Lets take a close look at Ultimate Lavaria! Is she everything a Nexo Knights' fan can hope for? Read on.

Box/Instructions

The box is standard fare for this line but I like it. It clearly depicts what you can expect from this set.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LwKZAd][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LwKZAd]IMG_5042[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Parts

The usual for Lava Monsters. Lots of reds, blacks and trans-orange all over the place. You do get some decent amount of left overs including some extra studs for her stud shooter. But I chose to keep those in the provided container as there is plenty of room.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74ij][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74ij]P9071978[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Minifigures

Just one but she is a good one. She can either split her torso to ride the spider or use the provided legs to walk normally. I preferred both so she stands on top the spider contraption. This allows her to really get a good view of the battle. I just imagine her wings help her keep balance.

She comes with a dual sided head and both expressions are great. Her arsenal of weapons is also top knotch.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74sN][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74sN]P9071980[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74KG][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74KG]P9071981[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/L2KmQ6][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/L2KmQ6]P9071983[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

The build

Not complicated. I was done with it really fast. But still enjoyable to display as she does look very cool.

The completed model

Fantastic as per the usual for this line. The printing on the figure is outstanding and the accessories are varied which allow for a variety of situations on the battle field against the knights.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74yQ][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74yQ]P9071979[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Overall opinion

Very cool set. I am loving the attention to detail given to the figures for Nexo Knights. Can't wait to tackle more of these sets. If you love the Jestro's faction then this is a must have set. Lavaria looks commanding and menacing in her Ultimate incarnation.

Before I begin, I should make it clear that I have no interest in the Nexo Knights theme or game. I picked up this set based on appearance alone.

Box/Instructions

The box is one of those fancy hexagonal types that Lego seems to have become rather fond of recently, with our definitely-a-villain displayed prominently on the front, above a statement that this set comes with three, yes, three nexo powers, with which you do... nexo... things? On the back there's a nice picture of the assembled set, a reminder of how to use your nexo powers, a scale indicator using the humble 1x2 block, and a bit of choke-hazard warning text in twenty-five languages, which seems like the kind of thing lawyers tell you to do. Inside you get your bag of small parts, your bag of not-so-small parts, and your folded instruction book. I don't know why they fold these, I really don't. It makes them annoying to use the first time because you have to prop them open with something, and it's not like they need to save space in these cavernous boxes.

Parts

Aside from the all-important shield pieces, you get a rather nifty 4x4 trans-orange slope with a rocky texture moulding that I quite like, a pair of A-frames, and those four jagged blades for the legs. Oh, and five (five! And four of them are effectively spares) trans-orange studs that will inevitably be pinged off when you play with the crossbow and wind up in the vacuum cleaner. The trans-clear two-wide back piece is pretty nice too, and I've been out of the loop long enough for it to be new to me.

Minifigures

Obviously the point of this set is Mistress Lavaria, a scaly lava-spider-succubus lady, firmly of the opinion that having two legs is all well and good, but four really bring something to the look. The printing on the torso and minifig legs is lovely, with plenty of rocky scales, metallic grey details on the armour, and cracks for the lava to show through. It would've been nice if some of the leg scales could have been repeated for the arms, but their lack doesn't harm the appearance of the model for me. With the wings on the armour on her back is covered up, but you can still see the stony scales on her spine, which is nice.

The head is equally well printed, with burning yellow eyes, shadowed eyesockets, elegantly curved brows, some more scale patterning to frame the face, and the detail of a mole above the left corner (her left, not yours) of her mouth. As is the way with many minifigs these days, she has a choice of expressions: on one side a sneering smirk, on the other a toothy grin that shows off her fangs. The back of her head is covered by a black hood, which goes well with her wings.

While minifig legs are present, however, our lady Lavaria also comes with a set of spider legs. Although lacking the fine detail of the printed legs, the colours and parts used still look good and work well with the rest of the figure. A printed abdominal piece would've been a nice touch, but since you won't be looking at her from the back that much I can see why they didn't bother.

For equipment, Lavaria comes with a double-bladed spear, a rocky shield, a crossbow that shoots balls of lava (as crossbows are wont to do), and two snakes. Because snakes.

The build

This build is as complicated as it looks, i.e. not very. You start by building Lavaria's arachnid limbs, discarding the legs in the box before you even begin, before assembling her body and standard gear - the spear and shield - on top. Having completed our star attraction, you then move on to her display stand. The final two pages of instructions are devoted to explaining that the crossbow goes with the fireball shield, and the snakes are... thrown? I guess she throws them? Anyway, they pair up with the poison shield. Because snakes. Oh, and before you have a chance to forget, it shows you that she can have normal human legs. But why would you want those? As a builder who's been following instruction manuals for almost two decades, I breezed through this, but then that's not really why we're here.

The completed model

First and foremost, I think this is a lovely display piece. I was planning on just having the minifig out on my model/toy shelf and breaking the base back up into parts, but it really does look great all together, sitting on my desk. The colours unite well, although the green can be a bit jarring, but it works for what it's supposed to be, and the subtle ways of poison fit the appearance of the character. The way the display stand is made also means that, if you get another of the character sets in the range, you can set up a little duelling arena! Of course, Lavaria would win. Look at her. She's got the tools, she's got the talent.

Overall opinion

I love this set. While it hasn't sold me on the theme, which just doesn't appeal to me as an idea, I think the figure is wonderful, both off and on the stand. The selection of equipment provided has some good variety (and snakes) and really seems to fit the impression of the character the fig generates. On the complaints side, the holders for the snakes don't work all that well. I've ended up clipping them further along the body, so they rest more against the back of the stand, which looks fine, but I feel a different stand would've worked better. It doesn't help that the two snakes seem to be of different widths judging by how firm or loose the grip can be - presumably something to do with the mould. The other complaint I have is that there's not really anywhere to put her minifig legs when you're not using them. It would have been simple to add a small platform around the back of the stand they could clip onto, and I might get around to making that modification in the future. Minor niggles aside, though, I feel this was a fantastic purchase that I'm very happy I made.

Set #70335 Ultimate Lavaria: While the Knights have fun colours and decent weapons to play with this particular set’s biggest selling point is the fact that you can get the Lavaria character for a very cheap price. However there are some interesting elements here to note.

Packaging

The biggest thing I love about the packaging for these sets still remains the ease of access to the contents. After a year of having to tear open the Speedorz packaging with Chima it’s nice to see that LEGO realized there was a better way to design this type of packaging. It started with the second year of Speedorz, carried over to the Airjitzu Gliders and continues here with the Ultimate Nexo Knights.

Minifigure

Lavaria: Unlike the Knights this version of Lavaria is pretty much the same as the one found in the larger set, at least as far as prints are concerned from what I can tell. She doesn’t have any neon glowing elements and she’s not wearing different coloured armour.

What she does have is a very nifty looking double-sided torso print with some very nice rocky looking magma skin and a female torso print that would look great for a Darth Talon custom, for fans of Star Wars Legends characters. Her head has a dual-sided print, one expression is a wicked smirk and the other is a maliciously evil looking smile.

I love the level of detail here, it’s as great as Chima and Ninjago have gotten over the years. I’d say my only complaint is that she isn’t given an alternate headpiece for hair, all she has to wear is her black Sith hood.

The Nexo Powers & Display Stand

The display stand for the Lava Monster army forces includes clear orange parts to represent flaming lava and showing an impressive unique character trait for the villains who gain ultimate nexo power. It’s basically the same thing though with every set for a build, I do like though that you can take the display stand element and build onto it to make a larger display piece with some clever MOC skills.

Beetle Bomb: This Nexo Power has a pretty strange play feature, it features a long pike weapon and includes a strange lower torso element similar to Spinlyn from Legends of Chima. Lavaria is given a lower body with four bladed legs which I assume is meant to make her stronger. She also gets wings on her back.

Incinerate: This Nexo Power is more conventional with a stud shooter, specifically the one created for Chewbacca over in Star Wars for his crossbow. You can launch flaming studs at the knights and pretend to set them on fire.

Venom Bite: For this Nexo Power Lavaria gains the power to wield serpents as weapons a very weak power and physical accessory change, honestly compared to some of the stuff the Knights get in these sets I think Lavaria got the short end of the stick.

Overall opinion

I’d recommend this Ultimate set mainly for the Lavaria Minifigure, the Nexo Powers and accessories aren’t as impressive as those that the Knights or even Beast Master received from the first wave, and in all honesty there isn’t a whole lot to actually play with here if you don’t have the app. It’s a great, cheap way to get Lavaria though, so that’s a plus.

Box/Instructions

The box is similar to the "Ninjago Airjitzu" box. But, smaller and with thicker cardboard.

The instruction book starts off with Lavaria's "insect legs". Then when you are done building her, you build the base / figure stand. And the book finishes off advertising the "new app" then, showing all the "figures" that comes in the line.

Parts

The new parts that come in his set are the "shield" & the three printed tiles. Plus it come with the "newer crossbow" (witch I think she stolen from Chewbacca). One last thing to mention are the end of "insect legs" those parts are a little rare to find. (The last place I seen those parts coming in a set is in one of the Ninjago set with Zane in it.)

Minifigures

This is the only set to get Lavaria in (so far).

The build

It would not take to long to build. (Since it is less than 100 parts in the set.)

The completed model

First off the set does come with regular mini-figures legs. As for the power that come with set. (Please keep in mind I am not to familiar with the story.)

The first power is Beetle Legs: This power turns Lavaria legs into some sort of mechanical quad-ped.

Second power is Fire Blast: This one turns her weapon into a crossbow witch shoots studs or "fireballs".

The third power is Poison Snakes: This power is where she throws or whips snakes at her opponent(s).

Overall opinion

A lovely "bad" female mini-figure to add to your collection. Not to bad at $10. But, better if you could find it on sale.

One of the down side to the set is the snake holder on the base it is not best at holding the snakes. But, on the plus side, their is enough extra parts you can make a snake holding staff for her to use.