Legends of Chima 2013 (Action Figures)

[Cirkit]

I've only just now noticed that Gorzan's top fingers(on the paw parts) are turned inward to create the illusion of thumbs.. how cool is that?

I wouldn't blame you for lovin' that gorilla, LewiMOC. That gorilla's got it going on!

[bacem]

looking closely, i just noticed, that the chi on Gorzan's chest (and probably other's chest too) are stickers and not printed.

[DraikNova]

I think those are just standins for the printed parts. LEGO does that pretty often.

[DOTM Shockwave]

I think those are just standins for the printed parts. LEGO does that pretty often.

Possible, but I hope the printing on the chest pieces are stickers (like how they were on Stormer XL).

[Aanchir]

I think those are just standins for the printed parts. LEGO does that pretty often.

No, I'm quite confident Gorzan's chest piece will use stickers and the others will be printed, just as it has always been with those pieces. I can't see any reason TLG would introduce a printing machine for that piece now when they didn't for Stormer XL, especially since it is a piece with broad, flat, well-defined surfaces that are relatively easy to apply stickers to, and Gorzan's chest pattern would require complex multicolored printing whether on a sticker (on which TLG can already support that kind of printing) or on the piece itself.

[Brickthing]

No, I'm quite confident Gorzan's chest piece will use stickers and the others will be printed, just as it has always been with those pieces. I can't see any reason TLG would introduce a printing machine for that piece now when they didn't for Stormer XL, especially since it is a piece with broad, flat, well-defined surfaces that are relatively easy to apply stickers to, and Gorzan's chest pattern would require complex multicolored printing whether on a sticker (on which TLG can already support that kind of printing) or on the piece itself.

The details of Stormer's chestplate weren't as essential to the character, plus he had similar stickers for his jet drones, so perhaps it wasn't worth the cost to setup printing on two pieces rather than one. With Gorzan however, it would be inconsistent to print the chi designs on all of the figures bar one and there is only one piece that needs setting up for printing, which would certainly be useful in the future.

That said, Gorzan's chest pattern does feature more background detail and colours that look specifically designed for stickers, whereas the other chestplates use a more limited colour range and make use of the base part colour in their designs. I suppose time will tell, and while I'd prefer printing for the sake of the character, stickers will provide MOCers with a useful gold recolour of that fantastic chestplate.

[Logan McOwen]

I'm thinking they're stickers. It just seems logical for them to be, and also their design hints towards that fact. Surely, if it wasn't a sticker, it'd bridge around that connector in the centre if the chest plate, or spam over the whole thing?

[DraikNova]

Best Eris Action Figure Ever: Link. I wish LEGO didn´t have to deal with budget and building technique complexity. That way they could have made as stunning a version as that.

[Meiko]

Best Eris Action Figure Ever: Link. I wish LEGO didn´t have to deal with budget and building technique complexity. That way they could have made as stunning a version as that.

Oh yeah, that's Sparky's entry in the BZPower contest. One of my favorite, personally, but there are a lot of other good entries in the contest. I like it a lot because it is an adaptation of an already-existing character in a LEGO series.

[Aanchir]

Best Eris Action Figure Ever: Link. I wish LEGO didn´t have to deal with budget and building technique complexity. That way they could have made as stunning a version as that.

It's a great design, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'd want to see sets designed like that. One advantage of simpler designs is their stability. This one is great as a sculpture, but can't carry its own weight without a stand and has somewhat limited articulation. Not to mention that since it doesn't use one particular building system, building with its pieces could be a daunting challenge compared to the average HF set.

This isn't to hate on the MOC, just to point out that designing a MOC and designing a set are very different things, considering that set designers have to think of so many factors other than just appearance, and those other factors aren't limited to "business considerations" like target audience and budget.

[ZORK64]

The Eris MOC looks cool, but I agree with Aanchir.

Also, I have to admit that this Eris doesn't look that much more feminine than the official set. To me, it just looks more bird-like.

[howie28]

I agree with Aanchir. If a child bought a set like that, they would be in for a rude shock when they started building. It is an amazing MOC, but not a great set. (personally I would buy it if it was a set, because, as I said, it looks great).

[Jetrax99]

I'd take the MOC over the official set.

[Bfahome]

I'd take the MOC over the official set.

Given how this can be applied to almost anything, it has pretty much no meaning for the Chima sets.

[Jetrax99]

Given how this can be applied to almost anything, it has pretty much no meaning for the Chima sets.

Very well, a revision. I'd take this MOC over the offical Eris set LEGO is putting out.

[Shakar]

I'm getting very curious about Gorzan's torso. It's not a Hulk/Stormer clone, the shoulders are far less wide and there are no glaring bones at the sides. It's as if they perfected the torso build..this could have potential.

[Aanchir]

I'm getting very curious about Gorzan's torso. It's not a Hulk/Stormer clone, the shoulders are far less wide and there are no glaring bones at the sides. It's as if they perfected the torso build..this could have potential.

You can see here the shoulders are built somewhat similarly to Furno XL's (at least inasmuch as the shoulder joints themselves are Glatorian neck joints). The only thing I really worry about is whether the back and sides are well-armored. That can be the trickiest part of building a broad-chested MOC like this-- it leaves a lot of space to cover on the back and sides, and often a lot of the best connection points will be used to armor the front of the model.

Still, black is not a rare color, so I'm sure people will be able to come up with good mods for his torso even if the back and sides are armored insufficiently.

[Takanuinuva]

I'm getting very curious about Gorzan's torso. It's not a Hulk/Stormer clone, the shoulders are far less wide and there are no glaring bones at the sides. It's as if they perfected the torso build..this could have potential.

I think it might be a similar build to Furno Xl's torso. I can sort of see glatorian necks near the shoulders

[bacem]

looks like Furno XL's torso is exploited pretty much this year, given that there are 3 set that use that build. Furno XL itself, Gorzan, and Frost Beast.

[Logan McOwen]

looks like Furno XL's torso is exploited pretty much this year, given that there are 3 set that use that build. Furno XL itself, Gorzan, and Frost Beast.

Frost Beast uses it?

[howie28]

Not exactly it, but it is similar. It could be the same, just with a smaller torso.

[Aanchir]

Incidentally, a week or so ago I came up with a decent way of building and armoring shoulders for a build with a Stormer XL-style torso. I'll have to share that sometime if I ever come up with a decent way of armoring the back and sides, though I'm quite proud to say one advantage of this design is that it raises the shoulders without significantly reducing the number of connection points (in truth, that was my main intent-- I wanted to design a torso taller than the generic 9x11 torso frame, but was having difficulty coming up with a design that left substantial connection points for armoring the shoulders).

[Shakar]

I'm pretty sure those are Glatorian necks, yes, but Furno XL's torso? Looks a bit too Technic-filled. You can say "Bruizer!", but in his case the Technic pieces had another purpose.

I would have liked a new piece to attach arms. All this Technic this year doesn't please me much: the new building style should mostly develop without relying on outside influences IMO. System parts are welcome, but those are used for details, not as structural elements.

BTW, Frost Beast's torso in another matter entirely. Check

(0:33), he does use Glatorian necks but the torso build is different.

For both sets, I am indeed worried about the back armour issue.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Shakar

[Devorath]

For both sets, I am indeed worried about the back armour issue.

I'm a bit worried as well, but hey, you can always add a few pieces, rebuild it in your own fashion or take it apart for a MOC. If you're completely purist, just display it with it's back against the wall. :P

[Aanchir]

I'm pretty sure those are Glatorian necks, yes, but Furno XL's torso? Looks a bit too Technic-filled. You can say "Bruizer!", but in his case the Technic pieces had another purpose.

I would have liked a new piece to attach arms. All this Technic this year doesn't please me much: the new building style should mostly develop without relying on outside influences IMO. System parts are welcome, but those are used for details, not as structural elements.

BTW, Frost Beast's torso in another matter entirely. Check

(0:33), he does use Glatorian necks but the torso build is different.

For both sets, I am indeed worried about the back armour issue.

I don't think the amount of Technic in this year's sets is too alarming. Most of the Technic parts used this year are used for functions, much the same way Technic is often used for functions in System sets. Now, if a character's skeleton started to rely heavily on Technic parts, I would be a lot more disappointed, just as I was with Witch Doctor. But overall I have no problem with Technic being used for functions or even for certain structural details as long as it doesn't get to the point where Technic connections form the foundation of a character's design.

Dragon Bolt is an example of an excellent set this year that uses Technic sparingly. Certainly, the wings are almost entirely Technic-based for structural reasons (you wouldn't want them to crumple while the function is operated, and HF-based wings would be heavier and more flexible). But his skeleton is otherwise almost entirely based on the Hero Factory building system.

The HF building system is great, and it's great to no longer have a building system that's completely Technic-dependent, but there's no problem with supplementing sets with Technic or system in places where the ball-joint-based building system would be ineffective, any more than there's a problem with supplementing System sets with occasional Technic functions and ball joints.