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Chima Constraction Sets Scrapped for 2014


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After Toy Fair this year many people asked why we didn't have any pictures of the Chima constraction sets, or ultra builds as some call them. The answer was that they were not on display in New York, despite having been shown at Nuremberg earlier in the year. So I began a quest to get an official answer as to why that was. While this information is not final and may change, it would appear that this year's Chima constraction sets are not going to be released in order for LEGO to focus on its other themes. Do not expect to see them on store shelves in North America or any region. If and when I receive any updates to this, I'll be sure to let you all know, but that's the way things are looking right now.

 

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That is too bad and I do hope that they actually come out. From what I saw of them online, they had some new parts and the large saber-tooth tiger set looked really neat.

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What. The. Heck. Seriously. Why cancel sets at such a finalized stage? Why show them to the public in the first place? None of this makes sense to me.

 

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Yeah, it's not like they were exactly in early stages of production- the sets were apparently finalized. That's really unfortunate, hopefully they change their minds and release them, at least at some point or another.

 

I also hope this doesn't indicate a lack of faith by Lego in constraction themes (as suggested by Hero Factory's use of minifigures and extremely limited media output).

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I do find it strange that they cancelled/postponed/whatever it after they had done so much work on it, but:

 

This will probably be an unpopular opinion here. Personally, I'm actually kind of excited, in a way, about this. For one, I didn't like the first line of Chima constraction sets, but, for two, it's not like LEGO is saying that they're cancelling them because they just decided not to. They're cancelling them so they can focus on other things. And those other things might be interesting.

 

Now I say all of this with a pinch of salt, because I don't like to see wasted work, and that's what it's looking like these sets will be. They put untold manhours (not to speak of the money) into this, and to see it cancelled is a bit of a shame.

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To clarify, because I've heard some confusion on this elsewhere, this information comes from LEGO, and none of it is my opinion.

 

The LEGO Group is made up of many companies in different countries and regions, and each of those companies have different departments. Sometimes this makes communication within the group difficult, from what I've heard.

 

I reached out to several sources within the company, and one let me know they received a "vague answer" that the sets had been scrapped. As far as the person I talked to is aware, the sets will not be released, but there is always a chance that they do not have all of the information.

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I surely hope that they release them (even if LEGO IS NOT happy with the designs ) because a ton of those parts loo great for MOC-ing, oh BTW has something like this ever happened with LEGO in the last 20 years if so tell me.

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What also really sucks is all the new pieces that they designed will kind of go to waste because they won't end up appearing much or at all (unless they are used in future sets, which is not guaranteed). For instance, the Queen Beast Hero Factory set has one of the new armor pieces which are used extensively in the new Chima figures, and I think Queen Beast is the only Hero Factory set to include that piece. If they're not going to release the Chima sets, then what's the point of designing this whole new piece if they hardly end up using it? Not to mention all the pieces exclusive to those Chima sets, like all the trans-blue parts that they made, may never see the light of day.

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Well, several people at my house are going to be quite disappointed by this. Really, I could understand just having no constraction sets this year, but unveiling no less than seven apparently finalized sets and then deciding not to release them? That's an uncharacteristically shabby move for LEGO to pull.

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I guess Lego doesn't think constraction figures are a viable source of profit, anymore. They'll probably cancel the 2015 line, too.

I don't think we should make assumptions. If constraction figures weren't profitable, why would they make them for Chima in the first place?

 

It could be that they're not a good fit for Chima, which targets little kids, and action figures might appeal to a slightly higher target audience. :shrugs:

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What also really sucks is all the new pieces that they designed will kind of go to waste because they won't end up appearing much or at all (unless they are used in future sets, which is not guaranteed). For instance, the Queen Beast Hero Factory set has one of the new armor pieces which are used extensively in the new Chima figures, and I think Queen Beast is the only Hero Factory set to include that piece. If they're not going to release the Chima sets, then what's the point of designing this whole new piece if they hardly end up using it? Not to mention all the pieces exclusive to those Chima sets, like all the trans-blue parts that they made, may never see the light of day.

Well, there's still plenty of opportunity to use a lot of those parts in other themes in in the future. Only the molded heads and torso shells were incredibly Chima-specific. Even in this year's non-constraction Legends of Chima lineup, we're seeing a LOT of constraction parts. So the LEGO Group could still get their money's worth out of most of the molds they've actually gone ahead and produced.

 

 

I guess Lego doesn't think constraction figures are a viable source of profit, anymore. They'll probably cancel the 2015 line, too.

I don't think we should make assumptions. If constraction figures weren't profitable, why would they make them for Chima in the first place?

 

It could be that they're not a good fit for Chima, which targets little kids, and action figures might appeal to a slightly higher target audience. :shrugs:

 

Or it could be that they are worried about the Chima constraction sets diverting attention from the non-constraction Legends of Chima lineup. There could be any number of reasons besides a failure of the constraction category in general, and there's no reason to jump to conclusions.

 

Overall, I'm extremely perplexed by this decision, and somewhat disappointed. At the same time, I was not especially looking forward to the new Legends of Chima constraction sets as far as personal use is concerned. The new Hero Factory sets for the summer offer much more unique and diverse builds. The Chima constraction sets were definitely decent figures, but not especially diverse ones, and most of their value for me would have just been in new parts and recolors — if I had ended up deciding to buy any of them at all.

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But... the clear fists... the clear medium-length arm pieces...

 

I hope LEGO reverses this decision. I can't say I liked the Chima constraction figures as models, but they were a wondrous spring of recolored parts originally introduced in Hero Factory.

 

Still, they may have their reasons. The only Chima constraction kits I've picked up were two heavily discounted Worriz figures, and if my reluctance to buy them is reflective of a larger group, then maybe they just aren't selling as well as LEGO would like.

 

Ah, well, at least I still have Crystal Beast to look forward to.

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I guess Lego doesn't think constraction figures are a viable source of profit, anymore. They'll probably cancel the 2015 line, too.

I don't think we should make assumptions. If constraction figures weren't profitable, why would they make them for Chima in the first place?

 

It could be that they're not a good fit for Chima, which targets little kids, and action figures might appeal to a slightly higher target audience. :shrugs:

 

 

While I'm not disagreeing with you, I might bring up that LEGO has also decreased the amount (perhaps to zero, I don't know) Hero Factory constraction figures. This, quite possibly, is why NAM is bringing this up.

 

But still, I'm not to sure that LEGO thinks constraction isn't a source of profit anymore. (gah that's a double negative) Bionicle, after all, to bring up the oft-referenced cliché, brought LEGO out of financial troubles. Then again, times have changed considerably since 2000-2001.

 

So really, I'm not sure what to think. I guess I'll hold out on any final judgement until LEGO actually announces more information.

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I guess Lego doesn't think constraction figures are a viable source of profit, anymore. They'll probably cancel the 2015 line, too.

I don't think we should make assumptions. If constraction figures weren't profitable, why would they make them for Chima in the first place?

 

It could be that they're not a good fit for Chima, which targets little kids, and action figures might appeal to a slightly higher target audience. :shrugs:

 

While I'm not disagreeing with you, I might bring up that LEGO has also decreased the amount (perhaps to zero, I don't know) Hero Factory constraction figures. This, quite possibly, is why NAM is bringing this up.

 

But still, I'm not to sure that LEGO thinks constraction isn't a source of profit anymore. (gah that's a double negative) Bionicle, after all, to bring up the oft-referenced cliché, brought LEGO out of financial troubles. Then again, times have changed considerably since 2000-2001.

 

So really, I'm not sure what to think. I guess I'll hold out on any final judgement until LEGO actually announces more information.

 

Why don't you think this year's 16 Hero Factory sets count as constraction? Particularly the six beast sets?

 

It's true that the individual hero characters are not really constraction figures, but the mechs they pilot could probably still be considered such, particularly the humanoid ones. They're still fully-articulated figures. They represent vehicles rather than characters, but that's just as true of any Gundam action figure.

 

The LEGO Group is in better financial straits now, so they don't have to rely on constraction as much as they did in the early naughts when BIONICLE was their only extremely successful in-house IP, but just because they don't rely on constraction like they once did doesn't mean the category is doing badly. There are fewer Technic sets this year than there are Hero Factory sets, and looking back, that's been the case for years (of course, during some of those years some of the Technic sets were absorbed into other themes like BIONICLE and Racers, so the number of sets with actual Technic branding might not be representative of the whole category). Still, Technic is one of the LEGO Group's core building platforms.

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Clearly none of us saw this coming. It's not often in this prosperous time for the company that cancellations occur. This is no real loss to me, though I understand the disappointment it has brought some.

 

Personally I wonder whether this decision relates only to Chima or signals a decline of some kind in overall constraction.

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At any rate, I hope we get the parts somewhere in other sets. Those were some of the coolest new pieces that I've seen in a long time.

Yes, The Chi Plates Alone made a great new piece..although as with the BIONICLE prototypes that BZP members have Found/Purchased it is possible that other members may get access to the parts/sets in the 2014 Chima sets. On a separate note could this mean that the new 2015 construction line may be canceled?

 

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While this news is a bummer for sure, I don't think this is anything to worry about regarding the viability of constraction in general. The move to minifigs in HF sets was not a move made out of an attempt to appeal to system fans and boost constraction sales- indeed it was actually done to help boost system sales by introducing primarily constraction fans to a greater system presence and help them "graduate" to the larger LEGO system product lineup.

 

I actually talked to Keith from the CEE team at Cascade at length about constraction, and while HF does not have the sales presence BIONICIE did, it had retained more LEGO fans and moved them into system better than BIONICLE ever did, and as such, he said it was his understanding gene current constraction system would be around for a long time, whether under the HF banner ir another line down the road.

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At any rate, I hope we get the parts somewhere in other sets. Those were some of the coolest new pieces that I've seen in a long time.

Yes, The Chi Plates Alone made a great new piece..although as with the BIONICLE prototypes that BZP members have Found/Purchased it is possible that other members may get access to the parts/sets in the 2014 Chima sets. On a separate note could this mean that the new 2015 construction line may be canceled?

 

-Tahukan TTVM

 

I found the CHI-releasing chest plates to be one of the weakest new part designs of the whole lineup, to be perfectly honest. They had exactly two connection points — the fewest of any Hero Factory shell ever. And one of them was near-useless for anything other than holding a Zamor sphere. Furthermore, the gaping hole in the chest when a CHI sphere was not plugged into it looks incredibly awkward. Overall, I would have much preferred a chest piece with more connection points that would look complete with or without a CHI orb — sort of like the actual armor pieces from the minifigures.

 

The ornate silver weapons and the curvy gold shoulder armor from Laval, Cragger, Fluminox, and Panthar were much more exciting to me, as were many of the recolors. Those parts seem to have real potential. Thankfully we know that the latter is definitely still going to be appearing in sets, though it won't be nearly as cheap to accumulate as it would have been if these sets were released. The former is still up in the air, though it's a part I'm much more prepared to do without, since its ornate and decorative style somewhat limits its application to fantasy-inspired models. The ice/fire feather pieces from CHI Vardy and CHI Fluminox also were not terribly enticing for me, as their blended colors and limited connection points reduce their versatility somewhat, but at the same time they would still have meant more building opportunities.

 

Really, there's not much of a bright side to this abrupt news, as far as we fans are concerned. :(

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I wanted to use those sleek gold plates and the gold monster feet for my Rocka battle Machine revamp. I guess the feet are out of the question, but... ehhh... if I'm really lucky, I'll probably be able to get two of the plates on bricklink (each from a different person, I suppose) and be able to use those to cover the knees. Hopefully such pieces will be more common in upcoming lines.

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It is very sad that nobody is going to buy these sets at all. It's like the fifth Bionicle movie and that 2012 Ninjago Serpentine Train set being cancelled, too. I hope that the new sets will come sometime later, if Lego could have the time to focus on them, but will they?:( Anyway, I think the sets are cancelled because Lego also wants to save some money this year.

 

Oh, by the way, where did this information come from, also anyway? Just curious.

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It is very sad that nobody is going to buy these sets at all. It's like the fifth Bionicle movie and that 2012 Ninjago Serpentine Train set being cancelled, too. I hope that the new sets will come sometime later, if Lego could have the time to focus on them, but will they? :( Anyway,I think the sets are cancelled because Lego also wants to save some money this year.

 

Oh, by the way, where did this information come from, also anyway? Just curious.

 

The 2012 Ninjago Serpentine Train was never intended to be a set. From what I recall, Mark Stafford said he built it just as proof of concept for what the Fangpyre vehicles would look like after being transformed (in that case, from the Emerald Night). One set that WAS planned for 2012 that wasn't released was Lloyd's Treehouse Fortress, but it never progressed as far in development as these sets. What's atypical about these Chima sets is that they were actually finalized before cancellation—up to and including being displayed at two Toy Fairs, getting a designer video, and showing up on retailers' websites (suggesting that retailers had already placed orders).

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  • 2 weeks later...

I may be a bit too optimistic, at least compared to the rest of the reactions I've seen, but I just kinda figure they're delaying them rather than scrapping all that work altogether. Like Aanchir said, a lot of the new pieces could be re-purposed, at the very least. This could very well be a good thing too, for all we know they'll take the extra time to work on the constraction sets some more and release improved models in the future. That being said, I am still disappointed by this news, 'cause those sets did look really neat. Oh well, such is business. There's plenty of new stuff on the horizon ^^

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm gonna be skeptical at best until we get something more concrete. I wish others would do the same.

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