LEGO Legends of Chima: Razcal's Glider #70000

I'm a casual LEGO collector.  I say casual because for one I already buy and collect a lot of other things.  I also don't buy more because of the higher price tag on most sets.  However I still love to browse the building block aisle when I'm at Target or Walmart just to see what is currently on the shelves.  A few times a year I'll even buy a set that catches my eye.

I grew up with the Town / City theme and it has always been my favorite.  The few sets I still own hail from that theme.  I love the other themes that LEGO comes up with, but I've never really attempted to collect much of those non-City sets.  I liked the past Castle sets with the dwarves and trolls and last year's Dino theme was fantastic, but I only bought one or two sets from each theme.  2013 brings yet another new theme and I'm afraid this one really has captivated me.  Legend of Chima.  So awesome.

I think I may have seen a glimpse of this new theme in a catalog I received in the mail, but I didn't really pay it much attention.  However on a recent trip to Walmart I saw most of these new sets on the shelves and I was in awe.  During my free time later that evening (i.e. - after the wife & kids were in bed!) I headed over to Lego.com to check out what this new Legend of Chima was all about.

Basically the premise of the story is a world where animals have lived together in harmony in the Kingdom of Chima.  However all is not as it was anymore as the different animal tribes are in battle against each other - fighting over the Kingdom's natural resource, Chi, which is their source of life.  Like a lot of fantasy situations this resource is just as dangerous (in the wrong hands).  The lions were appointed guardians of Chi after they were the first animal tribe to drink from the ancient pool of Chi.  Of course the other animal tribes weren't happy and chaos as ensued across the land.

There is a lot more to the story, but you should get the point.  What is really cool about this new theme are the mini figures of course.  And the new vehicles are pretty cool looking as well.  After browsing the website and looking at the various products both online and in store, I'm getting a major Battle Beasts / Beast Saga vibe.  This is a good thing...well for me at least.  At this point there was no way I could turn back.  I had to grab at least one set to see if my excitement was authentic or if I was just over hyping these in my mind.  Like a lot of you that may be on the fence when it comes to a new theme, I grabbed the smallest (cheapest) set for my trial run - Razcal's Glider.

As we take a look at this set please keep in mind that in my excitement to get this up on the blog, all photos were taken with my phone.

Alright.  Look at this beautiful blue packaging.  I love it.  Something I noticed while standing in the store was the upper right corner is different from set to set.  Each set has it's own animal pictured in the corner that is most appropriate for the set - in this case a raven.

In typical LEGO fashion the back of the box shows off the model and it's action features.  In this case a launching chain type weapon to still Chi from the other animal tribes!

  

The main draw for many will be mini figure(s).  I wasn't sure at first how the animal heads would be done.  Would they be solid like some of the past non-human figures or would they be more like masks or helmets?  As it turns out the animal heads are more helmet like, but it they look fantastic.  Most of the figures have shoulder and chest armor that fits on the upper torso.  The flat rounded blue piece I'm assuming is a small piece of Chi.  Perhaps this powers the armor or the weapons?  The wings are done by two small pieces that fit on the back of the armor.  I believe these are the same wings that the flying mummies used in the Pharoah's Quest sets.

  

After seeing the animal helmet I figured the actual head piece wouldn't have much detail.  I was wrong.  Of course the head piece would need some good eyes since they show throw the helmet piece, but to see the level of detail along with a painted beak was unexpected.  Flip the head around and you go from an evil stare to a bloodshot look of surprise (or is that insanity?).  Of course the rest of the body sports some nice paint apps.  The talons on the toes are a nice touch.

Razcal's weapon is comprised of 5 pieces.  It looks pretty fierce in his hands and it's a nice touch over a sword or pistol or some other kind of conventional weapon.  This weapon will break down and be stored on his glider, but more on that later.

Razcal's Glider is modeled after a raven and I have to say looks pretty nice.  The mixture of black and gray with splashes of red and purple looks really good.  The question I keep asking myself is why would a raven creature that has wings need a flying vehicle?  According to LEGO's website the kingdom of Chima is quite large and the vehicles are needed to cover the expansive grounds.

Look at the cockpit and you'll see that the steering wheel is actually a small bone.  Nice.  On the back of the glider sits a Chi crystal that I assume powers the glider.  If you look at the "tail feathers" you may notice the two purple pieces are actually the blades to Razcal's weapon.  The other section of the weapon attaches to the side opposite the chain.

The glider's beak is actually cast out of a softer plastic.  I don't ever remember assembling a LEGO set that had soft plastic pieces before.  I'm sure this was done because of child safety requirements.  I love how they incorporated red translucent pieces to resemble the eyes of the raven.  Just underneath the front of the glider you'll see what looks like a missile.  You actually flick this piece and a small rod with a chain attached launches from the rear.  From the back of the box this looks as if it is used to steal Chi crystals from their enemies.

The claws underneath the glider along with the wings are all moveable and positionable to your liking.  So far this is the smallest set (minus the coming poly bag sets) released, but don't let it's small size deter you from checking it out.  I believe this is the only set that the Razcal mini figure currently appears in so if you want all of the figures, then you may have to eventually pick up this set.

I like what LEGO is doing with this theme and if I can afford to I'll be picking up more sets in the near future.