Review Review - 70000 Razcal's Glider

[LuxorV]

I must admit I wasn't very convinced by this Legends of Chima theme when we first heard of it and saw some images. But, as it often happens, it has grown on me over time, and I started the year with a LEGO order including a couple of the smaller sets and one of the medium sized ones, to try it out, and eventually re-use them as parts packs.

Let's see how it goes for set 70000 Razcal's Glider, the smallest of the line (excluding polybags).

Theme: Legends of Chima

Set name: Razcal's Glider

Set Number: 70000

Price: 11.99 $, 7.99 £, 9.99 Euro

Pieces: 109 (+ 8 extras)

Minifigures: 1

Year of release: 2013

Protect the CHI with Razcal’s Glider!

Soar high above the mystical world of Chima in Razcal’s Glider to help Razcal guard the CHI. Fend off other tribes with the Raven Glider’s beak and grabbing claws, or capture them with the chain. Protect the Raven tribe’s CHI! Includes Razcal minifigure and a buildable weapon.

• Includes Razcal minifigure

• Features CHI, folding wings, grabbing legs and a chain with handle

• Fold the wings for different flying modes!

• Grab with the claws!

• Includes Razcal's buildable blade

• Capture rival tribe members with the chain!

• Protect the Raven tribe’s CHI!

• Measures over 2" (6cm) high, 10" (26cm) long and 7" (18cm) wide

Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset

The Box

Front

This small set has an almost square box (size 14 x 12 x 4.3 centimetres, or 5.52 x 4.73 x 1.69 inches).

The front of the box has a very eye-catching representation of the model in action on a Chima landscape background. The upper rim sports Razcal's snout as well as the standard set info, theme logo and LEGO logo. The lower left corner has the character shot we have come to know, first in Star Wars sets, and later in many other themes as well.

The colours are vibrant and very evocative of action and adventure in (maybe over, here) a jungle environment.

Back

The back is a patchwork of small shots showing the model's features, with and unusual amount of text describing almost all of them. In the upper right corner, the character can be seen in action pose; notice that while Razcal's weapon is 'buildable', as described on the box itself.

Side(s)

The only interesting side of the box (the others sport the usual legal and safety writings) is the upper one, with Razcal's 1:1 mug shot.

Contents

Inside

The box contains two bags of different sizes, two instruction booklets and a no sticker sheet. Not bad for a set this size.

The parts assortment is dominated by darker colours, mainly Black and Dark Red, with some Dark Bley and Purple in the mix. Blue, Bley, White, Brown and some varied Transparent hues complete the palette.

New pieces

New parts included in this small set are: Black Tile 1 x 2 with White Fangs and Dark Red Pattern, Black and Purple Wing 9L with Stylized Feathers, Light Bley Barb Large Flexible (Claw, Horn), and Trans Light Blue Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 4 Point (CHI crystal) [curiously absent from the Brickset inventory page].

Rare parts

Parts collectors and MOCers will be interested in the following rare parts also: Blue Pneumatic Hose Connector with Axle Connector (only in 2 other sets so far: 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400 and 9448 Samurai Mech), and Purple Minifig, Weapon Crescent Blade, Serrated with Bar (only in 5 other sets so far: 4 Ninjago 2012 sets and 70100 Ring of Fire).

The usual extra bits include small Technic parts, some round plates and tiles, a cheese slope in Purple, a small bone and a horn, a robot arm and a small 1x1 tile.

Instructions

As already mentioned, the instructions are divided into 2 small booklets, as seems to be common in smaller sets nowadays.

The instructions are standard fare for a the current trend. Most pages include one step that uses 1 or 2 pieces at a time (here we have a majestic 3 parts in one step!). I'm sure this explains the need for 2 booklets in such a small set as this one.

The parts' summary is split in two non-adjacent pages. I suppose someone in Billund had a hard time trying to squeeze all the parts in one page, or to spread them on the two pages to make them look more full. In the end he/she must have give up, and left almost one quarter of the second page blank.

I'll skip the ad pages shots since those are perfect replicas of the one in all the other Legends of Chima sets.

Minifigure

In this pic you can see the main parts of the Razcal minifigure. Not shown here are the armour piece and the feathered wings that are attached to it.

As we know, LEGO designers put a lot of effort in these figures, and I think they hit the mark pretty well. I really like this Raven figure, which sports fantastic details and is not too specialised to be re-used in other themes, especially Castle and Fantasy, in my opinion.

From the side, we can see how the head piece is shaped to be reminiscent of the actual animal it is based on. I think the LEGO designers did a great job with these parts and they add a lot to the LoC theme. Also, notice the discussed piercing and the 'gold plating' of Razcal's beak.

A better shot of the helmet and full figure from the front, without the armour.

The above pictures show the difference between the two sides of the dual face head, and the back printing of the torso. Personally, I think the second expression is somewhat comical. It looks like Razcal just discovered a big mistake in the Ravens' accounts. [For those who did not read his bios on the LoC site, Razcal is the Raven Tribe accountant.]

Building

Start

We start by building the base of the cockpit, with a mix of Black and Dark Red for the main structure and a bit of Brown to simulate a leathery seat (do Ravens skin their enemies from the other Tribes?).

By the end of book one, we have a general idea of the overall shape of the glider. I really like the beak and the tail support part. The very strange bit is the bone used as a control lever.

Adding limbs

Next phase includes the addition of supports for the talons and the use of few technic parts for the 'hidden' play feature of this set.

Yup, the flick-fire missile piece attached to the chain is the 'hidden' play feature. It is stored under the rear end of the glider and, when you push the front cannon (or trans-red cone), it poops pops out!

Finished set

By adding the wings and tail parts, we complete the set. The overall feel is pretty nice, and it is quite swoosh-able, too. The only con is the wing parts have a slightly loose connection, and may rotate a bit when provoked (i.e., when friction with the air is barely more than a gentile breeze).

Action ready?

Indeed, that of a thief is no easy life. Imagine being a burglar who approaches his prey on a (more or less) stealth glider. You land, dismount, get ready to attack... And have to stop, pick up few odds and ends from the glider, combine them together, and only then you have your weapon ready.

But wait, things get even worse when you have to take flight again: you're running, hunted by those you stole from, and you'd need to take off as fast as possible, only, you need to take apart your weapon, re-attach the pieces to the glider in order to have it in working conditions, and only then you can go!

See, no easy life at all.

Final comments

Overall, this is a nice little set, full of interesting parts (mainly the new wing pieces and printed parts), with a fair amount of play value and a really excellent (albeit weird for some) figure.

Design & Colour scheme – 9/10 (Very well proportioned and efficient. The colour scheme works well both for a raven shaped vehicle and its stealth/thief function.)

Minifig – 10/10 (Superb printing and funny animal structure make this character very collection worthy.)

Parts – 8/10 (Nice variety of useful parts, a discreet amount of new pieces, including two cool printed ones. Not bad at all for such a small set.)

Playability – 9/10 (The play features are funny both for kids and not-too-serious adults. I spent some time swooshing the set around and trying the various positions allowed to the control surfaces of the wings.)

Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used. I especially like the beak and tail shapes.)

Price – 10/10 (The pieces/price ratio is good, and the addition of the very detailed minifig make this a very good set to buy.)

Overall: 9/10 Excellent

As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome!

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[Vindicare]

Great review, Luxor! Nice descriptions and photos really the set in every way. The 2 booklets really annoyed me about this set though. These figs are just awesome!

[howie28]

2 booklets!! That's crazy! But other than that nice review of a nice set.

[Shakar]

Very good review, I got this set last Saturday and I'm very happy with it. Not too complex, but perfect for its price point. And of course I love Razcal.

Having two instruction booklets annoyed me a bit, however. I really don't think it was needed.

[Hrw-Amen]

Two booklets does seem a bit much for such a small set. It does have some nice bits in it though, the printed jagged teeth 1x2 tile for example.