LEGO Ninjago 2017 Discussion

[PenPlays]

I've never. EVER. Thought I would ever have the urge to buy an entire wave of Lego sets on launch day.

I can't even formulate words.

EDIT: Gimme a bit to ruminate. I'm gonna go crazy on my thoughts sometime tonight. Get ready.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Penkid11

[Actor Builder]

The Destiny's Bounty is gorgeous. I was considering buying the new Pirates Of The Caribbean ship to quench my occasional LEGO ship craving that occurs every few years or so, but I think I'll pass on that for this bucket of fun. It's super cool and super different to any other large ship sets I know about.

All of these sets look really good. I haven't actively kept up with Ninjago since the second wave of skeleton people sets, really, but this is a game-changer.

[DuckBricks]

I'm really glad this wave is drawing more and more people into the theme - these sets may be the best wave of Ninjago sets ever, rivaled only maybe by Possession due to the Temple of Airjitsu and Wu and Morro Dragons.

Here's my breakdown on what we can see so far

70606 Spinjitsu Training is a neat small set, and it's nice Lego isn't pulling any punches on this $10 set - Kai and Zane are all decked out in their respective armor and weapons, unlike several of the most recent "impulse buy" Ninjago sets where figures have been missing out on armor, masks, or updated heads. The scenery is ok - it's nothing too special , but would look good in a larger training display.

70607 Ninjago City Chase is certainly a nice build in its own right, but is a tad overshadowed by the heavy hitters - the marketplace suffers from being too much of a facade like most sets of this nature do, but I do love the small police car and the asian-style lamps. Also, civilian outfits look great and

 

My browser crashed for inputting a giant wall of text into this and it seems that EB has recovered maybe the first paragraph.  Ah well, there goes that hour I spent writing up detailed descriptions 

 

Tl;dr sets are great except for the uninspired Manta Ray Bomber, Jay's Lightning Jet combines the best of the Milano, Aero Booster, Superman Battle of Smallville, and more, and the Destiny's Bounty is quite possibly the best Ninjago set ever, even including Temple of Airjitsu. The only oddity is that Temple of the Ultimate Weapon contains the ninja team without hoods and DB has the opposite - I figured it would be reversed.

 

Edit: The Brick Fan just released photos of Ninjago costumes, and they include to-scale props of all the ninja weapons!  I don't want to buy all of them but I think I have to... http://www.thebrickfan.com/the-lego-ninjago-movie-disguise-costumes-and-accessories/

Edited May 2, 2017 by legozebra

[VaderFan2187]

The sets are on reddit Lego Leaks now.

[makoy]

13 minutes ago, VaderFan2187 said:

The sets are on reddit Lego Leaks now.

It's actually there more than 12 hours ago, isn't it? Or is there a new one?

[horizon]

Lots and lots of minifigs in these sets. Makes something like city chase worthwhile.

The fact the dragon is Mech is the first let down, the actual Lego version compared to the movie one is a triple let down. :(

The Bounty seriously needs one dragon head on the prow. Mod time on a 170 set. :)

 

 

[PenPlays]

Thoughts:

To start let's go with Shark Attack the Juniors set. I've noticed, this year especially, that the Juniors sets are quite healthy in size, even when compared to last year. This one is no exception. The Shark car is goofy, and charming all the same, and includes Great White, a named villain that is only available in one other set so far. Kai, of course, has a motorcycle. The little dojo is nice as well, and I'm really liking that fencing detail peace at the top. Also a unique Lloyd minifig is a +

Spinjitzu Training is so wonderfully simple. It reminds me of some of the original Ninjago sets form 2011. The fact that this includes both Kai and Zane is awesome, and the accessories in this one (Helmet of Shadows anyone? Heck, is that even canon in the movie world?) are quite interesting as well.

I was very happy at the idea of Ninjago City themed sets finally being on the way, so when I heard about the rumors for the D2C set, I was hoping there would be something to whet my appetite. NINJAGO City Chase is just that. We get a small, yet stocked, market stall with oriental designs, a baddie, Officer Toque, a new Police Officer character, and, thankfully some casual wear for some of the Ninja, Nya and Lloyd specifically, though in the future we get similar attire for the other ninja. Ham, the market stall owner also has a new style straw-hat, which is most welcome.

Master Falls gives off a nostalgic feeling for me, as it reminds me of the old Knights Kingdom II set, Border Ambush. This set is a nice, cheap way to get a variant of Garmadon (love the design) as well as Wu, not to mention an absolutely wild hair component for Kai.

Of all the Shark Army sets, the Manta Ray Bomber was the one I was looking forward to the least, but it looks quite screen accurate to say the least. The minifig selection is nice, what with Cole being there, and another character, Shen-Li, who happens to be wearing that new straw hat in another color. There are the typical launching functions on this set, but it looks as if there's a bit to be desired. I'll be waiting to see more images. This one is the least appealing of the wave to me.

Nya finally gets an elemental themed vehicle with the Water Strider. This set suffers greatly from down-scaling in order to make the set more affordable, which is a shame for someone who wants to see as much accuracy in these Mechs as possible, but I digress. It appears to be really posable, and features a stud shooter (ho-hum). The minifig selection isn't really anything special.

Probably one of the most appreciated things from the trailer we've gotten so far was the Green Ninja Mech Dragon. Unfortunately it suffers, due to the fact that Lego intends for children to play with their product, but at least the set looks similar. This is the cheapest set to get Garmadon in his more familiar attire, and strangely calls Lloyd in his hood "The Green Ninja," despite the fact that he is called Lloyd elsewhere. There seems to be an excessive amount of gearing in the tail, which I would understand if there was something other than a wagging tail. A mixed bag really. Would be open to modifications in the future should I be inspired.

The Lightning Jet looks incredible. Though at first glance, it looks rather frail with all the antennas attached to it, but they are locked down by 1x1 hinge plates, so they're gonna have some structure to them. The Baddie selection is phenomenal in this set, but that pales in comparison to the stars of this set... we finally are getting Ed and Edna, who, despite being the first time showing up in a set, one for TLNM no less, manage to retain most of their features from the show... Now that we have prints, I expect a jalopy in our future. You know we want it Lego.

Now we have the first TLNM set we saw, the Fire Mech. Unlike the other mechs in this lineup, this one is extremely close to it's movie counterpart, though there are evident differences (the shoulders for starters). It's wonderful that it's so massive. I just hope those knees bend. The citizens in this set are quite fun as well.

And now we have the elegant, Tibetan monestary-like Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. Although rather redundant sounding, this set is truly a sight. It's design is elegant, and features what might just be the best lineup of minifigs in the series (seeing as this one actually includes a bad guy). Speaking of minifigs, this includes all the ninja with their hair! The lions are also an excellent touch. I'm quite curious as to what exactly the "Ultimate Ultimate Weapon" is, as I can't see that blue flame at the top of the building being it, but who knows?

The last, but, oh, most certainly not least is Destiny's Bounty. This perhaps flightless variant of the Bounty is the first time we've gotten a fully-fledged, to-scale ship under Ninjago, and offers what may be the only set, aside from the Temple of Airjitzu, to contend for the best set ever to be released in the Ninjago theme over its lifetime. The amount of detail and form creates such a mighty, yet oriental looking vessel that I absolutely can't wait to get my hands on. The fact there even is a below deck makes thing all the better. If I can manage the cash, day one for sure.

[JakeChambers]

These sets are outstanding! My main aim is to get all the new hairstyles, but there's a few buildings I really wanna get too!

[VaderFan2187]

2 hours ago, makoy said:

It's actually there more than 12 hours ago, isn't it? Or is there a new one?

They were on r/lego but not r/legoleaks, it's much easier to find on legoleaks.

[gamejutzu]

I'm kind of disappointed with the build of Lloyd's dragon compared to the movie's, and even more so that they scrapped Misako for Charlie.

Is Zane's landmaster tank a retail exclusive? Or is it in the second wave?

[JasonEffex]

These pictures are a welcome surprise, and those are some amazing looking sets. 

A couple of interesting things I noticed are that Kai's Mech has a pair of disc launchers in red up on the shoulders, and that the laser weapon that Garmadon is holding in the mechdragon set also appears in the Destiny's Bounty, being held by Nya (plot significance maybe?). 

The mechdragons head doesn't bother me that much, as it looks like it only appears oversized because of how the dragon is posed in the picture, so I'll wait until we get better pictures to make up my mind about that one. Everything else looks great though (juniors set included).

 

[Zergos]

These sets are pretty underwhelming to be honest. I was hoping for some good villain figs, but they are all subpar at best. Oh well, guess I'll be saving some money this summer. 

[TenorPenny]

My favourite part of the whole wave is the little crab-bot which comes with the Lightning Jet. Too cute.

[makoy]

I love the facial expression of Henry, a character who appears in set # 76015. That expression when you step on a LEGO stud is very accurate! 

[LegoShroom]

I'm really upset to see that the villains get such little exposure. Instead of the epic ocean themed villains we were promised, a large portion of the bady guys are just generic thugs. There goes my army building plans. Maybe the CMF can make ammends.

[PenPlays]

22 minutes ago, LegoShroom said:

I'm really upset to see that the villains get such little exposure. Instead of the epic ocean themed villains we were promised, a large portion of the bady guys are just generic thugs. There goes my army building plans. Maybe the CMF can make ammends.

Aren't all of Ninjago's villain characters, aside from the generals, a bunch of random thugs that happen to blend in seamlessly with the main villain's forces? I mean look at the Ghosts. Most of them are identical, with variances between which of two hats, torsos, and legs they have.

Also, for once, it looks like these are the only human villains that will remain human throughout, which is also a plus.

[doclord]

The villains were never promised to be epic ocean villains though, they ones in the Ninjago Movie have always been thugs wearing themed hats. 

[benderisgreat]

19 minutes ago, Penkid11 said:

Aren't all of Ninjago's villain characters, aside from the generals, a bunch of random thugs that happen to blend in seamlessly with the main villain's forces? I mean look at the Ghosts. Most of them are identical, with variances between which of two hats, torsos, and legs they have.

Also, for once, it looks like these are the only human villains that will remain human throughout, which is also a plus.

Well Serpentine weren't generic.

[Hoth Rebel]

Ah finally. The Destiny Bounty will probably be the first Ninjago set I'll buy. It looks really good and even better in person. 

The dragon mech looked really cool when I saw it before, but looking at the picture it looks a little dull. 

As for the villians: I don't really mind them. You all have seen the Batman movie sets where the villians (and other figs) were outstanding, but most sets lacked detail and/or a good build. These sets looks so much better and you still get a lot of figs (and better pricing but that has to do with the license of course).

 

[TPLSTER21]

Looks like the links got zapped and the pictures have been taken down. 

Having had a good look at the sets, they are a bit of a mixed bag for me but my feelings are generally positive.  I suppose you could say that I'm impressed, but not as impressed as I wanted to be!

Spinjitzu Training - A nice impulse set with 2 fully kitted out ninja's and 3 small builds the largest of which appears to be a weapons rack.  I see a staff piece with a huge fist on top!  An easy buy.

Ninjago City Chase - Basically "Lego City Meets Ninjago" or "Lego Asian City" if you will.  A lot of stuff going on here in a $20-$25 set but with no ninja or sea army minifigs and no vehicles for either side, nothing in this set interests me.  It's almost as if this isn't a Ninjago set...  But I can see where others, City MOC'ers in particular would find this interesting.

Master Falls - It's....okay...I guess...A decent landscape piece and good minifig selection for the price.  I had higher hopes for this set and I was hoping the bridge would be a city bridge vs. a wilderness bridge.  Need to see more pics and probably a review.

Manta Bomber - Looks good.  Very true to its animation model.  Would have been nice if Jay had...something...to fight it with.  But overall a nice set for the price and a probable purchase.

Nya's Water Strider - Looks decent.  Reminds me of the Tripods from the War of The Worlds movie with Tom Cruise.  Definitely a victim of downsizing but not as much as:

Green Ninja Mech Dragon - Another set I had high hopes for...and then I saw...the head.  Considering that this is a mech I'm puzzled as to why they wouldn't go with a brick built head??!!  Maybe...given this is an initial concept...they went with a brick built head on the final model...?  The set is okay, but just okay with the head in its current form.  I wonder if Garmadon's weapon has a shooting function?  A minifig bazooka?  That would be cool.

Lightning Jet - Looks good.  But also looks like it's going to fall apart the first time a kid actually plays with it.  The giant technic rubber missile is also disappointing.  Come on Lego, with all the new "shooter" pieces you have developed over the last 3 years, it's time to retire this as well as flick fire missiles.  The secondary model looks pretty cool though!  Would like to see a review of this.  The jet looks like it could be a smaller model, but one that contains a lot of pieces.

Fire Mech - Looks great!  I agree with other forum members though that the knees had better be able to bend, especially in a set in this price range.  Also, I don't see any obvious action features and again, a set in this price range should have a lot of them.  It certainly is a fine display piece if you are an AFOL, but if I'm a parent buying this for a child, then it better be able to do other things besides pose!

Ultimate Ultimate Weapon Temple - The stone lions are great.  But I was hoping for more color in the building.  Looks okay, but need to see more.  Good minifig selection.

Destiny's Bounty - A masterpiece!  The definitive model for that vehicle. 

I notice a pattern with this wave in that almost all of the builds (certainly the larger ones) only contain one model/build.  Not sure if I'm a fan of that.  But it does look like the models are highly detailed which I suppose makes up for the lack of secondary builds somewhat.  The models I am most looking forward to are Zane's Triangle Tank and Cole's Unicycle Mech, so I am eagerly awaiting news of the second waive!  Hopefully we get in package pics and piece counts for this wave soon!

 

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by TPLSTER21

[LegoShroom]

41 minutes ago, Kevii23 said:

As for the villians: I don't really mind them. You all have seen the Batman movie sets where the villians (and other figs) were outstanding, but most sets lacked detail and/or a good build. These sets looks so much better and you still get a lot of figs (and better pricing but that has to do with the license of course).

 

 

1 hour ago, doclord said:

The villains were never promised to be epic ocean villains though, they ones in the Ninjago Movie have always been thugs wearing themed hats. 

No. I'm not upset about the shark villains. I don't like the thugs with the beanie hats that were not in the trailer or sticker book- ergo the ones without the themed oceanic hats. I wanted lots of ways to get the shark, jelly, crab, octopus, anglerfish guys etc so that I could army build. I don't like the exclusivity they've created where you have to buy a certain set to get a certain villain. The beauty of Ninjago is that if you don't like a set, you can still get the villains in another set (with the exception of some figs in the most expensive sets). 

Edited May 2, 2017 by LegoShroom

[Clx_45]

1 hour ago, TPLSTER21 said:

Looks like the links got zapped and the pictures have been taken down.

If you need a link Hfmasters has a working one. I won't post it for obvious reasons but it's there.

[Skalldyr]

12 hours ago, Penkid11 said:

The little dojo is nice as well, and I'm really liking that fencing detail peace at the top. 

I totally agree. I need a lot of them! Really too bad tho that there seems to be no more of these in the other Ninjago sets... 

[Takanuinuva]

I wonder why Garmadon doesn't have his helmet and robes from the trailer in the Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate weapon. That set seems like a 3rd act set.

[Clx_45]

Maybe Jungle Garmadon is more significant in the movie