LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Nitroblast video review

Here's another Hero Factory villain for ya in the early 2011 series, set #2194, Nitroblast:



Out of all of the new Hero Factory villains, Nitroblast has the most consistent visual appeal from all angles, in my opinion.  To my surprise, the use of a red main body skeleton in conjunction with the red legs, upper arms, and mask, allow for a more finished appearance from behind than the other villains (and heroes, too).

The mask is the whole head on this one, attaching directly to a socket joint piece, but I think that's well-executed and doesn't detract at all from the appearance of the piece.  I have a mild obsession with his eye piece, a Baraki eye in what I believe is a new color for that mold, sort of a radioactive green -- I don't know the official name for the color, but it's not a normal trans-green, nor is it traditional neon green (which is actually more of a yellow).  Whatever it is, it's mesmerizing and I want lots of them.

The sole miss with this figure is the left arm, which I think is over-engineered and much too stiff for its own good.  The jet-powered flame thrower isn't heavy enough to warrant this much friction in the joints.  The LEGO Hero Factory website shows that the inner arm piece should to be detatched when needed, and the open socket joint is supposed to represent a "plasma blowtorch."  The instructions, though, have you assembling it to the main arm, and in this position it fits well and obviously was designed to be assembled together.  The box art also shows it fully assembled.  I get the feeling LEGO realized the arm was too stiff and tried to rationalize it after the fact.  When it's separated as shown on the site, it looks completely unfinished and silly.  "Plasma blowtorch?"  Please.

Other than the arm, though, great set, and a cool look with some very exciting new pieces!

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Breez 2.0 video review

Set #2142 in the 2011 Hero Factory series is the updated version of the sole female hero character, Breez 2.0:



I think Breeze 2.0 looks great from top to bottom, and I'm glad she maintains use of dual boomerang-style weapons, making her the only 2.0 series hero to dual-wield.  The continuation of the use of medium red as an accent color against the fluorescent green main color is brave, as it's easy for those the colors to clash on their own merits, but I think they work out perfectly with this figure.

I also like Breez's swoopy visor set, but I fear that the new face has lost any semblance of femininity.  It's good to have a female character in the line, and it's great that she's 100% the equal of the males, but make her look like a girl. There are plenty of female Lego fans who appreciate having a character to really be able to identify with. We had that in many of the Bionicle series, and the original Breez definitely had feminine facial features. Maybe there will be a Breez 2.5?

Regardless, this is still a cool figure with great display value and lots of playability.

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Furno 2.0 video review

Now we move on to Hero Factory set #2065, Furno 2.0 from the early 2011 series:

It's a little tough to switch over to the new 2.0 style if you were really getting into the original 2010 Hero Factory sets.  Putting prejudice aside, though, this is a pretty cool figure, though his binoculars are a little dorky.  The color scheme is good and all of the joints have plenty of flexibility.  I think the core piece used in the weapon gets stale after you see it used in more than one set, so hopefully there won't be any more reuse of that part.

Standing amongst the rest of the 2011 Hero Factory heroes, Furno 2.0 looks right at home, but just individualistic enough to not blend in too much.

LEGO Hero Factory 2011: Drilldozer video review

Next up is my review of LEGO set #2192, the villain Drilldozer from the first 2011 Hero Factory release:

 
Drilldozer has a relatively plain look with a larger percentage of flat areas of solid color than the other villains.  He looks a little more like the heroes in this way.  He's 100% evil, though.  I like the flexibility & posability of this set, and the way the drill bit spins freely is a nice touch.  Lots of playability with this set with the combination of that drill on one side plus a melee weapon on the other, plus a ranged weapon, to boot.  He can do everything but fly.  The only thing I don't like about this figure is the Fire Lord face on the back of his head.  It contrasts from the rest of the figure too much and it's incredibly obvious when you're looking at him from any rearward angle.  He's also a bit on the short side, but the number of parts is similar to Jetbug and Nitroblast.  In all, a fun figure to build, and very versatile.

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?