LEGO Ninjago 2021

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

To me the new waves sounds like something tech/future tech related. Which I'm happy because the last year really broke my wallet and space (looking at you submarine and 2 big dragons..).

I hope Legacy is not gone for good but I'd understand also why this cann't be milked for ever. I would still have liked to see some undone stuff from March of the Oni trilogy and Seabound...

[a guy from somewhere]

So. Looks like the review threshold for the new monkie kid sets is already open, yet we still haven’t seen any Ninjago, nor city, a couple of star wars and Harry Potter sets and a couple of other entire waves like creator. I don’t know what’s going on with the reveals at Lego, but this isn’t good. We’re only a month out from release 

[Dardanel]

23 hours ago, Lyichir said:

For some reason I don't understand the outrage over that. Are any of the figs in this set even exclusive? Because as far as I can tell "Santa Garmadon" is just Garmadon with an existing Santa suit and beard, Skales Jr. is a Legacy Serpentine with short legs and a scarf, Misako is the version from Ninjago City Gardens but with the Lloyd shirt from that set or the Legoland Ninjago set, and all the golden ninja are the versions from their respective sets. None of those figures are truly unobtainable for Ninjago fans or collectors.

Like... yes, this means that Lego employees will get the full assortment of golden ninja without having to collect all the other sets. To which I say... why shouldn't they? Honestly I think it's pretty nice that Lego does something special for its employees at the end of every year, and a Ninjago holiday gift set with all the special figs from this year's Legacy sets definitely qualifies. Yes, the few of these sets that make it to the aftermarket will probably be expensive (as all employee gifts tend to be), but I don't think there's anything stopping even the most completionist fans from parting out the set and figures without having to go through the trouble of tracking down the employee gift set itself.

 

19 hours ago, Rolyat24 said:

I agree. Given that there are no exclusive prints or pieces, there’s no need for anybody to be upset. TLG is just doing something nice for their employees around the holidays, like many companies do. 

Has the part list and/or instructions been posted online?

[a guy from somewhere]

17 minutes ago, Dardanel said:

 

Has the part list and/or instructions been posted online?

I think only leaks to be honest. I can’t wait to see some actual decent pics of it though, and I’ll have a go working on it if the parts and instructions do come out.

[Fenghuang0296]

The first Ninjago set has appeared! It’s, uh . . a Speed Champions style rally car for Jay versus the pirate snake helicopter? NGL I’m looking at this thing’s orange colour scheme and thinking “Is this some weird Skybound Legacy stuff?” and then I noticed the snakes.

Also . . Nya’s included with a new outfit???? Guess she hasn’t been written off quite yet.

[Bloquerto]

12 minutes ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

Also . . Nya’s included with a new outfit???? Guess she hasn’t been written off quite yet.

I don't think so. The 2022 winter wave isn't season 15. Most probably is for the short films that will come out early 2022.

[GarmaFan]

A series of short films that don't fit the current canon coinciding with a set wave seems odd. At least the Legacy sets and Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu represent the past. We've always gotten short films, in addition to two installments that release on television, aside from 2011 and 2014. Mini-series usually only air online. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by GarmaFan

[Bloquerto]

1 hour ago, GarmaFan said:

A series of short films that don't fit the current canon coinciding with a set wave seems odd. At least the Legacy sets and Tales from the Monastery of Spinjitzu represent the past. We've always gotten short films, in addition to two installments that release on television, aside from 2011 and 2014. Mini-series usually only air online. 

I agree, is strange. But it seems the most logical conclusion. I mean, the 2022 winter wave doesn't match with anything Tommy has said about season 15. He has mentioned that we'll see classic stuff in season 15 (probably the return of old villains like Nadakhan, he has been hinted a lot) and I don't see anything of that in the names and descriptions of the sets. Season 15 is aiming to be the biggest season yet according to Tommy. But anyways, all we can do is wait and see what happens.

[lego_guyon02]

I'm really digging the boxart but the set itself is pretty meh, nothing we haven't gotten a million times already 

[lego_guyon02]

I like the customisability approach the team took with some of these sets but what in the 4+ are these Kai and Jay dragons?! I was more than willing to give them a pass as decent 4+ sets but realising these are actually normal sets they are bloody awful! The proportions are really off and the techniques seem really basic, customisability does nothing to save these terrible sets. The dojo however looks great and I love Lloyd's new dragon, finally we're getting a more chunky LEGO dragon!

The wave is honestly a pretty mixed bag. Some sets are really bad (Kai and Jay's dragons), some are decent but not particularly great (all of the mechs and Lloyd's car) and some are absolutely spectacular (dojo and Lloyd's dragon). The minifigures across the whole wave are pretty disappointing though, aside from Pixal I find none of them interesting. Here's hoping the Season 15 wave will be better than this! 

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

I don't see a single new mold for minifigure parts - that's a first time! We've ALWAYS gotten several new molds for some objects and armor.

It realls looks like they try to put less ressources in Ninjago. There are 4 sets within the junior range...

That being said: even the "<insert that tiresome argument>" sets look mostly great. Sets are as always amazing.

...but my purse is happy there's nothing other than the gun metal grey shoulder recolour and the Pixal head + hair for me. All the outfits - except for Nyas - look weird to me. I like that they try a new style but without dual molding legs look always weird.

[lego_guyon02]

10 minutes ago, Kim-Kwang-Seok said:

There are 4 sets within the junior range...

Only the small mech for Lloyd is 4+, it's just that some sets are really poorly designed.

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

2 minutes ago, lego_guyon02 said:

Only the small mech for Lloyd is 4+, it's just that some sets are really poorly designed.

I think they are typical Ninjago sets. Just not my style. Not even the dragons are of interest to me - the style is very comical; reminds me of that recent dragon rider disney movies series or whatever they were.

And the other sets are basically junior+. Age 6+.

[Exetrius]

I did not have high expectations for this wave given the names, but I hoped the dojo would be good. Dojo turned out great and imo also has the best figure selection of the wave. Love that Pixal with her hair is included, that's fan service! The Ultra Combo Mech looks fun and has Niek van Slagmaat's Gurren Lagann obsession written all over it!  The vehicles by themselves look better than those of the latest Ultra Sonic Raider, and more playful. Lloyd's dragon is cool, nice to see fabric wings again, and Jay's EVO racer is alright (but paired with an ugly helicopter), but the rest of the wave is nothing to write home about. Nice collectible banners though. 

[NoOneOfImportance]

Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed with the customization aspect of this wave. The boxes try to play it as something special, when it’s just the next bag of the build…

[Maple]

So I think all the sets are garbage besides the temple. This makes my life easier. 

I do like the new dragon jaw, it's very 1990s American Godzilla looking.

[Meaf]

I have to say I'm not a fan of how junior-ized the smaller sets are. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me when they've been doing normal sets at low price points for ten years now. The other sets look fine, the only two that really catch my eye are the temple and combo mech, but I am a bit conflicted on both. The temple is nice but I already own four of them, so I'm not sure if I also need this one. As for the mech, I think it's pretty cool, but there are a few parts of it that look a little rough. On the whole this looks like an okay wave, not the best but not terrible.

Also, is there a main villain here? It doesn't look like it to me but I'm not sure.

[lego_guyon02]

Designer Niek van Slagmaat confirmed on Twitter that this wave is a standalone thing.

[Nearlyheadlessbrick]

I have to say, I really like that combo mech. It actually combines vehicles into a robot instead of total reconstruction! The individual vehicles actually look quite good too! Shame it seems that Kai and Jai can't pilot the mech though. Will probably pick up.

[Lyichir]

8 hours ago, Kim-Kwang-Seok said:

I don't see a single new mold for minifigure parts - that's a first time! We've ALWAYS gotten several new molds for some objects and armor.

It realls looks like they try to put less ressources in Ninjago. There are 4 sets within the junior range...

That being said: even the "<insert that tiresome argument>" sets look mostly great. Sets are as always amazing.

...but my purse is happy there's nothing other than the gun metal grey shoulder recolour and the Pixal head + hair for me. All the outfits - except for Nyas - look weird to me. I like that they try a new style but without dual molding legs look always weird.

It's not like there are NO new parts in this wave. While there's no new molds for minifigure parts or accessories, there's quite a few larger new molds introduced for the various mechs, vehicles, and dragons including limbs, wings, heads, and armor.

There are indeed more sets aimed at younger builders here than we've had before, which designer Niek Van Slagmaat explained a bit in a Twitter thread. But that's not the same thing as the sets requiring less resources or design work. Bulky prefab elements for younger builders may not always be as popular for AFOLs but that doesn't mean they don't take time, effort, and resources to design and produce.

[lego_guyon02]

I'm surprised no one has noticed/mentioned how Pixal finally has Nya's "new" hair to match her post-TLNM look 

[Robert8]

@Peppermint_M maybe it's time to switch the pinned Ninjago and Monkey Kid threads for the 2022 ones? Just a suggestion

[Peppermint_M]

Well, there is solid new stuff for next year.

[lego_guyon02]

Tommy Andreasen posted proper images of the employee-only Christmas set: 

 

 

[Maple]

The four 'EPIC' battle sets are 36%-39% off at Walmart.com. They look like fun so I bought them with two (two was the max) Bandmates Series 2.