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.

Over all this is one great set.[:

Pros

• Samukai
• Chopov
• Bonezai
• Garmadon
• Kai
• Nya
• Golden elements
• Box art
• Shooting Spider
• Prison
• Pop up skeleton
• 518 pcs

Cons

• Breaks easily
• could do with more ninjas
• Samukai mouth may open but it looks very weird

You need to get this with Ice Dragon Attack

It has great play functions the minifigs are awesome, and i love the skeleton spider hanging on the wall! 100% worth the money!

I got a box of this from web, must say it has the perfect size for young kids to play with, the man-face spider is stunning, so does Lord Garmadon's throne with spitting flames!

Introduction:

This is quite a nice set, but it seems like it's missing something considering it costs $70. I'm lucky I got it on sale online sealed for $57. Review in Short: If your REALLY into Ninjago, go get this, but if your just iffy on it, wait for a sale and then get it.

Box/Instructions:

This set comes in a decent sized box, with the usual lack of excitement on the back of Ninjago boxes. Nothing different then what you'd expect.

The instructions come in 2 booklets, which is good. I didn't find any mistakes in the instructions, but then again I wasn't looking too closely for any. The back of the instructions just have ads for other sets as usual.

Minifigures/Accessories:

The minifigurs in this set are phenomenal. You get 6, which is nice for a $70 set. You just get normal Kai, and exclusive (right now) Nya. She has Irina Spalko hair with a new printed torso and legs. You just get a stripped down version of Bonezai and Chopov, without even any armour for them. Then, there's Samukai. The best figure in Ninjago so far, I think. His mouth opens and he has four arms <3. Also, you get Garmadon in his dark colors and awesome staff.

Not much from the accessories in this set. You get two big-boned axes and a black and grey katana. That's about it unless you want to include the insect/skeleton. That things pretty big and has some suspention. It looks intimidating with the skull logo, quite nice, good work Lego.

The Set:

The set is pretty good. The size is decent, even better with only a few stickers. The pop-out skele-spider is pretty neat, too. Garmadon's Throne is epic and detachable. The balcony area is a big lacking, though. On the top of either side are two flick-fire rotating platforms, though, which are great. The interior is bare though. On one side is a barrel for the weapons and a door for the prison cell. The other side has another barrel and a table with wine, a glass, and a frying pan. That's all that's in the interior, unfortunetly.

The Good/Bad:

Good things in this set: The minifigures, exterior, skele-spider, design, and little grave thingy.

The bad things in this set: The price, the interior, the lack of a second floor, and not including the last weapon; Firesword.

Final Thoughts:

This set is good, but there do seem to be things missing. I love Ninjago and love this set, but like I said, I'm not in love with the price. $70 is a bit too much for this unless your a die-hard Ninjago fan. I'd wait for a sale, and then for sure get this one. I'm glad I got it on sale! All in all, this NinjaGo set is alright, but definetly lacking some pizazz. BTW sorry the review was so long!