I didn't like Chima when it came out but the theme really grew on me. I bought lots of the early sets. Unfortunately there were to many sets for me to buy all at once and then once the theme ended they pretty much disappeared from shelves in my country. I would have loved to purchase these at 50% off! We miss out on some really good deals here. Jealous of you guys living in the US that can get some really great deals.

I'm pretty sure that's why Chima was killed off so abruptly: The designs were getting worse and worse!

The theme ended after the three year plan that they had.

The theme ended after the three year plan that they had.

Yep. It never became bigger than Ninjago like some early interviews suggested LEGO hoped/expected it to be (I think the failure of the Speedorz to live up to the popularity of the Ninjago spinners held it back), but it basically lasted as long as they had planned for it from the outset. Which is pretty good, considering that even Ninjago wasn't originally expected to last more than two and a half years, and is only around today because of how far it exceeded its initial expectations.

Chima really made me appreciate what LEGO can do with their own in-house themes. I know the franchise gets a lot of flack, and in some cases rightfully so, but after being enticed with superheroes, Chima was the line that made me realise you can get a load of useful, interesting parts in a relatively complex build and some fun, well-detailed characters. It might have helped that I got into the line when the fire vs ice stuff was just coming out, and much of the older, better, original wave stuff was going cheap on Amazon. I really like each tribe having their own colourscheme and themed vehicles. The later fire vs ice stuff did give us some nice rarer colours and some very pretty minifigs (on the ice side) as well as the pretty cool tribe packs, but by then it was clear they'd kinda lost their way with it. Shame. Like x105Black, I viewed it as similar to Thundercats, and got quite a few sets based on the idea of that.

Initially I heavily disliked the Speedorz stuff (not just because of the spelling) in the same way I'd dismissed the Ninjago spinner stuff I'd seen at Toys R Us whilst not looking for LEGO, but they allowed us some additional, or less popular characters at cheaper prices, and that's never a bad thing. Eventually did pick up a few on sale and they're fun toys. I'd like to maybe see an eventual Chima revival, but let it rest for a while. As it is now, a year or two back into collecting and building, I can appreciate the variety of Minifigure parts and piece in general that the line gave us.

I'd like to maybe see an eventual Chima revival, but let it rest for a while.

I don't think this will ever happen. While not a failure, Chima wasn't particularly successful and I don't think a reboot would be any different.

Welcome to the boards, by the way.

Edited August 4, 20168 yr by BrickJagger

Just fyi: here in Germany, Chima is also a brick on the shelves. Some sets of course were sold and successful, but especially those sets mentioned in this thread are 50% off on sale here and you can buy them, no one does ...

The early sets were great. I especially liked the wolf, crocodile, and raven tribes, since their faces looked less comical and more useful to apply in expressive situations.

But then the show hit. The crocodile tribe is a bit dim, the ravens are high-pitched (and kinda annoying over time) thieves, and Worritz wasn't as cool as I thought he'd be.

But I did like the basic minifigures from these tribes the most, Like Wakz and Winzar (who are my favorites).

I did like the speedorz, and how they brightened up MOCs like bases and hangout spots. They could even be used for MOCs unrelated to Chima if you used the right one.

The Outlands were okay, and I will say I wish I picked these up for the scorpion and spider figures. The scorpion vehicle was pretty neat too, but ultimately that's all I thought it was.

The ice wave was a bit inconsistent, but the main sets were great, like the phoenix temple and the fire lion. The minifigures were great here, save the tiger tribe... The translucent blue limbs could be used for some futuristic or lab MOCs.

I feel they did this because it was their last push for the line, so they put more effort than they usually would.

I heard the last season of the show was pretty good too. I stopped at the end of the Outlands season, should I just go ahead and finish it?

Edited August 5, 20168 yr by gamejutzu

Gorillas were my favorite tribe. Both in cartoon and books they filled my favorite cliche - Strong and silly. It was shame we never get Gorilla tribe pack with brown gorillas.

The problem I noticed with this series is that a lot of figures looked alike, and I saw many kids that wanted a set while parent said: "But you have a lion/ few lions figures already" let's buy a eagle now.

After seeing the prototypes - this series could be a lot better - the tribes were just minifigs with Animal power masks, surrounded with amazing technology in jungle world. Sounds like bionicle? Yup. :D

Edited August 5, 20168 yr by Lordofdragonss

And also, while the pieces in the Chima sets are cool; they isn't very versatile to corporate into multiple MOCs for MOCers. Take this part as an example. The design of the part only looks good in Ice-themed and Fantasy MOCs and that's it.

One thing I didn't like about the minifigures, and I'll use the Gorillas as an example, was the weird colors.

What's with all the bright green?

I really preferred the earlier sets, when each tribe had their own colour scheme. The Outlands stuff was good, because of the new tribes, those arachnids were fantastic. I liked the ice tribe stuff, some very nice designs with the translucent limbs, but the main characters all putting on basically the same outfit was disappointing.

Never had or wanted chima sets but there are some decent designs in the bigger sets imo.

Speedorz and constraction just didnt help the theme , legend beasts also never appealed to me.

There just wasnt enough consistency in the theme to appeal to me to get my out of Dark ages and collect any, the bases mostly look great (lion and croc especially) while some of the vehicles have really weird proportions there were still good ones too (eagle/mammoth/tiger look the best imo).

Mind you this is from just basing it off internet pictures/video reviews.

The Tribe pack sets looked like a nice idea to expand and hope they do something like that for Nexo knights once they add more factions to make it worthwhile.

Edited August 5, 20168 yr by TeriXeri

Superheroes were the first few sets I bought after the BTTF Delorean ending my dark ages, but it was the Chima line that pulled me back into LEGO in general, and for its own sake, rather than as just representations of licensed characters. Really appreciated the extra piece count and the quality of the minifig prints. Resisted Speedorz for a good long while, because of he lack of building, but got some on the cheap for parts or characters, and they were actually quite fun.

I would have liked to see the line expand with more different tribes, and more characters from the tribes we saw in the show. We got a lot of lions and crocs, but rhinos and bears were very scarce, and they were probably my favourites.

legend beasts also never appealed to me.

The only one I liked (from all of Chima) was the Gorilla Legend Beast:

Which is ironic, since I don't like brick-built creatures. And the minifigure that came with it was useless to me, whereas it's usually the other way around.

Yep. It never became bigger than Ninjago like some early interviews suggested LEGO hoped/expected it to be (I think the failure of the Speedorz to live up to the popularity of the Ninjago spinners held it back), but it basically lasted as long as they had planned for it from the outset. Which is pretty good, considering that even Ninjago wasn't originally expected to last more than two and a half years, and is only around today because of how far it exceeded its initial expectations.

Yeah Ninjago and "The finale battle!!!"

Ninjago somehow became an evergreen theme which is something pirates, castle and space can't even say. It's amazing to me because it's been 6 years of sets now and the theme is still popular. I'm curious if it will be in 2-3 more years. If you were 5 in 2011 you would be 10-11 now so is it just the same fans or are new 5 year olds really enjoying the show too now?

Chima really made me appreciate what LEGO can do with their own in-house themes. I know the franchise gets a lot of flack, and in some cases rightfully so, but after being enticed with superheroes, Chima was the line that made me realise you can get a load of useful, interesting parts in a relatively complex build and some fun, well-detailed characters. It might have helped that I got into the line when the fire vs ice stuff was just coming out, and much of the older, better, original wave stuff was going cheap on Amazon. I really like each tribe having their own colourscheme and themed vehicles.

Color scheme is huge. How long does everyone think that Nexo Knights will be around and VERY blue? I find that boring. I like when each fraction gets a color like the ninjas get The Chima sets were sometimes very well made, Gorilla Mech, and mini gorilla mech. Plus some of the sets transformed really well too. But as a whole, too many sets and two boring at times. Plus the fire vs ice thing lasted into a third year. Everything should only last a year.

Gorillas were my favorite tribe.

The Gorilla Mech is one of my favorite mechs Lego has ever made.

Ninjago somehow became an evergreen theme which is something pirates, castle and space can't even say. It's amazing to me because it's been 6 years of sets now and the theme is still popular. I'm curious if it will be in 2-3 more years. If you were 5 in 2011 you would be 10-11 now so is it just the same fans or are new 5 year olds really enjoying the show too now?

To be honest I really don't know how new kids do watch Ninjago without feeling confused. Ninjago is one of the few shows on Cartoon Network with a plot, meaning kids would have to start from episode 1 to understand things. But Cartoon Network really doesn't do that. And I wonder if kids will still like the show even though they may not know what's happening.

To be honest I really don't know how new kids do watch Ninjago without feeling confused. Ninjago is one of the few shows on Cartoon Network with a plot, meaning kids would have to start from episode 1 to understand things. But Cartoon Network really doesn't do that. And I wonder if kids will still like the show even though they may not know what's happening.

I have never seen the show. I wasn't sure if every season is a new plotline for kids to jump in, but yeah at some point won't the plotline lead to collapse? However I really enjoy the time, not a "i buy them all' but there are some nice designs so I hope there are children watching. If not reboot with the movie.

Edited August 6, 20168 yr by Bricknblue

I have never seen the show. I wasn't sure if every season is a new plotline for kids to jump in, but yeah at some point won't the plotline lead to collapse? However I really enjoy the time, not a "i buy them all' but there are some nice designs so I hope there are children watching. If not reboot with the movie.

What happened at first was that there was one continuous plot from 2011-2014. Same villains, same goal, etc. After that, the show had a trilogy of seasons, and adventures with new villains and mini-plots, that connected in a way. All the lore stayed the same.

And now it looks like the next season is bringing back characters we thought had died.

The show is surprisingly good. Unlike Chima, the show caters to both old and young fans, which is a large part of why Ninjago was more successful than Chima (and is also why it was nominated for a KCA). So yeah, if you have the time go and check it out, you may like it. At first the show tried to find it's footing, but once it did, the show got really good.

Edited August 7, 20168 yr by gamejutzu

Ninjago somehow became an evergreen theme which is something pirates, castle and space can't even say. It's amazing to me because it's been 6 years of sets now and the theme is still popular. I'm curious if it will be in 2-3 more years. If you were 5 in 2011 you would be 10-11 now so is it just the same fans or are new 5 year olds really enjoying the show too now?

I'm pretty sure Castle is still considered evergreen. There may not be new Castle sets every year without fail, but a new take on LEGO Castle comes out like clockwork every three years. People can dispute all they like whether Nexo Knights is a "true" Castle theme in AFOL terms, but I think LEGO made a deliberate choice to launch it in accordance with this cycle so it wouldn't be in conflict with a separate ongoing Castle series.

I also feel like Ninjago is definitely still drawing in younger kids, judging from the new Ninjago-themed Juniors sets that came out earlier this year. The increasing profile of streaming services like Netflix may be helping to extend its life, since LEGO does not entirely depend on TV networks to air reruns for new fans to discover the characters and world. Things I read on Twitter also indicate that it has a devoted following both from younger kids who are just getting into it and older kids and teens who were introduced to it in the early years.

I have never seen the show. I wasn't sure if every season is a new plotline for kids to jump in, but yeah at some point won't the plotline lead to collapse? However I really enjoy the time, not a "i buy them all' but there are some nice designs so I hope there are children watching. If not reboot with the movie.

Each season has a separate central conflict, but follows the same cast of characters. The show is also pretty open to changes in the status quo that affect future seasons, as opposed to some other long-running shows like Pokémon or SpongeBob SquarePants that tend to be much more beholden to a status quo. That said, the Ninjago TV series is still plenty episodic, so if you jump in with a random episode, it will usually devote at least a bit of time to setting up any essential context you'll need to be aware of later in the episode (like specific characters' abilities, relationships, and objectives).