Legends of Chima 2013

[Dannylonglegs]

Indeed. The only pre-launch thread that isn't suffering from this is the one for Space Galaxy.

Yes! They've skipped the picture phase entirely! Who needs pictures to complain about how stupid the figures'll look or how dumb a revised version of Insectoids'll be!?

I am highly anticipatory of better pictures though. I will refrain from judgement until I see new pictures. I'm currently not impressed, but the pictures I've seen have not been flattering. Almost more important than pictures, I'd like to know the basic story. With this new theme the story's not readily visable from the pictures like it would be with the new Galaxy Squad theme. AvP=Aliens vs. People. Chima on the other hand is very strange and likely highly story focussed, so even when we see the good pics, we'll only be seeing half of the intended theme.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

[DraikNova]

Good point, but the story is usually only known when the theme is launched, or, as this is the replacement of ninjago, until an episode has aired.

[Oky]

Why is everyone so curious about the story? It seems pretty simple to me. Instead of alien vs. humans it's animal people vs. other animal people. Since this theme looks like a Thundercats rip-off, I assume the story will be very similar as well, where each animal faction (or two groups of animal factions) fight against each other for these McGuffin crystals of power using vehicles and technology (and perhaps some magic) to determine who gets to rule the world of Chima. I can't really see it being any more complex than that.

[Algernon]

I'm agreeing with Oky here. LEGO storylines have never been anything to write home about and definitely seem to follow certain patterns. And does it really matter anyway? I'm not buying LEGO sets for expert penmanship.

[Robominer]

Why is everyone so curious about the story? It seems pretty simple to me. Instead of alien vs. humans it's animal people vs. other animal people. Since this theme looks like a Thundercats rip-off, I assume the story will be very similar as well, where each animal faction (or two groups of animal factions) fight against each other for these McGuffin crystals of power using vehicles and technology (and perhaps some magic) to determine who gets to rule the world of Chima. I can't really see it being any more complex than that.

Thinking about it, does any LEGO theme need a story? No, they add the story to work on your imagination.

[SpiderSpaceman]

Thinking about it, does any LEGO theme need a story? No, they add the story to work on your imagination.

Correct!

But even so, I'm gonna make up my own lil story. drop in the new Nick Fury to head the lion faction, and he'll be fed up because he has

Edited September 24, 2012 by SpiderSpaceman

[horizon]

Stories can be made and bend.

Daughter got the idea that the Monster Fighters will hunt the dragons. So a teamup between Dracula & Sensei Wu might be in order.

[Kai NRG]

I'm agreeing with Oky here. LEGO storylines have never been anything to write home about and definitely seem to follow certain patterns. And does it really matter anyway? I'm not buying LEGO sets for expert penmanship.

For some of us though (or at least for me), the story line could have a lot to do with how much I get - Ninjago really became even more appealing once I saw the series, and LoC will probably end up the same.

[Aanchir]

Why is everyone so curious about the story? It seems pretty simple to me. Instead of alien vs. humans it's animal people vs. other animal people. Since this theme looks like a Thundercats rip-off, I assume the story will be very similar as well, where each animal faction (or two groups of animal factions) fight against each other for these McGuffin crystals of power using vehicles and technology (and perhaps some magic) to determine who gets to rule the world of Chima. I can't really see it being any more complex than that.

I'm still curious to see how this story might be broken down for kids, though. Faction vs. faction stories are common in LEGO, of course, but if this is going to be a big multimedia theme like Ninjago then it should ideally have a small cast of main characters to tie things together, as well as plenty of mythology and universe-building.

Thinking about it, does any LEGO theme need a story? No, they add the story to work on your imagination.

I don't see what's so offensive about the idea of giving kids a story to jump-start their creative process. Just look at the amount of fanart on the internet and you'll quickly see how inspiring a story-- any story-- can be to people who might otherwise have difficulty finding creative inspiration. I'm not saying all themes should be story themes, but it's not like drawing inspiration from a story TLG creates themselves is any different than drawing inspiration from real life (LEGO City) or from stories other people have written (LEGO licensed themes).

Personally, I have always had a fondness for LEGO's story themes simply because they give me an opportunity to think in terms I might never have thought in before. In my childhood, I was an avid collector of the Space theme (starting about with Spyrius) and the Aquazone theme. While there wasn't much in the way of media to add depth to those themes' stories, they all were still completely invented scenarios. Sci-fi divers harvesting and fighting over oxygen crystals! Spacemen exploring a distant planet hoping to find evidence of alien life (generally in the form of fossils)! These sorts of things were great jumping-points for creativity.

Since then, I've become deeply invested in many of the story themes like BIONICLE, Exo-Force, and Ninjago. Naturally, I still occasionally build things based on real life, history, etc, but I get the most pleasure from taking an invented universe and trying to learn from and build on the story that's been provided. I'm sure a lot of kids feel the same way. Sure, there are kids who can express their creativity brilliantly without a story to start them off. But it wouldn't be fair at all to say that only these kids are worthy of getting a full spectrum of enjoyment out of LEGO toys.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Aanchir

[Algernon]

I don't see what's so offensive about the idea of giving kids a story to jump-start their creative process. Just look at the amount of fanart on the internet and you'll quickly see how inspiring a story-- any story-- can be to people who might otherwise have difficulty finding creative inspiration. I'm not saying all themes should be story themes, but it's not like drawing inspiration from a story TLG creates themselves is any different than drawing inspiration from real life (LEGO City) or from stories other people have written (LEGO licensed themes).

Personally, I have always had a fondness for LEGO's story themes simply because they give me an opportunity to think in terms I might never have thought in before. In my childhood, I was an avid collector of the Space theme (starting about with Spyrius) and the Aquazone theme. While there wasn't much in the way of media to add depth to those themes' stories, they all were still completely invented scenarios. Sci-fi divers harvesting and fighting over oxygen crystals! Spacemen exploring a distant planet hoping to find evidence of alien life (generally in the form of fossils)! These sorts of things were great jumping-points for creativity.

Since then, I've become deeply invested in many of the story themes like BIONICLE, Exo-Force, and Ninjago. Naturally, I still occasionally build things based on real life, history, etc, but I get the most pleasure from taking an invented universe and trying to learn from and build on the story that's been provided. I'm sure a lot of kids feel the same way. Sure, there are kids who can express their creativity brilliantly without a story to start them off. But it wouldn't be fair at all to say that only these kids are worthy of getting a full spectrum of enjoyment out of LEGO toys.

I think you're talking about the premise of various LEGO themes, which is obviously quite important, as it is almost always reflected in the design of the sets. What strikes me as somewhat superfluous are the more detailed storylines that LEGO seems to have grown fond of - as in your examples, Exo-Force and NinjaGo. What fun is there in re-creating things from somebody else's imagination? I have the same problem with licensed themes.

BIONICLE I might call an exception, however, since for the most part the story was actually quite original and LEGO actually went to the trouble of establishing a universe. It did overstay it's welcome, in my opinion, but I can understand why one might be interested in the BIONICLE storyline. It's things like Exo-Force and Dino that I just don't get. Good robot VS bad robot. Humans have to capture dinosaurs because of... science. These themes seem to have intentionally kept things vague in order to allow for some imagination on the customer's side of things. I just don't feel that it's necessary to know the backstories of each individual minifigure.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I'm not judging if there are people here who dig on LEGO storylines. I also might absently read the character biographies for the dino hunters, but it's not going to have a big impact on my opinion of the theme!

[Robominer]

I don't see what's so offensive about the idea of giving kids a story to jump-start their creative process. Just look at the amount of fanart on the internet and you'll quickly see how inspiring a story-- any story-- can be to people who might otherwise have difficulty finding creative inspiration. I'm not saying all themes should be story themes, but it's not like drawing inspiration from a story TLG creates themselves is any different than drawing inspiration from real life (LEGO City) or from stories other people have written (LEGO licensed themes).

Personally, I have always had a fondness for LEGO's story themes simply because they give me an opportunity to think in terms I might never have thought in before. In my childhood, I was an avid collector of the Space theme (starting about with Spyrius) and the Aquazone theme. While there wasn't much in the way of media to add depth to those themes' stories, they all were still completely invented scenarios. Sci-fi divers harvesting and fighting over oxygen crystals! Spacemen exploring a distant planet hoping to find evidence of alien life (generally in the form of fossils)! These sorts of things were great jumping-points for creativity.

Since then, I've become deeply invested in many of the story themes like BIONICLE, Exo-Force, and Ninjago. Naturally, I still occasionally build things based on real life, history, etc, but I get the most pleasure from taking an invented universe and trying to learn from and build on the story that's been provided. I'm sure a lot of kids feel the same way. Sure, there are kids who can express their creativity brilliantly without a story to start them off. But it wouldn't be fair at all to say that only these kids are worthy of getting a full spectrum of enjoyment out of LEGO toys.

In my opinion, the sories just take away from the main purpose of LEGO, which is to be creative. The stories can make it harder to come up with original ideas. When you do follow the story in MOC's for instance, you, technically aren't using your own idea. The maker of the idea still gets some credit. Now I'm not saying not to build Ninjago, BIONICLE, of Star Wars MOCs. It's just that it would be better to come up with your own ideas. Unofortunately, the toy industry benefits greatly from kids' lack of imagination.

EDIT: I just realized that what I said may be taken to the extreme that I disapprove of themes in general. However, that is not my stance.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Robominer

[kumabot]

In my opinion, the sories just take away from the main purpose of LEGO, which is to be creative. The stories can make it harder to come up with original ideas. When you do follow the story in MOC's for instance, you, technically aren't using your own idea. The maker of the idea still gets some credit. Now I'm not saying not to build Ninjago, BIONICLE, of Star Wars MOCs. It's just that it would be better to come up with your own ideas. Unofortunately, the toy industry benefits greatly from kids' lack of imagination.

EDIT: I just realized that what I said may be taken to the extreme that I disapprove of themes in general. However, that is not my stance.

Robominer, there is definitely some truth to what you are saying. For example, I've seen very few Ninjago MOCs in this Action forum and I wonder if that has something to do with the cartoon and the fact that a lot of people might feel that they have to build something from the show or nothing at all? Or maybe it's just that most of the Asian-themed MOCs end up in the Historical Theme forum instead of this forum? <shrug> There are definitely some things from the Ninjago cartoon that are just screaming for MOCs: the serpentine treehouse, Ourobourus, Dareth's dojo, the Dark Bounty, the jalopy etc... are people waiting for official sets instead of trying to build them on their own?

[DraikNova]

I agree: except for MODs, the only Ninjago thing I've built is a 3*4 Serpentine Staff holeder.

[Robominer]

Robominer, there is definitely some truth to what you are saying. For example, I've seen very few Ninjago MOCs in this Action forum and I wonder if that has something to do with the cartoon and the fact that a lot of people might feel that they have to build something from the show or nothing at all? Or maybe it's just that most of the Asian-themed MOCs end up in the Historical Theme forum instead of this forum? <shrug> There are definitely some things from the Ninjago cartoon that are just screaming for MOCs: the serpentine treehouse, Ourobourus, Dareth's dojo, the Dark Bounty, the jalopy etc... are people waiting for official sets instead of trying to build them on their own?

True, those are some good examples of concepts that LEGO should make into sets. I myself have tried to build several of the examples you gave. However, remember that those are nto your ideas. They are someting that LEGO made up for the show purposes only (as far as we know).

[Aanchir]

I think you're talking about the premise of various LEGO themes, which is obviously quite important, as it is almost always reflected in the design of the sets. What strikes me as somewhat superfluous are the more detailed storylines that LEGO seems to have grown fond of - as in your examples, Exo-Force and NinjaGo. What fun is there in re-creating things from somebody else's imagination? I have the same problem with licensed themes.

BIONICLE I might call an exception, however, since for the most part the story was actually quite original and LEGO actually went to the trouble of establishing a universe. It did overstay it's welcome, in my opinion, but I can understand why one might be interested in the BIONICLE storyline. It's things like Exo-Force and Dino that I just don't get. Good robot VS bad robot. Humans have to capture dinosaurs because of... science. These themes seem to have intentionally kept things vague in order to allow for some imagination on the customer's side of things. I just don't feel that it's necessary to know the backstories of each individual minifigure.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I'm not judging if there are people here who dig on LEGO storylines. I also might absently read the character biographies for the dino hunters, but it's not going to have a big impact on my opinion of the theme!

But what's different about a theme like Dino and a theme like Aquazone? Really, they are both very shallow when it comes to story. (Dino has character names and brief bios, but so did Aquazone in the LEGO Mania Magazines). Unless you know of some Dino character bios that I've never seen-- I just know the Base section of the site which lists their names, favorite foods, least favorite dinos (i.e. what sets they come in), vehicles, and most dinos caught in a day. That's hardly much of a backstory-- and, as I said, about the same thing themes like Aquazone have almost always had in LEGO Magazine features. The only change with modern themes is that the story is more accessible and (usually) is consistent in worldwide media.

Similarly, I don't exactly understand how BIONICLE "established a universe" and Ninjago didn't, besides that Ninjago was not around for long enough to expand its universe as much as BIONICLE did in its nine-year run. In my opinion, BIONICLE almost left less to the imagination than Ninjago did in some respects, since almost every creature that featured in a visual medium for the first three years was designed with a very specific build in mind, which doesn't apply to most creatures in Ninjago's bestiary.

Perhaps the one asset BIONICLE has over Ninjago in terms of creativity is that it was based on a building system that inherently promoted creativity. I'm not talking the styles of connection that people use to define BIONICLE's building system versus, say, Hero Factory's, but rather that since both stories are heavily character-driven, BIONICLE has a slight advantage in how much creative freedom can be put into custom character designs. Truly the same could be said for most action figure themes, though to a lesser extent with Galidor.

And in fact, this infinite room for expansion was just as present in Exo-Force. The only thing it had that themes like Aquazone or Exploriens never did is story media that told a mostly linear story. And this doesn't mean that builders within this theme were forced to build things they saw in this story-- in fact, I've hardly ever seen any MOCs of Exo-Force battle machines that made cameo roles in the comics, perhaps because there were so few of them and because builders would rather make completely unique battle machines whether there's a story connected to them or not. I think it's downright preposterous to think that LEGO providing a story framework and showing the actions of one set of characters within that framework puts limits on anyone's creative freedom.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

When I mentioned I was wondering about what the story behind the theme was, it's not because I have profound expectations of compelling narratives from Lego. In fact, I look forward to it just out of curiosity; how do you explain a theme in which large humanoid animals who do battle with mechanical vehicles.

[TheRedGuy]

Aren't you supposed to make your own story when it comes to toys? Making stories are what books and movies do, not a toy line.

[horizon]

The story Lego provides is a starting point. Regarding Ninjago it is a good one and the kids like reading/hearing about it.

But when it comes to playing with Lego stories can take all kind of directions.

[Kai NRG]

Robominer, there is definitely some truth to what you are saying. For example, I've seen very few Ninjago MOCs in this Action forum and I wonder if that has something to do with the cartoon and the fact that a lot of people might feel that they have to build something from the show or nothing at all? Or maybe it's just that most of the Asian-themed MOCs end up in the Historical Theme forum instead of this forum? <shrug> There are definitely some things from the Ninjago cartoon that are just screaming for MOCs: the serpentine treehouse, Ourobourus, Dareth's dojo, the Dark Bounty, the jalopy etc... are people waiting for official sets instead of trying to build them on their own?

A friend of mine actually built a treehouse (a pretty good-looking one too; too bad I didn't get a picture) and a Pirate Bounty (Dark Bounty, I guess). I did a Ninjago crossover for the friends contest as well.

But the idea of a story is not to kill your ability to MOC creatively, it just gives you a backdrop/setting. Kids who prefer not having to think up their own ideas or who really like the ideas already used can use those - I remember trying to act out the entire second season storyline (I didn't get very far though) - but you could also expand on the base (if you felt so inclined). I think more or the reason for so few Ninjago MOCs would be that it's hard to tell what exactly is Ninjago style - Asian-looking buildings or speedy vehicles? Regardless, a story provides suspense, and it you don't like it hampering your creativity you can always break through. I agree with Anachir that its pretty ridiculous to say that a story from LEGO puts a limit on the amour of creativity you can exercise.

[Aanchir]

Aren't you supposed to make your own story when it comes to toys? Making stories are what books and movies do, not a toy line.

That's arguable. A lot of tremendously successful toy lines have story-driven components, and in the case of most non-creative toys, the story is the one thing that gives a toy lasting value for many adult fans. As long as the significance of the toys to the story they inhabit isn't taking the place of quality toy design, and as long as there is effort put into making the story enjoyable rather than just a shallow advertisement for the toys themselves, then having a story is generally more of an asset than a liability.

Basically, think of it this way. What really separates a toy based on an existing story (like a superhero action figure) from a toy with a story crafted around it? One might argue that crafting a story around a toy costs more for the manufacturer than taking an existing brand, and that additional cost would cut into the budget for increasing the toy's play quality, but in this day and age the most desirable intellectual properties can be quite expensive to obtain licensing for, so it's hard to say whether designing a story based on the toy really ends up more expensive.

It should be noted that BIONICLE, The LEGO Group's longest-running theme with a continuous story, originally emerged partly in response to the success of LEGO Star Wars. Kids and adults alike loved LEGO Star Wars, but TLG didn't want this kind of story-driven success to be totally dependent on another company's IP, so they created their own.

And another thing to keep in mind-- most of the stories kids create with LEGO themes of any kind will fit into some kind of established universe. In the case of LEGO City or LEGO Castle, this universe is real life, more or less, with some creative liberties taken in its portrayal. In fantasy and sci-fi themes, the universe is invented, but unless it's a heavily story-driven theme then the invented universe is based more on archetypes kids will already be familiar with than on a truly unique combination of ideas. In the case of a licensed theme, the universe in question is based on a story imagined by another author. And in the case of a story theme, the universe is based on a universe crafted by the manufacturer. But any of these universes can be just as constraining to kids' imaginations if they are inclined to limit their thinking according to the universe presented to them. A kid who is only inclined to re-create aspects of the story being told to them by a toy company would probably also be inclined to re-create aspects of the world around them or of the stories their knowledge of fantasy archetypes are grounded in, with the same level of persnickety detail.

Getting this discussion back to Chima, consider this: would a theme like this really be possible without some kind of invented story? Blatantly animal-inspired vehicles of the kind we're expecting in this theme don't exist frequently in real life, nor do they exist as a commonly-understood archetype. Thus unless the theme were being based on an external license with similar attributes, the premise would likely have to be dismissed entirely in favor of something kids will be able to understand without a story as background.

This doesn't mean that a story as deep as Ninjago's has to exist, but there needs to be a story of some kind in any invented universe. Consider Exo-Force: if your premise is humans fighting robots (an archetype that kids can understand without much difficulty), there has to be at least the barest semblance of a story to explain what they are fighting over. Likewise in Aquazone, it's clear that the Aquanauts and Aquasharks are fighting over the theme's "treasure" (silver crystals), but there has to be a rudimentary story to explain why that treasure is important to both factions (besides, of course, that it is shiny).

Once you get to that point, any story you have exists merely to increase kids' involvement with the brand. Exo-Force's character bios and comics are not in any way essential to creative play with the toys-- all you need to understand is that human-hero-characters led by wise-human-leader-character are fighting robot-invader-characters led by gold-robot-leader-character to protect their home. But having a deeper story helps the brand stand out to its fans, building brand loyalty.

[Gubi0222]

The hungarian 'Monobrand' store posted the history of Chima

(sorry if it has some fails but i'm lazy and it has translated by google)

We had the chance to see the new LEGO game Legends of Chima is subject, but unfortunately, so far we can not provide pictures, but not just be jealous, Chima unveil legends of history:

"The Chima kingdom in a magical land, which is at a very advanced species dominate. These creatures are like people walk and talk. Vehicle result, machines are used, and amazing castles, fortresses live. But do not mistake love: these animals, claws, teeth, some are equipped with wings and tail. and now at war with each other.

Chima The kingdom that was once pure, natural paradise, heavily armed barbarians species battlefield has changed. Best friends become sworn enemies of each other. Ruthless weapons destroyed the once sacred temples. Blood-thirsty vehicles aggravate each other furiously fatal duel in the forest.

The creatures are fiercely fighting a powerful element of the natural resource called Chi rule over the acquisition, which is the life and the unimaginable destruction is also a source.

Only a few brave hero in Chima understand the true nature of the Chi, and that this leads to total destruction of misuse Chima. Their stories, and those who want to destroy them, the following are known: THE LEGENDS OF CHIM ... "

Legends of The LEGO Chima will be introduced next January, initially 14 kit, or separate, 22-minute TV series together. Wait for it?

Edited September 26, 2012 by Gubi0222

[DraikNova]

Well, it certainly sounds interesting.

[Algernon]

Well, looks like I'll have to eat my own words. I'm actually much more intrigued by this theme after reading that. It could almost be interpreted as a subtle societal commentary... although that may be a stretch.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

Thank you for the detailed info and translation Gubi0222! It certainly sounds very interesting.

[lisqr]

Thank you for the detailed info and translation Gubi0222! It certainly sounds very interesting.

Sounds like Fabuland went BAD