Sets/2010

2010 was the first year of HERO FACTORY sets.

Prototype promotional image for 2010

History

There are the first fifteen sets in late 2010. The backgrounds in the sets' front art vary, as they take place in many different cities. They all use parts from Bionicle 2001-2010/Generation 1. Six of them are small canister sets, four medium-sized box sets, and five large box sets. The set wave for the year is called "Von Nebula" or "Rise of the Rookies". Each of the small sets depicts one of the Heroes from the Alpha 1 Team, Preston Stormer, Jimi Stringer, Dunkan Bulk, William Furno, Natalie Breez, and Mark Surge. The Hero sets use the same canister sets as Bionicle's Stars sets in early 2010, but with lids that have the Hero Factory logo and with colors representing the six Heroes. The Heroes' canisters represent Hero Pods. The Heroes use the same heads and hands as Bionicle's Glatorian and Agori.

The medium-sized sets are box sets that decipt four members of Von Nebula's gang, XPlode, Meltdown, Corroder, and Thunder. Two of the large sets are Titan figures, who are Von Nebula himself and Rotor. Two other large sets are even larger vehicle sets, and they are Furno Bike and Drop Ship. Each of these sets comes with a Hero driver. The Drop Ship can carry one of the Heroes' canisters and the Stars canisters, as well as Hero set canisters from the 2011 set waves, who use the same canisters. The Drop Ship is larger than the Furno Bike. There is a Limited Edition set, which is "Bulk and Vapour", also known as "Bulk and Vapor" in a Hero Factory comic called Showdown! It is a large set that represents Bulk in his special form and Vapor, whose name is spelled as "Vapour", which is the international spelling of the word "Vapor". This set was exclusive in Toys R Us stores. All of the villains but Meltdown also have Glatorian heads. XPlode has Glatorian hands. On the back of the each of the canisters shows the canister's Hero fighting against one of all seven of the villains except Vapor in one of the cities.

The front set art has a circular picture with a message saying "From the creators of Bionicle", with the island of Mata Nui from Bionicle in the background to represent Bionicle, to make the fans familiar with the Hero Factory theme more.

On June 20, 2010, the Toys 'R' Us online website put the Hero Factory sets in the Bionicle section.

Featured Elements

Each of these following sets, the medium-sized sets, Rotor, the Furno Bike, and Vapor, comes with one or two guns called Meteor Blasters, which are the same in construction as Bionicle's Thornax Launchers, but with green spheres that are the same as Bionicle's Zamor Spheres. The Meteor Blaster is comprised of two pieces, which are spaced two studs apart and attached to the set by one or two axles. The blaster is fired by squeezing the midsection.

The Drop Ship has an H-Force Launcher, which is exactly the same as Bionicle's Midak Skyblaster, which can shoot four silver Zamor spheres.

Each Hero has a Hero Core. He or she also wears a unique helmet. Each canister Hero has a unique weapon or pair of weapon pieces. Each of the following canister Heroes, Preston Stormer, Jimi Stringer, and Dunkan Bulk, the veteran Heroes, has a weapon for an arm. Each of the veteran Heroes also has a unique chest armor piece. Each of the other canister Heroes, William Furno, Natalie Breez, and Mark Surge, the rookie Heroes, hold their weapons with their hands. They also have the same chest armor piece, but in their colors. This chest armor piece is unique from the veteran Heroes'. The veteran Heroes' weapons are slated to the left or right. Despite the veteran Heroes having their weapons for arms and the weapons being slated, they are not like that in the canon.

There are three Hero sets that are different from the canister sets in various ways. A variant of Furno from the Furno Bike set has red arms rather than orange, and has different foot pieces. He also does not have a weapon. This figure is questionable in the canon. There is a seventh Hero figure in the Drop Ship set. This Hero has different arms from the canister sets. He/she has the same foot pieces as the Furno Bike's Furno figure's. The Drop Ship Hero does not have a weapon. A variant of Bulk from the "Bulk and Vapor" set has the Sonic Boom Weapon for his right arm, and has jetpack and an orange plastic tube.

Each villain but Meltdown has a unique helmet. Meltdown has a head piece attached to a connector piece and an axle piece on his neck. The head also has a red piece attached to it for an eye.

List of Sets

Small

• 7164 Preston Stormer
• 7165 Natalie Breez
• 7167 William Furno
• 7168 Dunkan Bulk
• 7169 Mark Surge
• 7170 Jimi Stringer

Medium

• 7147 XPlode
• 7148 Meltdown
• 7156 Corroder
• 7157 Thunder

Large

• 7145 Von Nebula
• 7158 Furno Bike
• 7160 Drop Ship
• 7162 Rotor

Limited Edition

• 7179 Bulk and Vapour