Review: 70008 - Gorzan’s Gorilla Striker

[XimenaPaulina]

Comparison of the Gorilla Striker with other LEGO Mechs:

Click image for hi-res version

LXF sources: 6862 - Tontus, 9448 - Zarkan, 60008 - CMS4, 8970 - prateek, 70500, 70505, 70704 - penguinz, 70708 - KDM

[Brickadiergerard]

That's a really good review. I loved the 3 parting thought pictures, and the group shot of the mechs is great. I have Lex's and Dr Inferno's which is enough for me, but the Striker is a fine design and if I was tempted to go for a Gorilla Grodd set-up to fight the Flash, it'd be perfect. The shape of it, and the banana gun, are inspired.

[XimenaPaulina]

...if I was tempted to go for a Gorilla Grodd set-up to fight the Flash, it'd be perfect.

A little bit of customization (removal of tribal face prints) in Gorzan's gorilla headpiece gives a more appropriate fiercer Gorilla Grodd than the CMS gorilla.

[UberlegoTV]

i sooooooo want this set :P great review BTW ... how many lights do you use to get that nice lighting?

[SpiderSpaceman]

The tip of the figure's heads really makes all the difference. With the initial peek at the gorillas from the show, I was furious that the sure-thing awesomeness of a gorilla tribe was instantly ruined by the hideous kewpie-doll-ish hershey-kiss hair. Thankfully the real figures didn't echo this and came out fantastic.

[Inconspicuous]

Excellent review, Kiel. While I'm still not at all convinced by this theme, I gained some respect and appreciation for it after reading this topic. There are some neat details incorporated into the set, like the banana gun, hidden missiles, and rotating arms, but what really interests me is the part selection. There seem to be a great variety of types as well as colors! If I had the budget and space I would consider adding this set to my collection. Thanks again for sharing.

[-obelix-]

Great review, very informative and with nice pictures.

I am not a big fan of Chima, but this bulky, little mech really caught my eye...

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the review. I'm not really interested in Chima, so I will probably pass on this. The only Chima sets I have are the few that LEGO has sent me for free with large purchases. If only they'd send a free gorilla one...

These gorillas are a nice touch to the line. I think they look the best out of the group. I like the new weapon pieces and the mech overall does give that bulky gorilla impression.

[Churchill]

My CMF gorilla is packed away... Isn't he the one with the sweating face? Perhaps he's nervous because he's found himself in Chima! Love the gorillas, dudes!

[TimToyGeek]

Finished building my Gorilla Striker today. Nice kit, lots of fun features and one of the better mech designs that Lego has come up with recently. I think if there is a drawback in the design, it's the shoulder design - the swinging arms are fun as a play feature, but the arms lack any ability to pose unless you sort of rest the insides of the forearms on the sides of the body.

I was not a big fan of the tree accessory, so I rebuilt it to be a large hammer for the mech to use. If you supply an extra rod that threads into the hole in the 'palm' of the hand, a large accessory like that can be held by the fingers.

I enjoy the big gorilla face design of the front of the mech, and the hidden missiles in the body. I was a little surprised that the whole front of the body is on only one smallish hinge, it tends to pop off because of that. Still, the front panel design is a lot of fun. The banana cannon, of course, is great, one of the more clever features in the Chima line.

I didn't find the legs to be all that unstable considering they are both short and there is an assembly to keep the top piece level and balanced on the feet. They're not super poseable, but they provide a stable enough base for the somewhat top heavy mech.

The gorilla minifigures are lots of fun, too. I swapped out G'Loona's stubby legs for an extra plain pair of brown legs, and gave her the grass hula skirt from the hula-girl minifigure. Looks great on her.

Kind of makes me wish there were gorilla-themed war machines in a movie, maybe one of the Planet of the Apes sequels.

Tim

"toy geek"

[Infernum]

Great review! Definitely the Chima set I'm most interested in... We'll see if it amounts to a purchase or not.

[M'Kyuun]

As a big fan of mecha, I was pretty excited to see this in animated form in the Chima cartoon previews. After hoping, with mounting enthusiasm and anticipation, for an official set, I was a bit dismayed by the actual set when pics were shown from the various toy fairs. KieldaMan's excellent review has me on the fence. I still have some qualms with the overall design, since there are a few really impressive gorilla mech MOCs out there...see Mark Stafford's Fabu-Force mech for Mike the Monkey on Flickr. Mike's Gorilla Mech is what I was hoping for, but I'm warming to the Striker, and most likely will pick it up at some point. It's a mech, and mecha are cool.

[gifinim]

I hate detailed reviews with lots of pictures like this one - they make my credit card hurt :-)

I'm not a big fan of mechs but this one looks really well done, especially with all the little touches like the chi crystal and all those flick fire missiles. It's a shame they didn't make the blue pipes and detailing glow-in-the-dark as it would have been a lot closer to the cartoon version and would have looked awesome. Also, don't forget gorillas don't stand upright like us, so the slightly bent over look of the mech might be deliberate.

[genecyst]

my girlfriend came home yesterday with this amazing box and i'm amazed by this gorilla. I can't understand why a lot of people don't love loc theme.

[Brickmasta]

Great review, got one of those for myself by "accident" and now can't wait to build it :D

[kermit]

This set is truly the best out of the chima sets for this year. The mech not only looks like a gorilla, but I just love how the front collapses to reveal all those missiles. The banana gun is very awesome and I think the gorilla minifigures are the best from this theme so far.

[AmazingPharaoh]

Comparison of the Gorilla Striker with other LEGO Mechs:

Click image for hi-res version

LXF sources: 6862 - Tontus, 9448 - Zarkan, 60008 - CMS4, 8970 - prateek, 70500, 70505, 70704 - penguinz, 70708 - KDM

I can see

-an Exo-force one

-Superheroes Lex Luther

-Super Samurai mech

-aformentioned Gorilla one

-Agents Inferno

-Ninja mech

-Golden thunder ninja mech

-Turtles?

[TheLazyChicken]

I can see

-an Exo-force one

-Superheroes Lex Luther

-Super Samurai mech

-aformentioned Gorilla one

-Agents Inferno

-Ninja mech

-Golden thunder ninja mech

-Turtles?

The first one is Galaxy Squad and so is the last one. None of them are TMNT or Exo-Force.

Anyways, great review! I was planning on getting this last year but decided not to.