“ADD 12 year-old friendly”
no wonder I like it so much…
I do not think HF is lame. I think it is just that the Bionicle fandom can not grip the fact that it is not “Dark and edgy” and they think it can not live up to Bionicle’s legacy…well…let me tell you ■■■■■■■■■■■■ DOES NOT HAVE TO!!!.
I think that the worst part of HF was the lack of funding for it near the end…
-cliché characters
-lack of storie
-villains defeated too easily
-most of the sets were very poorly-made,althought CCBS is cool.
-the fact that they killed hundreds of innocent creatures in the end of IFB
Welp
I was very immature when I first posted here
but I like HF
I won’t go into detail why
but I just like it
The sets, the story from anything before brain attack, everything
(Rise of the rookies-breakout)
I never even hated it from the beginning
congrats…you are now the coolest person in the whole friggin world.
I already knew.
Congrats on already knowing.
Okay,so many of you know that till the return of Bionicle,Bio’s fans have been up at arms against Hero Factory.Many hated it because it replaced Bionicle,some because they didn’t like the sets,others because the story was pretty dumb.
Ever since Bionicle returned,people kinda forgot about HF and those who hated it surely felt like they obtained a huge victory when it got cancelled.
For the last 5 years,many people viewed HF as Bionicle’s biggest enemy.
But HF was actually vital for the return of Bionicle.
Here’s why.
Okay,so let’s go back to 2008.
2008 was the year that many people viewed as Bionicle’s final one,and many expected it to end that year.Story-wise,it was the year that the Toa would finally awake Mata Nui,destroy Makuta for good and live happy ever after.Lego sure made some great sets.The Phantoka Toa and Makuta were awesome,and even though i dislike the Mistika,they sure weren’t completely awful.But,around that year,sales started to go down.The sets became kinda repetitive,as they were still using the Inika build 2 years after it’s launch,and by that time the story got far too complex for small kids to follow.But Lego had no plans of canceling Bionicle.So,what did they do?
They try to very-softly reboot Bionicle,which leads us to 2009.After the cliffhanger of 2008,2009’s story was something completely different.After Teridax took control of Mata Nui’s body,the Ignika was shot in the space and landed on a completely different planet,Bara Magna.There,the Ignika made a body for Mata Nui,and he started exploring and i won’t say what happened next cuz many of you already know that.
Personally i really liked 2009.
But others surely didn’t.
With 2009,Lego tried to revive Bionicle so the sets could sell well again.
For that they try to make a new story,that was still kinda conected to the old one,so the younger fans could follow it.Depending on the sales of that years,Bionicle would’ve either go into a hiatus,or continue the Bara Magna story for a couple of years.Lego put a lot of money into Bionicle that year,and even made that Big Budget movie.They expected 2009 to be a homerun.But as you already know,2009 failed.Miserabily.
In my opinions,for 2 reasons:
1.The older fanbase didn’t care about the new story,so they didn’t buy the sets.The story was still conected to the old one,and it was still hard to follow for the little guys.
2.Lego tried to completely reinvent Bionicle,but the sets were still using the Inika Build.That was an issue,in my opinion,and the sets got incredibly repetitive and boring,another reason for the lack of sales that year.
Seeing that in 2009 they sold even less sets than in 2008,and also that year they put a lot of money into Bionicle,Lego decided to make a new building system,but as that was really hard and needed a lot of time,they decided to give the story a quick end and put Bionicle into hiatus.That happened in 2010.
Alright,and now HF kicks in.
Many people thought that HF happened just because Lego wanted to kill Bionicled,and they hated HF for that.
But that was not the case.
Here’s the thing about Hero Factory:
It was an experiment.
With it,Lego tried to make a new building system for Bionicle,and see if people were still interested in buildable action figures.They tried to make it as appealing as possible for the young kids,this time.
HF lasted for 5 years.Each year,the CCBS got better and better,and the sales were amazing at the peak of HF’s popularity (2012).After seeing the experiment going well,Lego decided to start working on Bionicle in 2013.
The Brain Attack Pieces were important for the new Bionicle sets,and Lego also used the CCBS in a few other themes like Chima,in order to perfect it.In 2014,everything was done and Lego decided to bring back Bionicle and end HF.That’s also the reason why the 11th episode,Invasion from Below,sucked so much,Lego stopped working with the guys who made the HF tv series up until that point,as it was expensive to work with,and replaced it with a much cheaper animation studio.That because they weren’t interested in HF anymore.So,after that,the experiment was concluded and Bionicle returned with a new story and a new building system.
HF was important for Bionicle for the reasons i mentioned above.
It gave Lego the opportunity to create a new building system for Bio,and see if people would still buy buildable action figures.Lego never wanted to kill Bionicle.They realised why Bionicle was failing in the final years of the original story,and put it into hiatus so they could fix those issues.
I compare HF to one of Bio’s most loved characters:
The Bohrok.
At first,it seems like it acts distructive and tries to “kill” everything that is important for you,so you take action and try to kill it back.Afterwards you find out that it was just doing it’s job and was actually vital for the survival of the said thing.It never wanted to destroy it,it was just doing what he was tasked to do,for the good of the said thing.
So for anyone that still hates HF,i suggest you to change your mind.If HF never existed,maybe Bionicle would’ve never returned.
I can see the validity in all your other points, but not this. How exactly were HF models “poorly-made”?
I personally think that most of the sets were awesome,mainly the Ordeal of Fire and Breakout ones.
2.0’s Heroes were very basic and had major covering problems IMO. The fire villains seemed decent, but the Savage Planet ones looked much better IMO.
The 2.0 heroes had very good designs imo.
And at the time of their release,they were freaking awesome.
I remember how excited i was when i got Evo,and i wasn’t disspointed with him.
Next i got Nitroblast for my birthday,and they guy looked amazing.
I understand what you mean,but then Toa Mata would be horrible by today’s standards,while they were incredibly innovative and awesome at the time of their release,just like the 2.0 heroes.
I did not like the Savage Planet that much though.
But the bad guys like Fangz or Raw Jaw were freaking cool.
I guess I am have some ‘Mata syndrome’ as in my nostalga of the early HF sets makes them cooler to me then most people. why do I call it ‘mata syndrome’?? cuz of a LOT OF 01 Bionicle fans like the Mata and they think they are the best in the line…I do not…I see them as bad action figures…but that is what I think…
I would say the uncreative and stereotypical names in my opinion.
Like for example Jetbug has a name which stereotypes his appearance and Core Hunter has a name that stereotypes his infamous hobby of taking hero cores.
@Reokai @RaptorTalon19,
I totally get you guys. I like the 2.0 and 3.0 Heroes a lot, although I acknowledge that they have some pretty serious flaws (exposed backs). I also like the Toa Mata, although I acknowledge that they also have some pretty serious flaws (floppy limbs and limited posability).
The way I see it, it really just comes down to the nostalgia effect.
Loved that guy.
It’s become a standard for LEGO. They want to have simple names that will be easy for kids to remember and understand.
I never got Fangz…I am sad…if I got him and Rocka XL I would have all the sets from 2011…and @3rdeye88 you say that they made it “A.D.D twelve year old friendly”??
…No wonder I like it so much. 
I love how we’re talking about what makes HF great in the “What makes HF lame” topic. 
Yea…it is a bit of a punch in the face for the haters.
I think i have that “Mata Syndrome” thing too.
I didn’t get a lot of the 1st wave guys,and now i desperately want more of them.
The only villain that i have is Corroder,which looks awesome and has a pretty cool character.Right now i desperately look for Meltdown.
I had most of the heroes (only missed Surge and Furno),and they were pretty cool,mainly the “senior” ones that had the giant weapons as hands.Ah,childhood.
Agreed…if only I had a million bucks and a time machine…
and the weapons were cool…they just broke…and the only one that did not I have like, five of them…
The 1.0 villains’ unclimactic and pathetic defeat at the end of “Von Nebula” was the final straw for me.