Looking for villains, skeleton army, dark fortress? Then you might consider this set. Initial looks from the packaging then you can reuse it in customizing for a Halloween theme. On with the review.

Packaging: Measuring 19 x 14.8 x 2.8 inches it is quite a big box as compared of course to the 10 or 20 dollar lego sets. The back of the package show what you can do with the set. Jumping skeleton spider, flick missles from the tower, skeleton coming from the cemetery casket and a jail cell inside the fortress.
At the sides you see the characters, 4 Villains (Garmadon plus 3 skeletons, Bonezai, Chopov and Samukai) then the heroes, Kai and Nya.

Opening the box you will get 2 manuals, 5 plastic packages plus 2 extra parts used on the top tower (without packaging) and stickers. I often wonder how come LEGO does that,( not placing some pieces in plastic packaging).

Minifigs: Since this is why I liked this set more villains than heroes then I will get right into this.

Garmadon: 2 simple words. All Black! This guy seems to be charred in the underworld with red flaming eyes. What is cool is his scepter with bluish rays.

Bonezai/Chopov: The typical skeleton body with some markings, Now they use the ninjago big black feet. As for the heads Bonezai is smiling and Chopov is smirking. Their weapons are bone axes.

Samukai: Now this minifig is worth describing more. He has the typical skeleton body and legs BUT they added a very extended Head with torso. His head and jaw can be moved to open and close with an extra arm attachment at the side. This makes him have 4 arms to place 4 weapons. Going at the back he has a humped back wtih spines going down to the leg area thus making him huge in skeleton land. Downside, you cant place him properly on a LEGO horse due to the extended spine at the back.
Weapons: Golden scythe, Nunchucks and Shurikens (like the star blades used by ninjas)

Kai and Nya: This I will make it brief, they are what you see in the other sets with their black and gray samurai. Nya has 2 faces one with and one without red scarf on the face.

Build: The 1st booklet will complete the set till the 3rd bag while the 2nd booklet will be for the last 2 bags.

SPOILER ALERT! (If you want to be surprised on what to build skip this and go to Highlights)

1st Bag: Makes the casket/cemetery, the skeleton spider/insect. Technically it cant be a spider since it should have 4 pairs of legs but this is a play set so we will just call it like that.

2nd and 3rd bag: This builds the base and the flooring for the 1st and 2nd floor together with the jail cell on the 1st floor.

4th and 5th bag: This builds the upper floor up the top tower together with the seat of Garmadon. It includes a push button at the back to make the skeleton spider jump in front.

Hightlights of the build: This is a fairly easy build. Base on the suggested age, I guess an 8 year old wont have difficulty following it. What is nice about this set are the following:

1. Skeleton spider: It can be attached to the front of the fortress and when you push the button at the back, it jumps out in front of the fortress with some springy effect like a spider due to the material of the legs. Even the skeleton face with the fangs are quite scary. Very nice

2. Garmadon's Seat: This you place on top with 4 legs and 2 side flames. You can remove it and make it stand on its own. Quite nice. The only thing I noted is that the flames are loose upon inserting it to the base. Not sure why but definitely a source of being lost during play.

3. Opening casket/cemetery: You can place either Bonezai or Chopov (not Samukai) inside and when you push the red lever it will push up the top cover and surprise any minfig in the vicinity. Cool!

4. Flick Firing towers: Using skeleton heads as missles is a nice touch. You can rotate the towers 360 degrees which is not seen in the pics.

5. Others: The front bridge with the skeleton spikes at the side can be adjusted sort of preventing anyone passing to get through. The stairs at the back of the skeleton spider where you can play with the minifigs and extra platform on the top to place more minifigs as you wish.

What is not nice about the set:

1. The base of the 1st floor. Somehow the back of the 1st floor (inside the fortress) is not very stable. A simple push or handling will make the plates move and need to refit it again. The one 6x1 brown plate is not enough to keep it tight. However you can move the brown lego box between the plates to make it more stable.

2. The black wall tower pieces: This I can't understand why this got through the quality control of LEGO. The black tower pieces have sort of factory "warping" or discoloration on the tip of the window and at the base. The stickers are placed on these tower walls which will cover it but I dont think this should be an excuse for such quality slip ups.

Overall: This is quite a good set. Nice fortress with lots of playability and nice minifigs. If you like to build up villains then this set is for you. Personally, I wish other ninjas like Jay is included instead of Kai since Kai has greater exposure in the Ninjago line. The golden weapons are quite a lot except for the Golden sword. So if you like such a fortress which can also be used for halloween themes, then go get this.

Got this early through my friend who went home in the Philippines. She got it in toysrus before August 1 release date. Like this a lot because this is a different dragon as compared to the winged dragons from the other Ninjago sets. So on with the review.

Box/Instructions

For those who will be ordering and need to know the package size it is 14.9 x 10.2 x 2.2 inches. It came with 3 polybags plus the dragon head from a separate plastic and 1 instruction booklet. The bags are numbered except the head. Bag 1 has the 2 minifigs and accessories and parts for the hind body. Bag 2 makes the legs and front body and Bag 3 for the tail, scales and head part. Instructions is fairly straightforward in the assembly.

Parts

It has 227 pieces plus 2 extras (1 skeleton arm and 1 black stud) which I find kind of disappointing that it has no fair amount of extra pieces. Mostly it is on the brown shade with black and gray and green accent as seen in the pictures. I like the dragon head made of 2 parts (head and jaw) interlinked by and technic/bionicle tongue that holds the earth ball. This when you press the head and jaw it spits out the ball. Nice. The head is made of rubber with 3 holes on the top for the horns. Except the horns are only 2 since the one left on the front is free so you can press the head for the spitting ball.

Minifigures

2 figs. Cole (black ninja) and wyplash (skeleton with brown hat) Cole has the katana while wyplash has the saber sword. The golden scythe is guarded by the earth dragon together with the gray boulder with gems. Actually the blade of the scythe can be placed on the remaining hole on the head of the dragon to make it 3 horns. (1 golden and 2 gray)

The build

The completed model

Playability is nice except that I noted the portion where Cole sits on top for my set usually gets to fall off when handling it. My daughter loves playing with it and whipping the tail by rotating the knob at the base of the tail. Even the green scales can fold out to let cole be seen and fold inward to protect the one seated on top. What I wished it was included are 2 chains like the flying dragons for sort of control by the driver ninja. The shooting earth ball is nice, it shoots far if angled correctly.

Summary

Definitely a GREAT Dragon among the Ninjago sets. One of a kind unlike all the winged dragons. Wished LEGO made a Sea dragon as another one for its sets. Anyway, If you like dragons, this set is for you. But for the price of 35 dollars, I find it a little way above my expected price of 25 to 30 dollars. Hope this review helps. Happy Building!

Got this item since I am attracted to the scarab as well as the price.Wanted to try one to see if the scarab will be great addition for a Halloween theme I am making regarding Monsters vs humans. So on with the review.

Box/Instructions

Estimated size of the box 4.75 x 3.5 x 2 inches which is a small box that can be added as extra orders for space fillers when you order big items online. (That is what I did). The instruction is a small booklet with 12 pages for the build. Fairly easy to do, even my 5 yr old daughter was able to follow.

Parts

Minifigures

Only 1 together with the weapon and items I mentioned above. No hat or cap but just the black hair.

The build

After the usual minifig, you are asked to build the camping/cooking area and then the scarab. I like the way the scarab is connected both the body and the legs using the circular part for the underbelly as the main attachment for the 6 legs.

The completed model

Simply very nice. The scarab can be positioned very flat to semi standing (front legs above the ground) to almost full standing such as it is trying to devour the minifig posture. You can even clamp the legs of the scarab around your finger to sort of make it as a ring. The head is also movable and can be posed in different angles.

Summary

For 5 dollars with a nice scarab and accessories, this can be bought again and again to build up your scarab army. Something to consider if you like this theme or something you want to create using bugs.

Star Wars - Episode 5
> The Empire Strikes Back
>Dark Days for the Rebellion.
>Battle of Hoth.
What comes into mind? AT-AT All Terrain Armored Transport
LEGO made several versions of this but this one made it unique because its moving!

The parts that make the whole:

The goliath monster made alive by LEGO. 1137 pieces that include a lot of plates, technic parts and the power function system made this moving masterpiece something you will remember in the movies.
Don't forget the 4 minifigures. Luke in Orange fighter suit, Snow trooper. General Veers, and AT-AT Driver. Wished it was more minifigs, but that is what we always wish right?

Where to start?

Since I got this unsealed, the parts are all jumbled together. So with 1137 pieces, the first act is to segregate the plates/bricks, technic parts by color and the small pieces. The colors are generally, light grey. This is followed by dark gray parts. The rest, black,blue,brown yellow and red.

The instructions are grouped into 3 booklets. The build starts with the main body frame, followed by the foot and legs section (done 4x with some variation depending on front/back and Left/right side).

You then proceed to do the head and placement of the power functions inside the belly of the beast. The handle frame section is then built and last are the exterior coverings.

Did I follow the order? NO! Since this is my first attempt with technic parts and the pieces are very challenging, I had to level the playing field. I started with the easy part, the feet, then the exterior plates and the head. After that, I had removed a LOT of pieces already.

Then I followed the step by step instructions. Once I reached the finished part. I just installed it.

Gears/Gears/Gears:

The power function system is great! During the body frame construction, interconnected gears in the neck, front legs and back section make this move in synchrony. Just like a regular walking beast. A flick of the switch lever inside can make it move forward and backward too! This makes the AT-AT also move its head side to side.

The downside, once you stop it, you can't force the legs to move because of the gears. I guess you can force it, but I don't like to break it. ( I DON'T recommend you try)

Space!
No its not outer space but space for the minifigs. The cockpit in the head fits 2. The driver and General Veers. How about Luke? He is hanging at the side. The snowtrooper? He is running. The inside of the beast has no space for minifigs due to the motorized system.

Showing the innards:

First the head, you can move it up just like a cockpit glass of the Y wing. The side plates also can be raised to access the on and off lever. The front and back section of the body can also be raised. The top can be raised to make it a handle. Good thing LEGO made it this way in order to handle it easily.

NOW The bad part(s):

It is a sturdy build but of course, there are those parts that easily get detached. And these are the plates in the body when you lift it up. As for the head, the side guns are the one that easily fall off.

As for the instructions, be careful since the color black and dark grey parts are sometimes confusing and if you mistakenly interchange one from the other it may cost you a lot of delay.

What I like the most.

The intricate system of the gears, the elaborate connection for the legs and feet are something I appreciate the most in this set.

Overall.

Standing 12 inches high and 14 inches long, this behemoth will make anyone stop and glance to look what LEGO has created for the builders. The box say 14+ years old.

But since my 4 year old daughter is already good with following instructions, she was able to do the feet section with some minor guidance.

If you dream of a SW beast that made the Empire win, then this is the set to get.

Been hooked in Star Wars Lego and definitely ordered one in Amazon when I saw that it sort of hard to find already. Been late as a builder to start collecting. Anyway, Since this iconic fighter was first seen in the Death Star attack and with its very different design, I was hooked to get one.

Box/Instructions

Usually the size is not mentioned and for me it is important particularly for computing courier costs based on packaging size. So here it is 2.4 x 11.5 x 17 inches

The instruction booklet is only 1. Be careful since there are some instructions in building the part of the Y wing's wing to be correctly placed.

I was surprised to open the box and see 7 plastic bags but "CORRECTIONS" 2 2x 16 plates and 2 1x16 bricks (PREVIOUS ENTRY: 2 2x32 plates and 2 1x32 bricks) are not in the plastic but just in the box.

First time I encountered this thus made me assemble it ASAP.

Parts

Minifigures

Only 2, the driver and astromech. Wished it was more but that is just pushing it I guess.

The build

You start with the body then the side body attachments for the Y wing section. You will note that during the build, you have to start on 1 side of the Y wing and you will repeat the process. What I did, is just get the mirror parts while building the first one so that I wont look for it again.

The completed model

Finished it in an hour. And was very much pleased and surprised with how LEGO made this model be a great build. The swossh factor is great. It is stable. However the one that keeps falling off are the guns both fall off easily. Some might say the wings fall off, just make sure it is snapped together.

You can place a LEGO made stand at the bottom to make it look like it flying.

Summary

The Xwing is usually the very well know fighter in the SW saga but the Y wing gave the variety in the Rebel fighters that showed its oommpph during the Death Star attack even though it was unsuccessful. Now I am thinking which one to buy again. Y wing or X wing. At a good price.. definitely a Y wing.