Set #70131 Rogon’s Rock Flinger: The Rhino Tribe hasn’t been seen much of in the Chima Theme sets, so it’s nice to have them receive a vehicle of this size and build to introduce them for the year 2014. I’m hopeful we’ll see more of these impressive builds, let’s move on to discuss the ups and downs of this set and after reviewing a less than stellar build this one is really impressive.

Box/Instructions

Box: This set is in a nice big bock, with thick cardboard that shows off the features of the set quite nicely. Something I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before about this Theme is that it features artwork of the main Minifigure in the upper right hand corner on the box. So it isn’t like some Themes where you only see the logo or the same character across all the boxes (like Star Wars) instead you’ll get to see a load of characters on the boxes.

Instructions: The manuals for Chima are just like many other Themes, they tell you step by step how to build the model. In this case you’ve got the instructions broken down by the numbered bags in the set, there are also stickers in this set. Unfortunately many Chima sets seem to rely more on stickers than printed details. The instructions are decent though and again the cross-promotional stuff and checklist are in the back rather than breaking up the flow of the build steps as some have in the past.

Parts

This set has a lot more technic pieces than you might expect, there are also huge giant wheels and a load of decent white, bley and black parts. You also get a rock piece in this set, which is ok. Definitely a good parts pack if you’re not interested in the main build.

Minifigures

Three minifigs in this set folks, all new, all unique… Well almost, Rogon himself is also in the wal-mart exclusive Spinlyn’s Cavern set. However the weapon in this set for him is unique.

Sparacon: The spider tribe is all awesome looking, Sparacon here not only has a nifty name, but a great double-sided torso print, leg printing, nifty head piece and single-sided facial print. That’s my only complaint with this tribe, so far none of the spiders, scorpions or bats seem to have the double-sided faces.

Sparacon get’s four spooky looking spider legs to attach to him via a back bracket and this really funky weapon design, some of the pieces I recognize, but the large spiked thing… I don’t know for sure, but I think it may be from one of the Constraction figures or something. It’s unique I can say that, but it is a bit awkward for him to hold it with his legs sticking out from behind.

Rogon: This new tribe animal is also awesome looking. He has a double-sided torso print, leg printing, a double-sided face print and a great new head piece with loads of print details. This minifigure stands out as a very nicely sculpted and printed one, although it is unfortunate they didn’t make a new armour piece for him. I think using a new armour would have made him even better.

For his weapon you’ve got two space blasters and a black telescope piece attached to one of those gun pieces with the handle that has studs on three sides. This alone would make for an ok weapon, I have to take a few points off for adding the large grey beak/horn piece to mimic a rhinos horn. It just makes the weapon too awkward looking and when Rogon is holding it, it makes him far too top heavy.

Rinona: A female rhino tribe member, in fact there are only two members and one of them is a female, that is just awesome. She also has a double-sided torso print, leg printing and a double-sided facial print. She has no shoulder armour, however that’s not a bad thing, it allows you to see the awesome print on her. It’s just a pity there are only two rhino tribe members, the head piece would look great on a small army of these tough rock flinging characters.

Her weapon is a hammer made with the familiar fist looking piece and a dark silver claw as a horn, so her hammer can smash enemies or gouge them, pretty sweet.

Overall a great set of minifigs this time.

The build

This build is in three steps. Bag number one starts the vehicle off with mostly Technic connections and bricks, bag number two continues this trend as it builds up the main body of the vehicle with a few more Technic elements and then the rest of the pieces for the main body.

Bag number three finishes off the vehicle with the last few elements for the body and then builds the rhino head and adds the wheels. Overall this is a much more satisfying build than Lavertus’ Twin Blade, it involves many more steps, much more pieces and makes a solid looking vehicle as we’ll discuss in the next section.

The only downside is that you’re stuck using a lot of stickers for the details.

The completed model

The Rock Flinger is an awesome vehicle it’s solid, chunky and has a great play feature. Honestly the only disappointing aspect of this model are the large number of stickers used for details. It just isn’t very fun when you think how printed detailing would enhance the build, if not the usefulness of the parts, a great deal.

This vehicle has two forms, the mode that let’s you access the titular rock flinger gimmick and the ramming configuration or something similar where the wheels become more even and it can perhaps travel faster than before. It is a really solid looking vehicle and works so nicely, even the play feature works better than on some other sets I can think of.

The only other issue you might have with it is the lack of space for minifigures, the driver’s area is pretty much it for holding a minifigure. This is a minor complaint though as I find this vehicle more fun to play with overall and display than others I could name.

Overall opinion

I highly recommend this set, it is one of the better offerings from the first wave of 2014. Honestly I haven’t been too impressed so far, the Twin Blade was a mess of a vehicle and the Wing Striker was missing some crucial elements to make it absolutely stunning. But this Rock Flinger is not only fun to play with, it make for a killer display piece and has some great minifigures. The few downsides to the set are minor issues, even the overuse of stickers doesn’t bother me too much in this set.

I really hope that another offering from this tribe will be in Chima’s future.

My son is a massive Chima fan and received this one as a gift after going on and on about Rhinos.

Box/Instructions - The box is a nice, smaller size compared to what a ~$30 set would have been packed in in years past.

Parts - Parts in the this set are a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a number of sand blue parts which is a fairly rare color. There are also a few nice white slopes and the 1x1 round tile appears in white in this set. On the other hand however, this set is mostly Technic parts so not much else to get excited about.

Minifigures

- The spider Sparracon is a great figure with a dark brown body and lime waist. Four legs attach to a neck bracket to give him the eight needed by a spider (counting the two minifig arms and minifig legs). His gun is rather bulky but it fits well with the character and theme.

Rogon the male rhino features great printing and his larger horn appears to be repaired with a bit of metal and some bolts. His gun design tends to fall apart easily when played with which can be frustrating. The female rhino is also highly detailed and comes with a sweet hammer which is a lot of fun for smashing the spider (or anything really) with.

The build - The build of the Rock Flinger is fairly enjoyable without too much in the way of repetition. However, the majority of the build is Technic based and this can prove frustrating for younger builders. Yes, the packaging indicates 8-14 but the Chima age range skews a lot lower and this set could be frustrating to some. There are numerous stickers which add to the appearance but several of them go on the slope bricks which are not a very good surface for adhesion.

The completed model -The finished truck is a fun truck with a great catapult. Unlike many dinky flick-fire missiles or tacked-on catapults in other Lego models, the Rock Flinger packs a wallop and can toss the boulder across the room with ease. After a few shots you can get a good feel for its range and set up the spider or other enemies and have good success flattening them with rocks. The model also has two positions, the one you see in the main box art, and also a stretched out, lower mode for when the catapult is concealed.

Overall opinion - Rogon's Rock Flinger is great on play value with a fun catapult and menacing appearance. The minifigures are top-notch. However, the lack of System bricks and reliance on Technic makes the build tougher for young Chima fans and doesn't offer a lot of value for using the parts to MOC other projects if you are not a Technic builder.