Waaja

I've got a funny story for this one So I was missing one of Mahri Nuparu's trans-yellow light thingies from his back, so I called in Lego to get a replacement. Sure thing, they sent it over, except the envelope was empty, save a bubble wrap with a hole. I called Lego again, and the same thing happened. I ended up going to their office to get it personally. Seems there may be some dishonest postmen in my area? It was nice I got to see parody Barraki sets in their office anyway

When you've gotten used to the gold-black thornax, you'd find the gold-silver one a little off-setting... Also note the difference in material (and hence 'texture') used for the thornax (refer to picture above). Speaking of big, here's a video review of another big set (not done by me) from Decool, a Technic Ferrari: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3rq2k765_E

or i have a better idea we dream of better days to come I Lol'ed at your comment, especially how you spaced it XD. But from the looks of it, HF doesn't look like its going to last much longer...

Not sure about the states, cause i don't live there, but there should be a fair amount of such sets online. If you do happen to come over to South East Asia/ China perhaps, you can be 85% sure that you can find these at flea markets/ some toy stores (not the Toys R Us kind!). They've exploded in number in the market recently, and it won't take much effort to find these.

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..

Hey guys, as promised, and if you don't know already, here's a link to my review of Decool's Toa Mata Nui. Have fun! Oh and thanks for the Pyrox review, haven't seen one from the Brain Attack Series yet; the latest I've seen is Breakout... One lesson learnt from your review and my past experience though: Besides solid plastic, Rubberish pieces (eg: Inika Masks, Brains) from Decool aren't as good as the original...

Well, I did state that it was there, it's on both sides too...

hm...thats kind of a tough question to answer... but generally the pieces have as much sturdiness as the original. Decool pieces are even compatible with Lego's. limbs would probably break as easily as the real ones (phantoka limbs break very easily!) though. The only piece I find slightly softer than the orignal are the piston inner rods; they bend slightly more easily when I'm trying to move the legs, especially the hip ones...

Thank you for your reply, I've managed to edit the review I guess I previously tried the wrong codes and using the insert image option; no wonder it didn't work (got me frustrated then, after that long review too)!

So I did say I wanted to do this quite a while back, so here it is. Decool is a China (I assume?) brand that produces knockoff Lego Sets. They have been at it for quite a number of years (no idea how long), but they have recently exploded and skyrocketed in prominence in my region (SEA, and yes, China). Recently (ok half a year ago |:X), I've gotten hold of a set from Shenzhen China, and it's none other than Toa Mata Nui himself. I was quite eleated when I got it, seeing how I've never seen the set in real life before (no idea why, but I've never seen it sold before here in SEA...) Here's a review of the set: EDIT: WHOO! Thanks to Aanchir, images have been reloaded and are visible on forum! Thanks, Aanchir! PACKAGE The box itself is rather big (though I reckon smaller than the original) and quite prominent. Mata Nui stands in his usual pose as also seen on the original package. IMG_0032 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0034 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr Here's the front of the box, as well as a size comparison with a (legititmate!) Rocka. I don't have the rest of the box with me, as I had to accommodate luggage space, but the back does not advertise the other legends, and it has a plastic handle on the top for you to carry the box around. Toa Mata Nui retains his name, but now comes under the brand "Star Soldier", and carries the description: "The strongest and most active hero of the elite team. His power is more than enough to defeat any bad guy." Cheesy, but at least the English is grammatically correct and makes sense. CONTENTS IMG_0037 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr Opening the box up, here's what you get: a instruction manual, Bag 1 for the body, Bags 2 for the legs, Bag 3 for the hands, and the sword comes in a separate bag. INSTRUCTION MANUAL IMG_0038 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0040 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0041 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr IMG_0039 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrThe manual is printed on glossy paper, and gives off the smell of a new magazine (sorry I smell stuff, that just how I am, lol). Cover shows off the exact same thing as the box front, and the back is an advertisement for "Hero 2 Star Soldier". Yes, none other than Hero Factory 2.0 Instructions printed inside are clear and easy to follow, and is on par with Lego standards (actually I guess it was ripped out from Lego), except there's no arena backdrop as what we got in the original. It's quite interesting to note that although Decool did rip the instructions off Lego, it did take the effort to edit it when it came to original pieces. We'll come to that later. BUILDING Overall, building this set was quite fun, as I haven't built a Bionicle/ HF set in over a year. I do have qualms with the build however, and a kind of sloppiness on the designer's part showed through; but that isn't Decool's fault, it's Lego's. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY LOOSE AXLE ENDS STICKING OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE?! *Ahem* Sorry. On the quality of the build, I do have some issues. As with knockoffs, parts can come across tight and sometimes loose. The former is seen 90% of the time, especially with the cross pins. A hard surface comes in handy when trying to force in tight pins. So far, only about five loose pieces come into mind, but most are covered up and pose no major problem to the figure. And the nubs. IMG_0061 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/116674534@N07/12358834784/ I've only snipped off those that pose a hindrance to the build or are enough of an eyesore for me to not want to see them. They might be everywhere, but unless you are really nick-picky, they don't pose much of a problem either. The sockets will come across as sturdy and smooth in articulation and are almost on par with Lego's, but the piston rods seem a little soft to the point they bend slightly when I'm trying to pose the legs. A little bit of patience would help in posing this big guy. I did come across a ball with quite a huge hole though: IMG_0050 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr The finger pieces work fine, though one was a little loose. I swapped it with another extra piece and that did the job. Shield pincers, though, were horribly loose, and there aren't anything else to hold it tighter. This makes the shield pincers all too ready to open and close. Body IMG_0043 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0044 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr Legs IMG_0052 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/116674534@N07/12358383685/ Hands and Weapons IMG_0056 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0055 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrIMG_0060 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/116674534@N07/12358553893/ I'm not going to go through the building experience of each part in detail, cause, they're about the same as the original. HEIGHT COMPARISON IMG_0062 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr CHANGES FROM ORIGNAL Despite being a knock/rip-off, it's heartening to see Decool change some elements of the set. Some of these changes work to the improvement of the set, while others not so much. Good: 1) The most obvious modification of all is to the sword blade. It now comes with a HF logo (seriously?! Why?!) and it lights up. Yeah, it does. This functions similarly to any Inika Blade, and it glows a cool blue. Despite being there, the HF logo does not ruin the cohesiveness of the set as it's quite subtly moulded onto the blade. Depending on you, the light-up feature may be a pro or a con. It's a pro for me: who doesn't like additional features? 2) The shoulders (Hordika limbs) have been moulded in black and not grey, as was the original. This, in my opinion, helps the set, as they fit in better with the colour scheme than their grey counterparts. h IMG_0066 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr 3)Those yellow things on the pistons have been modified, such that there isn't any hole in their middle as the original had. Personally, I never did liked those holes... IMG_0065 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr Bad: 1) This one urked me when I was building the body: IMG_0046 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr WHY OH WHY DECOOL DID YOU CHANGE THIS PIECE TO ANOTHER ONE?! It was supposed to be the flat foot piece, not the curved one. Thankfully, this did not hinder the set much as the surrounding pieces helped sandwich it securely into place. But still, it got me quite irritated when I was building it. 2) The thornax band has been changed from black to grey its actually silver, i just realised. On one hand, it does make it look rather strange, but on the other, it does fit with the huge chunk of grey/ silver which is the shield/ shooter. IMG_0064 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrBesides the colour difference, the thornax is slightly less bouncy but still does the job in firing. OVERALL IMPRESSIONS First impression: This guy is HUGE. He makes Tuma look like a canister set, haha. Being a knockoff, the quality, build-wise, piece-wise and playability-wise, is satisfactory. Beat that, he's incredible. From afar, this giant can almost come across as a legitimate Lego set. Adding on the light-up feature does add on to the epicness of the set. Would I recommend this set to anybody? Well, if you aren't too picky about quality, or about copyright issues, then yes, this guy can pose as a (much!) cheaper and worthy alternative; I've only gotten this guy for around RMB 130+ (USD 21.44+) Decool sure has come a long way in ripping-off (*cough*), and I can safely say they have been improving since I bought a set from them 6/7 years ago. Let's end this off with a fight! IMG_0070 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr TMN: ARRR!!! I'm the strongest there is in the Decool Universe! IMG_0072 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrTuma: What's this? A rip-off? I'll defeat him in no time to make up for my loss to the real TMN!!! TMN: You dare challenge me?! IMG_0073 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr*Epic swordfight ensues* TMN: Enough! Time to end this! IMG_0074 by skipperhulajinks, on Flickr TMN: I'VE GOT THE POWERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tuma: ?! What sorcery is this?! IMG_0078 by skipperhulajinks, on FlickrTMN: 1 Tuma: 0 Hope you guys enjoyed this review! It took me quite a while to type it out D:

For me, I guess I've learnt my lesson after handling Inika Kongu too much, and now generally MOC using pieces from 2005 and earlier. I'd take armour/ weapons from later sets, but I generally seldom touch them so they are well preserved. BUT a lack of actually using them cause them to become stiff and creaky, and just moving them can cause them to break (ok, my only exmaple was my knockoff toa nuparu, but still). I guess this problem was solved when HF 2.0 came. I have to dispute on the 'unbreakability' of pre-2006 limbs though. Majority of the limbs I use for MOCing have cracks on them, but here's the difference: pre-2006 limbs rarely crack any further, they're sturdy enough for their crack to not agravate. Post-2006 limbs, however, tend to aggravate in cracks, such that continued use of a cracked piece can eventually lead to the limb piece breaking apart at the socket (ugh...). This became worse with the Phantoka-type limbs, which although was supposed to make the limbs more tighter, encouraged snapping even more due to increased pressure at the socket.

Hi, I'm sure this may be old news to many people already, but I don't see a topic started about this yet, so I might as well start it. Wait, is this legal? (Sorry if it isn't!) So recently, just2good posted on another Lego forum (I am not allowed to say which one, right?) about Asger Johansen, a concept designer for Lego, stating that he is working on a new contraction set line for 2015. just2good then went on to suggest about the probable end of HF. And then people when on to speculate about the return of Bionicle. And stuff. Again, I know quite a lot of people already know this as I did see some familiar names responding to the thread over there. I'd like to just bring the news to people who don't, like me for example (I just got to know this today, lol), and hear your opinions EDIT: In response to Master of all Kopekes (reply #10!) (and in assumption that this is safe :E), here is the link to the original post: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=89322 Now don't kill me, I'm just delivering news. :E

Depends on the brand; cheaper ones may modify the set to the point it becomes totally different, while some would 'faithfully' reproduce the set in entirety.

Not the exact same molds, per se. Most of these companies seem to make casts of Lego's parts and use them to mold inferior duplicates. Lego does a good job of destroying its own used molds specifically so other companies can't get their hands on them. They seem to be getting better at it, IMO, and if you know Gunpla (gundam models) too, you'd know they can go to even almost being on par with the orignal. Haven't seen that with Lego Knockoffs though. One good thing with knockoffs though, their cheap (I cheap that way, but hey, there's a thrill in buying cheap stuff! 8D).

I just watched it yesterday! Overall the film was quite entertaining, and its nice to see Breeze using her 'tree-hugger' skills again. And the good points end there, haha. Heroes get very little development with this episode (Brain Attack even had a little, maybe with Surge?), almost no difference in personality (the voice actors bearly showed any of their characters).Sets get very limited show time (especially the Wave 1 sets; Evo Walker lasted for a good 10 seconds?) Anyway on topic, this episode had the same amount of continuity as Wave 1 and Savage Planet: the mission ended and thats it; Breakout and Brain Attack acutally left mroe room for continuity: who was behind them, especially the Brains? Will that ever get solved? Hope so.

nope. lol. my Toa mata nui has a HF logo on the sword though

Haven't watched it, can't give comments. Which country are you in? I think HF was already hinting at extended plot lines from breakout onwards... Brain Attack had that unrevealed villain at the end, so yeah, might be the same bad guy. Hopefully, so, I won't like so many bad masterminds to be revealed one after another. I think these recent events (after savage planet) have been planned by a single mastermind... Do we need a HF Storyline section for this? I don't think this fits inside set discussion... :X

cardboard boxes...the inka nuparu I got years ago was in a canister much like the original one. Nowadays they're all in boxes. Hope you'd get a pleasant experience, just dont get your expectations too high 8D

Well, in a way yes, its nice to see something new. But IMO, HF reuses the same characters as it can spur people to 'collect' their favourite hero(s). I mean, if you already have for example the first 2 renditions of Furno, wouldn't that be a motivating factor for you to want to get the third one? From another angle, younger kids get to 'root' for their favourite hero. Using the same characters actually makes the story (or whatever semblance of one) easier to follow.

Not really, because Throwbots/Slizer and Roboriders didn't last long enough for any kind of trends to even be perceived. The topic title is phrased a bit poorly — the concern is not that Hero Factory is becoming more BIONICLE-like in its design, which I'm sure would actually be perceived as a good thing by many BIONICLE fans, but rather that it's going down the same path that BIONICLE (allegedly) followed in the post-Inika years. In other words, the same basic parts palette being utilized each year rather than retiring still-useful parts and replacing them with new parts to provide a superficial sense of variety. My bad, I realised the title might cause some confusion only a little after starting this thread, sorry about that.

More expensive? Kind of natural I'd figure, seeing how they have included more parts, and a more complex (i'll admit it haha) build. Story-wise yes, HF is meh (if not for the open ending they have left us in Breakout...), Bionicle on the other hand had quite a nice turn in Bara Magna, and I quite like where it was going in terms of progress (post-Stars saga), but I guess it is too complex for younger audiences. Hopefully, HF does provide some kind of connection to the Breakout line soon, giving us some (but not too much, since that'd be not too good) complexity in terms of storyline. But I quite like the artwork. Nice turn in HF style

COMPLETE REVAMP! 8D Like how the Metru Nui saga was so different from the Mata Nui one, Probably a Toa Mata- feel (lean and mean!) with Inika-like flexibility. Oooh, that'd be cool

The brand is actually called "decool", and there're very common now around my region (SEA), and in China. The set quality's actually pretty acceptable for a knockoff. And their colours actually mostly stick to the original (hurrah!) Go find the Decool Von Nebula review on Youtube. I myself have two Decool sets, one I've gotten many years ago (Toa Inika Nuparu) and one just last may (Mata Nui XL). Decool didn't do too well for Nuparu's Rubber mask, and I had to crack his face a little (his face was completely lime-green) to fit it on. Besides that, the rest of the set was quite ok back then, though it had that rather strong plastic smell, and back then when there was that melamine scare, I washed my hands every time I touched it, haha. I took the set out again recently, but sadly, due to a lack of use, one limb connector completely broke at the socket as it was quite brittle Toa Mata Nui, on the other hand, looks quite promising. I've taken the bags out of his box, but haven't gotten round to building it. I might post a review when I get to it... One interesting thing to note was that they modified his sword, such that it had a HF logo moulded onto it (not too bad) and it now lights up. Yes, like a Inika sword, and it has a nice blue light (batteries included too! ) Can't remember how much I got him for, probably RMB130+? And he was quite a nice find too, as I don't think lego actually sold many of this set, or none at all (edit: in my region)...D: So I was quite happy to find him.

The problem is, there's no personality to the same build time and time again. There's practically no difference between Ackar and Inika Hahli, and that's annoying. The problem with the Inika build is PRECISELY that it let LEGO just reuse essentially the same build with little to no variety. I'd have been fine if they had a few different torso pieces they cycled through, but post-2006 was overwhelmingly Inika with a splash of Piraka and a pinch of variety. It wasn't what I would call "versatile"; it had one function, and that function was "torso". Now, arguably, previous torso pieces had much the same function, but the thing is, we never had one of those in primary use for more than 2 years. The most versatile it ever got was sets like Strakk or Skrall or Mantax, where the main difference was the change of position between the hip and the torso. What the Inika torso did was make every set start to look the same, even the Titans. But it could be USED for titans, something that other torso pieces generally couldn't. It could be used for things like Strakk and Skrall and Mantax. But when you say the most versatile it ever got was those sets, you forget two other sets: Gadunka and Karzahni. I agree it was frequently used more or less the same way, but it performed that function and performed it better, and with more variety, than previous torsos had. Sets that used it with standard Inika builds were generally ones for which those builds were more than sufficient — they drew their uniqueness from other parts of the model, like Ackar's shoulders and ankles. So what was it that people wanted to see change? They didn't want a better torso design, because there were rarely any concrete suggestions for just what was wrong with the Inika torso. The closest were complaints about it being too wide or too thin for canister sets — things people didn't bat an eye at with the near identically proportioned Toa Metru build, and instead frequently championed the Toa Metru and Toa Hagah as everything that a Toa should be. They didn't want a new torso design, obviously, because they got those several times (Phantoka Makuta, Toa Mahri Kongu, Kiina, most of the Barraki) and were never satisfied. There was not much celebration of the new torsos introduced in Hero Factory, either, but perhaps people were too busy weeping over the loss of the precious pins and axles that they probably owned in even more excessive surplus than Inika torsos. What people apparently wanted was for a very good torso design, arguably the best of its kind, to go away. And that's not how LEGO is supposed to work. Normally, the entire point of LEGO is to do things with an existing parts palette — new parts are introduced to correct flaws in existing parts or to fill niches that current parts do not adequately fill. Normally, LEGO fans lament when a long-standing part or color goes away, sometimes even if a functionally-superior alternative still exists. But no, the Toa Inika torso had been used TOO long, apparently. It HAD to go, and a lot of fans would accept no less. Well, the Inika torso could be armored in "several unique ways" too. It had more than enough connection points and there existed plenty of parts that could take advantage of them. And several sets DID armor it differently. Not counting sets that used an entirely different skeleton construction, there was Barraki Carapar, Toa Mahri Jaller, Toa Mahri Matoro, Hydraxon, Phantoka Toa Onua, Takanuva, Tuma, Tarix, Mata Nui, Rotor, Rockoh T3, Gorast, Vorox, and Vastus (the last four of which used the same Inika torso piece but as chest armor rather than as back armor). MOCs offered even more potential for diversity because they weren't limited to parts currently in production, opening up parts like the Metru Nui Matoran torso, Toa Hordika torso, and countless others. In the post-2011 Hero Factory building system, I don't know if you've noticed, but all the dedicated torso shells have been functionally unique. The torso shell used for the 2.0 sets is the most generic, and as such the one that has lasted the longest. The torso shell used for the Breakout sets can be printed, and has two additional connection points on the waist. The Brain Attack torso shell has four additional connection points around the chest. And of course there are plenty of ways to armor the torso without a dedicated torso shell. These parts were introduced to perform tasks the previous torso shell could not perform on its own. They weren't just a source of superficial variety, which seems to be what a lot of BIONICLE fans learned to mistake for innovation. I wouldn't confuse snap-together builds with simplicity. They make building easier, it's true, but that complexity is made up elsewhere in the builds, such as with more complex weaponry and more detailed armor constructions. Today's mid-size Hero Factory are more complex than BIONICLE canister sets ever were, and all have higher piece counts to show it. The smallest is 44018 Furno Jet Machine, with 79 pieces. The closest BIONICLE canister set was Toa Mahri Kongu, with 74 pieces, and that was of course inflated by fifteen pins and axles and sixteen Cordak mini-rockets. In the same vein, BIONICLE sets were becoming more complex even in post-2006 sets. Not only were clone sets eradicated from all canister set series, but the sets typically boasted higher piece counts than sets like Toa Metru, Vahki, Toa Hordika, and Visorak, even if you subtracted some of the extraneous bits like Cordak ammo (there were a few exceptions, of course, like Krika, a set which I felt was celebrated more than it deserved to be). So while a lot of things like pins, axles, and gears have been reduced in their application over time, the overall complexity of mid-size sets remained the same as or became greater than in the first five years of BIONICLE. There are fewer extra connection points on some Hero Factory figures, but I don't entirely see how that has to do with complexity. After all, there is plenty of room to do creative things with the existing connection points. Some MOCists even think certain kinds of unused connection points are a flaw in a MOC or set, something that I don't entirely agree with. On a side note, something I discovered recently is that some small Hero Factory sets like last year's Bulk and Evo figures have higher piece counts than the Toa Metru. In 2014 dollars, the Toa Metru would actually be slightly more expensive. Personally, I guess I'm one of those who actually look forward to new torso designs, and I mean really new, not those created from existing parts (eg: Kiina, Barraki,etc). I was glad when they had sets like the Phantoka Makuta and Mahri Kongu. The Toa Metru torso, though repeated throughout the toa sets of that line, was a design never seen before (ie: totally new); actually, the Toa Metru was a radical change from the Mata/Nuva with new legs, new head, new limbs, new armour, new gray connection thingie (sorry I dont now what it's called ), and even the notion of freely acticulating legs.The same can be said for the Inika. And about your last statement, plastic quality (details, textures), and the newness of parts may be partly why the Toa Metru could be more expensive than Bulk and Evo; and don't forget the change from plastic canisters to zip-lock packages. And inflation too, that plays a really big part; lego would most probably change the plastic quality, etc in view of it. In terms of complexity though, I'd say the Toa Metru are more complex than Bulk and Evo...