Review: 70102 Speedorz Leonidas

[I Scream Clone]

Welcome to the review of one the amazing sets from one of the coolest new themes for 2013, Legends of Chima.

Lets get into it already! 1-2-Chi!

I present 70102 Speedorz Leonidas

Name: 70102 Speedorz Leonidas

Theme: LEGO System / Legends Of Chima

Year: 2013Pieces: xxxMinifigs: 1 minifigure

Price: USD $xxxx, GBP N.A, EURO N.A, SGD $xxxxx

Resources: Brickset

Front Box Art

A really eye-catching packaging sure to draw in the kids young and old.

Back of the packaging

The back of the packaging shows how the three Speedorz sets can be combined to increase the playability and interaction between characters.

Time to see how this set opens. Push in the spot first, then pull the back panel towards the right.

The contents of the box/packaging shows two polybags, the ripcord, the speedorz and separate cover as well as the pack of five cards.

Complete parts

A nice selection of parts for such a small set. The wheel is heavy cast metal with a rubber tyre. The ripcord has a bit of flex in it not unlike flextube. Six of the new trans light blue crystal piece along with two gold lightsabre hilts add to the variety and the orange speedorz mold is all printed with no stickers.

Cards

Time to take a look at the cards that came with Leonidas. The symbols are as follows from top left around the clock to bottom left; Instinct, Courage, Strength and Speed. The middle number is the Chi score, but more on that during the rules of play section.

Instruction Manual

A nice small instruction manual folded in half to fit in the packaging.

First page

A nice bright background allowing easy differentiation of parts.

How to operate the Speedorz

The easy to read instructions show just how easy it is to operate the ripcord. Then simply place the speedorz on the ground and watch him fly!

Cartoon insert and rules of play

Detailing how the speedorz is meant to interact with the Lion shrine. Each player launches their speedorz at the same time towards the lion shrine. The player who successfully knocks the zamor sphere off gets to draw their card first and pick one of the four powers; Instinct, Courage, Strength and Speed. The other player then flips a card. Compare the chosen power on the two cards. the player with the highest power wins 2 CHI crystals. The first player to reach 6 CHI crystals wins! For the cost of 1 CHI crystal you can add your CHI power score to the chosen power for each round if you so choose.

I like this fairly quick and simple battle technique. It encourages repetition and teaches mathematics as well!

Leonidas

The figures in the new Chima sets are so detailed, not just in the torso and head prints, but the helmets as well with multiple colours used to really bring the characters to life in the Chima universe. There is a kind of Thundercats vibe coming from Leonidas, which some of the AFOL's will probably appreciate. The staff is ridiculously long as you can see from the first shot, yet comes with some great pearl gold pieces.

The printing on Leonidas is exceptional.His leg printing, all the way down to paws looks great, kind of a gladiator vibe I guess, but very cool.

The design of the mane is quite streamlined, in keeping with substantial speed, or just a penchant for excessive hair product usage , either way very slick!

Let's take a look under the helmet, so to speak.

Leonidas looks a little disorientated...

Back view including the second head print, now he looks even more concussed! I guess driving these speedorz can really take it out of you.

King of the Jungle!

The Speedorz molded piece is fully printed and no stickers to be found. The addition of the two rockets on the back helps to allow the speedorz to sit level on the floor, and looks pretty cool.

Thundercats are go!

The ripcord will slot in on either side of the wheel allowing left and right-handed kids easy playability. It pulls through quite easily and really gets up a lot of speed.

Progress build shot

With one side of the build complete and the target done you can see just how stable the model design is. The set doesn't even look like toppling over.

I am quite taken by the nice design on the lion head statue, very striking.

Completed build

What a cool looking set, packed full of movement and interaction. The Lion head statue is nicely brick-built, whilst the addition of some jungle rock and shubery adds a nice feel to the other side of the obstacle. The obstacle is quite stable and allows the central point to pivot quite easily ensuring that when you speedorz does strike it, it will turn and drop the zamor sphere.

You can see there is a little bit of angle each way before the zamor sphere is displaced, meaning you will need to get some speed up to ensure you displodge it.

Spare parts

Just the usual array of spare cheese, teeth and pins you come to expect, but of note is the 1x1 plate. 1x1 round plate is often added as spare and it seems now 1x1 square plate might also be too.

Conclusion

What a fun way to get people playing with Chima sets, incorporating a similar movement mechanic to the Ninjago spinners yet with directional control, I can see kids really enjoying trying to aim the speedorz at the obstacle course in order to continue the character storylines, let alone inspiring creative minds to design more elaborate jumps and obstacles to keep them amused. As an adult, I imagine I will be finding pieces all over the house, having already lost the zamor sphere under the couch, there is no telling where the next missing parts will turn up. Possibly the only thing I found difficult was after pulling the ripcord, controlling the direction the speedorz took off in was pretty tricky, perhaps I was getting up too much speed? Still good fun to send Leonidas hurtling across the floor though!

Summary review

Playability: 10/10 (How could it not get a top score in this category, along with the cards and the speedorz, you also have the obstacle to negotiate.)

Design: 9/10 (I like the simplicity, yet functionality and aesthetics of the design. You not only get a great set, but the designing of the lion statue is quite appealing.)

Price: ?/10 (Hard to say, as I am unsure of the retail price, yet if set close to the price of the spinner packs, kids will go crazy for this and the other two sets.)

Overall: 9.5/10 (As I only have the Playability and Design to go off, we come in with a pretty good score for what is a fun, interactive set and workable game mechanics that aren't too difficult to learn.)

I gave it a 9.5 based on my Review Score Card. How about you?

Thanks for taking the time to look through this review and I hope you have enjoyed the launch of the Chima sets. Will it be as successful as Ninjago? I think it is quite likely, when you through in an interesting game mechanic, beautifully detailed figures and nicely designed sets, it has to get LEGO builders excited!

I look forward to any comments and criticisms you may have.

Thanks for looking and voting.

I Scream Clone.

[WhiteFang]

Dear all,

The special exclusive Legends Of Chima review is completed and reviewed by ISC.

This review is now officially fit for public viewing. Please feel free to leave your thoughts.

WhiteFang

[Purpearljellyblob]

Thanks for the review!

I can see TLC has put in great efforts in designing those cards, those pictures looked fantastic!

[The Cobra]

I rate it average. The waterfall is s nice but very simple, there are too many colors for such a small set (wouldn't the hammer-and-ball look better in different colors?), and Leonidas needs some sleep.

If he was one of the baddies I wouldn't mind for his dizzy look, but he's supposed to protect our crystals!

[Clone OPatra]

Thanks for the review! I really quite like the waterfall - LEGO is doing a superb job of creating an atmospheric world for Chima with these little builds in the Speedorz sets. However, the price (which I believe is 15 dollars in the US and possibly more in Europe) is tough. Not that it's wrong for what you get, since I'm sure the bike is somewhat costly to produce and you do get more parts than in Ninjago spinner sets, but it means you'd be dropping quite a bit of cash to collect these things.

I also despise the Leonidas figure, and it's making me think twice about getting the small croc set. His torso and leg printing is great, and the lion helmet is a great mould, but that expression is way too dopey. It's ok to have a slightly comical character, but LEGO really took it too far on this one. Is he stoned all the time?

[Kai NRG]

This is one of my least favorite of the speedorz, both because of the (IMHO) silly looking lion and the the picture a Chi Waterfall (I was imagining something gourgous!) called up in my mind. However maybe it's not so bad! Certainly it looks easier than having to go up a ramp...

Thanks a lot for the review, now how to play makes a lot of sense - one cool feature I see is that you could easily drop either the card part or the other part, which ever suited the occasion. (Eg, this is something that could easily be played in the car (as long as you aren't the driver!) with just the cards, but then for some one who wants a less complicated game using just the vehicle and no cards would make it easier to explain.) I take it the blue ball is a bit rubbery to allow for bouncing? or is it just normal? In which case I suppose it wouldn't work as well on carpet- though that was to be expected.

Anyway this review has made me want a Speedorz (though not necessarially this one) more than ever!

[Snojd]

Of what I have seen so far I really don't like the Chima line. This lion looks completely retarded (for a lack of a better word, no offence to retarded people). But I really need to get me some of thoose chima-wings, but I can wait a year to get them in some better set/theme :)

[CaptainBermuda]

I'm sorry, but this new theme just seems like a bad rip-off of ninjago to me. Although, the figures seem very useful indeed.

[draganb]

This is just awful. From the ''waterfall'' design, RGB colors, unnecessary vehicle molds and forced gameplay.

I can definitely see how this theme can appeal to kids, god knows i had goofier toys when I was a kid. But how can anyone over 16 find this ''awesome'' is beyond me.

[Aanchir]

Love the Speedorz concept. Sure, they're more expensive than Ninjago spinners, but it also has some undeniable advantages. Each set offers unique gameplay, unlike Ninjago spinner sets which were all more or less identical in terms of gameplay. Also, Speedorz can be played with independently, rather than needing a friend to compete with, adding more straight-from-the-package appeal. Like Ninjago spinners, though, it has many advantages, like that it can be enjoyed with or without the complex gameplay rules (there's a certain inherent kinetic appeal which spinners and Speedorz alike seem to share).

This set is not the best-- I prefer "Nest Jump" and "Target Practice"-- but it still shows how much of a difference a bit of scenery makes in giving a set unique character.

One correction I should make-- although it doesn't appear on the box (or at least, not on this variant), the actual title of this set is "Chi Waterfall".

[Sirtank]

The goofy Leonidas minifigure made me hate the Lion clan right off the bat. I don't think I've ever wanted to punch a minifigure before this. The other lions look cool though, They are making me take another look at their sets,

[Masked Builder]

Wow, from close up he looks asleep! That's just great. Not sure about this figure anymore, maybe he'll look better in some of the other sets. Time will tell.

[Ace Krampus]

Take the name of one of history's all time rogue badasses and apply to this drowsy fool. For shame! Haha. Not feeling this concept at all. Or this line, for that matter.

[pedro]

Great review ISC, thanks! Not really sure this whole Speedorz thing is for me... it just seems a bit derivative. I play a lot of different styles of board and card game too and the system they've created here feels forced and lacking of depth. A shame given that the artwork used on the cards is actually really good.

This set may appeal to kids whi want to play the game but as an AFOL and seasoned player of games, not to me. I'd think about picking one up on sale for figure and parts but not at the current RRP.

[Legoboy1999]

This seems more fun than the NinjaGo spinner game as looks easier to control the bikes than the spinners. A cool thing I found out was that 'Chi' is the Chinese word that means "Natural energy of the universe"

[Corydoras]

Ugh... One of the ugliest minifigures I've ever seen. I'm really happy the theme looks so awful - I can save up some money and buy all the Ninjago sets I need.

[KurttKrueger]

Nice review, and a great little set.

My 5 year old son and myself have just spent a good half hour or so playing Speedorz before getting him off to bed. I'm ashamed to say he beat me twice! We're using the Ultimate Tournament set with Cragger and Laval.

Great fun though. We shall definitely be getting more of these!