Bionicle & Hero Factory - general discussion

[Blackjack]

Finally decided to try and build a Hero Factory set. I chose the Hero Factory Breez 6227, mainly because I found it on clearance at Target for $3.88.

I guess the pieces a unique, but most of them aren't really usable since they don't have the studs on them.

It also had a little arm canon thing. It was pretty cute for a 7 year old to be playing with it, and probably nice for display.

I still think that Bionicle was better though...

Anyone would buy at that price! You could even sell the set used for a profit.

[comicblast]

Anyone would buy at that price! You could even sell the set used for a profit.

Yes, at the store, they had over 15 of them. I guess I should have picked all of them up.

Hesitation kills investments. My new personal rule: Buy now, think later.

[Blackjack]

Anyone else a fan of this AWESOME and sadly discontinued theme? It's one of my personal favorites because of the sweet designs and pieces. Although the Piraka and Baraki sets with actual bricks and minifigs seem a little lame, the origional Mata, Nuva, Bohrok, Rhakshi, and Metru were incredable and classic sets, much better than most of the newer ones. Case in point; the Stars were a massive disapointment to end this theme and the only real value seems to be in those gold pieces. It was pathetic how they tried to recreate icons like Tahu,Takanuva, and the Rhakshi.

[TheOrcKing]

So I am trying to add some HERO factory to my investment collection. What do you mean by open ended? Are they going to make the line forever or the same characters? Thanks in advance for your help...

Oops. Never even noticed this post before, sorry.

What I meant by the storyline of HERO FACTORY being open ended is just that. There really isn't a end to the means of the story. No ultimate evil or threat like BIONICLE did. Now there are badass criminals and whatnot, but nothing quite as major as the likes of Makuta from BIONICLE. Plus, the heroes in HERO FACTORY are basically like 'space police' to coin the name of another theme. They patrol and respond to threats throughout the galaxies, which gives A LOT of leigh way to where the story can go or even who they fight.

Depending on sales & creativity from designers, HERO FACTORY could very well go on indefinitely.

Or until LEGO gets bored of making them anymore.

[TheOrcKing]

I'm a bit of a fan of BIONICLE, myself. My favorite is "Kopaka" from the first line of Toa. Then again, I've always liked the 'ice' characters. The Rahkshi were cool (have all six), and I still have my badass "Makuta" set (Dude is big!). The comic books were just icing on the cake in my opinion. I love reading those every now & then.

[Blackjack]

I'm a bit of a fan of BIONICLE, myself. My favorite is "Kopaka" from the first line of Toa. Then again, I've always liked the 'ice' characters. The Rahkshi were cool (have all six), and I still have my badass "Makuta" set (Dude is big!). The comic books were just icing on the cake in my opinion. I love reading those every now & then.

The origionals are totally the best! I have all six origional Bohrok and I think they are the best villains in the theme!

[Hueypiano]

Hello everyone, I wanted to come by and ask about some bionicle legos I am looking to sell because what I am seeing online is a tad confusing. I have just started getting into selling on ebay and I was looking up the worth of my 3 bionicle sets 8588, 8592, and 8589. All of them are new in box, factory sealed and it seems I could ask for 15 dollars on ebay each without much of a problem. As I was attempting to list them, I noticed that each of my products have a sticker on the right that says "Bonus limited edition shadow kraata plus promotional CD-ROM". When i searched for this exact product with the bonus features, i found that amazon has only one in stock and is selling it for 59.99!

At first I got really excited, but i felt this has to be a mistake right? This bonus feature couldnt raise the price to such a significant degree. So i wanted to ask everyone here if this bonus feature adds to the value of my bionicles at all, and if so, how much do you think I could ask for on ebay to get the most value out of my products?

Thanks in advance

[Ed Mack]

Hello everyone, I wanted to come by and ask about some bionicle legos I am looking to sell because what I am seeing online is a tad confusing. I have just started getting into selling on ebay and I was looking up the worth of my 3 bionicle sets 8588, 8592, and 8589. All of them are new in box, factory sealed and it seems I could ask for 15 dollars on ebay each without much of a problem. As I was attempting to list them, I noticed that each of my products have a sticker on the right that says "Bonus limited edition shadow kraata plus promotional CD-ROM". When i searched for this exact product with the bonus features, i found that amazon has only one in stock and is selling it for 59.99!

At first I got really excited, but i felt this has to be a mistake right? This bonus feature couldnt raise the price to such a significant degree. So i wanted to ask everyone here if this bonus feature adds to the value of my bionicles at all, and if so, how much do you think I could ask for on ebay to get the most value out of my products?

Thanks in advance

While the bonus CD might raise the value a degree, Amazon's 3rd party sellers are known to jack up prices.

[TheOrcKing]

I know exactly what you are talking about with the bonus promo CD. At one time, a friend of mine had gone to Japan and came back with a special edition Rahkshi three pack that contained the same exact three you mentioned. Inside the box was a container tube for each Rahkshi with a promo cd stuck into each one, and a small container for some Kraata with an exclusive "Shadow Kraata". I haven't actually checked out what is on the CDs themselves though. It's probably just some odd videos for each character and a couple of commercials. I can see the "Shadow Kraata" raising the bar somewhat, but not the promo CD. At a glance it sounds neat, but I'm not too sure about it doing a whole lot.

[Hueypiano]

Right, i thought itd be impossible that a small bonus would more than double the value of the product. Guess i just got my hopes up, thanks for clearing the air. You think it'd be reasonable just to add 5 dollars or so to the ebay listing?

[TheOrcKing]

You think it'd be reasonable just to add 5 dollars or so to the ebay listing?

Can't see why not.

[Blackjack]

Do you guys think that Hero Factory or Bionicle will perform better in the secondary market? I know that Hero Factory currently has better CAGR, but could that change? I'm biased towards Bionicle, and it seems that the original theme, not the rip off, should do better. However, it's twelve years after Bionicles debue, and the sets have probably peaked in value except for certain icons such as Tahu. What makes Hero Factory a better performer, and what makes the sets more appealing than Bionicles?

[whiteboy02]

Bionicle.

[Ed Mack]

Similar sets...similar returns in the long term. One in the same, really. Both themes have their niche in the market and their fanbase. I love em.'

[comicblast]

Right now, the Bionicle market is only made up of fans of the series. It doesn't get any more publicity or advertisements, so it could increase a little more when the die-hard Bionicle fans get to their 20's and buy their favorite childhood sets. I think that the Hero Factory theme also has a large potential. One of my HF sets in my Brickfolio has increased by over 500%, partly because it was on clearance, and partly because it increased a load. Hero Factory will probably continue until it gets extremely unpopular, because it is basically the Bionicle sets, but the characters don't have names that are hard to pronounce. I think that they are really similar, as Ed pointed out, but for now, HF has my money for MISB (Mint in Sealed Bags?) sets.

[Blackjack]

My qualm with HF is the quality. They look really bad from the back, the arm armor usually looks unbalanced and half finished, and the quality of the bricks is way down from the days of Bionicle. They scratch and break much more easily. Hero Factory also doesn't have the widely distributed comics. The only plus is the omission of Polynisian names. :)

[tonysbricks]

I am going through my massive backlog of purchased bulk collections and came across a 50-60lb container of bionicle. I have a ton of the books too. It was thrown in free to sweeten the buy and at the time I thought it would be a great way to get exposure to the line. But my space and time are running thin and I just need to dump it. Any recommendations on how to get the most bang for the buck? I found it contains a lot of technic which I can always use. Would it be prudent to pull out all of the technic and just sell the weird pieces as bulk? Pull out the masks and sell them individually from the rest? Just list it with the books "as-is"? Something else?? My goal is to get rid of it in the next 2-4 weeks without much impact my normal lego bulk processing or basement remodel project. So I am fine doing some processing but no way I have the time to put each of the sets together. I haven't sold anything before so I do not have a high feedback ebay or bricklink account. I would probably end up selling it locally on CL, if it matters.

[Yohoho4]

With a ten year run of a theme containing numerous heroes, villians, various other characters and branching storylines, begs these questions...

Who was your favorite character?

Which series did you like best?

If you read the DC comics or watched the cg films, which storyline arc did you enjoy the most?

And finally...

Do you wish BIONICLE was still being made to this day?

or

Are you glad BIONICLE was discontinued when it was?

for me, I like the first Toa Nuphru (I know that's not how you spell it but whatever) and Ackar the best. the Piraka series was my fav because the Piraka where boss and so where the Toa. I read the comics religously and I liked the Hordika transformation. and I so wish that BIONICLE was like SW, the kept remaking stuff and using the novels as character ideas.

[Blackjack]

I'm a Bionicle purist myself. Even though the Hero Factory sets have a higher CAGR, I think the designs are really bad and the quality of the pieces is cheap.

[kerrmando]

neither

[TheOrcKing]

I like each for different reasons.

[metsrock507]

i despise both of them. however Hero factory is a little less terrible. (still very terrible though )

[redeemed763]

To me, lego getting into action figures feels like hasbro making a building toy, its just getting outside of what they do well, another company has that corner of the market pegged, they are better at it already.

[Blackjack]

The distinguishing feature of Bionicle/Hero Factory is that you can create with them just like Lego bricks. I don't think anyone else really does that.

[TheOrcKing]

To me, lego getting into action figures feels like hasbro making a building toy, its just getting outside of what they do well

That reminds me when Hasbro came up with those Built to Rule sets of their own. Such an awful blend of GI Joe and Lego.