Best Chima CCBS set?

[P~M]

What's your favorite Legends of Chima CCBS-style set? In terms of parts, aesthetic, whatever--but mostly parts, haha--what would you say your favorite is?

[fishers64]

I want to say one of the forms of Cragger is probably the objective best. The birds caught my eye more the first wave, and Chi Laval V1 and 2 are definately good, but Cragger has the unique jaw and head, so his build is more interesting. 

[Lyichir]

I think the 2014 CHI Cragger is my favorite. There are some sets that look solid and others with unique or interesting builds, but CHI Cragger does the best job of balancing both.

 

If you're personally more interested in interesting builds, CHI Sir Fangar might be more up your alley. If you just want a solid figure, CHI Worriz is a great design. But 2014 CHI Cragger is what I'd consider the most likely to give you the best of both worlds.

[The 1st Shadow]

From Wave 1, I'm gonna have to go with Cragger. Razar comes in close second, though.

 

For Wave 2, though I never got any , I'll say Mungus and Cragger. 

 

Overall, I'd say Cragger takes the cake.

[Ford]

Wave 1: Cragger. His build was just more interesting than the others and the shades of green are awesome!

 

Wave 2: Never came to America, but I always took a liking to Fluminox for some reason.

[Aanchir]

2014 CHI Cragger is the best in my book. If judging the years separately, then I'd say CHI Worriz for 2013 and CHI Cragger for 2014.

[FLYING ROBOT MANATEE]

Chi Sir fangar looks like a cool set, but chima constraction sets were only good as things to fill the gap of hf not being that good and bionicle not being around when it was discontinued, but kre-o, tenkai knights and mega bloks have some interesting builds/sets in my honest opinion

[P~M]

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions!

 

Chi Sir fangar looks like a cool set, but chima constraction sets were only good as things to fill the gap of hf not being that good and bionicle not being around when it was discontinued, but kre-o, tenkai knights and mega bloks have some interesting builds/sets in my honest opinion

I'm not entirely sure why I would ever even look at a Mega Bloks set except by complete accident when trying to find the LEGO aisle at a toy store, so that doesn't really apply, haha. Yeah, I agree that they weren't exactly the best constraction sets, but I think some of them have some pretty cool parts and designs, so that's why I was asking.

[FLYING ROBOT MANATEE]

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions!

 

Chi Sir fangar looks like a cool set, but chima constraction sets were only good as things to fill the gap of hf not being that good and bionicle not being around when it was discontinued, but kre-o, tenkai knights and mega bloks have some interesting builds/sets in my honest opinion

I'm not entirely sure why I would ever even look at a Mega Bloks set except by complete accident when trying to find the LEGO aisle at a toy store, so that doesn't really apply, haha. Yeah, I agree that they weren't exactly the best constraction sets, but I think some of them have some pretty cool parts and designs, so that's why I was asking.

I have a lot of mega bloks power rangers minifigures, kre-o transformers and tenkai knights sets and bionicle sets

[Xabla]

Cragger or the Second Laval. The ice mammoth was cool too.

[The Night's King]

Let's break this down category by category. There are, after all, so many ways...

 

Best of 2013: Laval was my favorite Chima constraction set, so he gets the gold in my book for that first wave. Eris and Gorzan coming in at second and third. Worriz and Razar weren't bad either.

 

Best of 2014: Sir Fangar all the way. Feel the FREEZE! Flame Cragger was a good step-up from the first wave Cragger. Flame Laval wasn't bad but I don't consider him an improvement from his previous incarnation, so he gets third in my book. Mungus and Fluminox both get an honorable mention.

Best Avian: Eris was definitely one of the better birds amongst the Chima ultrabuilds, with Razar coming in second and Fluminox in third with that half-baked "flap" function. Vardy was rubbish.

Best Feline: Tied between Laval 2013 and Sir Fangar, with Flame Laval in third. Panthar (a.k.a. Tormak) wasn't terrible, but he could've been done alot better.

Best Mammal: Laval 2013. Gorzan and Sir Fangar tie for silver. Worriz gets an honorable mention here as well. Mungus would've been so much better if he was bigger.

 

Best "Fossil" (Ice Hunter): Sir Fangar hands-down. Mungus was alright, but like I said, he would've been so much better if he was bigger. Still, he's miles better than Vardy, so he gets the silver here.

Best Build: Fluminox is a winner here for once. Though his "wing-flapper" function was half-baked in my book, the rest of him proved to make a most interesting building experience with the way the armor on him was arranged, and his fire bow. Sir Fangar comes in second with the quirks in his build, and Gorzan and Mungus tie for third.

Best Design and Aesthetic: This was a tough one to decide, but it had to be given to Sir Fangar, whom comes through with the look of both a unique design and a terrifying villainous aesthetic, showing in his ragged cape and the sharp edges of his claws and fangs, the skeletal adornments on his back, and his piercing eyes. A real solid take on the character in transitioning from minifigure to constraction figure. Laval 2013 and Flame Cragger both win second. Gorzan would get bronze if there was room, but he along with Eris and Fluminox merit honorable mentions as well here. While I like Razar's design, too, I wish they implemented a hook on him for his left hand much like on his minifigure incarnation.

Best Villain: Sir Fangar dominates again here. Worriz takes the silver, with Cragger 2013 in third place. Mungus gets an honorable mention here.

Best Hero: Laval 2013 again, with Gorzan in second and Flame Cragger in third. Flame Laval and Eris get honorable mentions here, too.

Best Overall: Both Laval 2013 and Sir Fangar are both great sets and big winners here, but with six gold trophies in my little mock awards show here, Sir Fangar is my personal best overall, with Laval 2013 as a very close second. Gorzan gets the bronze.


"Thank you, thank you! Now I can finally get out of this ridiculous suit, and those who put it upon me will feel... my... FREEZE!"

Edited August 14, 2015 by The Night's King

[P~M]

Wow, thank you so much for that very detailed breakdown.

 

Best Avian: Eris was definitely one of the better birds amongst the Chima ultrabuilds, with Razar coming in second and Fluminox in third with that half-baked "flap" function. Vardy was rubbish.

 

Is Vardy really that bad? I can see that he's a basic build, but there are some nice parts in there, like the trans ice blue (?) bones and hands.

[The Night's King]

 

Best Avian: Eris was definitely one of the better birds amongst the Chima ultrabuilds, with Razar coming in second and Fluminox in third with that half-baked "flap" function. Vardy was rubbish.

 

Is Vardy really that bad? I can see that he's a basic build, but there are some nice parts in there, like the trans ice blue (?) bones and hands.

 

Eh, the only nice looking parts in the Vardy set is his head, those glacial-gradient colored wing pieces and the tan-colored size-5 shells. The buzz-saw staff isn't too bad, but I was hoping for a scythe like his minifigure incarnation has. The trans-ice blue connector pieces and the hands are on the other two Ice Hunters, as well as on the Hero Factory Crystal Beast, and the Ice Protector, Skull Warrior, Ekimu and Kopaka 2.0 in Neo Bionicle this year, so they're not really exclusive to Vardy.

 

But what kills Vardy's design for me isn't just the basic build, it's the rather pitiful treatment given to his *wings*! They look so lazily-designed! I mean if you look at the wings of previous Chima ultrabuild sets like that of Eris and Razar from 2013, they had pretty neat wings that were articulate, poseable, somewhat dynamic, and had a somewhat realistic design to them. With some added modification and tinkering, they could be absolutely fantastic, and could possibly even spectacularly out-class the wings of the Dragon Bolt from Hero Factory's Brain Attack wave. And if you go from Eris and Razar to Vardy... I mean, surely someone would have to ask "What were they thinking!?" Next to the previous two birds, the vulture's wings are so pathetically inferior by comparison that it's not funny! They're laughably frail and stiff, and barely possess a shred of dynamic potential. Even Fluminox with his rather flat wings setup had a little more panache to that design especially with that half-baked *flap* function, even if the Phoenix wings paled in comparison to that of Eris and Razar.

 

But still, I don't *hate* Vardy, he's a rather comical character, but compared to the other birds of the Chima CCBS line, his Constraction design is just so lacking. Get him for the pieces at least, and perhaps his weapon. (I still would've preferred that he had a scythe like his minifigure incarnation does.)

Edited August 20, 2015 by The Night's King

[Logan McOwen]

I for one was really impressed with CHI Fluminox and CHI Sir Fangar the most.

[VBBN]

 

Panthar was by a far my favorite. 

[P~M]

Ooh, that's nice. And a clever neck joint, although I'm not sure how that would play out in terms of poseability. And those TNO arm bones are only in a couple sets.

[Aanchir]

Ooh, that's nice. And a clever neck joint, although I'm not sure how that would play out in terms of poseability. And those TNO arm bones are only in a couple sets.

 

CHI Cragger has twice as many of each of those arm beams, and his neck joint is built in almost the same exact way (just with 5M beams on each shoulder instead of 4M, with the middle ball on each used to mount his shoulder armor).

 

Seriously, the 2014 version of Cragger excels in so many ways. An extremely unique color scheme, unique posture, a hinged jaw, a tail, powerful armor, and lots and lots of lovely parts. The only things about him that are slightly underwhelming are the weapon (cool looking, but pretty tame build-wise) and the lack of any kind of action features. Also I guess it's kind of weird that he has those long clawed toes since crocodiles don't really have those... the big beast feet like Laval used might have been a better fit.

 

I did like CHI Panthar's asymmetry, though, with one energized arm covered in gold armor. Kind of the precursor to the new Pohatu in that regard.

[user-402520536]

Panthar for me. I'm not a fan of Chima, so it really says something that this one caught my eye. In fact, this was my primary target when I was checking out LEGO Stores in Ukraine. I love the parts, the appearance - heck, everything. I disliked all the birds because of their wings, those really didn't do it for me.

[Petewa]

The Laval/Eris combo model.

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

Mungus, because he has CCBS brown! I wish I had that set, but sadly they were not available in the USA. (Sad violin goes here.)