It’s been a slow news week for LEGO collectors, but today we’ve finally got something fresh, new, and totally unexpected to talk about: the LEGO Legends of Chima Croc Swamp Hideout 70014 Summer 2013 set! I falsely assumed that we had seen all of the upcoming 2013 Legends of Chima LEGO sets at the New York Toy Fair, but I was forgetting that store exclusives are not shown at Toy Fair. Luckily, my mistake just means we have one more all-new LEGO Chima set to discuss!

Like pretty much everything else in the Chima world, the Crocodile Tribe’s base of operations is shaped like a giant version of the tribe animal. Fans who’ve seen the LEGO Legends of Chima cartoon knew exactly what to expect from this set, as it looks essentially the same as it does in the Chima cartoon series. I think that’s great. Personally, the better the LEGO sets align with what’s seen on the screen in LEGO animated series like Ninjago and Legends of Chima, the happier I am!

Some aspects of this Chima The Croc Swamp Hideout set are purely awesome. The little Lion Tribe boat included with the set is downright adorable, and the cage that can be used to entrap a Lion Tribe minifigure looks like a ton of fun. I know some people are going to balk at the notion of the giant crocodile head snapping shut as an action feature, but it strikes me as being straight-up cool. I do wish the base plates for this set weren’t tan, though–using a more muddy brown or green color would have made the set seem more like it was actually in a swamp and not on land.

In what has to be considered a major disappointment, despite the fact that this set contains 647 pieces and five minifigures, none of the LEGO Chima minifigures included are new. The set will include five minifigures: Crocodile Tribe members Cragger, Crominus, and Crug; as well as Lion Tribe minifigures of Leonidas and Lennox.

Sharp-eyed collectors will note that four of these five minifigures (Cragger, Crominus, Lennox, and Leonidas) were all included with the similar Cragger’s Command Ship 70006 set earlier this year! Considering that Crocodile Tribe fans will have likely already purchased that set, it’s really disheartening knowing that the Croc Swamp Hideout will have basically the same exact minifigure assortment.

The 70014 LEGO Chima Croc Swamp Hideout set is scheduled to be released as part of Legends of Chima Summer 2013 series, and should have an MSRP of $69.99. The set is likely to be a retailer exclusive to LEGO Stores and either Target, Walmart, or Toys R Us.

UPDATE: If you absolutely cannot wait for the LEGO 70014 Croc Swamp Hideout to be released in America, it has been released now in some international countries. You can purchase the LEGO Croc Swamp Hideout from international sellers on ebay now, but the set currently sells for a lot more than it will once it is released in the United States later this summer.