Random set of the day: Villains Minimodel
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 40117 Villains Minimodel, released during 2014. It's one of 17 HERO Factory sets produced that year. It contains 28 pieces and 1 minifig.
It's owned by 60 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $41.20, or eBay.
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24 comments on this article
I'd only call one of the two a 'minimodel'
Once you wake one, you wake them all.
Love that head mold. Seems familiar from a Ninjago set I just can't name it.
I loved those little jumpers. I don't remember how well they worked compared to the Super Jumpers, but at least they didn't break minifigure legs.
Semi-quick lore 'cause this guy ain't even canon.
In the Invasion from Bellow Story a mining team digging out new transport tunnels under Makuhero City uncovered a mysterious underground nest of giant kaiju-monsters. These monsters attacked the city and the Hero Factory went out to stop them in giant mech suits. (You could kinda tell Pacific Rim had just come out.) Eventually the heroes found the caves/nests the creatures were coming from and descended into the dark to confront their Queen and stop the fight.
As far as I recall this guy never actually appeared in the episode, or any of the comics, however I always headcanoned it as being a larger version of the little "Jumper" guys seen in the top left of the box art. If I don't think it was outright confirmed, but it was implied all of the kaijus were just grown up versions of the Jumpers with different mutations/injections, kinda like Majors or Queens with ants, so I saw this fella as a bit of an in-between growth state leading to 44026 .
Where on Earth did they sell the Hero Factory polybags? Did they outright never come to the States?
If my calculations are correct, the only part in this set still in production is the red 2L axle.
The claws were still used in 2024, but haven't appeared in any 2025 sets yet to my knowledge.
@JavaBrix said:
"
If my calculations are correct, the only part in this set still in production is the red 2L axle.
The claws were still used in 2024, but haven't appeared in any 2025 sets yet to my knowledge."
The tan 3/4 pin is in six 2025 sets so far, and both black claws are still in production (in black) under different element ID numbers.
@PurpleDave said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"
If my calculations are correct, the only part in this set still in production is the red 2L axle.
The claws were still used in 2024, but haven't appeared in any 2025 sets yet to my knowledge."
The tan 3/4 pin is in six 2025 sets so far, and both black claws are still in production (in black) under different element ID numbers."
You're right, I didn't break down the jumper, it has the ubiquitous tan 3/4 pin. I don't see the claws in any 2025 sets yet though?
@JavaBrix:
The bar claw is in 71841, new in 2025, but it’s also in the D&D set which isn’t scheduled to retire for nearly two more years. Andthe socket claw is in 71478, which just came out in August, and isn’t scheduled to retire for nearly one year. If you’re going by BL inventories, two drawbacks with that site are that inventories depend on volunteers to both acquire the set and submit inventories before they’ll show up in the Known Colors listings, and that BL does nothing to track a set’s eventual retirement date. All they track is launch year, so it’s impossible to tell if a 2024 set came out on January 1st and has already retired, or if it launched in December and has at least another year before being retired.
This was an ingenious polybag that offered a real little companion to bigger sets. Love all the trans light blue parts.
Y'know, we've had streaks of various kinds in this feature (what a set depicts, what a set's the is, etc.). Is this the first time we've had a polybag streak?
60 owners, and it's not even Scala.
There's always a bigger kaiju.
Or well... smaller kaiju.
I love this subtheme. The sets are simple but constraction kaiju was an ingenious idea, and the various monsters all had distinct body plans yet looked like they were different mutations of similar creatures.
I really hated Hero Factory during its run, which was entirely down to butthurt over Bionicle having ended, but I absolutely adored the Kaiju-theming and 'minifigs' of the final year, and ended up buying the two smallest bagged Kaiju ( 44016 and 44024 ). The theme definitely went out on a high.
My eyes hurt.
@Golem25 said:
"I really hated Hero Factory during its run, which was entirely down to butthurt over Bionicle having ended, but I absolutely adored the Kaiju-theming and 'minifigs' of the final year, and ended up buying the two smallest bagged Kaiju ( 44016 and 44024 ). The theme definitely went out on a high."
Them coming in bags even up to the bigger size (20ish sets) was so odd to me
@Golem25 said:
"I really hated Hero Factory during its run, which was entirely down to butthurt over Bionicle having ended, but I absolutely adored the Kaiju-theming and 'minifigs' of the final year, and ended up buying the two smallest bagged Kaiju ( 44016 and 44024 ). The theme definitely went out on a high."
Wheras I quite enjoyed HF, partially because it allowed me to still get my constraction fix after Bionicle died. And I definitely agree with you that the line ended on a high note. I wish I'd gotten more of the sets from that subtheme; this one and 40116 are the only ones that I don't either own or want.
Fun fact: while the DBG double socket joint piece underneath its belly may seem strange, it is there so you can attach this creature to the back of the 44029 Queen Beast if you want to. It is only shown in the instructions of this polybag, which are difficult to come by digitally.
I never saw this polybag but it's pretty nice—a solid looking little creature with some decent parts. Kinda makes me miss the era of CCBS...
@LD_Brickmaster said:
"My eyes hurt."
C’mon, you’re supposed to point it _away_ from your face before launching the little one.
The title "Villains Minimodel" makes my brain hurt.
mini
@Username28 said:
"The title "Villains Minimodel" makes my brain hurt."
I'm reminded of the discussion when 1871 was RSotD.