Breez in her Breakout form is a widely praised set for a variety of reasons. She’s got a striking color scheme, great posability, interesting weaponry… actually, the application of the weaponry is kind of problematic for me. I’m not gonna do a full review because I just don’t have enough to say, but what I can say is that her arsenal is kind of bad.
I’ll put this all in drop-downs so no one has to actually read through this.
Breez's Arsenal
Before you sit through all of this, I’m not critiquing the actual set’s appearance or play factor, I’m critiquing the theoretical application of Breez’s weaponry, specifically the sword-shield combo.
The sword… A double-bladed sword is somewhat common in Lego sets and fictional stuff in general. Additionally, I’ve heard that double-bladed swords could actually have some good applications in combat, a common example cited being Darth Maul from Star Wars (specifically the scene where he fights Qui-gon and Kenobi). However, as someone interested in melee weaponry, I find the particular aspects of Breez’s Breakout sword bothersome.
First Point
First, in every video and demonstration I have seen that evaluates double-edged swords including the aforementioned Darth Maul, both hands are used to grip the sword, not one. Breez’s sword requires only one hand and can only fit one hand (assuming you don’t extend it with Technic axles). Every use I have seen of double-bladed swords in one-on-one combat at some point has shown a technique of spinning of the user’s body while rotating the blades to constantly have one blade “in reserve” and one blade presented to the opponent. This is the biggest advantage of double-bladed swords: your offense is also your defense, just as your defense is also your offense. You don’t have to pull back and push forward again, like a polearm, or take up a new stance or look for a new opening after disengaging, like a normal sword. However, you can only unlock this potential if your sword can move fast enough and accurately enough… which is basically impossible with one hand.
Second Point
Second, let’s assume for a second you can maneuver the sword perfectly with one hand. As previously mentioned, the offense is defense and the defense is offense… making a shield unnecessary at best. So, why does Breez have one? The good thing is that it’s not something she has to hold, at least. It’s just strapped to her wrist… the same wrist as her sword arm. Again, this eliminates the usefulness of one of her tools - either the sword becomes a battering weapon like a club instead of a sword or the shield becomes a nice wristband with no serious application. The most generous I can be is maybe she can swipe the sword from side to side, using the shield to block her body when her sword arm is across her torso.
The shield should have been on the blaster arm, not the sword arm… but hey, that’s fixable, unlike the sword’s one-handed design.
Third Point
Third, the interesting thing about Breez is that the double-edged sword actually came back for her Brain Attack form, albeit slightly different in design - and that design change actually solves the problems Breakout Breez had. To explain better…
I said before that there is legitimately an argument to be made for double-bladed swords and cited Darth Maul as a good example. His double-bladed lightsaber, though not completely identical to real-world swords, demonstrates that a double-bladed sword could realistically be used in combat against multiple opponents. Next, pirates and other seafaring combatants often used curved blades when fighting on ships because the curved blade could be swung around without the point getting caught on the close quarters of a ship deck. Similar principles would apply to group-fighting - a curved blade means you can still slash without getting the point caught in an opponent’s body.
To tie this back into Hero Factory, Breez’s Brian Attack weapon is closer, in my opinion, to what Breakout’s weapon should have been. Brain Attack’s curved double-bladed sword can be swung around like a curved cutlass, avoiding the point getting caught while maintaining the offense-defense combo advantage the double-bladed sword can offer. Breakout’s sword, however, is perfectly straight, which could work like Darth Maul’s lightsaber but more realistically would likely get caught on opponents or obstacles as it is swung back and forth.
Long story short, Breakout Breez’s weaponry is practically unusable in combat due to a variety of bad design choices. Would Breez be significantly hindered by her bad design in combat? Yeah, probably. Does it matter for the set? Eh, not really because it does at least look really cool.
For anyone who doesn’t want to read my ramblings, just know that it doesn’t detract from the set’s value significantly. I like all the pieces, I like the set overall, and would still recommend buying the set, should you ever find it for less than about $20.
My only serious complaint… look at her thighs. One CCBS armor shell is rotated differently from the other. Why? Just, why? There’s no reason for it…