Brickthing Posted July 31, 2013 Set name: CHI Eris Set Number: 70201 Price: $15USD , 15 Euro Pieces: 67 Year of release: 2013 Peeron Bricklink Brickset CHI-up to outsmart the other tribes with CHI Eris, a CHI-powered warrior featuring a CHI axe staff, eagle head, talons and more! This summer’s new wave of Chima CHI figures marks the start of LEGO’s second original IP sets/ultrabuilds using the Constraction figure building system. Eris is a member of the Eagle tribe, and best friends with Laval. Unlike most Eagle tribe members, she is quick-witted and very focused, and prefers to be on the ground instead of the sky. The Packaging Front The Chima sets continue the resealable bag packaging style pioneered by Hero Factory, with bright colours and flashing energy arcs. Here Eris soars upwards past a beautifully crafted floating rock, seemingly propelled via Chi energy, since her wings aren’t orientated appropriately for gaining lift in the direction she’s flying. Back On the back of the bag, Eris as landed and demonstrates her combining feature with Laval, in addition to a comic where she activates her Chi power in response to Worriz. There’s not too much else to say about the packaging, other than it still works very well for action-figures of this size – the bag stands out on the shelves, and it’s packed well full of pieces. I noticed with the previous wave of Hero Factory sets in a local shop that they’d been transferred to the back of the LEGO isle where there was space to hang the sets rather than getting more visible shelf space, but that wouldn’t be possible for the combined number of sets from both the Chima and Summer Hero Factory themes. Contents Pieces Eris comes packaged with 67 pieces, which is the second highest number of parts after Razar’s 68 piece count. This is primarily due to the extra bones and shells needed for her wings, and the Technic pieces used for her staff. Some of the highlights of Eris’ part selection include 10 Dark Grey 5B bones, 4 recoloured Gold Chima wings, 2 recoloured White wings, 4 Trans-Blue 3M shells and 2 reinforced socket pieces. Eris also has 2 new blue blade pieces, which look like they have a lot of potential for creating weird organic spikes and protrusions when integrated into MOCs, although it’s a shame that they don’t have any other connection points. The printed chest piece appears for the third time in Blue, with an added print. If you’re looking for a non-printed version, it would be easiest to Brasso the design off Batman’s torso rather than this one. The gold pattern looks great, but the Chi energy ball gives this and the other similar chest plates a fairly specific purpose. Eris's Eagle Head Crafted specifically for the set, Eris’ eagle head isn’t very feminine, but female and male eagles look more or less the same, and this head is very eagle-like. Side View Back View The head uses the same connection as previous Ultrabuild figures such as the Ben 10 aliens and Superheroes. Eris’ head is quite small compared to the other Chi figure heads, which doesn’t have a large cavity behind the top feathers/hair. Build Eris’ build follows the pattern of a generic Hero Factory set, except you then add a nice pair of wings, which make great use of the Chima wing pieces and 3M shells. I’m a huge fan of this stylised construction, because while they could by no natural means achieve flight, they suggest the idea of flexible layered wings with only natural Constraction/Chima pieces, and without the use of a new large custom purpose wing piece that would probably have needed to cut into the budget for the weapon or shell plating of the arms and legs. Finished Set The Elegant Eris, highflyer of the Eagle Tribe! Once completed, Eris stands tall and majestically, with her wings spread proudly behind her. Her colour scheme works well – mostly white with highlights of Gold and Blue, suggesting golden armour and plenty of Chi power. Although her Black claws don’t explicitly clash with the rest of the figure, I can’t help but wonder if they would’ve been more interesting in Yellow-Orange or Gold, or at least with the Gold blend that Reidak had. Side Considering that Eris’ wings are made from standard bones and shells, the wings are very compact. They can’t really flap towards to give Eris vertical lift, but once she’s flying through the air (possibly from a diving start?), she can look straight up/forwards easily, meaning that she is great for swooshing around. Back Unlike most of the other Chi figures and on account of the wings, Eris doesn’t have any back armour, which is a disappointment. However, adding back armour would add unneeded bulk to a figure that needs to be light in order to fly, so I think the figure is better off without back armour, since no compact piece solution exists yet. Stand your ground! Always ready for combat, Eris wields an abstract battle axe, which uses Technic connectors and bushes for hilt details and thickening the handle for a more comfortable grip. Unfortunately the bushings are light grey rather than black, so they stand out as bushings, rather than properly becoming part of the staff. Eris readies herself for battle Eris has a great deal of motion in her limbs and wings, aided by the reinforced waist joints. Of the different Ultrabuild figures, Eris and Razar probably benefit from the added strength the most, due to their wide wingspan, but that’s not to say that their inclusion on the other Ultrabuild figures in unwanted, because they’re very useful pieces in general. Despite the double neck joint, Eris has trouble looking left/right and down, due to her chest plate getting in the way of her neck feathers. Combo Set Front Eris uses the pieces from 70200 Laval sparingly, to revamp her weapons and upgrade her armour. Laval’s colour scheme seems quite different to Eris’, but only because they alter which colours are primary and which are secondary, meaning that both Laval and Eris’ combiners are able to be consistent with their original forms. Back Eris has a large shield on her back, which seems mostly useless for a flying warrior, especially with two weapons at hand already. Due to the 5M Trans-Blue shells and the longer overall length, the wings have trouble supporting their weight, and can’t articulate freely at the second to lowest joint. Action With the enhanced strength provided by 4 reinforced leg joints, Eris-Extra is easily able to stand in a variety of poses, despite the added weight of the larger shield and wings. This combiner probably makes the least use of the extra pieces provided by a second figure, but that’s necessary when an avian warrior should be lean and agile, with added bulk not being an aerodynamic advantage. (The instructions for this combiner can be found here) Final Thoughts Colour Scheme - 8/10 – The colour scheme of Gold, Trans Blue and White looks great on Eris, and it sets itself apart from the Ice themed Hero Factory sets of this wave, but it doesn’t tremendously suit the character of Eris. Yellow hands wouldn’t suit the figure as they suit the minifigs, but it would have been nice for Eris to have more Gold and Light Blue to match the minifig source in absence of other identifiers that the other sets have, such as a Dark Red mane or scars on the face. Parts - 8/10 – Eris provides a great number of bones and shells, as well as some good Technic pieces and a double pin/ball connector piece. Unless you’re a huge fan of the Chima wing pieces though, there aren’t any greatly exciting or broadly useful recolours/parts in this set that can’t also be found in other sets. Design - 7/10 – Eris’ design is light and agile, and uses a great solution for wings at an action figure scale. I appreciate the use of Technic for the weapon, although the colours of the staff are affected by the light grey bushings and the red 2L axle. Articulation - 10/10 – In addition to the 13 points of articulation that come standard with most Constraction figures, Eris has an extra neck joint and an extra 8 points of articulation in her wings (14 if you count the twistable feathers), for a total of 22 (or 28) points of articulation. She has a bit of trouble looking down due to her head catching on the chest plate, but no trouble looking forwards or up, which is more essential for a frequent flyer. Quality - 10/10 – The quality of the pieces is the excellent quality you’d expect from a Hero Factory set, with unbreaking sockets and a high clarity for the printed torso piece. Overall - 43/50 – As a set, Eris perfectly does what she set out to do, which is to be an energy enhanced Eagle warrior. She’s a lot of fun to pose and swoosh with, but while she provides a good range of pieces for her price, I’d recommend purchasing a different Chi or Hero Factory figure before this one, since there are others with more exciting and useful pieces. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aethersprite Posted July 31, 2013 Thanks for the review. This is the weakest set in the wave IMO, with no outstanding parts and a pretty "meh" design. The head isn't very attractive as well, it reminds me of a chicken! I'll definitely be getting Razar over this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted July 31, 2013 Good review. I like CHI Eris's design, but I find it lacking in some respects, particularly the way the shells on the lower legs do a poor job hiding the bony black beams underneath. I think either using larger shells or rotating the shells to face forward would have improved the look of the legs. Her axe is cool and does a good job demonstrating how effective the Chima constraction sets' less specialized weapon molds can be at evoking more detailed custom weapons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
