Did Hero Factory Do Anything Better Than BIONICLE?

[Master Inika]

I can't ask it without sounding all anti-HF, but I mean it honestly, was there any aspect of the toys or storyline that Hero Factory accomplished in a superior way than BIONICLE did? I've thought about it, and I personally don't think so. As far as actual sets, combiner models, MOC-ability, story, worldbuilding, and everything else go, even when HF does them satisfactorily, it's always in a way that just makes me think of how much better BIONICLE did it first time around. But this is all fundamentally subjective, and I'm curious what your perspectives are, and if anything HF did resonated with you in a way BIONICLE for whatever reason just didn't.

[The Master of Energy]

CCBS comes to mind.

[Downfall]

Erm… Actually being around in set form when I was old enough to recognize, buy, and enjoy LEGO? 

The villains in Hero Factory are generally more interesting than most of the swarm villains, especially the year when the all broke out. Nearly every villain and hero was unique. 

I have to say, I rather enjoyed the CCBS system. It was very good for making things in armor, though the helmet selection was limited. I've seen some insane things done with the system, but I never had enough pieces, nor an idea of what I wanted to make beyond armored humanoids.

[Valendale]

I think it's hard to say that, as many of the things Hero Factory got right were things that Bionicle got right as well. The areas I would say HF was actually better in were simply a result of improving upon Bionicle and Bionicle itself had improved in those same ways earlier.

[Sybre]

Sturdier pieces is the first thing that comes to mind. The duration links up with LEGO's vision of quality... Aaaand that's all I can think to say on the matter. I don't really have anything unique to say outside of that, but I like Downfall's point about the HF villains being more interesting than the swarm villains. Personalities aside, the HF villains all had very distinct designs and gimmicks that set them all apart. They don't hold a candle to the non-swarm villains of BIONICLE in my opinion. The Brotherhood of Makuta, the Dark Hunters, Metus, etc. are all more exciting and compelling villains.

[Lenny7092]

Even though that HF is second best to Bionicle, it does have some charm. CCBS is the primary thing that I think of, including those five-finger hands. It focuses on the main Hero team, which is the Alpha 1 Team, very well because it's that simplistic story-wise. I agree with the fact that the mind-having villains are better than the swarm villains because they have distinct personalities. Heroes have good character development, too. I do like HF's fancy versions of Bionicle's Thornax Launchers. 

The Hollywood Reporter did say that Universal is working on an HF live-action movie in April or May 2012, which means that HF did well enough to have that treatment, but the project never happened while HF got cancelled. 

HF's CCBS legacy did continue on Bionicle G2.

[Iver]

All the sets were really stable. A lot of Bionicles could only stand up if you put them on wood or linoleum, and even then, their poses could still be very limited. Hero Factory sets could stand on a variety of surfaces, some even able to stand on beds, and could go through most of their range of motion.

[Tahu3.0]

I'll say it! Hero Factory did do some things better than Bionicle: First, they had very good minifigures compared to the ones we had with Bionicle G1. Second, we actually got mechs with this theme and that's all thanks to. Third, CCBS I love the system it hardly breaks and it's superior to the old Bionicle system. I do admit that with CCBS we get less detail but with G2 we actually did get some pretty detailed shells.

[Downfall]

2 hours ago, Tahu3.0 said:

I'll say it! Hero Factory did do some things better than Bionicle: First, they had very good minifigures compared to the ones we had with Bionicle G1. Second, we actually got mechs with this theme and that's all thanks to. Third, CCBS I love the system it hardly breaks and it's superior to the old Bionicle system. I do admit that with CCBS we get less detail but with G2 we actually did get some pretty detailed shells.

This is true. I only had one set from the older Bionicle, but from that I can say that the minifigure quality definitely improved. The figures aren't particularly... posable, or even buildable.

The only CCBS part that I can ever remember breaking was the heads, and those were holdouts from 2009.

[CHTrilogy]

Can I ask what CCBS is?

[Sir Keksalot]

28 minutes ago, CHTrilogy said:

Can I ask what CCBS is?

Character and Creature Building System. It's the constraction system HF and G2 used, as opposed to typical System bricks or the original Bionicle systems.

[SynthMav]

For me personally outside of it's last two waves (brain attack and invasion from below) had the advantage of simple stories that had over arching elements. Not that bionicles story was bad or that hero factory's was superior but at times bionicle did trip over itself with how complex it was. Also CCBS is just a really good line of constraction that is nice and simple to make for younger builders (as i was like only 10 or 11 when 2.0 and 3.0 came out) honestly i love bionicle more but i personally don't really compare them too much as i feel they are good for different reasons but that's me. 

'

[Mukaukau Nuva]

Invasion From Below is a really cool concept, TBH. The idea of constraction playing with scale like that wasn't something (IIRC) that Bionicle ever did (aside from the playsets, which rarely used constraction aside from side-models).

Or maybe I'm just too big of a Pacific Rim fan. I can only say so much. I never owned a 2014 HF set.