LuxorV

After some re-styling, the FABULAND Theatre is almost ready to open again. Come and see the new look of one of the most popular meeting places in FABULAND! The yellowed marble of the front has been sanded and now shines clean and polished. The addition of Greek and oriental elements, while criticised by some, adds to the appeal of the building, according to the majority. While the main hall still needs few finishing touches, the foyer is open and the bar can serve you delicious clam cream pies. Major Caroline Caw checks on the workers on the way home from the market. Not all of them are working as good and orderly as she could wish. Charlie Crocodile is testing the microphone and speakers, while Harry Horse gives the stage a final sweep. The soundproof panels on the wall grant perfect acoustics, and the emergency lights at the foot of the wall satisfy even Capt. Brandon Bulldog's strict safety standards. As you can see, the working crew did a very good job with the lighting plant, and they also mounted a mobile giant flat screen, which is used for adding sub-titles or display voting results during the many contests held in the theatre. I hope you like this building and will join us for the premiere in a few weeks! Few additional shots can be found in this BS folder (once moderated).

When Obadiah Tusk unleashed his FABU Monger on FABULAND, billionaire Tony Seastark had to don his armour and become super hero Iron Beak to stop him. This is my first experiment with low light photography and alternate lighting sources, by the way. A better look at the FABU monger:

The only alternatives I can find are the PoP Keffiyeh (not exactly his style, but it could work), or the Ninjago Zane Wrap (though it has golden accents).

Maybe I missed some previous post, but would you mind sharing a bit more of introduction? Maybe post a topic to say hello to the community? I think that would be appreciated.

Umm... Is she a male, now?

Before / After

Thanks for sharing, master3019. I'm moving this to the Minifig Customisation Workshop.

I hear someone uses toothpaste to cover areas you do not want the paint to stick to, when spray painting models. Then it should be easy enough to remove it once the rest of the paint is dry. Not sure it would work as well in this case, though.

It's nice to have more female feedback on this set, as we males tend to see things from a pieces and minidolls' aesthetic point of view and/or to hype the cute factor in Friends sets. Also thanks to Maya for the more in-depth explanation of the karategi name.

Eurobricks Forum member and LEGO customiser the enigma that is badger shares news of the latest release by BrickArms: Custom Crates. (Click on the images above to join the discussions, or browse the Minifig Customisation Workshop to learn more about the LEGO customisers' world)

Thanks for all the comments and feedback. I think one of the key pros of this set is the fact it's made up of a number of small builds that can be arranged and used to customise the play scene just like minifig and minidoll parts allow customisation of the characters. It's definitely something TLG designers have been working on more and more in recent years (especially in City/Town and Action sets, I think). @ TrumpetKing67 - Thanks. Not that you mention it, I should have known, too; I just forgot about it.

I'm not really into Friends, but I find some of the sets very appealing (some strange colour combinations apart). So far, I always got smaller sets, and this one is no exception. My choice was primarily driven by the echo of Ninjago in this Karate Class, especially in the Dojo door/glass part (which missed in the original Ninjago release) and the kendo mask. The new Friends kimono print is well done, too. But let's start the review before I write everything in the intro! Theme: Friends Set name: Emma's Karate Class Set Number: 41002 Price: 9.99 $, 9.99 £, 9.99 Euro Pieces: 93 (+ 8 extras) Minidolls: 1 Year of release: 2013 Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset The Box Front The box is almost square (15.5 x 14 centimetres, or 6.11 x 5.52 inches) and shows the many sub parts of the set arranged in a dojo display. The background is pretty varied and integrates the set with fictional wooden floor, full-body window and pastel green walls with a nice sakura decoration. The LEGO and Friends logos, Friends girls group shot and typical Friends 'curtains' complete the layout. Back The back shows some details of the set, like Emma wielding a katana and sporting a (quite disproportionate without the armour) kendo mask, or relaxing with a sip of water after a long exercises session, or even admiring her latest trophy and shiny medal. In the upper right portion of the back we see the usual Friends minidoll assembly instructions and Emma's mug shot and tag name, for those who did not recognise her in the new kimono version. The lower left corner brings on this theme, by showing a group shot with name tags for the five main characters in the Friends line. Sides Not mush to say here, as the sides sport the usual LEGO legal stuff and safety warnings. What I find interesting is the choice of the piece depicted in the 1:1 shot: instead of the expected minidoll, it's a nice lavender bag. Contents Inside Upon opening the box, we find two plastic bags and one instructions booklet. No stickers in this set! Once we open the bags, too, we get a cascade of parts and two smaller bags containing the minidoll's parts. Notice how there isn't a dominant colour proper, but a mix of pastel hues with some more common brown, tan and white parts. New pieces There is just one new part in this small set: Black Tile 1 x 2 with White Lavender Friends Accessories Hair Decoration, Bow with Heart, Long Ribbon and Pin. But do not let it discourage you: we'll see in a moment that the lack of new moulds is more than amended for by the abundance of rare parts. Re-colours Re-colours include: Minifig, Headgear Ninjago Kendo Helmet (Men) (a re-colour of sorts, being this just a variant of the Ninjago version, but without the white trimming of the visor) and Medium Lavender Friends Accessories Basket. Rare parts Parts collectors and MOCers will be interested in the following rare parts also: Bright Light Orange Brick 1 x 2 (only available in 2 other sets: 3938 Andrea's Bunny House from 2012 and 41004 Rehearsal Stage from 2013), Bright Light Orange Tile 2 x 4 (only available in 2 other sets: 3184 Adventure Camper from 2012 and 41004 Rehearsal Stage from 2013), Bright Pink Tile 1 x 1 with Groove (only in 5 sets so far), Dark Pink Slope, Inverted 45 2 x 1 (only available in 1 other set: 3184 Adventure Camper from 2012), Magenta Slope 33 3 x 1 (only available in 2 other sets from 2008), Medium Azure Brick 2 x 4 (only in 4 Friends sets so far), Medium Lavender Plate 2 x 4 (only available in 1 other set: 3185 Summer Riding Camp from 2012), Medium Lavender Plate 1 x 8 (only in 4 Friends sets so far), and Glass for Window 1 x 4 x 6 with Asian Characters on White Background Pattern (only in other 3 Ninjago sets from 2011, among which the fabulous 2507 Fire Temple). Extra pieces We get 8 extra parts, including the usual spare small round plates and tiles plus one ribbon and one katana. It would seem people at TLG are trying to sneak an extra weapon in each set these days! Minidoll I really like the new kimono version of the Friends minidoll. It is a nice conversion of the CMF series 1 karate man, and adds some variety to the girls' activities. I can see people complaining it is too specialised to be used in many other ways (we'll see if this is true in a moment), but, personally, I think a bit of specialisation is welcome in a theme which is likely to go on for quite some time in the future. Since the Friends' apparel is quite poor in the trousers' compartment, it is nice to have a cheap set including this part. Moreover, the kimono blouse (I know it must have a proper name in Japanese, but I'll keep this simple) works pretty well in other contexts, too. The only real con I see for this minidoll is the fact that it can't be used for Andrea and all the other dark skinned Friends characters. Maybe we'll see new versions in the next waves? Or will it be a one-shot minidoll? Instructions Only one instructions booklet in this set, thankfully. As always, the front cover uses the same image and art as the front of the box. The instructions are standard fare for a Friends set. Lavender background with a faint decoration in the lower outer corner of the pages, no distractions and simple pieces call outs as usual. The parts list covers two pages and shows the variety of colours and small pieces used in this set. Of course, the extra parts are not listed here. The last pages display a collection of sets from this line. If I'm not mistaken, they are all from this year's first wave. On the left we see the smaller sets, one for each girl (Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie), while on the right there are the bigger sets, with a repetition of Mia, Olivia and Stephanie's smaller ones to fill the page. Building Start This little set is composed of a number of smaller builds. We start with the bonsai, a nice little model which adds an 'oriental' feel to the scene with quite few pieces and simple but effective techniques. Karate chop! Next up is the 'karate chop station' by positioning a trio of connected parts on a non-connecting base, we have a chop-able board for Emma to work her tricks on. I'd like to add a small remark: since the board is a bit too high in the position depicted in the instructions, I suggest lowering it on the second row of supports. It looks more natural this way. Meditation corner With a printed door/window and few more parts, LEGO designers build a really nice looking corner where Emma can 'sit' (as we know, Friends minidolls can't actually use connections when sitting like normal LEGO minifigures do) and relax or meditate between an exercise run and the next. The addition of the water bottle is also a nice touch. Trophy wall This combination of a trophy wall and a bench is also well done. The use of the hinge brick allows a number of different arrangements girls (and kids in general) can play with. Finished set Front Here we have all the mini-models together. As you can see, the open bench part helps in creating a more 'enclosed' feel to our little dojo. Bonus images Girls at war Nya didn't like Emma's mushy attitude towards her boyfriend during their kendo lessons. Final comments Overall, this is a really nice set, with some creative use of parts and especially a good selection of mini-models that girls/kids in general can arrange to create their scenes. Design & Colour scheme – 9/10 (As said, nice little builds that work together to form a complete scenery. The colour choice is, of course, nowhere near that of a real life dojo [at least, I do not think it is], but it is in line with the general Friends theme.) Minidoll – 9/10 (A good rendition of the classic kimono in Friends format. The rare trousers, here in white, will be an useful addition to any collection. Again, the only con is it is limited in use to light skinned characters.) Parts – 9/10 (Being this a small set, the parts' variety is not superlative, but the amount of rare pieces, plus the small price, make this set a must buy for any parts collector.) Playability – 10/10 (I can envision hundreds of scenes that kids will spend hours enacting with this little set.) Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used, like the use of the hinge brick to allow some re-styling of the trophy wall-bench assemble.) Price – 10/10 (€ 9.99 for 93 parts, many of which rare, is very near the optimum these days, and quite better than most of the small sets I remember from last year, or even this year's selection.) Overall: 9.2/10 Excellent As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

You know, I built some Starship Troopers (mostly book based) MOCs a long time ago (it was 2007; in fact, it's been so long I did not remember I made 3 separate topics for them), when the best hard suits were those from Aquanauts and such likes. Anyway, if you'd like to have a look (and forgive the not so good quality), here they are: drop-pods and a little vig, two more vigs and a LDD version of the Rodger Yound (movie style), and the bugs. Nowadays, I'd probably go with the CMF space marines and use more specialised parts for the aliens, not to mention a re-design of the drop-pods. Maybe, some day...

In fact, I'm going with its normal head for now, but I'm hoping to improve it someday.

I just recently got hold of the CMF series 9 Battle Mech, and I noticed the parts (torso legs and possibly head) look interesting for an Arctic Iron Man suit, it just needs a new helmet (maybe the upcoming War Machine one would work, though it is Dark Bley): (Photo from Fangy's review)

Thank you. I haven't noticed any colour issue with the Dark Blue parts, but it is possible that different batches get parts from different factories and end up mixed. Thanks for your insight. Thank you. On my laptop is quite evident, too. I think it's mostly a matter of screen settings.

We have had the MT-201 Ultra-Drill Walker, the Ultra Sonic Raider and now we have the Ultra Striker. It would seem LEGO designers associate the image of more or less behemoth-sized tank-like vehicles in their action themes with the word 'Ultra'. Will Equila's ride live up to the role? Theme: Legends of Chima [Exclusive] Set name: Equila's Ultra Striker Set Number: 70501 Price: 39.99 $, 39.99 £, 39.99 Euro Pieces: 339 (+ 8 extras) Minifigures: 3 Year of release: 2013 Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset This is the biggest Legends of Chima set I got so far. I must admit the main focus for me were the great figures. I especially like the Dark Blue Eagle (Eglor) and the Black Wolf (Wilhurt). Moreover, the vehicle has appealing aesthetics and looks like a good parts pack. That said, let's have a closer look to this flying tank used by an Eagle tribe in the middle of a mythical jungle world. The Box Front The front of the box shows a shot of the set in action. We have Wilhurt escaping with a CHI crystal in front of a rampaging Ultra Striker, while Eglor monitors the situation from the sky. All of which happens on a jungle background. I'd like to focus your attention on the background for a moment, as I noticed what looks like a fairly rare attention to detail in the photo composition. Look at the right side of the scene: the forest is blurred, due to the speed of the running wolf and the chasing eagles. Now look at the left side: the jungle in the distance is still, as can be expected by something far enough from the action. I'm not sure if this strategy has been implemented by LEGO box designers in other cases, but I seem to remember mostly static backgrounds with the action and blurs limited to the foreground set and minifigs only. Logos and set info complete the art, as always. Back The back shows the various play features of the set. We can have Wilhurt steal the CHI from a parked and unguarded Ultra Striker, with Equila getting all work up when he finds out, or we can suppose the eagle was hiding in the cockpit (not much space for that, but we'll talk about it later), and make him jump out at the last moment to stop the cunning wolf. If the wolf actually succeeds to get away, we can hunt him down with the Ultra Sticker and shoot our huge and painful missiles at him (try not to miss because you have only two shots!). Now come in the two most interesting features of the set: we can separate the cockpit from the main body and have it fly on its own (just like in Eris' Interceptor and Ninjago Ultra Sonic Rider's set); or, we can 'unfold' our wings and have the entire tank take flight. A flying tank (and not just a controlled fall one like in the latest A-Team film)! How cool is that? Sides The sides of the box sport the usual logos and legal notices. The upper side also shows a detailed view of the three characters with their weapons, with a 1:1 scaled mug shot of Equila. Contents Inside Upon opening the box, we find 3 numbered bags of parts, and another bag containing two rubber tracks (big version), two flexible ribbed hoses and one huge rubber tyre. The instruction booklets and sticker sheet will be discussed in the relevant section later on. Out of the bags As you can see in this quite jumbled mix of parts, the main colours are Blue and White, with minor Dark Blue, Azure, Yellow and Bley additions. Few Flat Silver, Pearl Gold, Red and (mainly big) Black parts complete the palette. New pieces New parts included in this small set are: Dark Azure and Dark Blue Wing 9L with Stylized Feathers, Light Bley Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Studs on 1 Side (I consider this new from this year, even if it appeared in 79003 An Unexpected Gathering in late 2012), Pearl Gold Minifig, Weapon Sword, Double Blade with Bar Holder, and Trans Light Blue Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 4 Point (CHI crystal). The minifigures' parts also fall in this category, but are listed separately (see relevant section). Rare parts Parts collectors and MOCers will be interested in the following rare parts also: Blue Wedge, Plate 4 x 6 Cut Corners (returning in this colour for the first time after 10 years), and Trans-Clear Hose, Flexible Ribbed with 8mm Ends, 19L with Blue Center Pattern (finally crossing from Hero Factory to System LEGO sets via the Legends of Chima theme). Extra parts The usual bits and spares include: two blue half pins, one black pin with friction, a transparent light blue small round tile, one yellow half bush, one red bush, one pearl gold big teeth/claw and one flat silver spear. Colour consistency While most parts have good colour consistency, I noticed that the Yellow Wedge 3 x 4 with Stud Notches has a strangely lighter hue with respect to the other parts in the same colour (these are standard LEGO Yellow). I tried to photograph it, but I'm not sure it is evident in the pic; human eyes are still better than cameras' sensors in detecting slight colour variations. Minifigures The three minifigures included in this set are Equila (the Ultra Striker owner), his friend and ballistics expert Eglor, and fierce Wolf hunter Wilhurt. Here you can see the assortment of parts used to build them. Of course, the Eagles have nice body armours and look quite noble (as the myth depicts them, especially in American tradition). By comparison, Wilhurt looks like a wild un-civilized hunter (which I suppose is the aim of TLG designers with the Wolf tribe, though they gave them high tech vehicles like the speedorz and the Pack Tracker...). Here we have the figs with their accessories. I like the fact that TLG designers introduced a Dark Blue eagle to the tribe; it really adds variety. Wilhurt, too is an oddly coloured version of the mainly Bley and Dark Bley wolves. This armour part, as is now common knowledge is what allows the Chima bird charters to sport wings. I must say I like the look of it, and I appreciate that LEGO is producing more armour parts with studs on the front and back, as they allow a wider range of character customisation, and they can be used in other contexts also. Wing(s) in place. The vertical clip holds the wing bar to connect to the armour. It has been noticed that this configuration renders the figs quite bulk, and it is indeed true, but I feel it at least fits the theme well. In this front shot of the figs without armour and head piece, we can have a better look at the printing of the parts. I especially like Eglor's torso and legs, as his jump suit works really well in Dark Blue and I like the idea of a flying character wearing a jump suit, just like our air forces. Equila gets the second place in ornamentation and Wilhurt, the savage hunter ends dead last; this does not seem to make him happy at all. Looking at the facial expressions, all the characters are quite grim, but the wolf is clearly angry. Allow me a brief consideration. I've always been curious about Wilhurt's name since first I saw it. I'm wondering, is it a short version of 'He will hurt you'? It really seems possible, and I would not be surprised if, when we'll get to see him in the Legends of Chima TV series, the other wolves will be quite scared of him themselves. He seems like a lone hunter, berserker type of character, doesn't he? All three figs have printing on the back of the torso and head. I like how Wilhurt wears (or grows) a sort of fur cloak or mane on his back; it helps in adding detail to an otherwise plain part of his anatomy. Another little detail I appreciate is the fact that Eglor's second face does not wear the usual eagle goggles, but some sort of high-tech eye-glass. It fits well with his ballistics expert role in the eagle tribe. This last shot is a comparison between Equila (on the right) and Ewar (on the left; not included in this set). As it has already been mentioned on the net, the two share every single body part, with not one difference between the two except for the head piece (or mask). Equila has a tiny bit more of printing on the forehead there than Ewar. That's all. Instructions Following what seems to be the most recent LEGO policy for instructions, we have two instruction booklets. Though the set is on the medium/big side, the number of booklets is mainly due to the fact that few pieces are required for each building step, with even single-piece steps. I must admit, nonetheless, that TLG achieved a pretty good compromise with this set. The cover shows the same shot and artwork as the front of the box. The LEGO and Legends of Chima logos, set number and booklet number complete the layout. The stickers are of the clear back variety. I do not apply them, so I do not have any knowledge to share about their glue quality or the like. The only things I can say are: they look pretty neat and do not cover multiple elements. As already mentioned, the instructions are standard fare, with an almost solid sand blue background that neither distracts the eye from the build or plays havoc with colour recognition. The parts' callout neatly covers 3 pages (of which only the last two are shown in the pic above). Yep, there are quite a lot of different parts and colours in this set. The last pages, as we can easily predict, are dedicated to advertising. I decided to put here a pic of the fore last page, with the '4D Movie Xperience' ad, for those visiting LEGOLAND Discovery Centers and LEGOLAND Parks. The rest are Legends of Chima set and speedorz ads, plus the usual LEGO Club and WIN! images we have come to know (and sometimes hate) so well in the last years. Building Start The build starts with the cockpit. Nice and clean, it has a functional look to itself. The red bit will become almost invisible in the finished build. Unfortunately, TLG designers decided to use a new sticker, to apply on the yellow roof piece, for the onboard computer instead of resorting to an older printed brick. Once completed, the cockpit takes the shape of an eagle head, complete with sharp beak. The dark azure feathers serve as... ...wings for the stand-alone flight mode. I did not find the pose of the feathers in the standby mode to my taste, so I rotated them to get a sleeker look. From the back, we can see the pins that connect to cockpit to the main body of the Ultra Striker, and that serve as thrusters in the stand-alone mode, I suppose. The trans-orange bids help give this part a more interesting look, and may serve as warning light for when the cockpit manoeuvres to re-attach itself to the main body. The main body of the tank starts with a forked chassis, upon which we mount the rubber tracks and the rear giant wheel. At the end of instruction booklet one we attach the eagle claws and finish the chassis. Going up, we encounter a recent trend in LEGO sets: in a step we are required to use 4 4x2 white plates where a single 8x4 plate would have sufficed. I'm note sure if using 4 smaller parts helps in achieving better grip and sturdiness, or if this kind of move is only related to rising the piece count; it is not too clear in this case. Here are the wings (only lacking the shooters, which will be added once they are mounted on the vehicle's frame). Notice the two CHI crystals that power the Ultra Striker... ...via the trans-clear/blue ribbed hoses. I'm not familiar with Chima's mechanics and technology, but I really do not understand why the power source should be placed in the open, especially when it does not serve a second purpose as weapon and it is at the centre of a contest between the tribes. It's like advertising it and inviting any wannabe thief to try his/her hand at getting it from under your nose. Notice the yellow and red technic bricks? That's where the connectors on the back of the cockpit go. There is an 'hidden' technic axle that can be pushed from the back to make the cockpit pop out and take flight. Finished set Front By connecting the cockpit to the tank frame and adding the shooters, we complete the model. Notice how Equila has to get stripped of his wings to enter the cockpit. Now, while it's a nice idea to render the wings part of the vehicle's aesthetics and store them safely at the same time, I think I'd be quite annoyed if I had to chop off a body part to get into my car every day! Wing supports While I decided not to include side and back shots of the Ultra Striker in this review (for the simple reason that they can be found on LEGO.com with all ease), I think it can be interesting to focus our attention on some smaller details of the model. First up is the use of hinged 4x1 tiles to support the wings in flight mode. When you first assemble your set, you'll notice that the wings' connection has enough grip to keep them from falling down due to gravity. But then you have to add the shooters, which increase the wing weight in a significant way. The supports, normally hidden by the wings themselves, can then be raised and used to keep the wings in flight mode without ruining the model's aesthetics. I had to ask myself: why did TLG designers decide to go with this solution, and not use click hinges for the wings' connection in the first place? I suppose the reason is linked to the given range of mobility and destination poses the click hinges allow, which would keep the wings too high or too low in the rest position with respect to the body frame. Get yourself together, man! Wilhurt choose one of the worst moments to attack the Ultra Striker: being fairly new to this big toy, Equila is trying to link the cockpit to the tank frame, but it may take some time. All together Another consequence of the limited space inside the cockpit is that Equila has to leave his weapon behind each time he climbs onboard. Is that the real reason why Eglor accompanies him? Bonus images Job description That was when Eglor learnt why nobody wanted the 'Weapons specialist' job in the Eagle Tribe. Bed time tales When he was a cub, Wilhurt used to have nightmares about Little Red Riding Hood and her friend the Lumberjack. Bad time tales As an adult, Wilhurt instils nightmares in Little Red Riding Hood and her friend the Lumberjack. Final comments Overall, Equila' s Ultra Striker is a great set, full of play features and complete with three outstanding minifigs (for the fans of the series, at least) and an exclusive CHI-powered weapons as well as 2 CHI crystals themselves. Design & Colour scheme – 9/10 (Very well proportioned and efficient. The only con is the reduced space inside the cockpit. The colour scheme works very well, both for the eagle faction, and for a bird-like vehicle, with clear paint on the underneath and darker shades on the upper surfaces. The only strange bits are the red accents put here and there to emphasize the play features.) Minifig – 8/10 (A good selection of very detailed prints and a great attention to detail make these figs worth the extra money for this set. The only con I can see, and the reason why I lowered the grade for this voice, is that they have reduced use into other themes, with the possible exception of Eglor's jump suit.) Parts – 8/10 (Great variety of useful parts, and a reasonable amount of new pieces. I'm pretty sure will soon see many interesting MOCs using the big feathered wing pieces.) Playability – 10/10 (The movement of the tracks and rear wheel is smooth, the shooters work as good as they ever may, and the detachable cockpit is a nice [albeit not new] touch. The number of figures of opposing factions also provides ample spark for many interesting stories.) Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used, like the wing supports and talon claws.) Price – 6/10 (The main critical point in this set is its price. Given the piece count and number of figs, it should be in the same range as Eris' Interceptor and the Pack Tracker, so 5 Euros less than it is. I know this set is marked as 'Exclusive', but that does not seem reason enough to make it so price-y without an actual increase in parts count.) Overall: 8.2/10 Very good As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

Maybe you could elaborate a bit more on the concept? I'm not sure from where to where you want to paste the decal.

Seeing all the efforts TLG put into advertising and all the hype around EB and the net, I recently decided to check for myself the quality of these LEGO Legends of Chima sets. As always, when I start to look into a new theme, I chose a couple of small sets to test the ground. I suppose I'm not alone in this. Being curious about the croc minifigs, and mainly interested in the aesthetics of their unique head-piece, I decided to pick 70001 Crawley's Claw Ripper. Theme: Legends of Chima Set name: Crawley's Claw Ripper Set Number: 70001 Price: 14.99 $, 12.99 £, 14.99 Euro Pieces: 139 (+ 9 extras) Minifigures: 2 Year of release: 2013 Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset The Box Front This small set (actually the second smaller standard set of the line after 70000 Razcal's Glider) has a rectangular box (size 26 x 14 x 4.6 cm, or 10.24 x 5.52 x 1.81 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 Crawley's snout as well as the standard set info, theme logo and LEGO logo. The lower left corner has the character shots 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 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 characters can be seen in action poses; notice that while Leonidas actually has a weapon in this set, Crawley's one is not included. Sides As we are used to see, the sides sport LEGO and theme logos, legal notices, LEGO Club ads, and the 1:1 scaled mugshot of one of the characters, in this case, the proud owner of the Claw Ripper, Crawley. Contents Inside The box contains two bags of different sizes, two big tyre pieces, two rubber small tracks, the instructions and a sticker sheet (more on the latter two in the relevant section). Recoloured parts Recoloured parts are all in the new Olive Green: Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3, Slope 30 1 x 2 x 2/3, Slope, Curved 4 x 1 Double No Studs, Slope, Curved 4 x 1 No Studs, Tile 2 x 4, Vehicle, Mudguard 2 x 4 with Flared Wings and Wheel Hard Plastic with Small Cleats and Flanges. All these parts are pretty rare in this colour for now, but I'm sure we'll see lots more as Legends of Chima and other themes will use them in the future. For now, this is the cheapest set you could choose to get them. New pieces There are 2 new pieces in this set: Flat Silver Minifig, Weapon Sword, Double Blade with Bar Holder (this is the only set including this part in Flat Silver; the other two Legends of Chima sets use the Partl Gold version), and Trans Light Blue Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 4 Point (CHI crystal). Rare parts For those looking for cheap sets with rare parts, 70001 Crawley's Claw Ripper includes a couple of those too: Dark Brown Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Triple (which can be found in this colour only, from other 3 sets [1 from 2012 and 2 from 2013, like this one]), and Dark Green Window 1 x 2 x 3 Flat Front (only know from other 4 sets so far, 3 buildings from previous years and one Galaxy Squad from 2013). The usual extra bits include small Technic parts, some round plates and tiles, a cheese slope in Orange Green, horns and a lever. Instructions The instructions are divided into 2 small booklets, as seems to be common in smaller sets nowadays. In this pic, you can also see the sticker sheet. Since I do not apply stickers, you might want to take a look at it now. There are 3 stickers that go on the crocodile head/mouth of the vehicle to give it a scaly and more rough look. The instructions are standard fare for a the current trend. Most pages include one step that uses 1 or 2 pieces at a time. 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 half ofthe second page blank. In the final pages, there are a number of ads. This one is for the sets (in a classic sense) of the theme, with Cragger's flagship under the spotlight. This second ad is for the Speedorz only, which, just like Ninjago's Spinners, are considered in a separate category form standard sets. It would seem each Speedorz set has a number (in addition to the actual set number) to tell it apart from the others. You can also see the code in the lover left part of the page. It seems that by scanning the code and going to the Legends of Chima site, you can access additional media about the set. Minifigures Just a pic to show an interesting detail: while all the body parts are loose in the packages with the other pieces, Leonidas' head piece comes in a separate bag. At first I thought it was because his mane was made of the softer, rubbery plastic TLG sometimes uses. When I opened the bag, I notice this wasn't the case. I can only assume Leonidas' head piece is manufactured in another factory and shipped in his little bag to be added to the other parts at a second time. As we know, LEGO designers put a lot of effort in these figures, and I think they hit the mark pretty well. My favourite is Crawley (as I'll repeat again and again in the following paragraphs), as he looks more detailed to my eyes. It is true Leonidas has the same amount of printing, but it looks more basic and less characteristic to me, while Crawley gets a better aura of trashed wandered from his decorations. From the side, we can see how the head pieces are shaped to be reminiscent of the actual animals they are based on. I think the LEGO designers did a great job with these parts and they add a lot to the LoC theme. Both figures sport back printing, as is common in most LEGO themes lately. I like how Crawley seems to have the remains of a shirt or cloak on his right shoulder. I think it is a nice touch and it looks reminiscent of Cragger's actual ripped cloak. On the other hand, I do not particularly like the fact that his lower jaws is visible under the head piece, as I do not understand why the latter had to be that short. The above pictures show the difference between the two sides of the dual face heads. Personally, I think both faces work well for Crawley, while Leonidas first one looks like he just got served the wrong dish at the restaurant. Building We start by building the lower frame of the chassis. Then we put together the lower jaw and... ...mount it on the chassis. Notice the controls are part of this passage as well Not much in here, I just wanted to show the box containing the CHI crystal for transport. As you'll see in a little while, it will be quite hidden in the completed model. Adding some details to the rear. Upper jaw is almost finished. With the last part in position, the mouth can be seen in all it's teeth-y splendour. I really like how the designers made it so effective with comparatively few pieces. The last steps involve the addition of the tracks/claws and the roll bar. The tracks/claws combination is quite nice, actually. And they turn from the 'defence' to the 'attack' position when you move the model from froward and get back to 'defence' when you move it in reverse (or at least they should do it; for some reason, in my set only the right track changes position. The left one is always, stubbornly fixed in 'attack' mode). Crawley is ready to move on his ride and go hunt for Lions and CHI. Finished set Here we see the complete set. Not sure how safe Leonidas feels with just a sword (albeit a CHI-powered one) against this mass of steel, claws, teeth and huge tyres. Front Again, we can see how reminiscent of a real croc this vehicle is. The new Olive Green colour helps a lot, as I'm sure we wouldn't get the same feel from a Lime, Green or Bright Green version of this model. Back As I said before, the storage box is almost invisible from most angles, as it's surrounded by the cockpit and these huge tyres. Only small problem is, it is totally unguarded in the only portion of the vehicle which does not sport weapons of sorts! Have a nice meal! Leonidas learns the hard way how the Claw Ripper's mouth actually works. Bonus images Uncle Sam Not your ordinary Croc Raider... Lion Army - only the finest! Er... Never mind! Eagle or ... Egyprian plover? It's all fun and games Until you need to change a tyre. By the power of Grayskull... ...I have the power! Final comments Overall, this is a nice little set, full of interesting parts (mostly the Olive Green re-colours, but also others), with a fair amount of play value and two really excellent (albeit weird for some) figures. Design & Colour scheme – 9/10 (Very well proportioned and efficient. The colour scheme works well both for a crocodile shaped vehicle and its jungle environment.) Minifig – 10/10 (Superb printing and funny animal structure make these two very collection worthy.) Parts – 8/10 (Great variety of useful parts, a small amount of new pieces balanced by the large amount of re-coloured parts in the new Olive Green. 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 today opening and closing the croc's head and shifting the tracks between 'attack' and 'defence' positions.) Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used. I especially like the croc head and the tracks/claws combination.) Price – 10/10 (The pieces/price ratio is good, and the addition of the very detailed minifigs make this a very good set to buy.) Overall: 9/10 Excellent As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

Here's something I've been thinking of doing since I first saw the Legends of Chima croc figures. It's based on the famous 'Evolution of man' charts (and their many fun versions on the net). Hope you like it.

The grapes are from BrickWarriors.

Actually, the boot wings are made by BrickWarriors.

@ Repeter, could you please reduce the pics size to 800 pixels maximum, as per our Member Guidelines? Thank you. If you need help with re-sizing images, you can find an useful tutorial by following the link in my signature.

Please do not revive 1+ year old topics unless you have sensible contributions to add. Feel free to share your City-Town Photographs, but your one-line comment does not look very contributive. Thank you.