955 replies to this topic

[Kai NRG]

Faefrost, on 12 October 2012 - 06:25 AM, said:

Have we confirmed that Loyd will be the Gold Ninja? I just ask, because some things like the golden robot in the Light Temple set, makes me wonder if Perhaps Zane has been set up as one of the surprises for this season.

It may not be 100% confirmed, but (like teabox said), he has green on his costume, Kimono Lloyd appears only in an Encyclopedia (and it would be very strange if the show highlight dod not come in any of the sets, although it would make sense for him to come in two), plus a Japanese retailer listed him as one of the minifigures in the Golden Dragon/Temple of Light.

I agree with horizon that the Temple of Light is not very nice at all architecturally (although I do know a non-ninjago fan who is interested in all the "Final Battle" sets), althoguh I don't really like the mech too much either (gold and white? Why not some other color?), but what I want are the pieces more than anything (dark tan! ) (and the minifigs too, I guess).

I was really hoping we would get a returned-to-good Lord Garmadon, but with the advent of Misako, I'm starting to wonder if he will turn good at all.

[LEGO-MANIA]

I'm very disappointed in most of sets.. Lego tends to make the sets smaller and more expensive..the museum is so small, it couldn't be a even a post office by size... also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets... except the fire helicopter, which really looks cool, I'm disapointed in most of other fire and police sets... Are they so cheap that they now even print the police vest instead of making a descent one...lego seems to only want to get the maximum money by offering less and less quality...a very sad developments... lego sets between 2006-2011 were the best

Edited by LEGO-MANIA, 12 October 2012 - 11:40 AM.

[pawcanada]

Lance, on 11 October 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

I'm going to miss Ninjago, though

Second. I disagree with the "Legend of Chima is a superior replacement to Ninjago" comment Lego was saying a few months back as for me personally it lacks the same umph that I feel Ninjago had. However I know next to nothing about it so my opinion may change.

I'm still a little disappointed at the lack of spinners. Not because I cared for the game but because it provided me with a cheap(ish) way to get the figs and some cool "weapons of choice". As great as the sets look, they personally don't appeal that much to me (bar Kai's mecha) but because I want the five ninjas I'll probably get them and perhaps sell on what I don't want or wait until later in the year when they are cheaper.

Design wise I do like the "Kimono" look, but miss the lack of individuality ZX had. I also feel the Golden Ninja would have worked better if he was black and gold as opposed to pure gold with a few bits of green, but I guess they want to keep the concept from NRG. It is a minor complaint though, as I look forward to having him with my NRG display.

While I will miss Ninjago (especially when I don't feel Legend of Chima looks half as interesting), my wallet and ever declining shelf space is happy. I do like the buildable weapons and the general designs of the figs, especially ZX.

I can understand why others would feel it would be overblown but I do wish we got maybe another one or two ZX ninjas (simply as I wanted to see what designs they'd have); I know there was a Grey robot ninja in some of the games who sadly didn't get made as a fig.

[Aanchir]

Faefrost, on 12 October 2012 - 06:25 AM, said:

Have we confirmed that Loyd will be the Gold Ninja? I just ask, because some things like the golden robot in the Light Temple set, makes me wonder if Perhaps Zane has been set up as one of the surprises for this season.

The set descriptions we got from a Japanese retailer's site specifically called the figure "Golden Ninja Lloyd", so it seems pretty certain to me-- especially since after all, he is the character the "final battle" will be focusing on in the show. Also, it would be quite odd if next year's sets had two Zane figures and no Lloyd figure.

LEGO-MANIA, on 12 October 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

I'm very disappointed in most of sets.. Lego tends to make the sets smaller and more expensive..the museum is so small, it couldn't be a even a post office by size... also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets... except the fire helicopter, which really looks cool, I'm disapointed in most of other fire and police sets... Are they so cheap that they now even print the police vest instead of making a descent one...lego seems to only want to get the maximum money by offering less and less quality...a very sad developments... lego sets between 2006-2011 were the best

Did you post this in the wrong topic by mistake? Certainly it's possible that the Ninjago sets disappoint you as much as the City sets, but only listing City sets as examples of your disappointment makes me think you might have meant to post this in the City topic.

Anyway, my thoughts on the sets:

• 70500 Kai's Fire Robot: Brilliant design. Great use of Hero Factory parts, and a genuinely awesome-looking small-scale mech in the grand tradition of the River Dragon and Mine Mech. The minifigures are gorgeous though the hilt of the Fire Blade used to attach it to the mech feels a bit contrived.
  
• 70501 Samurai Bike: Very imaginative design, and I love the Samurai helmet/mask motif. However, the Stone Army vehicles aren't nearly as refined-looking as the Skulkin and Serpentine vehicles were. If they appear in the show I imagine they'll look nicer, but as it is they don't have those well-defined contours that made the skeleton and snake motifs of the previous years' vehicles stand out in an instant. Jay's jetpack doesn't have much going for it in terms of parts, but it looks decent.
  
• 70502 Cole's Power Drill: I must say I'm disappointed in this one. The color scheme and minifigures are of course excellent, but the shape of the vehicle is underwhelming. It just feels so boxy, a far cry from the slick designs of this year's vehicles or even the brilliant drilling machines of the Power Miners theme.
  
• 70503 Golden Dragon: Gorgeous; just gorgeous. It definitely stands out from the previous dragons with its unique color scheme, blade-like wings, and split tail design. It's far from flawless, of course: this pic shows how awkward the claws look when the wings are outstretched, something the previous dragons avoided by having the claws run perpendicular to the "feathers". The minifigures in the set are great, though it's funny that the Golden Ninja seems to have unique, heavily stylized eyebrows. The inclusion of a sledgehammer for the minifigure catapult makes it feel all the more amusing, though it's hard to tell if it'll work very well. It looks like it would launch the minifigures upwards more than forwards, though as I understand it some minifigure catapults have had the opposite problem, and at least upwards makes sense against a flying foe.
  
• 70504 Garmatron: This one doesn't appeal to me as much as the bike does-- its stickered surfaces seem to distract from the contours rather than helping them, and the non-matching teeth are a bit strange. It and Zane's speeder are both unique in design, however, and the minifigures are stellar. Note that to make a Stone Warrior resembling the giant one from the episode "The Stone Army" you have to mix-and-match minifigure elements. However, the variety of colors that these Stone Army elements come in is nice, and I love their color scheme of black, bright red, and titanium metallic. Here you get a good look at the elemental blades, which are beautifully blended. Their build is inconsistent but hey, the same was true about the Nunchucks of Lightning, which had a build that varied from set to set.
  
• 70505 Temple of Light: It's not the work of art that the Fire Temple was, but the unique architecture of this set still makes it stand out as an excellent setting for the final battle. Minifigures are great, though I can't tell if Sensei Wu's design is new at all. The Golden Mech is quite substantial-looking, although its knees are a bit strange.

Overall, I love what's being offered in next year's lineup. Not every set stands out as a masterpiece, but the same was true of every other year. It is a bit of a shame that to get all the new minifigures you have to get every set besides possibly the Golden Dragon, which is a set I certainly wouldn't want to pass up (though my younger brother has dibs on that one if I remember correctly, so that might save me some trouble).

[Kai NRG]

Well, I guess I'll follow suit now that I have some time:

70500 Kai's Fire Robot: I love this one, although the antennae on the head look a bit odd to me, in general though .  Especially with that stone warrior - although I really wish we had gotten those amazing shields like in the show and red crossbows. :hmf_bad:

70501 Samurai Bike: Well, maybe it's just me, but seems like LEGO just started slapping pieces together on this one.  Or maybe the real problem is that it doesn't even have very many useful pieces either.

70502 Cole's Power Drill: While I agree it is a bit boxy, I really think it's not that bad - boxy seems to me like a good style for Cole.  In general though, it doesn't stand out to me.  At any rate, this one seems to have much more useful pieces.  I can see those round gold 4x4 plates coming in handy.  I would prefer no sand green for the model itself, but those pieces look like they might be useful someday.

70503 Golden Dragon: I really wish LEGO had used the other head.  This one just looks to solid for a flying dragon.  And I wish the ball were dark green rather than lime.  Other than that, it's pretty neat.  Lloyd looks great in the new suit (or presumably it's Lloyd), although he does look like he could stand in the museum without anyone noticing.  Probably the weirdest thing about this set is that it comes with the Dragon Sword of Fire.  How, in all of Ninjago, did that happen?!

70504 Garmatron: Another Ed and Edna creation (or worse than that!); it looks to me like it really wouldn't roll hardly at all.  I don't like the lime here either (or on the Stone Army torsos for that matter), and the hole in the middle for the missile really looks wacko.

70505 Temple of Light: I never was really such a fan of the Fire temple, but this one really doesn't look stellar; what I really like is the tan/dark tan.  It is nice that it includes Lord Garmadon; he's virtually the only main character I'm missing.  It seems to me like Wu's suit is different, maybe with some more gold? but it's hard to tell.


Personally, I like Kai's Robot and the Temple of Light.  Depending on how much I end up with, I might get the Dragon or Drill (or maybe the bike; I like Jay's Kimono), but other than that, I'll be saving for the Lone Ranger.

[DraikNova]

Since my internet doesn't work too well, I'm only seeing these now, sadly. However, here are my thoughts:

I actually like the Temple of Light, if only for those spires with golden baby dragons. It actually seems better than the fire temple to me, which I own. It includes all four golden blades and has an awesome golden robot. Not too good, but still awesome. The new Garmadon looks a little too dark for me with that helmet.

Garmatron, the tank, is one of my favorites: it has red treads with what appear to be fans and an awesome looking front part: it looks like a giant head in a way. Zane's spider mech is actually the selling point for me; it's just so crazy and plain Zane-y. It also has golden HF blades, which I like.

The Power drill isn't too good, but I want that golden drill part and as many Stone Army figs as possible, so I'm buying it.

The Samurai Bike has the same style as Garmatron, which is one of the reasons this is one of my favorites: it has a good balance between spikey and smooth. Jay's jetpack is pretty awesome (why am I the only one not hating on this?).

The Fire Robot is another great small set: it has cool arms with moving fingers.

The Golden Dragon for me embodies "dragonness": I actually like the head for this reason. The fact that the set includes two stone warriors makes this a must-buy for me.

Gold Lloyd seems a bit like Atlantis's gold statue, but better.

Edited by DraikNova, 12 October 2012 - 01:56 PM.

[horizon]

Weird: Golden Ninja eyebrows... Lloyd grew bigger ones I guess.
I like the earth dragon head on the golden dragon.
Temple of Light => bricks (dragon windows!) to create a bigger bounty,... hmmm...

Kai: for Lord Garmadon four arms I highly recommend Destiny;s Bounty!

[Kai NRG]

horizon, on 12 October 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

Weird: Golden Ninja eyebrows... Lloyd grew bigger ones I guess.
I like the earth dragon head on the golden dragon.
Temple of Light => bricks (dragon windows!) to create a bigger bounty,... hmmm...

Kai: for Lord Garmadon four arms I highly recommend Destiny;s Bounty!

Yes, the Bounty is nice (a friend of mine has it), but I also want the Dark tan the temple has, and besides, I could re-create the same garmadon with the pieces I have + the new version (unless he has a different suit entirely).  Plus, the Temple is cheaper.  

[Aanchir]

Kai NRG, on 12 October 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Yes, the Bounty is nice (a friend of mine has it), but I also want the Dark tan the temple has, and besides, I could re-create the same garmadon with the pieces I have + the new version (unless he has a different suit entirely).  Plus, the Temple is cheaper.  

Well, the new Lord Garmadon seems to have a black 2012-style samurai helmet, while this year's Lord Garmadon has a Titanium Metallic 2012-style samurai helmet. Other than that I believe they are identical, and it's not impossible to get the correct color of helmet for this year's Garmadon since it is also used for Samurai X.

[DraikNova]

All one needs to do is pick up Samurai X's spinner. I'm quite dissapointed we're not getting any this year, I really want Gold Ninja, Kimono Ninja and Stone Army spinners. Also, is it weird the dark power that created the stone warriors doesn't appear on any of the box art?

[Algernon]

Looking at the sets again, I find I actually quite like the Fire Robot - reminds me of Exo-Force, but in a good way. The Stone Warriors are cool (I like them better than snakes) but their vehicles are kind of weird. The Garmatron reminds me of a TMNT set.

Since these are labelled "the final battle", I guess that's it for NinjaGo.

[Kai NRG]

Aanchir, on 12 October 2012 - 03:23 PM, said:

Well, the new Lord Garmadon seems to have a black 2012-style samurai helmet, while this year's Lord Garmadon has a Titanium Metallic 2012-style samurai helmet. Other than that I believe they are identical, and it's not impossible to get the correct color of helmet for this year's Garmadon since it is also used for Samurai X.

Well, Titanium-metallic is even better; that way I'll have both kinds!  Anyway, yes, I have Samurai X, so I don't think building the 2012 Lord Garmadon would be hard at all.

[Prominence]

I love the Golden Dragon set. I like the Golden Ninja, maybe he gets a new sword? The Golden Dragon looks great too. I hope all the gold pieces are the same shade of gold. I don't care for the flags, but they don't really bother me that much. The minifigures and the sledgehammer are interesting too. I'm definitely getting this set.

Edited by Prominence, 12 October 2012 - 05:31 PM.

[-Bob]

I have never gotten into the Ninja-go theme, but some of the vehicles are starting to grow on me.  I guess Legends of Chima is taking over though but the one vehicle I saw for that theme reminds me of Roborider for some reason.

Edited by -Bob, 12 October 2012 - 06:22 PM.

[Aanchir]

DraikNova, on 12 October 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

All one needs to do is pick up Samurai X's spinner. I'm quite dissapointed we're not getting any this year, I really want Gold Ninja, Kimono Ninja and Stone Army spinners. Also, is it weird the dark power that created the stone warriors doesn't appear on any of the box art?

Not really. I don't normally expect incorporeal entities to appear on the box art for sets, especially nowadays when a typical design rule is to include a conflict in each set. Why stick some bizarre villain that can't be accurately built on a set's box art when it'll do nothing but distract from the villain characters that are actually included?

And let me be honest: while I love the spinners in terms of aesthetics and function, and I hope we'll still get card-style art for the new costumes, at least on the back of the packages, I don't particularly mind not having any new spinners in sets. I've rarely gotten a character in a spinner set when I could get them in a model set instead. Even with the cards and spinners, a spinner set invariably feels like I'm getting less for my money-- and if you judge by piece count, that's almost unquestionable.

Also, hopefully the lack of new spinner sets might mean that we see more recent spinner sets like NRG Zane and Lloyd ZX on store shelves longer. It's doubtful, though, since that shelf space will probably be put towards Chima sets.

Algernon, on 12 October 2012 - 03:32 PM, said:

Looking at the sets again, I find I actually quite like the Fire Robot - reminds me of Exo-Force, but in a good way. The Stone Warriors are cool (I like them better than snakes) but their vehicles are kind of weird. The Garmatron reminds me of a TMNT set.

Since these are labelled "the final battle", I guess that's it for NinjaGo.

Yep, as I understand it there won't be any new waves after this one. But that's fine by me-- the show is concluding this season, and I see no reason to stretch the theme out until sales can no longer justify more than a modest budget for the conclusion, as was the case with BIONICLE.

Also, it's hilarious that we're generalizing the TMNT sets already, having only seen one that as I understand it is about as good a likeness of its subject as most of the Toy Story sets.

[Penkid11]

Let me have a go at this.

Kai's Fire Robot: It definitely is River Dragon meets Mine Mech, but in such a way that really comes out as something different. i would have wanted one of the bigger stone warriors though.

Samurai Bike: The Turbo Shredder and the Skull Motorbike's baby, had a baby with the Samurai Mech. It's quite the sweet baby, but I feel something is just so "the same" about every other Motorbike we've had so far.

Cole's Power Drill: You think that they would have perfected these mining vehicles by now, but just like the City Mine Drill, I'm dissapointed... with the proportions. The rest of the vehicle looks like a giant rock. It suits Cole extremely well.

Golden Dragon: ... Speechless... BEAUTIFUL !!

Garmatron: "Let's get every black and red part, and build it into something!" The only reason I'm getting this is for the minifigures.

Temple of Light: Those white highlights needed to be green. Also more gold would be nice. Garmadon isn't special, as you can piece that hat and staff of his with the other sets, also none of the figures look unique. It does come with all the swords and it still is a beautiful piece of architecture, but why couldn't this have technic pin holes on the sides so I can attach it to the Spinjitsu dojo. Disapointed by that. This set will still be one of the first I get.

[Aanchir]

Penkid11, on 12 October 2012 - 07:10 PM, said:

Samurai Bike: The Turbo Shredder and the Skull Motorbike's baby, had a baby with the Samurai Mech. It's quite the sweet baby, but I feel something is just so "the same" about every other Motorbike we've had so far.

I don't know. Besides the scale and the fact that a lot of them lean forward, most of the motorbikes we've had have been very unique (Skull Motorbike was a "chopper", Kai's Blade Cycle was more of a stylized racing bike, and Lasha's Bite Cycle hid the front wheel under the snake-shaped body). This one in particular has a tread instead of a front wheel, which gives it a very original look.

Quote

Temple of Light: Those white highlights needed to be green. Also more gold would be nice. Garmadon isn't special, as you can piece that hat and staff of his with the other sets, also none of the figures look unique. It does come with all the swords and it still is a beautiful piece of architecture, but why couldn't this have technic pin holes on the sides so I can attach it to the Spinjitsu dojo. Disapointed by that. This set will still be one of the first I get.

The "Technic pin hole" gimmick was really only ever meant for attaching multiples of the same set together, usually to make an arena for the spinner sets. Thus, the reason why attaching different 2011 sets together would usually not have them line up in any logical way. The reason it was abandoned was probably simply that TLG realized people weren't buying and using multiples of the same set that way, hence why all "arena sets" in 2012 were based on the simpler (and far less expensive) Technic-based arena layout.

If you really want to attach it to the Spinjitzu Dojo, it would probably be worthwhile to mod both sets anyway, since having the two very different architectural styles connecting directly to one another would be quite jarring.

Edited by Aanchir, 12 October 2012 - 07:47 PM.

[Faefrost]

I love the gold dragon. Definitely on my must have list. I will get the others mainly for figs. I agree that something just seems to be missing from he Temple of Light. The Fire Temple is so gorgeous a structure. This one looks like it is from an earlier design age. A lot of flat plates and bricks. No real styling or architecture. It seems to lack flow. The gold mech is kind of neat.

Am I alone in hoping for one more surprise? A big end of theme exclusive set like we have been seeing in recent years? I mean Ninjago has been one of their most profitable themes. It's going out on a high note. You would hope they might sneak us something like the MMV, or Imperial Flagship, or Haunted House or Arkham? Maybe a final battle with the as yet unrevealed big villain?

[Kai NRG]

Faefrost, on 12 October 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

. . . Am I alone in hoping for one more surprise? A big end of theme exclusive set like we have been seeing in recent years? I mean Ninjago has been one of their most profitable themes. It's going out on a high note. You would hope they might sneak us something like the MMV, or Imperial Flagship, or Haunted House or Arkham? Maybe a final battle with the as yet unrevealed big villain?

Your not alone in hoping that, I'd really like a Jay DX character card. . .   Anyway, a modular house Ninjago style would really be cool, but what would they do like that?  And why wouldn't we have heard about it yet?

[Flipz]

Faefrost, on 12 October 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

Am I alone in hoping for one more surprise? A big end of theme exclusive set like we have been seeing in recent years? I mean Ninjago has been one of their most profitable themes. It's going out on a high note. You would hope they might sneak us something like the MMV, or Imperial Flagship, or Haunted House or Arkham? Maybe a final battle with the as yet unrevealed big villain?

Kai NRG, on 12 October 2012 - 09:31 PM, said:

Your not alone in hoping that, I'd really like a Jay DX character card. . .   Anyway, a modular house Ninjago style would really be cool, but what would they do like that?  And why wouldn't we have heard about it yet?

Someone call Peppermint_M, I smell a perfect end-of-Ninjago contest concept!

[Penkid11]

Faefrost, on 12 October 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

Am I alone in hoping for one more surprise? A big end of theme exclusive set like we have been seeing in recent years? I mean Ninjago has been one of their most profitable themes. It's going out on a high note. You would hope they might sneak us something like the MMV, or Imperial Flagship, or Haunted House or Arkham? Maybe a final battle with the as yet unrevealed big villain?

UCS Bounty, Ouroboros, some random Stone Fortress, Mojo Dojo, the list is pretty long for a "Big Bang!"

[DraikNova]

I wonder if we'll get an exclusive.

[Krulis]

I've found a pic witch explains stone general colorscheme:
http://images.wikia....e/Stone.png.bmp

[Masa of Kaliphlin]

Kai NRG, on 12 October 2012 - 01:12 PM, said:

Personally, I like Kai's Robot and the Temple of Light.

Same here. I really wasn't a Ninjago fan but I really like Kai's robot (I might even get more than one of these). And the Temple of Light while not the most memorable, I love those spires!

[Penkid11]

The Fold just released their full Ninjago album on iTunes called For the Spinners (Green album). Includes all four of the released songs, but also includes "singalongs" with no lyrics.