LEGO DC and Marvel Superheroes

Big news from LEGO today that LEGO will be producing sets for both DC and Marvel comics superheroes.

http://www.fandompost.com/2011/07/20/lego-confirms-dc-comics-and-marvel-comics-plans/

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118040143?categoryid=13&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|LatestNews

Sets are planned for January 2012.  This will give LEGO and DC/Marvel fans another chance to collect their favorite superheroes in LEGO form.

The last time we saw superhero sets from LEGO was several years ago with the Batman (2008) and Spiderman (2004) sets.  Since then the Marvel superheroes moved to Megabloks with substandard building sets and figures, while the DC line could be found in Fisher Price's Trio line for pre-schoolers.

This time around LEGO will be bringing a wider range of superheroes including:

1. Minifigs for Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Loki, Black Widow, Wolverine, Magneto, Nick Fury, Deadpool, Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus
2. Buildable figures for Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man
3. Minifigs for Batman, Robin, Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler, Two-face, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bane, Bruce Wayne, Superman, Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman
4. Buildable figures for Batman, The Joker and Green Lantern

KRE-O Transformers Kreon Review - Optimus and Bumblebee

Hasbro recently released their KRE-O line of building toys.  KRE-O is a LEGO clone which is compatible with LEGO.  Their first line of KRE-O toys is for Transformers.  As a LEGO and Transformer fan I picked up the Optimus Prime and Bumblebee sets to see what they were like. However, instead of reviewing the actual sets this review will focus only on the Kreons.

Kreons in the Optimus Prime set

Kreons in the Bumblebee set

Kreons are the small mini figures that come with the sets. Many people were drawn to the sets because of the Kreons. The Optimus Prime set contains 5 Kreons: Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, Skywarp and 2 stunt drivers.  The Bumblebee set contains 3 Kreons: Bumblebee, Red Alert and a driver.

I can see why they included the drivers in the sets, but personally I would have rather seen more Transformer Kreons.  The drivers look plain by comparison.  I'm going to skip them in this review because they aren't very interesting.  The driver that comes with Bumblebee could be passed off as Spike though.

All of the Kreons so far look like the original Transformers from the 80's cartoon.  This is in contrast to the main sets that are a mix of the cartoon and movies.

The Kreons are similar to LEGO minifigs, the main difference is their arms and legs are connected with ball joints and give them a much wider range of movement compared to LEGO minifigs.  Also, their torso is connected to their legs by 1 peg instead of 2.  This allows them to twist their waist.

Hero Factory 3.0 Savage Planet Sets Available in Europe

Lego has updated their web site to include the new Hero Factory 3.0 heroes and villians.

http://herofactory.lego.com/en-us/Products/Default.aspx

They are also available in the LEGO Shop if you are in Europe.

Hero Factory Heroes 1.5

Here are the Hero Factory 1.5 sets combining the head and body of the 1.0 sets with the arms, legs and armor of the 2.0 sets. Only Stormer, Furno, Breez and Surge are possible at the moment due to there not being enough pearl grey or black pieces to create Stringer and Bulk with.

Stormer 1.5

Stormer 1.0 and 2.0 both come with only 1 hand each. I used the 1.0 hand for his right hand and the 2.0 hand for his left. Stormer 1.0's weapon was his entire arm so unfortunately I couldn't add it to 1.5.

Furno 1.5

Furno 2.0 came with only 1 hand so I used one of the 1.0 hands. He has both his 1.0 and 2.0 weapons.

Surge 1.5

Surge 2.0 already has 2 hands so I used those. Then I gave him his 1.0 weapon.

Breez 1.5

Breez 2.0 has 2 hands so I used them both. Her 2.0 weapons have been replaced with her 1.0 ones. I added a small accessory to her thigh armor. Another version of Breez 1.5 uses her 1.0 feet which I think looks better since Breez is supposed to be a girl.

I didn't make this one but, check out another version of Breez 2.0 at iamveryconfuse's Deviant Art page: http://iamveryconfuse.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d312cv5

Hero Factory Heroes 2.0 Roundup

Recently I reviewed all six of the Hero Factory 2.0 heroes.  Here is a recap and some of my final thoughts on the new 2.0 heroes.  First, check out my short reviews here:

Stormer 2.0

Breez 2.0

Furno 2.0

Surge 2.0

Evo 2.0

Nex 2.0

The 2.0 heroes are an improvement over the 1.0 heroes.  Where the 1.0 heroes were little more than a continuation of the Bionicle Stars set the 2.0 heroes adds extra articulation and introduces a whole new system to build with.  One of the best changes is the 2.0 heroes have much greater articulation, being able to bend at the elbows and knees.

The ball and socket system seems to emphasize a more standard way of building.  Indeed it feels much easier to switch parts and armor around without having to figure out how they will fit together.  Pieces can go on the arms, legs or anywhere there is a ball connector.  There is also a double peg connector used mostly to connect accessories to the armor pieces and to connect the 3 head pieces together.  There are circular connectors used to connect pegs.  Finally, there is the cross post connector which is used mostly for the weapon pieces in these sets.  Unfortunately this also means the hero sets don't feel very complicated because the main and most used connector is the ball and socket connector.  

Perhaps due to the more standard way of building the heroes have a lot of the same molds.  Armor, helmets and weapon molds all appear in more than 1 set.  In fact, excluding Stormer's ice power cord, the only unique piece in each set is the heroes' face mask.  Everything else could be found in multiple sets using different colors.  This left the 2.0 heroes looking like clones of each other.  They don't have the personality that the 1.0 heroes do.  It would have been nice if some of them had different chest armor.  Hopefully future sets will introduce more variety.

The lack of personality might also be due to the fact that there is very little collateral material to give the heroes a personality.  While the 1.0 heroes had an animated mini-series and comic books the 2.0 heroes as of this writing only have a short animated trailer.  Perhaps LEGO plans to release more animated shorts or comics which will give the 2.0 heroes more character.  Or perhaps LEGO is doing this by design so that fans can create their own stories and personalities.  There is word of a Hero Recon event (http://herorecon.lego.com/) which, because the "Design By Me" logo is linked to it, many people speculate that this will allow people to create their own heroes and perhaps allow them to purchase their custom heroes.  If true I think this would be a very cool feature.  We'll have to wait until April 2011 to find out.

Overall I like the 2.0 hero sets and look forward to seeing additions to the new building system.  I feel the main highlights of the 2.0 hero sets are their better articulation and new building system.  This is something new from LEGO that we have not seen for a while and I feel has a lot of potential.

Hero Factory 3.0 2011 Savage Planet Sets

Recently the new Hero Factory sets for Summery 2011 were shown at the 2011 Toy Fair.  Check out the following links for pictures:

Hero Factory 3.0 Images on lekgodt.no

Hero Factory 3.0 Images on figures.com
(3.0 images start on the second page)

Hero Factory 3.0 Images on coolthings.com

Hot on the heels of the 2.0 sets these Hero Factory 3.0 sets look similar to the 2.0 sets, but perhaps have some improvements.  Based on the images here are some differences and points we can see:

1. The sets are planned for August release.
2. The heroes have a suggested price of $7.99, which is the same as the 2.0 sets.
3. The ball and socket system introduced with the 2.0 sets continues.
4. The body frame seems to remain the same, but some of the sets show the use of grey pieces instead of the full black framework of the 2.0 sets.  We'll have to wait until their release to see if this remains the same.
5. The sets seem to use the 2.0 heads, but do not look like they have the 3rd mask/eyepiece that the 2.0 sets have.  Instead they have distinct masks.  Whether the masks connect directly to the head or if there is still a 3rd piece connecting them remains to be seen.
6. The heroes seem to follow an animal theme:
1. Stormer = Rhino
2. Furno = Hawk
3. Bulk = Wolf
4. Stringer = Bear
5. Nex = Tiger
6. Rocka = Lion
7. Bulk and Stringer are back.  Strangely Bulk is a wolf and Stringer is a bear.
8. Stormer, Furno and Nex carry over from the 2.0 sets, which means Surge, Breez and Evo are left out this time.
9. Rocka is a new hero and also has a titan sized version called Rocka XL.
10. Each of the heroes have a translucent green armor piece that shows their name and animal.
11. It appears that Rocka and Nex's armor has more than 1 color.  Where the heroes of the 2.0 sets contained armor of 1 color (white, red, blue, yellow, orange, green), Rocka and Nex have their colored armor plus some grey (Nex) or black (Rocka) pieces.
12. Stringer has an orange under armor
13. Stringer and Stormer appear to have larger armor pieces on their arms.  It looks like the same armor as their under body armor.
14. Furno has no armor on his thigh, but does seem to have additional wing-like attachments on his arms.
15. All the hero body armor appear to use the same molds as the 2.0 sets.
16. There is a new type of shield mold that looks like it can have claw appendages attached to it.
17. Heroes with shields only come with 1 hand like the 2.0 sets.
18. The container caps are green instead of orange.
19. Bulk appears to have a new type of weapon attachment that attaches to his arm armor using the double peg socket.
20. All the villians except for the Witch Doctor are animal or insect-like.
1. Fangz = Dog/Wolf
2. Waspix = Wasp
3. Raw Jaw = Dog?
4. Scorpio = Scorpion
21. The villains seem to have a new armor accessory that looks like 3 spiked plates and attaches using the 2 peg socket.  
22. The villains also show other new armor accessories that look similar to what Rocka XL, Bulk and Furno have.

I'm not sure if all of the sets shown are final or if these are all the sets that will be released this summer.  From what I can see the heroes are very similar to the 2.0 heroes.  There are more colors and some new pieces mostly in the form of accessories that attach to the armor.  I like the new helmets as they give each hero a distinct look like the 1.0 helmets did (and which the 2.0 visors did not).  I wish a few of the heroes had a unique chest armor piece as well, like the 1.0 ones did.

The villains are much different than the 2.0 villains.  These new villains are all animal-like whereas the 2.0 villains were humanoid.  Waspix seems to be the closest to a humanoid other than the Witch Doctor.

The titan sized sets Rocka XL and the Witch Doctor seem to improve upon how the Fire Lord was built, though it's hard to tell if it is really an improvement or not.

Hero Factory Nex 2.0 Review

Nex is the orange hero.  He is one of the brand new heroes in the Hero Factory 2.0 hero sets and is the weapons specialist of the group.  His color scheme is orange and green.  

Like the other heroes the main difference between Nex and everyone else is his color, weapon and face mask.  Minor differences include the types of armor pieces.

Things I like:

1. Nice mask.
2. Nice weapon.
3. Very flexible.

Things I don't like:

1. Because his weapon is a shield he only has 1 hand.
2. Like the other heroes his helmet and mask can easily come off.
3. Because his under armor is white, when you look at him from the back you can easily see how thin their body frame is.

Overall Nex is one of my favorite heroes of the 2.0 sets.  The other two being Breez and Stormer.  Because he is brand new I have no problem with him not looking like his 1.0 version unlike most of the other heroes.  I think his mask and weapon are two of the nicest in the new sets.  Strangely, I usually don't like orange, but in this case it makes Nex stand out.

Hero Factory Evo 2.0 Review

Evo is the yellow Hero Factory 2.0 hero.  He is one of the new heroes.  His color scheme is yellow and purple.  Like the other heroes the only big differences between Evo and the others is his color, weapon and face mask.  Minor differences include the types of armor included. Because he has a shield Evo only comes with 1 hand.

There is not much to say as he is similar to the other heroes.

Things I like:

1. His mask is nice.  It reminds me of a transformer.  I think Evo kind of looks like Bumblebee.
2. His shield is nice.  It is made of 5 pieces.  The main yellow shield, 2 soft plastic spears and 2 gunmetal colored attachments to hold the spears.  I think his shield is one of the nicer ones.
3. His under body armor is dark grey which makes him look nicer from the back.
4. Like the other heroes he is much more flexible than the 1.0 sets.

Things I don't like:

1. There is not much difference between the heroes.
2. Like other heroes his helmet and mask can come off easily if you hold him by the head.
3. He only has 1 hand.

Overall I think Evo is one of the nicer heroes.  The fact that he was not part of the Hero 1.0 sets lessens the issue I have with the Hero 2.0 sets not relating to their previous sets.

Hero Factory Surge 2.0 Review

Surge is the blue hero factory 2.0 hero.  He was also one of the original heroes.  Surge's colors are blue and lime green.  Like all the other heroes the main difference between Surge and everyone else is his eyepiece, color and weapon.

Surge's eyepiece is a scope.  He weapon is a rifle.  Since he does not have a shield he has 2 hands, which is good.

Things I like:

1. Flexible
2. 2 hands

Things I do not like:

1. Like the other heroes, if you hold him by the head it's easy for his helmet or visor to come loose.
2. Like other heroes if not for his color and name on his armor you would not be able to tell that this is Surge from the 1.0 sets.

 All in all, if you like any of the 2.0 heroes Surge is also a good set.  He is one of only 2 of the 2.0 heroes who have 2 hands.  The other being Breez.  He is also the only hero who has a standard type of gun.

Hero Factory Furno 2.0 Review

Furno 2.0 is the red hero.  The 1.0 version of Furno was one of the main characters of the first Hero Factory mini series "Rise of the Rookies".  Like the other 2.0 heroes the main difference with Furno is his colors, visor and weapon.  The visor is a pair of goggles.  His weapon is a shield with two utility pieces and 2 ice beams.  His shield takes the place of his left hand, so Furno only comes with 1 hand.

Things I like about Furno:

1. Very flexible with 13 points of articulation
2. His weapon is nice
3. His red and yellow color scheme is nice

Things I do not like about Furno:

1. He looks nothing like Furno 1.0.  Aside from his colors and name you wouldn't be able to tell he is Furno.  
2. Only 1 hand.
3. His visor looks like goggles and does not look very sleek.  
4. Like other heroes it's easy to remove his helmet and visor

Hero Factory Breez 2.0 Review

Breez 2.0 is the upgraded version of Natalie Breez from the original Hero Factory sets.  Since I went over most of the changes between the 1.0 and 2.0 sets in the Stormer 2.0 review I won't go into details here.

Breez 2.0, like all the 2.0 heroes uses all the same molds.  The only difference is her eye piece and colors.  She also comes with 2 red spikes.  Because of the use of common parts it is impossible to tell that Breez is supposed to be a girl robot.

Things I like:

1. Very good articulation.  With 13 points of articulation Breez can be posed in nearly any position.
2. Nice weapons.  Breez comes with 2 knife/sword-like weapons.
3. Sleek eye-piece.
4. Nice colors
5. Good ball socket system

Things I don't like:

1. If not for the name and colors you would not be able to tell this is supposed to be Breez or that it is a she.
2. The head pieces can come off easily.  They hold on ok during normal use but during rough play or if you hold the figure by the head the pieces can come off.

Overall I think Breez 2.0 is a good toy.  If you like the looks of Breez 1.0 but like the pose-ability of the 2.0 heroes one solution is to use the head and body of Breez 1.0 and the arms and legs of Breez 2.0.  I think that combination solves a lot of the issues regarding looks.

Hero Factory Stormer 2.0 Review

Stormer is the team leader of the Alpha Team in LEGO's Hero Factory line.

Design
Like the other Hero Factory 2.0 heroes Stormer's armor and weapons have been upgraded.  Changes from the original version include: new ball and socket connectors, new head design, new Hero core design, new armor, new weapon and bendable elbows and knees.

Ball and Socket System
With Hero Factory 2.0 LEGO has introduced a new ball and socket system.  Nearly everything from body parts to armor are connected with ball joints.  Gone are most of the small connectors and cross connectors that were used regularly in Bionicle sets.

New Head Design
The 2.0 heads are now 3 pieces.  In Stormer's case he has 4 pieces: blue jaw, grey visor/mask, white helmet and clear orange lens.  The new heads are nice in that they have 3 colors.  However, the do not stand up to rough play as well as the previous Glatorian head and mask used in the first version.

Hero Core Design
The new Hero core (the "H" on his chest) is now opaque and smaller.

New Armor
Stormer 2.0 comes with 5 pieces of leg and arm armor that can attach to any of the ball joints on the main skeleton.  One of the pieces is grey and has a print of his name.  Stormer's chest armor, also connects by ball socket, and is made up of 3 pieces: grey under armor, white over armor and Hero core.  This gives Stormer a nice 3-tone look.  Also, Stormer's hand has 5 fingers instead of 4 now.

New Weapon
Stormer's new weapon is a shield with two ice spears, ice tubing and utility attachment.  The ice tubing is easily detachable so you will need to watch out during rough play.  Unlike the original Stormer his weapon is also detachable and made up of several components that can be switched or enhanced with other parts.  This is an improvement over the original who's weapon was a permanent part of his arm.  The downside is Stormer 2.0 has no right hand!  All 2.0 figures with shields come with only 1 hand.

Better Articulation
By far, the best improvement over the original Stormer is that Stormer 2.0 is able to bend his elbows and knees.  He has 13 points of articulation, just as good as the Toa Bionicles.  The designers did a great job designing the armor so that it does not hinder movement.  Stormer 2.0 also has slightly longer legs than the other heroes.

Stormer 1.0 vs Stormer 2.0
I feel Stormer 2.0 is better than Stormer 1.0 because of his improved articulation.  I also like the new ball socket system that makes it easier to mix and match pieces.  It seems that LEGO improved the socket design as well because they are no longer as thin as before.  They feel sturdier and are easier to attach and detach.  Hopefully this will prevent breakage as sockets are connected and removed over time.

There are some things I feel are missing from Stormer 2.0 and all the 2.0 Heroes.  They all use the same armor molds.  The only mold that is different is their grey eye piece/visor/mask.  The rest of the differences are simply color or piece combination variations.  Because of this it feels like the new heroes have no personality.  Compare this with the original heroes who had unique masks and in some cases unique chest armor.  If not for the name and color it would be difficult to tell that the 2.0 heroes are the same as the 1.0 ones.

Lego Ben 10 ChromaStone Review

From Lego's product description, "ChromaStone is a living crystal, composed of nearly indestructible silicon compounds."

Along with Swampfire I picked up ChromaStone during a clearance sale.  Like Swampfire ChromaStone is made of 15 main pieces with the rest of his 21 parts being small soft plastic purple spikes that can be placed on his body.  Also like Swamfire his eyes and  chest design contain glow-in-the-dark paint.

As with Swamfire the ChromaStone I got had very tight shoulder and hip connectors which were difficult to move and squeaked. Repeated movement and normal play loosened them up and now they seem okay if not a bit loose.

There are so many things Swamfire and ChromaStone have in common that it is easier to list the things that are different.  I suspect all first wave of Ben 10 sets were all very similar.  The only things different between Swampfire and ChromaStone are their head and feet molds and colors.

The Lego Ben 10 sets lasted for 1 wave of 6 sets in 2010 and was targeted at younger builders who like Ben 10.  They were the Duplo version of Bionicle.  I recommend them only for those who like Ben 10 and are not expecting the building complexity of Bionicle.

Lego Ben 10 Swampfire Review

From Lego's product description, "Swampfire is an immensely strong, muck-encrusted, walking compost heap"


Lego's Ben 10 build-able figures are similar to their Bionicle line in that it uses ball joint sockets.  However, they are much more simpler and more suitable to younger fans of Ben 10.


Swampfire is composed of 15 main pieces.  The rest of the pieces are the small red and green flame decorations.


Articulation is very good with 13 points joined by ball sockets.  The elbows and knees allow for forward and backward motion along with slight side to side movement.  The rest of the joints allow for near 360 degree motion.


Swamfire's eyes and chest design glow in the dark if given enough light beforehand.


Compared to the Bionicle sets the Swampfire feels cheaper.  In the set being reviewed Swampfire's joints were tighter than usual and made squeaking noises when moved.  In the beginning his arms and legs would easily come off their ball sockets because they were too tight.  After some time the sockets became looser and easier to bend.


I would recommend Swampfire to kids who like Ben 10.  Fans of Bionicle may find the build and figure too simple.