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Set Review: Legends of Chima 70208 Chi Panthar


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Panthar

Running through the jungle on the chase for Chi, Panthar hides in the shadows and strikes with his claws. But what happens when he powers up on some Chi? Then Chi Panthar emerges, the Chima constraction set and the subject of today's review from the buildable action figure line for the summer Legends of Chima sets. From his claws to his large, bladed weapon, Panthar can be a formidable ally...or enemy. Read, and watch, on to see what is in store for this gold and black clad Chima set, and to see how you can win one too!

 

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CF, you complain about the torso shell not fitting well with the neck construction in both the text review and the video review. This is actually because you built the set wrong. See this photo? Compare it to the very first step of the instruction booklet. The Dark Stone Grey 3M beam with center ball should be one module lower on the torso than you have it in these photos, so the "empty" hole should be overlapping the center ball on the torso beam. The set would look and function a LOT better if you corrected this error.

 

Anyway, CHI Panthar is quite cool, with just a single "energized" arm built from Tr. Fluore. Reddish Orange and Warm Gold pieces, but I'm not as fond of him as CHI Cragger or CHI Laval. First of all, the asymmetrical claws bother me. Last year's Legends of Chima constraction sets that used the same paw piece (and this year's CHI Laval) all featured TWO articulated claws, and all but CHI Gorzan featured a weapon or tool for each one. This was one of the things that impressed me most about these sets — so often, previous sets that used this paw piece featured only one articulated hand or none at all. Together with the back armor on all of the sets and the well-armored limbs, it made the $15 Chima constraction figures feel a lot more "complete" than what you might expect from a $13 Hero Factory set. This single claw and single weapon just feels less impressive to me.

 

I do have to say that I like the complex neck design (similar to both CHI Cragger sets) and the articulated claws on the feet. This set definitely has a lot of personality. Still, I feel like the new CHI Cragger and CHI Laval feel far more elegant, with their more dynamic color schemes and beefy, symmetrical armor.

 

I am intrigued by one particular design feature of this set: its yellow eyes. All the other Chima constraction sets have followed a strict rule: blue eyes for heroes, red eyes for villains. CHI Cragger's eye color even changed this year to indicate that his friendship with Laval has been restored. So CHI Panthar's yellow eyes seem quite unusual. Perhaps he is meant to be a morally ambiguous character? Chances are he will be one of the "cat guides" allied with the Phoenix Tribe, like the minifigure characters Li'ella the lioness, Tormak the tiger, and Lundor the leopard. But perhaps he is not happy with that alliance, or is using it to his own ends. I guess that a lot remains to be seen — we haven't even seen Panthar as a minifigure yet (he might be making an appearance in one of the later Speedorz sets due for release in September).

 

The set actually boasts 59 pieces, which you could find out by checking Brickset or even counting the parts in the inventory at the back of the instruction booklet, since it's not too many. But other than that and the early build error this was a good review.

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