LEGO Legends of Chima - Battle Beasts reborn?

Numerous forums and rumor sites are abuzz with the spoilers that have been showing up on LEGO's upcoming "Legends of Chima" theme. It started with some product images from an ebay auction. Then, a presale listing for the upcoming minifigure sticker book pretty much proved this is legit (Amazon has since pulled the image). German toy retailer WERST also recently posted a long list of names for 2013 sets, which included many sets from the Chima line.

The stage seems set for the heir apparent to Ninjago to start hitting shelves around the holidays. The theme appears to operate under the same marketing plan as the hugely popular ninjas. The entry level sets are a replacement for spinners and will have some sort of game associated with them. The more traditional brick and fig sets all appear to have names that are very animal oriented.

From WERST (and as reported on Brickset.com), we have:

• 70000 Razcals Raven glider
• 70001 Crawleys Reptile grabber
• 70012 Razars Chi Raider
• 70002 Lennoxs Lion-Buggy
• 70003 Eris Eagle Jet
• 70004 Wakz Wolf tracker
• 70005 Lavals Lion-Quad
• 70006 Craggers Croc-Boat Center
• 70013 Equilas Ultra Striker
• 70100 Speedorz Fire ring
• 70101 Speedorz Disc Shooting
• 70102 Chi-Waterfall
• 70103 Speedorz Boulder Bowling
• 70113 Starter Set Chi Tournament

I have not been a big Ninjago person and this theme is not really directed at my place on the spectrum of collectors. However, the idea of animal-human hybrids battling it out is stirring up some nostalgia in my mind, as it is very similar to a line of toys I remember from my childhood.

In the late 80s, there was a toy line released known as Battle Beasts. These animal-human hybrids had elemental based attacks that were revealed with a little rub activated sticker on their chests. They also rode around in vehicles that were animal-like in design. I'm seeing some pretty strong similarities here.

I really hope TLG doesn't run in to any legal trouble with this theme, especially since it appears a recent revival of the line was attempted. This includes a comic book that was put out by IDW just earlier this year. The idea of man-beasts wailing on each other is not exactly new territory of course and I imagine the existence of the line is known to them.