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Hi all, small plug here, I just opened my Bricklink store! I named it after a location from Christian Faber’s artwork. I have mostly Bionicle sets for sale, but I have a few other themes as well. Feel free to take a look and I hope you find something that you’ve been looking for. Thanks! https://store.bricklink.com/Teridax941?p=Teridax941#/shop

It's a sudden appearance of a few spambots. "Tightening the rules" isn't going to stop spambots from signing up and ignoring the rules they can't read. It happens on every forum on the internet from time to time.

I've already given my preliminary thoughts on this book in a blog post, where I discuss the funny and ridiculous implications of the Citadel universe. Here, I'll dive more into what this book implies and represents for the Hero Factory franchise as a whole. The Hapaka in the room is Mirror World's similarity to the BIONICLE story serial Dark Mirror (they even have confusingly similar names). Since The One, Rick and Morty, and the MCU, alternate universes seem to be everywhere. They offer an interesting look at established characters in scenarios that the main storylines can't tackle. In that respect, the Multiverse allows for something almost like, paradoxically enough, canon fanfiction. Hero Factory, in my opinion, doesn't do enough to earn this distinction. I have seen every episode of the TV show and read most of the previous Hero Factory Secret Mission books, and HF doesn't rise to anywhere near the level deserving this kind of introspection. At this point in the books, I still feel as if I am getting to know Furno and the rest of Alpha Team as characters, so seeing what they would be like in another reality simply does not interest me that much. This brings me to another issue with the story I have. The Mirror World story is topical. As we learned in the last book, there exists a Galactic Conspiracy that wants to eliminate Hero Factory; this book shows us a world where Hero Factory indeed doesn't exist. However, it is noteworthy that the ruler of the Mirror World dystopia is Von Nebula--a former Hero. The Galactic Conspiracy has a point. If the books are to be believed, Hero Factory is the most powerful faction in the galaxy, and it's entirely a private enterprise seemingly controlled by one being. Von Nebula's choice to flee from his first mission is exclusively framed as a moral failing on his part, and I really don't think that's fair. Hero Factory creates sentient beings with personalities. One of them, Von Ness, didn't want to be a Hero, which is perfectly valid. The fact that he tried to flee and leave his leader to die (it would have been more impactful if Thresher actually did die, IMO) is obviously not ideal, but no one's asking the real questions of just why Von Ness, despite lacking any real desire or ability, was put in a real combat scenario anyway. Is this standard Hero Factory operating procedure? Did Hero Factory change its training or how it makes Heroes in any way in response to this? In Mirror World, the alternate Akiyama Makuro and Stormer both treat Von Nebula with unrestrained contempt, even though, I would say, Mr. Makuro is equally responsible for creating Von Ness and putting him in that situation. IIRC, Hero Factory began when Mr. Makuro "saw a need for heroes in the galaxy" or something like that. So little is actually given to explain exactly why he felt that way. (In fact, a big flaw with HF is that, unlike the Turaga from BIONICLE G1, Mr. Makuro seems to exist only to be a wise old mentor who spouts exposition. Sensei Wu and King Mathias, past LEGO mentor figures, were like Turaga Vakama in that I could fully believe they had their own equally exciting lives and adventures while young. Mr. Makuro is basically the LEGO equivalent of Elon Musk, and Hero Factory is basically what would happen if he set up his own private police force.) Mr. Makuro, were his character treated with more introspection, could have been much like Eldon Tyrell from Blade Runner. Does he regret making Von Ness? Just how bad was the galaxy before HF? The book's writing style is good in the same way the previous HF books and BIONICLE books were good. Greg Farshtey excels at describing settings and doing comic book-style banter. In this book in particular, I would not be surprised if Greg knew HF was on its way out and was simply having fun with this one. I LOVE the way the Galactic Conspiracy works. Greg makes you really feel Stormer's frustration at not knowing who they are. Among HF's many unresolved plot threads, this is the one that I really think had potential to become an interesting story. I am also interested in how the Galactic Conspiracy would interact with the unseen enemies behind the "Villain Factory" plot alluded to in Breakout. Despite thinking HF is definitely a step down in terms of quality from BIONICLE, I must say I am sad there are no further Secret Mission books to read, and I regret waiting so long to read them. If you have interest in HF, or if you are nostalgic for Greg's writing style with BIONICLE, you might enjoy them.

I'm sure you are al aware of the insanity in the shop section. I open it up and see this is there a way the rules around this forum can be Tightened up?

It’s a guidebook in 2013. It tells some info on the 2010-2013 story arcs.

like how bionicle gets progressively more violent 2001-bamboo disks 2002-heavy rocket launchers 2003-hockey puck 2004-war crime disks 2005-war crime spinners 2006-mag fed mind control guns 2007-biological weapons and semi auto rocket propelled grenade launchers 2008-guided rocket launchers and missile racks 2009-handheld bomb lauchers 2010-automated killer robots the us military wishes they were this crazy

I will post a full review when I've finished the book, but so far, HFSM #5 is, intentionally or not, the funniest piece of HF media. One of the villains is punished because, in upside-down "evil is good" world, not robbing a bank when you have the chance to is a crime. The logical implications of this universe just make me laugh. The villain (I think it was Toxic Reapa) make it sound like an inconvenience, because he already robbed that bank twice that week and was tired. I'm not going to defend the Rise of the Rookies TV episodes as anything great, but Von Nebula had some gravitas to him. There's zero implication that, if he wins, the galaxy will turn into this Pythonesque bureaucratic state. It recasts a lot of Von Nebula's previous characterization to make him, if we take this premise seriously, ridiculously immature. Von Nebula doesn't really hate Stormer or anything, he hates an extremely abstract, watered-down idea of "heroism." It's funny to imagine how this universe function, like why banks even exist if robbing them is legally mandated. That being said, it's not a bad book. I was tempted to write, "Greg isn't even trying at this point," but that's not true. Some parts of the book, like describing Von Nebula's black-hole-corrupted body, are genuinely good and right up there with peak BIONICLE. It's more like, Greg is having fun. I feel like it was an open secret that HF wasn't going to be on shelves much longer, so no one was giving Greg much oversight on the Secret Mission books so Greg just pushed the envelope to see what Denmark would let him get away with. Stuff like this makes me wish the Secret Mission series did continue, just to see how surreal it would have gotten.

I come back to this topic with anime surprise. bth spammers have been banned. it's great to see how active the mods are (it's also great to see how active mushy is)

Nope, that appeared in two Racers sets, one in 2002 and one 2003!

I go with “Kaukau” because they look like they are wearing them, and I want variety for the Matoran in the game. It’s reasonable that way.

IC: Karak - Celrys' Workshop This man's demeanour reeks of cowardice. His eyes flutter around the place and I watch them weakly focus on me as he addresses me. "What is it you fear?" My words come out without confusion. OOC: @a goose

it's just the volume that worries me

Report the posts, and it'll be dealt with by the moderators.

Sorry I'm not interested in Krana right now. But let me know when you'd like to trade Kraata! And Good luck!

This is beautiful.

IC: Tueris (Staff NPC; Valley of Death) “They don't like villages. They'd stay away regardless. Just routine. Instinct. Whatever you want to call it. We won't know what to expect until we get there, only that it won't be good.” He knew the Agori was only trying to hold on to hope, but hope was dangerous out here. Better to expect the worst, and come prepared. OOC: @Nato G and the Iron Canyon Crew IC: Kirbraz (Staff NPC; The Shadiest Spot on Bara Magna) Metal god? Could he have meant Celrys? There was no telling how long she might be in there for. “Uh- say, I don't suppose your services are, ah, for hire? As, you know… as protection. Just until Miss Daring comes back.” OOC: @Jesse Pinkman IC: Celrys (CelTech workshop, Tajun) “No sound, no. Electrical impulses. That is why we need a wreath, rather than a stethoscope.” OOC: @Techn0geist @Snelly IC: The Ghost (The Tower) Wouldn't I like to know… He watched Taldrix with a renewed intensity. “You have a talent for asking the right questions, but the only people who know that are long gone. I have spent my life picking through the rubble, and still I have no more answers than you. Not yet.” Something shifted in his expression, as if he had heard a noise somewhere in the distance. “I promised your compatriots power. Weapons. Their desires are… simple, like that. But there is more than just power waiting out in those canyons. There are answers, to the questions that plague us both.” The Ghost walked slowly to the map table. A square grid depicted, in excruciating detail, the canyons east of the Wastelands, from the Creeps all the way to Ferrum – at least, in the squares that were not blank. The space was strewn with painted tacks and dyed string, deliberate in their placement but without an immediately obvious meaning. A pencil lay close by; the Ghost had been drawing it by hand. He gestured toward the table with an open palm, encouraging her to look. “This is my search for those answers.” OOC: @Toru Nui

Slinky through this linky on over to the comics forum to have a peak! More to come maybe? Possibly? Who knows! The inner machinations of my mind are an engima. If I do continue it, I'm thinking of maybe having permanent guest stars positions, just for ol' times sake. --Akaku: Master of Flight