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    Set Review: 70129 Lavertus' Twin Blade
    ReviewMonday, April 21st, 2014 at 8:02pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
    [Source: Sisen]

    Chima Month continues to roll on, and today it brings us another set review. BZPower Forum Assistant Sisen takes a look at 70129 Lavertus' Twin Blade from the LEGO Legends of Chima line. Will this set hover its way into your heart or will it crash and burn under a stinging attack? You'll have to read on to see and also to find out how you can win a copy yourself. Check it out!

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    The box of Legends of Chima set 70129 Lavertus Twin Blade contains the normal information such as set number, age range, etc. As reviewed by some of the others already, the box features the new thorny look for Chima. The box art contains Lavertus piloting his Twin Blade, with an inbound Scutter at port.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    The top of the box shows the fearsome lion fig to scale, next to some artwork of the two creatures locked in battle. The back of the box shows some alternative artwork of the Twin Blade prowling after Scutter with stolen Chi. You can also see how the Twin Blade mechanism provides playability, but I'll get to that later in the review.

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    Building the set honestly took twenty minutes maximum. The construction is fairly straightforward and not hard to grasp at all. Constructing the minifigs was fun and the new Scorpion style figure offers some interesting playability.

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    Let's take a look at the sorted pieces here.

    Keeeetorange!

    There's a lot of that yellow orange in this set. I'm particularly fond of the radar dishes in the set, better known to Bionicle fans as Kopaka's shield. Besides the shield pieces, everything else in the Keetorange is a plate, wedge, or slope.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    There are two of the newer dual barrel pistols in black, which have only been featured in a few other sets. Some of the other cool pieces include these smaller rotor blades that have axel and pin connector, which have only been used in a few Technic flight sets. They look pretty cool and seem like there could be potential usage outside of flight based designs.

    The real piece de resistance is this triple connector, which is extremely useful or so I've thought when building. There's also this universal joint and it serves some interesting functionality.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    Plus you have some of these reddish brown claw type deals that have been used sporadically throughout some other lion related Chima sets. Pretty cool stuff and they're semi-flexible.

    Typical to Chima sets, there is a fair bit of smaller trans-light blue pieces to embody the Chi elements. The axe clip is pretty rad and makes any weaponry cool-cool. The clip has shown up before in some previous sets but not widespread.

    Now that building is done, let's take a look at the figures. Lavertus only appears in one other set, which is his Outland Base. The figure in the other set dons different-colored silver armor from this pearl gold, but beyond that there appears to be no differences. If you specifically want him then you'll want to snag this set, but even more important is the fact that Scutter is limited to this set alone.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    The detail on our lion is exquisite. There are robe and armor type printings not only on the front and back of the torso, but the legs as well! Even cooler is the fact he has two expressions to utilize. However, you really don't see the difference between the expressions whilst donning the lion head.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    The real gem of this set has to be Scutter, the level of intricacy on the minifig is pretty impressive. The figure itself uses approximately twenty five pieces, for one figure! There is no additional print on the head, but the mask, fangs, and poseable tail make this scorpion character come to life. One minor gripe is the tail can't be completely positioned like an actual scorpion strike. The detail and print of Lavertus is astounding, but the work on Scutter is just as superb.

    70129 Lavertus

    There isn't much to say about the Twin Blade itself. It is a cool ship with neat playability potential. Personally, everything Chima does feeds my Thundercat nostalgia. Ships like the Twin Blade play right into that and satiate my inner geek. My only gripe about the set design is mentioned here shortly.

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

    70129 Lavertus

    Overall there is a ton of playability with the set, especially if you add in some other sets to swoosh down at or fight against. It is interesting to note that there is no form of projectiles on the Twin Blade, so I guess utilizing the blades as weapons is a valid form of attack? The only con to the playability is the way the brown claws surround the cockpit. They are very easy to knock off, and can take some time to replace the way they are attached.

    70129 Lavertus 70129 Lavertus

    If you want to see the playability of the set, I highly recommend you watch the video embedded above or take a look on the YouTube channel. It is hard to capture an interactive playability with stills.

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • Awesome minifigures
    • Detail of figures
    • Ship playability
    • Solid color and design
    • Figures unique to set

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • The cockpit is lackluster and the sides breakaway easily. (I guess that could be a good thing if you need to bailout.)
    • No projectile or flick fire type mechanisms. (Not a negative, but interestingly left out.)

    This is a wonderful set with only a few minor downfalls. Had the LEGO group not graciously provided it, I definitely would have purchased it myself. Beyond the LEGO Monsters, Chima has really done well to capture my attention. Lavertus Twin Blade is a lot of fun with some great figures, so if you are on the fence about picking it up hopefully this review will help make your decision.

    70129 Lavertus
    OH NO SCUTTER HAS THE CHI!!!

    Thanks everyone for reading - I hope you all enjoyed the review. And thanks to Sisen for taking the time to put it together! If you haven't already, make sure you watch the video to see how you can win a copy of the set. And of course, keep checking back on BZPower for more Chima Month coverage and other LEGO news!

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