def Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Ninjas. Full of surprises. TLG knows this, and portrayed it in their late 90's set Ninja Surprise. Ninjas and surprises, two of the greatest achievements of human civilization... On paper, it sounds perfect, but how does it actualize itself? (Full size intro pic http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/nahadef/...mangabig.jpg) Set#: 6045 Name: Ninja Surprise Theme: Castle/Ninja Year: 1998 Pieces: 112 Minifigs: 3: Ninja - Black, Ninja - Robber, Brown, Ninja - Robber, Green MSP: U.S.$13, Peeron Brickset Bricklink The booklets Front cover has an action scene. Though ninjas are Japanese, the setting is positively Chinese. None of those type mountains in Japan. Some alternate build. Not particularly stimulating. The inside back cover shows the action features, and another alternate build, which is very lame. The Pieces Most of the pieces are nothing special, but there's a few notable parts. The flag is classy, the fish are lovely, and the weapons are deserving of a medieval militia. Three ninjas. One proper one, and two scoundrels. Why do the two reds guard a jewel in a mountain top hideout? Something's going on. I quite like the guy with the eye-patch, his scowl, his stubble... And lovely prints on all of them. Nothing much to see from behind, but I can give a lot of credit to a set with three original headgear pieces. The Finished Product When building this, I wasn't even aware of what it was until it was finished. It's not overly complicated, but it's very stable. Using a pair of lances, the large one piece wings are snapped on. This is a nice, vinyl print, lots of details. The tears are unprinted and see-through. I'm impressed. Two little handles jut out for our ninja to grab. He sits there firmly, sword on his back, ready to swoop in. The temple is a nice small size. It has slopes, greebling, and greenery. The rock part of the bricks aren't symmetrical, a rare touch. The back is nothing unimaginable, since it's mostly one large piece. The red knob on the left side is the trigger for the one action feature, as we'll see. There's something lurking up above... Nothing worth worrying about, at least not when there's a sparkling jewel to drop in me pocketses... Oh! An axe! Devious, ninjas, truly devious. The Final Verdict It looks good. Design: 8/10 I reviewed the Adventurers set Spider's Secret last week, and I remember getting both around the same time and noting the similarities. Both are a small remote locale with a secret treasure and a near-identical booby trap. I felt pretty disappointed about it. Of the two, the Adventurers set gets the win. In this set, I like the detailing, but it's a pretty simple design. The glider keeps this from being a lower number. Build: 6/10 The glider is clever, but this is truly an average build overall. Playability: 8/10 It comes with two factions, a clear setting, and a narrative. Very playable. Minifigures: 10/10 A small set with three cool figures and no repetition between them. They made this set worth buying. Price: 9/10 I wish there were deals like this today. Overall: 8/10 Not exceptional, but a small solid addition to the ninja line. For the price, you couldn't ask for more. And as much as all the colours of ninja are cool, lets be realistic: ninjas wear black. This is the real deal. This set gets you two classic-looking Japanese minifigs, and a third, grizzled o-jiisan (old man). I'm glad I have this, and I'm thinking about expanding my ninja collection, thanks to all the ninja action on Eurobricks in the last couple of months. Mr. Jim Butcher, I trust these photos satisfy thee? Quote
lightningtiger Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Thanks for the review 'def' - hmmm why haven't they brought this theme back ? It's very COOL ! A Ninja in a glider - awesome ! The minifigs are what really make this set especially the guy with the eye patch - COOL -, would mind a few Ninjas to add to my castle collection ! I'm a conformist! everyone ! Quote
AwesomeStar Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Lovely review, def, especially that opening picture - I'm really loving the comic! A classic review for a classic set... from a classic theme! Really well done ~A.S. Quote
WhiteFang Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Excellent review with a fine opening! I enjoy this opening image of yours, where you are trying to depict a manga scene. This required lots of efforts to design such a nice sequence, well done, def. I bought this set, late last year. Although it was an used set, but the condition of it is still pretty good, and I enjoyed playing this set very much, with the ambush and swooshing around. I tend to mix the Black Ninja and the Red Guards together, as they are quite "villian" looking. Thanks def for sharing this with us. Quote
prateek Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Nice review. This set is really cool, especially for the minifigs Quote
Zorbas Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Wow, excellent review def! The first bit from the first picture is truely amazing! A real piece of art! Seeing more and more Ninja sets and Ninja related elements in EB lately, I think that it makes me be more and more interested in this theme. Quote
SlyOwl Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Hora? Spanish Ninja? Great review, nice job on the photoshopping. I always used to want this set, as the glider was so cool; looking back, it isn't all that great; heck, it's 4 studs wide! - Far too bulky. Nevertheless, the figs are great, and the base is nice too. I wish we could have seen more of those ornamental fish across the themes. Quote
Sir Dillon Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Nicely reviewed. Your opening image is very cool. It easy for me to get caught up in how cool the Ninja theme was on the whole and consider this a great set, but in the scheme of things this isn't particularly special. A good set for the price but not one of my favourites from the Ninja line. Quote
Fumoffu Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 Great review. One of my favourite theme. Wish they will bring it back and update it. Quote
CommanderFox Posted March 1, 2010 Posted March 1, 2010 Great review Def! This looks like a nice set, the parts are all right, and the figs are nice. Great pics! Thanks for the review! CommanderFox Quote
Torax Posted March 1, 2010 Posted March 1, 2010 Funny thing the samurai says 'hora' as it means both "look" and "cave". Both words are fitting in this situation! :) Nice review! I wish I bought more ninja. Quote
def Posted March 1, 2010 Author Posted March 1, 2010 Funny thing the samurai says 'hora' as it means both "look" and "cave". Both words are fitting in this situation! :)Nice review! I wish I bought more ninja. Hora is "look" as in "look out!" "look at that!" but not as in "I'm looking". Cave would be 洞. Same pronunciation, but written different I'm a stickler for accuracy. Quote
madoka Posted March 1, 2010 Posted March 1, 2010 I remember that the consenus on this set when it was released that it was pretty medicore and it ended up being one of those sets that languished on shelves. Funny how time can change peoples' perception. Quote
Torax Posted March 2, 2010 Posted March 2, 2010 (edited) Hora is "look" as in "look out!" "look at that!" but not as in "I'm looking". Cave would be 洞. Same pronunciation, but written different I'm a stickler for accuracy. Ah! If you had written it in kanji I would have understood. (No, I still wouldn't.) Anyway, I remember now that I have some Ninja sets... I guess I'll find out when I access my 'other' LEGO collection. Edited March 2, 2010 by Torax Quote
DutchTreat Posted March 4, 2010 Posted March 4, 2010 Nice review, love the minifigs, but not sure about the Ninja theme Quote
def Posted March 15, 2010 Author Posted March 15, 2010 My wife lectured me about my poor Japanese tonight after taking a long look at the first pic of this thread. Of course, I was too proud in the first place to ask a native speaker to check it before I posted, but it seemed fine to me. She felt 'ほら' was too friendly, that to convey surprise rather than showing something off, it should be 'あれっ', but possibly 'ほらっ' would be acceptable. Bottom line, don't take Japanese lessons from me I blame myself. Quote
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