Monday, October 28, 2013

Hero Factory winter 2014 "Invasion from Below" revealed!

The preliminary pictures for the winter 2014 Hero Factory sets have been illegally leaked and have made the rounds on YouTube and the rest of the Internet as well, with copyright protection staff at TLG trying to take down as much leaked info as possible.

What the leakers have done (contrary to most opinion) is VERY BAD and this is why you will not see me uploading or linking to the photos.

However, anticipation to see final pictures has gotten to my head, and I saw the prelim pictures yesterday, so I will very casually describe what each set looks like.


Heroes (the "machine" sets, if you will):

  • There are 5 heroes this wave: Evo (who appears 3 times), Furno (who appears twice), Stormer (also twice), Rocka, and Breez. 
  • ALL of the heroes are minifigures that are actually surprisingly detailed. They look as if they are scaled-down versions of the Breakout series heroes.
  • All of the mechs are made from HF pieces and come with bugs reminiscent of the Visorak from the 2005 Bionicle playsets (which appear to be made of two pieces and come in red, orange, and green).
  • Rocka's Stealth Machine is pretty cool, we're getting more Breakout Thornax launchers, what appears to be Tr. Bright Orange (or, to a layman, transparent gold) armor, and more Tr. Bright Green SP claws. His mech has a large Tr. Bright Green backpack, too and comes with one bug minion (hey, as a matter of fact, that might be a storage compartment for the little bugs).
  • Stormer's Freeze Machine is in the same vein as Rocka's, with a transparent backpack (this time in Tr. Light Blue), more Brain Attack flame pieces, and a unique armor piece! That's right, they're back... Oh, and the Stormer XL feet make a return! There are two bugs in this set: one red, one orange.
  • Furno's Jet Machine looks if you "Hero Factory-ified" the Exo-Force set River Dragon. The mech has his original flame weapons and two turbines that shoot Brain Attack flame pieces. He comes with a green bug.
  • Evo Walker is interesting, to say the least. It's Evo piloting a walker mech (four-legged, centered around a turret) with what appears to be a Brain Attack visor piece used as a cockpit windshield. We're getting a new size of yellow cladding: 5M! The disadvantage here is that there are no "walker feet", but the legs end in a bone element (if you're catching my drift). UNFINISHED LOOKING! There's three bugs in this one: red, orange, and green. 
  • The Evo XL Machine is even worse. Very bony, using the Fire Lord technique to build up the legs, and the legs don't even have ankle articulation! Molar grinds of disappointment. However, what appears to be gunmetal Stormer XL mech feet and a gunmetal Savage Planet fist make their debut! There are two bug minions: one red, one orange.
Villains (the "xxx vs. ____ Beast" sets)
  • All of the villains resemble sharks, to me at least. They're pretty cool, too.
  • Jaw Beast is definitely the best small set we've had. He's got some new foot piece that looks like it came out of Ben 10, a new fin piece, barb pieces in Medium Lilac, and a huge underbite. Hey, and also... MORE MEDIUM AZURE!!! He has it in a 3 length bone size as well! Stormer appears to have a shield and a double-barreled pistol.
  • Flyer Beast ALSO has medium azure and the new foot piece seen in Jaw Beast. Unfortunately, he's got Ben 10 tails used as wings again... but on the bright side, he's aesthetically cool. He looks like he's holding some sort of tower and brandishing it as a weapon. Breez is riding on his back and is carrying some sort of chain.
  • Splitter Beast is AWESOME! He's got giant claws, two heads (which appear to have movable jaws, same with the rest of the Beasts), and EVEN MORE AZURE. He definitely looks like he's gonna be this wave's posterboy, and he looks like he's holding either a streetlamp or a scythe. Evo and Furno (who holds a fire sword) are holding a chain and appear to be trying to trip Splitter. What's that gonna do, honestly? He'll just get right back up!
That's it for the winter 2014 sets!