Review: 40429 Ninjago World
Posted by benbacardi,
There have been a number of sets over the years that have been exclusive to the LEGOLAND theme parks around the world; recently, these have focused on models of attractions present at the park, from the small train and microscale castle to last year’s large set of the entire park.
The most recent offering in the line, 40429 Ninjago World, falls somewhere in between—at 440 pieces, it's double the size of the previous smaller exclusives. It's based on the most recent addition to a number of the worldwide parks—Ninjago World, an area styled to match the theme and television series. There's only one ride at Ninjago World, imaginatively named NINJAGO: The Ride, which is the main focus of this set.
Minifigures
Four minifigures are included: two children to ride the attraction, a female minifigure (presumably their mother), and a LEGOLAND employee.
The girl’s simple white torso with red stripes feels like a much earlier torso than it is—in fact, it was new last year and this is only the third set it has appeared in. Perhaps I'm thinking of the early pirates’ striped vests?
The boy’s Ninjago-themed green hooded top is particularly appropriate for the ride, however, depicting a portrait of Lloyd Garmadon on the front, and his name on the back. He's clearly a fan of the theme, so I hope the ride was enjoyable for him! This torso is unique to this set.
Likewise, the dual expression heads for both the girl and boy are new, featuring an excited grin on one side and a scared open mouth on the other.
The mum’s purple top and smiling expression are also recent prints, each in only two other sets, and the LEGOLAND employee's torso is unique to the three most recent LEGOLAND exclusives. It is sufficiently detailed, with a polo neck and name badge on the front, and LEGOLAND across the back.
For a fairly small set, the selection of minifigures is quite decent.
The Build
Two instruction booklets are included. The first starts by constructing the main part of the ride—two grey curved sections of rollercoaster track, on top of which sit two connected cars. Unusually, the rollercoaster cars do not face forward down the track, but instead the seats (well, a pair of studs, as the children minifigures can't bend their legs) look sideways.
This is because NINJAGO: The Ride is not a standard rollercoaster ride. There are no climbs or drops, instead the cars move around a flat track inside a darkened environment, swivelling to face large screens on either side or the track.
Each of the cars fits a single minifigure (unlike the four people able to fit in the real thing), but do seem to otherwise represent their life-size counterparts fairly realistically. They're equipped with a stud shooter (and plenty of spare studs!), the inclusion of which is apparent if you have been on the actual ride, which I'll get to later.
Next, three small scenery models are constructed. The first is an archway that adorns the entrance to Ninjago World at each of the theme parks, with NINJAGO and LEGO logo stickers, and additional decorative stickers adorning the pillars. It’s a relatively simple construction but looks accurate to the source material.
A small pagoda-style building houses some bamboo plants, with a 6x6 tile attached to the rear. One of two large stickers is applied to the tile, used to represent part of the ride, which you can see in a later photo.
Another sticker (there are quite a few in the set) depicts a map of the theme park, displayed on the third separate model beside more bamboo and a sign with LEGOLAND’s logo.
The second instruction booklet combines another three smaller models together with hinges into the final model of the set; a larger pagoda. The left section is the photo booth where riders can buy their ride photos (indicated by a sticker with a LEGO camera; two additional stickers on 2x2 tiles represent the ride photos themselves), the right houses another decorative bamboo plant, and the centre is an archway, presumably the ride entrance itself.
The second of the 6x6 tiles and associated stickers is attached to the rear of the right section of the model. Together, these stickers represent the large digital screens that the riders face as they travel around the track—each depicts enemies of our Ninjago heroes, and targets labelled with points.
On the ride itself, riders wear 3D glasses and sit four abreast in each rollercoaster car. The cars stop in front of various large screens on which animated enemies are attacking, and the riders must use ninja-like movements with their arms above a sensor in the car to send bursts of energy at the enemies on screen. Scores accumulate on a display in front of each rider, and can be seen along with the ride photos at the exit.
Clearly, minifigures do not have the range of movement in their arms as most humans do, and as such their ability to shoot at the enemies is represented in this set by the stud shooter attached to each car. The large stickers that represent a pair of screens provide a stylised but accurate representation of what is seen on the ride itself.
Conclusion
My family already had a trip to LEGOLAND Windsor planned when Huw asked me to review the set, so we took the opportunity to try out the ride in real life before building the LEGO version. My two-year-old son is much more enamoured with the LEGO set than the ride itself, throughout which he cried inconsolably until we’d got back into the open air!
The selection of minifigures is good, particularly with the exclusive Ninjago-themed torso. The set’s models, although each relatively small, are quite nice, and they look good together. The styling certainly matches the themed section of LEGOLAND quite accurately, and I like the inclusion of the LEGOLAND map, but the rollercoaster itself feels somewhat lacking. Only two sections of track don’t provide for much movement at all—in fact, LEGO’s own promotional material for the set (such as on LEGOLAND’s online shop, which is unfortunately offline at the time of writing) include an image showing two sets combined, doubling the length of the track, which looks much more impressive but is quite misleading.
This set is one of only a few LEGOLAND exclusives, and as such I would expect the price to be higher than usual. However, at £34.99, I believe there are better value LEGOLAND exclusive sets to be had that would also include more play functionality than is provided here.
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39 comments on this article
Well, at least the cars are accurate...
Disappointed it took them so long to start making Legoland sets
I remember when the original wave of sets with the skeletons and snakes.
This set makes nostalgia hit me like a bus seeing all the old designs.
I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?
It's weird, the 2x4 slope on the front of the cars is upside down when compared to the photo of the real thing. But the review set is built correctly when compared to the official photos.
No big deal, but I wonder why they did that?
@Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
Because they're literally meant as souvenirs for the park itself? And because being able to get them anywhere would diminish the value of being able to get them at the park as a keepsake of your experience? I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
If you don't mind paying an inflated price to get one without visiting the park, why not just buy a copy off Bricklink or eBay?
Interesting set, this can go well with the other LegoLand set to make the park larger.
I'm kinda fond of these Legoland sets; my family went to the Windsor park every year for my birthday, for something like six years when I was a lot younger, so it's really neat to see some aspects of the park represented in set form ^^
That said, we stopped doing that several years before Ninjago was even a theme, much less a park attraction; so unlike the train, the full park, and the driving school sets this one lacks any nostalgic punch to me. Still, it's a neat set for what it is, and I can certainly see someone who grew up with Ninjago finding it much more interesting than I do ^^
Nice review, by the way, I enjoyed it! :D
@Lyichir said:
" @Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
Because they're literally meant as souvenirs for the park itself? And because being able to get them anywhere would diminish the value of being able to get them at the park as a keepsake of your experience? I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
If you don't mind paying an inflated price to get one without visiting the park, why not just buy a copy off Bricklink or eBay?"
I have never been to a LEGO theme park, and with prices for admission, travelling, accommodation, etc., I don't plan on going. Due to all of this, and maybe more, going to the park itself is already a very exclusive experience. Adding to that exclusive sets seems a bit too much, imo. Maybe if I was privileged to have a park more easily accessible or not having to worry about expenses I would have a different point of view. Damn, even going to a mere LEGO store would be an expensive experience for me, when some can just walk to one.
So yes, I would like for the possibility of just spending 35€ at SaH to buy this to exist. Why is that so hard to understand or accept?
@Lyichir said:
" @Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
Because they're literally meant as souvenirs for the park itself? And because being able to get them anywhere would diminish the value of being able to get them at the park as a keepsake of your experience? I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
If you don't mind paying an inflated price to get one without visiting the park, why not just buy a copy off Bricklink or eBay?"
The prices, in fact, are actually not that inflated for the other LEGOLAND exclusives. The train has an estimated value of $21 and the castle $18. The park itself has a BrickLink value of $108. That’s easily within $10 of the retail price for each set. I imagine this will be similar, expect to pay $50 or less on BL or eBay.
@Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
Technically, it s not a regional exclusive, rather this is store-ezclusive. So, instead of being available only in select country, this set is available in all countries, where are LEGOLAND Parks.
I was able to purchase this during quarantine from LEGOLAND in US & they shipped it to me, I didn't know that they did that until recently. Thanks for the review! I didn't know anything about the actual ride, or that the set included the sticker panels, cool. I just wanted the ride to put in my park & the minifigs too.
@Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
You can get them on the LEGOLAND website
I'd heard some park shops will ship sets but on looking online I only checked the Canadian one I did not see that as a possibility. Which parks are making these available online and was it just an exception during quarantine or is it an ongoing thing?
FYI all these LEGOland exclusive sets are currently available online but not at LEGO.com.
Google legoland California shop and it takes you to the legoland shop site where they have older sets, different sets on sale, and legoland exclusives you can buy.
During Lockdown I noticed all the "Park" sets were available to buy via Legoland Windsors online shop & the day I went to purchase them, the site was shut down!! Gutted wasn't the word & because I'm a single adult with no children, because of the law, I can't go into the park to purchase these sets!!
I’ve just ordered that boy’s torso from B&P.
I’ve begged them at the gift shop to make the ninjago ride vehicle for years so of course I’ll be buying this!
All of the Legoland exclusive sets are currently available for sale online in the United States:
https://shop-florida.legoland.com/collections/legoland%C2%AE-exclusives
The large Legoland set that normally costs $100 was on sale earlier this summer for $70.
As for the ride, I had a very hard time playing the interactive video game during a visit to Legoland Billund. My wife gets sick when wearing 3D glasses so she kept her eyes closed during the entire ride, waving her arms whenever I told her it was time--and she scored about three times as many points than I did.
@SiriuslyArchie said:
" @Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
You can get them on the LEGOLAND website"
No international shipping...
Really cool. Until you realize they don't sell to anywhere outside the US.
Thanks for nothing again I guess.
"My two-year-old son is much more enamoured with the LEGO set than the ride itself, throughout which he cried inconsolably until we’d got back into the open air!"
I used to do the same thing, when I was a kid. My folks loved amusement park rides. I was not as fond of them, no. I'm still not, actually, I tend to avoid them. Ah, childhood trauma.
@chesney107 said:
"During Lockdown I noticed all the "Park" sets were available to buy via Legoland Windsors online shop & the day I went to purchase them, the site was shut down!! Gutted wasn't the word & because I'm a single adult with no children, because of the law, I can't go into the park to purchase these sets!! "
If you live near Birmingham you can go to the Discovery Centre which has a store attached. You don’t need to go into the actual centre to get in the store and they have all the legoland sets there too.
I've never been on the Ninjago ride but I've seen images of it. I adore the brick built Great Devourer out front!
I got this set through Legoland Florida. Even though Legoland California is closer to me geographically they wanted $75 for UPS shipping!
On a side note, are those commenting about the lack of availability actually interested in this specific set or does it just serve as a platform to gripe about Legoland Exclusives in general? I could really say the same thing about the Lego Ikea exclusive sets as I don't have an Ikea even remotely near me. LOL.
@chesney107 said:
"During Lockdown I noticed all the "Park" sets were available to buy via Legoland Windsors online shop & the day I went to purchase them, the site was shut down!! Gutted wasn't the word & because I'm a single adult with no children, because of the law, I can't go into the park to purchase these sets!! "
Wait what? Is that a UK thing? I visited Winsor (as part of a special event, admittedly) years ago as a single adult, and my GF and I visited Legoland Park and the Lego House in Denmark last year.
@rslotb said:
" @chesney107 said:
"During Lockdown I noticed all the "Park" sets were available to buy via Legoland Windsors online shop & the day I went to purchase them, the site was shut down!! Gutted wasn't the word & because I'm a single adult with no children, because of the law, I can't go into the park to purchase these sets!! "
Wait what? Is that a UK thing? I visited Winsor (as part of a special event, admittedly) years ago as a single adult, and my GF and I visited Legoland Park and the Lego House in Denmark last year.
"
Yes, it was a relatively recent change at Windsor (a few years ago IIRC).
I may be trying to wrong site but this is what is says today. "LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort Online Shop Returning Soon" LEGOLAND® fans, The LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort Online Store has temporarily closed in order to act as a virtual shop for those visiting the theme park. Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you again soon!
@benbacardi
Thanks for the review, interesting set, I like the sideways arrangement of the cars.
Is this the torso you are thinking of?
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=hor006T=S&O={%22iconly%22:0}
@benbacardi said:
" @rslotb said:
" @chesney107 said:
"During Lockdown I noticed all the "Park" sets were available to buy via Legoland Windsors online shop & the day I went to purchase them, the site was shut down!! Gutted wasn't the word & because I'm a single adult with no children, because of the law, I can't go into the park to purchase these sets!! "
Wait what? Is that a UK thing? I visited Winsor (as part of a special event, admittedly) years ago as a single adult, and my GF and I visited Legoland Park and the Lego House in Denmark last year.
"
Yes, it was a relatively recent change at Windsor (a few years ago IIRC).
"
Is that really true? I know the Discovery Centres don't allow adults without children, except for special adult only dates, but I've not heard of this rule applying to Legoland Windsor.
The Legoland Windsor website allows me to get all the way to checkout with 1 x adult ticket and no children, but I didn't actually complete the transaction. Unless there's a final check at the credit card stage, I don't see anything stopping me going on my own.
(And how do you do the nicely formatted quoting on here??)
@Lego34s said:
"I may be trying to wrong site but this is what is says today. "LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort Online Shop Returning Soon" LEGOLAND® fans, The LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort Online Store has temporarily closed in order to act as a virtual shop for those visiting the theme park. Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you again soon! "
Usually the site is available, but during COVID-19 they're only allowing you to shop online if you've actually visited the park and been given the password.
@greg said:
"Is this the torso you are thinking of?"
Perhaps!
@omnium said:
"Is that really true? I know the Discovery Centres don't allow adults without children, except for special adult only dates, but I've not heard of this rule applying to Legoland Windsor.
The Legoland Windsor website allows me to get all the way to checkout with 1 x adult ticket and no children, but I didn't actually complete the transaction. Unless there's a final check at the credit card stage, I don't see anything stopping me going on my own."
Yes, it's true as far as I'm aware. As for buying a single adult ticket—you only need a ticket for children over 90cm, so you could be taking a younger child with you and nobody else.
Thank you for the review and photo of the actual ride, otherwise I would have being totally lost as to what the ride was looking at the set on its own. As you noted more track is needed. Even if only two more pieces of circular track were provided then you could have an obvious entry point connected to the main building archway, and neighboring exit once you have done the 360 tour at the obligatory photo shop before the next passengers board. Possibly dropping the secondary unused archway could free up the necessary pieces?
@Lego34s said:
"I thought they were done with making regional exclusives...... This is almost that if you live 200 miles away from Windsor, or 1000 miles away from a US Park.....or there isn't on in your country.....and you have to pay to get in just to go to the shop. Why not make these Park sets a set price at the park and more expensive on the website. Then if you go you can get a souvenir / bargain and if you never can go you can still buy one ?"
I was actually able to buy all LEGOLand exclusive sets including this one on a website without leaving my state to travel literally to the opposite end of the country in order to get them.
I'm not sure if they'll ship internationally, but it's worth making a quick Google search
The designs are clever, and not a topic we see in the regular LEGO lineup. Not to mention, a large count of minifigs in relation to set size, and excellent price-per-part ratios, usually under the golden "10 cents per part".
I think 40346 is one of the best-ever values in LEGO. $100, 1336 parts (many of them large speciality parts), 10! minifigs, a baby, a stroller, and a wheelchair. Not to mention, with the microscale version of the miniature structures within the park, some clever design. This set, with over 400 parts, an $40 MSRP and 4 minifigs.
@benbacardi said:
Yes, it's true as far as I'm aware. As for buying a single adult ticket—you only need a ticket for children over 90cm, so you could be taking a younger child with you and nobody else."
We've visited Windsor as adults without kids in 2016, without issue. We've also visited Florida in 2013, Billund in 2018, and California in 2019 no problem.
Maybe this is only part of COVID measures, but I cannot see anything on their website. The adult only policy is at the top of the Discovery Centre's website.
I have sent them a message, waiting to hear back. This is sudden and disappointing change if it is true.
@MLF said:
"I have sent them a message, waiting to hear back. This is sudden and disappointing change if it is true."
Got a very clear reply today from Legoland Windsor via facebook:
"Adults are able to visit without children".
@MLF said:
"Got a very clear reply today from Legoland Windsor via facebook:
"Adults are able to visit without children".""
That's good to know; thanks for confirming it! :D
"The large stickers that represent a pair of screens provide a stylised but accurate representation of what is seen on the ride itself."
Chopov is accurate, but Samukai should have a red belt, not blue, and Wyplash should have a white belt, not green!
@omnium said:
"(And how do you do the nicely formatted quoting on here??)"
The answer is just to click "reply" to someone's comment. But it seems like I found a buggy feature.
Clicking "reply" to someone's comment only works when you first load the page. And once you've clicked "reply", if you delete the message and try it again, it doesn't work. Reloading the pages sometimes makes it work again, sometimes not.
Same behaviour on Chrome and Firefox on Linux. Works fine on Windows.