Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Review: Lego 70126 CROCODILE LEGEND BEAST

Free Lego is always awesome!

I woke up and this was on the dining table.  Apparently my awesome girlfriend got it for me as an anniversary gift!  YESSS!

My other Chima Legend Beast reviews are here: Wolf, Eagle

I was targeting the Crocodile legend beast for last as I had the perception that it would be the least complicated of the whole set.  From the box picture it also looked the least impressive among the 5 available Legend Beasts.  Boy was I wrong!


From the Lego's official description:

The other Legend Beasts have been trapped in the Outlands. Rush to their rescue with Cragger, clamber onto the back of the magical Crocodile Legend Beast and fight for victory. Fend off tribal opponents with the shield and CHI-powered Royal Vengious sword. Includes Cragger minifigure with a weapon and accessory.

The Box

From the box art, as I said, this was the least impressive of the five available beasts.  No expansive wings to spread out or graceful hind legs to stretch or powerful arms to swing.  It had four stumpy legs and a mouthful of teeth.



Whoops kinda messed up this pic and I'm too lazy right now to rotate it somewhere else haha.  It just shows the back of the box.  Despite the inflated prices in official Lego outlets in Metro Manila,  I still find the Legend Beasts worth it from a price perspective.  At 699 pesos you get a ton of parts useful for other builds and if you only build the model that comes with the box well they are awesome already.



What's inside

You get two polybags of parts, an instruction manual and a sticker sheet!


Opening the box I was actually excited about getting a lot of the drab olive colored bricks from this box.

The sticker sheet provides highlights for some of the parts of the croc.



The manual is your standard Lego instruction book with a blurb at the back for other Chima sets making you want to buy more!


Below are the parts out of their polybags.

Again I am giddy about all the green bricks I get from the croc.



The Minifig

Like other Legend Beast boxes it comes with one Chima minifig.  We get Cragger with this set.

Here's his official Lego write-up:

CRAGGER
After a failed attempt at seizing control of Chima’s CHI, Cragger is now once again friends with Laval. They have teamed up to save the CHI from an enemy from the Outlands, but all is not going smoothly. Cragger has to work hard to regain the trust of his old friend, while at the same time searching for his missing father, King Crominus. Cragger hopes that, when this adventure is over, the past will be forgotten and he and Laval can be buddies, just like in the old days.

Here's Cragger without his "helmet".  Looks really ominous here.


And here he is fully kitted out with an energy shield and the Royal Vengious sword.



Building the Croc:


The first surprise for me was finding out the croc's body was split into two parts: the head and the torso itself.

It wasn't also just one long piece but a hinge piece that will allow the body to twist sideways.  AWESOME!




The first thing that you are told to build is the head section.   It was also a pleasant surprise to find the lower mouth of the croc was a printed piece and not a sticker.


Here's the other half of the croc's body.


It's beginning to take shape now.


The four stubby legs are also ready at this point.



The tail is articulated too!  Nice!



Here's the upper part of the head.  I like those reptilian eye pieces. Each Legend Beast box comes with one extra eye piece.  I kinda wished Lego just put in an extra pair so I can use them in other builds.  But the one extra is fine enough.



And the croc is complete!


Only the stickers remain to be applied.


Here's the Legend Beast Croc with stickers applied.  I was really wrong in my first assessment of this being the last set I would want from Legend Beasts.  After going through its build I now put this as one of my favorites with the Lion surprisingly now occupying the last spot out of the five beasts.



Cragger's new ride!


Here are the extra bricks in the box!  The white tooth and the dagger like piece will find a lot of use in other builds.


Here's the croc's profile!


NOM! NOM! NOM!


Cragger's ready for battle!


Legend Beast Crocodile tries to take a bite of my girlfriend's finger.





Well that's it for this build.

CONCLUSION


Free Lego is always good!  Thanks hon for the gift!

I had my misgivings about the Crocodile Legend Beast.  It was low on my priority as far as this subset was concerned.  But after building the set I have turned around completely and now consider this as one of the best in the line.

Until next time!  Everything is awesome!















Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Review: Lego 70124 EAGLE LEGEND BEAST

So I had to take care of certain stuff that bought me near Hobbes and Landes on Greenbelt 5.  I knew I should not have passed by since I couldn't resist getting the Eagle Legend Beast from the World of Chima theme.

From the official Lego shop:

Fly high with the majestic Eagle Legend Beast!

Fly across the magical kingdom of Chima with Eris to the Outlands where the Legend Beasts have been captured. Use the CHIGlaxxor axe to keep Scorm, King of Scorpions, at bay and unleash the Eagle Legend Beast to help defeat him. Place Eris onto the flying Beast’s back and surge into the sky. Includes Eris minifigure with a weapon and accessory.


The Box



The bright and colorful box of the Legend Beasts just draws you in.



The back of the box shos you the other Legend Beasts so that you go back to the store and  buy them too! :)   Yep it costs 699 pesos in Hobbes and Landes and most other official Lego distributors in the PH.  I got an 8% discount because of my Team Hobbes card and a cash payment that brought the cost down to about 640 pesos.





The Contents of the Box

 The box had two polybags of parts, the instruction manual and a sticker sheet.


The manual is your standard Lego manual showing a step-by-step guide for constructing the Eagle.


The sticker sheet isn't too complex and shows feather highlights for the main Eagle model.


Here are the parts out of their polybags.  I look forward to using most of the parts for future mecha MOCs (My Own Creations - basically original Lego creations).  The wing/feather pieces provide a lot of possibilities for robot/angel wings in future builds.   The legs, limb pieces and hinges of the Eagle also provide for lots of future building options.



The Minifig - Eris

Eris is a member of the Eagle tribe in the world of Chima.

Here's her  official Lego write-up:

While many Eagle Tribe members can be a bit  "airheaded," Eris is always extremely focused and quick-witted, which is probably why she spends more time with the earth-bound creatures (like Laval) than those who live in the clouds. She loves adventures and puzzles, and can spin a yarn like no other creature. She is also an extremely strategic fighter. What she lacks in strength she makes up for with smarts. You have to fight Eris with both your body AND your mind because she always has a trick or two up her wings. She's never mean-spirited... unless provoked. Typically, she's the first to lend a hand, and the last to leave a friend in need. You can always count on Eris. Just don’t let her corner you and tell you jokes – a lot of them aren't as funny as she thinks they are.


Here's the minifig sans the accessories:


The head has dual printing but for the life of me I cannot discern the difference between the two face prints.  The torso section also has a nice backprint.



Here's Eris in full battle gear with her CHIGlaxxor axe and energy shield
 

Here's Eris seen from the back. I really like the construction of her wings and this makes it possible to make custom minifigs of angels and winged superheroes.



Building the Eagle

You start out with the core body frame for the Eagle.


Then the attachments for the wings and tail are done.


Here's a close up of the head.  I like the brick they use for making the beak as well as the eye bricks.


Here's the unfinished legs of the Eagle:


And here are the legs with the claws attached.


The extra pieces left over after building the kit.  I wish there was another eye piece though.



The finished bird.

Here's the finished kit without any stickers attached.  The Eagle is preparing for flight.


It's an awesome model, especially when the wings and claws are spread out.


A view from the back.

Profile of the eagle on top of Lego boxes.


Eris and her Eagle Legend Beast ready for action!







And here with the stickers applied.



 And one final look of Eris and her Eagle.



In conclusion
This is my second Legend Beast set.  The first one was the Wolf which was a gift from my girlfriend. I'll put up that review in a future post along with the still unposted review of Gorzan's Gorilla Striker.

It's taking all my willpower not to grab all the sets in this particular series.  The Legend Beast sets offer a satisfying build experience and the parts that you get are useful for future projects.

For more on Chima you can go here

Until next time everything is awesome!