70503 The Golden Dragon

[Lord LOLrus]

This is my fifth review here (or anywhere, actually). I was waiting for someone else to post some Ninjago reviews, but no one has stepped forward, so I’ll be doing this one. This will be my last Ninjago review, for multiple reasons:

1) I am not made of money. Specifically, I just saw the new Castle picture, and my wallet is hurting already.

2) The pace of school is picking back up, so I’ll have less time to spend building, or reviewing (although I don’t really post anything I build. I’ll get around to that eventually).

3) I’m approaching my Flickr image limit, and am unsure of whether or not to “go Pro”. I do have a question to anyone who is knowledgable about this - if I deep link an image, but am over my image limit, is it still visible?

Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, other people should think about doing reviews of Ninjago as well. I only just started, and it’s not particularly difficult.

Enough preaching. Now for the review:

Set Number: 70503

Name: The Golden Dragon

Piece Count: 252

Minifigures: 3 (Golden Ninja (Lloyd), a Scout, and a Warrior)

Price: $29.99 USD

I'll start with the box:

Front:

Wow! It includes the Golden Ninja! I never would have guessed...

Back:

Here we can see all the play features. There’s a catapult, the shooting Zamor Sphere, and adjustable wings and tail. One note about the box - correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that previous boxes have not had text describing play features (there is such text for the catapult).

Top:

The Golden Ninja, and his friends. Oh wait, they’re not, huh...

Contents:

Inside the box are three numbered bags, the bag containing the head, a weirdly creased instruction booklet and… no stickers! Very few printed parts, however.

Standard instructions.

The parts list:

A random step:

The Parts:

Bag #1:

This bag is for the Minifigs, catapult, and main body.

Smaller Pieces:

Bag #2:

This is the legs, tail, and head.

Smaller Pieces:

Bag #3:

Smaller Pieces:

New/Interesting Pieces:

Not much of note. No new colors (except for gold, I’ll get to that, and there’s some nice Dark Green as well).

Gold Pieces!

There is a lot of Pearl Gold (or is it Warm Gold? Not sure…). Wow.

Also, I wanted to do a comparison of the blades. For some reason, I left out the Fire Dragon Sword. Oops.

One thing I noticed was that the large blades (used in the wings) were all bent a bit - all in the same direction, so one wing has an upward bend, and the other bends downwards. It’s not too hard to correct, though.

The Minifigs:

The Figs - Front:

Lloyd and the Warrior are very impressive. For some reason, I’m getting a bit of a Bane vibe from the warrior’s mask (from The Dark Knight Rises). Lloyd is wearing his bathrobe and his armor, which is different. He is also entirely gold, including his head. I wonder what the in-universe explanation for that is. I’m thinking “Goldfinger.”

Without headgear and weapons:

The bad guys (I can’t seem to find what they’re called, as an organization) are perpetually angry. Everyone who has normal legs has leg printing.

Back:

All three have nice back printing, but none have a double-sided head. That’s not a huge problem. Lloyd doesn’t mess around with some sissy elemental-power mumbo-jumbo. He’ll just have his dragon eat you. At least, I assume this is what the symbol on his back is trying to convey…

The Warrior’s Armor

Very cool. Simple, but cool. You’ll notice that the mask piece has some silver painted details; nothing fancy, but it adds something, IMO.

Now for the set itself:

The Build:

Bag #1

The catapult is pretty simple. I sort of forgot to test how well it fires, so I’ll update this later, if I can remember.

This is the main body. You can see how the sides attach. Nothing new, but it adds some nice depth.

The completed body, which (obviously) acts as a hub for everything else. I like the saddle - it’s simple, but looks pretty nice, and stands out well.

You can see the attachment points for the head and tail (at either end, the ball joints) the legs (clicky joints) and the wings (angled axle connectors).

Bag #2

The legs. I think the way the feet (first seen used for Bionicle’s Piraka, I believe) attach to the legs is kind of neat - very sturdy. However, this means the feet do not move independently from the legs.

The tail. Again, simple, but nice. This uses the Bionicle-style ball joints, and is thicker than the tail of some of the other Ninjago dragons (off the top of my head, certainly the Fire Dragon, but probably some others as well). The swallowtail blades are pretty neat.

The head. The connection and build is pretty standard. One thing I did notice is that the top part is a different mold than previous Ninjago dragons (I’m not sure about the four-headed one, though), and both pieces are hard rubber.

Completed Bag #2. The saddle got a bit more added (a plate, and flags).

Bag #3

These connect the wings to the body.

This is how the wings are built. Again, nothing much changed from its predecessors.

Completed wings. Obviously they don’t have anything between the blades, but that’s nothing different.

And the completed dragon:

Raaaaaarrrrr!

Finished Product:

Front view:

It looks kind of weird from this angle (and from a bird’s eye view as well, actually).

Everything together:

Extra Parts:

Very few for a set of this size, I think.

Extra play feature!

Scissor-tail! This is why the Warrior wears neck armor.

…and the Gold Ninja, atop some of my other gold (not included in the set):

Scoring:

I really don’t feel like doing any scoring right now. Maybe later, maybe not. Sorry.

EDIT:

Design: 6.5/10

Not nearly as good as previous dragons. The wings don't spread well, and always look rather awkward, no matter how I position them; they also don't rotate. The feet don't move independently of the legs. The tail is nice, but is nothing special. This model displays well, but that's about it, and even then it's not nearly as good as the only other dragon I can currently compare it to, the Fire Dragon. The claws look kind of strange as well.

The catapult seems kind of thrown together.

Features: 7/10

Okay. The head shoots a Zamor Sphere, and the various appendages move, but not as well as I would like. The catapult is pretty weak as well; it shoots the scout a maximum of 2.5 feet, if you're lucky, and will barely get 4 inches off the ground.

Parts: 6/10

252 pieces, few of them particularly useful. There's a lot of pearl gold, and some dark green, but really, pearl gold is only useful for so many things, so it's really down to whether you decide that's what you want.

Minifigures: 8/10

The figs are quite nice, and I really like the Warrior, but a Golden Ninja is valuable mostly for the novelty, IMO. This is the cheapest set he's available in, though. The scout is kind of average. Both the warrior and scout are available in other sets, which I believe have a better selection of pieces.

Price: 5/10

252 Pieces for $30 is pretty bad, especially when the pieces included are not the most versatile of parts. The upside is the amount of pearl gold, but you may not be very interested in that.

Total: 32.5/50

65%. That's rather awful. I don't feel that it's quite that bad, but I certainly wouldn't strongly recommend it unless you already like the look of it - it looks no better in person than it does on the box. Unless you really want the Gold Ninja and don't feel like getting the larger set he appears in, or you really like what you see, I can't recommend this set very highly at all.

...While I personally like this set more than these numbers let on, I don't feel like I can express it objectively. This set will probably be hit-or-miss for most.

Sorry for the delay, I don't really have any good excuse. I feel kind of bad leaving this as my final review for the next while, but I don't really have time for this anymore, as I have found out the hard way. Again, I apologize, and hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone too badly.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Lord LOLrus

[Lyichir]

Decent review. Anyway, the head mold isn't new; it was also used for the Earth Dragon as well as the Earth-themed head of the Ultra Dragon. Lloyd's golden face represents a "powered up" state similar to the NRG ninja from last year. My main quibble with the set is that the wings do in fact have a significant difference from those of previous dragons, that being that when spread, the "hands" face inward, rather than forward. It looks a little odd, although it'll be easy enough to modify that problem away. I probably won't be getting this one, though; none of its minifigures are exclusive to this set, and my little brother's been having dragon envy ever since I got all four dragons the first year.

[Lord LOLrus]

Decent review.

I'm crushed . Seriously though, I agree that it's not my best; I'll be updating it more in the afternoon.

Anyway, the head mold isn't new; it was also used for the Earth Dragon as well as the Earth-themed head of the Ultra Dragon.

Thank you. This has been fixed.

...my little brother's been having dragon envy ever since I got all four dragons the first year.

Ha. I've got the opposite problem: my younger brother got three of the first four, and I've got some mild dragon envy.

[Aanchir]

Here we can see all the play features. There’s a catapult, the shooting Zamor Sphere, and adjustable wings and tail. One note about the box - correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that previous boxes have not had text describing play features (there is such text for the catapult).

Actually, I think they've had that since the original 2011 wave. Certainly the 2012 sets had it.

There is a lot of Pearl Gold (or is it Warm Gold? Not sure…). Wow.

Either name works. Pearl Gold is its Peeron and Bricklink name, Warm Gold is its official name. I tend to use official names, but that's mainly because I know the Bricklink database is riddled with color errors (there are like three or four different colors they call Copper).

Lloyd and the Warrior are very impressive. For some reason, I’m getting a bit of a Bane vibe from the warrior’s mask (from The Dark Knight Rises). Lloyd is wearing his bathrobe and his armor, which is different. He is also entirely gold, including his head. I wonder what the in-universe explanation for that is. I’m thinking “Goldfinger.”

He's probably supposed to look supercharged with magical energy, just like the NRG ninja from last year. However, in the show, even as the Golden Ninja he has regular yellow skin, probably since they didn't want him to look supercharged with energy all the time but wanted him to keep this costume as a symbol of his achievements.

The bad guys (I can’t seem to find what they’re called, as an organization) are perpetually angry. Everyone who has normal legs has leg printing.

I've seen Stone Army and Stone Warriors used officially. The set descriptions don't have any specific term for them, it just calls them Garmadon's scout/swordsman/warrior and refers to General Kozu by name.

All three have nice back printing, but none have a double-sided head. That’s not a huge problem. Lloyd doesn’t mess around with some sissy elemental-power mumbo-jumbo. He’ll just have his dragon eat you. At least, I assume this is what the symbol on his back is trying to convey…

Funnily enough, this is his THIRD emblem as a ninja. First a coiled snake, then a snake's head, and finally a dragon's head. The other Ninja's emblems have only ever really changed in color.

The head. The connection and build is pretty standard. One thing I did notice is that the top part is a different mold than previous Ninjago dragons (I’m not sure about the four-headed one, though), and both pieces are hard rubber.

Actually, the Earth Dragon from two years ago and one of the Ultra Dragon's heads from last year used the same mold.

Good review and good pictures! Glad to see this set seems to have your approval!

[Devorath]

Heh, Goldfinger. Love that book. Anyway, nice review, would like the scoring though.

[Bobsy]

I'm going to be a real grumpypants right now. A review needs some scoring, even if it's a paragraph about why the set rocks/sucks/is average. Without it, you've got a nice photogallery, but not a great review. Lego products are not cheap, and there are plenty of people sitting on the fence unsure of whether a set is worth their hard-earned wedge. As a reader, I definately want to know if this set is any good, and I'd value the view of someone who already owns it quite a lot.

In fact, personally I value a viewpoint far above a photo of the box - I can get that from S@H already.

[Lord LOLrus]

I'm going to be a real grumpypants right now. A review needs some scoring, even if it's a paragraph about why the set rocks/sucks/is average. Without it, you've got a nice photogallery, but not a great review. Lego products are not cheap, and there are plenty of people sitting on the fence unsure of whether a set is worth their hard-earned wedge. As a reader, I definately want to know if this set is any good, and I'd value the view of someone who already owns it quite a lot.

In fact, personally I value a viewpoint far above a photo of the box - I can get that from S@H already.

I entirely agree. Looking back, I feel that it was irresponsible of me to post an incomplete review prematurely. I sincerely apologize. I feel this set is a bit of a hit-or-miss, and while I like it, I can't really justify that from an objective viewpoint.

Good review and good pictures! Glad to see this set seems to have your approval!

Eep. As I look back I realize I didn't put nearly as much opinion or thought into this review as I should have. While I like the set, I can't really give it my approval. Sorry I didn't convey this initially.

If someone else wishes to offer a second viewpoint/opinion, I think that would be great, especially if they can articulate this set's merits better than I did. Post it here or somewhere else; actually, I would very much appreciate another opinion, either to validate or refute my analysis.

Thanks, and again, I apologize for posting a review only half-complete. I think I learned a valuable lesson, but I would have preferred to have not needed to learn it in the first place. Oh well.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Lord LOLrus

[Meiko]

my little brother's been having dragon envy ever since I got all four dragons the first year.

I have not. :c

I haven't gotten any 2013 Ninjago sets yet, but this will be the first I get. Thanks for the review ahead of my purchase! :)

[Esurient]

Nice review, I just got that set, looking forward to those assortment of golden pieces.

[Lord LOLrus]

I have not. :c

I haven't gotten any 2013 Ninjago sets yet, but this will be the first I get. Thanks for the review ahead of my purchase! :)

You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful.

Nice review, I just got that set, looking forward to those assortment of golden pieces.

As I said in the review, if it's gold pieces you're after, this set is very good. Probably not as good as the Temple of Light, but a lot less expensive.

[PenPlays]

As I said in the review, if it's gold pieces you're after, this set is very good. Probably not as good as the Temple of Light, but a lot less expensive.

This set is a much better choice for Gold pieces. It also has a better assortment of gold pieces. The Temple of Light doesn't have near as many good pieces. In other words, if you want to stock up on gold pieces, buy two Golden Dragons rather than one Temple of Light.

Very good review Lord LOLrus.