Ever since LEGO decided to make Ninjago an evergreen theme, each new season has brought a wealth of awesome colors and elements. The striking red and black color scheme on this mono-tracked vehicle attracted my attention, but it was the new recolors and minifig accessories that made me snatch it off the shelf.
No real surprise in the bags. My instruction booklets were annoyingly bent out of shape, but the sticker sheet was fine. A lot of small bags inside those two big ones.
The three minifigs in the set are pretty great. The titanium ninja, Zane, has a lot of cool details and a nice silver metallic katana. The two snake men are equally ornate, with an abundance of snake motifs. My favorite part is the guy in the middle with the matching armor and helmet. The helmet sits snug on the circular collar, giving a great sense of mass.
Without their armor, it is easier to appreciate the complex print on each minifig. I don’t know the story, but it looks like the ‘snake men’ are actually a colony of snakes assuming a humanoid shape. Creepy. I really like the sense of narrative here, where fans of the show can identify each sign of damage, insignia, or gear.
Each of the torsos has equally intense printing on the back, as does each head (with alternate faces for each of the snake men.
This is the first time I’ve come across titanium metallic elements and I really them. This color will add a lot to sci-fi builds and I’m looking forward to getting more elements in the color. Those pods (which originally appeared in Galaxy Squad sets), are amazing this color and I’m sure they’ll get a lot of use in the space and mecha communities.
I don’t know the official name for this new copper, but it is certainly interesting. That overmolded green/copper gauntlet is one of the special collectible weapons for this season. The copper isn’t quite as opaque as I would like, but that is probably down to the softer plastic used in these elements.
On top of the new colors, there were a lot of snake motif elements. The axe and sword blades are both over-molded, though I much prefer the harder plastic on the axe blade that makes the red far more transparent. The red snakes are a fun decorative element that should see a lot of use in fantasy builds. All those flexible spikes come from the Nexo-Knights theme, but this is the first time I’ve seen so many in a single set.
After all those interesting elements, the build itself was still a lot of fun. Some clever technic underneath helps to build out the wedge shape, but gets hidden under a series of sub-assemblies. Because the whole thing balances on the central track, it tips over fairly easily, but when I let my son (well within the target audience) play with it, he loved it anyway.
This is a fun set, a lot of interesting elements, a fun build, and a reasonable price per piece. I’m looking forward to suggesting this as a draft set in the near future.
Keep building and enjoy!