LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Surge 2.0 video review

Here's a look at LEGO set #2141, Surge 2.0 from the first 2011 Hero Factory release:

Surge 2.0 becomes a far less unique character this year (as do the others).  All of the heroes have great articulation in the underlying skeleton, and the armor is designed to not bind up or block motion.  However, with Surge in particular, there is a bit of 2010 Stormer/Stringer/Bulk syndrome with the weapon.  Surge 2.0 uses a two-handed weapon, but it has very limited posability when attached as indicated in the instructions.  Also, the head can barely turn to face the direction the weapon is pointing, when both are aligned to one specific extreme edge of their respective ranges of motion.  With the weapon in a more natural position, the head has to be tilted upwards a bit in order to be able to line up with the barrel of the blaster.  You can disconnect the left hand and wield the weapon differently, but I don't think it's excusable that Lego released yet another character that can't look where he's shooting.

In all, Surge 2.0 is my least favorite hero set from the early 2011 Hero Factory release series.

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Nex 2.0 video review

Here's my video review of LEGO set #2068, Nex 2.0 from the 2011 Hero Factory series:

In the video I take a look at the new ball & socket joints and thin skeleton construction.  This also covers the hero armor and all-new modular head design.

I like this character.  Good overall look, unusual (but good) color scheme, tons of articulation.  Very well designed figure overall.  I think this may even be my favorite among the new LEGO Hero Factory heroes!

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Fire Lord video review

Here's my video review covering the parts & build of Fire Lord, LEGO set #2235 from the early 2011 Hero Factory villains series.

For a bigger view see the Hero Factory Fire Lord review directly on YouTube.

It's a little tough to get past the new building style that's so dependent on ball joints all around.  If you look beyond that or are happy with it, then Fire Lord is an okay-looking villain set except for the upper legs, which completely and utterly ruin the appearance for me.  The thinness of them is disconcerting to begin with. The fact that the parts are completely exposed looks sloppy and unfinished.  The fact that the main upper leg parts are also screaming bright orange, a color you don't otherwise see from the front of this set, blows me away (in a bad way).

I'm also not so happy with just how many different colors and shades were included in this Fire Lord.  You get yellow, Furno blade orange, screaming bright orange, and bright red, including yellow/red mixes in the fire exhaust, zamor/meteor sphere, and the melting rock prints on some of the armor pieces.  In the gray spectrum, you have bright silver, dark pearl gray, and black.  That's a lot of colors, and they're distributed pretty evenly all around.

In all, the parts are very intriguing and a few of them are downright amazing, but the completed set looks like a joke, almost a really bad MOC made by someone who only has a handful of completely random parts.  The feet look insultingly unfinished and nonsensical to me as well, and the side-to-side leg articulation is very limited and impractical.

Sorry LEGO, I do not like this one.  Lots of great parts in this set, but as a correctly-built set, it's a mess.

LEGO Hero Factory 2011 US release news

I've been checking with the local Toys R Us stores (San Francisco Bay area, California, USA) on an almost daily basis, awaiting the shelving of the 2011 sets.  My 3 nearest stores have been maintaining stock of the 2010 sets through last week, but LEGO apparently stopped bringing in Hero Factory and Bionicle sets and the shelves finally ran fairly dry over the weekend.  Latest news from the TRU inventory system as of 7pm PST today is that the 2011 sets are in the distribution centers, but there's not yet a planned floor release date.  Also, the new sets at ToysRUs.com are still listed as "Not eligible for Store Pickup."

LEGO Atlantis Monster Crab Clash 8056

Alright, giving this a shot!  My first ever LEGO System set build & review, and it's a tiny one!

• LEGO Atlantis Monster Crab Clash 8056

Time for a change? A BIG change?

In 2010, Bionicle was discontinued, and Hero Factory was launched.  I was sad for the loss of an old stalwart, but happy to see that I'd be able to use my mountain of parts towards a fresh new use with a lot of future potential.  I happily adapted and hopped on the new bandwagon.

Now, it's still 2010, and second series of Hero Factory sets have been fully unveiled.  These, for better or worse, are vastly more different from even the earlier-in-the-year series than the first HF sets were from Bionicle before them.  Suddenly, a great portion of my mountain of parts is looking quite lonely and behind the times.  I'm not so sure I'll be adapting this time.  Instead, I'm very, very seriously considering making a very, very different move within the LEGO omniverse. 

What do you think, should I do it?  Should I pull the trigger?

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: FINAL sets

Photos of the final, production Lego Hero Factory 2011 sets featuring the 2.0 heroes and the fire villains are here at last.  They hit the Interwebs just a few days ago, and here are a couple full-res collages (click to enlarge)...

LEGO Hero Factory 2011 Heroes

LEGO Hero Factory 2011 Villains

If you just want to see the individual sets quickly, here are the originals:

Hero Factory 2011: Breez 2.0

Hero Factory 2011: Evo 2.0

Hero Factory 2011: Furno 2.0

Hero Factory 2011: Nex 2.0

Hero Factory 2011: Stormer 2.0

Hero Factory 2011: Surge 2.0

I've previously given my thoughts on the 2011 Hero Factory sets based on the leaked pre-production images, and now that I've seen the finals, I have to say, my opinions haven't changed much.  I'm happy to see that the villains have been cleaned up in terms of colors & textures, so they worry me less.  With the heroes, though, I still hope to see another evolution in 2012 (if the series is continued, and the world doesn't end).  I'm also a bit sad that I won't be able to use Bionicle masks to make "fitting" Hero Factory MOCs in the new generation, but that's just a selfish thing since I have about a solid cubic foot of masks in waiting. 

Now for the big wait for the release to market!

LEGO Bionicle MOC: Lorne, Self-MOC

My latest, arguably Bionicle-themed creation is Lorne, my first ever "self-MOC."  For this creation I had minimal inspiration.  I only knew for certain that I wanted it to be tall and not too thick & bulky.  Oh, and I wanted to use some sort of translucent color.  Since I had already made good use of orange in my Shadowed Vengeance MOC, I went ahead with the opposite side of the color wheel.

Lorne is an intergalactic law enforcement agent.  Imagine the most elite member of Interpol, in a universe of which Bionicle is only a small part.  He travels, a lot!  He may have only one hand, but who needs two when you're equipped with a MARC-12?  That's a Macro-Atomic Re-Configurator device, 12th production series.  It briefly suspends ionic & covalent bonds in its target and changes the arrangement of all atoms in any object to create something new.  The device is always used in a non-lethal way per agency policy, usually to disable key components of criminals' weapons or getaway vehicles.

This MOC was built over the course of about 4 weeks with a lot of gaps between building sessions.  For around two weeks of that time it was standing on the coffee table all complete except for the feet.  I had some temporary duds on it but wanted to make something custom.  I attempted to start several designs but kept hitting a brick wall.  Late one recent evening, I sat down with a good mood and some good music blaring out of the computer, and it suddenly all went together!  Here's his little unveiling video:

LEGO Hero Factory GIVEAWAY!

** WIN Stormer or Xplode! **

I'm very happy today to be able to offer a giveaway of two complete LEGO Hero Factory figures, the hero Preston Stormer and the villain Xplode.  It's not a contest -- there will be no judging.  It's free to enter and the two winners will be picked at random.  Interested?  Here you go:

Learn more & Enter Now!

Best of luck to everyone!

Have fun...

Zeyek enters the LEGO Hero Factory universe!

My full transition from Bionicle MOC-maker to Hero Factory devotee becomes still more complete today with the bold move of the Zeyek chronicler character from Bionicle: Untold to the HF universe.  In this video I unveil Zeyek's voice for the very first time, and see my very first elementary (i.e. terrible) attempt at stop motion...