I used to think Invasion from Below was weird and underwhelming. But then I took another look at the sets and saw that they were actually pretty cool. They tried something new with constraction and showed new ways to build with CCBS, it was great stuff. With that said, however, I don’t think this theme should have been Hero Factory. I think it would have served far better as theme that brought constraction and system together like never before, using CCBS to build huge monsters and mechs and system for terrain. It’s cool that we got the heroes as minifigures but since they already had larger figures, you were just left comparing the size of the supposedly massive beasts, to the hero sets we had gotten in years past. Still a great theme though and critically underrated.
I usually thought the theme makes nice CCBS Mech MOCs for my future Minifigure OC's. I use to do that with Rocka's Stealth Machine one time, I placed a normal Minifigure with the HF armor pieces to attach to the seat of the mech suit, and I worked out very well :)
My personal list would be: 1. Queen Beast 2. Rocka Stealth Machine 3. Surge/Rocka Combat Mech 4. Evo XL Mech 5. Splitter Beast I had all of these minus Evo XL as a kid and the amount of fun and creativity I got with just four sets says a lot.
Man. Crystal beast. Memories unlocked, and what a memory. It was pretty much the only IFB set I actually really wanted (besides maybe evos XL mech), not only because I'm a bulk fan, but also because, well, just look at it. That thing looks awesome. Easily the best looking beast to me, even more so than the queen. Sadly, that entire wave never quite made to my country, and I didn't have enough money back in the day to import em
This is without a doubt the best wave of hero factory This and Savage Planet were in my opinion, the only waves that made be forget that bionicle was gone, as they felt the most like them
So cool to see someone else talking good about Invasion From Below, it was my favorite Hero Factory theme. I had always been a fan of mechs fighting monsters, so this theme was always a stellar one for me. My personal favorite set of the wave was Jaw Beast, it was the first set I had and had gotten the last one Toys R Us had when I went for it, I still have that one and like five other Jaw Beasts too, just love it. An absolute perfect wave of sets if you ask me.
My top 5 list would probably be: 1. Queen Beast. 2. Evo XL. I just love huge Hero Factory sets and getting the XL and main villain sets was always a favorite thing of mine to do when a new wave of HF came out. 3. Splitter Beast. This set came with a lot of unique pieces and a cool gimmick to go along with it. 4. Rocka Stealth Machine. This one just looks cool. 5. Crystal Beast. So many translucent parts and it’s also nice to have a royal guard for the queen.
@@BenCossyOfficialYea! I think I actually had all the beast sets I listed. The Queen was my favorite. (I don’t have any Lego anymore. I gave it all away, a decision which I REALLY regret now.)
Another great list, though I feel there's a stronger emphasis on the wave 1 sets than wave 2 than your other time travel escapades. Granted, wave 2 went for more abstract, less humanoid mechs that didn't look as visually impactful so I understand that. Still some great picks! Personally, I would've snatched up Bulk's Drill machine as it's incredibly reminiscent of Power Miners and is one of only 2 sets to actually include the Bulk figure. It also had that added compatibility with the other wave 2 mechs, where you could swap out their gimmicks and carry them over to other sets in the wave. It's a shame also that Surge didn't get his own humanoid mech like Rocka, Stormer, and Furno, rather a strange quadrupedal walking mech he shared with someone else (he didn't even get the cool flying part of the vehicle!). Also such a shame they couldn't bring back Stringer or Nex for that final mission. You bring up some great points about the line being reminiscent of Exo Force, especially in wave 1. I reckon the transition from standard action figure-sized characters to minifigure compatible scale was just too jarring in the end. It was a real shame to see that this was the line HF went out with as it felt almost like a reboot effort that didn't pan out fully. I would've loved to have seen if they continued this for a third wave, perhaps introducing some villain minifigures in this same scale. I guess Crystal Beast really was the prophesied end of Hero Factory!
good to see a video on best sets of 2014! also i think thath the alien commanders from mars misson were pretty cool villans. very similar to tuma not only they were both a class of a specias but their colors are very similar
Honestly, Invasion From Below might be my favorite wave. I love kaiju and weird monsters, and the mechs were cool too. If I had to pick 5 sets, I would pick Jaw Beast, Crystal Beast, Flyer Beast, Splitter Beast, and finally Queen Beast.
Boy did I miss out on some great sets .I don't have a clue what was going on then ,but I missed some awesome sets .Hey ,being old Gramps is aloud to forget from time to time.
I literally bought the flyer beast set 2 years after hero factory ended I love it but if I had to pick well any that's under $20 USD & that I got a good feel from heck I'd get multiples of any $10 USD sets cause Ben literally never said: "no multiple copies of one set"
Man.. I myself only ever had the Crystal Beast from all the beasts, now I also have a used Splitter Beast set, but the Crystal Beast head I lost a looong time ago... it was such a cool piece, silly 9 or so year old me decided to take it along on some trip... Oh well, the other pieces are still very cool, when I rebuilt all my sets a bit back, I used a Bionicle shadow trap thing as a head, it works quite well actually!
And honestly, the time of when these sets were in my country was so awesome! I got Evo Walker, Stormer's Freeze Machine and Crystal Beast, and that's like the perfect combo! 5 spiders, 1 cocoon, 1 beast, 1 full on mech, 3 heroes, and that chamber thing on the back of the Freeze Machine
Big RIP to Hero Factory, but you know what never dies? Star Wars! (Although even as soon as 2014 with the canon reboot on April 25th had people saying otherwise...) So 2014 was an interesting year because things were good, but I was just not interested because of how many remakes there were for Revenge of the Sith, a movie I had gotten all the first versions of for each of the sets back in 2005-2007, and there were even a few Original Trilogy sets that I also had older versions of, so the year was nearly a wash. It was also the last year I regularly bought the Battle Packs because they were starting to lose my interest given their price points changing, and especially with what was to come in 2015, I'm glad I stopped when I did because the ones we got this year were certainly ones to end on. Rebels was just starting up, and it was weird because Clone Wars died for this? Luckily, the show did win my favor after its First Season, but it wasn't really meant to be in LEGO form since nothing past Season 2 was made sans the Phantom II, but this year there was only The Ghost and The Phantom, not even enough to get all the main characters as Sabine was missing from the lineup. So to start off a list, I guess I do want to point out sets that I think are cool, but I never got because I just don't feel the desire to buy remakes. Shoutout to 75043 AT-AP, the one set I actually regret having the previous version of (7671 AT-AP Walker) because it came with both Tarful and Commander Gree, characters I very much would like to have, who would then be split up in the other Kashyyyk remakes, and while the original set is one to love, there is a certain gritiness to it that was more befitting of the Battle of Kashyyyk. Shoutout to 75046 Coruscant Police Gunship for depicting one of the most moving Arcs of Clone Wars, it's also just a really cool ship, and I'm amazed that an Imperial version has never been made because it got a lot of play in Rebels. While it would be a shame to lose the Dark Blue for just all gray, I'd have happily bought one for a more Rebels centric thing since I already had the Clone Wars figures I would have wanted in this set in others, and Rebels just had a lot of boring speeder bikes or rehashes of Rebel and Imperial ships because of the era the show took place, the Police Gunships were always neat to see. And I suppose shoutout to any set that came with figures of characters we'd never seen before, but the actual sets just don't interest me. I find that a lot of them also up the scale purely for detail, a problematic trend LEGO Star Wars would deal with for a few more years before finally scaling things back to be both affordable and easier to handle in play. Okay, now the actual list. It's gonna be another two-parter, I can tell. *5. 75048 The Phantom* Really it's both 75048 The Phantom and 75053 The Ghost because why would you get one without the other, but The Phantom is easily the better set of the two. The Ghost is really more just to get all the figures, and at any rate, it's really just to get Zeb since it's the only set he ever came in, but even then, his figure is not great. The Ghost is also mostly air, and while there are play features, they just don't do it for a set of that size. The Phantom on the other hand, is a perfectly servicable little ship, it's wings unfold just like in the show, the gutter plates make for nice bracing to fill the gaps at the hinges, and while it's also got very limited space, it uses it more effectively than The Ghost. If we're being honest though, these two are really only here to avoid the whole list just being Battle Packs and Microfighters. Spoilers for the rest I guess. *4. 75045 Republic AV-7 Anti-Vehicle Cannon* When I first saw this set, it was an automatic must buy. Clone Wars may have died, but we're still getting sets baby! After all this time, we finally get the canons we first saw in the movie, and then we also get Plo Koon and two of his Wolfpack Troopers. The Droideka leaves much to be desired in my eye, I will always love the ones from 7203 Jedi Defense I, but there have been worse ones both before and since if you can believe it. The Cannon also has great articulation for a vehicle that's primarily static when we see it, and there's even some wheels to mimic hovering for quickly moving them into position before the legs stabilize for battle. It's perfect for what it needs to do. *3. The Series 1 Microfighters* Yes, it's another big compilation of six sets as a spot, but they are, and continue to be, some of the best collectible sets LEGO Star Wars has had. While I love my Planet Sets and was initially hesitant to pick up the Microfighters, I did buy one just for the pieces (75032 X-wing Fighter Microfighter for the 1x1 round studs with holes), and then my collector brain had to reassemble it and get the other five, I was hooked. LEGO also did a really nice job with the packaging as two sets were always paired up against one another if they were placed on the shelf properly. 75028 Clone Turbo Tank Microfighter and 75029 AAT Microfighter, 75030 Millennium Falcon Microfighter and 75031 TIE Interceptor Microfighter, and then 75032 X-wing Fighter Microfighter and 75033 Star Destroyer Microfighter. Each set came with a minifigure, some of which are quite rare, future series would do the same, and then while the ships' proportions have been altered into a chibi-esque style, simply having a representation of a vehicle that hadn't been made in awhile, or even just to have one that could fit in your hand was a lot more beneficial to me than trying to get bigger versions. The Turbo Tank and AAT are pretty equal in terms of how well done they are, but I think I have to give it to the Turbo Tank. The Millennium Falcon is superior to the TIE Interceptor, but the TIE is better at exagerating the proportions, which is an impoartant factor to how successful a Microfighter is, and while there would be three Falcons (who knows, it's been a few years, a fourth on the rise, please no more...), the design has mostly been the same and you can really only fatten a fairly flat circle of a ship. The X-wing is absolutely superior to the Star Destroyer in every way, and if you got the 2014 Star Wars Advent Calandar, apparently the droid with the Christmas Tree cone is the same body for the dome included with the X-Wing, making R2-X2, which is excellent synergy for a hardcore collector that gets everything (although amazingly, I do not fall under that category). They're compact, but fun, some even having more features than your traditional miniature version that's accurately proportioned. For $60 you get six little ships, six minifigures, and they take up for less space than just one set that cost $60 and probably only came with three figs. (Continued in replies)
*2. 75036 Utapau Troopers* People love their 212th Troopers, and we had never really gotten any until this year. Aside from Phase I Cody from Clone Wars, and perhaps the Bomb Squad troopers (it's still not confirmed if Orange is the Bomb Squad color or if the paint job denotes their function, and the color matches their Legion/Corps/Battalion I don't know military terms), and one miscolored Keetorage one in the Umbaran MHC set, there were no 212th Troopers to assist Obi-Wan on his missions. Finally we have a Battle Pack to really boost up the ranks, and they are fantastically detailed, covered nearly head to toe, front and back, with orange markings and scratches and pockmarks of battle damaged armor. If there's one major complaint from fans it's the stud shooter blasters, and I get that, but I also don't really care. They're slightly reminiscent of the megaphone and stud blasters of yore, 2007 introduced the new blasters, and it was weird at first, but then with a switch back to something with a play feature, people complain that likely would have just bought third party blasters that match the ones seen in the movies anyway and not the generic design by LEGO to be used across all eras, so no skin off my nose. There's also an Octuptarra Tri-Droid included, and it's easily the weakest part of the set. It neither really functions as the large ones from Clone Wars, or the smaller ones on Utapau in Revenge of the Sith, but it does get the job done, it's an enemy for the Clones to combat against, and it's not some rinkydink made up speeder or some nonsense, so I'm pleased. *1. 75035 Kashyyyk Troopers* If you didn't see this one coming, I'm guess you have my top two swapped because you're either a 212th fan or a 41st fan. Most people probably prefer 212th since they got a lot of screen time in both Revenge of the SIth and Clone Wars, but more sets for Revenge of the Sith come from Kashyyyk than Utapau, so I have a lot more of a Kashyyyk display, and let me tell you, a Battle Pack of nothing but Kashyyyk Troopers is amazing. Now I'll be honest, I've watched Revenge of the Sith too many times to count, and I still ain't never seen one of the normal Phase II Clones on Kashyyyk, it's always been the scouts, so it's really more about them that make this set for me, but to be able to populate my scene with the right colored troops was great. I managed to somehow get four copies of the original 7655 Clone Troopers Battle Pack, and for years, those where the guys fighting on Kashyyyk, but when this set came out, I took half of them, mainly the Shocktroopers and the plain ones not on a bike, and put them in the Clone Turbo Tank. The AT-RT and AT-AP, those also got swapped for the newer Kashyyyk guys. The one with the Jetpack from the Turbo Tank was also swapped. There's still a few guys with yellow stripes and white armor, but they're primarily on the two person bikes, everyone else is a Kashyyyk Trooper. And what's better is that they all get standard blasters and not the studshooter kind. I know I said I don't care, and I really don't, but if I had the option, I'm using the standard blasters that came with all the other Clones I swapped the Kashyyyk ones in for. But the fun doesn't end there, Battle Packs are always about the minifigs, but you're still paying for a set, and thankfully, although a lot smaller than it should be, the set includes a Swamp Speeder, a vehicle that not only exists in Star Wars (although I won't lie, it's not only not common, I've also barely seen it even at the battle of Kashyyyk) the set was made twice before in LEGO, so they know what these things are and how to make them. While I don't include them in my display, they're all piled behind the Turbo Tank nearly out of sight from almost any angle, the fact that we have yet another actual vehicle represented and not some kind of silly bike (don't be mad at me 7655) or made up walker (2015 and onwards' bad walkers in Battle Packs made sure I never picked them up, it didn't matter how cool the figures may have looked), or other bad vehicle (I'm looking at you 7667 Imperial Dropship, nothing about you makes sense for the Empire, why did they remake you in 2019?), it's just such a relief to see that Battle Packs can be done well and be proper sets and not just something purely about the figs, even if that's the only reason we really get them. If you're a 212th fan and bought far too many of 75036, I totally respect that, it's also a great set, but even though it is an enemy for them to combat, the Tri-Droid just doesn't quite work as well as the Swamp Speeder does for me, and because I have a great display for multiple copies, the Kashyyyk Troopers were the best things to come from LEGO Star Wars in 2014. Alright, I'm out until Ben does some other Top 5 thing for Constraction sets and I inevitably go down the dark path of writing too much about a totally unrelated topic again...
I feel like if they made regular sized heroes that matched the designs of the minifigs alongside the mechs and kaiju, the wave would probably be better. It’s not bad, but having the heroes (the entire purpose of the theme) be relegated to minifigs only, it does kind of sour it
The only hero factory set I ever had as a child was the evo xl machine, and I loved that thing. It was easily one of my most played with sets and I still wish I had it today, I'll definitely be picking it up as soon as I can find one sealed for a decent price
Today...on the edge of our hope...we've chosen to believe not just in ourselves, but in each other! Today we face the monsters that are at our door, and bring the fight to them! Today we are CANCELLING the Apocalypse!
From afar, the biggest problem with invasion from below isn't the mech vs kaiju thing, which is cool as hell. It's the story that seemed to be trying to reinvent itself with every year but not really going anywhere
ah, the memories of this wave were great, i might be biased but its probably my favorite wave i remember having breez vs flyer beast and the evo xl mech
I liked Evo XL machine and the wave 2 little mechs, but I can't say much for the beasts, or really the other wave 1 mechs. Eh, Stormer was decent I suppose. I think they all look a bit shy in the weapons, armour, and mechliness. At least Evo XL got that right, and exceptionally. Same of the beasts, they just weren't imposing or had significant weapons or claws, they were too scrawny and small to be a tough bad guy, never mind significant sets to buy. Did get Splitter and Flyer beasts though, they were decent enough. Splitter surprises you cos it doesn't look great but all the nibbly bits add up. Anyhow, were I to go back I'd get Evo XL, Splitter, Bulk, Breez, and then Surge just cos it looks like a good nibbly bits pack. Or frankly I could just say Evo XL machine 5 times cos I think that set is so meteorically superior, that set is touching the fingers of Witch Doctor.
Gosh invasion from below was so fun! I had splitter beast and queen beast. I still have the parts for them too! I'm gonna try to rebuild splitter beast soon because of this video. Splitter beast was honestly one of my favorite hero factory sets I ever got, next to dragon bolt, von nebula, and speeda demon.
Splitter beast was i think my only set from the first wave and i loved him, so much nostalgia now so i wanted to build him up again but instead i made an awesome moc, it was so much fun!
Ngl, since I did use to have one of those sets when I was 12 which is Stealth Machine Rocka, in my defense? I actually kinda liked both Invasion From Below and Brain Attack because they make great LEGO/Hero Factory/Bionicle fusion MOCs lol.
As a kid, my biggest issue with this them of HF was that the mech suits didn’t really fit well with all the other HF and bionicle sets I had. The beasts were amazing, and the idea of the mech-v-kaiju theme was awesome, but having minifig pilots next to normal or even titan sized sets didn’t fit well for play imo. I can see this wave being a GREAT tie-in with exo force, but for me it didn’t work with other constraction themes
The more I get into these videos, the more I realize how much I slept on HF as a whole. I didn’t get a single set from 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or even 4.0. I got a few from 5.0 and 6.0 though.
I just simply wish that I had more of the pieces from that year's Lego Hero Factory sets. With that, I could really build and design my own custom battle machine. (Or my own custom beast)
I'd like to say my favorite set from this wave of Hero Factory was the crystal scorpion like the king of the hive or something but it was a combined set between the Crystal Beast the cave crawler and the Queen
I don’t think the change to the mechs was that bad really, it was probably only supposed to be a one season thing just like all their other upgrades, and the concept of their being these absolutely humongous creatures that they distributed underground is just cool im general and the beasts where all pretty dam cool
Yeah. Coming from a big hero factory fan(it was literally my childhood), it was really out of place in terms of how things were structured. We first had the originals all the way to brain attack where the heroes got bigger and better with each upgrade. All of a sudden, they are small once again and fighting kaiju machines with no explanation to the change. The change was very sudden and unsuitable for most of us to say the least and it was very hard to adapt to the situation. Additionally, while the mechs were cool, the main problem was how little screen time they got. Stormer's Freeze machine was destroyed in a few seconds, Furno abandoned his flight machine, Rocka's stealth machine was overrun, and Evo's giant mech was disassembled. Really wish we got to see more of them in action. The ending was also pretty meh to say the least as usually, the heroes end on a high note with a possible sequel. In here, it seemed as if they had not only wiped out a species but karma was coming back to get them in the end.
@@BenCossyOfficial I found it shortly after. Although I did leave a comment saying you should do it by wave... Either way, makes me sad to realize all that I missed before savage planet. I do still have the Skorpio though.
Today, i have some the sets from this theme. I have splitter, flyer, jaw and tunnel beast. And for the mechs i have stormer, rocka, furno, evo, bulk and breezes machine. I never got surge BUT i used extra body parts to build a mixed figure with the helmet of evo and painted it blue so it looked like surge. I also builded my OWN new Hero, i named her SHADOW. Once again i used extra parts to build another mixed mini figure witht he helmet of rocka and painted all black. And her mech is also made by myself, it have two long swords and two missle launchers with 4 missles just like evo, i placed both on its shoudlers with all black parts with an orange seat. I also always wanted a huge beast, so i used the body of the star wars buildable figure General Grevius. I removed all the parts of grevious and replaced them with beast pieces and created a titan since the grevous figure is huge. I just love hero factory, my childhood and favorite lego theme. Awesome video, i loved it ❤️
This was perfect from 2014. I got the castle instead of the sets. ); I got rocka's little set. I got the queen beast later and it was as good as I thought it was.
Hey Ben Ever heard of Dr Scorpion X? Well, with the help of some friends, I've managed to recreate his recent self moc, the one he made before he disappeared again I thought you'd be interested since you're all about mocs
I figured it out, you can only take on trip in the time machine and you can only get those five from EVERY year, that's why you can only fit five in your time machine
In my opinion, Invasion From Below was really cool with the mech designs. I loved every bit of the designs but the story was meh to say the least. On the other hand, Breakout, 1.0, and Brain Attack all had the best hero designs of all time. I really wish I got all of them but since I was a kid with no allowance and parents who didn't like Lego, I got stuck with only 1.0 Furno, 1.0 Stormer, and Brain Attack Stormer. Both Stormers were for my brother and the 1.0's parts went missing. RIP
I think this wave was brilliant in concept. It just suffered from low budget. So sad it was the final wave, as Hero Factory’s future could’ve been so bright.
Not sure if you would be down for it but possibly dip into more Ninjago related content. You have a fantastic narration and list ranking voice and it would be awesome to have more top 5 Ninjago stuff could be really cool. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on it.
@@BenCossyOfficial Actually doesn't bother me if you're not as hard core of a fan as other people cause It's always nice to hear people who aren't hardcore fans what their just general opinions are on the theme and not from somebody who's so invested in the series. It's a breath of fresh air for sure.
My top 5 List is this 1. Queen Beast 2. crystal Beast Vs Bulk 3. Stormers Freese machine 4. splitter beast 5. Flyer Beast Vs Breez And can you made one more Video for Invasion from Below pls
I regret never getting evo and rocka's mechs I got the furno and stormer mechs and the bulk drill machine and I lacked the funds to get more because I was a tiny kid with a 2 euro per week allowance
I never got any of the hero factory sets except for the Stormer Brain attack for my brother because I didn't even get an allowance and my parents weren't keen on lego sets. I really wish I could go back in time and get as many as I want and watch the cool Hero Factory stop motion videos while I was at it.
I always saw the queen beast set as the perfect starter set because it came with everything (a mech, a beast, minifigs and a jumper)
I used to think Invasion from Below was weird and underwhelming. But then I took another look at the sets and saw that they were actually pretty cool. They tried something new with constraction and showed new ways to build with CCBS, it was great stuff. With that said, however, I don’t think this theme should have been Hero Factory. I think it would have served far better as theme that brought constraction and system together like never before, using CCBS to build huge monsters and mechs and system for terrain. It’s cool that we got the heroes as minifigures but since they already had larger figures, you were just left comparing the size of the supposedly massive beasts, to the hero sets we had gotten in years past. Still a great theme though and critically underrated.
I usually thought the theme makes nice CCBS Mech MOCs for my future Minifigure OC's.
I use to do that with Rocka's Stealth Machine one time, I placed a normal Minifigure with the HF armor pieces to attach to the seat of the mech suit, and I worked out very well :)
When I was little I always used to look at the back of instruction manuals at all the other sets and I always used to want the evo mech!
I loved the little art above the bags, they made you like your set more
That's one the things that really interested me because they almost make the theme look a bit darker and grittier as a whole.
My personal list would be:
1. Queen Beast
2. Rocka Stealth Machine
3. Surge/Rocka Combat Mech
4. Evo XL Mech
5. Splitter Beast
I had all of these minus Evo XL as a kid and the amount of fun and creativity I got with just four sets says a lot.
Man. Crystal beast. Memories unlocked, and what a memory. It was pretty much the only IFB set I actually really wanted (besides maybe evos XL mech), not only because I'm a bulk fan, but also because, well, just look at it. That thing looks awesome. Easily the best looking beast to me, even more so than the queen. Sadly, that entire wave never quite made to my country, and I didn't have enough money back in the day to import em
11:18 ayyy, is that my suggestion I hear?
Looking forward to that, I really enjoyed the one you've already done ❤
This is without a doubt the best wave of hero factory
This and Savage Planet were in my opinion, the only waves that made be forget that bionicle was gone, as they felt the most like them
So cool to see someone else talking good about Invasion From Below, it was my favorite Hero Factory theme. I had always been a fan of mechs fighting monsters, so this theme was always a stellar one for me. My personal favorite set of the wave was Jaw Beast, it was the first set I had and had gotten the last one Toys R Us had when I went for it, I still have that one and like five other Jaw Beasts too, just love it. An absolute perfect wave of sets if you ask me.
My top 5 list would probably be:
1. Queen Beast.
2. Evo XL.
I just love huge Hero Factory sets and getting the XL and main villain sets was always a favorite thing of mine to do when a new wave of HF came out.
3. Splitter Beast.
This set came with a lot of unique pieces and a cool gimmick to go along with it.
4. Rocka Stealth Machine.
This one just looks cool.
5. Crystal Beast.
So many translucent parts and it’s also nice to have a royal guard for the queen.
Great picks!
@@BenCossyOfficialYea! I think I actually had all the beast sets I listed. The Queen was my favorite.
(I don’t have any Lego anymore. I gave it all away, a decision which I REALLY regret now.)
Hot take, but invasion from below was my favourite wave of hero factory! It’s the only wave where I got all the sets, even the gwp’s
Stupid autocorrect 😑
Same here lol
It truly was Evo’s wave
Another great list, though I feel there's a stronger emphasis on the wave 1 sets than wave 2 than your other time travel escapades. Granted, wave 2 went for more abstract, less humanoid mechs that didn't look as visually impactful so I understand that. Still some great picks! Personally, I would've snatched up Bulk's Drill machine as it's incredibly reminiscent of Power Miners and is one of only 2 sets to actually include the Bulk figure. It also had that added compatibility with the other wave 2 mechs, where you could swap out their gimmicks and carry them over to other sets in the wave. It's a shame also that Surge didn't get his own humanoid mech like Rocka, Stormer, and Furno, rather a strange quadrupedal walking mech he shared with someone else (he didn't even get the cool flying part of the vehicle!). Also such a shame they couldn't bring back Stringer or Nex for that final mission.
You bring up some great points about the line being reminiscent of Exo Force, especially in wave 1. I reckon the transition from standard action figure-sized characters to minifigure compatible scale was just too jarring in the end. It was a real shame to see that this was the line HF went out with as it felt almost like a reboot effort that didn't pan out fully. I would've loved to have seen if they continued this for a third wave, perhaps introducing some villain minifigures in this same scale. I guess Crystal Beast really was the prophesied end of Hero Factory!
good to see a video on best sets of 2014!
also i think thath the alien commanders from mars misson were pretty cool villans. very similar to tuma not only they were both a class of a specias but their colors are very similar
Honestly, Invasion From Below might be my favorite wave. I love kaiju and weird monsters, and the mechs were cool too. If I had to pick 5 sets, I would pick Jaw Beast, Crystal Beast, Flyer Beast, Splitter Beast, and finally Queen Beast.
Great choices!
Boy did I miss out on some great sets .I don't have a clue what was going on then ,but I missed some awesome sets .Hey ,being old Gramps is aloud to forget from time to time.
I literally bought the flyer beast set 2 years after hero factory ended I love it but if I had to pick well any that's under $20 USD & that I got a good feel from heck I'd get multiples of any $10 USD sets cause Ben literally never said: "no multiple copies of one set"
Man.. I myself only ever had the Crystal Beast from all the beasts, now I also have a used Splitter Beast set, but the Crystal Beast head I lost a looong time ago... it was such a cool piece, silly 9 or so year old me decided to take it along on some trip... Oh well, the other pieces are still very cool, when I rebuilt all my sets a bit back, I used a Bionicle shadow trap thing as a head, it works quite well actually!
And honestly, the time of when these sets were in my country was so awesome! I got Evo Walker, Stormer's Freeze Machine and Crystal Beast, and that's like the perfect combo! 5 spiders, 1 cocoon, 1 beast, 1 full on mech, 3 heroes, and that chamber thing on the back of the Freeze Machine
Big RIP to Hero Factory, but you know what never dies? Star Wars! (Although even as soon as 2014 with the canon reboot on April 25th had people saying otherwise...)
So 2014 was an interesting year because things were good, but I was just not interested because of how many remakes there were for Revenge of the Sith, a movie I had gotten all the first versions of for each of the sets back in 2005-2007, and there were even a few Original Trilogy sets that I also had older versions of, so the year was nearly a wash. It was also the last year I regularly bought the Battle Packs because they were starting to lose my interest given their price points changing, and especially with what was to come in 2015, I'm glad I stopped when I did because the ones we got this year were certainly ones to end on. Rebels was just starting up, and it was weird because Clone Wars died for this? Luckily, the show did win my favor after its First Season, but it wasn't really meant to be in LEGO form since nothing past Season 2 was made sans the Phantom II, but this year there was only The Ghost and The Phantom, not even enough to get all the main characters as Sabine was missing from the lineup.
So to start off a list, I guess I do want to point out sets that I think are cool, but I never got because I just don't feel the desire to buy remakes. Shoutout to 75043 AT-AP, the one set I actually regret having the previous version of (7671 AT-AP Walker) because it came with both Tarful and Commander Gree, characters I very much would like to have, who would then be split up in the other Kashyyyk remakes, and while the original set is one to love, there is a certain gritiness to it that was more befitting of the Battle of Kashyyyk. Shoutout to 75046 Coruscant Police Gunship for depicting one of the most moving Arcs of Clone Wars, it's also just a really cool ship, and I'm amazed that an Imperial version has never been made because it got a lot of play in Rebels. While it would be a shame to lose the Dark Blue for just all gray, I'd have happily bought one for a more Rebels centric thing since I already had the Clone Wars figures I would have wanted in this set in others, and Rebels just had a lot of boring speeder bikes or rehashes of Rebel and Imperial ships because of the era the show took place, the Police Gunships were always neat to see. And I suppose shoutout to any set that came with figures of characters we'd never seen before, but the actual sets just don't interest me. I find that a lot of them also up the scale purely for detail, a problematic trend LEGO Star Wars would deal with for a few more years before finally scaling things back to be both affordable and easier to handle in play.
Okay, now the actual list. It's gonna be another two-parter, I can tell.
*5. 75048 The Phantom*
Really it's both 75048 The Phantom and 75053 The Ghost because why would you get one without the other, but The Phantom is easily the better set of the two. The Ghost is really more just to get all the figures, and at any rate, it's really just to get Zeb since it's the only set he ever came in, but even then, his figure is not great. The Ghost is also mostly air, and while there are play features, they just don't do it for a set of that size. The Phantom on the other hand, is a perfectly servicable little ship, it's wings unfold just like in the show, the gutter plates make for nice bracing to fill the gaps at the hinges, and while it's also got very limited space, it uses it more effectively than The Ghost. If we're being honest though, these two are really only here to avoid the whole list just being Battle Packs and Microfighters. Spoilers for the rest I guess.
*4. 75045 Republic AV-7 Anti-Vehicle Cannon*
When I first saw this set, it was an automatic must buy. Clone Wars may have died, but we're still getting sets baby! After all this time, we finally get the canons we first saw in the movie, and then we also get Plo Koon and two of his Wolfpack Troopers. The Droideka leaves much to be desired in my eye, I will always love the ones from 7203 Jedi Defense I, but there have been worse ones both before and since if you can believe it. The Cannon also has great articulation for a vehicle that's primarily static when we see it, and there's even some wheels to mimic hovering for quickly moving them into position before the legs stabilize for battle. It's perfect for what it needs to do.
*3. The Series 1 Microfighters*
Yes, it's another big compilation of six sets as a spot, but they are, and continue to be, some of the best collectible sets LEGO Star Wars has had. While I love my Planet Sets and was initially hesitant to pick up the Microfighters, I did buy one just for the pieces (75032 X-wing Fighter Microfighter for the 1x1 round studs with holes), and then my collector brain had to reassemble it and get the other five, I was hooked. LEGO also did a really nice job with the packaging as two sets were always paired up against one another if they were placed on the shelf properly. 75028 Clone Turbo Tank Microfighter and 75029 AAT Microfighter, 75030 Millennium Falcon Microfighter and 75031 TIE Interceptor Microfighter, and then 75032 X-wing Fighter Microfighter and 75033 Star Destroyer Microfighter. Each set came with a minifigure, some of which are quite rare, future series would do the same, and then while the ships' proportions have been altered into a chibi-esque style, simply having a representation of a vehicle that hadn't been made in awhile, or even just to have one that could fit in your hand was a lot more beneficial to me than trying to get bigger versions. The Turbo Tank and AAT are pretty equal in terms of how well done they are, but I think I have to give it to the Turbo Tank. The Millennium Falcon is superior to the TIE Interceptor, but the TIE is better at exagerating the proportions, which is an impoartant factor to how successful a Microfighter is, and while there would be three Falcons (who knows, it's been a few years, a fourth on the rise, please no more...), the design has mostly been the same and you can really only fatten a fairly flat circle of a ship. The X-wing is absolutely superior to the Star Destroyer in every way, and if you got the 2014 Star Wars Advent Calandar, apparently the droid with the Christmas Tree cone is the same body for the dome included with the X-Wing, making R2-X2, which is excellent synergy for a hardcore collector that gets everything (although amazingly, I do not fall under that category). They're compact, but fun, some even having more features than your traditional miniature version that's accurately proportioned. For $60 you get six little ships, six minifigures, and they take up for less space than just one set that cost $60 and probably only came with three figs.
(Continued in replies)
*2. 75036 Utapau Troopers*
People love their 212th Troopers, and we had never really gotten any until this year. Aside from Phase I Cody from Clone Wars, and perhaps the Bomb Squad troopers (it's still not confirmed if Orange is the Bomb Squad color or if the paint job denotes their function, and the color matches their Legion/Corps/Battalion I don't know military terms), and one miscolored Keetorage one in the Umbaran MHC set, there were no 212th Troopers to assist Obi-Wan on his missions. Finally we have a Battle Pack to really boost up the ranks, and they are fantastically detailed, covered nearly head to toe, front and back, with orange markings and scratches and pockmarks of battle damaged armor. If there's one major complaint from fans it's the stud shooter blasters, and I get that, but I also don't really care. They're slightly reminiscent of the megaphone and stud blasters of yore, 2007 introduced the new blasters, and it was weird at first, but then with a switch back to something with a play feature, people complain that likely would have just bought third party blasters that match the ones seen in the movies anyway and not the generic design by LEGO to be used across all eras, so no skin off my nose. There's also an Octuptarra Tri-Droid included, and it's easily the weakest part of the set. It neither really functions as the large ones from Clone Wars, or the smaller ones on Utapau in Revenge of the Sith, but it does get the job done, it's an enemy for the Clones to combat against, and it's not some rinkydink made up speeder or some nonsense, so I'm pleased.
*1. 75035 Kashyyyk Troopers*
If you didn't see this one coming, I'm guess you have my top two swapped because you're either a 212th fan or a 41st fan. Most people probably prefer 212th since they got a lot of screen time in both Revenge of the SIth and Clone Wars, but more sets for Revenge of the Sith come from Kashyyyk than Utapau, so I have a lot more of a Kashyyyk display, and let me tell you, a Battle Pack of nothing but Kashyyyk Troopers is amazing. Now I'll be honest, I've watched Revenge of the Sith too many times to count, and I still ain't never seen one of the normal Phase II Clones on Kashyyyk, it's always been the scouts, so it's really more about them that make this set for me, but to be able to populate my scene with the right colored troops was great. I managed to somehow get four copies of the original 7655 Clone Troopers Battle Pack, and for years, those where the guys fighting on Kashyyyk, but when this set came out, I took half of them, mainly the Shocktroopers and the plain ones not on a bike, and put them in the Clone Turbo Tank. The AT-RT and AT-AP, those also got swapped for the newer Kashyyyk guys. The one with the Jetpack from the Turbo Tank was also swapped. There's still a few guys with yellow stripes and white armor, but they're primarily on the two person bikes, everyone else is a Kashyyyk Trooper. And what's better is that they all get standard blasters and not the studshooter kind. I know I said I don't care, and I really don't, but if I had the option, I'm using the standard blasters that came with all the other Clones I swapped the Kashyyyk ones in for. But the fun doesn't end there, Battle Packs are always about the minifigs, but you're still paying for a set, and thankfully, although a lot smaller than it should be, the set includes a Swamp Speeder, a vehicle that not only exists in Star Wars (although I won't lie, it's not only not common, I've also barely seen it even at the battle of Kashyyyk) the set was made twice before in LEGO, so they know what these things are and how to make them. While I don't include them in my display, they're all piled behind the Turbo Tank nearly out of sight from almost any angle, the fact that we have yet another actual vehicle represented and not some kind of silly bike (don't be mad at me 7655) or made up walker (2015 and onwards' bad walkers in Battle Packs made sure I never picked them up, it didn't matter how cool the figures may have looked), or other bad vehicle (I'm looking at you 7667 Imperial Dropship, nothing about you makes sense for the Empire, why did they remake you in 2019?), it's just such a relief to see that Battle Packs can be done well and be proper sets and not just something purely about the figs, even if that's the only reason we really get them. If you're a 212th fan and bought far too many of 75036, I totally respect that, it's also a great set, but even though it is an enemy for them to combat, the Tri-Droid just doesn't quite work as well as the Swamp Speeder does for me, and because I have a great display for multiple copies, the Kashyyyk Troopers were the best things to come from LEGO Star Wars in 2014.
Alright, I'm out until Ben does some other Top 5 thing for Constraction sets and I inevitably go down the dark path of writing too much about a totally unrelated topic again...
Damm the first set i have from lego was the fire mech and i love it
I feel like if they made regular sized heroes that matched the designs of the minifigs alongside the mechs and kaiju, the wave would probably be better. It’s not bad, but having the heroes (the entire purpose of the theme) be relegated to minifigs only, it does kind of sour it
Not gonna lie, i love the minifigs from hero factory.... really good robot, and good replacement for the exo force / bionicle robotic minifigs
The only hero factory set I ever had as a child was the evo xl machine, and I loved that thing. It was easily one of my most played with sets and I still wish I had it today, I'll definitely be picking it up as soon as I can find one sealed for a decent price
Today...on the edge of our hope...we've chosen to believe not just in ourselves, but in each other! Today we face the monsters that are at our door, and bring the fight to them! Today we are CANCELLING the Apocalypse!
From afar, the biggest problem with invasion from below isn't the mech vs kaiju thing, which is cool as hell. It's the story that seemed to be trying to reinvent itself with every year but not really going anywhere
Yeah and to be fair, it seemed as if Lego was tired of Herofactory at this point and really wanted to give it some closure.
10:00 i understood that reference
OMG thank you so much invasion from below is what got me into hero factory and my first set WAS splitter beast thank you for being so positive
ah, the memories of this wave were great, i might be biased but its probably my favorite wave
i remember having breez vs flyer beast and the evo xl mech
I liked Evo XL machine and the wave 2 little mechs, but I can't say much for the beasts, or really the other wave 1 mechs. Eh, Stormer was decent I suppose. I think they all look a bit shy in the weapons, armour, and mechliness. At least Evo XL got that right, and exceptionally. Same of the beasts, they just weren't imposing or had significant weapons or claws, they were too scrawny and small to be a tough bad guy, never mind significant sets to buy. Did get Splitter and Flyer beasts though, they were decent enough. Splitter surprises you cos it doesn't look great but all the nibbly bits add up. Anyhow, were I to go back I'd get Evo XL, Splitter, Bulk, Breez, and then Surge just cos it looks like a good nibbly bits pack. Or frankly I could just say Evo XL machine 5 times cos I think that set is so meteorically superior, that set is touching the fingers of Witch Doctor.
These all look so cool
I never had these, but it’s interesting how many of the parts introduced here were used in Bionicle G2 (the large spikes, the monster feet)
I would love to see a series about the best sets to buy for pieces!
Gosh invasion from below was so fun! I had splitter beast and queen beast. I still have the parts for them too! I'm gonna try to rebuild splitter beast soon because of this video. Splitter beast was honestly one of my favorite hero factory sets I ever got, next to dragon bolt, von nebula, and speeda demon.
8:00 If I remember correctly, the show explained the crystal beasts as royal guards for the queen beast
Splitter beast was i think my only set from the first wave and i loved him, so much nostalgia now so i wanted to build him up again but instead i made an awesome moc, it was so much fun!
I remember getting the queen beast set for my birthday along side the other wave 2 beasts and just had the greatest few months playing with them
Ngl, since I did use to have one of those sets when I was 12 which is Stealth Machine Rocka, in my defense? I actually kinda liked both Invasion From Below and Brain Attack because they make great LEGO/Hero Factory/Bionicle fusion MOCs lol.
I got furno mech for Easter that year and l liked it
As a kid, my biggest issue with this them of HF was that the mech suits didn’t really fit well with all the other HF and bionicle sets I had. The beasts were amazing, and the idea of the mech-v-kaiju theme was awesome, but having minifig pilots next to normal or even titan sized sets didn’t fit well for play imo. I can see this wave being a GREAT tie-in with exo force, but for me it didn’t work with other constraction themes
crystal beast is my favorite but i cant seem to get it anywhere in a reasonable price
The more I get into these videos, the more I realize how much I slept on HF as a whole. I didn’t get a single set from 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or even 4.0. I got a few from 5.0 and 6.0 though.
I have the Splitter Beast and Evos big mech! The only 2 I've owned,and I loved them both
This is my favorite Hero Factory wave, I grew up loving Kaiju so this wave is amazing, its a shame the sets are really hard to find under 50$ for me
Never was into these sets at the time, the only wave I completely missed. But the parts are amazing in hindsight
I just simply wish that I had more of the pieces from that year's Lego Hero Factory sets. With that, I could really build and design my own custom battle machine. (Or my own custom beast)
one thing i dont really like about invasion from below is the large amount of unarmored ball and sockets, was it really that hard to add a foot piece?
I'd like to say my favorite set from this wave of Hero Factory was the crystal scorpion like the king of the hive or something but it was a combined set between the Crystal Beast the cave crawler and the Queen
I don’t think the change to the mechs was that bad really, it was probably only supposed to be a one season thing just like all their other upgrades, and the concept of their being these absolutely humongous creatures that they distributed underground is just cool im general and the beasts where all pretty dam cool
i think the abysmal episode of the tv show soured everyone's views on the sets themselves, these are some of hero factory's best figures
Yeah. Coming from a big hero factory fan(it was literally my childhood), it was really out of place in terms of how things were structured. We first had the originals all the way to brain attack where the heroes got bigger and better with each upgrade. All of a sudden, they are small once again and fighting kaiju machines with no explanation to the change. The change was very sudden and unsuitable for most of us to say the least and it was very hard to adapt to the situation. Additionally, while the mechs were cool, the main problem was how little screen time they got. Stormer's Freeze machine was destroyed in a few seconds, Furno abandoned his flight machine, Rocka's stealth machine was overrun, and Evo's giant mech was disassembled. Really wish we got to see more of them in action. The ending was also pretty meh to say the least as usually, the heroes end on a high note with a possible sequel. In here, it seemed as if they had not only wiped out a species but karma was coming back to get them in the end.
Where's the top 5 for SAVAGE PLANET?
Since I'm doing these videos by year, it's grouped in with the fire villains in 2011. in this video
th-cam.com/video/c4gG_DZDoz8/w-d-xo.html
@@BenCossyOfficial I found it shortly after. Although I did leave a comment saying you should do it by wave... Either way, makes me sad to realize all that I missed before savage planet. I do still have the Skorpio though.
Today, i have some the sets from this theme. I have splitter, flyer, jaw and tunnel beast. And for the mechs i have stormer, rocka, furno, evo, bulk and breezes machine. I never got surge BUT i used extra body parts to build a mixed figure with the helmet of evo and painted it blue so it looked like surge. I also builded my OWN new Hero, i named her SHADOW. Once again i used extra parts to build another mixed mini figure witht he helmet of rocka and painted all black. And her mech is also made by myself, it have two long swords and two missle launchers with 4 missles just like evo, i placed both on its shoudlers with all black parts with an orange seat. I also always wanted a huge beast, so i used the body of the star wars buildable figure General Grevius. I removed all the parts of grevious and replaced them with beast pieces and created a titan since the grevous figure is huge. I just love hero factory, my childhood and favorite lego theme. Awesome video, i loved it ❤️
People would freak out if any hero factor set released today
This was perfect from 2014. I got the castle instead of the sets. ); I got rocka's little set. I got the queen beast later and it was as good as I thought it was.
Hey Ben
Ever heard of Dr Scorpion X?
Well, with the help of some friends, I've managed to recreate his recent self moc, the one he made before he disappeared again
I thought you'd be interested since you're all about mocs
I figured it out, you can only take on trip in the time machine and you can only get those five from EVERY year, that's why you can only fit five in your time machine
The Crystal beast was literally one of the best lego set i got
Honestly some of my favorate sets were these invasion from below hero factory sets😢
Honestly, with the exception of the Evo set, I think I'd pass on Invasion from Below entirely if given a time machine.
In my opinion, Invasion From Below was really cool with the mech designs. I loved every bit of the designs but the story was meh to say the least. On the other hand, Breakout, 1.0, and Brain Attack all had the best hero designs of all time. I really wish I got all of them but since I was a kid with no allowance and parents who didn't like Lego, I got stuck with only 1.0 Furno, 1.0 Stormer, and Brain Attack Stormer. Both Stormers were for my brother and the 1.0's parts went missing. RIP
I did like the mini figures they were pretty good
I think this wave was brilliant in concept. It just suffered from low budget. So sad it was the final wave, as Hero Factory’s future could’ve been so bright.
I was 6, and happier than ever when I got the queen as christmas present.
i had the Evo as a kid. now, i dont anymore.
infact i bought it again because i thought i bought the golden one
but i still lost that one
Not sure if you would be down for it but possibly dip into more Ninjago related content. You have a fantastic narration and list ranking voice and it would be awesome to have more top 5 Ninjago stuff could be really cool. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on it.
Potentially, that could be fun. I'm not as into Ninjago as other people are, but I could potentially do something like that in the future :)
@@BenCossyOfficial Actually doesn't bother me if you're not as hard core of a fan as other people cause It's always nice to hear people who aren't hardcore fans what their just general opinions are on the theme and not from somebody who's so invested in the series. It's a breath of fresh air for sure.
My top 5 List is this
1. Queen Beast
2. crystal Beast Vs Bulk
3. Stormers Freese machine
4. splitter beast
5. Flyer Beast Vs Breez
And can you made one more Video for Invasion from Below pls
I wont be making another one for HF Feb, but more will come in the future :)
Whats the backround music
I used to own the queen but i lost a big part of the pieces due to over playing with it😭🙏
The minifigs look cool, too bad they forgot about nex and stringer by the end
i wonder if anyone has made a regular hero scale invasion from below monster
10:12 TODAY WE ARE CANCELING THE APOCALYPSE
So like...
We all know this was made because of either Pacific Rim or Godzilla, right?
I regret never getting evo and rocka's mechs
I got the furno and stormer mechs and the bulk drill machine and I lacked the funds to get more because I was a tiny kid with a 2 euro per week allowance
I never got any of the hero factory sets except for the Stormer Brain attack for my brother because I didn't even get an allowance and my parents weren't keen on lego sets. I really wish I could go back in time and get as many as I want and watch the cool Hero Factory stop motion videos while I was at it.
I was literally 2 when these came out 💀.
i have the queen beast
I OWNED THE QUEEN WHY DID 6 YEAR OLD ME RIP IT APART FOR PARTS
2014? i take 10000 bitcoins
Te falta el planeta salvaje