News:2012 New York Toy Fair Coverage by HS01

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This year, I was able to go to the New York International Toy Fair for the first time as a representative of the BIONICLE wiki BIONICLEsector01 and its sister site HEROsector01. Together with fellow BS01/HS01 staff member Cholie, who took most of the photos, I attended the LEGO Collectors Preview where representatives of LEGO fansites can view and photograph the new sets for an extended two-hour timeframe (our invitations unfortunately did not cover admission to the full three-day Toy Fair event, so externally-produced LEGO products like clocks and watches were not among the things we saw).

Since our sites' normal coverage doesn't extend outside the constraction themes, we reached an agreement with Eurobricks to share with them our coverage of the LEGO Collectors Preview and all the sets and themes on display. First up is Hero Factory itself, a theme which probably holds little interest to a lot of Eurobricks members but was what we as a wiki came to see.

The theme for this year's Hero Factory sets is "Breakout". There has been a mass breakout from the Hero Factory's villain containment area, and previously-captured villains are fleeing all over the galaxy. Each Hero is tasked with tracking down and capturing a particular villain, and each is equipped with a pair of Hero-Cuffs for the task. A quirk about this year's Hero Factory sets is that instead of packaging all Heroes as US $7.99 sets and all villains as US $12.99 sets or larger, as had been done previously, the range of sizes is mixed.

First up are the ten sets already released: five Heroes and five villains. Of these, two (6227 Breez and 6228 Thornraxx) have been held over until August for their U.S. release.

6200 Evo

36 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Nathan Evo, "The Steamroller", is a strategically-minded Hero whose attacks hit hard. His weapon is a "Tank Arm", an enhanced version of the plasma shooters wielded by all the Heroes.

6201 Toxic Reapa

42 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Toxic Reapa is a villain from the swamp planet Z'chaya who attacks with toxic waste and laser cutters on his face. Evo is assigned to recapture him.

6202 Rocka

55 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Rocka is the team's newest member, with a cocky attitude and a desire to meet each challenge head-on. While the other Heroes recapture the fleeing villains, Rocka is assigned to stay behind and protect the Hero Factory. He wields an energy crossbow and lenticular energy shield.

6203 Black Phantom

124 pieces
US $19.99
CAN $24.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Black Phantom is the villain who organized the breakout, but instead of fleeing to his home planet like most villains, he stayed behind to sabotage the Hero Factory itself. He carries an Arachnix drone, a bug-like weapon with a mind of its own.

6216 Jawblade

45 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Jawblade is a shark-like aquatic villain. Furno is assigned to hunt him down on the water planet Scylla. His weapons are a modified version of a weapon stolen from Furno on a previous mission.

6217 Surge

39 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Mark Surge, "The Livewire", is a somewhat defiant Hero with electricity powers. He is equipped with an Electricity Shooter similar to his original weapon, the Lightning Shooter and Shields. His chest pattern, helmet, and weapon all have electricity motifs of some kind.

6218 Splitface

50 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Splitface is part-organic, part-mechanical villain with a split personality, which makes him unpredictable as he attacks the space station Sigma Sigma. He wields a powerful Shredder Claw and a poison plasma gun that launches toxic Infecticide. Surge is assigned to return him to the Hero Factory.

6227 Breez

55 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Natalie Breez, "The Whirlwind", is a cool and confident hero with a strong sense of duty. She is equipped with a powerful Hex Energy Shield and blade weapon, along with leg rockets and the standard-issue plasma gun.

6228 Thornraxx

44 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Thornraxx is an insect-like villain with a malicious attitude. He can spit venom or attack with his powerful stinger or claws. He flees to his native Hive Planet after the breakout, and Breez is assigned to capture him.

6293 Furno

56 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99
Other currencies from Brickset

Furno, "Young Blood", was formerly a headstrong rookie much like Rocka, and has been a part of several missions with his team. A fire-themed Hero, he's very much out of his element on the water planet of Scylla, but has been specially equipped with an Aquajet Pack and harpoon.

There are eight Hero Factory sets new for August 2012: four Heroes and four villains. I apologize for not being able to provide prices for these in currencies other than U.S. and Canadian dollars, but those are all the press kit for the event included.

6221 Nex

39 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99

Julius Nex, "The Tech-Head", is the head of Hero Outreach, and his chest pattern and helmet reflect the idea of networking with a computer chip texture.

6222 Core Hunter

51 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99

Core Hunter is roaming Makuhero City hunting down and disabling any Heroes he can find to extract their Hero Cores with his Hero Core remover. He has a Plasma Gun just like the heroes wield, no doubt pilfered from a previous victim.

6223 Bulk

61 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99

Dunkan Bulk, "The Behemoth", is a metal-themed Hero. Originally self-conscious about his weaker mental capacity than his teammates, he has since taken up reading and become one of the smartest members of his team. His equipment includes a missile launcher in addition to the standard-issue plasma gun and Hero-Cuffs.

6229 XT4

39 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99

XT4, native to the planet Mechna, has a very unique appearance among the villains. He has four arms equipped with a razor disc slicer, laser slicer, and two striking blades. Nex is assigned to return him to the Hero Factory.

6230 Stormer XL

89 pieces
US $24.99
CAN $29.99

Preston Stormer, "The Pro", is the leader of the team and veteran of countless missions. In his newest form he's equipped with a Power Sword, arm-mounted scout drones, and a plasma gun. His ice motif appears on his torso, left leg, and scout drones.

6231 Speeda Demon

192 pieces
US $34.99
CAN $44.99

Speeda Demon escapes to the ice planet Kollix IV on his nitro rocket motorbike. Stormer is assigned to recapture him.

6282 Stringer

42 pieces
US $8.99
CAN $11.99

Jimi Stringer, "The Supersonic", is a friendly and laid-back Hero with a passion for music. His sonic theme is apparent in his chest pattern, his shoulder armor with its speaker-like texture, and his powerful sonic blaster (which, although not visible at Toy Fair, he has been seen to hold like an electric guitar).

6283 Voltix

61 pieces
US $12.99
CAN $15.99

Voltix has used the breakout to try and disrupt the power supply at Tansari VI Energy Collection Array. His electrical theme can be seen in the red and blue wires criss-crossing his body, the voltage booster switch on his back (hard to see in these pictures), and lots of lightning bolts. Stringer is assigned to stop him.

That concludes our LEGO Hero Factory coverage from New York Toy Fair! Next up, we will cover the zany and exciting sets of LEGO Ninjago! Keep your eyes peeled for the rest of our coverage, which will be appearing in Current Events under the header "HS01 News"!