VBBN

The tunneler beast looks like an awesome set to me. Jaw beast really surprised me and I see a lot of potential in this guy as well. A small simple build that does have a unique look, and I also think it's a breath of fresh air to see a beast without Azure/Trans light blue And, while it's price may be a bit steep and many may argue about the complexity of it, I think the Queen beast set is on the right track of things. I really want to see more sets that include not only a larger set, but also something smaller in with it, in this case Evo's new machine. With the addition of minifigures, some of the larger sets feel more like playsets to me, and commonly system sets will not only have some larger construction, but also smaller ones. Had the set only been the Queen beast facing three heroes I don't think it would have been as enticing. However with that said, I don't exactly think the machine that is coming with it is...all that much of a threat. it's just a big mobile container essentially, perhaps the Rocka crawler/climber/jumper/songwriter machine would have been a better "bonus" to the set, but what do I know.

Aanchir the eyes are most certainly curious. Panthar also lacks the printed piece that the other three fire sets have, and whether it's a storyline purpose or not he doesn't have the same suit of golden armor, but instead has gold as well as pearl dark gray. He's also the odd one out in the back of the instructions where a photo of all the sets are shown, he is the one not fighting anyone and has no silhouetted enemy on the back of his bag. It's quite possible he is unaligned yet fire powered, or perhaps he is with the fire characters but his loyalty isn't quite there. Or Lego just didn't pay attention to it and we are overthinking it- but personally I quite like the idea of a loose cannon character. Kind of like a "I'll fight with you because we face a common enemy but that's it" sort of thing

How is the condition of the balljoint/sockets?

As the poll we had up a short while ago hinted at, a MOC index is next up on the to-do list. I think at this point we are the only subforum without one..

I actually quite like Panthar's combo, the giant hair/mohawk/battle feathers he has going on is really cool, and I like how the weapons are constructed. Though I suppose the back thing does look quite out of place, I'm trying to figure out how it's even attached to him. Also one concern I had about the new armor is that I felt it would look odd on most other things, but for really odd or cartoony things it works (putting this here instead of it's own topic)

I thought of it as a unifying trait- All three sets seem to share trans light blue, white, pearl dark gray, and in this case a shade of brown/tan. It's not much, but I don't mind it as much as I thought I might

A look at the combo models in the instruction

They should be starting to release into stores now, or within the next few days. I don't think they will be in full force until next month, but by the time you go to Malaysia I'd bet you'll for sure find them.

When I have some more free time I will attempt to build them. No instructions were given so all I have to work with is the small pictures on the back of the packaging, but I will do the best I can and give some group shots as well.

​ Set name: CHI Vardy Set number: 70210 Piece Count: 68 Year Released: 2014 Price: $14.99 USD, 12,99 EUR Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Vardy. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Bag Front The front of the bag shows vardy in an action pose, with a very ice-themed background. There is also some lite set information, and Legends of Chima printed in a very cool text. Bag Back The back shows a head size comparison, the dropping orb, and Vardy with Laval in the background. Interestingly enough, lego missed the opportunity to show the spinning buzzsaw as a set feature, as you would expect. Instructions The instructions have the same photo as we just saw, and a callout for Lego.com. Contents Two bags of parts, a bagged head, a loose torso, and that fantastic trans-light blue buzzsaw. Buzzsaw A piece that many are excited for. While a lot of people dislike the silver weapons the fire sets come with, the ice sets all have more unique weapons, and this bright colored saw is similar to the bright colored weapons we saw in 2013. CHI Orb The Chi Orb is a trans light blue mixed with white. It looks quite awesome, almost like a small water and ice planet. Head Vardy's head is based on a vulture, and looks really cool from a profile shot. It does look...rather odd from the front, all you can see is the armor and beak. I think a moving jaw might have done a lot of good here, but none of the other flying-tribe sets have had a moving jaw thus far either. Shells The printed shell that all of the ice sets come with, and the lovely new dark tan 5-L shell, which Vardy has two of. Torso Armor The new torso armor, which has a place for the chi orb to sit. You can push the section beneath the hole to make the orb drop out. Bones Vardy has the hand piece in trans light blue, as well as the second shortest length of bone (only one of those) and the third shortest length. Wings Here we have the new wing piece in a white mixed with trans light blue. I love the look of these new pieces, and given their axle connection point I can see these being used in a lot of unique ways. The Build Torso The torso begins, with it's main difference being a second for the wings to be built onto. Legs added on His legs are simple and use the black piraka feet, but it is worth noting that all of his limbs will use those trans blue limbs. Wing Construction The start of the wings. The shape is very jagged and bony to represent a vultures wings, but I know some people are not a fan of how this turned out. Wings and Arms The wings are topped off with one of the older wing pieces, and the ice arms are added on. Bulking up More armor is added on, mostly using the white fur pieces and adding those glorious dark tan shells. Weapon Construction The start of his weapon, which ends up looking pretty cool overall. The trans light blue buzzsaw paired with the previously seen elemental piece creates a nice effect- Though one interesting thing to notice is that the construction of the weapon behind the buzzsaw is in fact visible due to this. Finished Set Front From a front view, you can see Vardy does lack quite a bit of armor on his limbs. While vultures have smaller limbs, it looks quite strange here given how much trans light blue he has. Side Vultures have very arched necks, and some pieces were used to attempt to imitate this, however the end result is difficult to pose due to the arch of the socket on his actual head piece. Back I have to admit, I do like his wings. They have that very bony and crooked look to them, and while it doesn't look like he's going to be taking flight anytime soon, they don't look as bad as I first thought they were going to. Pose 1 Posing the set is another challenge within itself. While his limbs have everything you could want, his head looks very odd from a front view and I found myself wanting to make sure every pose showed off at least a portion of the side of his face. Also, I didn't realize the weapon was supposed to go in both hands- THe black spiked piece is actually supposed to be the end of the weapon, but it falls out constantly. Pose 2 Pose 3 He does have a nice fur structure around his shoulders and neck, which is also very similar to real-life vultures. Overall, Vardy is one of those figures who is a great and creative take on a real life animal, but the final set may suffer. In my opinion, they really did a good job of capturing the bony look of the Vulture- And not just because of the fact that constraction sets use bones, mind you- but rather he has the shaping that really gives off the animal's vibe in the end. He i also a decent set for parts, with a lot of trans light blue including that buzzsaw, and the first signs of some dark tan. However, as a completed set I feel this accuracy can leave a lot to be desired, especially in posing and his overall finished look compared to other figures of the wave can feel a bit incomplete. What are your thoughts on this set? VBBN

Set name: CHI Cragger Set number: 70207 Piece Count: 58 Year Released: 2014 Price: $14.99 USD, 12,99 EUR Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Cragger. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Bag Front The bags for this wave are themes after each character's respective element. In this case, Cragger's bag is a very bright orange, with fire and shades of hot colors really making it pop. The packaging is european, so some information such as part count is absent from the front of the bag. Bag Back The back of the bag continues to carry the orange color, and also adds in a bight shade of blue to even things out. You can see a few of the features of the set, including his opening mouth and the Chi Orb falling out of his chest- More on that later. It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion. Instructions New parts Bones Surely one of the most interesting aspects of this new wave is the vast choice of new recolors in these sets- Most notably trans bones. Now we saw trans bones first appearance in Jaw Beast, and this time around we get a much larger variety. Cragger has the shortest length and 3rd shortest length of bone in a trans neon-orange, as well as the fist piece. Armor Shells Here we have a look at some new colors of shells. Firstly is a 4-L shell in dark green, surely to be coveted by those who have the previous Cragger and Ogrum and are looking to build up their dark green collection, and we also have the new printed shell that all of the fire themed sets besides Panthar include. Unforunately this suffers from the same syndrome that the 3.0 heroes had; The printed shell is a universal color. All of the sets have it in dark red, and while it fits a firey theme, it ends up looking rather odd on Cragger as it's the only bit of dark red that he has. Head His head is the same as the previous mold, but he instead now has a gold palte on the top instead of silver, and his eyes are a blue print instead of the red. Armor Shells The armor on the left is not new, however it is worth noting that as of now It's only been in one other set, which was the original CHI Laval. I have placed it here to show you guys a comparison between it and the new torso shell. It is much larger, and features a hole for a zamor sphere or "chi orb" (let's face it, to us it'll always be called the zamor sphere) When you push the cut out button beneath it, the orb will fall out. While I love the look and the new shaping of this part, it only has one point of connection because it loses the two bar-holes that the older piece includes. Armor Add-ons and Weapon To compliment the new torso piece, we also have some fantastic looking new armor add-ons. Many people will be upset that these are only available in gold, hopefully we see these in a variety of colors in the future. We also have the new weapon piece, a very cool and stylized blade. The ice sets still have more elemental looking weapons, whereas the fire sets utilize this new piece. Personally I am a fan of this very intricate design, however many people may prefer the more colorful weapons of last year. Chi Orb The recolored zamor sphere at first glance appears to be what we received with the Fire Lord wave of sets in 2011. That sphere was red and yellow mixed, whereas this sphere is yellow and trans neon orange mixed. When held up to a light, it gives off a neat glow due to the slight transparency of the orange. The Build Torso The torso begins with some connections for the tail and chest armor. Adding on Utilizing some of the trans neon orange bones, he has a neat "fire arm" effect going on. You can also see that he has an extended neck construction, similar to the previous Cragger. Armoring up Dark green and gold begin to cover up his skeleton, and this is also where you will see the rather out of place red shells. Bulking The new torso armor is much bigger than the other styles, and gives him a slightly beefier profile look than the older combination of the armor+breastplate gave, and the front looks bigger partially in thanks to the shoulder construction, which will offer him more shoulder protection than he previously had. Head added More armor and the head is added on, and you also get to snap in the Chi Orb. it fits in really well and won't fall out unless you push the button. Weapon Cragger uses his new blades as an axe of sorts. It's nothing too complicated, but doesn't look all too bad. I'm more of a fan of this that the weapon he had last year, though it would have been nice if he kept a two handed weapon since it's more unique to him. (With that said, in this wave we already have two other figures with two handed weapons, so the unique factor wouldn't have been there this time around) Finished Set Front Cragger looks much more compact than his previous form, and I feel loses a bit of the crocodile shaping that he has. At the same time, he also looks better and more armored up, yet the armor dominated his color scheme and we lose that sand green that he used to have. Side You can see that the new chest armor does stick out quite a bit, mainly because the orb has to fit in his chest and that takes up a lot of room. Back He has adequate back coverage, thanks to the shell on his neck and lower back, and his tail gives some purpose to it as well. For those wondering about the shoulder armor, you can position the panels up or down in relation to his arms, but not forward or back unless you move his entire neck construction. Action Pose 1 Cragger poses fairly well, and looks good from a lot of angles. Nothing gets in the way, and as always, anything with an opening mouth can really help emote expression in a pose. Action Pose 2 Overall I'd say he looks more solid than the older Cragger, but you really have to get past the idea that the fire sets have so much gold on them. They really give him a lot of personality, but only being in one color limits how useful you may find them. Action Pose 3 Needless to say I really enjoyed posing these figures. Some of the IFB sets left a lot to be desired posing wise, and it is one of my favorite aspects of an "action figure" set. Alternate Weapon uses The new blades can really be used however you want, you can see here I've used them more as daggers, but I think in the future I may attempt an updated version of his two handed weapon. Overall, Cragger is a cool set, but is really just an updated version of his older self. Compared to his first figure, he is less animalistic, yet has a more solid construction. If you have the previous Cragger, then I think the main draw to this set is the new pieces and recolors. if you don't yet have a Cragger and somehow can't find the old one still shelfwarming in stores, then this set will be a worthy replacement. Personally, I do enjoy this new look, but the color scheme can be a bit much- the system sets are to blame for that however. What are your thoughts on this set?

Set name: CHI Fluminox Set number: 70211 Piece Count: 91 Year Released: 2014 Price: $19.99 USD, 17,99 EUR (?) Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Fluminox. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. CHI Fluminox is one of the two larger Chima sets to be released this year. In the first year release of Chima we did not receive sets of this size, so what exactly has lego done to justify this higher price tag and higher part count? Read on to find out. Bag Front The bag for Fluminox is quite large, given that he is one of the larger figures of this wave. The art is displayed, as is the set name and information as per usual. The only interesting thing to note here is the very bright orange background, which all of the fire-themed sets have. Although with Fluminox's color scheme, he actually blends in to the background and it's difficult to see him. Bag Back With some blue added on the back, it's much easier to see that you are in fact getting a figure and not just a bag of fire. We see the set features, which include moving wings and a shooting orb- more on that soon. It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion. Instructions The instructions are standard fare at this point. Colorization inside is the same as it has been for years, with black parts being outlined in white. This isn't what you came to see, let's have a look at the far more interesting component of the set shall we? Contents Fluminox has a healthy amount of parts crammed in his packaging.In Chima's first year, we didn't receive any larger figures, so this is the first time we get to experience a more complicated build with the Chima aesthetic. Things to take note of here are the separately bagged head and the loose, taller torso variant. New/Interesting Parts Head Fluminox's head is based on a Phoenix. As far as the airborne creature headsculpts go, I think this one is my favorite. In the first wave we had Eris and Razar, and this wave we have Vardy and Fluminox. What is your favorite? One thing that people may dislike about this piece is the trans-yellow portion of it. personally I love this, when I imagine a Phoenix I like to think of them as being on fire, and this paired with the colorization of his wings really supports that vision. Wings The new wing pieces. While I may still dislike the look they came up with for the finished wing design on the set, I love these pieces on their own. Torso Armor The new torso armor is larger than the older one, mostly because with this one you can stick the CHI orb into it. By pushing the section of plastic right beneath the hole in, the orb will fall out. It's not meant to be a launching mechanism, but rather a means to remove the orb- it sticks in their very well. Shells and add-ons Like Laval and Cragger, Fluminox has the dark red printed shell. I quite like the design and for those who are like me and dislike having odd numbers of things, you'll be pleased to know that all three sets come with two each. We also have the new armor add on that all of the fire sets have, as well as the Queen Beast set in Hero Factory who includes one. Weapon The new blade. It has some nice shaping, though it is vastly different from the colorful and simple weapons we got last year, and I know many people are not a fan of this. Bones Fluminox comes with the third shortest bone in trans neon orange, as well as the hand pieces. Just like the trans light blue bones that came with jaw Beast, these have showed no signs of being weaker than usual sockets. Interesting parts These parts are not new, but I wanted to show them off anyway. As a person who didn't pay much attention to these guys at toyfair, I was completely baffled at the technic hose and was curious as to what it did (mind you I didn't read the bit about the moving wings until after the set was built ) Also, the zamor sphere launcher has made a triumphant return! Well, that is if you missed one of these the first time around. During Toy Fair, I as well as a few others-I'm looking at you Mesonak- were under the assumption these were going to be black. While that recolor would have been welcomed, just seeing these make a return was quite excellent, seeing it integrate with so many new parts and be used on a figure with the new look that Constraction figures have gained. CHI Orbs In addition to the new CHI fire orb, which is a yellow mixed with trans neon orange plastic, we also have a spare, plain red one for his weapon. We have seen this previously in a Mindstorms set, but any opportunity to get more is surely worth noting. The Build Torso The build begins with some simple connections- The 4-L in trans orange is also "new" We have seen it before, but not without printing. Legs The legs, while looking quite well armored, suffer from one major issue already- Way too many friction joints. I can understand one set, the wings may make him slightly backheavy, but two? Don't get me wrong, I won't turn down extra friction joints for my collection, but if lego is going to do this, I really wish they would stop with the jagged color displacement and make these in black. Wings Here are the wings constructed. I feel the could have been filled out a bit more, however I do think they look slightly better than what Razar and Eris had last year. Wing Mechanism added Here you have a look at the way that the wings are attached and operate. You pull down and the wings flap up, somewhat like Nivawk in 2004. Wing mechanism open The wings up. Arms Some more armor is added to fill him out. I'm usually not a fan of these tall builds because the overall figure looks very lanky, though this isn't too bad. I also quite like how the arms set in front of the wings make it look like the two are connected. Weapon he start of his rather complex crossbow weapon. I could have done without the yellow lever, but at least it's not a long shot from his color scheme. Front When he is finished, Fluminox fills out fairly well. Side The wing pack sticks out quite a bit and due to it's construction doesn't seem like a "natural" pair of wings. Back He does have a shortage of armor on his back, and looks quite hollow. Most of the upper hack has to remain uncovered to allow for the flex tube to move up and down. Front with Wings Up With his wings up he gets some massive height. You can also see just how large his crossbow-like weapon is. Pose 1 I find the build of his weapon slightly annoying. Half of it is built onto his left hand, and posing it in only one hand ends up looking, well something like this. it's not bad, but I wish there were more dedicated handles to it. Pose 2 Given it's two attachment points, it's actually quite difficult to position him in an attack pose with the weapon without popping armor off or dis-limbering him. Pose 3 The new blades can be used in other ways, so if you prefer him to be more melee oriented you can choose that as well. Overall, Fluminox is essentially a taller figure with a wing pack and a parts-demanding weapon. I know a lot of people want him purely for the fact that he is a Phoenix, and I can't deny it's a really cool tribe to have. As a parts pack, there is a lot to offer here in the way of fire-oriented parts. Looking at him as a set, though, I have a lot of trouble justifying his high price tag. Firstly, I think his overall size, while impressive especially with wings extended, can be almost too big for his own good. He can look lanky or too open in areas, and the size is attributed to some things that we could have gone without- I'm note sure he really warranted the use of 4 friction sockets, he seemed to pose the same without them when I tested him. Secondly, the wing gimmick, while cool, ends up looking rather bland from side and back angles, and the wings themselves don't really need the feature, and is a missed possibility for some wing articulation. Finally, his weapon is very parts intensive, and overall can be very awkward to pose with. If you don't care much for it, well that's quite a large chunk of the set right there. I think it looks cool, but I would have liked it if you had more options as to what to do with it without needing to rebuild parts of it. What do you think? VBBN

​ Set name: CHI Mungus Set number: 70209 Piece Count: 64 Year Released: 2014 Price: $14.99 USD, 12,99 EUR (?) Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Mungus. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Bag Front The front of the bag features Mungus, as well as some lite set information. The background is a mix or ice and lightning, and looks very attractive- It's sure to catch some eyes on store shelves next to it's polar opposite, the bright orange bags of the fire sets. Bag Back The back of the bag is nothing new, but something I found odd; Usually, lego will try to show off the most ridiculous of set functions. Yet they actually missed one with this set- The hammer head spins, which I assume was an intended feature. Otherwise someone grabbed the wrong friction pin and threw a gear in the system. Instructions The instructions, showing off the same image as we saw on the bag. Contents He has a longer variant of the body structure. We also have two bags of parts and a separate bagged head. New/Interesting Parts Glorious Recolors Being a huge fan of trans light blue, I was ecstatic to see so much with these sets. Mungus not only includes the fist piece and third shortest bone length in the color, but also the spiked mace halves and a Ben 10 foot. Brown and CHI Orb We also are greeted by some newly recolored brown pieces and his Chi orb, which is a mix of white and trans light blue. Printed piece and system part Each of the ice sets includes one printed piece as seen above (not two like the fire sets, excluding panthar, have) Also, while it's not nearly new, I included the lego system basket as an interesting piece. Certainly it's one of the last things I'd ever expect to see in a constraction set. Head (view 1) The new head, which looks very awesome- some bits of skin removed to show a cracked skull beneath it, and you can also see some molded teeth. Head (view 2) The Build Torso Torso build begins Legs added on Due to his long torso and short legs, lego did add in some friction sockets to give a bit more height and help stabilize the big upper half. Shoulders Mungus, as well as Sir Fangar, use a new shoulder construction that is an advanced version of what Gorzan used last year. Bulking I don't know how I feel about these really wide shoulders and extra long torso. While I understand what they are going for, I can't say the armor really fills him out enough. More armor is added to finish the look of the ice leg, and arms and placed on. Trunk The start of the trunk Completed Trunk Attached. A molded trunk would have looked better, but this gives us articulation as well as some lovely brown pieces. Weapon The weapon is built like so. The tan friction peg allows the top to spin, but I haven't a clue as to why you would want to do that. Finished Set Front The ice arm and ice leg could use some more armor, and I wish we has upper bones in trans colors to make the entire leg iced over. Side A side view. While he is wide from a front view, he ends up being rather thin from a profile shot like mostly all of the CHI figures this wave. Back A well armored back, Pose 1 Posed using his weapon as a hammer. The white shoulder parts like to fall off a lot when attempting to pose him this way. Pose 2 Pose 3 Mungus is an interesting figure. He attempts the torso build that should be on a titan, but doesn't have enough parts to really fill out enough and finish that "mammoth" sized look. I'm not a fan of the spinning weapon and would prefer it to have just been a non-moving piece. Also, while I appreciate what they were trying to do with the white fur on his shoulders, I think it would be better if he didn't have that.It throws the color scheme somewhat and leaves you wishing there was more white overall, or more brown, depending on if you are getting this guy for parts. He does look quite wide, though I wish he didn't have such a thin profile like most of the other Chima figures, but at this pricepoint some sacrifices have to be made I suppose. What do you think of this set? VBBN

Set name: CHI Laval Set number: 70206 Piece Count: 49 Year Released: 2014 Price: $14.99 USD, 12,99 EUR (?) Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Laval. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Laval is one of the two returning characters from the first wave of Chima contraction figures. Is this figure worth picking up if you have the original? Read on and hopefully you'll be able to answer that question when you're done. Bag Front We see a posed laval, standard set information, and the like. Similar to Fluminox, Laval's colors blend in with the orange background, one drawback to his already fiery color scheme. Bag Back A splash of blue helps to see what you are actually getting. Only one set feature is shown, which is the dropping orb, which I'll talk about shortly. It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion. Contents The contents spilled out. Loose pieces include a standard torso (wide) and his magnificent shield. Instructions The instructions show the same image as the bag, nothing interesting there- However there is one very odd thing that happened to mine. At a first glance, it looks like this is off at an angle, this is because the instructions were cut incorrectly, causing the the top and bottom to slope downward slightly. Nothing earth shattering, but an interesting factory error. (Unfortunately not a misprint that I'll make millions off of... ) New/Interesting pieces Shield Look. Look at it. Gaze upon it's magnificence. Observe it's majestic colors and shapes. Alright perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I really love this shield. The paint apps are spectacular, and compared to his plain gold shield of 2013, this blows it out of the water and into another solar system. Now I could be nitpicky and say that a problem I have with this is that the Phoenix on it is just the color of the gold plastic beneath it and not painted gold like the other printed leg parts in the set- But I'll silence myself and continue to drool over this. Head Laval's head is in fact the same mold as we saw before, however this time he has a trans neon orange mane. If you don't like the fire on Fluminox's head, you may have trouble getting past this as well. Recolors Here we have the new printed armor shell (yes, more printed parts!) as well as the IFB beast foot in gold. That latter piece is sure to spark some interest. I think by the time these sets are over, we will be even more sick of gold than the day when an entire year's wave of sets are just armies of Rocka- but 'll certainly be interested in seeing what people do with these new and recolored parts. Torso Armor The new torso armor is larger than the old one and has a spot for the Chi orb to fit in. When you push the button underneath the hole, the orb will fall out. Armor add-ons The new armor add on. All of the fire sets have this piece, as does the Queen Beast from Hero Factory- and yes, you can have color you want as long as it's gold. CHI Orb The Chi Orb, or as I will always call it the zamor sphere, is a yellow mixed with trans neon orange. Weapon The new blade that all of the fire sets include. I quite like the detail and shaping of it, however I'm sure many people prefer the more colorful weapons of last year and it's a shame that this is the only new blade that that the fire sets received. The Build Torso The torso begins. Many people will be pleased to see the return of Pyrox's dark red torso shell. Legs Added The legs, sporting the new beast feet. These work way better as lion feet than the old hero feet did. Adding On One thing you may notice with this this build is that he in fact has no recolored bones. I'm guessing the money saved by not recoloring the bones went into the generous printed parts. Bulking Just like his old form, he gets a set of claws, but this time he has fiery orange fingers. The new torso shell is also in place. Finished Set Front The completed set. A lot in common with the original Laval, such as the connection method for the shield. Side Another look at that lovely shield in place. Side 2 His weapon is a large blade with fire coming out the top. It's a bit busy, and personally I prefer the look of his older sword. Back His back looks pretty solid due to the extra torso armor shell. However, just like the first laval, it can be used to store the shield, which I'll show you soon. Pose 1 There's only so much you can do when you have claws built like this. He has no real wrist movement, so the shield is stuck in a few positions and the sword just ends up being difficult to find a complementing pose. Pose 2 My attempt to have him blocking his face, but the end result looks like he is just trying to show off his one major upgrade since his last form- lead based paint chi- I mean, uh, printed shield. Pose 3 He can still pull off an animalistic look, and I really love the new feet in comparison to what his older self had. Weapon Storage Like the older Laval, you can place his shield on his back. I also found that if you take the weapon in half and you place it so that the blades reconnect aroudn the post holding the shield on, you can make the sword stay comfortably on his back as well. Weapon Storage Front Overall, I think the main upgrade for Laval here is the new feet and the printed shield. Parts wise he is good, but other than those two bits there isn't much you won't get with other sets of this wave. He's got the same gold armor parts that the other Fire sets have, trans orange shells as seen on Fluminox, and a bunch more of those orange claws that we have hundreds of by this point. You will have to get used to the rather large amount of gold and trans neon orange he has, and the new armor pieces are sure to be a love-hate relationship. If you don't have a Laval yet, this one is worth a pickup- But if you already have him, I'd grab this guy for some of the parts like new feet and shield, and reuse the rest of the parts for something else. What do you think? VBBN

​ Set name: CHI Sir Fangar Set number: 70212 Piece Count: 97 Year Released: 2014 Price: $19.99 USD, 17,99 EUR (?) Useful Links: Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Sir Fangar. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Sir Fangar is the second larger Chima CHI set we have gotten with this wave. In the first wave of Chima CHI sets in 2013 we didn't get any of these larger, 17,99 EUR priced figures. What has lego done to justify this price tag? Read on to find out! Bag Front Of all of the packaging art, I think Sir Fangar (And for the rest of the review, I'll likely just refer to him as Fangar. He doesn't have a top hat nor a monocle, I don't know who he is thinking he's a sir ) Anyway, Fangar does have the addition of a black cape, and the color creates a striking difference against the ice-themed background. At first glance it's hard to tell he has those blue spikes on his shoulders, but rest assured they are there and there is a feature associated with them. Bag Back The back shows Fangar, as well as a silhouetted Fluminox, and the set features. These included the orb that falls out, the zamor launcher, and the moving spikes. It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion. Instructions His instructions have the same image as the front of the bag. Nothing else of particular interest here. Bones Fangar has a nice selection of bones recolored in trans light blue, as well as the fist. Head His head is two pieces, giving him a movable jaw. The lower jaw piece is the same as Panthars. Head Together Overall I quite like his head sculpt. There does appear to be some scarring near the back of his jaw, but no paint apps to make it all that apparent. Spike and Torso Armor The new torso armor, which has a space to put in the chi orb. If you push the section of plastic beneath the holw, the orb will drop out. It doesn't launch, it's just a means of getting the orb out- The armor holds it in very tightly. Also of note is a new spike piece, very similar in size to the piece that is used as Cragger and Panthar's tails. Recolor/Interesting parts The new printed piece that all of the ice sets include is seen here. Also there is a white beast foot, something I was really looking forward to getting. And, while not new, I have the zamor sphere launcher pictured here. It's nice to see the return of a part that I have a lot of fond memories of (2006 was one of those years) and it's interesting to see it used with the new era of building techniques. CHI Orbs The Chi Orb is a white mixed with trans light blue, which overall looks extremely awesome- very similar to a mini planet or something. The second sphere is a solid blue, which we have seen in the past, but it's always worth getting more. Cape His cape is quite large and has two pin holes as the connection points. Torso His torso begins with the larger torso variant. You build a shoulder extension similar to Mungus, and also create a neat spiked structure. You see one blue pin here, the final construction has two of them, they are what will be used to attach his cape. Spike Mechanism Similar to the wings of Fluminox, Fangar has these spikes, which you can move up or down using the flex tube. Legs and Cape added Added on to the body. His legs use four friction sockets like Fluminox, but in this case I think they end up looking better and less awkward. The longer trans-light blue bone is on his right leg, hidden behind that large pearl dark gray armor plate. Bulking up More armor is added on, as well as his large claw. It's a design we have seen a lot by now, and it's getting rather boring- Let's hope 2015 has a newer claw design. Weapon The weapon is a sort of staff-launcher combination, utilizing the zamor sphere launcher. Front The completed figure overall looks well armored, however he is missing armor on his lower arms. Side His spike mechanism doesn't stick out quite as badly as the wings on Fluminox due to the cape. Back(Spikes down) Here is a look at the spikes in a downward position. As you can see they are outside of the cape. Back(Spikes Up) I don't really see a point in the spikes being down in the first place, and I think he looks a lot better overall with them up. Pose 1 Posing him can take a bit of work, the cap can get in the way and his arms can clash with the chest armor. Pose 2 I quite like the completed weapon, it's large and menacing, and a staff-launcher combination ends up looking better than the weapon Fluminox ended up with (mainly because his weapon is hard to pose with) Pose 3 The cape really helps his overall look, but it is odd just how flat it sits on his back. I would have preferred a cape design similar to the minifigures, where it bends at the top to give it some shape and life. Overall, Sir Fangar is a great villain. He has a very sinister look, with the cape, spikes, a savage head design, and a claw that means business. As a parts pack, there are certainly some key parts here, such as the cape, the white beast feet, some trans light blue bones, and the new armor piece. But does he justify a 17,99 EUR price tag? I think so. If you enjoyed sets such as Furno XL, this guy is in a very similar league. He is a well built figure who utilized most pieces in useful ways. With Fluminox, He felt like an overly tall figure with a needless wing gimmick and an overly complicated weapon. Sir Fangar, on the other hand, is a more well rounded figure, with a weapon that makes sense and looks good, and his mechanism is well built in to his design to give him a sinister look. He still suffers from some proportional issues, with lego attempting to justify this larger price tag by making a "bigger" toy, and while it's still not great, I like him somewhat more than Fluminox. What do you think? VBBN

Set name: CHI Panthar Set number: 70208 Piece Count: 59 Year Released: 2014 Price: $14.99 USD, 12,99 EUR (?) Useful Links: Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Panthar. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews. My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything. Bag Front The front of the bag shows Panthar in a rather..well, boring pose. It doesn't really show any of his strong design choices and he looks rather odd just floating there. Anyway, the color is dominantly orange due to being a fire set, and it is sure to do a better job of catching peoples eyes on store shelves. We also have the set number and age, however some information like piece count is left out as a result of being European packaging. Bag Back The back shows off the dropping orb, a size comparison with his head, as well as Panthar himself set against a blue background. It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion. Contents Two bags of parts, the torso, and his head components. Instructions The instructions, showing the same image as we saw before. Random Instruction Image These sets don't have nearly enough parts to be concerned about the colorization in the manuals, however for those curious you can see the color differentiation of black, dark bley, and pearl dark gray. Head The head is two components so it does have an opening jaw. A few things worth noting the lower jaw is the same as Fangars, and a very cool print on the top of his head. Head (view 1) Head (view 2) A very cool looking head, with a menacing face and the eyes really help to bring it to life. Weapon The new bladed piece. While many do not like the ornamental design, I quite like it and it's shape has quite a few interesting possibilities. Claws Here are some claw pieces that will add on to the new beast foot- They create quite a cool look overall as you'll see. Torso Armor The new torso armor. It is much larger, and features a hole for a zamor sphere or "chi orb" (let's face it, to us it'll always be called the zamor sphere) When you push the cut out button beneath it, the orb will fall out. While I love the look and the new shaping of this part, it only has one point of connection because it loses the two bar-holes that the older piece includes. CHI Orb The recolored zamor sphere at first glance appears to be what we received with the Fire Lord wave of sets in 2011. That sphere was red and yellow mixed, whereas this sphere is yellow and trans neon orange mixed. When held up to a light, it gives off a neat glow due to the slight transparency of the orange. Armor Add-on and Bones The new armor add on piece looks really cool, however it's only color is gold which could limit it's uses. Let's hope that it becomes more common in sets in coming years. In terms of recolored bones, Panthar has the shortest and third shortest length of lower bone in a trans neon orange. Torso The torso begins fairly simple, however one thing to notice is that he uses the longer titan sized torso base. Legs His legs use longer lengths of upper and lower bones, and at this point his height is getting quite impressive. Bulking Up Similar to Cragger, you build up a mount that his head will attach to, giving him a sort of werewolf-hunchback look. Claw For those who didn't like the large claws of 2011 that the Hero Factory sets had, you may dislike this similar construct. Personally I don't mind it, the overall look is very threatening and adds to that werewolf/wolverine clawed look. Armoring Usually I'm not a fan of longer legs and the longer torso because I feel a lot of figures end up looking very lanky and awkward (I'm looking at you, Jet Rocka... ) however there is a good amount of bulk here and really fills out the look. Front A front view of the figure isn't too bad, however when he isn't in a pose he seems somewhat empty in a few areas. His chest seems a bit lacking, a bit more bulk to even out the shoulder gaps might have helped, but perhaps they wanted the more slender form of a panther here. Side 1 The hair piece on his back helps to give him a more interesting profile shot, and the tail is a unique design with the tip. Side 2 The golden claw gives an entirely different feel to this side of the figure. Back His back is armored, though there is a rather odd gap where the neck armor is. Pose 1 When posed, the gaps fill in and he can pull off some really cool looking stances. His head and general shape have a lot of personality, something I really like with some of these Chima figures. Pose 2 As I have said before, I love figures with opening mouths. If this mouth was permanently closed, this pose would look like an uncomfortable trip to the bathroom. Pose 3 Panthers are a somewhat beefy animal, and this figure certainly has some bulk to it. The larger legs and torso not only make him vertically large, but his bulkier armor and body structure give him a very sturdy looking frame. Pose 4 I really was not a fan of the claws that the sets in 2011 Hero Factory had, but I do like this claw a lot more. it's fitting for his size, looks decent, and you really feel like this golden/trans orange arm is something powerful and could be the only weapon he needs. Overall, Panthar is my favorite figure from the 2014 Chima constraction sets. While many people undoubtedly only care about some of these figures for the parts, I think Panthar is great for the set itself. His design is a well executed method of dealing with the larger torso and long legs, and his overall look can pull off a variety of poses- as well as give him a lot of personality. Many people may choose to skip over this guy due to his lack of significance in the system toyline, but I believe he is a worthy pick up and one of the best of the 2014 line. What do you think? VBBN

I do love the bright bags these sets come in- the orange and blue. A lot more eye catching than some constraction sets lately. Yes, he does. EDIT: Okay everyone all 7 reviews of the 2014 Legends of Chima CHI figures have been posted. Once again a massive thank you to everyone at lego and the Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you these reviews

Toy wiz always has extremely high prices on preorders, whatever their site says should be taken with a grain of salt.

If this became the case, I would really hope that the story might deepen slightly more. While this is an episodic based story, I would like to see more focus on the development and transformation of our Heroes, similar to superheroes in the likes of Marvel and DC. With a wave dedicated to only Heroes, you could really spend time developing them and giving them more purpose, and then the second wave has a story that arks into the situation they may face. While this sounds much better than cramming the entire story into the first two months of the year, that would essentially be reverting back to Bionicle's formula and we know how that ended. However this would still have an episodic theme and with so many less characters, locations, etc, I do not think it would escalate into the complexity that Bionicle upheld. There's a fine line between to complex and too simple, and I think right now Lego may be struggling to find that balance. With the current Hero and Villain release with each wave, you have to develop both sides story right from the start, and unless you do it like 2011 where there were two major story arcs with different heroes and villains both times, that doesn't work well. (and yes I know IFB is technically two arcs, the city and then underground, but compared to 2011 it's a long shot)

Made some custom badges for Decepticon galaxy yesterday They still look a bit dodgy up close and I need to make some more refined ones, but this for sure is going to make people look twice. I wanted to create something that looked like a decepticon logo, but wasn't as complicated as it.

Yes this is what I inferring. When you take one story and put it into an entire year, it gets very rushed, but also because you can't really drag it out too much. We saw the IFB story wrap up in less than half an hour, because with hero factory, that is what you get. We aren't reading novels, serials, and having constant media, games, etc coming out like Bionicle gave us. In 2011, we got two story arcs, and that kept the momentum of the year going. In Bionicle, you could either have a) Two story arks, such as Piraka and Inika or Barraki and Mahri, or you could have one overall theme but one that is given a lot of media and expanded due to Bionicle's story such as Metru Nui 2004 and 2005. I feel the "one and done" aspect of HF's story is a poor choice. I don't mind it if they want a more episodic based story, but when you have something so basic you gotta wrap it up and give us something else the next go around. They certainly wrap the story up, but when the story is all done in February and you still got 10 months to go, there's a bit of an issue there.

Hollywood Undead: We Are

Amazon will be costly. A lot of Japanese transformer imports are marked up by like 300% on amazon, I would figure the chima sets will be along a similar, higher price range- if they are even available through it.

The Gorilla is trying to figure out what sort of odd bananas are on that Mixels head..

Late may/early june is most likely. I think right now is going to be very early to see anything start popping up. And on a different note, I surely can't be the only one who notices just how silent HF has gotten for this summer wave. It really goes to show what happens when the entire year's story is finished in the winter, with hardly any media, speculation, etc to keep us going. Admittedly things always do die down somewhat until the hype of buying the next round of sets comes out, but it's been especially quiet this year. (Possibly that's partly in blame to a lot of attention being focused on Mixels and the Chima setpocalypse, but still)