HERO FACTORY 2011 REVIEWS

HERO FACTORY 2011 Reviews

So with most of those BZP reviewers, they never figure out how to get really into the sets. They are always going 'Oh these sets will never live up to 2001, because I totally am not biased'. Yeah you are you stuffy BZP reviewers. JUst because there's a few cracks in Toa Mata Nui's armor doesn't mean the set is ruined. Anyway, after getting the heroes and two baddies for Christmas, I thought I'd tell all about these sets. Really this is the Fourth Era of TECHNIC figures unfolding. Era One was Slizers and RoboRiders. Era 2 was 01-05 Era 3 was 06-10, and this is Era 4, 11-. And with out further ado, part one!

REVIEW 1: The Heroes as a Group


What you notice right off the bat is that together, the heroes really do look the colorful Toa teams of old, not to menrion those Glatorian that dropped in to say they exist for a brief saga in 2009. However, you notice that the issue with the Stone/Sand themed sets' color has been solved by doing a yellow AND orange set. Unlike the 2010 heroes where they solved it by giving Bulk a chrome silver finish, here they changed that to yellow, axed the color black (guess by 2009 they thought for kids they can't get past black good guys). And you notice that each has a silver monogrammed armor piece to remind the heroes who they are when they wake up after getting their brain scrambled by the fire monsters. You also notice that every helmet is in a different color, and no figure shares the same color core or head. Their helmets each have a different gunmetal attachment that either makes the set or break it. The Kanohi/helmet is ever important still over a decade after the Slizers.

All together actually flow really nice together, except for Furno, who looks like a giddy little kid. And instead of coming up with creative Toa Team names (or not, looking at you New Va), they added a helpful 2.0. Just to remind kids when they're at the toy store 'oh no, this isn't just Stormer, this is Stormer 2.0.' Ah LEGO. Then you see that the tough Bulk and southern smooth talking music loving Stringer have been mysteriously replaced by Evo and Nex, who also sport the 2.0 branding. Aside from having three letter names, they also have no evidence backing them up that they are 2.0 at all. They might brand new for al we know or care. Anyway, they form three groups.

The Leaders, the Main Characters, the One's Whose Personality We Actually Get to Learn, the Stars, the Spotlight Stealers


The Not So Rookies that Act Like Rookies, The Clichéd Personality Changers, the Uncregonizable Heroes, the Shining Lights, the Joke Lovers, Kiina and Berix, Berix and Kiina, Dwarf King and Einstein


The N00bs, the Murders of Bulk and Stringer, Bulk and Stringer in disguise, Replacements to Bulk and Stringer, Usurpers of Bulk and Stringer, the Dynamic Duo, Orange and Yellow, the Construction Workers, the Nexus Force leader and his sidekick that Evokes memories of dump trucks, the Newcomers, the Idiots, the Specialized Team, the Greats, Bill and Bob



Next we look at the barebones that comprise these heroes and why Era Four has begun, as well as the slick Alpha Leader, Preston Stormer. You don't want to miss this.

Lego Stores and I believe Toys R Us. For me, the nearest is in Denver. Anyway yes, Evo and Stormer are the two to get if you can only snatch up two. As my brother wanted some, I got lucky and he got the heroes I didn't get.

REVIEW 2: Stormer 2.0


Oh man. This guy rocks the house out. Everything just works for our favorite hero, Stormer. The light blue and white flow perfectly, and his helmet rocks. (I thought it sucked with all the pictures LEGO had of it staring left, but this one is great. If you guys didn't like Gali Mistika's Kanohi (now there is a great set you people), you'll probably fuss over Stormer. But hey, just look at Furno, there's an awful helmet. I'll talk about him next though. We see the weapon here, and the interesting thing is the LEGO spears are actually rubber. AWKWARD. They do manage to keep Stormer's ice pick in the gunmetal armor piece.

When we straighten Stormer out, we notice that his shin armor is facing in an opposite direction. This sorta limits how much you can rotate the foot, so now you can't do inhuman tai chi poses or yoga or something. Too bad. With his armor you notice his head is the same electric blue as his hero core. This pattern is the same for everyone. Now you see his left arm, WTH is your first reaction. Those are ball joints embedded in the arm! Yup. Welcome to Era Four, the era where all small pins are purged from your heroes.


Yep, Stormer's arms all just bare bones with ball joints slammed into them. 1, THINK OF THE MOC PROBLEMS SOLVED! 2. They can't function alone with out making the person look skinny. So there you have it. Also feast your eyes on the LIGHT BLUE SWIRLY MAHRI TUBE. You've wanted one since Vastus (I have), and then Meltdown made it an even light green, and now this ice blue masterpiece is in Stormer. Truly a great piece that would help a Strakk revamp or something. Moving on.


His chest armor is a beautifully flowing piece of silver, white, and light blue. Ever single hero has the exact same armor design, and some don't look as incredible a Stormer's does. Hey, at least 09 heroes had four different chest armor thingies. There are three pieces, the main silver, the accessory white, and that wonderful core. And in another attempt to destroy all pins and axles, they attach with a smaller connection found on the back of those Viking Horns (y'know, in Nocturn's mouth, all over Takadox...). Clearly focus groups say kids hate building. But then why is Fire Lord so complex...whatevs.

Stormer's white part of his helmet is the exact same for all the heroes. Proof that LEGO is getting lazier and lazier. However, his helmet attachment is incredible. Everything flows well, and pulls off the new scope design unlike Furno. The ORANGE BARRAKI EYE is a very nice touch adding the color a red couldn't. But, from the wrong angle, Stormer looks like a robot, like a serious gunmetal robot with the creepy eye scope you don't want to see in a dark alley. Lesson: whatever you do, don't replicate that second picture.

What more can I say? Stormer is an awesome beast, a monster. The best Hero set. He looks really cool. Here you notice he, like all these 2.0 heroes, has a monogrammed piece of armor THAT IS PRINTED ON, IT IS NOT A STICKER. So the pros are that the armor will look perfect in its very specialized usage really only on this set, and the cons are that anywhere else it looks odd, and we never get a silver HF11 armor piece. >>

In a group picture with the Alpgha Team, Stormer totally rocks the house, and him, Nex and Evo really look good together. You can see where this is going. Yes the Alpha Team totally kicks the Rookies butts, again! Yeah, LEGO loves the Alpha Team.

And Stormer's scope fits right in with the likes of Kazi and Kopaka. So as Kazi was a 'small set', and Kopaka was a 'canister set', where do these heroes fit? Juiced up small sets or shrunken canisters? There's a poll in this thread, so you can decide. Anyway, yeah this picture totally rocks the house, I know.

So I decided each Hero should be tested against the Stars from last year. Here our Star Takanuva has decided after hearing the holiday song 'Silver and Gold', that he's never been silver, so why not y'know? The colors on Stormer are more vibrant, and this picture goes to show how everything got...smaller. Look! Takanuva almost looks big with Stormer's petite frame and pieces. I'm creating a topic to settle the discussion, did Stormer or Takanuva win? I don't know here, but some are too obvious.

Looking at this combiner on the back of the canister, you can see that it looks like Stormer slammed into Breeze from behind, killing her, and fusing her pieces with himself to make himself look more menacing. Other than that, it actually looks good. There are worse ones, believe me.

WARNING: CHEESY CONTENT Oh no! The Fire Lord, jealous of the devotion Stormer is getting, jumps in! Stormer, taken off guard, is no match for the Fire Lord's power! He's got him at gunpoint! To be continued in the Fire Lord review!

And in a nutshell, there's the Alpha Leader Stormer himself. Yeah all you little boys and girls, I'm 2.0 and you better remember it!

Next we move to the 'Rookie' leader, Sir Furno hailing from Wessex, or the bug-eyed wonder. STOP STARING FURNO.

Thanks Kazi. Also today, my brother and I bought the last sets we needed, Jetbug and Nitroblast!

REVIEW 3: Furno 2.0
Ah Furno, the rookie with the such clichéd personality, always the 'red one' who has to do best, the sterotypical leader. Tahu wasn'tas young and demanding as Furno. And now his sets are as bad as his personality. I always thought that one piece can't ruin a set, but I have understood how awful Furno looks. The explanation are 'smoke-vision goggles' to see through that nasty debris at Tanker Station 22 when the fire baddies are there. Not working.

His tool of choice is like a multi-bladed buzzsaw thing that you can spin around to hack stuff, or chuck to knock down Jetbug because that's important. It has to laser targeting doohickies to fry people with. Instant Gourmet!

Of course even Furno has to remind himself who he is after he has gotten winged by a high flying bug that has jets on it's back. That's why Zib, ever the smarty pants, came up with these monogrammed armor pieces. Spectacular!

Now here is the piece that single-handedly manages to ruin Furno's entire set. The helmet with its odd, long headgear that looks like Barraki eyes hyperextended. Really it looks childish, stupid, and odd. Really, if you have anything better, ANYTHING that can make this little piece better, I really want to see it. Because I think that it's impossible.

Only with removing the ugly helm () , or flipping it over to give him a look like TERMINATOR does Furno look cool. Sad but true, the only reason for anyone to buy Furno is that they need those red armor pieces badly, like BADLY MAN. Yeah. Ugh how I hate Furno. My brother insisted on getting him. So misguided young padawan.

With all the talk of Furno ditching the dark yellow for pure yellow, it really doesn't show. Just his hero core and his head. Speaking of heads, each hero has a different color head. Ice blue, yellow, forest green (yes, a new green!), lime, purple, and bright red. These are the greatest color head diversity since the Mata. Really a big plus for MOCists. The bads use red Glatorian head, or no head (we'll get to that). BUT WHAT IS HE STARING AT.

Oh I see. He keeps staring at Breeze! Of course, Furno here thinks Breeze is really pretty, and his eyes bug out whenever he stares at her, so he wears 'goggles' to make it look like his eyes are normal while he's staring. Does for a lousy set, no wonder Lego's trying to market him more.

Furno fits in with the lackluster Rookie team, though he always looks at Breeze. Really the Rookie team was failed due to Furno and Surge's mediocre sets, and Breeze (despite a good set) looks like a dwarf king, nothing like her feminine starter build. Compared to the Alpha Team that looks ready to rumble with three tough sets, Rookie team drops the ball. Tsk. Good these 'hotheads' are great sets.

In this picture we tackle Tahu Stars and his looks versus an upgraded Furno. Both were kind of cheap upgrades just for set purposes. Tahu: 'Let's de-evolve him as an excuse to create a set wreathed inn nostalgia'. Furno: 'We need to upgrade him for some stupid reasons because WE CAN'T DITCH FURNO, HE'S OUR CLICHÉD HERO. But Tahu just beats Furno. Hands down. Sorry Furno. XD

As you can see though, it appears that Tahu looks supersized, or Furno microsized. Whatever the case, they are two figures, nary a year apart, from vastly different worlds and eras. It's like Hordika and Piraka. A year part, but in a different build construction. Also obligatory epic pic of shiny Tahu on the right.

A WILD FIRE LORD APPEARS. Jumping from the skies above, he pins our bug-eyed wonder and his shiny flaming companion.

"NEVER FEAR MY ODD ROBOTIC FRIEND" Tahu yells as he batters the Fire Lord back with heat wreathed in flame. "My Golden Armor's Rahkshi powers will sent him up up and away!"

"My shield! I need all the Golden Armor to win!"

"Don't worry bio-organic friend! I have beaten the Fire Lord through some form of deus ex machina no doubt, because THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO! LIFE LESSON KIDS, AND EAT YOUR VEGGIESSSSS"

As the two fistbump, you notice that Furno 2 has new hands, like all of the other reindeer 2011 sets. They have five fingers, and are slightly longer. Good, because those old hands always bothered me with their four fingers. Guess this is Lego's subtle way of saying: "We have five fingers? We screwed up? My bad."

Oh yeah. Technic forever! *Champange pop*

Wow. Even Furno's canister looks stupid.

The combiner looks like, well that Evo used Furno to further his own self, becoming even bigger, badder, and too much for MR. INCREDIBLE (Cannot get that scene out of my head).

While we were looking at Evurno, Jetbug has dropped down to combat Furno. Furno is wary of the much better looking yellow baddie, who is now going to strike.

FURNO DOWN! To be continued... (And yes that is translucent red armor you see on Jetbug, getting there)

And that wraps up Furno. Next, the hard hitting Breeze who isn't all that pretty...

Cool Breeze. (No, not Drew Brees, though 2 LN points if you can tell me who he is). Yeah, this is our girl, our mean girl. Yeah, she's a girl even though she looks like a dwarf from Middle Earth (2 LN points if you know what this is). The lack of feminism aside, Breeze is a great set, and rocks the house as the big 2.0. In these segments, you'll see why she's a Cool Breeze.

She was so shocked that she looked nothing like her former self, Breeze checked Zib's handy monogrammed armor piece. Yup, she was still Breeze. Due to it being on her leg, in order to scare off the hot heads, she'd need to shove her leg forward and twist sideways so Nitroblast can go 'Oh, I was beaten by Breeze....'

Yep, she's a cool Breeze. Here, pulled taut, she is obviously asymmetrical. How did they give Breeze asymmetry? Well they went 'We'll make the armor on her left leg bigger, we'll switch this one around, etc'. They very unoriginally made all these heroes asymmetrical. They just plopped different armor places and decided that qualified. Hardly.

Yeah, do here's a shot of the color that really sets her apart, the splashes of bright red on her upper body really do a lot to her figure. Bright red + lime= Wow that actually looks good. Bright orange + lime: MY LITTLE PIGGY EYES THEY BURN (8 LN points if you know what I'm referencing here, it's an old show...)

Breeze showing off those not so girly muscles of hers. She can lead a gym video. And one, and two, and one, and two, and three!

And here's that bright red head of hers. She's like a shining beacon in a not so bright smoke plume emanating from where Drilldozer ripped open Tanker Station 22, and the Fire Lord began setting it alight.

Here's the helmet that makes Breeze an awesome male set. It's droopy front gives the notion of wrinkles or a beard. Dwarves have both, and as such she looks like a dwarf. Of course these are sterotypical mythological dwarves but still...

Here's Breeze with her compatriot Surge. Furno was oddly not present for this photo shoot, possibly because he was chucked out my window. Here you see that Breeze is better than Surge, and she looks like she should be moving her arms back and forth. (She looks like Melonie Foxtrot, y'know the girl in Lego Universe that you need to work with to get her Sentinel badge...)

Here are Breeze's weapons of choice, a buzzsaw blade like weapon that rolls back and forth. And a pick weapon for slashing Nitroblast in the gut, because she's not going for the chest, she's going for the GUT. Because that's the kind of girl Breeze is. XD

Here we see Breeze with Stars Gresh, the sleek Star and the droopy lady. Gresh, as a set, really just outclasses Breeze due to the way he flows. As you'll see in the next picture, his custom helmet, weapons, and armor al have the flowing points that create a very coehesive and great Gresh set.

Breeze really appears to be like Gresh, with having two weapons in both hands that are both pointed away. The only issue is, her armor is a little clunkier, and not as sleek and smooth as Gresh's.

Of course our resident evil villain, Fire Lord, decides to drop down and crush some limes. These weren't quite the limes he was looking for, but their internal parts (mostly the organic green one), should, in theory, produce a great limeade.

After dispatching the tall guy screaming 'LIMEADE' with a cyclone, Gresh looks up and sees a red robot with his eyes bugging out at his female compatriot. "NO FURNO!" the female yells as the red one, amazed that she noticed him, trips and falls onto the photo shoot below...

Gresh tries to get out of the way, but trips on the Fire Lord. The red robot crashes into him, and they tumble off the Fire Lord off the gigantic chair...

Groaning, Gresh noticed that the red robot on top of him was muttering 'She said my name, she said my name, she said my...'

Taking advantage of the distraction, the Fire Lord knocked Breeze aside, and stood. She would make an excellent limeade after all. The Fire Lord smiled, after all it was his wife's favorite....

WARNING: THE PICTURE ABOVE IS SO GREAT YOU MIGHT EXPLODE: Time to die little girly...

HAH! Beat you through the power of luck and some force from above that created a howling wind. Thanks LEWA! No prob my girl!

Her canister is epic. Look close up in the top left corner, yep, that's Nitroblast.

Here to strike back is NITROBLAST! (Yes, those are a green Barraki eye and red Meltdown tank)

Nitroblast thinks about how to attack, chooses a mode, and goes IT'S SCIENTIFIC! TBC...

And that is Breeze! Next is Surge, our resident techie!

I like these reviews. The only problem I can see is how many pictures there are. It actually takes my laptop several seconds to load them all. Maybe you could start including only the pictures completely neccessary for the review?

Also...

Drew Brees: Quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, a football team in the NFL.

Middle Earth: The setting of J.R.R. Tolkein's fantasy book The Hobbit, and its sequel series, Lord of the Rings.

Four LN points, please.

I'll put URL's for some pics. Optional viewing.

(Oh and 4 LN points)

I remember when I had slow WiFi, and it sucked man. I have fast too, and the reviews look more alive like that. But mkay since you can't view them, I'm sure LN will change it. Or will he?

This is Surge. Mark Surge. Our resident bad-boy and techie. His main draw is really only if you're a blue die-hard (like my brother) to be honest. He's good but doesn't have that aspect that puts him over the top. You can marvel at the lime green head right now.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_2.png
Here is his monogrammed armor piece, once again helpful as Surge 1 ≠ Surge 2.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_5.png
So here you can tell that if you look at Surge from the wrong view he looks like Terminator. As for his helmet, Surge looked over his shoulder and coldly replied I'LL BE BACK.

Here you can see how Surge stole a page from Kopaka Phantoka's book and ran away. FAST. It's like they're set buddies!

Here you can see that straighten out, Surge looks a little weird. His legs are the same, but the placement of the HUGE blue armor piece just doesn't work. Yikes.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_8.png
Why is Surge's weapon always in an awkward pose? Well for starters, instead of a blue friction pin, they went with a tan pin. No traction on a tan pin mind you. As such, the weapon spins around and around and around.

HOWEVER, once you attach it to his other hand, it becomes a Surge machine gun. Thunka thunka thunka thunka. FIRE LORD, PREPARE TO BE, TERMINATED.

Here you can really see the half-finished helmet I think. It would be better if it went underneath sort of like Stormer's. There were ALMOST THERE on Surge's helmet. It's a good cannon though. KA-POW. (8 LN points if reference remembered)

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_23.pnghttp://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_24.png
So Surge's canister is pretty good, and the Nex combiner is pretty eh.
Here I, Nektann, graciously step in to highlight all of Surge's shortcomings. I have a better head, and my colors just look better and shadier than Surge. Of course I love myself, and I think Nektann is better than Surge Dos.

Oh no, here comes the big bad, the FIRE LORD. It looks like I'm going to have to help Surge to take this big lug down and show them just how it's done.
Nope, I'm out of here! AAAAHHHHHH.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/Surge/picture_20.png
Doesn't look like Surge is getting out of this one. (No fight with Jetbug or anyone, amazingly no one is fighting Surge. I guess he's holding down the fort and cutting cell service to Tanker 22. (5 LN points for getting reference, hint, it's a TV show)

Look, this is Surge. He isn't too bad, he's better than Furno, but I think you might want to get some other heroes better. But, it's all okay here as Surge shows what it takes to be a hero. True grit. (.5 LN points). Next, EVO, and why Bulk isn't here.

Interesting reviews. Unfortunately, though, I didn't get any of the references this time.

Kpik Seven wrote:LL, a few seconds? Man, you don't know how good you have it, these pictures take a while for me to see them. Why not just have a little patience and wait? If I had internet that fast, it'd be cool.

That's the point. I know my internet connection is fast, so if it takes several seconds for my computer to load the pictures, it'll take a slower connection much longer. I'm fine with waiting several seconds; I just said that for the people with slow internet connection out there.

Time to EVOKE MEMORIES OF ALL PURPLE
This is Bulk, Duncan Bulk. Bulk is Hero Factory's toughest, smashest, coolest, and bombdiggidityiest Hero. I mean, he's silver, left-handed, and has a strong bulky build. And his name is DUNCAN. I know of this number of RL people named that: 0. If your name is, say OBJECTION.

Far above on the Hero Factory Viewing Terrace (HFVT), Evo from Beta Team looks down at Bulk, and jumps from the HFVT.

HE SPEARS RIGHT THROUGH BULK'S BODY, KILLING OUR INTREPID SILVER HERO.

Nex drops down from the HFVT with Evo, and sees Bulk's dead body. Having just killed Stringer, it's time to dispose of Bulk's body. As they are on the Hero Factory Promotional Ad Terrace (HFPAT), they decide to...

And they chuck Bulk far far off the HFPAT to a very hard pat and a very awful grave in Next Years' Meltdown's Evil Toxic Sludge (NY METS).

Yellow and Orange ALL THE WAY.

This is our yellow hero, the intrepid Evo. He has purple, and one big huge weapon that isn't used for fighting BUT IT IS USED FOR SMITING (4 LN Points).

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/HFEVO/picture_10.png
Here is the three GLORIOUS PURPLE BIONICLE PIECES assembled to a floating mind-bot we like to call be the caps name (GPBP). GDBP is the sole reason you should buy Evo. It's a dark purple by the way, as my Onepu's purple is brighter. But hey, it's purple.

Evo's helmet is very dump truck-like, or bulldozer-like. It is yellow with the black loaders and grills in the front. He looks like tough construction site type.

Evo looks awesome, is bright yellow, and has GDBP not seen since the days of Onepu and Nui-Jaga. Really Evo proves that the Alpha Team are better than the Rookies by a long shot. Ironically, it was the opposite last year...

Who let in the Rahkshi? Yeah, here you can see that HF scale ≠ BIONICLE scale. I mean, the pieces on Rahkshi are just, bigger, and it even makes Evo seem...small. These sets are very nice, but the scale on these heroes is too tiny and small. (Try saying small shmall please).

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/HFEVO/picture_18.pnghttp://www.majhost.com/gallery/lordnektann/HFEVO/picture_19.png
I'm all about the trivial, so I stuffed a Heat Vision Kraata up the shell of the Rahkshi. So he can be actually controlled by an evil Kraata. Also, it appears the spikes on Rahkshi were fully made, and, to top it off, molded in a beautiful purple plastic blend.

But someone's about to crash the party...to be continued in the Fire Lord review.

This lovely canister really shows off the glorious gloriousness that is Evo. (Gloriousness is a real word BTW).

And THAT IS EVO. I wonder who's Next...

WHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. PLOP.
Mets: Who's this?!!!!
Bulk: *Groan*
Met 1: He's like a life-sized toy.
Bionicle Kid Fan in the Stands: WHO DID THIS TO YOU.
Bulk *Eyes narrow* Nex and Evo. *Flies the months long flight into the sky through several worlds until he reaches HF world...where he wants revenge.

Guess that's the wrong NY METS...night y'all.

@Rig: I was looking for something else...but I guess.

I have been forced out of MNI due to the terror of REAL LIFE. These will restart this weekend with Nex!