part because of how the current constraction system works, the mechs just have an overall more.... generic feeling. None of them have what could be seen as a remarkable signature weapon like the Blade Titan's spinning shield, or the numerous unique guns and blades of other Exo-Force mechs. There's one launcher, a few blades bandied about, and some flickfires. The armor is plain and generically shaped, and the mechs are just sort of... shaped. There's no clear shaping or stylistic look, they're just shaped in a convenient way.

 

As Aanchir said, it's not the fairest comparison, given the difference in building system, amount of sets, and time of release. However, while Aanchir prioritizes the creativity on the basis of humanoids vs. other mechs, my judgement will always be, first and foremost, aesthetic, and for that I have to give it to Exo-Force.

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The thing I loved the most about Exo-Force mechs was that they managed to squeeze a superior level of detail into their designs in general, and one could attempt to emulate certain features of their designs in his/her own way only to end up with something almost completely different. For example, you'd preserve the torso construction and proportions, and run wild with all the cool additions, such as weapons and extra gimmicks. However, I was always disappointed with their sizes, and felt the desire to re-make the ones I got into something bigger. Also, I wasn't too crazy about the combiners,because they could not employ their resources as effectively as I would've liked.

 

That all being said, Exo-Force continues to be the BEST mech line Lego has ever released. It's such a shame it ended.

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I haven't actually handled any of my Exo-force sets in years (Maybe I'll get around to rebuilding them one of these days like I did with my Bionicle collection) and don't own any IFB sets, but judging from my memories of Exo-force and what I've seen of IFB I'd have to say Exo-force. They just looked a lot more cohesive and. . . . . .mech-y, for lack of a better term.

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Exo-Force hands down. I will admit HF boasts use of the ball joint system, which EF didn't incorporate until later, but man, EF mechs had personality. The Grand Titan looked strong and formidable. Uplink looked like some prodigy built it out of spare parts. Sentry looked artificial and mass-produced, the Thunder Fury looked scary, etc. No to mention the diverse, likable characters.

 

I have two IFB sets: Furno's mech and Evo's tripod walker. I can't tell you anything about them, or the pilots.

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I'd say it's a lot different. Hero Factory relies on the constraction system (like it should) while Exo-Force is system-based. In the end, the system basis does give the designer more creativity for something at a mini-figure scale, because of the smaller pieces they can use. While it's also flimsier, for a collector who buys based on aesthetic value, Exo-Force wins out.

 

Actually, I'm pretty biased cause Exo-Force was undoubtedly my second favourite Lego theme of all time. Too bad it had to end so awfully...

 

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Easily exo-force, the sets themselves just had more personality to them and the sets just had better design, I can't even make sense of half the IFB sets(seriously could someone please explain the flea machine to me).

It's a three-legged walker with a grappling claw? Not that difficult to comprehend...
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Easily exo-force, the sets themselves just had more personality to them and the sets just had better design, I can't even make sense of half the IFB sets(seriously could someone please explain the flea machine to me).

It's a three-legged walker with a grappling claw? Not that difficult to comprehend...

 

Well here's a better question, what were they thinking when they designed that thing, seriously that thing looks awful.

It's time to move on.

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Easily exo-force, the sets themselves just had more personality to them and the sets just had better design, I can't even make sense of half the IFB sets(seriously could someone please explain the flea machine to me).

It's a three-legged walker with a grappling claw? Not that difficult to comprehend...

 

Well here's a better question, what were they thinking when they designed that thing, seriously that thing looks awful.

 

Your mileage may vary. Personally, I find it quite elegant, as with most of the Invasion from Below machines.
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I voted other, mainly because of the masterpiece that is the Exo Suit. :D Other than that, I'd have to say Exo Force, they have better stability and have better unique colour schemes. After the first year the designs went down in quality but they were still pretty good IMO.

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