Set Review: 70207 CHI Cragger

[Hapori Tohu]

Next on our list of Chima constraction sets to review is 70207 CHI Cragger, the crocodile prince. Although it won't be available in North America, you still have a chance to win this set by checking out the review and watching the video. Is this crazy croc worth it to add to your collection, or will he make you cry crocodile tears? You'll have to read on to find out!

 

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[xccj]

I'm not going to lie; I was hoping Cragger would have classic green armor, especially based off the brightness of it in some of the promo shots for this model. Although it's not unexpected to see it in dark green, its kind of disappointing. (Although this isn't the first time model renders have made dark green look like regular green; I remember this happening for 2004+ Bionicle sets.)

 

My other beef with Cragger is that his design, while well done, still seems very similar to last year's CHI model, with the whole hunched back thing, making this feel too much like a recolor. The gold armor does look fancy, and contrasts with the green well. And I think he pulls off utilizing the new armor and weapon design better than Laval. It's not a bad set, but since I already got Cragger last year, this one doesn't seem as necessary.

 

[Mesonak]

I quite enjoy this iteration of Cragger. I think the armored look works very well for him, although I do agree with others that him and Laval feel like mostly retreads of their prior forms.

 

-Mesonak

[Aanchir]

CHI Cragger looks remarkably elegant. I love the color scheme, the weapon, the repainted head, and the way it improves on last year's CHI Cragger (which already boasted one of the year's most imaginative builds). He got a little bit shorter and its back armor is not quite as substantial, but other than that I can't find any reason to complain (besides the complaints I have about all the figures, like my dislike for the new torso shell with pop-out CHI orb). I don't think the black feet hurt him, since it's a nice neutral color. Earth Green would have been cool, but those feet have never come in that color and this wave already boasts a pretty substantial number of recolors.

 

Those new Warm Gold armor pieces, the 4M shells appearing for the first time in Earth Green, and the various Tr. Fluore. Reddish Orange parts also make this guy quite impressive as a parts pack. The one design decision I can't quite wrap my head around is why he has spikes on his left forearm but not his right — I suppose that perhaps the designers did that to balance with the axe in his other hand, since he doesn't boast a shield like CHI Laval. It doesn't hurt him really, it's just a bit peculiar since the rest of the build is basically symmetrical (and they could have easily given him one spike per arm instead of two on one arm and none on the other).

 

On the whole, CHI Laval and CHI Cragger are probably my favorite of the new sets. Hope maybe I might win one of them in the contest! If not, I can always hope a vendor at Brickfair might have them at a good price. Otherwise, I don't expect to go out of my way to get these sets. I already have plenty of other sets on my wish list for the year, including various Hero Factory sets which boast far more pieces and far more diverse builds.

[Removed297]

If I pay some unholy sum to import one of these, it will likely be Cragger.

 

I can get my hand on some trans. blue HF elements in Crystal Beast from HF, but this fellow comes with an even amount of trans. orange HF elements, as well as some of those beautiful new armor parts, also in a hue not provided in HF sets.