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6 minutes ago, turk187 said:

Continuing my love/hate relationship with Ninjago City sets.

When the first NC set came out I was SUPER excited. I was working a job with a lot of free time and spent most of that watching youtube videos from people who were lucky enough to get early access, and playing with Stud.io (or whatever it was at the time) playing with building my own versions. The weeks we had to wait were excruciating. I even scraped together enough money to buy 2 of them on release day. I built one straight up and the other one I build mirrored with some different colors. I had planned on building my own Version, but when I designed the first level on Stud.io and priced it on Bricklink, the first level cost as much as buying the entire city. So, I went ahead and bought the second and made the changes I wanted. Its still one of my all-time favorite sets.

Then came NC docks. I was never very excited about this set. I eventually bought it just before it went out of print. I just don't care for it much. NC was meant to be viewed from the corner on. Adding the docks to it doesn't help. The docks are meant to be viewed from the back (The dock side, which is in all the pictures and the box). And, its too short overall. It just doesn't look good joined to NC. They also made the docks so they could be joined one either side so it doesn't really look good either way.

Now, we have NC Gardens. The first I heard about this was a few days ago when my Lego catalogue arrived. I had no clue this was coming out, and with the VIP release I only have to wait a few days. Very excited. I am buying one right away. I've considered buying 2, and I still might get a second later, but that would mean spending money I have set aside for something else.

The Gardens is way better than the docks, but still not as cool as NC itself. My problems with the Gardens are that the two balconies don't look removable to me, which means that you can really only connect it to the original NC on one side, unless you add the docks and/or the shrine between them. I've seen the picture with NC, the docks, the shrine, and the garden and it just doesn't look good to me.

Once I have the gardens I'm going to try out some different layouts and see what I can do. But, I'm thinking of repurposing the docks into another corner building and turning the shrine into a rooftop section.

 

The two balconies are definitely removable, I’m calling it. The lower one certainly is (you can see the attachment points for it on the opposite side so you can swap it around). And while the upper balcony doesn’t seem to have an alternative place to put it, it seems like it’d be child’s play to make it attach with Technic pins—so why wouldn’t they?

I think some people here need to give the designers a little more credit. There’s no reason they wouldn’t be exactly as concerned about compatibility as other fans of the series are.

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2 minutes ago, Ql97 said:

They can be removed. The "Expand your Ninjago City Gardens" inset in this picture shows them directly connecting two of the Gardens, meaning you must be able to remove the balconies to make them fit.

I hope you are right. But, I look at the section above and don't see a join. I even see an overlap where a join would have to be. I do hope I'm wrong. We'll see when the set is available.

1 minute ago, Lyichir said:

The two balconies are definitely removable, I’m calling it. The lower one certainly is (you can see the attachment points for it on the opposite side so you can swap it around). And while the upper balcony doesn’t seem to have an alternative place to put it, it seems like it’d be child’s play to make it attach with Technic pins—so why wouldn’t they?

I think some people here need to give the designers a little more credit. There’s no reason they wouldn’t be exactly as concerned about compatibility as other fans of the series are.

I hope you are right. We'll see.

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6 hours ago, The Stud said:

I am really disappointed by the lackluster manner Lego is revealing and releasing the Ninjago City Gardens though. I remember reading the press release for the original Ninjago City and being completely blown away. There weren’t any leaked images of the set beforehand and that made the reveal all the more triumphant. I’m glad that they’re at least doing stuff to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the theme (especially because I’m sure Cartoon Network will barely air the show at all, despite it being their longest running show currently), but I wish they’d do a better job at promoting it. I saw somebody on Instagram point out that their post about the new Hype/Ninjago clothing line is the first time they’ve posted about Ninjago since July of 2019...

Even without much promotion LEGO can hardly keep up with demand of many sets. I believe the Gardens will be on backorder the very first day of its release. So why spend money on promotion? You would just create more unsatisfied customers because of unavailable product.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, kirkwoodproductions said:

It's out on for VIPS's on UK shop@home. Just bought mine

 

Just now, TimotheusFlavii said:

Just bought mine as well here in Belgium!

 

Just now, AxL said:

Got mine as well ?

I already hate all of you. (Not really, but I am soooooo envious.)

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Just now, kirkwoodproductions said:

If it makes you feel better, with the UK's delivery problems it'll probs be weeks til mine arrives

I'm lucky in that regard. I must live close to the US distribution center, I've gotten packages from Lego.com in 2 days. I might have mine as soon as Saturday.

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6 minutes ago, TimotheusFlavii said:

Just bought mine as well here in Belgium!

Darn, you were just ahead of me. ;)

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Guess we know to start checking for this in a little under 6 hours for the US!

Edited by BraveMax

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1 hour ago, turk187 said:

I hope you are right. But, I look at the section above and don't see a join. I even see an overlap where a join would have to be. I do hope I'm wrong. We'll see when the set is available.

I hope you are right. We'll see.

Where exactly do you see this overlap? The building above the lowest level does overhang the one on the first floor—but only by four studs, the same width as the built in walkway around the first-floor building. Above that is the "main street" level, where a four-stud curved extension to the walkway is built on overlapping a neighboring baseplate, but there's a pretty clear "seam" between that extension and the rest of the raised walkway. The noodle shop there is actually "set in" from the edge by two studs, which widens the extension attached to the side to six studs or, if removed, would leave a very narrow "alley" between it and an adjoining building. The green building above returns that to the edge and adds another removeable four-stud balcony. Nothing except this walkway and the balcony above it overlaps the edge of the baseplate, and both seem to be attached from the side with connections that could be easily removed, not built into the floor of either section vertically.

I'm pretty confident about how those two sections are built, because I've been painstakingly reconstructing the set from the images we have on Stud.io. It's just a hobby, and I don't really expect to complete the model because at less than 3000 pieces in the program's already chugging pretty badly to keep up with it all, but from what I've laid out so far there seem like there'd be no issues connecting it to other sets.

Edited by Lyichir

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Sorry if this sounds dumb but do we miss “Epic Batle - LloyD Vs ____” and “Nya Vs. _____” sets?  Only i can is Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane’s epic battle sets. 

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Damn as excited as I am for the set I probably won’t get it until February. I mean I haven’t even built the other two yet + Spring Lantern Festival which is what I’m doing this week. Once I have room where the City/docks are in my closet I will go grab this. Can’t wait to see everyone’s pics!

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2 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Sorry if this sounds dumb but do we miss “Epic Batle - LloyD Vs ____” and “Nya Vs. _____” sets?  Only i can is Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane’s epic battle sets. 

In recent years we haven’t gotten gimmick sets for all 6 ninja. It’s a bit of a sore point with some fans, especially for popular ones like the arcade pods. It’s unlikely we’ll see Epic Battle sets for Lloyd or Nya. (An even bigger issue is that Nya almost never gets these variants. She only ever features where all 5 other ninja do. Maybe this summer will fix that?)

Edited by Rolyat24

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4 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Where exactly do you see this overlap? The building above the lowest level does overhang the one on the first floor—but only by four studs, the same width as the built in walkway around the first-floor building. Above that is the "main street" level, where a four-stud curved extension to the walkway is built on overlapping a neighboring baseplate, but there's a pretty clear "seam" between that extension and the rest of the raised walkway. The noodle shop there is actually "set in" from the edge by two studs, which widens the extension attached to the side to six studs or, if removed, would leave a very narrow "alley" between it and an adjoining building. The green building above returns that to the edge and adds another removeable four-stud balcony. Nothing except this walkway and the balcony above it overlaps the edge of the baseplate, and both seem to be attached from the side with connections that could be easily removed, not built into the floor of either section vertically.

I'm pretty confident about how those two sections are built, because I've been painstakingly reconstructing the set from the images we have on Stud.io. It's just a hobby, and I don't really expect to complete the model because at less than 3000 pieces in the program's already chugging pretty badly to keep up with it all, but from what I've laid out so far there seem like there'd be no issues connecting it to other sets.

After looking at the picture for awhile longer, I think I was wrong about the overlap. But, if those parts are removable, why didn't the exploded view show that?

I still hope they are removable, but I'm waiting until we can actually get the set in hand.

2 hours ago, Modal said:

Damn as excited as I am for the set I probably won’t get it until February. I mean I haven’t even built the other two yet + Spring Lantern Festival which is what I’m doing this week. Once I have room where the City/docks are in my closet I will go grab this. Can’t wait to see everyone’s pics!

You have Ninjago City, and the docks still in the box?

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Just now, turk187 said:

You have Ninjago City, and the docks still in the box?

Yea lol got them a few months ago

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6 hours ago, Ql97 said:

Yeah, might be an unpopular opinion, but I really don't get the point of the temple island included with the Gardens is.

I'm curious as to what can be done with it since it really does feel like "what is this now". Furthermore, it's odd to see a high tower next to a presumably old temple since this rarely happens and when it does it's not in this scenario.

 

6 hours ago, turk187 said:

Then came NC docks. I was never very excited about this set. I eventually bought it just before it went out of print. I just don't care for it much. NC was meant to be viewed from the corner on.

If something is meant to be viewed from the corner on, adding anything else to it wouldn't help either as you can't look at multiple corners at once :)

 

6 hours ago, turk187 said:

The docks are meant to be viewed from the back (The dock side, which is in all the pictures and the box).

Unlike the City, Docks look great from both sides. In fact, I keep changing the orientation of both making my display always looking fresh.

 

6 hours ago, turk187 said:

And, its too short overall. It just doesn't look good joined to NC.

Docks are why Lego keeps going bigger, flashier, more expensive. They're at least as well designed as the City, probably a bit better, and fit perfectly architecturally creating an organic feel of a real city (in Lego terms, of course), really emphasizing the contrast of old vs new, quaint vs bold, and thus flattering both themselves and the City itself, yet the buyers seem to be in the category of people that want to blow up a death star for the fourth time in a row.

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@Merlo I agree with you. Having multiple sets that just have the same layout as Ninjago City would be boring. Docks adds variety to the modulars that I think looks really nice, especially with the Gardens now a part of it.

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11 minutes ago, Merlo said:

 

If something is meant to be viewed from the corner on, adding anything else to it wouldn't help either as you can't look at multiple corners at once :)

You could extend the sides out so the corner is longer.

11 minutes ago, Merlo said:

Unlike the City, Docks look great from both sides. In fact, I keep changing the orientation of both making my display always looking fresh.

I just disagree here. I think NC looks good from either side, but best on the corner. But, the docks is just boring on from the front side.

11 minutes ago, Merlo said:

Docks are why Lego keeps going bigger, flashier, more expensive. They're at least as well designed as the City, probably a bit better, and fit perfectly architecturally creating an organic feel of a real city (in Lego terms, of course), really emphasizing the contrast of old vs new, quaint vs bold, and thus flattering both themselves and the City itself, yet the buyers seem to be in the category of people that want to blow up a death star for the fourth time in a row.

Again, I just don't agree. The docks is too short, doesn't look good attached to the city. If you like the way it looks, good for you. I just feel its a good idea, poorly executed.

3 minutes ago, Modal said:

@Merlo I agree with you. Having multiple sets that just have the same layout as Ninjago City would be boring. Docks adds variety to the modulars that I think looks really nice, especially with the Gardens now a part of it.

I want to see sets with different layouts too, I just think the Docks doesn't work when connected to NC.

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Docks has its positive and negative points. I think the way it seamlessly connects to city with the comic/arcade is great. But feel the height does fall flat though and am always left torn as to wanting to view from both sides. One day I hope to get a freestanding shelf to use as a wall/partition and you can bet this will sit on top of it to be viewable from both sides.

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Got up at midnight to order my copy, it seems out of stock already (6.30 AM here) stating it will be arriving soon...

 

 

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It's past midnight in the US, and the set isn't up yet. Not sure if I should keep waiting... Or go to sleep :pir_laugh2:

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Is anyone else in Australia still seeing ‘Coming Soon’ on the Gardens? The first time I’m financially available and eager to purchase a D2C the midnight of release day and it doesn’t turn up! It was a late night for me last night holding onto hope, to no avail. All fools to me, I guess.

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6 minutes ago, Tobias_Jay said:

Is anyone else in Australia still seeing ‘Coming Soon’ on the Gardens? The first time I’m financially available and eager to purchase a D2C the midnight of release day and it doesn’t turn up! It was a late night for me last night holding onto hope, to no avail. All fools to me, I guess.

Lucky you I’m going to have to wait for a sale.

Bricking Around said that it’ll become available at 8PM, in 45 minutes. 

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