OK, the wave 2 pics are out, and bloggers and YouTubers have these pictures spreading like wildfire. This is definitely illegal (stealing pictures from the original source), so I won't show the pictures, but instead, I'll offer my thoughts.
44008 Surge:Surge is back, and he looks righteous. He has a solid color scheme (blue, tr. fluore. green, tr. blue, and silver), and has many play features, namely flick missiles, a scout drone a la Stormer XL, and a spinning lightning "flamethrower" (with the weapon barrel piece from the Ultrabuild Joker, I might note.) My only nitpick would be that the weapon is essentially a rehash of Pyrox's flamethrower. But still, he looks pretty cool.
44009 Dragon Bolt:Dragon Bolt is not as big as I expected. The wings and tail were cut short, but I'm still happy with the rest of the assembly. You can pick out an XT4 torso piece used in the neck. That's the return of just one piece. The lightning pieces from Voltix are back as well. I'm also intrigued by the glow in the dark brain slug piece. Overall, good parts pack, but this as a set doesn't look like a good adversary for Jet Rocka. It'd be a piece of cake to defeat DB.
44010 Stormer:In my opinion, this is the best Stormer ever. It's like Stormer meets Strakk from Bionicle. The Chima Ultrabuild fur pieces work perfectly to either depict icicles or fur for warmth. Stormer treats us to another printed visor, 4M tr. light blue armor, a blue Furno XL/Pyrox flame piece, and back-mounted flick missiles. Lovin' it.
44011 Frost Beast:I'm biased towards ice villains, so this ties with Bruizer for my favorite Brain Attack villain. This is essentially the reborn Strakk. The mask is the best piece. It is VERY icy looking, and is very angular. The new jagged sword piece is glorious, along with the 3M tr. light blue armor, white Savage Planet paw, and tr. light blue claws. Also diggin' the red spikes to add contrast and to match the brain slug. The only thing about this one is that the feet DO NOT match the overall angular look of the character. If I designed this, I'd use the wide XPlode feet or the feet used on Bitil or Gorast in white. Still, GLORIOUS!
44012 Evo:Evo's gone through a wide range of color schemes, and now it's changed to what looks like Keetorange and trans light blue. Shorter Keetorange armor is now available, as well as a blue visor, tr. blue 3M armor, and more. The staff reminds me of LEGOJANG's Gaaf Kiisilun a little bit. Plus, the staff can open, just like our MOC Rangifer 3.0 from 2011. This is one of the best Evo renditions ever, and a fitting adversary for Aquagon.
44013 Aquagon:Aquagon is another short, humanoid villain. Not impressed. He suffers from XT4/Scarox syndrome with a quite unfinished look. He does, however, impress me in terms of parts. The mask is very detailed and looks like a mutated seahorse's face. He gives us 2 3M tr. blue armor pieces, yellow "tip of the tail" pieces as armor adornment, tr. blue Furno XL/Rocka swords, and yellow A 4M bones. Great set, but again, unfinished.
44014 Jet Rocka:It's Brain Attack Rocka in a jetpack, we all know that. Jet Rocka is awesome, I will say that, but he is just a hot mess. He has pieces in all colors, ranging from gold to gunmetal to tr. bright green to silver to white to red cross axles and blue pins and everywhere in between. Functionally, however, he features play features like folding wings, Breakout blasters, and flick missiles. Although it displeases me aesthetically, it is great functionally.
Summary:I like this wave as much as the next. Some sets please me (ahem, Frost Beast, ahem), and some, I don't like. Am I going to get them all? Yes. Will my opinions change? Most likely. I still am pretty fond of this wave.
