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Set Review: 2191 Furno 3.0
 Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 9:47am by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: DeeVee] LEGO has once again sent us some of the upcoming wave of Hero Factory sets. Today Blog Leader DeeVee takes a look at the third iteration of Bill Furno. How does the hawk-themed hero stack up against his predecessors? Should you be rushing out right now to buy this set? Read onto find out! Presentation
Bill's third version comes in the same canister as did his first and second, but this time with a lime lid, a lime lid that will adorn the entire wave of 3.0 sets. At first, with the 2.0 sets, I thought having all six of the wave having the same lid harder for children to tell them apart, but with all three waves existing in stores simultaneously, as they most certainly will, being able to check for a lime lid allows for a quick and easy way to pop in an aisle and just visually check. Sure, after you find the lid you'll have to see if it's the right one, but at least you'll know they have the wave.
Bill's newest canister has him standing in a somewhat awkward pose in front of some technorganic plants. I can only assume he's on post-formatting Cybertron, after Optimus Primal has reset the planet to it's "proper" state of harmony, leaving Cheetor in charge (that would explain how Witch Doctor took over so easily too!). The back has Furno and Bulk utilizing the Spark of Combination to become something bigger, I like to call Burno. And of course, the legal disclaimers. Oh legal disclaimers, I want you to know that I will wait for you. That you are the one true star in my night sky. That you alone chart my course. And I will wait until the moment you draw near. And I will share our love forever. Building
Building Bill's Bird Body bodes both boredom and beauty. The build is the exact same as Bill's goggley-eyed version released prior, but it removes the goggles and hardhat in favour of an awesome Hawk/Falcon/Eagle/GenericRaptor helm. There's nothing of note here, besides the fact that two waves in, this new building style is still brimming with possibility. He's still all clicks and ball-joint clacks, but it's still supremely gratifying.
The biggest difference between the two versions is that BirdBill actually has less armour than GogglesBill. Which makes this one a little easier to build. And I'm not sure how I feel about that. Set Design
Being the second wave in a push to start a brand new building style has very strict pros and cons. Being only the second in an intense investment, he utilizes less new pieces and reuses a very large amount of parts from the first version, most likely to maximize returns on a very costly investment. I'm not thrilled with this, though I recognize the necessity. So, what does BirdBill give us?
Bird Bill has a very small handful of new and interesting parts. Of note is the fact that all the new Heroes have grey lower limbs. I like this for variety and availability in colour, less so in actual practice per set. But they are not too intrusive on BirdBill, with his secondary colour of silver allowing the grey to be a little more unobtrusive. Next, we have his wings, which are also used as Raw-Jaw's tusks. Molded with little jets and exhaust vents on the underside, it is easy to see these as futuristic jetpacks merely disguised as wings. They are a nice piece, and I welcome their presence at our table.
Like GogglesBill, BirdBill has a nametag. This one, however, is much more impressive visually than the 2.0 tag. Moulded in classic trans-green, this piece is vibrant, and it's applications are gorgeous. The animal crest gives the piece an almost knightly appearance, and I welcome that.
Lastly, we have BirdBill's new helmet. It is beautiful. The details put into this part are intricate and fantastic, the bill (haha) has nostrils, the beak hooks like it would on a real raptor, and in the falcon-esque crest near the back, the feathers contain a Hero Factor "H" in the center. Wonderful wonderful part, and I want more and more of them.
As a set, BirdBill is a very different person than he was before. He is lightly armoured, befitting a birdman, and he looks quite agile and light. I know his lack of armour has been a point of contention on this set for awhile, but I find it to work quite well in the set's favour. I really believe BirdBill could fly more effectively this way. I like the bow. I wish it was made with new parts, but I can't begrudge the fact that Fire Lord's antlers make for a great great bow. I love that Bill has a bow, by the way. It's such a scout kind of weapon. And it works so well with his avian impulses. The green nametag works so much better than I thought it would in preliminary photos. It looks vibrant and it doesn't look out of place. The wings can swivel, but there seems little point to that. They look silly posed any way but straight back.
Compared to his immediate predecessor, BirdBill looks like the same character, but more agile, more athletic, and less able to take a direct hit. Compared to his other predecessors...
Well, I applaud the move towards normal yellow versus Keetorange. I like the use of the new building style, and the animal themes allow for more personality and individuality than any of the prior waves. But I still long for the personality that defined Bill's original helmet. It was so perfect. Playability
BirdBill possesses the same range of movement we have become accustomed to, and he can be put into some righteous poses. He has no launcher or projectile, and I love that. I'm curious as to how long TLG will go before they cave and add those into the canister sets like they did with BIONICLE. I can only hope it's forever. You know, I like him a lot. I don't know if you can tell. I have Bill-love. He can also fight evil Doctors who have been corrupted by power and maybe voodoo economics.
Final Thoughts
In the end, I love Bill almost as much as legal disclaimers and that other person whom I'm currently waiting on. Just one more day! Anyway, you should buy him. I bought three of his 2.0 wave, and that was after TLG sent me one for free (which is where I received all the sets I will be reviewing for you from this wave). I can definitely see me doing the same with this one. Also, a big thanks to TLG for sending us so many sets to review for you! I am very very grateful for this. And don't forget a big thanks to DeeVee for taking some amazing pictures and writing up this review. LEGO has sent us a bunch more Hero Factory sets to take a look at, so keep checking BZPower for those and more Bionicle, Hero Factory, and LEGO news. |
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