LEGO: Legends of Chima: 70220 Strainor's Saber Cycle

Pieces: 161

Release Year: 2015

Price: US $14.99

Box/Instructions

The box for this set is a normal box size for a LEGO set at this price point. Longer than it is high and not very deep. The images on the box are of great quality and show some action shots on the front as well as some of the play features on the back.

The instructions for this set are standard for LEGO. Great rendered images of each step that are easy to follow.

Overall: 4/5 Great quality, as usual.

Parts

The set has some hard to find pieces in it. The first being piece: 6056447: Roof Tile 2X2X1 45 Degr. - Bot. 45 Degr. This is the only set to find this piece in white. Piece: 6093064: Roof Tile 1X2 45° W 1/3 Plate, is also unique to this set as it is in the dark tan color. The most notable pieces however would be Worriz' gold breast-plate that has a wolf on it. The new Chima sets for 2015 have these new gold breast-plates for the fire heroes. Each only come in one set so that along with the fire wings are unique to these sets. A few of the trans-light blue pieces are harder to acquire but other than that the pieces re mostly standard and can be found in many other sets.

However the set does have a good range of pieces in the dark tan color to make the saber-toothed tiger face on the vehicle.

Overall: 4/5 good selection of pieces.

Minifigures

Like most Chima sets the minifigures are the draw for me.

Worriz: He shows up in a total of eight sets and five of those being in his red fire suit. However this is the only set where he is available with his special gold breast-plate and flame wings. Like I said above, it is only available in this set and you have to get the full 2015 Chima line to get all of the unique gold breast-plates. Otherwise the minifigure is another great one from the Chima line. The detail is superb and has been for the whole line.

Strainor: Is available in a total of four sets, and shows up in another set (70142: Eris' Fire Eagle Flyer) looking exactly like he does in this set with his frost armor. Even though he is not hard to acquire, he is a great minifigure and has a frost right leg which makes him an even better minifigure.

Overall: 4/5 Great minifigures from the Chima line, but I will put it at a four since none are truly unique and are must haves for th line.

The Build

The set is not to overly difficult to build. I challenged myself and built it without einstructions to see if I could accomplish the build. I was able to finish 90% of the build just from the pictures. That however is no surprise since it is the smallest set of the early 2015 sets. The build combines a nice use of regular system pieces and technic pieces to deliver a good looking snowmobile-ish vehicle.

Stickers: The stickers in this set are limited and are applied to a few of the pieces to add to the look. The stickers are also on pieces that are not overly difficult to apply to.

Overall: 4/5 good vehicle, looks good, nothing special about the build however.

The Completed Model

The set is a good small one. It has some playability with the one of each of the good and bad guys. The snow wall however is an odd addition to the set since Worriz can fly there isn't much use for the wall, but it comes with some useful bricks.

The vehicle can separate into two parts. The top half being a secondary flying vehicle with some fold out wings to chase Worriz down. Then, the bottom half actually has a handle for Strainor to just control the sled part of the vehicle. Overall this feature is really cool and works well for the amount of pieces alloted to the set. However the wings on the upper part are ridiculous. The wings are made up on each side from one: 6021974: Tool W. Ø3.2 Shaft, No. 1. So my only downside to this set is the puny wings that wouldn't do anything to help the vehicle fly. But, if larger wings would have been added it would have made the set bulky.

The set has a great look and can be put on a shelf and look great. It also has great playability with some added swooshability. Thus fans young and old would like this set.

Overall: 4/5 Decent set for the Chima line to set the base of the 2015 line on.

Price

Price for this set is US $14.99. Piece count is 161 with 2 minifigures.

Price-per-piece: $0.093. This is under my typical $0.10 benchmark I hold for all LEGO sets and is not a bad P/P ratio in the Chima line. The fact that Chima is LEGO owned and not licensed helps keep the P/P down. Thus this set is at shelf price a decent buy.

Counting in Minifigures: One Minifigure at six pieces (head, helmet, torso, legs, breast-plate, and chi), and one at nine pieces (head, helmet, torso, legs, breast-plate, two wing clips, and two fire wings). I count a minifigure at $3.00. Thus the rest of the set would come out to $8.99 at 146 pieces. Price-per-piece: $0.062 which is great in any case.

Overall: 4/5 a decent P/P ratio off the shelf. If you can get it at any discount there would be no reason not to grab it.

Overall Opinion

The set is a decent one that is at the smallest price point in the line. Thus it plays an important role since it will be purchased most. It is a well rounded set that doesn't scream to be picked up to collectors, but is a great set to own. I recommend the set to anyone looking for a set under $20 and enjoys the Chima line. It is also a great set for the younger fans as it has two vehicle options, some pretty cool minifigures, and some decent weapons for both the fight with. The only bad thing I take away from this set are its tiny wings, but there are reasons for that and it is not that big of deal in the long run.

Overall: 4/5 A set that makes the Chime 2015 line solid.