Why all the hate for Legends of Chima?

[1974]

They got high with super powers when they "absorbed" it (ie eating/injecting) and they cooked it better than Heisenberg

With all due respect that IS what most drugs are about

[Natant16]

4 hours ago, 1974 said:

They got high with super powers when they "absorbed" it (ie eating/injecting) and they cooked it better than Heisenberg

With all due respect that IS what most drugs are about

Yeah, I can see that, it feels more like a run-of-the-mill generic anime powerup, but I can easily see why someone would come to that conclusion.

[Megbricks]

On 7/21/2020 at 8:12 PM, zoth33 said:

Yes that was pretty bad.  They could've done a different mold.  I forgot about the beaver tribe.  

Beaver tribe?? Wow I missed that. It was bad? Chima ended when I came back into the lego world. I only got the clearance stuff…

ill look that up (the beaver stuff) and will want to get them:)

[williejm]

4 hours ago, Megbricks said:

Beaver tribe?? Wow I missed that. It was bad? Chima ended when I came back into the lego world. I only got the clearance stuff…

ill look that up (the beaver stuff) and will want to get them:)

Yeah ... so they reused the Bigfoot / yeti headpiece from the CMFs, it was ... not good. Do look them up. I defy you to want them 😂

[Megbricks]

5 hours ago, williejm said:

Yeah ... so they reused the Bigfoot / yeti headpiece from the CMFs, it was ... not good. Do look them up. I defy you to want them 😂

Hahaha i just looked at it. Since I don’t buy lego very often and I really don’t collect much I might pass. ;)

[Lego David]

On 6/3/2021 at 8:17 PM, Corydoras said:

The main reason I disliked the theme is the fact that I'm allergic to furry/anthro stuff. I just can't help it the very concept of ripped animal people strikes me as bizarre and repulsive

Well, there's your main reason why this theme was so polarizing... I am the exact opposite, I grew up watching a tone of anthro animated movies such as Disney's Robin Hood, and I don't find anything strange or bizzare about this concept, personally. 

[Umbrage82]

On 7/10/2021 at 12:46 AM, Lego David said:

Well, there's your main reason why this theme was so polarizing... I am the exact opposite, I grew up watching a tone of anthro animated movies such as Disney's Robin Hood, and I don't find anything strange or bizzare about this concept, personally. 

Same - I'm "I have a complete set of Battle Beasts" old so if anything I have a soft-spot for animal humanoids :P But I get that it's kinda niche relative to more outright human/fantasy-or-alien-races-that-are-supposedly-alien-but-really-just-different-color-skin'ed-humans

[Duvors]

I read every Redwall book growing up, so it's not a particularly bizarre concept from my perspective.

[Clone OPatra]

It's definitely interesting with China, that though it had a typical good lifespan and output of sets, it's still wound up as derided and perhaps even seen as a failure amongst the fan community.

Personally I think a lot of it had to do with the minifigures. For one thing, there were way too many tribes and named characters straight away. Look at most of LEGO's other in house themes and there are perhaps five or six recurring main characters who remain the main characters throughout the theme's duration. Chima started out with HEAPS of named characters and kept adding more, making it hard for consumers to focus.

Another main issue with the figures was their incompatibility with other figures/themes. They all have the masks, most of which look weird over other minifigure prints since Chima eyes are farther apart than standard Minifigure eyes, so that's out. Then the heads underneath were hit or miss - I personally like using the cat prints on other figures, but some like the Ravens and eagles and Rhinos were pretty atrocious. Finally, the bodies of many of them, being semi-bare or covered in fur, don't mix and match well with other minifigure parts. Again some of the cats and characters in armor were ok on that count.

Finally, too many of the characters were just too darn ugly. Yes, villains can be a bit rugged and ugly, but kids and people in general like things that are a bit cute or aesthetically pleasing, which many of the Chima characters very much were not. From snarly faces to minifigs covered in scratches and the like, too many Chima minifigs were just a turn off.

[sander1992]

I don't hate Chima.
It just not my theme.

It was a bit too bad that the theme was too much focussed on vehicles.
The sets based on locations looked really nice. 

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

I don't get why someone could hate on a theme. This is so childish, I am ashamed people keep doing that.

It's a theme for a toy. From what I saw chima looked pretty sick. Wasn't my thing but it looked cool.

[GeneralNumberOne]

I think there are several reasons. As a kid, I generally didn't find the sets that interesting (and I found the weirdly erotically designed alligator woman off putting and I still do), I found the cartoon to be patronizingly dull, the Speedorz weren't as fun as the Ninjago spinners (and as a kid, I suspected they were the reason the spinners didn't stick around for the Final Battle wave). The fact that it was replacing Ninjago also didn't help, as that was my favorite theme as a kid. Then when Ninjago was brought back, I kinda assumed Ninjago became more sci-fi because Chima was filling the more fantasy niche, and I didn't like that and ended up dropping both (until TLNM came out and reignited my interest in Ninjago via the mech dragon and the fire mech). 

I also remember thinking it was weird that there were Speedorz, Constraction figures (that were supposed to be part of the minifig centric play pattern??? Lego Club portrayed them as powered up versions of the characters), and regular sets. As someone who also doesn't generally like Constraction (especially when it's for organic things), that also turned me off. 

Finally, the fact that the minifigs were so specialized. With the cursed heads and the very specific torsos and legs, you couldn't really do anything else with them, which sucks both as a kid and an adult. With say the first few years of Ninjago, the Skullkin were obviously skeletons, you can use them as regular dead people, you can incorporate them into castle stuff, and other things like that. The snakes were a little more specialized, but they had decent torsos that could sometimes be used as clothes. The stone warriors are great for figbarfs. I currently have a Black Mask (inspired by his Gotham look) that uses one of their heads. The armor makes good greebles, and the helmets and hats are also really useful. 

[Lyichir]

For my part, I enjoyed Chima's set design and character design. The main reason I didn't end up getting as into it as I did with Ninjago was that the TV series was unable to hook me. The first episode started strong with a touching friendship between Laval and Cragger that could've felt great... but then the way the conflict between them originated (with Cragger's sister effectively brainwashing him) felt way too contrived and unearned, and I quickly lost interest in the characters and their conflict altogether.

By comparison Ninjago started with a decent special and the first season of the show the next year was legitimately good as far as character development was concerned. And even Nexo Knights, formulaic as its episodes could be, did a better job of selling Jestro and Clay's falling out as the conflict between a top-of-his-class golden boy and an insecure friend who chalked their friendship up to pity rather than anything more genuine. For a story-based theme, the story can make the difference between a theme I pick up the occasional set from and a theme where I want to have every character and every version of every character, and Chima sadly wasn't able to get past square one for me.

Of course, the fact that it was up against Ninjago in those years certainly didn't help. By the time Chima was experiencing its rocky start, Ninjago was in the midst of some great story arcs like Rebooted, Tournament of Elements, and Possession. If Ninjago had ended after Season 2 as planned, maybe I would've been able to put up with Chima's growing pains a little better and stick with it to the end. That just wasn't the hand it was dealt, though.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Lyichir

[zoth33]

On 1/12/2022 at 1:59 AM, GeneralNumberOne said:

I think there are several reasons. As a kid, I generally didn't find the sets that interesting (and I found the weirdly erotically designed alligator woman off putting and I still do), I found the cartoon to be patronizingly dull, the Speedorz weren't as fun as the Ninjago spinners (and as a kid, I suspected they were the reason the spinners didn't stick around for the Final Battle wave). The fact that it was replacing Ninjago also didn't help, as that was my favorite theme as a kid. Then when Ninjago was brought back, I kinda assumed Ninjago became more sci-fi because Chima was filling the more fantasy niche, and I didn't like that and ended up dropping both (until TLNM came out and reignited my interest in Ninjago via the mech dragon and the fire mech). 

I also remember thinking it was weird that there were Speedorz, Constraction figures (that were supposed to be part of the minifig centric play pattern??? Lego Club portrayed them as powered up versions of the characters), and regular sets. As someone who also doesn't generally like Constraction (especially when it's for organic things), that also turned me off. 

Finally, the fact that the minifigs were so specialized. With the cursed heads and the very specific torsos and legs, you couldn't really do anything else with them, which sucks both as a kid and an adult. With say the first few years of Ninjago, the Skullkin were obviously skeletons, you can use them as regular dead people, you can incorporate them into castle stuff, and other things like that. The snakes were a little more specialized, but they had decent torsos that could sometimes be used as clothes. The stone warriors are great for figbarfs. I currently have a Black Mask (inspired by his Gotham look) that uses one of their heads. The armor makes good greebles, and the helmets and hats are also really useful. 

I completely disagree about the figs.  I use the figs for all kinds of fantasy applications like assasins, elven figs, specialized warriors, etc.  I actually use the female eagle torso's for custom elven female warriors work great and the printing looks wonderful for elven armor.  The raven heads I've used on the outrider bodies from marvel with black hoods for dark rangers.  The wolves look great for werewolves and are really useful for fantasy, horror, or even your city layouts.  I am currently using the fire wave outfits of the chima lions as a special forces unit for my lion knights, the lion heads actually look really good and I use red capes and hoods to complete the look.  The bat figs I'm currently using as vampire lords.  The Ice figs of the sabertooth tigers I'm using for mummies, and Ice zombies.  The armor is quite versatile for WOW custom figs, I use some of the armor for Arch angels or paladins.  I also use the golden armor for my custom sea elves knights.  The scorpions are part of one of my evil lords army.   That being said the printing on the torsos and legs are great for several applications.   And that's just what I've done so far.  Yes a lot of the Ninjago figs are great to use also I have several of the villain factions in various armies of mine.  The fire snakes and Ice zombies I have the most of.  

[Legochaek]

Chima is my no.1 favourite in house theme! I mean just look at this set https://legolegendsofchima.fandom.com/wiki/Rock_Flinger it’s awesome 

And the mammoths, phoenix tribes? There are so many good molds. 

[Killian]

Why if Chima is so hated, why has Lego put so many minifigures in the Summer 2022 Ninjago sets that look like Chima characters?

[danth]

You should see all the Vidiyo characters...

Anyway what do we have in Ninjago? Snake and Dragon heads? What else? I know Monkie Kid has monkey and pig heads, and probably others I'm forgetting right now.

I just want more heads for Neo Fabuland MOCs, but what we get out of action themes isn't really the right aesthetic.

[Killian]

5 hours ago, danth said:

You should see all the Vidiyo characters...

Anyway what do we have in Ninjago? Snake and Dragon heads? What else? I know Monkie Kid has monkey and pig heads, and probably others I'm forgetting right now.

I just want more heads for Neo Fabuland MOCs, but what we get out of action themes isn't really the right aesthetic.

If they brought Fabuland back at Minifig scale with the classic characters, but so they were compatible with other themes I'd be so happy

[danth]

21 minutes ago, Killian said:

If they brought Fabuland back at Minifig scale with the classic characters, but so they were compatible with other themes I'd be so happy

Fabuland 2 would be amazing and popular -- therefore Lego will never do it.

[MAB]

On 5/9/2022 at 12:13 AM, Killian said:

Why if Chima is so hated, why has Lego put so many minifigures in the Summer 2022 Ninjago sets that look like Chima characters?

Probably because a theme is more than just the style of the minifigures. It is fairly clear the dragon-like characters are antagonists against the core Ninjago characters. Presumably there will be a leader and then soldier types. One thing that let Chima down in the story telling was the large number of tribes with many named characters each. It was quite hard to follow who was who, outside of the main characters. Even worse, if you didn't watch the show, it was not always obvious what the sides were, which tribes were against which others. Whereas the Ninjago sets make it quite clear without knowing the storyline. Then there was the change of allegiances, again confusing for kids. Although some may say not defining the storyline is good as it allows kids to use their imagination as to what is going on, it is important for the initial buy in. If you are given a load of different tribes, how do kids know how to start making up stories if they don't understand which are allies or opponents (and why).

Ninjago frequently rotates the villains, and we have had snakes before. The dragon heads look good, but to me they are an extension of what has gone before in Ninjago rather than the recycling of Chima.

[cosmic]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:24 AM, Lego-fire said:

Chima is my no.1 favourite in house theme! I mean just look at this set https://legolegendsofchima.fandom.com/wiki/Rock_Flinger it’s awesome 

And the mammoths, phoenix tribes? There are so many good molds. 

I love this set and this opinion lol. 
 

i was absolutely in love with Chima when it came out and I am so grateful my parents got me the Star Wars/Superheroes sets I requested as a kid in those years as honestly they were higher priority but along with Monster Fighters this is one of those themes I am so excited to collect off bricklink as I wanted this so bad as a middle schooler. 
 

that said, it did have its flaws. The first wave was amazing and the second year held up well as well. However I feel they focused too long on the fire/ice subtheme. Vultrix’s set was like the only good thing to come out of that last wave and easily could have replaced one of the many ugly ice builds in the prior winter wave. The fire Phoenix temple and Mammoth walker sets were great but after that most of the fire and ice builds felt repetitive, too focused on vehicles whereas prior waves balanced both vehicles, mechs, structures and scenery. Additionally, many fogures of the last wave were repeats and the few new figures such as the bears felt underwhelming as we only got them in their fire suits and not as their regular tribes the way we got for the lions/crocs/rhino’s in the first two waves. Also the builds for the final wave were so uninspired and just downright ugly, the first few years were good but they spent too long on that subtheme and it showed as the final sets were so uninspired.

 

that said there’s almost no more new sealed versions of Rogons rock flinger which is so depressing that was one of my top sets I wanted for this theme when it first released its always a race against time with lego to get sealed versions of sets you missed out on its mildly infuriating lol.

[Triceron]

I don't have any real interest in Chima, but it surprises me how cheap the minis are in the aftermarket.  I bought a few of the Wolf dudes and gem em in armor the CMF Fright Knight shields as wolf-men soldiers in my Fright Knight army.  If I'm ever buying a big bundle from Bricklink, I always check if they have of wolf dudes to pick up for cheap.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Triceron

[DAVEYDAWSON]

I have always found parting out Chima sets was great. I was doing a Crystal rock mining MOC not too long ago and found that the chi pieces made great crystal elements along with the Lego Crystal element. Also I found that in the Chima theme there were certain elements that were not common in sets then and even now.

[Maple]

On 7/19/2020 at 1:04 PM, Lego David said:

So I do want to know... why do so many people hate Legends of Chima? Was it the fact that it supposedly tried to replace Ninjago? Was it the TV Show? Was it the sets? I really want to know, because I never understood why this theme was so hated.

Too many sets. The theme is a bit of a mess because of it. They have all these cool animals but nothing was ever done with a lot of them because there just was so many sets being thrown out at an insane pace. The vehicles weren't creative after awhile. They needed some different building styles. There needed to be more buildings and locations. It's like LEGO threw everything at the wall hoping something would stick.

I do regret not getting 70228: Vultrix's Sky Scavenger as it's very much like a Klingon Bird of Prey.

And the Fire and Ice... kind of lame. Again if they did fire playsets and ice playsets that be great, instead there was weird vehicles with odd colors added. Just so many sets and so many 'meh'.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Maple

[Pulp Detective]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:56 AM, danth said:

Fabuland 2 would be amazing and popular -- therefore Lego will never do it.

What?! You want lego to be creative and original as it was long ago? Take your overpriced luke's landspeeder and shut your mouth bigot!