Siegfried

REVIEW: 9446 Destiny’s Bounty

  

88 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you like your jet powered sail ships to be crewed by Ninjas?

    • 5. Excellent!
      27
    • 4. Good.
      32
    • 3. OK
      14
    • 2. Poor
      9
    • 1. Horrid
      6


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Set Index: 9446

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Welcome to my review of the (early?) 2012 Ninjago flagship!

Sail into an epic battle on board Destiny’s Bounty!

On a dangerous journey aboard Destiny’s Bounty, an ancient shipwreck, Sensei Wu and the ninjas have located the powerful golden Hypnobrai staff deep inside of the secret snake shrine. As they land the flying ship in the water to seize the staff, Zane and Jay get a scaly surprise from Hynobrai General Skales and his accomplice warrior, Slithraa. Sensei Wu fires the ship’s cannon into the battle until his ancient enemy, Lord Garmadon, appears. Can Sensei Wu protect the Ninjago treasures on board without the help of the ninjas? Choose your battle in an epic showdown where the fate of the Ninjago world hangs in the balance! Includes 6 minifigures: Sensei Wu, Kendo Zane, Kendo Jay, Lord Garmadon, Skales and Slithraa; Destiny’s Bounty ninja ship, snake staff shrine, golden Hypnobrai staff and 16 weapons.

  • Includes 6 minifigures: Sensei Wu, Kendo Zane, Kendo Jay, Lord Garmadon, Skales and Slithraa
  • Features Hypnobrai snake shrine and golden Hypnobrai staff
  • Weapons include: 2 golden daggers, big spear, bo staff, 2 sai, golden serrated blade, 4 ninja swords, 4 crossbows and ninja claws
  • Transform Destiny’s Bounty into a flying ship!
  • Fire the cannon shooter with 4 cannonballs!
  • Protect the secret treasure on board at all costs!
  • Stow the ninja weapons in the ship’s weapon racks!
  • Launch the working anchor when you reach the shrine!
  • Measures over 16” (43cm) long, 10” (26cm) tall and 11” (30cm) wide

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I love how Skales is on the anchor! :laugh:

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Post opening haul appreciation.

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For many the figs are the main part so I'll get to them without further delay! Three heroes are included; Kendo Jay, Kendo Zane and Sensei Wu.

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Wu has a nice print under his beard, but the others are unremarkable.

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Likewise back prints are a bit disappointing. None of the figs in this set have double sided faces, which I feel is a mixed blessing.

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The Kendo mask is pretty cool, although TLG does seem a little confused about the concept. :tongue:

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Three Villains are included also; Skales, Slithraa and Lord Garmadon... who seems a bit taller this year.

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I love this tail part. I hope it's not just for this wave.

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I'm not overly happy with this however. It's too bulky and integrating the armour limits its use.

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From the first bag the "treasure" is made. The fang/drip effect is cool.

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One of my big surprises of this set was that it included some of the brick-bricks. :wub:

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I'm not sure if anyone has shown these in detail yet, but in any case I will! :laugh: Here's the "front"...

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...and here is the "back".

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I'm not really sure of how TLG intend to use these, but I find them odd. Why? Well if you build them "right" you end up with this....

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...when you really want this, which is unstable. Ahh well... time will tell.

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*rattle* *rattle* *rattle* *rattle* Done! Sorry, I don't have the time for build photos. I love the sails, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are mirrored.

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To deal with what's important, yes, she has an anchor. :laugh:

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The figurehead, while a cool idea, probably could have done with some printing. A solid black eye for example.

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Sleek from the front...

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...but square at the back. Looks like a good party ship though!

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Sensei Wu loves his new chick magnet, but I think he'd be happier still if he had a teapot.

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The roof lifts for access. Note the map; it's printed and resting on the "cannon balls".

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There's also loads of room for the scum-bag crew.

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But what's this odd thing?

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Oh, it's a secret hiding place for a knife. Makes sense; cannon and katanas in plain sight, but hide these. :wacko: My camera must feel the same way as me as it focused on the only stickers I used; the "below decks hatch". Notice the step behind?

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That's another "secret". On a similar negative note, the gun is mounted very badly and I keep breaking it. It really needed a bigger turntable or tiles around the edges.

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So what's this? Dunno, let's pull it!

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*Foomp!*

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"Ahhhghh! Don't land on us!". This feature I like! Before you get too excited, the sails do work (that is pull the lever and they go up) but they are not connected to the back. The back however is linked together, which I didn't expect and I think it's very subtle.

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I think it looks much better "flying"... but I accidentally closed the mouth so it looks a bit odd. Imagine that it's open. :wink:

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Here you can see the mechanics.

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The engine concept is a bit weird however. All the thrust is pointing down a the rear, so I'm not sure how it takes off... must be Spinjitsu.

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Nice to see that TLG found another use for this "Cars" piece! I wonder if this part will live on...

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Previously unseen parts. :laugh: (Some might not be spare... the crate definitely isn't but I can't find a good place for it.)

Ratings

Functions:

The minor play value parts are really lame and I'll probably remove them, the gun is badly mounted, but the sail and the swinging engine are cool enough to make up for them. 9/10

Parts:

Some cool new figs, brick parts, loads of brown, beautiful sails. Pretty darn good I think. 9/10

Price:

At $129.99 AUD for 684 parts, many of them big it's an OK deal. Other Ninjago sets are probably better value though. 7/10

Looks:

It looks like a dragon yet it's also so almost steampunk it makes me want to steal Ninjago from Action and put it in Sci-Fi! :devil: 10/10

Fudge:

Ninjago is such a cool line that I hope it lasts a long time. It can be tweaked every year to be a virtually new theme! This is a perfect example of where it can go. Sure it's absurd and it makes no sense, but LEGO is about imagination. 8/10

Overall:

Buy! 8/10

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Crewman - Captain; dragon shaped jet powered sailing ship off the port bow. The ninjas on board are signalling that they want to board and discuss buying some tea.

Lord Monty Zarknell - What?! That's nonsense. I'm going to close my eyes until you start making sense.

Crewman - I guess that means you don't want to hear about the pink fairy...

Edited by Rufus
Indexed

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Thank you so much for this review!

I am planning to order this from Amazon this week, so this is just what I needed! :classic:

Now having looked at real-life pic of the new Lord Garmadon, I have to say that he looks really awful with the "extra torso", especially since it seems to be a different colour to the rest of his body.

The idea of a four-armed minifig is a grand idea, but this simply isn't the way to do it.

Bluebeard, out-

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Thanks so much! I've been waiting for a Eurobricks review of this set for a while! It's one of the sets I greatly anticipate from next year.

While the ship is brilliant, I think it has some flaws. For instance, although it acts as the Ninja's home base in the TV show, it is very small in the set and has no cabins or other "interior" space. The deck also seems a bit cluttered. I think I would have liked it more if it were the same scale as a full-size LEGO pirate ship, but of course that would have jacked up the price considerably, and people already complain that it has an unreasonable price-per-piece.

The little shrine in this set is nice, much like the smaller and simpler snake shrines in other sets this year. The coolness of these shrines makes me kind of disappointed that there are far fewer architectural-based sets in 2012 than there were in 2011. 2011 at least had more detail on most of the "arena" sets like Skeleton Bowling. While the arena sets in 2012 have an advantage in that their simple Technic-based designs are intercompatible (you no longer have to buy multiples of the same set and connect them together for a full play experience), they are not nearly as pretty as the more complex ones in 2011.

The figs are generally nice. Although the "Kendo" figs are pretty simple and mostly identical they still are a neat concept. Skales and Slithraa look very nice-- I have to say the Hypnobrai (blue and gray snakemen) are perhaps some of the most stylish of the Serpentine figures. The new Sensei Wu is nice, not that we necessarily needed one after having two brilliant-looking designs in 2011.

Lord Garmadon's new fig is a mixed bag. In some ways, it looks excellent. In others, though, it's lacking. For instance, his helmet is now Titanium Metallic rather than Silver Metallic, which has less contrast with his body, and furthermore the new samurai helmet design is slightly less imposing than the old one. The design of the new "additional arms" piece doesn't bother me too much besides that it has a grooved texture. If it were smoother, and perhaps even printed, I feel it would suit Lord Garmadon's design better, plus be more versatile.

Overall none of the problems I see with this set strike me as reasons not to get it. It certainly suits Sensei Wu's character with its very traditional styling that disguises deeper mechanical complexity.

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Thanks for the review. Really liked the new snakes. The ship doesn't look like the one in the show but I am alright with it. It looked like a Chinese Warship to me which I could use it for moc.

Edited by Esurient

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I'm usually a sucker for ship sets, but the pictures of one in the catalog makes me think it isn't going to do anything for me at all. And your review has more than confirmed that. Thanks for saving me $100.00 or so.

Steve

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I was interested in this set, and I still like it, but now I'm not sure it's really worth the asking price. While the transformation feature is nice, the overall look of the boat just feels a little sloppy. If it were cheaper, I wouldn't mind so much, but I only shell out >$80 when I really like a set. Thanks for saving me some cash. :sweet:

Oh, and great review!

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Thank you for the review. It was much needed. I was super excited when I first heard of a Chinese ship..then I saw it. Overall it looks decent enough, but I'd want to modify it quite a bit. I'm not super into the whole transformation thing in Ninjago, but I surprisingly like this version. A ship that flies seems like a really neat and fun experience.

The Wu figure is really nice. The new molds for snake people are interesting. The others being relatively the same I can live without. The kendo aspect is cool, but from what I can tell on wiki the kendoka don't actually use them while in "battle?" Either way, the figs are mostly a pass.

I really like the sails and the figurehead though.

I definitely would not buy this for that price tag. I don't know how Australia does it at that price point.

I think I will pass on this purchase for now.

Thanks again for the review. You keep writing them, we'll keep reading them.

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Great review Sieggy! My main interest in this set is that it fills a hole in our ship collection, and I'm still annoyed that we missed out on the Airbender sets with its awesome battle cruiser. While I'm largely happy with it, it is a tad annoying that some detail is lacking. It should look awesome with some modification though...

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Thanks for the review! I don't know how early it is though. The green Ninjago sets all debuted here on January 1.

I wasn't so excited by those new sets, except this one. There's something in the design which makes me want it. The other Ninjago sets I've bought were also Asian flavor buildings, as compared to, say, the Skull Motorbike. I'm still on the fence about the mini-figs in this set, but I've put this in my Amazon wish list.

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While the ship is brilliant, I think it has some flaws. For instance, although it acts as the Ninja's home base in the TV show, it is very small in the set and has no cabins or other "interior" space. The deck also seems a bit cluttered.

I made a search on YouTube after you said that; yeah it is supposed to be a lot bigger!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA0CFATmgRk

It also answers the question of take-off; there are additional thrusters at the front. I'll have to add those. :laugh:

I'm usually a sucker for ship sets, but the pictures of one in the catalog makes me think it isn't going to do anything for me at all. And your review has more than confirmed that. Thanks for saving me $100.00 or so.

Steve

Not a problem... :cry_sad:

I definitely would not buy this for that price tag. I don't know how Australia does it at that price point.

Well to be honest I'm not sure if I would have either. I got it for virtually half price due to a credit card related store voucher. :laugh:

Thanks for the review! I don't know how early it is though. The green Ninjago sets all debuted here on January 1.

:tongue: No, not early in that way. I meant that it's the biggest Ninjago set for this year so far; there could be a second wave bigger set.

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Sensei's face is totally wonderful. Though the other two ninjas' faces are completely MEH. Yes, I didn't even bother looking at their names.

The flagship is superb though :thumbup: the only thing I don't like is the area under the flag.

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This ship pretty much represents everything I hate about the Ninjago theme. Silly beyond reason. But at the same time, I can definately understand why kids would find it very exciting. And it seems to have its fair share of AFOL followers as well, so good for LEGO. And good review.

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Great review 'Siegfried', I actually caught on Youtube the actual episode of Ninjago - Rise Of The Snake...I believe that's the series title....episode 5 explains this craft as well as the Ninja's special rides. :wink:

It's very original design, a jet powered flying junk....yep, very original. :grin:

Sadly for me funds only allow this tiger to collect city sets now, so Ninjago is a miss for me. :sadnew:

Anyway, again thanks 'Siegfried' and Review On ! :classic:

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Great review :thumbup: I'm actually not into Ninjago, but this review was entertaining none the less :wink:

Funny "comic" at the end :laugh:

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Thanks for the review.

To me, this set looks strangely retro besides the minifigures. The colors are kind of mish-mashed and basic (red and brown, two colors common enough in 80s Lego sets), and the design of the ship looks... well bad yes, but also like something that would've been cool for an 80s set. Which might be why this set is appealing to some.

I personally dislike it though, for those reasons.

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I like the design quite a bit and the set will probably remain the only one of the large vehicle sets I acquire.

However, as the reviewer mentions, the mounting for the cannon is definitely a weak point and it detaches much to easily. The angled platform behind the pilothouse at the aft end of the ship is conspicuously empty. That's where I have temporarily stowed the crate, but there really should either a smaller gun there to cover the rear, or some other structure. I may mod things by putting a single or pair of smaller, brick-built guns.

I have no issue with either of the transformed arrangements except for the way the engines are oriented. They should be pointing straight aft in one mode and straight down at the other (so the ship could perhaps "hover" or glide to a water landing). Right now it seems the engines' "intakes" are pointing down in the first configuration and then the engines' exhausts at an angle at the other.

The ship could do with being a bit longer and perhaps having an accessible space below decks, but the engine layout is my biggest beef.

Edited by VeganGuy

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Thanks for the review of this set.

That seems to be quite a cool mchanism for the transforming features, and I like the hidden compartments too - though like you point out, why hide the daggers when there's katanas and heavy artillery on open display? the crazy world of Ninjago!

Hopefully I'll pick this set up when it gets to be a little cheaper - it'd look great with a Rattle Copter or two assaulting it and perhaps Jay's jet plane too.

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Well, why hide the dagger? Because they do that in the movies. Like those duels where the swords are gone, they seem defeated and then woooooosh they get a secret knife out of somewhere. ;)

Nice review. As for the prize: search the net, in the Netherlands big stores sell it at 95 euro, webstores sell it from 70 euro on. Quite the difference.

Thanks for the review; perhaps most pity part is the fact Jay & Zane are regular outfits... kids have an army of Jay clones allready... heh.

Lego is promoting Ninjago pretty highly, the video along it is well done with the rattlecopter trying to attack the ship. etc.

Edited by horizon

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Thanks for the review of this set.

That seems to be quite a cool mchanism for the transforming features, and I like the hidden compartments too - though like you point out, why hide the daggers when there's katanas and heavy artillery on open display? the crazy world of Ninjago!

It may be that it's just easier to engineer a mechanism to hide the shorter weapons rather than the longer ones in the space allowed. Or think of it as a more easily-hidden last-ditch blade that the crew can access if they are otherwise disarmed. :sweet:

EDIT: I was beaten to it by the above poster!

Edited by VeganGuy

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Very good review! :classic: Many excellent parts, such as equipment for figures, wings-sails, but the design of the ship seems to me strange... :sceptic:

And really looks like the desert skiff from «Return of the Jedi». :classic:

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DSC00479es.JPG

I'm not really sure of how TLG intend to use these, but I find them odd. Why? Well if you build them "right" you end up with this....

DSC00481es.JPG

...when you really want this, which is unstable. Ahh well... time will tell.

One solution would be manufacturing a matching 4x1. We do after all have 2 and 4 length in the 'loggy bricks'. and I am so calling them that henceforth. unless of course that's horribly offensive slang somewhere and I don't know it. :tongue:

and while on the topic of slang, I dub the flipside the Kit Kat brick.

Edited by SpiderSpaceman

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It may be that it's just easier to engineer a mechanism to hide the shorter weapons rather than the longer ones in the space allowed. Or think of it as a more easily-hidden last-ditch blade that the crew can access if they are otherwise disarmed. :sweet:

EDIT: I was beaten to it by the above poster!

Perhaps, as they are gold, they have some type of Spinjitsu power.

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Man, do I want this set. Too bad it's so expensive. Hopefully TRU will have a good sale soon. I really like the new tail mold on Skales; they gotta re-release it in a cheaper set. ("They" refering to TLC)

Edited by GeluNumber1

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