Icebite’s Claw Driller: Review

I’m not a huge Chima fan, but I was extremely impressed with this set.  First off, it comes with 629 parts, for a retail price of 50$, which works out to be 7.9 cents per part: a very good average. The box artwork matches the rest of the chima themed boxes with ice and fire graphics, and there are also close ups highlighting the four included mini-figures.

On the back it advertises the detachable vehicle, working functions of the model, and the printed armor included in the set.

Inside you find 5 numbered bags, a sticker sheet, rubber belt, and 2 instruction manuals. The manuals were in good condition, not rolled up, so they stayed open easily.

Construction starts with the bear speeder vehicle, all its parts are included in the first bag.

Besides the fig parts, these pieces were the standouts for me. The  large flames are an interesting mold, while the gold parts are super useful and the 1×1 round tiles feature excellent flame printing. The 2 bright light orange blades are notable for their color and shape.

Razar and Bulkar are the 2 minifigs in this bag, and they feature some extremely detailed printing and plenty of accessories.

Bulkar is my personal favorite fig from the set, with his neat printing, and alternating facial expressions: one with eyebrow raised, and the other stern and determined.

This build starts with a simple technic base.

I like that the paws are easy to move into different ‘poses.’

On completion, its easy to see the bear tribe influence on the vehicle. My favorite detail was the parts use for its ears. Two flick fire missiles provide some weaponry for the vehicle.

Moving onto bag 2, the other 2 figs are assembled, the detachable speeder is built, and the claw drill itself begins to take shape.

There are plenty of dark bley, white, and bley parts in this bag, including some neat brackets, 2×2 round tiles with hole, an inverted tile, and 1×2 curved slopes.

Icepaw and Icebite each have unique armor, printing, and weaponry.

Each of them has one trans blue limb.

Again some technic parts provide a sturdy base.

The method used to attach the handlebars and main gun was rather clever, I thought.

Now, onto the claw driller!

I was very surprised by how much SNOT building was used in this set.

This completes the hip section of the mech, and finishes off bag 2.

Brackets galore! Plus lots of other interesting parts are contained in bag 3.

Here are some personal highlights, most of these parts come in higher quantity than is shown, which you can easily see by looking above.

Time to start building the torso area.

SNOT building on 3 of the 4 sides here.

The cab begins to take shape while its shoulder joints are added. More SNOT assemblies to connect those with the large wedge slopes.

On the back, the frame to hold the detachable speeder is built.

Back to the front side, and ready to add the claw driller’s shoulder armor.

Thus concludes bag 3, with the torso basically completed. The rubber band you can see at the bottom here, swivels the torso back to center whenever you twist it, rather like some old action figure toys.

Again, there are lots of useful brackets in bag 4. Plus a fair amount of parts in trans light blue, white, and reddish brown.

2 more white inverted tiles are in this bag, and some 1×6 tiles in reddish brown.

The upper legs use click hinges for stability and again feature a bit of SNOT building.

Some SNOT plates and tiles make the feet super solid.

Legs completed! The claw driller stands easily and can even be balanced on a single leg without much difficulty.

The fifth and final bag contains all the parts needed to build the mech’s head, arms and weapons.

Hinge plates are quite handy to have, and the printed silver part is well detailed. The rubber ‘chain’ could be quite useful for MOCs.

The large spiky parts make great pauldrons. Hinges and more click joints give the left arm flexibility while a large prefab part forms the base for its paw.

A drill function is included on the right side: twisting the black gear spins the drill.

Now only the head remains to be built.

I was pretty impressed with how well the head portrays a polar bear.

Note that the silver teeth should be pointing down here.

Completed, Icebite’s Claw Driller is quite a fearsome looking machine, and features plenty of play-ability with its functioning drill, detachable speeder, flick fire missiles, and good flexibility.

The complete set altogether.

I was pleased with the set overall. Plenty of excellent parts, a surprisingly enjoyable and complex build experience, and great play features.

Price/Pieces:   8/10 Under 8 cents a part is quite good considering the amount of useful parts in the set.
Minifigures:   7/10 While the mini-figures all feature good printing, their being animals limits their re-usability some.
Design: 8/10 The Claw Driller and Speeder Bike are solid, and well resemble their bear counterparts.
Playability: 8/10 The mech itself is quite fun to mess around with.
Construction: 9/10 Such large and effective use of SNOT building makes for a very fun build experience.
Total: 8/10

What are your thoughts on Icebite’s Claw Driller?