Welcome to Archivist Reviews, where I descend into the archives of my channel, pull out a crappy review, and look at the set once more to see if my opinion has changed. Today I will be going over the nastiest bug in the galaxy, Thornraxx
Set Number: 6228
Piece Count: 44
Price: $9
Released: Winter 2012 (Europe), Summer 2012 (US)
PACKAGING
Like with Mata Nui, I unfortunately threw out the packaging to make space for other sets. Thus, I improvised and found some pics of the packaging off the internet.
The new packaging that would become a staple of Hero Factory till its discontinuation in 2014 is rather bizarre. Gone are the plastic canisters of old, now they introduce this- giant Capri Sun pouch? As strange as it is, the packaging art is very eye catching and vibrant with the large yellow hive in the background, swarming with other members of Thornraxx’s species, while Thornraxx himself stares menacingly at the buyer.
Then there is the back which shows the usual, features of the set, head size, and a bunch of other brouhaha that no one cares about
LETS BUILD THIS THING!
BUILD:
Right away Thornraxx offers a big surprise upon beginning his construction. Instead of the usual single torso bone, he breaks the mold by utilizing a custom torso. It is admittedly easy to construct, only being made out of a beam and two Waspix joints, though it is a breath of fresh air and makes for a much more inventive build.
The legs and wings themselves are relatively simple and straightforward, though they do give the set a certain charm that I will go more into after.
Upon attaching some of the Savage Planet armor to his front limbs and neck though, a hollow gap becomes apparent with Thornraxx’s torso. It’s a little unsightly and makes the set feel a tad unfinished, Although can somewhat be justified in a way I will show later.
If you are familiar with the build of the Arachnix Drone from the set Black Phantom, Thornraxx’s head shouldn’t be much of a surprise to you in terms of difficulty.
DESIGN:
Despite being loosely based of a wasp, Thornraxx really feels like something otherworldly which makes him very interesting to the eye. Between the two bulky limbs, the serpentine appearance of the body once the tail is folded out, and the mouth based launcher, this is a very imaginative creature.
You can even have the stinger tail act as a third leg, creating a sort of tripod design that adds to his weird nature. He also has a couple of tubes which makes it look as though some toxic substance is coursing through him, collecting near the stinger and mouth.
And if that wasn’t enough, this sets color scheme is just as daring and wonderfully odd. The black and orange go great together and the addition of medium azure is a nice touch, creating a nice bright pattern that makes it looks as though he’s saying ‘Stay away from me, I’m deadly’, like most poisonous creatures on Earth.
The set also has fair deal of interesting parts
• 1 orange 5M shell
• 2 orange Mahri tubes
• 2 Gorast wings
• 2 medium azure bones
• 4 medium azure sockets
• 2 black Raw Jaw tusks
Thornraxx’s head is also something worth paying attention to. I LOVE this sculpt, it appealed to me then and it appeals to me now. Not only do you have 5 bar connection points that can be useful for MOCing, though its menacing eyes and the weird alien technology near the top of the head give it a lot of character and looks very distinct from most insectoid faces we’ve gotten with constraction sets.
POSABILITY:
Although he is not a humanoid set, Thornaxx features a surprising amount of articulation with three joints in the tail, three in both arms, two in both wings, one in what I’d assume to be the thorax, and one in the head. That’s 15 POINTS of articulation which is fantastic and makes for numerous posing options
Here we see him ready to sting
Here he is dive bombing
Here Thornraxx watches feircly for his next victim (Breez in this case, although I don’t have her)
Aw, he’s such an angel /s
There are a few points worth noting about his articulation though, the first being that the large armor plates on his arms can clash with the one on his body, which may hinder certain poses you put him in.
Next, remember at the beginning of the review I mentioned how you could kinda negate the gap in Thornraxx’s body, well thanks to the double jointed wings you can fold them down as shown in the picture to form to somewhat fill in the space.
FUNCTIONS:
Now Thornraxx doesn’t really have any functions outside of the launcher in his mouth, and by now we know how it works, you squeeze the sides and a sphere fires out. Simple yet effective. While it would have been cool to have a flapping function, for a small set at the time, this was alright.
OVERALL:
Pros:
• Unique, alien look
• Custom torso build
• Great possibility
• Eye catching color scheme
• Numerous recolors
Cons:
• Torso is kinda gappy
• Armor on upper arms clashes with body armor
For such a small set at the time, Thornraxx really stood out amongst the breakout villains. Some design choices do make him feel slightly aged by today’s standards, though he’s still fun to play with and look at despite how far we’ve come. An inventive set that I’d recommend if you wish to purchase any old HF sets.