Legends of Chima news

 

  • Legends of Chima news

    Posted by Huw, 27 Oct 2012 10:54. Filed under New sets.

    Legends of Chima teaserThings are hotting up on the Legends of Chima front.

    The microsite at LEGO.com went live today. It's only a teaser, but it has this and another image to, er, tease us with.

    If you want to see the real thing, this eBay lot shows a great photo of Razcal from 70000 Razcal's Raven Glider, and this photo gallery shows most of the sets out of the box (unfortunately the images are still a bit on the small side). And finally, The Brick Show team has posted a video review of the Razcal minifig on YouTube.

    It's getting exciting, isn't it... :-)

    Update: I've added the out-of-box pictures to the database. They reveal a couple of things that weren't so obvious (to me anyway) on the box images:

    • The vehicles are all made to look like animals: bird, eagle, lion, reptile, crocodile, wolf. The eagle looks great, but I'm not so sure about the others.
    • The Speedorz are not pull-back motors as I had originally speculated, but seem to be powered by rip-cord. Presumably you hold them in your hand, insert cord, pull it out to set the wheel spinning, then put them onto the ground or table. Each set seems to make some sort of challenge: go through the fire ring, knock down the boulders, pass through the gates, etc. I guess it might be fun, and presumably the cards add an element of randomness to the gameplay. We'll have to wait and see...

    46 comments, latest one posted 6 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Combee in United States, 27 Oct 2012 11:33

I love that crocodile!

Posted by Brickarmor in United States, 27 Oct 2012 11:52

Captain Grammarica says "heating up." :P

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 27 Oct 2012 12:01

I love the minifigures but can't stand the horribly boring vehicles, and more vehicles.

Posted by jojogo in Thailand, 27 Oct 2012 12:05

Don't like this theme and characters. The hero of this theme look like a monkey or a Donkey.
I like Ninjago way better. Hope they don't replace Ninjago theme with this ugly Chima theme :P

Posted by OuterRimTradingCo. in Australia, 27 Oct 2012 12:05

It's looking pretty cool! This theme might show up all those who ho hummed it based solely on the name...

Posted by FreqBox in United States, 27 Oct 2012 12:09

Is that a new color of green I see?

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 27 Oct 2012 12:13

@Brickarmor; Captain Queen's English says "hotting up is a phrase used to show excitement or tension building, e.g. 'The competition is really hotting up now.'- Cambridge Online Dictionary" ;)

BTT: These look great and I can't wait to see more images. I agree with TGBG, the figs are great, but the vehicles etc aren't. I guess they are just thrown in for added playability.

Posted by Graysmith in Sweden, 27 Oct 2012 12:41

The minifigures look pretty interesting, but I have to agree with Green Brick Giant, the vehicles are incredibly boring. Even Ninjago, which I wasn't into, had some really amazing designs and looked overall very uniform in their style. These Chima sets feel more like early half-finished and unpolished prototypes.

Posted by Bricktofen in United Kingdom, 27 Oct 2012 14:12

Wow with the out of box images the Speedorz sets look really interesting and quite fun :p, the only thing is I'm not too sure I would like to launch them off ramps into the air because after all its its Lego and I wouldn't want to damage it :/.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 27 Oct 2012 14:44

The Minifigures look rather nice (most of them anyway) but the sets look absolutely dire to me. I will most likely be steering clear of these sets!

Posted by chrismajor2124 in United States, 27 Oct 2012 15:24

Chima. Is. Awful. Are we Lego fans REALLY going to put up with this?

Posted by UtarEmpire in United States, 27 Oct 2012 15:31

^ Of course we will, because it'll bring LEGO huge profits and thereby allow us to keep our hobby going.

Are the wings Minifig bodywear or part of the helmets? It's kind of hard to tell for me. I hope they're bodywear.

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 27 Oct 2012 15:56

@freqbox: It's Olive Green, which debuted in the Dino theme and has since appeared in Monster Fighters & Lord of the Rings. It will be appearing in great quantities next year in Chima and TMNT.

Anyway, this theme is getting a lot of hate, but while I'm not yet determined to collect it, I think the sets are brilliant. They've got a lot of what I love from the Exo-Force, Ninjago, and Creator themes. The brick-built animal motifs are well-executed, and the figs show a lot of variety. The story also seems like it could easily be just as engaging as previous story-driven themes if handled properly. Chima is definitely very different from Ninjago, but the only appeal for me when we first saw Ninjago pics was the new skeleton arms and legs, the brick-built dragon wings (way better than precious series' one-piece or cloth wings), and the new weapon elements, yet it became one of my favorite themes of all time.

Posted by CamberbrickGreen in United Kingdom, 27 Oct 2012 16:53

The critical disdain for all these models suggests that inferior products may be manufactured in Chima :D

Posted by Leggo my LEGO in Canada, 27 Oct 2012 17:07

I agree with Huw, the eagle is stunning and I will definitely be getting it, but besides the crocodile which im not sure about the others could be better.

Posted by Venunder in United Kingdom, 27 Oct 2012 17:32

Is that a new colour of palm leaf in 2 of the sets ? I might "need" some of those. :)

Posted by murphquake in United States, 27 Oct 2012 18:23

Not gonna blow 25 bucks on it but I LOVE the was this Razcal character looks. Then again I'm pretty positive on the whole line. Looking forward to seeing it in person.

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 27 Oct 2012 19:14

Exactly Graysmith. I don't know any Ninjago sets (Rarely on sale), but the theme at least had some character. The snake vehicles are really stunning and show off how well a set can be designed. The crazy Skellie vehicles looked neat, but not at nice. The dragons are different, yet similar feeling so they go together. Next year's mechs are very fun looking, and I'll probably even buy the small one. Plus there were temples and little things to go with the sets, and get more mini figures.

Chima has no playsets, and the lion sets are really bad, horribly bad. The bird sets are best, the crocidile sets need more to them, and the wolf set looks best, but it has a Ninjago feel to it.

It has possibilities, but it's really laacking in this first, and most import, wave.

Posted by audiobean in Singapore, 27 Oct 2012 19:14

Ever since the first blurry pictures appeared on eBay, I've been sceptical about this line. After seeing more detail pictures and videos, I'm still sceptical. The theme infuses lot's of play elements, however the models are not aesthetically pleasing to me still (after multiple impression now). Let's see how the storyline goes and how it adds life to the theme, LEGO's marketing power starting to gear up and we shall see how far it can go.

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 27 Oct 2012 19:21

Raven Glider: Same opinion as before; it looks weird...

Reptile Grabber: From this angle, the cockpit looks even more poorly built. They use the huge back wheels to cover it up...

Lion Buggy: The front looks decent, but the back look like a mess. I'm dreading full back-shots...

Eagle Jet: The legs look terrible, and the cockpit looks like just another cover. Again, the wings don't seem proportionate.

Wolf Tracker: The back "chariot" part looks better than I expected, but the vehicle looks too dominated by the wolf head. The flame jets are out of place.

Lion Quad: Ooooh my... I was hoping for something a lot better... the treads, sadly, are the best part... =(

Croc Boat: It looks ok. Nothing really TOO spectacular... The placement of the teeth was well done, though...

The swords in the theme look like they would be better placed in a He-Man theme... MOCs anybody?

On another note, I think that Chima focuses on the animal theme way too much. The Speedorz might be interesting to try out, although I'm not keeping my hopes and expectations too high.

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 27 Oct 2012 20:49

Okay, I'm sensing that a lot of people seem to dislike the lion vehicles. Frankly, I can understand why (the "armored frame" look probably doesn't sit well with a lot of people), but those are probably some of my favorites. They're like the best of LEGO Creator creature sets and the best of Exo-Force non-mecha sets rolled into one. In particular, the Lion-Quad reminds me of the Mobile Defense Tank but a lot sturdier-looking (no AT-AT hinges), and the Lion Buggy's design definitely surpasses all of the skeleton vehicles from Ninjago's January wave (although probably not as neat functionally as the Turbo Shredder, even if that one never especially interested me).

I have to agree with some people that the Reptile Grabber probably has the least impressive build here, but to be honest I think the ramshackle look of the croc vehicles gives them a unique character, just like the careful streamlining of the eagle vehicles and the "armored frame" look of the lion vehicles. If I had to pick one group where the designs really failed to impress, I'd probably choose the raven vehicles, but I expect to see more variety in those in the summer wave.

Posted by TekkamanRaiden in Canada, 27 Oct 2012 20:52

I see lots of parts potential.

Posted by Ypres in Canada, 27 Oct 2012 20:56

I'll buy a few of these when they go for 50% off next Christmas.

I really hoped for something better, but to be fair, it's not like any other theme has lived up to my expectations either. It's like some of the only themes that haven't gone down in quality are City and Friends (I'm not a Technic or Creator person, so don't expect me to humour anyone who is). I only fell in love with NinjaGo because I grew terribly bored with the kind of sets Lego was producing. I have a broad collection and love to include almost every genre, but Chima just doesn't fit anywhere in my current displays. I'd either have to build another shelf (which collect dust) or buy another glass cabinet (which is expensive). That's reality right there. 2013 is going to be a very different year for me which will become the nightmare of my local TRU... "No more buying 20% off (it's bleeding me dry), and no more buying sets that I don't have space for just because they were a really good deal".

I honestly can't say whether this theme will actually be anything more than a complete miss. Children don't even know what they're thinking anymore. Fads go in and out the window like American network premier tv shows. I don't speak the language of those who bought Zuzupets (those stupid stuffed hamsters) then decided to move onto Skylanders (some toy integrated online game). What's fairly obvious is that Lego has the same plans for Chima that they did for NinjaGo, so whether that means we're also getting some TV show spinoff is anyone's guess. I can't speak for children, but as far as NinjaGo Lego is concerned, I never got into the weird vehicles. Chima represents all the qualities of NinjaGo I tried to avoid when adding sets to my collection. Another thing I'm fairly certain of is that Chima will need to win over the NinjaGo market. If Chima fails, Lego will be forced to fall back on NinjaGo. That would be the worst case senario Lego would've already had to plan for, because they can't let 2013 fall significantly short of 2012 by losing a section of their market.

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 27 Oct 2012 21:29

The back "chariot" part of the Lion Buggy doesn't seem to be built too well; that's why they have the animal heads. =P

At the very least, though, I might buy the Lion Buggy (yay Lennox) and maybe the "Ultimate Tournament" set, to try out the Speedorz.

Posted by GuardianofAtlantis in United States, 28 Oct 2012 00:34

I actually think the sets look really interesting...but the minifigs and story dont seem to good at this point. I might buy a speedorz or two, but probably on some sale. They look kinda cool tbh.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 28 Oct 2012 05:53

Two models could actually be very nice with some adjustments in my opinion and those are the two crocodile sets. With a few adaptations those could easily become vehicles for Killer Croc in the Batman theme. The rest are just confusing by the looks of it. The Speedorz models look OK, with a few nice pieces by the looks of it (that pinnacle at the top of 70106).

Posted by icey in Denmark, 28 Oct 2012 08:03

Like it or not: it's obvious that TLC has invested incredible much CREATIVITY in this theme. The sets and figures are sparkling. An improvement... Well done!

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 28 Oct 2012 13:48

@CapnRex101
Yeah... these still look like preliminary models.
The brick-built sections of the Speedorz look nice, though, considering that the designers were probably on a "brick-budget." =P

Posted by Nightshroud99 in Canada, 28 Oct 2012 14:59

I can't say I'm excited, at all, for these models. While I will be getting some, I'm much more excited over the new Star Wars and DC sets.

Posted by toon10001 in United Kingdom, 28 Oct 2012 18:47

Rip cords? no thanks, i hate those things. The eagle walker looks awesome, the rest... forget it. the figs arent even that spectacular as thought. Still loving that eagle though.

Posted by m8anU1 in Australia, 28 Oct 2012 20:20

Better start saving my coins if I wanna get that eagle set!

Posted by multani in Canada, 28 Oct 2012 21:19

Not too overwhelmed on these sets. But then again, I don't really buy sets for the actuall sets but more so for parts. I'll be picking up a few of the Speedorz just for the parts. The figs don't really interest me that much either. So far, I haven't seen to much that I 'must have'.

Posted by Lego Lord Mayorca in United States, 28 Oct 2012 21:25

Why can't anyone who thinks they are going to dislike this theme come out and say, "This looks bad!" (or some variant of that phrase)? Don't soften the disappointment with, "oh, some nice new pieces here and there" or "neat minifigures, I'll take a dozen on clearance!" I don't intend to buy from this theme because unfortunately, the adult side of me is all-too cognizant of the "for kids!" nature of these sets. I'm not saying adults and teens can't enjoy these Chima sets, but gads, I'm not going to hide my disapproval.

Posted by SI Builder in Canada, 28 Oct 2012 22:25

"This looks bad!" That's exactly what needs to be said here. Speedorz don't look good. :Let's face it minifigs don't look good (and are probably made in China). Weapons are goofy. Sets are goodness gracious. And the name just makes these wounds twice as deep.
Who is this supposed to appeal to? How does Lego just pull this out of the hat and think this will sell. What ever happend to Mars Mission, Aqua Raiders, adventurers, Pharoah's quest, exo force, Ninjago, Atlantis, Castle,(and pretty much every other playtheme).
"Let's take everything that made Ninjago creative and good and make it look bad." If that's the corner stone for this theme than Lego really better clean up this theme if they want their "legends" to make it to homes next year.

Where's the Star Wars link? I need a breath of fresh air!

Posted by captain radda radda in United States, 28 Oct 2012 23:49

Wow. A lot of negativity here! I really don't think these are that bad at all! Personally, the eagle jet looks awesome and the eagle tank looks even cooler! Aside from that...well the others aren't bad but nothing "dire" or "atrocious." Give this theme some space to grow and don't verbally destroy it like you did to ninjago because look at how that theme evolved. I don't know, I just feel like most of you are giving this theme way more punishment than it deserves.

Posted by chrismajor2124 in United States, 29 Oct 2012 00:01

@STBuilder - You nailed it. I don't understand giving Ninjago the axe and replacing it with this crap.

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 29 Oct 2012 08:31

@SI Builder: I highly doubt any of the minifigure parts besides the "helmets" and "armor" will be made in China. After all, even Ninjago (which was LOADED with highly-detailed minifigure parts) only used Chinese manufacture for the snake heads and other parts with specialized printing in the 2012 spinner and model sets.

As for who the theme appeals to, I'm sure a lot of people. There are plenty of well-loved franchises with anthropomorphic animal heroes (In particular, Chima's been compared to Thundercats, with its heavy use of science-fantasy elements). I'm not sure how well kids will identify with these animal characters compared to the "human" characters of Ninjago, but there's certainly more than enough precedent for that kind of thing for the theme to have a chance.

Likewise Ninjago itself has demonstrated how science-fantasy vehicles with defining motifs (whether skulls, snake heads, or samurai helmets) are extremely popular, especially if there's some imaginative building that goes into sculpting those motifs. So there's no reason to think animal motifs like Chima uses would fail to have appeal with the target age range. Even I can't get over the incredible sculpting of the lion head motifs, which certainly far exceed most of the skull motifs of Ninjago's first year in terms of complexity.

@chrismajor2124: This is about the same reaction a lot of BIONICLE fans have to Hero Factory, and I think that's looking at things the wrong way. In BIONICLE's case, it wasn't being cancelled specifically to make way for Hero Factory, but rather because BIONICLE's sets and media were no longer profitable enough to justify keeping it around.

In Ninjago's case there's a bit of a different situation, since as far as I know Ninjago is still successful enough that it -could- keep going, but I think the reason for ending it prematurely is that TLG wants to wrap things up while sales and viewership are still strong, so they have a "success story" they can point to when pitching future series. It would look a lot worse if they waited for sales to dwindle and had to write a hasty or non-conclusive finale like those for BIONICLE and Exo-Force, or they waited for viewership to stagnate and the TV networks decided to end the series before TLG could do it on their own terms.

Still, in either case, it's not a matter of the old theme being cancelled just to make way for the new. Rather, especially after BIONICLE, I think TLG recognizes that they can't keep any story theme going indefinitely and that it's best to plan ahead for a conclusion and have a new idea ready to fill the void when the time comes to discontinue an existing theme.

Posted by Legozrool in United States, 29 Oct 2012 09:09

Well... As I thought once there were better pictures I kinda changed my mind
They are actually sorta cool love the eagle tank and croc boat the others are okay but that eagle is HORRIBLE it's legs are WAY to..to.. Chunky,blocky just plain HORRIBLE at least in my opinion

Posted by SI Builder in Canada, 29 Oct 2012 17:15

I know that this theme will hurt Lego hard next year. Shoving this slop down people's throats while Ninjago is still popular is beyond me.

Don't get why people like that croc boat. It's just a lump of green bricks thrown together. The first time I saw it I couldn't even tell it was a crocodile shape.

I sure agree with people when they say those eagle legs are gross, they're just so thick and straight. That whole set looks like it was built by a 7 year old who was short on technical pieces!

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 29 Oct 2012 20:06

The eagle legs might have to be built the way they are to support the eagle's weight, keep that in mind. Frankly, I think it's a terrible disservice to the designers to say it looks like anyone less than a professional made it, because almost any part of a set design is done for a reason, whether that be aesthetics, sturdiness, functionality, or price point. Just because AFOLs don't tend to think about many of those aspects other than aesthetics when looking at pics doesn't make them any less important. Particularly suggesting that a model "looks like a whatever-year-old kid built it" is an insult I've never been happy to tolerate, because as a rule insults like that are even more thoughtless and juvenile than the sets they're describing

I don't understand why people keep talking about how unsuccessful this theme will be while nevertheless ignoring how many people-- even AFOLs!-- are actually liking these designs. There is such a thing as thoughtful design and thoughtless design, but in general all LEGO set designs are thoughtful and whether the designs are "good" or "bad" can be chalked up to personal preference.

I personally like these sets, and furthermore it seems like something a lot of kids will love. There are lots of much worse toys on the market that still prove to be plenty successful. Whether the kids the theme appeals to will be enough to ensure its success is anyone's guess, but I strongly doubt that this theme will hurt TLG's bottom line-- at worst it will end up as a one-year theme that makes them a profit but brings no growth to the LEGO brand. Especially since no company as experience as TLG would devote this much of a budget to a theme without devoting some of that budget to market research and focus group testing to minimize risk.

Posted by namekuji in New Zealand, 30 Oct 2012 04:56

Oh my! What a Glorious mix of colours and new parts! Magnificent Torso prints! Superb new parts! Daring building aesthetics and open potential! Its far from the triumphant return of Fabuland, but this theme is certainly the embryo of something Super Luscious! I cant wait for the adjective laden reviews. Oh yes, those reviews will happen! Bring it on Chima! Get me a Rip cord and lets go!

Posted by Nabii in Denmark, 30 Oct 2012 10:52

Hi, "seven year old with a lack of technic pieces here"...

Anyway. I can't comment on next year’s sets or the theme until 15th November, and what I do say here is just my opinions, not the company I work for.

All I want to do is point out every line I have ever worked on has been hated by my fellow adult fans. Exo-Force year three was called a complete misfire, Mars Mission was not a patch on the classic space themes, Agents was called the worst thing LEGO has ever done and was going to lose more money than Galidor, Power Miners was ‘ugly and stupid’, Space police was worse than any of the previous space lines – ‘how dare LEGO replace Mars Mission with this rubbish?’ Atlantis was a failure that was too dark and had stupid creatures that no one would want and Ninjago was totally hated by AFOLs who were completely thrown by the fantasy elements and wanted a ‘historical’ Ninja theme.

So apart from the universal hatred of them from large numbers of the AFOL community is there anything else these themes have in common? Oh yes, they all out performed sales projections and they helped LEGO to grow into a larger market share of the toy industry then they have ever had before.

So you don’t like it? Fine, it’s not for you. We make Sopworth Camels and Orange trains and world icon buildings and huge Star Wars creations for you because you’re important and we like your business and all the amazing creations you make with the parts. But please don’t harsh so badly on the kids sets. They read this stuff, they take it in, they will reject getting these sets because adult fans say they are stupid and six months later when the AFOLs get hold of the sets and maybe realize there are some good parts, or reasons things look a bit odd in photographs it’s too late to get the kids back.

Besides as I pointed out above if your AFOL sensibilities hate it we’ve probably nailed it. Every huge ‘big-bang theme’ (like Power Miners, Atlantis, Ninjago) has had three years of planning, they appeal to almost every kid who has had a chance to play with them, nothing has been “pulled out of a hat” without thought. If you are not seven years old anymore, you cannot speak for those who are, you know as little about what is shaping their childhood as what shaped your parents childhoods.

BTW – all of the big bang LEGO Designers have read this thread, for some of them this is their first ever LEGO set to come out, thanks for not making the AFOL fans look like a bunch of complaining whiners or anything…

TLDR: It's not for you, kids like it, don't let it bother you because we make stuff for you too.

Posted by aquafreak125 in United Kingdom, 30 Oct 2012 11:36

Wow, I'm loving this theme so far! I like the animal motifs used on the vehicles and the Eagle Jet especially looks awesome! The detail on the minifigures is astounding too, definitely picking up the Eagle Jet, Raven Glider, either the lion buggy or the reptile grabber, and the Speedorz ice tower.

Posted by UtarEmpire in United States, 30 Oct 2012 11:43

@Nabii: Brickset post of the year.

I guess it's not altogether unsurprising that AFOLs on the Internet - like every Internet community out there - has its share of vocal folks who are willing to jump out and disparage anything and everything that is not specifically made for their individual tastes. The sense of entitlement of some people here is truly embarrassing. I mean, we all love LEGO here, but let's look at the bottom line: they're TOYS. You're getting infuriated over TOYS.

Anyway, I personally won't be buying any of these sets but I think the Minifig parts look very cool.

Posted by vamproe in United States, 30 Oct 2012 14:25

Love the eagle jet and all the eagle / hawk people. The raven people are great too.
After taking a second look the eagle jet reminds me of buck rogers and the character hawkman's fighter ship.

I will at least be getting that set for sure.

Posted by StrykerCat in United States, 04 Nov 2012 09:08

I love these sets and will be getting them all. The minifigs are great too. I admire the creativeness that went into the design. As an engineer I know that many initial ideas need to be adjusted, redesigned, and scaled down due to requirements and schedule. There are price points and piece counts to consider. While I don't know the lego design constraints, it seems that there must be some requirement of new parts, unique parts within a part count, and other such things that as a consumer, I don't need to worry about. I get to enjoy the creativeness and building experience. I enjoy building the sets. If I am not satisfied I can use the set as a starting point and add to it to flush it out the way I desire. That's one of the great things about legos - flexibility of redesign and modification.

The eagle is my favorite with the raven a close second. The croc boat is my least favorite. I don't care for color or the large boat piece as much as multiple pieces. But perhaps with the single piece it can float?

Nabii -- A possible idea is to create additional instructions to build more detailed designs using multiple sets or duplicate sets or using common pieces from other sets geared towards AFOLs. I would love to see how you would flush out that lion given an additional 200 pieces. I appreciate the talent and hard work that went into the designs as I'm sure many other quiet fans do.

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