Prior to building this set I had no interest in the Chima line altogether. I usually stick to the larger, more adult oriented sets like Star Wars UCS, modular buildings, and one-offs like the Simpsons House and Sydney Opera House. The only reason I purchased this set was because it was discounted by 50% on Amazon--and what serious Lego collector can pass up a 664 piece Lego set for $35? I figured it was a good value for Lego pieces, not necessarily the set itself, so I bought two of them. It wasn't until sometime later when I was watching designer videos for new sets that I stumbled upon the designer video for this set located here: www.lego.com/en-us/chima/videos/designervideos/chima-model-70009. The video makes it evident how much thought was actually put into the design of the set, so for curiosity sake I decided to open one of mine and put it together. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable builds I've done so far this year, and that list includes the new Maersk Triple-E, Parisian Restaurant, Simpsons House, Sea Cow, and Ewok Village among many others.

Box/Instructions

Everything is pretty standard here. The box is brightly colored with vivid images and the back side shows how the Lair splits up in to five different vehicles.

Parts

I always assumed that Chima sets were full of unusual and unique parts that weren't very useful when building standard vehicle and city style MOCs. Boy was I wrong! This entire set is nothing but useful pieces. Lots of technic beams and connectors, various sized square and angled plates, and an abundance of different sloped bricks.

Minifigures

As it turns out, I really liked the animal heads that fit over the standard minifigure head. It's a more interesting way to do it than just having molded animal heads. It gives the impression that these are half human/half animal creatures (if their arms and legs don’t suggest that already).

The build

Simply put: a masterpiece. The creativity involved in this design was a pleasure to behold. The designer elegantly created a functional vehicle in the shape of a crouching wolf that has the remarkable ability to split into five separate vehicles along with jail cells and tool storage areas contained in the wolf's body. The best part of this build however, was the fact that there are almost no 1X1 pieces! Not that they aren't useful pieces of course, but 1X1 plates and bricks are the bane of my Lego building existence since I am a perfectionist and insist on perfectly aligning every piece.

The completed model

Obviously this model is primarily aimed at kids, and it is simply packed with play value. The front "claws" pop off as two individual vehicles, helicopter blades fold out and up to lift the chopper off the wolf's back, the rear section detaches and the wheels fold in to form a motorcycle, and the back end of the main body is a jail for any prisoners taken during play. That being said, the perfectly proportioned wolf's head that houses the command seat of this vehicle and the way the entire model takes on the form of a crouching wolf is highly artistic. Functionality and looks come together in this set (and other Chima sets as well) to create nothing short of a Lego masterpiece.

Overall opinion

I was so impressed with this set it caused me to do two things: 1) write my first set review (out of over 200 sets, including every Star Wars UCS set from 10179 on); 2) purchase 11 other Chima sets.