Sorry my friend, but you might wanna watch the TV show a little. This isn't a prequel, I'm afraid. NINJAGO City was mostly destroyed after the Stone Army attacked it, and then it was corrupted (yet later "purified" by Lloyd) by the Overlord. Most likely New Ninjago City is built on what is left of the old city.
Anyway, sorry for the off-topicness. Back on topic, I love the Thunder Raider. From what I've seen of it, the cockpit is able to slide back and forth. Slide it forward, you can place the Mech on it and fold the missiles inside. Take the Mech off, and you can unfold the missiles and slide the cockpit back. Seems like the latter is "attack mode". To be honest, I prefer it in "attack mode". The box art shows a mixture of the two, the cockpit is forwards yet the weapons are out. All of the minifigs look good so far except Cole and Lloyd. The hair just seems too big.
