Review: 70212 CHI Sir Fangar

[VBBN]

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Set name: CHI Sir Fangar

Set number: 70212

Piece Count: 97

Year Released: 2014

Price: $19.99 USD, 17,99 EUR (?)

Useful Links:

Hello everyone and welcome to a review of CHI Sir Fangar. Before I begin, as always I want to thank the people at Lego and Eurobricks staff who made it possible for me to bring you guys these reviews.

My gratitude for this opportunity is furthered due to an unfortunate bit of news that we have all heard by this point: The 2014 Chima Constraction sets will not be released in North America. I have the prices listed above in both EUR and USD, however this is for completion sake and does not mean anything.

Sir Fangar is the second larger Chima CHI set we have gotten with this wave. In the first wave of Chima CHI sets in 2013 we didn't get any of these larger, 17,99 EUR priced figures. What has lego done to justify this price tag? Read on to find out!

Bag Front

Of all of the packaging art, I think Sir Fangar (And for the rest of the review, I'll likely just refer to him as Fangar. He doesn't have a top hat nor a monocle, I don't know who he is thinking he's a sir ) Anyway, Fangar does have the addition of a black cape, and the color creates a striking difference against the ice-themed background. At first glance it's hard to tell he has those blue spikes on his shoulders, but rest assured they are there and there is a feature associated with them.

Bag Back

The back shows Fangar, as well as a silhouetted Fluminox, and the set features. These included the orb that falls out, the zamor launcher, and the moving spikes.

It's worth noting that there is a very interesting combiner at the bottom, and that each set has a different combiner displayed. For each of the smaller sets, they combine with the larger set of their respective team (Either Fluminox or Fangar) to create a sort of powered up form. That combo model will use their head to give the appearance that they are the mind of the form. For Fangar and Fluminox, they combine with one smaller figure in a similar fashion.

Instructions

His instructions have the same image as the front of the bag. Nothing else of particular interest here.

Bones

Fangar has a nice selection of bones recolored in trans light blue, as well as the fist.

Head

His head is two pieces, giving him a movable jaw. The lower jaw piece is the same as Panthars.

Head Together

Overall I quite like his head sculpt. There does appear to be some scarring near the back of his jaw, but no paint apps to make it all that apparent.

Spike and Torso Armor

The new torso armor, which has a space to put in the chi orb. If you push the section of plastic beneath the holw, the orb will drop out. It doesn't launch, it's just a means of getting the orb out- The armor holds it in very tightly.

Also of note is a new spike piece, very similar in size to the piece that is used as Cragger and Panthar's tails.

Recolor/Interesting parts

The new printed piece that all of the ice sets include is seen here. Also there is a white beast foot, something I was really looking forward to getting. And, while not new, I have the zamor sphere launcher pictured here. It's nice to see the return of a part that I have a lot of fond memories of (2006 was one of those years) and it's interesting to see it used with the new era of building techniques.

CHI Orbs

The Chi Orb is a white mixed with trans light blue, which overall looks extremely awesome- very similar to a mini planet or something. The second sphere is a solid blue, which we have seen in the past, but it's always worth getting more.

Cape

His cape is quite large and has two pin holes as the connection points.

Torso

His torso begins with the larger torso variant. You build a shoulder extension similar to Mungus, and also create a neat spiked structure. You see one blue pin here, the final construction has two of them, they are what will be used to attach his cape.

Spike Mechanism

Similar to the wings of Fluminox, Fangar has these spikes, which you can move up or down using the flex tube.

Legs and Cape added

Added on to the body. His legs use four friction sockets like Fluminox, but in this case I think they end up looking better and less awkward. The longer trans-light blue bone is on his right leg, hidden behind that large pearl dark gray armor plate.

Bulking up

More armor is added on, as well as his large claw. It's a design we have seen a lot by now, and it's getting rather boring- Let's hope 2015 has a newer claw design.

Weapon

The weapon is a sort of staff-launcher combination, utilizing the zamor sphere launcher.

Front

The completed figure overall looks well armored, however he is missing armor on his lower arms.

Side

His spike mechanism doesn't stick out quite as badly as the wings on Fluminox due to the cape.

Back(Spikes down)

Here is a look at the spikes in a downward position. As you can see they are outside of the cape.

Back(Spikes Up)

I don't really see a point in the spikes being down in the first place, and I think he looks a lot better overall with them up.

Pose 1

Posing him can take a bit of work, the cap can get in the way and his arms can clash with the chest armor.

Pose 2

I quite like the completed weapon, it's large and menacing, and a staff-launcher combination ends up looking better than the weapon Fluminox ended up with (mainly because his weapon is hard to pose with)

Pose 3

The cape really helps his overall look, but it is odd just how flat it sits on his back. I would have preferred a cape design similar to the minifigures, where it bends at the top to give it some shape and life.

Overall, Sir Fangar is a great villain. He has a very sinister look, with the cape, spikes, a savage head design, and a claw that means business. As a parts pack, there are certainly some key parts here, such as the cape, the white beast feet, some trans light blue bones, and the new armor piece. But does he justify a 17,99 EUR price tag? I think so. If you enjoyed sets such as Furno XL, this guy is in a very similar league. He is a well built figure who utilized most pieces in useful ways. With Fluminox, He felt like an overly tall figure with a needless wing gimmick and an overly complicated weapon. Sir Fangar, on the other hand, is a more well rounded figure, with a weapon that makes sense and looks good, and his mechanism is well built in to his design to give him a sinister look. He still suffers from some proportional issues, with lego attempting to justify this larger price tag by making a "bigger" toy, and while it's still not great, I like him somewhat more than Fluminox.

What do you think?

VBBN

[Aanchir]

While I think the way this figure's shoulders are extended is clever, I am not terribly fond of how it is integrated with the rest of the build. Having the shoulders stick out so far from the torso just looks weird when the chest is the same width as on any of the other figures. Furno XL, Stormer XL, and CHI Gorzan had the chest appropriately beefed up to match the rest of the design, giving their overall physiques more of a Y or V shape than an awkward T shape. The cape and ribs help a bit — Mungus, unfortunately, doesn't have either, so his shoulders end up looking quite strange.

Looking at the figure from side view, the torso looks too thin for my tastes, and the cape hanging limp between the torso and not-quite-wings does not help matters one bit. Again, Stormer XL, Furno XL, and CHI Gorzan all had beefier torsos, with the shoulders set back a bit more from the hips and at least a little bit of back armor. If somehow the cape could be folded OVER the not-quite-wings, then it would not only make his silhouette more imposing from the side, but it would also make the unfolding function look that much more dramatic.

The staff is nice, if rather basic. The head is nice and fearsome. But on the whole, this doesn't end up looking like a character I'd really want to pay $20 for.

[Takanuinuva]

I love this set. Both design wise and as a parts pack. I'll be getting him Asap.

One thing I wonder though. Why did they use the dark brown tri connectors pieces. They now exist in black in Toxikita's Helicopter. That's really the only flaw I see with this set. That and the asymmetry.

[Lyichir]

I love this set. Both design wise and as a parts pack. I'll be getting him Asap.

One thing I wonder though. Why did they use the dark brown tri connectors pieces. They now exist in black in Toxikita's Helicopter. That's really the only flaw I see with this set. That and the asymmetry.

Personally, I like the dark brown on this set. It gives the impression that the horns/spikes/whatever they are are ornamental, rather than being part of his actual body.

As for my own impressions on the set, it may be my favorite of this year's Chima constraction sets. I had already liked the look of it, but this review made me notice even more details, like his exposed ribs. And unlike CHI Mungus, the broad shoulders really work for this guy.

[Mesonak]

I thoroughly enjoy the look of this figure! He strikes some very imposing... poses, comes with an excellent array of pieces, and overall looks pretty fantastic. That being said, as is the case with most of the ice villains, I don't find some of the asymmetrical design choices (like the limb colors) all too visually appealing, and I wish he had some lower arm armor.

Oh well. I'll probably get him.

dat cape tho

[Csacsa234]

Thanks for the review! After reading your review of Fluminox, ITt was a great delight seeing that Fangar is awesome!. No doubt He worth the money more. He is a great fig with nice build and look. The mechanism on the back is not so eye-catching because it blends in with the capes's color.and those spikes are really wicked! I have to say that this is one of the best Chima constraction sets.

After all reviews, I think that the Ice figures are far more unique and interesting than the Fire figs.

[Agent Fusion]

Certainly my favourite of this wave.

[Kalhiki]

So super jelly. So sad they're not getting a North America release. Love that shoulder build. And the trans parts are exquisite.

[ZORK64]

I think Sir Fangar is my favourite set of this bunch. His overall build and design is pretty neat and really gives off this evil vibe. Also, being mostly white and trans-blue sure helps here too (I'm pretty sure I already established by now what my favourite colors are for constraction sets - the 2nd Brain Attack wave was the best wave ever IMHO for this reason ).

[Shakar]

As far as this guy is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw him for the first time at TF, but I don't think he has a place in my HFverse, unlike Fluminox.

The torso design is what I was interested in the most. Overall, it's pretty streamlined and clever IMO, I'll try it in the next days.

What surprises me the most is the tr. light blue bone on his right leg (oh Lego Lego, why the colour assymetry here? The arms don't have that!). I assumed it was the single hole one, but it's the longer one with two holes instead. This is..actually..better! Since I wanted to use those on some fairly large MOCs, this will boost their size and allow for some interesting ideas (like Stormer XL's lower legs).

As usual, thanks for the review.

[TheOneVeyronian]

This review does nothing but make me anticipate the arrival of my copy of Fangar even more. Definitely one of my favourites I think, though I think I will be buying two, using the second one to mod the first one (and also to get a spare cape - I can never have enough capes for my creations!) and I'll probably also change out the spike mechanism for a more articulate and aesthtically pleasing (to me) version. I think I'll also bulk out the back to make the cape look less flat. It's not unusual for me to buy two copies of a set and mod them into one figure though, especially if the figure is asymmetrical.

Great review as always VBBN, I've been looking forward to reading reviews of these

[Sir Brickalot]

It's Dark Furno XL! Hehehe. It's not actually that funny.

Anyway, I do like this set. And I may get it.

[VBBN]

I love this set. Both design wise and as a parts pack. I'll be getting him Asap.

One thing I wonder though. Why did they use the dark brown tri connectors pieces. They now exist in black in Toxikita's Helicopter. That's really the only flaw I see with this set. That and the asymmetry.

I thought of it as a unifying trait- All three sets seem to share trans light blue, white, pearl dark gray, and in this case a shade of brown/tan. It's not much, but I don't mind it as much as I thought I might

[beartrapper]

Yes please!