71741 NINJAGO City Gardens is my favourite of the NINJAGO City range, featuring an attractive combination of colourful buildings. That should translate neatly to a microscale design, as even subtler details are easily highlighted with areas of vibrant colour.
40705 Micro NINJAGO City Gardens is certainly very detailed and shows incredible attention to the minifigure-scale model, as expected for the microscale series.
71816 Zane's Ice Motorcycle expands the broad variety of NINJAGO motorcycles and looks fairly interesting, considering its small size. The trans-light blue ice blades certainly suit Zane's vehicle and these are linked through a simple, although clever, function.
Admittedly, I think that function has compromised the motorcycle's appearance to a degree, but this should be a fun play set, nevertheless. In addition, a new version of Zane is a bonus.
The ninja attended the Tournament of Elements in the fourth season of NINJAGO, meeting many new Elemental Masters. This event has provided the basis for some exceptional sets and another contest, dubbed the Tournament of the Sources, will appear in upcoming episodes.
71818 Tournament Battle Arena therefore bears a strong resemblance to 70756 Dojo Showdown and 71735 Tournament of Elements, partly because of its setting, but also the amazing minifigure selection. This set features a modern version of Tox, the Elemental Master of Poison, as well as the sinister Evil Jay and an updated design for Cinder, plus three other characters!
Mechs are notoriously common in the NINJAGO theme. However, there are occasional standouts and 71821 Cole's Titan Dragon Mech is definitely one! Not only is the mech superbly detailed and enormous, but the articulation clearly improves upon comparable vehicles.
Articulation and attractive shaping are normally my priorities where mechs are concerned, so I believe this has the potential to be one of the best LEGO has produced. That being said, its colour scheme is questionable for Cole, relying remarkably heavily on white elements.
It sometimes seems as though 70657 NINJAGO City Docks is the forgotten section of the larger NINJAGO City series, doubtless due partly to its modest size, compared with other sets. Various building heights are essential to any city though, including at microscale!
40704 Micro NINJAGO Docks offers that variety and should be a suitable companion for 40703 Micro NINJAGO City, as both are available from the Insiders Rewards Centre currently.
Although obviously not as popular as mechs or dragons, off-road vehicles have appeared quite frequently in the NINJAGO theme. This example looks good on the whole, although the price of £44.99, $49.99 or €49.99 seems extraordinarily expensive.
With that in mind, I hope there is more to 71811 Arin's Ninja Off-Road Buggy than it appears, similar to the surprisingly function-packed 70589 Rock Roader from a few years ago. Maybe the functions will prove equally interesting on this occasion.
71812 Kai's Ninja Climber Mech certainly shares similarities with other NINJAGO mechs, but this model's slender proportions and four arms are distinctive. Additionally, the claws on the upper climbing arms look impressive and form part of some interesting functionality.
However, I wonder whether this apparent focus on function has gone too far, given the exposed Technic elements on those extra arms. The visible string seems odd too, although I think the silhouette of the mech looks superb and its articulation is surprisingly effective, including an ingenious ankle mechanism.
10230 Mini Modulars was released in 2012 and recreated the five original Modular Buildings in microscale, reducing their 32x32 baseplate size to 8x8 plates. This concept endures with 40703 Micro NINJAGO City, which faithfully reproduces the iconic 70620 NINJAGO City!
The model looks impressively detailed in official images, but costs 2700 Insiders points, which is obviously quite a lot, so expectations are high.
The NINJAGO range features some spectacular location-based sets, between cities, mysterious temples and ominous lairs. 71819 Dragon Stone Shrine looks marvellous too, focusing on detail and display value, equivalent to the NINJAGO City series.
However, the model's rural setting is distinctive among large NINJAGO sets and it looks very beautiful, perfecting details from 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores. In fact, this set reminds me of the lovely 10315 Tranquil Garden, released last year.
Riyu was introduced as a baby in season one of NINJAGO: Dragons Rising and seemingly grows older in the approaching second season. 71810 Young Dragon Riyu remains rather cute though and matches the baby dragon, featuring exactly the same colours and patterning.
As well as the titular dragon, the set includes an exclusive Sora minifigure, finally featuring her hairstyle from the animated series. Given the focus on major characters and a price of only £12.99, $15.99 or €14.99, this could be a must-have NINJAGO set.
NINJAGO has never been a stranger to mechs, but the new wave takes their dominance to an extreme! 71805 Jay's Mech Battle Pack includes the smallest of those mechs, although its four minifigures have undoubtedly attracted more attention than Jay's mech.
This makes sense because it is unusual to find four minifigures in a NINJAGO set costing as little as £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99, particularly when two of those minifigures are exclusive, while two others are perfect for army building.
71799 NINJAGO City Markets was released a few months ago, continuing the acclaimed NINJAGO City series. This model includes 6163 pieces and is therefore even bigger than the three previous sets in the range, which clearly bodes well, given their outstanding quality.
However, this addition to NINJAGO City presents an unusual silhouette because much of the area in the middle is dedicated to a functional cable car! In fact, the creative functions are arguably the markets' most distinctive feature, separating this model from its precursors. Similarly, our review takes a slightly different approach to normal, as you will see below.
NINJAGO has involved spinners since the theme was launched, usually representing the ninja in powered up forms. Three have been produced this summer and these sets take an interesting approach to the idea of spinners, with exclusive minifigures too.
71777 Kai's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Flip, 71778 Nya's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Drift and 71779 Lloyd's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Spin will appeal primarily to older collectors because of those unique minifigures, but they should prove appealing for play as well.
The new season of NINJAGO is entitled Dragons Rising, so the associated sets inevitably include multiple dragons. Even though numerous such creatures have been released previously, 71793 Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon shows the continued opportunity for innovation.
As the name reveals, Heatwave is able to switch between two completely different stances, which is an interesting feature among the myriad NINJAGO dragons. Either looks superb and the minifigure selection is splendid, including the exclusive Elemental Master, Wyldfyre.
The realm of Imperium is dedicated to capturing dragons and harnessing their inherent power, so created Photac Beasts to help the ferocious Claw Hunters in the mission. 71790 Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound is significantly smaller than many dragons, although equally fearsome.
I love this creature's distinctive proportions, with its body narrowing sharply in the middle and therefore contrasting with equivalent NINJAGO animals. Moreover, the presence of three minifigures is appealing, given the affordable price of £18.99, $19.99 or €20.99.
LEGO has produced countless mechs and their frequency has increased substantially in recent years. However, a single mech is presumably no longer enough, as two mechs are combined as one vehicle in the spectacular 71794 Lloyd and Arin's Ninja Team Mechs!
The concept is evidently outlandish, but I think the result appears impressive, particularly since the characters of Lloyd and Arin's respective mechs seem completely different. However, there are just five minifigures and no vehicle for the Imperium characters, so I harbour concerns about the price of £74.99, $79.99 or €84.99.
Mechs and motorbikes are essential to NINJAGO and 71792 Sora's Transforming Mech Bike Racer combines the two! The resulting design appears remarkably successful on the whole, particularly given the beautiful livery of white, dark blue and coral.
In addition, only new characters are included, so the set should provide an enjoyable introduction to the new season. After all, the price of £42.99, $47.99 or €47.99 seems relatively affordable.
The most enjoyable mechs consistently include significant articulation, although that inevitably becomes increasingly challenging on any larger designs. 71775 Nya's Samurai X MECH certainly seems successful in that respect, incorporating articulated knees!
Moreover, the model towers above comparable NINJAGO mechs and the minifigure selection appears impressive, particularly because six of the eight provided characters are exclusive. Unfortunately, the price seems rather expensive.
Formidable fighter aircraft belonging to Jay and Kai have been released before, featuring similar shapes and variable wings. 71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet continues this selection and appears effective, particularly given the attractive colour combination.
Moreover, two exclusive minifigures accompany the vehicle, including Golden Dragon Cole and General Vangelis, previously dubbed the Skull Sorcerer. These minifigures and Zane's aircraft are certainly appealing, particularly given the creative transformation function and the relatively modest price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99.
Motorbikes are common among NINJAGO sets and could become repetitive, particularly given their consistent scale. Thankfully, the designers continue to develop completely unique models with distinctive features, which reflect differing environments each season.
71768 Jay's Golden Dragon Motorbike includes few such distinguishing features, although its aerodynamic shape is attractive. Hopefully this design reaches the standard of 70762 Cole's Dirt Bike and 71745 Lloyd's Jungle Chopper Bike.