The first wave of The LEGO Ninjago Movie sets were released at the beginning of the month, with thirteen sets in the collection (plus the #70620 LEGO Ninjago City, which will come shorty). Today, we will take a closer look at three of the smaller sets; the #70606 LEGO Ninjago Movie Spinjitzu Training, the #70607 LEGO Ninjago Movie Ninjago City Chase, and the #70608 LEGO Ninjago Movie Master Falls. So let’s begin. 🙂
I will start by saying that The LEGO Ninjago Movie collection is impressive in every way. The design, the colors, the minifigures, and the play-value are superb in all of the sets, no matter how big or small. Also, the price-per-piece ratio of all the sets in the collection is unusually low; just 6-9 cents/piece, which is well below the norm. I also like that both the subject of the sets and the minifigures are not from licensed properties, so they can easily blend into other settings (modern LEGO City, historic Asian style creations, etc.) The bottom line is that you really can’t go wrong with any of these sets.
Having said that, there is one thing I have a little bit of an issue with in general. While I appreciate that LEGO released a new ninja hood design for the movie, I feel it is too complex and troublesome for children to play with. Previous ninja hoods were all one-piece designs, which were easy to put on and take off. The new hood is made up of two parts; one piece goes under the minifigs’ head (the scarf section), and the other goes on the top of their head (the hood section). Neither the scarf, nor the hood looks good on the minifigs by themselves, which limits their usage. It also means that kids need to keep tab of additional little parts that can be lost easily (LEGO does include one extra scarf for each minifig), and they make assembling and disassembling the minifigs more difficult. This is pretty much the only negative thing I could say about the collection overall.
➡ #70606 LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE SPINJITZU TRAINING: This is the smallest set in the collection, but you get quite a bit of very useful pieces and two of the main characters; Kai and Zane in their new ninja suits. A pleasant surprise was that the scroll displayed in the middle of the small shrine is a printed piece! I also appreciate the tan window-panes, which is a new color for the piece. Both minifigs have double-sided heads, and torsos printed at the front and back. Kai’s ninja suit is more traditional and could work very well for classic ninjas, while Zane’s is more modern/techie. An interesting feature of this set is that it references Spinjitzu training. As far as I remember, Spinjitzu and other magical skills should not have been included in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, but who am I to argue. 😀
Overall, a nice little set with some basic ninja training equipment that can be used by itself, or incorporated into a larger setting. Here is the official description: Join the ninja heroes at the dojo with this action-packed Spinjitzu Training set from The LEGO Ninjago Movie, featuring a dojo wall with a scroll and 2 detachable staffs, weapon rack with 2 detachable katanas, combat training station, Garmadon combat dummy, plus 2 minifigures: Kai and Zane. 109 pieces: Price: $9.99 – BUY HERE
➡ #70607 LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE NINJAGO CITY CHASE: What I liked about this set right away is that the parts are divided into two numbered bags; one includes three minifigs and the police vehicle, and the other two more minifigs and the small market scene. This allows two kids to work on the set at the same time. There is a lot to like about the content as well. The little police rickshaw is fun to play with and looks great, and while the market is small, it is very well designed. Please note that all the decorations are stickers (except for the smallest minifig accessories, which are printed). In the video-review below, JANBRiCKS will explain what all the signs mean, or you can go to this official LEGO Ninjago Movie translator to figure out the words yourself. The set also includes some interesting pieces; a brand new 2×2 plate with only two studs (in black), two 4×4 tiles with one row of studs (in dark-bluish-gray), two black lamp-posts, and a couple of printed soda can tops (one is an extra). The minifigs are super excellent in this set! Lloyd and Nya comes in regular street clothes with their new hairpieces (both look better than I expected!), the merchant has a nice traditional robe, and the policeman and badguy also comes with great printing.
Here is the official description of the set: Team up with Lloyd Garmadon, Nya and Officer Toque to prevent Shark Army Thug robbing a street food stall vendor in Ninjago City Chase. This exciting set features a 3-wheel police tuc-tuc vehicle, street food stall with assorted food elements, plus 2 lampposts with a connecting chain of festive Ninjago lanterns. The set also includes 5 minifigures with various weapons and accessories to add to the fun role-play possibilities: Lloyd Garmadon and Nya (each with new-for-August-2017 high school outfit decoration), Officer Toque, Shark Army Thug and Ham. 233 pieces. Price: $19.99 – BUY HERE
➡ #70608 LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE MASTER FALLS: This set is also divided into two bags, but not as well organized as the one above for simultaneous building by two people – not a big deal. The first bag includes all three minifigures and the main cave section, and the second bag includes the bridge, the cage, and the smaller rock formation the bridge is attached to at the other end. While this set may not look as interesting as some of the larger sets with awesome mechs and vehicles, there is a lot to like here, especially in regards to parts in special colors. First of all, this is the first set that comes with such a large quantity of the very useful T-bar in black (14 plus an extra). You also get three small LEGO Games figures in tan (always useful as statues), a dozen thread pieces in medium-dark-flesh (this is only the second set with this color), and some of the still very rare sand-green modified tiles with clip (3 pieces), and even rarer olive-green robot arms (14 pieces)! Even the more common pieces are all useful and come in nice colors.
The three included minifigures are pretty standard; Sensei Wu in his new outfit, Kai is the same as in the first set we discussed but with a hairpiece instead of a ninja hood, and Garmadon sports a small jungle cape and straw hat in brown. There is also an included standard LEGO skeleton. The only printed part in the set is a 2×2 tile with a map. Nice set overall, but I feel that this is probably going to be the one that many people will skip over, as there is nothing that particularly stands out as unique and exciting (besides the parts mentioned above). Here is the official description: Team up with Wu and Kai to take on Jungle Garmadon in this awesome set from The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The jungle bridge features an opening cage and a hidden cave with a skeleton inside holding a secret map. Also includes 3 minifigures with assorted weapons: Wu, Kai and Jungle Garmadon (with 4 arms and new-for-August-2017 jungle outfit decoration). 312 pieces. Price: $29.99 – BUY HERE
In the playlist below, you can find video-reviews of all three sets by JANGBRiCKS, so you can see the play-features in more detail.
While these are some of the smallest sets in The LEGO Ninjago Movie line, you can see that even these are fun, high quality, and definitely worth the price. Although all three sets are great, if I could only choose/recommend one, I would pick the #70607 LEGO Ninjago Movie Ninjago City Chase – mostly because of the excellent selection of minifigures, which are very useful even outside of The LEGO Ninjago Movie realm. You can find all three sets, along with the rest of the selection, under The LEGO Ninjago Movie section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Did you get any of The LEGO Ninjago Movie sets already? Do you have the ones we discussed here? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to share your thoughts and own review in the comment section below! 😉
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