Chima looks like a terrible place to live...

 

  • Chima looks like a terrible place to live...

    Posted by Huw, 31 Dec 2012 09:21. Filed under Miscellaneous.

    Legends of Chima

    My UK LEGO Club magazines arrived today. The boys' one is heavily pushing Chima, what with this fold-out image on the cover, a mini-comic and a lenticular 3D sticker.

    It appears to be a terrible place to live, doesn't it, what with all that squabbling going on! The comic sheds more light on the story. Apparently the lions store the 'power of the CHI' inside their temple and share it out equally to all the other animal tribes. But, it seems, Cragger, the crocodile prince, has planned a revolt against the lions. There's no reason given as to why he's planning it other than 'he wants to control all of the CHI in Chima'. Here are images of the comic's cover and inside cover for your perusal and edification.


    35 comments, latest one posted 4 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by goldfish in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2012 09:56

That's a great poster image. I must get back on the normal mag, as lego changed it to the friends one as it was registered in my daughters name.

Posted by mumsie45 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 10:00

wish they just did 1 mag with everyting in it ={

Posted by paul_merton in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2012 10:14

"Not for all the CHI in Chima" sounds remarkably similar to "Not for all the tea in China"

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2012 10:17

LOL, I thought the same :-)

Posted by typo in United States, 31 Dec 2012 10:19

Reminds me of the Thundercats...

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2012 10:28

I think it is rather ironic how Legends of Chima was being panned by most (including myself) prior to the launch, but now the majority are quite enjoying it (again, including myself)!

I really need to get around to renewing my subscription to the Lego club magazine, while it rarely has much going on, things like this rather nice image occasionally come up and I don't want to miss out on them in future.

Posted by Brickarmor in United States, 31 Dec 2012 10:36

Very droll, Huw.

Posted by HELLRAZR_28 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 10:41

Who wouldn't to control all of the CHI in Chima?

And who came up with the name Chima? For months, when reading about this line I thought it was called 'Legends of China.'

Posted by paanjang16 in Malaysia, 31 Dec 2012 10:49

I feel part of the picture is a little 'empty'. I wish the picture is like the old Classic pirate or Castle diorama where there are tens of minifigs attacking a castle/pirates and blue coats fighting each other etc. I feel those dioramas are more dramatic.

To me Chima borrows heavily from Thundercats; the "Thundertank", a young cub fighting for his land and for his father (I wonder if his father, the senior Lion gets killed?) and a long power sword which he has. Then his enemies are the crocs which are reptiles.

What is missing to complete the picture is a Cheetah, Tiger and Panther minifigs.

Posted by Graysmith in Sweden, 31 Dec 2012 10:50

It's a shame the (non-Speedorz) Chima sets don't include any scenery/shrubbery to set the scene. LEGO talks of this "magical world of untamed nature" yet there's not much of that to be found in the sets. It could've just been something simple like what some of the Dino sets had too (see 5882 and 5884), which wouldn't have added very much to the piece count but would've done a lot to help the world-building aspect of it.

Posted by Sethro3 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 11:16

This theme definitely isn't for me. Some of the new elements may come in handy, but I don't see myself buying any of the sets. With that said, why is the Lion always the noble figure in a setting. I don't mind lions, but why not another animal for once. I highly doubt they would put a reptile as the good guys in a set; however, a lion will just as readily rip off your face as any of the villains. That's me speaking realistically. As a LEGO enthusiast, I understand why they did it this way.

I would actually prefer an official Thundercats theme instead of this fill-in. Which they just came out with a new series, that would have been a perfect time to do it. Now it's too late.

Posted by ant1234lego in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2012 11:41

I think chima will be poplour but the tigers look like the one from thundercats but the crocs are epic and gorillas just brillant

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 31 Dec 2012 12:53

I think it's REALLY funny that LEGO claims this BS of being "non-violent" and releases a really violent poster. All you see is lasers and swords!

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 31 Dec 2012 13:10

@The Green Brick Giant: LEGO's anti-war policy has NOTHING to do with swords and lasers, so the only BS is from people who have the bizarre idea that TLG is against all things fighting and that their sets should reflect this. Essentially, TLG's policy states that modern military combat will not be featured in sets. Now, unless the US has been covertly engineering animal super-soldiers and laser swords, this doesn't even come close to violating the "non-violence" policies TLG has in effect.

Now, in past themes, TLG has avoided violence in various ways. BIONICLE and Knight's Kingdom characters were originally not allowed to get in swordfights in official media, so instead they fired elemental powers or generic energy blasts from their weapons. With that said, TLG's policies have changed over the years, and I can't think of a single occasion in recent years where they've claimed lasers and swordfights are too violent for them. Ever since a couple years back when TLG actually put their war/violence policies on the books, TLG has had a strict line in the sand that they have not yet crossed. But the fact that the line is now visible means they can now skirt the edge of it without being accused of hypocrisy-- except from the few who still assume that TLG has some nebulous policy against all semblance of war or violence.

Meanwhile, as far as this epic battle scene is concerned, it's no different than the battle scenes TLG has been putting in magazines for years for themes like Ninjago, BIONICLE, and Star Wars. It's a good way to fill a two-page spread while advertising as many sets as possible.

On a side note, I think that black-haired, goggled lion in the front is new. Wonder what his name is. Bet it starts with an "L". =P

Posted by SI Builder in Canada, 31 Dec 2012 13:32

Although the Chima theme appears less than appealing to me, I must say the comic included looks like there was far more time and effort put into both the design and publication than any other Lego promotional comic book I have received, shame on the gross material.

Right after such of the latest with animals in the sic-fi genre, (Angry Birds Star Wars) (shudder), I do not think throwing this massive unfamiliar theme at vulnerable children is a good idea.

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 31 Dec 2012 13:47

This is from the MBA website if you want to upload your pictures to the site. The only officially LEGO wording I could find on violence.

Violence
As the LEGO Group wishes to maintain their child-friendly Image, any uploaded material that contains cruelty or explicit violence will be rejected by moderation.?

Doesn't say "Unless the explicit violence is animal on animal, then it's perfectly fine".

Posted by chrismajor2124 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 14:20

I gotta agree with Huw. Chima dones't look like great real estate. :D

Posted by Deinonychus in United States, 31 Dec 2012 14:34

Best site headline ever :D

"Now, unless the US has been covertly engineering animal super-soldiers and laser swords, this doesn't even come close to violating the "non-violence" policies TLG has in effect."

All I can say is, we had better be. I've got not rocket pack or flying car going into the year 2013, so I insist on having some bloody zoo-soldiers instead.

Posted by Iustus in United States, 31 Dec 2012 15:03

The parts look great, the theme looks a bit childish though. Like for kindergartners.

Posted by Modok in United States, 31 Dec 2012 15:37

^ I don't know about it *looking* childish, but the lore itself is definitely a step down from Ninjago. Still, there's plenty of time to develop it further.

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 31 Dec 2012 15:59

LEGO makes sets for 5-7 year olds, so yes they would love if kindergarteners buy these sets. lol

Interestingly enough the USA poster is different. Mine just has the main lion guy holding his sword up. Also says the cartoon will premiere in a few weeks, so we should get some nice backstory.

Posted by legofanatic2414 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 16:35

Wait if the Lions are friends with every else and its ONLY the crocodiles who want the CHI, then why are the other animals beating each other up when they could team up with the Lions and defeat the crocodiles? I'm thinking into this too much. :P

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 17:30

"But, it seems, Cragger, the crocodile prince, has planned a revolt against the lions. There's no reason given as to why he's planning it other than 'he wants to control all of the CHI in Chima'."

Oh what deep motivation!!

Posted by jteisberg in United States, 31 Dec 2012 17:42

i got a diferent poster!

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 31 Dec 2012 18:32

There needs to be some sort of ulterior motive to the crocodiles' actions... like, maybe one of them is part of another, darker race, trying to control the Chi?

The battle seems like this:
Crocodiles attack the lions; the eagles help the lions. The ravens and wolves then help the crocodiles. It's all about treaties and alliances. =P

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 31 Dec 2012 18:36

@The Green Brick Giant: "Cruelty and excessive violence" is an extremely vague statement. What's "excessive" to some would certainly not be "excessive" to the team moderating LEGO MBA. Some of the actual MBA kits include laser guns in them, either handheld or mounted to vehicles-- I think that's a pretty good indication that the MBA site would follow about the same anti-violence guidelines as any other part of The LEGO Group, even if they don't phrase them as specifically as, say, LEGO Cuusoo.

@Dragon_Master_48: Did you expect anything different from a tiny blurb in this kind of promotional media? Don't forget that in BIONICLE it took [i]eight years[/i] to find out what the main villain was really planning, and I don't remember Ninjago going into any depth about Lord Garmadon's motivation during its first year outside the books and TV premiere. "Control the world's energy source" is actually a much deeper motivation than it would take to get kids intrigued-- "rule the world" has usually sufficed in the past.

I don't think we can expect any kind of deep storytelling from Chima until the show and books are released, any more than we could with any other theme. Perhaps Cragger has deeper intentions that he's simply not disclosing yet. Or perhaps he really does just want to be the one determining who gets Chi and who doesn't. All that remains to be seen.

Posted by Bricknave in United States, 31 Dec 2012 19:03

The only thing that bothers me so far is that there are three 'bad guy' tribes but only two 'good guy' tribes. Hopefully they will add a 'good guy' aquatic tribe to balance things out.

Posted by Zackula in United States, 31 Dec 2012 20:34

^Or gorillas.

Posted by Zordboy in Australia, 01 Jan 2013 01:34

I'm just glad I'm not the only person who, during the initial rumour stage, thought this line was about the Legends of China, and that would be about historical Asian themes.

Chima does look like a pretty scary place. But... I just ordered the Horizon Express (aka, the TGV engine. I know it's not officially called the TGV, but can we call it that anyway? I mean, it so is), and my order was over $100, so I got a free polybag Chima set. So it looks like I started collecting Chima stuff without even realising it :).

Posted by robodee in United Kingdom, 01 Jan 2013 02:33

How do you get this magazine? All we got was the Lego Club Jr one?

Posted by audiobean in Singapore, 01 Jan 2013 02:44

It does look terrible.. I tried to imagine a full range of Chima sitting in my son's room with his existing Lego and whether we will feel proud about it. The answer is no. The whole design of Chima has more 'duh' factor than 'wow' factor (still the same feeling after much info to date). We may just give it away if this is ever happening.. Ha.

And, if you cover up the Lego logo in the poster, it looks just like any other action toys.. Luckily Lego has more themes for me to choose in 2013.

Posted by murphquake in United States, 01 Jan 2013 03:55

@Aanchir i think that's Longtooth from #70005 & #70113

@audiobean you'll probably feel a lot different after you've seen the quality of the builds of some of the sets. I've got 3 of the construction sets and 2 speedorz based sets built and i'm really impressed with the work Mark Stafford & company did with this theme. The lion head builds especially are really nice, but they did a fantastic job of capturing organic animal details in the models while making them still feel mechanical.

Posted by TekkamanRaiden in Canada, 01 Jan 2013 23:05

I just realized this series has a bit of a Thundercats vibe to it.

Posted by ant1234lego in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2013 03:48

I agree to Tekkamanraiden the lions look like the ones from thundercats but the creatures others don't.

Posted by cinemajay in United States, 03 Jan 2013 13:25

I have to admit, I was REALLY skeptical about Chima, but the sets look fabulous. I'll echo the sentiment that they have a Thundercats look to them. When I saw Eris' Eagle Interceptor: http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Eris-Eagle-Interceptor-70003

...it made me think first of the Talon Fighter from Masters of the Universe http://www.he-man.org/collecting/toy.php?id=563

...but I agree it's also got a strong resemblence to Hawk's fighter from Buck Rogers: http://www.tvacres.com/images/spacecraft_hawk_fighter4.jpg

I love the colors and the design, must have!

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