28 replies to this topic

[def]

I'm really not too keen on these Ninjago sets.  They really do seem to be not meant for AFOLS.  I mean that because of the cards and the tops.  But, there are some features that are appealing.  Ninjas, of course, and some newish parts.  When I saw this at TRU yesterday, I decided the price was low enough to give it a shot.

Set#: 2258
Name: Ninja Ambush
Theme: Ninjago
Year: 2011
Pieces: 71
Minifigs: 2; Kai and Bonezai
Price: 799 yen
MSP: U.S.$6.99

Peeron
Brickset
Bricklink - not yet

The box

The box graphics are nice enough, highlighting the minifigs and set actions.  I like the eyes in the mist in the upper right.  It's a nice, Asian pastiche.


The backside attempts to give the Ninja character; his name is Kai.  The thing with the 1-2-3-4 in the lower left, I don't understand, but I imagine we're supposed to get all four.


The booklets
The cover is the same as the box.


The build is pretty simplistic, very much aimed at little kids.  Almost no chance a person could make a mistake building it.


Again, it's not okay to hit someone with a projectile.  So don't even try it.


This image is the reason I don't like the series.  It is simply too kid oriented for me.  I can't get down with tops and collectible cards.  Potentially, this could be a really big series for Lego, and I'm not complaining, it's just not something with a lot of crossover to the AFOL community, in my opinion.


This is for the Academy teachers, because time and again, their favorite part of Lego reviews is seeing this picture.  I'm tempted to post it twice, to double their pleasure, but that wouldn't be professional.


The Pieces

The ninja is named Kai, definitely a Japanese sounding name.　It has a lot of possible meanings, but I prefer the simple one: seashell (貝).  The skeleton is named Bonezai, a play on the old Japanese battle cry, banzai!  The ninja has a flame motif.  I'm guessing there is an elemental quality to the ninja factions (fire, wind, etc.) or something along those lines.  Bonezai isn't all that intimidating, but I respect his loin cloth.  I'm still confused about their blocky feet.  His arms are a new mold though, and his bone axe handle is a welcome new piece.


Kai's hood is 100% the same mold as the Collectible minifigure ninja, which is fair enough, but makes that ninja a little less rare.  The sword is the same too.


I like his battle scarred face.


The left overs are a few odds and ends.


The Finished Product

I completely don't understand what this is supposed to be.


Nor do I still.


Now, this is actually pretty cool.  You have a bamboo style grove.  I wish they had made the color a bit different to differentiate it from other previous trees.  But, it looks good.


Press the lever, and the woods separate.  


Kai has a perfect launch pad.  He firmly fits in the back, but isn't locked in.


The Final Verdict



Design: 8/10 Kai's launch area is quite interesting for a set of this price.  Certainly, it's better than a lot of other little sets I've gotten, for example, the little Knight's Kingdoms sets I got seem more like clutter than something I want to integrate into my Castle display.  I like the look of this.  The smaller piece is going to become clutter, I think.

Build: 7/10 Again, based on the price, the build is interesting.  The tree dividing mechanism is clever.

Playability: 9/10 You have a good guy and a bad guy, with an action feature.  That's good!

Minifigures: 8/10 Kai is good, the skeleton is not much better than the old ones.  The face is a little friendlier looking, making the set more kiddie.

Price: 10/10 Perfectly priced for the contents.

Overall: 9/10 If you're not sure about Ninjago, and I'm still not, this (or 2516) might be the set to try out.  There are no cards or tops, you get a red ninja, and some useful pieces.  I always like the three leaf grass pieces.  A great little sampler set.

I don't understand why ninjas fight skeletons though.

Cheers.

[prateek]

These non-spinner NinjaGo sets are turning out pretty good! The only fault to them is the low piece count of some sets, but this set is all good for me

[Santhor]

Thanks for the review! Was the collectible series 1 ninja 's head wrap new? Also, it would have been nice if it didn't 1) come with one of the gold weapons (I think of this a an army builder) and 2) didn't have so many colors on the launch pad. Why won't lego give us the push-down piece or the tan plates in matching colors with the environment?

-Santhor

[def]

Santhor, on 28 December 2010 - 05:06 AM, said:

Thanks for the review! Was the collectible series 1 ninja 's head wrap new?

Also, it would have been nice if it didn't ... didn't have so many colors on the launch pad. Why won't lego give us the push-down piece or the tan plates in matching colors with the environment?

Actually, looking at one of the original Ninja ninjas, they all have the same mold.  But the plastic is glossier.

As for the red piece, that's part of the kiddie aspect.  The red thing is clearly the button.  It's easily replaceable though.  The tan seems fine to me though.

[Arigomi]

The coloring on the axe blade looks interesting.  

The black boots on the skeletons are a result of the spinner game. They would fall off the spinners too easily with regular skeleton feet.

[KielDaMan]

Thanks for this review def! I agree this one looks pretty decent for a small-sized set - you get a ninja, a baddie, a functioning catapult-thingy, and some interesting new pieces/weapons for $7, not bad at all.

def, on 28 December 2010 - 04:53 AM, said:

I completely don't understand what this is supposed to be.

Spoiler

Nor do I still.

Well, I guess that is the placeholder of the Weapon #3 illustrated at the back of the box that the ninja is supposed to get.

Spoiler

[Iysk]

Nice review, one of the Ninjago set I'll get with the cheapest Impulse set of this line.

As for the gold weapon, it's a scythe. And the numbers correspond to collectibles I guess(like PQ). 1 is Kai's (fire) katana, 2 is Jay's (lightning) nunchucks, 3 is Cole's (Earth) scythe, and 4 is Zane's (ice) shurikens.

So Kai is ambushing the skeleton in this set for Cole's weapon.

Edited by Iysk, 28 December 2010 - 06:48 AM.

[Ceroknight]

Thank you! I will get this!!

[Lockon Stratos]

The feature of this set alone makes it worth it. Probably one of the best set features ever, and it seems to work well.

Definite buy for me, thanks for the review.

[indyman09]

Great review, great minifigs, great set, great play function. A defenite must-buy! thanks

[Cutty]

This little set would be perfect if they had included a skeleton that doesn't look like a stoned preschooler attending a pony-riding-party... seriously, what did they think of when designing that face?

Apart from that, thanks for the review. I do now think I won't need this set, even for the gold scythe included.

Be well all!
Cutty

[Rufus]

Quote

This is for the Academy teachers, because time and again, their favorite part of Lego reviews is seeing this picture. I'm tempted to post it twice, to double their pleasure, but that wouldn't be professional.

Bah!!  Your cynical attempts to undermine my indefatigable crusade against the screaming Gagne kid will not succeed!  

Nice to see one of Lego's latest WTF range up close, and so well reviewed

I can see it's a fun set for kids; otherwise, some interesting parts and an opportunity to acquire some Ninjas probably won't be enough to tempt me.   I do like the long bone though.

[buddy]

Great review def! I'll probably get this set because of the minifigs in this set and the quantity and quality of the pieces for a small set.  
Very well done on the review.  

~buddy~

[Enpaz]

Great review def! Win!  

At first I thought that already the spinner sets were awesome, but after the initial enthusiasm had gone, I saw them as what they are: expensive yet cheap plastic.

I now realize how very much better the regular sets are! The prices seem really good, too - and alas, this small set even complies with the 10 cents per part ratio!

I'll either buy one, or two, of this set.  

[Mrlegoninja]

Thanks for the review! I really like these cheap non spinner NINJAGO sets! I'll definetly pick this up-maybe even more for the ninja.

[Baylego]

I didn't really want this set before, but I am liking it more and more after reading your review.

[Burman]

Thanks for the review Def. This is a nice little set to get just for the minifigures. A sort of battlepack which I may get in multiples just for the ninjas. For such a small set it holds some playability.

Again, Thanks for the review  

[xray]

Thanks for the review and great pictures. I like this set for the ambush design. I wish Lego would give us more realistic bamboo color. The figures are good and I'm sure I'll get a couple more to broaden my Ninja collection.

[Brick Smiley Productions]

I don't really like the card system because it deducts value from the actual legos. But since this set doesn't have cards it might be worth it. the minifigs look nice, so I think these would be one of the sets I get when I have everything else. I do like the playability feature, pretty original for TLG. Thanks for the review.

[WhiteFang]

Excellent review. I had always enjoyed your review especially when I am watching out for your opening image as your photoshop skills is of a high standard.  

I have been restraining myself from commenting on the Ninjago reviews, mainly because I am not sure if I am ready to embark on this new hi-define beyblade action theme. I am a fan of Ninja but I am not someone who like those unnecessary add-ons.

For myself, I am glad that you have reviewed this small set. Without seeing your review at first, I will never thought that the ambush could be carried out in this fun manner. It invokes creative playability and plus with this set being small, the price ought to be affordable for me to gather those red delicious ninja.  

(It is better for me to buy this set than buy the bey-blade single minifig pack)

As in what you think, the Ninja are fighting those Undead? I just got a feeling that it is like those RPG (role-playing games) like Onimusha for example that defines such fantasy content.

[def]

WhiteFang, on 30 December 2010 - 01:46 AM, said:

Excellent review. I had always enjoyed your review especially when I am watching out for your opening image as your photoshop skills is of a high standard.  

Thanks a lot.  This is definitely my quickest review and Photoshop though.  No lush bamboo settings, just  a Ninja and the set with some speed lines.

I do recommend title images for reviews though, it makes it more like reading an article.

And I do recommend the set.  I bought the Weapon's Rack (2516) yesterday, and it's good, a decent value, but for 30% more (¥600 vs ¥800), with the Ambush set you get the silly skeleton, plus a lot better variety of pieces.

I want all the ninjas from this series, but I'll probably Bricklink them, since the pieces aren't that special.

[ED-209]

I must admit that like others, the Ninjago line had seemed a little to silly to me. But after reading your review, I'm tempted to pick this one up; I do enjoy the idea of the ninja bursting out of a bamboo forest like that. Very cute!  

[lightningtiger]

Excellent review for an excellent little set, yep, another one of those oh-dear-it's-some-kids-birthday party-tomorrow sets.....inexpensive yet COOL.
The launch feature is very nice - I sense Jedi's or Clones popping up on these as well !
Anyway, on shopping list now.....so Spin On !

[pedro]

Great review, thanks!

The Ninjago line as a whole is lost on me unfortunately... I'm not hugely impressed by the theme or the sets and feel that LEGO could have made a far better return for a ninja styled theme. Shame really...

That said the Ninjas themselves and the accessories are great for MOC'ers and customisers alike and this set is the best of a bad lot - we get a Ninja, a better looking skellie and some of the new accessories included and you don't have to break the bank to get 'em. I'd consider this set as a purchase but certainly not the rest of the line. Any of the other ninja or accessories can surely be bought from trusty Bricklink.

Thanks again def.

[escortmad79]

Picked this up earlier on a whim.

The ninja is a good fig but the skeleton is just plain strange! The arms are awful looking, they look clumsy & ungainly & really don't get the weird concrete boots
The skeleton is a bit shorter than the ninja in the set too.