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Monday, December 27, 2010

Lego Hero Factory 2011 SUMMER set preview! "Savage Planet"

Blaziken1110 on YouTube kindly alerted me to the appearance of Summer 2011 Hero Factory set pictures on Flickr.  The new series is called Savage Planet.

Update:  Pictures cannot be posted at this time.  Leaked photos of the Summer sets are confidential property of The Lego Group and distributing them is a criminal offense.


General takeaways:
  • The new sets should be out in August 2011, or possibly as early as July
  • The new unifying theme, replacing fire & fire-fighting, is the jungle, and possibly some "black magic"
  • Front-line villains are all animal-like or insectoid, with a semi-humanoid leader behind all of them
  • The ball & socket construction method has been continued
  • Heroes have already lost their controversial 3-piece generic 2.0 head design, and unique masks are back.  Likely the newer main head piece remains, but the visor insert part is left out and the masks cover the faces.
  • The "x.0" naming convention is being extended forward and the new heroes are [name] 3.0
  • Each hero has a single green armor piece.  Presumably these will be able to be used to form an upgraded combiner model, Stars Tahu-style.
Continue to my individual set info & thoughts >



Heroes:
  • 2143 Rocka 3.0 - This appears to be the new star of the show, replacing Furno in the limelight.  His mask is huge and he gains a titan version, which I'll talk about in a second.  In the grainy pictures he looks like he almost has a squid-shaped head, shades of Mon Calamari.  He appears to have a melee weapon with two large blades and one small one for cutting through the underbrush of the jungle.
    Update 1/8/2011:  Rocka's mask is in the form of a giant lion head.
  • 2282 Rocka XL - Could this be the first titan-sized hero in the Hero Factory series, Takanuva-style?  Or does he turn to the side of evil in the storyline?  In the background on his box you see hero heads on stakes!  The head sure does look mean, too!  The legs appear to use a modified form of the basic design used on Fire Lord (booooo).
  • 2144 Nex 3.0 - Nex's head has progressed into a more swoopy design with a bit of a Bionicle Stars Gresh flavor, minus straight extensions off the back of the head.  His weapon appears to be very similar to Rocka's.
    Update 1/8/2011:  The inspiration appears to be from a saber-toothed tiger.
  • 2145 Stormer 3.0 - The Alpha Team leader is back again with a face shaped a bit like that of Vastus, inspired by the same basic shape that classic Lego medieval knight minifigures have used since the 80's.  There is some articulation available in the weapon, but it's difficult to see how the weapon will work.
    Update 1/8/2011:  Stormer 3.0's mask appears to be a cross between a rhino and an Aztec warrior helmet.
  • 2182 Bulk 3.0 - Rumors of Bulk's demise have evidently been greatly exaggerated!  He's back and has an alien-looking face in the mask.  He's thinner & lighter than before, contrary to his name.  He uses dual weapons that are attached to his forearms.
    Update 1/8/2011:  Bulk's new helmet seems to mimick a stylized jackal head.
  • 2183 Stringer 3.0 - Another surprising return!  Stringer is back with a fairly recognizable face, but he now has more orange than ever, using a bright orange main armor piece, right arm armor spike, and weapon tines/blades.
    Update 1/8/2011:  His mask seems to be inspired by a black bear.
  • 2191 Furno 3.0 - Presumably no longer a rookie, Furno is on the team with a single blade weapon, a new upper arm armor piece that appears to have very small wings (or are they blades?).  His mask may be inspired by a falcon's head.

Villains:

  • 2283 Witch Doctor - This is the new main villain, who likely remotely controls & powers the others with his spikey staff.  Looks like a few Ben 10 tail pieces have made it into this set.
  • 2231 Waspix - Okay, I thought Jetbug looked a lot like Bitil.  This guy is closer still, by far.  His four hands are from the Ben 10 series.
  • 2232 Raw-Jaw - A stout four-legged creature I'm really looking forward to seeing more of.  I see four of the Exo-Force robot arms (same as the Maxilos fingers) used as articulated upper teeth in what looks to be an extended right front leg that doubles as a jaw.  He also appears to use hero armor pieces on each of those front legs.  I may be looking at the picture wrongly, but I think the head is relatively small and in the center of the image with two red upper teeth.  You can see a new armor six-scaled add-on piece used here, in black, on the front legs and also the tail.
  • 2233 Fangz - Another four-legged creature, this one with three spines on his back, likely poison-tipped.  Three-toed large claws make a return in the silver-toed variety again, and we appear to be getting a silver-tipped version of the two-toe Zesk claw.
  • 2236 Scorpio - Not Skopio, this is Scorpio, like the zodiac sign.  This is quite a large set with what looks like four main legs, two shorter front legs/arms with Ben 10 claw hands, and a long articulated stinger tail with a Zamor sphere launcher that shoots what they'll probably call a "poison sphere."  I hate to keep talking about Bitil, but the head on this guy looks a lot like Bitil's, at least in the design of the mandibles.  This set also makes use of a handful of the six-scale armor add-on pieces, this time in bright green.

My thoughts:

The series grows this Summer, expanding from 10 figures to 12.  That's always good thing, as more unique sets means more parts choices!  From the preliminary pictures I like all of the soldier-class villains, but then again, I've always been a big rahi fan.  The Witch Doctor concept doesn't amuse me.  It can be considered borderline offensive with connotations of negative stereotypes of pre-modern cultures.  As a set, though, he looks pretty cool, a bit better thought-out and more cohesive than Fire Lord before him.

The new heroes are a bit of a mixed bag for me.  I welcome the return to full masks, though I don't like those of Rocka or Furno.  Bulk is my favorite so far.  The overall hero bodies appear to remain the same in general design from the 2.0 series, but the use of green for the unique armor piece really bugs me.  I get the general idea -- green, for jungle.  However, the color clashes violently with every single character's theme.

I'm anxious to learn the story of Rocka XL.  I would really be happy if he becomes a bad guy.  For one thing, it's good to put twists into storylines.  Secondly, he looks absolutely ugly, and I would like to see his head get crushed.

Hopefully we'll get some higher-resolution photos soon!

Thanks again to Blaziken1110 for the scoop!

30 comments:

  1. Can't wait to find out more about Rocka.

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  2. Well, you're are not correct, JANG, because what I can see is a Hero Core and I must think that Rocka might have gone noir like Sam from Sam & Max fame when Max's brain was stolen or he's brainwashed by the Witch Doctor.

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  3. @Anonymous: I don't see what's "not correct" about anything I said, because I only posed questions about what happens, and stated what I would like to see happen. If Rocka gets brainwashed like you suggested, Stormer-style, then that counts as becoming a villain, does it not? Especially since he would be bad enough for long enough to warrant a set.

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  4. I agree with you on most of these things, Jang; As much as I would like for Rocka to become a villain, it's most likely just going to be "HERO POWERS ACTIVATE" and then he grows large for no reason.

    That or they all fuse together for no reason.

    Thanks for crediting me.

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  5. Do you know what is going to happen in the jungle?And,who is Rocka XL?

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  6. This is the first HF line that I'm actually excited for before it came out. As for Rocka, he sounds like a whiny little brat.

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  7. The mask look animal like. Stormer looks like a Rhinoceros, Bulk is almost panther like, Nex reminds me of a Saber tooth tiger, and so on and so forth.

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  8. Now i have to retype everything oi. anyways i believe that Caliean is right the masks are animal style add what jang said about Rocka being the main guy he has a lion mask, Stringer fit with a monkey like mask. Now to add to my theorie of Furno having a bow he has a bird like mask best i can tell and as you sai it looks like he sorta has wings so naby hes a long range air fighter to atack from above.

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  9. ok i screwed up last comment i have no ide awhat i just type but if you look at the heros they have animal themes on there helmets no i dont know why but what i sorta failed to type earlier is that actually rocka looks like the hero because he has a lion helmet and now that i see stringer better he looks like a bear and if you ask me i dont think anyone will actually be able to say what bulk is until they explain it if you get a good guess i think this whole site should pay for a coookie just fo rthat person

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  10. Anonymous&Cailean, I think you speak sense.

    And if this is the case I think it's epic win.

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  11. Not sure I like what I see... they look weird except maybe Furno 3.0 and Stormer 3.0... the green piece (except on Nex 3.0) doesn't fit at all! They seem to have some nice weapons even if I don't see clearly with the pixeled images. For the villains, I don't like them, they look too much like mutants (I prefer humanoid figures). I'm really interested in Rocka XL. He has a nice color scheme and nice claws. Having a titan would add variety to my collection (didn't buyed Von Nebula and Fire Lord).

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  12. on the bright side these arent the confirmed there probably just seeing if were oging to like these guys they can still change the toys looks on them so and accept for stringer and bulk and rocka you can swithc the green if oyu got the 2.o chars if they decide to keep it wich i dont think they will end up doing and change the photos to original size if oyu dont want the weapons to look blurred and also that rahi style villains actually are sorta cool and no worries they still have the 1.0 villains and 2.0 villains if your not suffice with the rahi you cna go get them if you dont arleady own them so if you ask me the really only problem with this is the green on the heros or if they make rocka big for no reason like blaiken said

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  13. Calean, it is Saber toothed CAT! I am sorry, I am interested in Palaentology and I hate abuse of names. But really, if Von Nebula had no core, that means Rocka cannot be a villain. I mean, we saw Takanuva grow into godzilla and the less dramatic change of Matoran/Toa transformations, why not Rocka? I'll tell you why. Takanuva was hit by nasty little shadow leeches, Matoran naturally become Toa, but Rocka? He either was rebuilt to be larger, or he is REALLY evil!

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  14. Jang, I agree with your Stormer-type brainwash Hypothesis.

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  15. I think Hydraxon was the one with the Exo-Force arm-fingers, not Maxilos. Just thought I'd say that.

    These new 3.0s and Villains look really interesting, especially Raw-Jaw, Stringer and the Rocka titan.. I just hope their builds are a little more interesting.. and maybe include more axle pieces..

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  16. the new villians look EPIC im lookin forward to gettin these(since my birthdays in september and they come out in august)my attention is drawn to fangz and witch doctor most likely because i sent lego pictures that looked exactly like them but yeh the new villains FTW

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  17. NEWSFLASH ROCKA -HAS- TO BECOME A VILLAIN NOTICE HIS GAPING MOUTH USUALY VILLAIN SETS HAVE OPEN MOUTHS FOR THE MASKS PLUS THE ROCKA XL HAS A METEOR BLASTER MAYBE SCORPION,WASPIX,RAW-JAW AND FANGZ GOT MUTATED BY THE WITCH DOCTOR MAYBE HE MUTATED ROCKA TURNING HIM INTO A GIANT GUY @_@ MAKING HIM EVIL >:)

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  18. If any of you remember, when we saw the early fire vilains what would come to be the printed armor price was replaced by a simple trans orange piece. I thin that's what the green pieces are. Just place holders for what will be printed armor.

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  19. i like pie lol
    i typed in hero factory 3.0 pics and this came up...
    u guys need 2 put hero factory 3.0 pics on here
    this is a stupid blog thingmajig

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  20. The green peices cood be technology so they can turn into an animal(masks)and back again. The witch doxtor could have sent poison greetings when the heros crash landed. maybe th wirch doctor could have multipersonalitys and one is evil and is more powerful than the other.the witch doctor stumbled upon a ?force and became bad , like hydrophobia. could be that the black hole staff has come back with a mind of its own.could be like transformers beast wars.maybe like the story of frankeinstein sortove. Just my opinoins

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  21. Rocka XL is a Hero because everytime I look his HERO CORE is still there.

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  22. Isn't Bulk's helmet in a wolfish form? And is Rocka a girl? I think they should have kept Breez.

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  23. I like Rocka XL, but not Rocka.

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  24. I like Furno 3.0 and Stringer 3.0. but thanks for your pics.

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  25. furno seems to be either a falcon or an eagle (same difference) stormer is a rhino stringer is a bear bulk is a wolf rocka is (a big pus... uh im not going to finish that) a lion and nex im not sure if hes a snake or a tiger or what he is

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  26. my guess is that witch doctor uses black magic to devolve the planet into a primordial jungle and now the heroes have to beat the crap outta him to force him to restore civilization.

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  27. I think rocka is a villain, but then the heroes making him a good guy. Maybe? Maybe not?

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  28. I AM GOING TO GET THAT WITCH DOCTOR!
    (but only for the pieces)
    My favorite hero so far is bulk 3.0 and i think the storyline of this is that witch doctor is draining the jungles powers for his own GOOD! its just very hollywood which makes it probable. I WANT ROCKA TO BE A GIRL! If he or she is not a girl, i will recolour furno into green and make that breez, cause furnos helmet is so breez! and it is unfair if there is not a single girl in this story line (i am a boy just so you know). my lego hero factory 2.0 MOCs are usually teams were there are 3 girls and 3 boys, cause THATS fair!
    sorry about me over reacting. i collect villians that look animal like so i guess i hit the JACKPOT! for example in the first hero factory wave i chose corrodor, in the second i chose jetbug and in this one i'm going to choose them ALL!

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  29. I have a question for you Lego Hero factory knowledgeable people. My sons who are 6 LOVE these. There are some in the classroom for indoor recess. My question is this, can 2.0 units be combined with 3.0 units? The large box of them in the classroom do not say what they are and the boys mix and match them at will. There are also sets that look like "real" people heroes too. Can you tell me about those?
    Thanks so much!
    jillanddave@yahoo.com

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  30. @DaisyJ The answer is yes. Hero Factory 2.0 and 3.0 parts use the same "bone-and-cladding" system. In fact, the more recent Hero Factory parts can be combined with the earlier and now defunct Bionicle and Slizer themes. I also do not know what you mean by "real people" heroes, but those must not be from the Hero Factory system.
    BTW this is coming from the mouth of a 13-year-old who has been collecting Bionicle and Hero Factory sets since 2001.

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