Brickthing Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Set name: Breez Set Number: 6227 Price: $12.99USD , 12.99 Euro Pieces: 55 Year of release: 2012 Peeron Bricklink Brickset Bring the villains to justice with BREEZ’s rocket boots and energy saber! BREEZ, we hope you can hear us! The Hero Factory has been breached and the villains are escaping in all directions! With powerful rocket boots, double-bladed saber, plasma shooter and a hex energy shield you’re our hero in the skies, so let’s cuff those villains and teach them that the good guys always win! *Heroine in the skies – Breez is still a girl isn’t she? Taking a turn for the new and wider possibilities, Hero Factory 2012 throws out the themed 6 Hero canisters, 3/4 Villain box structure for a new structure that pairs 5 Heroes and 5 Villains together on different “Breakout” missions where the Hero has to catch the Villain and the Villain has to…not be caught. The Bag Front Returning for the third time (after a break for Savage Planet), Breez sports her original 1.0 helmet coupled with a larger Lime, White and Red build, including a full arsenal of launchers, shields, blades and cuffs. These larger bags don’t feel as well packed as the smaller bags, but rest assured that the pieces are well protected inside the shiny packaging. The front of the bag shows danger rearing its ugly head behind brave Lady Breez. Hopefully her holo-shield will protect her from Zamor fire. Not wanting to be forgotten from the action, +300 GAME POINTS utilizes shiny gold text to draw attention to itself. Make sure that you collect these points folks! Back The back of the packing shows the set action features, including but not limited to Zamor shooting, Hero cuffing and floating disembodied heads. Please excuse the horrible viewing angle caused by the non-flat bag surface. This isn’t a problem when viewing the set in your hands, and once all of the plastic goodness inside has been extracted, you’re left with 2 perfectly flat and scanable sides to view. Size Comparison The bigger bags aren’t much bigger than the smaller bags, which is understandable. If the big bags got any bigger you could use them as pillows to sleep on which is, quite frankly, silly. Ironically Thornraxx is presented at a larger scale than Breez, despite being on the smaller bag. Contents General Overview Breez’ parts are split up between the torso bone, a small polybag for the smaller pieces, and a larger poly bag for the rest. Thankfully Breez’ instructions haven’t been mangled by the packaging, but it may be a possibility. If the Breez bag you select at the store feels like it has an unusual amount of folds under the surface that can’t be attributed to pieces in a polybag, quietly swap the bag for another one. Instructions To my great surprise, the instructions feature the exact same image as on the front of the packaging. The exact same! First pages Before we reach the building section, we are first instructed on how to redeem our +300 GAME POINTS. If you are following along this review with your own copy of any 2012 set, I want you to stop reading this review and go redeem your game points. Right now! Redeemed them? Good, let’s continue. Random pages The first few pages of the build direct you to construct Breez lying down. I’m not sure why, but I suppose variation in the instructions every now and then doesn’t hurt. If I ever become a LEGO instructions designer you’ll be building your Heroes upside-down. Final step and Inventory Probably due to all of the surface designs on many of the new pieces and the solid colour scheme, Breez looks exceedingly good when rendered by the instructions software. I’ve seen the warning hundreds of times, but I’ve only just noticed how small the child’s head is compared to the Zamor. You should never shoot people that small; pick on kids/adults your own size! Combiner pages! This picture doesn't really help you understand this combiner, but we’ll be touching on it later in this review. It does make a little more sense in the plastic. Final pages Here we have the Breez/Thornraxx combo team and a Club advertisement. I really do like the orange crime tape used to separate the two. Pieces galore! After building small Heroes for so long, I’m really excited by the amount of pieces that Breez has, which finally allow Heroes to develop more unique styles and features. There is a wide assortment of pieces, with strengths in the armour and weapon departments. There aren’t any special/uncommon bones, except for the recoloured white 6A bones. Special/New Pieces Breez has quite a wide range of new pieces, from the new torso armour with hex-printing to a Batman blade in Red/Silver. The new moulds have been covered in many other reviews, but aside from the Code Core, red launcher and Gunmetal cuffs, these particular recolours are exclusive to this set. Holographic shield pieces Appearing in red with this set, this new piece features the same holographic effect as previously seen in Gorast wings, which produces holographic circles in a hexangonal grid that moves independently when you rotate the piece. For a better explanation, have a look at Siegfried’s excellent video showcasing the piece with Rocka. I’m sure this piece will be used a lot in SYSTEM Sci-fi creations, and is simply a fun piece to hold in your hand and admire. Good job to the designers with this one. Build Although Breez is a larger set, she still follows the standard Hero build formula. The process lasts slightly longer due to adding more armour and weapons than usual, but her build isn’t nearly as interesting as other villains of this size such as the Savage Planet villains or Drilldozer. Completed Set Front The completed Breez is very different to previous Heroes, owing to the new torso and bubble armour, the taller height and the various new weapons. Her 1.0 helmet fits well with the new armour pieces, and I welcome the return of trans-glowing eyes, despite the breakable Glatorian head socket that comes with it. All of the 2012 sets have trans-eyes again, but I wish there had been some more consistency over 2011 rather than switching between trans-eyes, solid coloured eyes, empty eyes or even moulded eyes as on Waspix and Scorpio. Side The holoshield fits very well with Breez’ colour scheme, although it’s a shame that the trans-neon-orange head wasn’t recoloured to match the shield. The shield does a good job at replacing a regular armour shell at covering the lower arm. Back In a miracle advancement of Hero Factory set designing, Breez has back armour! I was a bit confused at first when I found that the set had 3 feet pieces, but the piece serves well here to cover up the back and act as a aerodynamically considerate backpack. This piece won’t work well for smaller Heroes that don’t fly however, so I’m still waiting on a dedicated back piece. Side From the other side we can see the nice new Zamour launcher pieces that properly encase the hand unlike the previous Thornax launcher. The bubble armour pieces add quite a bit of bulk to the shoulders, meaning that Breez will have difficultly seeing left or right, which isn’t the best when your enemy could come from any direction. Out cruising, searching for disturbances... Because of her long weapons, it’s easy to pose Breez to look like she’s flying without the need of suspending fishing twine or supports. I quite like the brick-built booster rockets, which have grown on me since I first saw them. However I can’t help but think that they would’ve matched slightly better if the dark bley pieces were silver instead. Stay back, I have a riot shield! The angling of holo-shield allows it to be used as a defensive shield while shooting the Zamor canon. Breez is an exceptionally well armoured hero! Action Pose! With a rocket enhanced leap, Breez delivers a knock-out blow! Which gives her time to utilize her Hero Cuffs™! Having tamed the beast, Breez flies away to victory! Bonus Combiner! Beware my Stinger Tail! According to the instructions of Breez and Thornraxx, the two sets can be combined together to form this creature, which for some reason reminds me of the Brakas Rahi. Side Although it’s a very simple combination of parts, I really love the bulk distribution around the shoulders and body – it’s very organic and alien-like. This is certainly one of my favourite 2012 combiners. The main downside of it is what you don’t see on the model… Leftover pieces The advertising for the combining feature of Thornraxx and Breez suggests that you combine the two to make a larger model, however you’re left with more pieces than are included in Thornraxx. The combiner is smaller than Breez. So, as any unnecessarily diligent review would do, I set out to make a combiner than made the most of the provided pieces… Meet Breez BZ, Queen of the Swarm! Using pieces from a defeated Thornraxx, Breez is now equipped to fight against the rest of the Thornraxx swarm, using her Holo-blades, wrist rockets and shoulder cannon! Action Shot! Leftover pieces If you get bored of the actual set, those holographic shield pieces can provide hours of extra entertainment. Final Thoughts Colour Scheme - 10/10 – Lime, Red and White is quite a jarring colour scheme, but Breez displays it well and consistently. The white and red are used with restraint to highlight the weapons and details, and makes the white Hero Core look in place, unlike some of the other 2012 Heroes. I especially like the link between the red hexagon patterns on the chest with the hexagonal holoshield, and then the link to the hive/Gorast winged Thornraxx of the mission that Breez is set in. Parts - 8/10 – Breez has all of the parts required to make the set look good and action packed, and includes a solid offering of lime pieces and new weapons. However compared to previous villain sets of this size, there aren’t any particularly essential/useful pieces for MOCing, such as armour shell recolours or uncommon bone pieces. Design - 9/10 – As a figure, I can find no flaws in Breez’ design, and there are some very neat features such as the Hero cuffs, redesigned launcher, Holoshield and backarmour. However for her price-point, I feel that the set could’ve been made a little more interesting, such as by having a jetpack or small wings to match her helmet. Articulation - 10/10 – Breez only has 13 points of articulation (14 if you count the shield), which is less than most Villain sets at this side. That that is only because those villains had extra appendages or tails, not because Breez is lacking in articulation points. Quality - 10/10 – The printing of Breez’ chest armour is high quality, as are all of the pieces. The two-toned blade very cleanly handles the switch from silver to red, and there are no bubbles in the trans-plastic Holoshield to ruin the holographic effect. Overall - 47/50 – I really like Breez, who sets a solid reference point for Heroes designed well at this larger scale. She is a highly polished action figure, although this does come at the cost of maybe not being as interesting/adventurous as possible, compared to Rocka and Furno that try a lot of new weapon/armour configurations. If you want a set with useful MOCing pieces you might want to look at other sets, but if you want a good action figure, Breez is a great choice. As a bonus, Breez pairs up and combines well with the 5 Thornraxx sets that you should have already bought before you even started to consider which other 2012 Hero Factory sets you might get. In response to the disjointed colour scheme, I claim the Azure defense! How can you not love that colour? High-Res Gallery Quote
Bfahome Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) Pretty cool set. Still up in the air as to whether or not I'm going to buy it though. oh god that was a pun someone punch me in the face But I think the cuffs are that "herosteel" color (or whatever we're calling it) rather than gunmetal. They look way lighter than gunmetal to me. Edited December 31, 2011 by Bfahome Quote
Zwen Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 The set is beautiful, is a "high-tech" hero. I would like to see this deluxe edition in other sets like Surge, Bulk or Evo. I said what I think about the set, OK is amazing but... Man, your combiner, that looks very sweet, even better than the original one. This happens because these combos are made for kids, so they are easy. People like you who own the sets can create different and more complicated models. Back to the set, it looks great, if this one of the high levels of building in heroes I can imagine how 2013 is going to be, but this is also quite boring, because of the standard building. I think that the next step for Breez is the XL version... Great review, nice pics and writing. Quote
Aethersprite Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Thanks Brickthing for the review! Although I already sneaked a peek at those pictures in your Brickshelf folder a couple days back. Really surprised by how well-designed Breez is, I didn't intend to get her initially, but after seeing more reviews and pics of her I'm convinced. Definitely a must-get for me. Quote
Pate-keetongu Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Great review! I'm really getting this set now. Some sweet parts and the figure looks quite a cool too. Your MOC-combiner is awesome, by the way. Quote
ZORK64 Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the lovely review Brickthing. I'm still pondering about writing a review about her as well, since there are still a few things about Breez that weren't mentioned in your review. To be honest, I'm also not too fond of her colour scheme and I think Breez would had worked better with only two colours. Nevertheless, she's definitely a fantastic set. EDIT: Almost forgot to mention my opinion on the combiners. The official combiner looks pretty cool, and it also fits well with the swarm insect theme. Your combiner is also very cool, and I'd love to see instructions for some sections of it. ~_^ Edited January 1, 2012 by ZORK64 Quote
Nightcruise Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Even before this I was going to get the set for mocing, now I have another reason. I've been wanting another red mini figure speaker part for years now. Quote
wghost Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the review! Now it seems it's a really nice if not an excellent set, I like all the little details here (back armor and feet mirror the first wave, weapons color-coded to red as opposed to the lime armor plates, well-armored body structure, small rockets, back covering). I'm not sure if I liked the white or not, but overall it looks really pleasing. (In fact, it looks so cool it makes me want to own it where otherwise I'm completely uninterested in buying this set.) PS: And your own combiner is surprisingly great! :) Edited December 31, 2011 by wghost Quote
Aanchir Posted December 31, 2011 Posted December 31, 2011 Pretty cool set. Still up in the air as to whether or not I'm going to buy it though. oh god that was a pun someone punch me in the face But I think the cuffs are that "herosteel" color (or whatever we're calling it) rather than gunmetal. They look way lighter than gunmetal to me. The cuffs are Titanium Metallic, the same as all the other sets. That color appears darker than gunmetal to me IRL. So I'm guessing it's just the lighting that makes them look lighter (you can compare them in the instruction booklet to the swords which use Silver Metallic, which I guess is the "herosteel" color you're referring to). Anyway, great review! I'm very fond of Breez's set design. The color layering is a bit wonky on her upper legs and lower arms, but in general I like her color scheme and how it's organized. I also like many of the design decisions like the bubble shoulders (very Samus Aran), the 1.0 Hero feet, and the chest pattern. In general the design reminds me of this MOC that I find so impressive. The main thing I would change upon getting the set would be to adjust her thigh shells so they both face forward. I think having them face to the side makes her look bowlegged, and having them at different angles from one another is just a bit wonky-looking on a figure this tall. Actually, the height is another thing I'm unsure about in general, and I'd want to see how she would look at a more traditional Hero height as well. Admittedly in these pictures she looks a lot better than I had feared she'd look. Like the MOC I linked, I'd also find some 3M Technic beams to fill in the gaps in the feet. The combi model of her and Thornraxx is very weird, and essentially looks like a mutated Thornraxx. It's nowhere near as imaginative as the combi models for Rocka and Black Phantom, or Surge and Splitface. Your combi is much more unique-looking, although the color scheme, as mentioned, is craaaazy. Thanks so much for reviewing this set! Quote
Brickthing Posted December 31, 2011 Author Posted December 31, 2011 Pretty cool set. Still up in the air as to whether or not I'm going to buy it though. But I think the cuffs are that "herosteel" color (or whatever we're calling it) rather than gunmetal. They look way lighter than gunmetal to me. You'd better decide quick before Breez and Thornraxx land on American stores. Once they're there I'm sure they'll fly off the shelves. All of the metallic pieces are in the new 2011 Hero Factory colours, but I simply enjoy calling them Silver and Gunmetal, as I can't be bothered differentiating the colours in my MOCs. The main thing I would change upon getting the set would be to adjust her thigh shells so they both face forward. I think having them face to the side makes her look bowlegged, and having them at different angles from one another is just a bit wonky-looking on a figure this tall. The sideways shell allows the cuffs to be holstered at a more realistic/comfortable angle, which is why I forgave the asymmetry of this set. There have been sets with worse asymmetry, such as Furno 2.0. Quote
Ceroknight Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 Thank you for the review! This is probably the best version of Breez Quote
Bfahome Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) All of the metallic pieces are in the new 2011 Hero Factory colours, but I simply enjoy calling them Silver and Gunmetal, as I can't be bothered differentiating the colours in my MOCs. No I think Aanchir's right, one of the pics shows them as lighter than the others. Since that's the pic they're most prominent in, it threw me off a bit. Also I'm pretty sure the name "herosteel" was used to refer to the new color that's in between silver and gunmetal, so yeah it wouldn't be that either way. My baaaad. Edited January 1, 2012 by Bfahome Quote
refriedbeans Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 I absolutely hated her. Until now! She will most definitely be my first purchase! The colors blend so well,and that shield! Thank you for this review! Quote
Aethersprite Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 I absolutely hated her. Until now! She will most definitely be my first purchase! The colors blend so well,and that shield! Thank you for this review! I couldn't agree more. I didn't even consider buying her before, but after seeing in-hand pics of her I must say she looks outstanding. Definitely at the top of my list. Quote
Aanchir Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 You'd better decide quick before Breez and Thornraxx land on American stores. Once they're there I'm sure they'll fly off the shelves. All of the metallic pieces are in the new 2011 Hero Factory colours, but I simply enjoy calling them Silver and Gunmetal, as I can't be bothered differentiating the colours in my MOCs. The sideways shell allows the cuffs to be holstered at a more realistic/comfortable angle, which is why I forgave the asymmetry of this set. There have been sets with worse asymmetry, such as Furno 2.0. I actually liked Furno 2.0's asymmetry, because his armor was still balanced on both sides. Arguably Breez's is too, but from front view having one armor piece at a 90 degree angle from the other makes one leg look less armored than the other. Bulk 3.0 did the same thing, but in his case perhaps it wasn't as bothersome to me because the legs didn't have so much extra length. Incidentally, how does Breez look with traditional 2.0- or 3.0-sized arms and legs? In other words, either all 5M bones or one 5M and one 6M bone for the legs. That's something I'm very curious about (I greatly prefer the smaller Heroes in terms of proportions). Quote
Aethersprite Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 I actually liked Furno 2.0's asymmetry, because his armor was still balanced on both sides. Arguably Breez's is too, but from front view having one armor piece at a 90 degree angle from the other makes one leg look less armored than the other. Bulk 3.0 did the same thing, but in his case perhaps it wasn't as bothersome to me because the legs didn't have so much extra length. Well, this is Lego, all you have to do is to flip one of the armour pieces around! Quote
Bundalings Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Breez has been my favorite from this wave since I first it. She still is, I think. Thanks for the review, I've been eager to see if she looked as good in-hand. I want to get her and Thornraxx ASAP. Quote
GeluNumber1 Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Man, this looks like a good set. I can hardly wait for it to come out in the US of A! I'm unsure why it's currently not availible here. Quote
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