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    Discuss This Story ReviewThursday, December 2nd, 2010 at 8:38pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
    [Source: Sisen]

    It's the second day of December and that means it's time for another Hero Factory 2011 review! Today Sisen takes a look at an all-new character: Evo. This set combines two very popular colors - yellow and purple, but is it a set you should buy? Read on to find out!

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    Mission Briefing: A new hero has been built at Hero Factory in Makuhero City. Interview and debut the hero to the general populace.

    Subject Name: Evo 2.0

    Welcome to Hero Factory, we build heroes! Please keep your arms, legs, tentacles, etc. inside the safety zone for the duration of this demonstration.

    As you can see on the front of the canister, Evo 2.0 stands proudly garnering his unique yellow and purple. In the background there are a few silhouettes of what appear to be dastardly villains, assuming their firing laser and massive explosion are any indication of their true nature. There also appears to be some special code beneath the canister lid, but that will not be shown during our report.

    2067 Evo 2.0 01 2067 Evo 2.0 02

    On the back of the canister the purple hero core is show at actual size. Evo 2.0 is also shown standing next to [information redacted] and their combiner. There is also fine print featured on the canister's back. Warnings and choking hazards are repeated in various alien dialects. Once again the fiery explosion background is used, which works alongside the orange lid...

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    The lid has popped off and all the pieces have dumped out. It's moving! The hero is assembling itself right before our eyes. In Hero Factory 2.0 we don't build the heroes, the heroes build you!

    2067 Evo 2.0 03

    This is amazing. The torso of the hero is bare-bones. No longer are there unwanted and questionable torso designs being used. All the molds are fresh from the factory for this new hero model. Just look at those connectors. The possibilities and maneuverability are very articulate. It appears the hero is pretending to be some sort of dinosaur!?

    2067 Evo 2.0 04 2067 Evo 2.0 05 2067 Evo 2.0 06 2067 Evo 2.0 07 2067 Evo 2.0 08

    Now things are getting serious. Evo 2.0 has put on his clown shoes. The armor is just snapping on! There aren't any axles or pins to worry about. The armor snaps right onto the newfound connection system. There's a hand with four fingers! Look at that massive shield spear gun thingy he wields. Evo 2.0 is completely assembled.

    2067 Evo 2.0 09 2067 Evo 2.0 10 2067 Evo 2.0 11 2067 Evo 2.0 12 2067 Evo 2.0 13 2067 Evo 2.0 14

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    Evo 2.0 contains thirty one pieces and each and every one of them is new. Well practically all of them are new. Let's not dwell on the old with so much new. We are going to do this by color categorization. First we will start with yellow. There are eleven yellow pieces in the set. There is one yellow new hand with four fingers. There is also one helmet, one shield panel thingy, two smaller armor units, two medium armor units, and one large armor unit. The feet and the yellow chest plate are also there. All the new found armor connects via the new connection system. The helmet connects to the head via the same connection method used by the hero cores.

    2067 Evo 2.0 15

    Now for what you've all been waiting for: purple! It is nice to see purple being used more in sets even though the amount is on the small side. There are only a whopping three purple pieces for Evo 2.0, his hero core, his head, and his purple fin blade. The head has a unique design so the new facial accessories slide in like a hero core with the helmet on top.

    2067 Evo 2.0 16

    There are five gunmetal pieces and two silver. Evo's mouth piece, chest armor, tools, and leg armor are all gunmetal, while the two spears are silver. The spears are not traditional hard plastic. They are actually rubberized and bend when touched. His chest armor snaps onto his torso via the new connection system and his yellow armor plating slides right on top of that.

    2067 Evo 2.0 17

    Finally there are ten black pieces. You have one regular old black hand connector in the latest mold. The majority of the black pieces are the new connector system. There is the large torso piece, singular ball and joint connector, and then two varieties of the ball-ball-joint connector.

    2067 Evo 2.0 18

    Evo is pretty cool for a new set design. You get a lot of new pieces and functionality. The bare-bones construction makes things interesting and offers up a lot of possibilities and options. The new means of building is personally something that would have been amazing for Bionicle, and will be a great asset for making Bionicle creations. This line of Hero Factory is like having your own customizable buildable action figure, which in my opinion is a great step for LEGO.

    While the new design is great there are a few small issues. The new armor connection method is wonderful but the size and placement is something else. The molds are brand new, it's not so much the molds are bad but the number of molds used. You get two small yellow molds, one for the upper arm and upper thigh, two medium molds for the lower leg armor, a large yellow armor for the upper arm and a large gunmetal armor for the upper thigh. The asymmetry is interesting but awkward at times. Evo's custom leg armor pretty much just works for Evo. It would have been nice for more of the same armor instead of two pieces that throw off the balance of things. There is one minor issue with functionality though. If you look closely the top of the large shoulder armor interferes with the torso armor. It's not a big issue because you can move the torso armor slightly to prevent it from happening.

    2067 Evo 2.0 19

    Almost forgot about the clown feet! Evo's new foot design is pretty cool. The design looks like it is meant to be bulky and heavily armored, which is surely something a hero needs. The feet just seem a tad big. Your foot is about the length from your elbow to your wrist. The new foot mold compared to Evo's arm runs from his elbow to his finger tips. The feet do what they are supposed to though. Evo stands pretty cool and sports his flashy new pieces well.

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

    Unfortunately we are not permitted to leave the safety zone for this interview and cannot comment o how fun Evo is to play with. Oh it appears one of our cameramen has involuntarily stepped out of the safety zone. Look at that they are comparing weapon size! It looks like Evo is bigger and can hold his tool even higher. Poor sportsmen ship on behalf of our cameraman he turned his back on the new hero. Uh-oh! It looks like Evo 2.0 is giving a demonstration of his strength. He picked our cameramen right up off the ground. He's even flexing and posing!

    2067 Evo 2.0 20 2067 Evo 2.0 21 2067 Evo 2.0 22

    Evo boasts a lot of strength and maneuverability with his structure. There are a lot of options and ranges of movement available. He's not limited by a simple one piece leg or arm with hand connected. There are ball joints upon ball joints upon ball joints of functionality. Whether he's scanning the skies for villains or stargazing in his free time, Evo 2.0 is a lot of fun to play with.

    2067 Evo 2.0 23 2067 Evo 2.0 24

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • SOOOO
    • MANY
    • NEW
    • MOLDS
    • Yellow
    • Purple
    • New Connections

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Armor asymmetry is atrocious
    • One handed bulky weapon
    • Only THREE purple pieces

    This is quite an extraordinary new line of heroes from LEGO. A new series of connection systems opens up a lot of design options and is a great improvement. We're finally past the same torsos and limbs being used, but I'm sure there will be new complaints. Boohoo it is not Bionicle, but it is not meant to be. It is however the next best thing.

    Also, thanks to LEGO for donating the sets for review. It was an amazing opportunity to review a set for everyone that was sent fresh from the factory.

    Here's a sneak peak at my next review. I could not show you who Evo actually combines with but this thing turned out pretty sweet. Just look at the size of that eviscerator cannon, not to mention the dual shoulder blasters!

    2067 Evo 2.0 25

    And another Hero Factory 2011 is wrapped up. As always, be sure to thank Sisen and leave your feedback in the Talkback. Keep checking back for more reviews and LEGO news!

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