By James Burnett (SAFOLs Member, CapeLUG Member)
In 2018 I came across a raven/crow minifigure that I had no idea what theme it belonged too. However, the printing detail was done so exceptionally well that I immediately did my homework to find out which theme it belonged too. And so I discovered the amazing (although short lived) theme of Legends of Chima.
The theme is centred on the fictional world of Chima, a place inhabited by warring tribes of anthropomorphic animals. There are 12 main tribes living in the various parts of Chima. These are Bear, Beaver, Crawler (sub-divided into Bat, Scorpion, and Spider), Crocodile, Eagle, Fire (sub-divided into Phoenix, and Tiger), Gorilla, Ice Hunter (sub-divided into Ice-Bear, Mammoth, Saber-Tooth Tiger, and Vulture), Lion, Raven, Rhino, and Wolf Tribes.
The most powerful natural resource on the world of Chima is Chi. It gives life and energy to much of the world and it contains the raw power of nature, compressed into an orb. Chi flows in the form of magical water into a sacred pool and combines with the minerals in the pool to form glowing, blue Chi orbs. Chi is then channelled into weapons, equipment, vehicle, and more. Most inhabitants of Chima wear a special harness that is designed for holding orbs of Chi and absorbing its power. When the Chi is placed into the harness, it releases a surge of energy into the wearer that increases strength, speed, stamina, as well as enhancing instincts and natural senses.
Figure 1: The tribes of Chima
The Raven tribe is the sneakiest tribe in Chima. They reside in the Raven’s Junkyard (a city in the desert). They are professional thieves with a strong attraction to shiny objects. Their vehicles are often gliders coloured black, dark red, and purple. The tribe consists of 4 members:
- Rawzom (King of the Ravens)
- Razar (Prince of the Ravens)
- Razcal (the tribe’s accountant)
- Rizzo (cyborg-like leader of some packs within the tribe.
The Build
The build consists of a small glider. Like most of the vehicles in the Chima world, the glider is built to resemble the specific tribe, is this case a raven. For a small build of only 99 pieces, the designers did a good job representing a raven. The wings and claws can articulate making the glider easy to pose in various attack modes. The colours of black, dark red and purple give the vehicle an overall ominous look and feel, while adding a touch of humour in the form of a bone as the control stick. The glider has 1 main weapon which is flick operated in the centre of the chest.
The Minifigure
The set comes with only 1 minifigure which is Razcal. The printing detail is exceptional from the claws on his feet to piercings on his eyebrows. His legs have dark bluish grey (DBG) claws printed on them, as well as some gold, purple, and DBG details above there. His hips have gold detailing in the center and a bit of DBG around the gold.
On the front of his torso is a dark azure circle (representing CHI), some gold above it and around it, and a lot of DBG and purple detail. The back of the torso has printed DBG pockets with gold on them, and some purple feathers printed all around the back.
A flat silver armour piece fits on the torso. A trans-light blue round tile represents the CHI on the front. Black wings can be attached to the back. As with all Chima minifigures, the head is double-sided which one side being calm, and the other appearing agitated. A raven head-piece goes over the standard minifigure head in order to enhance the look of a raven.
Conclusion
For the size and number of parts, it is a fun and interesting build. It is a good introduction to the world of Chima.
