Tag Archives: Hero Factory

The coral-ation of cuteness and compact critters

If you’re not familiar with LEGO, you might not realize this is made of the classic building toy. Of course, this is because of the excellent piece choices The Underscored Double made when crafting this natural scene. The parts from the Hero Factory and Bionicle toy lines push what anyone can do with LEGO, as the Bio-Cup event shows us with the unique builds on display. Here, The Underscored Double cleverly uses the Bionicle claw to create the lime green coral structure beneath the critter. The claw layering gives the coral a wonderful sloping texture, allowing the orange plant pieces to branch and curve around it. The creature itself moves around beneath the translucent green seagrass canopy. A part choice I really appreciate is the minifig microphones for the critter’s eyes. It’s a fun touch that brings your eyes to the alien crustacean enjoying the day in its bright coral home.

coral critter

Never make light of a Lizard’s bloodline

Though the Bionicle and Hero Factory lines died a while ago, plenty of fans still covet and horde the pieces that LEGO provided us during those golden ages. Nonetheless, builders hold onto the parts to provide some unique and specific detail to their character models. I had a chat with Alex_mocs about their build process for this model, Dawnpike Azaria, inspired by the Lizards in the game, Divinity: Original Sin. Alex challenged himself to sculpt a more feminine reptilian character saying that he hadn’t seen “many feminine coded dragon characters built from LEGO.” Thus, he had fun sculpting a lizard-like head with that energy in mind. He certainly did well, utilizing dragon wings, vines, and various other decorative elements to capture the frills and horns common to this character’s people. Though the color palette limited his piece choices, Alex made great use of them throughout Azaria’s figure. Her armor and jeweled necklace are wonderful details that work well to fill in the gaps that some pieces leave. Alex also found that gold hoops fit snugly around some rubber tires which made it possible for them to be stacked and hold their position. He used this technique in the neck, tail, and ankles. Meanwhile, Alex admitted to using a paperclip in the gold hose around her waist to help her chainmail skirt hold its shape.

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Even Bionicles need to fish!

This fun build by Lache takes us back to the days of LEGO Bionicle with this upgraded version of a Matoran villager. Through the use of bright yellows and soft blues, the model has been provided with a striking colour scheme. A classic mask forms part of the torso on each side with Lache making good use of the open section in the mask. The thick rubber boots of the model have been created by inversing tyre parts which complete the fisher aesthetic. The bucket is a nice simple build with some familiar squid projectiles from the Barraki line. This is one that makes me want to fish out my Bionicles and make a village of Matoran. It’s easy to imagine this colourful character working down at the docks of a town and fishing out on a vast ocean.

Kai the Angler

Bulked-up Benny

When The LEGO Movie debuted in 2014, the world was introduced to Benny, a Classic LEGO Spaceman with an enthusiastic love of spaceships. In 2019, The LEGO Movie 2 gave Benny an apocalyptic upgrade which found him sporting a clawed robot arm and carrying a toolbox. Now, builder Chris Yee has upgraded Benny yet again, translating Benny’s apocalyptic minifigure look into a larger Bionicle/Hero Factory style figure. I particularly love the Classic Space logo recreated with a pearl gold conical hat and a red minifigure hand and rubber bands. I’m forced to wonder if there’s a spaceship spaceship spaceship! in all the galaxy that’s capable of containing this much awesome.

Spaceman Bienny

The minions of hell just got an upgrade

Japanese mecha builder Moko has been charming the world with his LEGO creations for more than a decade, but this latest character takes a darker turn. Moko’s “Hell Warrior” is an evil cyborg that uses mostly black Bionicle and Hero Factory (or “Constraction”) pieces, accentuated by an undead, half-hidden face built from several Krana masks. The overall effect is truly diabolical.

Hell Warrior

日本語を読める方はどうぞモコさんのブログを読んでください。

Harbinger of the Hunt

This strange being, titled the Harbinger of the Hunt by its builder, rockmonster 2000, paints a haunting figure standing astride the intersection of nature and doom. Appearing to perhaps draw a bit of inspiration from the Witcher 3’s portrayal of a mythological leshen, the horns and digitigrade legs give an eery animalistic style, while being made of simple elements. The oddly shaped head, made from a Hero Factory head turned on end, houses vertical eyes which give this creature a biomechanical look that only serves to make it more uncanny. A final detail not to be missed is the fallen leaves on the podium, made with Friends stars.

Harbinger of the Hunt

A sheriff from another world, and I don’t mean the American old west

There’s something indefinable about this alien sheriff by Patrick Biggs that I can’t help but love. He wears the classic old-west sheriff attire–a long black coat with a dark gray waistcoat beneath–but it’s the small details that really bring this character to life, such as the spurs on the sheriff’s boots, his thumb poised on the hammer of his six-shooter, and the excellent sideburns constructed with light gray feathered wings, just to name a few.

Sheriff Takamori

However, I think my favorite part about the build may be the simple use of a Friends star piece as the sheriff’s badge; in other words, using a star as… well… a star, showing that sometimes the perfect part is indeed out there, you just need to find it.

Wall-E’s angry older brother?

Although not nearly as cute as Wall-E, I did have to chuckle to myself when I saw what Simon had just posted. Despite the similarities, I think The Murdertrain by Exxtrooper would look more at home as a level boss in Contra than rolling around a desolate Earth in everyone’s favourite Pixar flick.

The Murdertrain

Brute – Bionicle and System never looked so good.

Seamlessly integrating System elements with Bionicle/Hero Factory elements is something I have been struggling to master for quite a while. This is apparently not such a struggle for Ian Barreto (~Ian) as evidenced by his Brute.

Brute

Ian says this was inspired by the Igor suit from Iron Man 3, which is apparent…but I prefer Ian’s.

A wyvern by any other name.

TBB fixture Mike Nieves (retinence) returns to the Brothership with a commissioned piece he calls “Ninjago Golden Dragon“. The model is a true fusion of Hero Factory, Bionicle, System and Technic parts that is amplified by a striking gold color scheme which the builder aptly describes as “tough to use”. Although this photo doesn’t provide the best angle to observe them, the details on the sides of the legs are amazing. Mike is one of those rare builders who combines talent, consistency and an ability to maintain an easily recognizable style of building without repeating himself. It’s nice to see builders like Mike and Tyler (just to name a few) getting commissioned work, there is nothing like getting paid to do something you you have a passion for.

Commission Ninjago Golden Dragon