Random set of the day
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 3051 Blaze Attack, released in 1999. It's one of 15 Castle sets produced that year. It contains 145 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$15.
It's owned by 796 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
This article has been posted automatically. Its purpose is to increase awareness of database content and encourage discussion about old sets.
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10 comments on this article
Neat
Those first years of ninja sets were elegant and really cool at the same time.
Almost looks like a Nexo Knights progenitor.
I adored these first few rounds of Ninja sets. I always thought they were so very different from Pirates and Castle (even though I think they were classified under the 'castle' umbrella), and there was such a unique and oriental style to them that Lego hadn't really touched on before. And the Ninja sets laid the ground for a whole bunch of other cool things that came later.
I was already in my Dark Ages when these came out, but if I ever get a chance to get them for cheap, I will.
That little dragoncart is ADORABLE
I wasn't aware of these sets until quite recently. I don't think the second wave of Ninja sets ever came out in the UK. I certainly never saw them, either in the catalogue or in Legoland.
It's actually quite bizarre how the Ninja line was released internationally.
The first wave from 1998 featuring black and grey clad ninjas and their leaders Shogun Gi-Dan and the Robber Baron/Robber Chief Kendo was originally meant to be US exclusive. TLG later changed their mind and released them as an official 1999 product range internationally.
The second wave featuring the red ninjas, the White Ninja Princess and the Dragon Emperor however remained an US exclusive, not being featured in any catalogues from 1999 or 2000 out of NA (a few of them skipped through as retailer exclusives however, so there are in fact versions of set 3050-3053 with an EU box).
Also note, that the 'Red Ninja' sub-theme featured the same blue color-marking as the grey ninja faction, as opposed by the black one's red markings.
I feel like I didn't appreciate this line enough at the time - I bought one set (6083) and it sat around unbuilt for a few years. I wouldn't mind getting into Ninjago now...
Also worth noting is the numbering. The gray/black ninjas were numbered like other castle sets (the 60xx century), while the red ninjas were, as Atuin mentioned, 3050–53. This was when numbering in the 6000's was normal; Adventurers in 1998 was the first major System theme other than Trains to have numbering outside the 6000's. By 1999, non-6000 numbering was fairly common, as Star Wars and Rock Raiders were assigned to other millennia. However, it was still unusual for Castle; the Knights' Kingdom I sets in 2000 returned to the 60xx's.
Among subthemes of existing themes before 2001, Red Ninja is joined only by Unitron, Roboforce, and Aquaraiders as having numbers outside the 6000's.