Chima Roundup: Action Figures 70203, 70204; Speedorz 70107 [Review]

This week we’re doing things a little differently. I’ve gathered up three Chima sets that piqued my interest, mostly because they don’t often get much attention. We’ve got 70203 CHI Cragger, 70204 CHI Worriz, and 70107 Skinnet.

We’ll jump right in with 70203 CHI Cragger. With its 65 pieces priced at $14.99 USD, the price per piece is higher than the average System set, but this isn’t a System set. This line comprises action figures, ala Bionicle or Hero Factory. The 6 sets in this line each come in plastic bags with a zip-top. LEGO has moved to using bags instead of canisters for all of their action figures since dumping the Bionicle line, and it’s a real shame. The bags never look good on store shelves or pegs, and they’re hard to re-use, even with the zip-top.

As part of the Chima world where fierce animal factions battle each other, Cragger is a humanoid crocodile. I don’t follow the Chima lore, but I believe both Cragger and Worriz are “bad guys.” There’s not a lot of meat here sink your teeth into as far as building techniques, since these models are targeted to kids who don’t enjoy construction toys, or as an add-on to the more traditional Chima sets. The build is extraordinarily straightforward, consisting of a basic frame with armor pieces attached. The most interesting bit is the odd neck brace that cants the head forward to give Cragger a looming stance. There’s also the bit of chain dangling from the double-ended polearm. As the larger chain made of removable links, it seems highly useful if you could get enough of them; sadly you only receive four links here. The blades on the weapon were bent pretty sharply coming out of the bag, though they are made of quite malleable plastic. The armor pieces connect either with a clip that attaches to a ball joint, or with the double rod connection familiarized in the Hero Factory line. There were only a few pieces I didn’t recognize here. The head and jaw pieces, of course, are unique to this set, and in all likelihood will remain that way, though I think the castle line could get good use out of it as a dragon head. The weapon blades come only in this and the Worriz set I got, and in one Hero Factory set. They are pretty uninteresting pieces, though. Finally, there’s a new type of Technic connector; it already appears in a handful of sets from a variety of lines, but it’s still worth noting. I did also enjoy getting some ball joint pieces in olive green.

70204 CHI Worriz clocks in at only 55 pieces, for the same price as Cragger at $14.99 USD. The basic frame is pretty similar to Cragger, with the armor pieces slipping over the rudimentary structure. The wolf head seems eerily reminiscent of The Witcher’s emblem from the RPG series. The hands are ludicrously oversized, but the fingers are articulated, which is a nice departure for this sort of figure. The inside of the hands disguise a more traditional and sturdy Technic axle connection for the weapons. The weapon blade here was also bent upon opening the package, but it seems flexible enough to not cause issues. The saw blade on Worriz’s left hand I believe is intended as a shield, not a weapon, though it does spin, so perhaps it is both.

 

The back of each bag of the CHI maxi-figures pairs two kits together to create an even larger figure. Worriz and Cragger pair together to make either a giant Worriz or a giant Cragger. I was going to build them to see how interesting the giant figures were, but after finishing the two regular models, I ran out of excitement for building more simplistic action figures. The instructions have to be accessed on the LEGO website–I was hoping to find instructions in the back pages of the booklets, like Creator or Technic sets. I took a close look at the giant figures, though, and there was no innovation of design; essentially each figure just cannibalizes the other to add extra leg and arm joints to make a larger gangly figurine. It would have been far more interesting for each pair of sets to combine to create a completely new figure.

DSC_1066 copy

And finally that brings us to the System set in this roundup: 70107 Skinnet, one of the many Speedorz sets, and has 97 pieces for $14.99 USD. Speedorz, for the uninitiated, are tiny ripcord-powered vehicles that shoot unpredictably at various targets and ramps in some sort of game. The back page of the instruction manual attempted to explain the game using only pictures and a thumbs-up symbol, but I’m not sure I understood beyond pointing the Speedorz (is the singular Speedor, or is it still Speedorz?) at the included ramp to hit the wolf target. There’s something about picking up the little ball that falls out of the wolf target’s mouth, too, along with some cards that are included. Nevertheless, the ripcord-powered Speedorz work remarkably well, and provide great amusement to my cat as they shoot across the floor.

Anyway, the instructions start with building the Speedorz, which consists of a weighted wheel base, and a minifigure locked in via a top facade held on with Technic pins. At this point the instructions paused to let my little attention-deficit self go play with my Speedorz before even finishing the set–or in fact the Speedorz, which gets more decorations in the next step after the break. The ramp is well made but uninteresting. The wolf-head target is a nice bit of sculpting, and the mouth flies open when you hit the target. The real gem here, though, is the minifig, which is an anthropomorphic skunk. I’ll be honest, it was my interest in the minifig that led me to purchase this set in the first place. The figure is not only unique to this set, but there are no other skunks in Chima at all (or elsewhere in the LEGO oeuvre). This is, quite possibly, the cutest official minifig I’ve ever seen. Like other Chima figs, the head consists of a helmet over a traditional minifig head, both of which are printed all around. The tail is a neck bracket, and is made of a dual-injection swirl of white and black for a rather nice-looking finish. There is also a Fox made of the same pieces (but differently colored) in another Speedorz set, but I haven’t been able to find that set in a store yet, though it is available online.

Unless you are particularly invested in the Chima line, the CHI maxi-figs are probably not a good investment. Bionicle-style builders are, of course, a major exception, since many of the pieces are excellent for that, and the addition of joint pieces in olive is surely a welcome addition. The Speedorz set is also a likely pass, unless, like me, you can’t resist getting a minifig skunk. However, I’ve spotted frequent sales on both the Speedorz line and the maxi-figs line, so it may be possible to pick them up for a good discount.

5 comments on “Chima Roundup: Action Figures 70203, 70204; Speedorz 70107 [Review]

  1. ranwanimator

    There are additional instructions for playing the speedorz “game” in the building instructions. It’s on a page after the pictorials in 15 or so different languages. The numbers in the pictures match numbered steps in the written instructions. I’ve read through them a couple of times and still can’t figure it out. Some sort of competition for winning the included chi crystals based on who wins the obstacle challenge and subsequent card draw.

  2. Curtis

    I’ve been tempted to purchase the Chima action figures to use the pieces to build the Legend beasts from Chima. I know Lego will be producing brick built Legend Beasts, but from what I’ve seen, they look rather disappointing.

  3. Dave

    Just a bit of advice, we bio MOCer’s have been using the term “Ultra Builds” since the term sprouted up with the Marvel and DC super hero Figures. UB has kinda been adopted as the universal term for sets or lines of sets that use Hero Factory parts but aren’t actually part of the HF line. It’d be nice if they established an official term for that kind of set. Lego has enough nomenclature problems as it is. Earth Blue/Dark Blue anyone? Lol

    One thing I feel anyone needs to know about any HF based set, is you instantly need to lower your expectations of the build right away. There’s almost no excitement or innovation to be found in TLG’s method of HF figure building. Good Ol’ Witchy here is about as good as it’s gotten thus far. The one thing HF has going for itself is the individual parts and the overall standardized system of a frame(or bones as we call them) and the armor provides much of the same parts with many color variants as opposed to Bionicle’s one very unique part that would only come in that color in that set(at least towards the end of bionicle). Of course you still have that with parts like masks(or heads in this case). I personally like it because it means we’ve become very familiar with the parts, know what to expect later on, and have a wider range of color pallet to chose from. My only real complaint is that they seem to be skimping on filling in the swords and some specialty parts which make them aesthetically lopsided, and as Chris pointed out, often means you get those parts in the package bent. I wish the designers would remember that these still are legos, and they should still look as good as they can, and should be sturdy to a point. I can’t say i’ve ever had this problem in the bionicle line and they had tons of long large blade parts.

    The Hero Factory “Bones” are also great for providing sturdy, yet flexible structure. I really don’t mean to self promote here but I simply must use one of my MOCs to illustrate my point. Most of the MOCs I’ve made using hero Factory are the most stable MOCs I’ve got, yet I don’t have to sacrifice the mobility I value in my style of BioMOCing. Hero Factory as a system is “Bionicle refined” in my opinion.

    Overall, anything HF based are terrible or simply uninteresting sets relative to the interesting things system can do, and especially compared to technic, but the parts themselves lend to some wonderful building experiences once you get the hang of them. HF was definitely an adjustment even for an avid long time BioMOCer such as myself, now that it’s been around for a little while though I’ve definitely been able to see its merits.

  4. Chris Post author

    @Dave: Thanks for the valuable information! I’m not active in the Bionicle/HF circles much, so I wasn’t aware of the term Ultra Builds, but that’s useful to know. I’ve bought a lot of Bionicle/HF/etc over the years, so in terms of build I was well aware of what I was getting when I picked these up. I hope I don’t ever come across as disliking those lines irrationally; I actually really like a lot of Bionicle/HF/UB stuff, and I have nothing but respect for the many talented builders in those themes. I review this type of set with the same critical eye I bring to System sets: some are fantastic, and some are rubbish, and most are somewhere in the middle. I quite agree with you about the quality of the accessories–I’m not sure if the softer plastic is an expense cutting measure or a desire to make pieces more kid friendly, but it’s unfortunate that it causes the pieces to be bent. That’s not really much of an issue in the set application, but does it make it tougher to integrate them into MOCs.

Comments are closed.