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So, here's my first review, I've wanted to do one for so long and I've finally got an unopened set for it! Well, let's get started. Title: Ice Tower Set Number : 70106 Ages : 6-12 Pieces : 101 Price : $14.99 The Packaging: The frontside of the box features a design that's mostly similar to other Speedorz sets, showcasing the un-built Speedor on the left corner, the cards and ripcord above it, along with the cardboard artwork covering the LEGO packages behind. It stands out pretty well on the shelves, nicely designed with the iconic Chima character close-up (in this case, Winzar) staring from the top right corner. Judging from the action-packed feel of this box, you can easily tell that this set is meant for kids and is more directed towards playing than building. The back of the box is also the same as the others, showing two kids playing the game and having fun with it. But none of the images matter anyways, considering that the box is going to be ripped apart to bring out the only thing that matters: THE LEGO SET. The Content: And here we are with the sealed packages of the set! We got two un-numbered packages, one instruction booklet, the Speedor, a red ripcord, and the cards sealed in plastic. It's all nicely packed and organized. The Cards: Let's start with the cards. First off, the art is gorgeous. I don't know about you, but the color contrasts are beautiful, especially the ones between the icy blues and fiery reds complementing each other well in those action-packed scenes. It's easily much better than Equila's cards in Target Practice (set 70101), which were more subtle with the colors and not as interesting. What once was considered as a forgettable gimmick, these Chima cards are actually quite collectible for those who like well-drawn art and cards! The Speedor: On with the Speedor itself now; here we see it as it is from the packaging. A Speedor is really too easy to build - it's simply made up of the armor and the wheel. The armor has a different design for each tribe, and even a different mold for some. Here it is constructed. 'Constructing' it is as simple as attaching two technic pegs to join the armor and the wheel. I'm really digging the metallic look of the wolves' Speedor, with its rugged design and patched-up decors. It's so much better up close than expected when you look at it on the box or pictures online. Every Speedor comes with its own equipment, be it boosters or weapons. Winzar's come equipped with two chainsaws attached to its side. You can see it in action in some of the cards' artworks. The weapons actually look pretty cool on the Speedor, and doesn't really hurdle the process of using it in the game. It can be detached from under the Speedor if not needed. The Minifigure: I think it's safe to say that this is what most of us would buy this set for - Winzar. The only other way to get him for now is to buy Wakz's Pack Patrol (set 70004), so this is really just a cheaper way to get Winzar's minifigure. And sure enough to say...he. Looks. AWESOME. Here is his front and back view in all his glory. His torso is the simplest design among all the other wolves, and it really lends to the savage look and feel of Winzar. He looks like he's ready to pounce at anyone anytime, and is unburdened by any armor that can slow it down. He's unafraid of getting hurt, and...he has a lot of chest hair, it seems. Here's Winzar without the mask. Both his faces look aggresively good; one of them in pain, and the other just plain angry. Winzar's a badass wolf, that's for sure, and he's currently my most favorite Chima minifigure, and might be for a long time. Here's his mask in detail. It's one of the best part of him. It's amazingly well designed with lots of detail. There's the bearded chin (beard on fur? huh...), the uneven fangs and the iconic blood-red scar. Pretty scary for kids, but well, kids aren't afraid of anything nowadays, aren't they? Anyways...I love how the Chima characters have detachable masks, a point agreed by a lot of people by now. It's totally reusable for other purposes in MOCs and of course, creating new characters. ...Herr Wolfen von Fang, anyone? The Weapons: Ice Tower comes with two weapons for Winzar - an axe and a fire staff/torch. Both of them are built from a combination of a short black rod and a black telescope piece, and both look really neat. The axe in particular has a nice bulky design, and can be placed upright on a base plate or brick. The torch itself is one of the best I've seen. Here's Winzar with the torch. Just look at that growl...the minifigure definitely takes the spotlight. ...Right then, let's move on before Winzar burns something or someone down, running around like that with fire. The Tower: The set comes with very nice transluscent pieces (shiny!), including 6 Chi pieces and frost-colored 1x1 slopes. There really isn't anything new or interesting piece in this set, but the colors of the bricks adds up very nicely, as you'll see later. The build is really simple and easy to do. You can finish building everything in under 10 minutes if you're fast. The base of the tower consists of four repeating blocks, as shown in the picture above. Be careful with the grass pieces though; they seem pretty easy to break off it bent too much, and they don't give you spares (which is sad, because leaf pieces tend to break easily). The Tower is comprised of three 'levels' that can 'break' when hit by the Speedor. Here's the first two levels. They more or less slide off each other when hit, thanks to the smooth tiles, but they don't come off that easy in practice. In fact, when you stack them up together, they form a pretty sturdy build and won't budge. The aforementioned frost 1x1 pieces fit very nicely with the tower. The colors look great. Here's the top of the tower. One complaint I have is that the ball feels like cheap plastic, or at least I felt so. It's lighter than it looks in pictures, and I expected it to be made by the same material as the bricks, or at least like the soccer balls in other sets. Anyways, it's just a play piece for the set, and can be removed anytime if you want. Here's the completed tower. Okay, I still don't like how the plastic ball looks with all the solid bricks. Aside from that though, the tower looks great with its complimentary green, white and blues. If you don't plan on playing with this set, the tower itself is a nice display piece, especially when you don't decided to break it off and use the parts for building other things. I tend to keep this on my office desk The game: Well, this set is meant for kids to play, and to say the least, the game works. Sure, I had a hard time breaking the tower in all three pieces, considering how sturdy it is, but I suspect I'm playing it wrong (everybody else seems to be doing it well enough). The Speedorz are really fast when used properly, and sometimes it's just fun seeing it zoom across the room or whatever surface it runs on. It's all a matter of how you let the Speedor go, and the distance you do it from the tower. Oh, and the surface is important. A smooth surface guarantees a fast and effective hit. I think I'm talking too much now about the Speedor that most of you won't even use. Erhm. The rules of the game are described in a comic-strip format in the booklet, and every Speedor set has a different one depending on the game. Here's a picture of it: Overall: Here's the finished product. Well, Ice Tower is a small set, but it does really well for one with its size. Winzar is an amazing minifigure, and that alone is worth the buy for the collectoers and those unwilling to get the bigger set. Not only are these Speedor sets useful for collecting the minifigures, they are actually decent builds themselves, containing mini-sets and accessories for the World of Chima, or simply additional parts for your MOCs. The cards are nice collectibles too. All in all, here's the breakdown: Price : 8/10 Say what you want about the $15 tag for what is a kids' set. The total of a tower, a Speedor, minifigure, accessories (6 Chi pieces!) and 5 cards (don't forget the cards), it's a good price, in my opinion. For Chima fans, it's more than worth the buy. Design : 8/10 The tower is a nice build in itself, displayable with a nice design. The Speedor looks great with Winzar, the cards look good, and everything looks great together. Minifigure(s) : 10/10 Hey, Winzar. What more can you ask? Overall : 8/10 Bottom line is, it's worth buying if you're into Chima and the minifigures. If you're looking to collect just one of the Speedorz sets, this is a good set to get. Some might not be interested in the cards, or just want to get the polybag for Winzar, but frankly, I think this is better than the polybag. You get the complete package with the Ice Tower, and if TLC keeps continuing these small sets, I don't mind getting some of them, cause they are good enough to get, and all the better for gifts for kids. ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that's the end of my first review. Tell me what you think! Sorry if the pictures aren't that good. I didn't have the white-background 'studio' set when writing this, so I had to make do with a black cloth for the background. Oh, and lousy photoshop jobs in some of the pics. Cheers, ch_ris127
