Von Nebula

Christmas is a funny time in the CDX household. In addition to the presents Santa brings, I always get a kick out of seeing what relatives and friends got for the kids. Eventually, i’m going to be the one putting them together.

This one came from an Aunt or something for my youngest son, who is 6. He’s not quite at the level where he is putting Bionicles together (lets face it, it’s a Bionicle), so I have to assist, which basically means I am doing all the work.

Not that I mind really. I mean, I get to play with toys, with my kids – it’s a great feeling.

The awkwardness comes in when what we’ve built is actually cool, and I have to ask my son if I can take it downstairs to photograph it. It’s happened often enough that he actually asks me now if I want to take pictures of his new toys whenever we put something together. Often I will let him take some of the pictures, as is the case with this review.

Let me be clear right up front – I know nothing of the story of Bion… err.. I mean Hero Factory. All I know is that this is a bad guy named Von Nebula. With Lego, you always know who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. Kids need those archetypes spelled out clearly. Von Nebula is a big black evil looking robot with spikes and claws.

Being one of the more “Deluxe” figures, assembly was a bit more difficult, but nothing any adult couldn’t handle.

You start by building a core body, then the limbs, and then attaching it all together. What made this kit interesting to me was the dual ball joints for each of the arms and legs. It really made for a dynamic figure with fantastic movement.

The dual ball joint system enabled the legs to have working pistons – how cool is that? As a person who does not regularly build these, I was impressed.

I also liked the translucent orange skull behind the black fanged mask.

Von Nebula’s only weapon is a Black Hole staff, which attaches to the hand. The blades can spin freely around the staff.

It’s a cool looking figure and fun to build. No regrets here, plus I got to build it with my Son.