There’s a lot of doom and gloom swirling about in LEGO Legends of Chima fandom, as rumors have begun to spread that 2015 could be the last year for the quasi-beloved LEGO Chima theme. Chima has been one of my surprise favorite LEGO themes since its introduction at the start of 2013, so I would be very heartbroken to see it go if the rumors of Chima’s demise are in fact true. That said, if we are approaching the end of LEGO Legends of Chima, you wouldn’t know it by the sheer number of new sets coming in January 2015–and another one has just been revealed: it’s the LEGO Chima Vultrix’s Sky Scavenger 70228!

I’m hoping that the rumors of the demise of LEGO Legends of Chima have been greatly exaggerated, but if they aren’t, at least Chima will be going out with a bang in 2015 with a ton of sets being released! We already knew that in addition to the main wave of LEGO Chima 2015 sets there would be three retailer exclusive sets, and now a shocking fourth retailer exclusive has flown in: LEGO 70228 Vultrix’s Sky Scavenger!

As a villainous tribe, LEGO is probably smart to make this LEGO Vulture Tribe set a retailer exclusive. The Vulture Tribe just isn’t as appealing to kids as some of the more heroic tribes like the Phoenix Tribe and Lion Tribe and so forth. That said, I am glad to see the LEGO Chima Vulture Tribe getting their own large-scale set so that they can really take the fight to the heroes!

We don’t usually get exclusive minifigures in retailer exclusive sets, but it seems that this time we will be getting one: an exclusive LEGO Vultrix minifigure. Presumably we’ll see Vultrix elsewhere if Chima continues into Summer 2015, but for now he’s unique to this set set. In addition, the set will contain repacks of the LEGO Vardy and Frax minifigures.

The 70228 LEGO Chima Vultrix’s Sky Scavenger is being priced in Japan at 4,499 Japanese yen (about $37.58 US). With the way Toys R Us USA sets their pricing, that means we can probably look forward to this set retailing for somewhere between $39.99-$44.99 in the United States. We don’t know the piece count yet, so it’s tough to estimate the “cost-per-brick” value, but the set looks to be a decent size, so $40-$45 seems like an alright value. (The set is now confirmed to contain 480 pieces, making it a solid value at any price under $48.)

The LEGO Vultrix’s Sky Scavenger 70228 set is scheduled to be released in January 2015 as part of the LEGO Legends of Chima 2015 sets wave. This set will be exclusive to LEGO Stores and Toys R Us stores, so you won’t be able to shop around at other retailers like Target and Walmart and so forth to find the best price on this one.

Are you surprised to see yet another LEGO Legends of Chima set pop up so close to the new year, LEGO fans? What do you think of LEGO Vultrix’s Sky Scavenger?