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Set Review: 44016 Jaw Beast vs Stormer
 Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 at 11:42am by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: Sisen] What's this? Another Hero Factory review? Yes indeed! Today BZPower Forum Assistant Sisen looks at 44016 Jaw Beast vs Stormer from the 2014 wave. How does this invader from below stack up against the heroes we've looked at thus far? Read on to find out! Presentation
Oh... oh.. oh no! The wreckage at the scene of the incident is unfathomable. There are various reports coming in but what can be confirmed is Stormer faced off against some sort of ferocious beast with gaping jaws. There were about six to twelve witnesses near the site with the battle occurred. The onlookers described the battle that went down, but mostly gave singular words to describe the battle or sounds. "Fire. Destruction. Boom. RRAAAAWR. Claws. Deafening. Ginormous. Purple? Purple. PURPLE! GRRR." It is unclear where the beast originated from, however, it is clear the city is facing an invasion from below.
Building
Building something new and exciting for a change is quite fun! The general black torso piece is at the center of the beast, but building a monstrous kaiju is a nice change of pace from heroes, animals, aliens, etc. This is the smallest beast out of the broodmother's nest, so it has one of the simplest builds and designs.
The build itself is very straightforward and symmetrical. Jaw Beast does not require much effort to assemble, but that is hardly a thing to complain about. After applying some limbs and armor, there is a little embellishment with claw/horn bits. With claws, a clap jaw, and a tail this beast is a fearsome foe for any hero to face down. Set Design
Overall the simple construction for Jaw Beast is a win in its favor. There is not any gobbledygook weighing down the aesthetic build of the set. The color scheme is superb (in my opinion). Purple and trans light blue! While there is not a lot of purple in the set, it is always nice to see the color come back and be used successfully.
Some of the new black pieces such as the feet and claws are really cool. Personally the jaw pieces are really interesting and open up some MOC opportunities. It would have been cool if there was more purple included besides the main head pieces and accent claws on the body, but it is what it is. The trans light blue and azure pieces work together well with the overall color scheme. The new Hero Factory emblem pieces are nice, and the printed armor piece for Jaw beast is pretty rad.
One cool thing that does not tie into the set build itself is in the instruction booklet. There is some really cool comic book style artwork depicting the battle of Stormer vs. Jaw Beast. Besides the set itself this was my next favorite thing I found. While there is not any huge backstory to the art, it helps paint a picture of what is going on. Plus, it just looks really really cool.
Stormer is pretty much identical to the version in Freeze Machine except he has a spear instead of a gun. It makes sense that he has a spear to pierce the armor on Jaw Beast. A little pea shooter gun would not have much effect. The Hero Factory piece on his arm is questionable though. Is it some interactive PDA or maybe an energy shield of sorts? The actual bag packaging shows the figure to scale in print. However, a comparison was needed to show that the new herofigs stand taller than the average minifig. The new robotic minifig type pieces are cool and will merge well with creations. Playability
To say Stormer is in for an unfair fight is an understatement. If the scale system is correct then Stormer is a lot shorter than Jaw Beast. Stormer's Freeze Machine would be its equal in height. The beast from below can sit right on Stormer and there is not anything he can do about it. That being said there is a lot of playability with this set.
Jaw Beast is facing against Bulk! Bulk seems a little caught off guard by his opponent. Never fear he's ready to take on any opponent! Er... Well... That was unexpected...
CAKE! What better for Jaw Beast to eat with its huge gaping mouth.
Oh right... Stormer fits. Like I was saying there is a lot of playability with this set beyond the unfortunate demise of heroes and the cake is not a lie, thank goodness. Final Thoughts
All in all the new set dubbed Jaw Beast (not digger beast or diggersby) is probably my favorite out of the trio. Watch for some more upcoming reviews featuring the others this week. For everyone in North America the sets will be available March 1st, but should begin to appear in stores everywhere else January 1st.
Watch out for these strange beasts that are appearing, and be sure to snag your combiner instructions! Big thanks to Sisen for the first of a few 2014 Hero Factory reviews he's working on. Be sure to ask any questions or leave your thoughts in the Talkback. And don't go too far, there's still more 2014 Hero Factory sets that we'll be reviewing, right here on BZPower!
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