When it comes to Lego action figures, I am what one may call a "picky eater." I feel a large part of this comes from growing up a fan of Bionicle and Hero Factory, which were able to use specialised pieces that still hold the core playability of Lego firm while doing its own thing to make an extremely playable, fun, buildable action figure. This has made other attempts made by Lego in a post-CCBS world feel a bit... lacklustre. Mostly coming in the form of Mechs, Lego had actively gimped the articulation in many of these figures to avoid complaints from parents that they couldn't stand well after Exo Force. This is understandable for the larger, massive mechs, especially in comparing Lego to other brands. Just the process of Lego construction makes their larger builds much denser and heavier than their competitors. But it rubbed me the wrong way when they lessened the articulation in much smaller models, those around the $20-$40 price range. These figures, who could easily be held up by ball joints with some CCBS Friction add-ons or their stronger ratchet joints, just took the lazy route and gave them pre bent legs or worse. Which is annoying, making it really hard to display in any way other than a basic standing pose, and makes the fun of playing with the figure in and of itself weaker. Now, you may be saying, "Oh, Kanohii, I've got you! Early Bionicle sets had similar levels of articulation, if not less, why don't you complain about those!" Well, I'm glad you asked, potential reader! For one, I am not the biggest fan of those early sets, even if they are full of charm. Secondly, they have the excuse of being early examples of the concept, with articulation slowly increasing as Lego's technology improved. But finally, those figures had something to compensate for the lack of articulation. Each of those sets were filled to the brim with fun gimmicks and features, making it still fun to play with. Now, would I prefer both, yes, and Lego eventually got to that point. However, for these mechs, they tend to not have that kind of compensation, at most having some sort of generic blaster or spring-loaded shooter. These feel like barely anything, and aren't really enough to make a fun figure, especially in comparison to the complex build and fun of Bionicle's gear functions. Therefore, with Lego's figure offerings being lesser than my expectations, I bought less Lego sets overall, compensating by buying Bandai model kits, which I found more to my tastes.

Enter Niek Van Slagmaat. The former Hidden Side designer began to work on Ninjago sets through the Legacy line, a brief series that was meant to remake older Ninjago sets from the first 9 or so waves in a more collector friendly way. This set's wave in particular was made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the line. However, Niek (Can I call you Niek?) had worked in the line slightly earlier, remaking the Thunder Raider, a set from the Rebooted line. While I don't own it, it has been something I've been interested in picking up, especially since it gave a medium-sized mech knees. He wasn't the first to do this in Legacy, the Golden Mech, however, it at least proved that he was in the right head space. However, he was eventually given a much bigger challenge, in remaking a really ugly mech into a new design, on its own, in a large scale. This is a remake of the Titan Mech Battle from the Possession wave, and, personally, the original mech is pretty ugly looking. I'm pretty sure this comes down to personal preference, however, it certainly wasn't the highlight of the set, to say the least. Therefore, he was essentially allowed to go in a completely different direction with this build, while keeping a ton of the original elements intact, like the gappy shoulder pads, the sharp, long kneepads, and the robotic, triangular head. Overall, this makes a much more striking mech, especially since it takes more inspiration from a completely different mech.

It is no secret that Niek is a Gurren Lagann fan. The first thing that you see when you go to his Twitter page is a MOC of the titular mech from the series. Going off of this, you can see some heavy influence from that mech placed in this one. This can mainly be seen in the torso. It has a design that slightly tapers in at the waist before flaring out into the angular waist armour that goes into some chunky legs. The shoulders are covered in some large shoulder pads angled upward with a symbol in the middle The upper torso is designed to look like a large face, just like all the Gunmen in that series. A mouth is somewhat formed by some gold bars, which also carry onto the spine, creating some nice back details. All we need is a compatible set of massive sunglasses, and Zane will be posing like Kamina before sacrificing himself again. This instantly gives this mech way more character than the dumpy original. Plus, I feel this referential nature gives the set appeal outside Ninjago fans. While it will certainly appeal to people who like cool mechs, it will also appeal to people with good taste (Gurren Lagann Fans). However, it adds to this by giving the set Zane's cool colour scheme. It is, of course mostly made of white parts. However, it also is full of hints of light blue and chunks of sand blue, perfectly placed to not feel too overwhelming. This pairs well with shades of grey and black, overall making a simple, yet cool design. There are some stickers, however, they aren't too necessary, and dd some simple, yet appreciated mechanical detail, as well as Zane's symbol on the thighs.Those thigh parts are on a curved surface, but it is a slight curve, so it isn't too hard to place. The stickers aren't too egregious, but it is important to note, as many hate stickers with a passion. Overall, they add to the design, making them better.

However, this set will be forever impactful not for its design, but for its articulation. It managed to create a new standard for large styles of mechs that has carried on throughout the Ninjago line with very few exceptions. The head is on a Mixel Joint, which gives it some decent range, and the lower neck is on a ratchet joint that allows it to get out of the way, so you can sit a Minifigure inside the cockpit. The shoulder pads hinge outward about 90 degrees so that you can move the shoulder out slightly higher than 90 degrees on the Knights Kingdom ratchet joint. These parts are a bit loose for my taste, but they work. They are also able to rotate a full 360 degrees, but there is no bicep swivel. The elbow is on a single bend ball joint and each hand is on a swivel. Each hand also has 3 fingers, the 2 main figures on a simple, if a bit loose, hinge, and the thumb on a clip hinge as well as moving in and out on the one stud connection for more natural hand poses, an ingenious solution for an expressive thumb. The front and hind waist armour are on Mixel joints, allowing them to get out of the way. This leads us to the hips, probably the weakest joints here, which is very funny, given how they've been the standard of articulation on these mechs for years up to this point. The legs go out two clicks, are able to move forward all the way, but are limited backward due to the length of the part used. It would be nice to have more articulation that was stronger, however, the stronger parts just didn't exist yet. However, from there, we go from the worst joint to the best one. The knees don't have a ton of articulation, only moving around 45 degrees, however, they are incredibly strong and smooth. Made up of 8 Mixel joint connections, it is able to take advantage of the simple smoothness of the joints while creating enough tension to hold up the legs no matter what. It is surprising how well it works, giving a joint that is fairly necessary for expressive poses. Finally, there is a ball joint at the foot that allows it to move forward, backward, swivel, and tilt side to side. Overall, the articulation on show here is quite strong. Of course, it's not without its flaws. The Knight's Kingdom joints really show that they are not made for something so large, and tend to be a bit too loose for my taste. Plus, it would be great to have swivels at the biceps and the thighs. However, it is wonderful to see what articulation it does have.The knees are the biggest point of praise, but the hands are also to be noted, with some well integrated articulation, and a wonderful thumb, even if the fingers fall off a bit too easily. Overall, this mech is worth it based on the articulation alone.

However, there are a few gimmicks to add some fun to the package. Mounted on the shoulders are some spring-loaded shooters. They work as well as usual, but can look like an eyesore when loaded. Oh, yeah, they are on two small ratchet joints, which allow them to move up and back, but not really forward and down. Should have mentioned that earlier, huh. Anyway. Each arm has its own weapon. The right arm has a golden blade that is able to hinge forward, which is simple, yet fun. The right hand has a large shuriken piece mounted on a loose swivel, allowing it to spin like a sawblade. Both of these weapons are simple, yet cool, working for some fun play alongside the articulation. There are also some smaller elements I will include here. The back waist armours have some clips that allow you to place Zane's sword and bow and arrow, a good solution allowing you to keep most of his parts in one place. Finally, there are the thrusters at the feet that can be hinged out. The inventive use of some spring green studs, clear blue Minifigure heads, and gunmetal grey beehives. It is some wonderful parts use that makes some bright, inventive thruster designs. Overall, the gimmicks are simple, however, they don't need to be anything too special thanks to the articulation previously mentioned.

From here, it is important to note the Minifigures. While there are 4 Minifigures, only 3 are meant to actually interact with the set. The fourth is a Golden Jay Minifigure, sporting an adapted Prime Empire look and placed on a plaque to commemorate Ninjago's 10th anniversary. While it is nice, and Prime Empire is a Jay focused season, the hood looks a bit overly bulky with the blue details. It would be nice to get an adapted golden Legacy Skybound suit, as I feel that season is more iconic for Jay. I say this as we get to see an adapted Legacy Possession suit in this set with Zane. The Possession suits were always a personal favourite of mine, with them becoming primarily black with the Ninja's main colour as a highlight. This adds to it by adding the Ninja's colour to the arms, making the colour balance better. However, I do wish the hood looked more like the original's. However, it is nice that the set includes a spare hair piece, allowing Zane to be displayed in multiple ways, which is appreciated. The other two Minifigures are practically clones, two ghosts, both with the same torso, head, and ghost legs, but with different headgear and accessories. The ghostly legs are dual moulded with purple and clear green, and it looks really nice. The torso print feels a bit overly simplistic, a bit too bright for the spooky aesthetic. The face looks nice and skeletal, but is mostly covered up with armour. The farmer has a round purple hat and a half mask, and a large double scythe, which I found a bit unwieldy and found it fell apart a bit too easily. The archer has a full hood and a simple bow and arrow. Both of these are fine additions, but aren't highlights of the set.

So, overall, this set has a wonderful design, some great articulation, and some decent Minifigures. The Minifigures are easily the weakest point, but the Zane is a particular highlight. However, this can be somewhat excused when looking at the price. For, at most, $65 at retail after price increases, you get 840 pieces. For this kind of mech, this is a wonderful deal, and this makes it probably my first recommendation for one of these kinds of mechs. However, this mech's articulation began a revolution that allowed for more articulated Ninjago mechs to permeate the line, which makes this one of the most important Ninjago sets of recent memory.

Overall, highly recommended. Get this and a can of beans while you still can.

The minfigures-

Probably one of the top reasons i got this set is because it came with that awesome zane figure! The deep stone zane figure looks awesome, and the colour contrast is phenomenal.

AND THE ZANE COMES WITH HAIR!!! YES!!!!

The other figures are just meh but the zane is the cherry on the top.

The set-

It is a very good mech and looks wonderful,and also has knees that bend.

That's awesome! Hope to see more mechs like this sooner!

But,It can fall apart sometimes,so be careful!

The price per part is excellent by the way.

See you!

Pre-Release Thoughts

Similarly to my reviews of the many of the other Legacy sets of this wave, I bought this set for the Golden Legacy Jay. I wasn't really interested in much else, except for the exclusive Possession Zane.

Build Experience

I had quite a fun time building this set. Nothing much stood out, but it was a pleasant experience. I would recommend that you give this to someone that is 9+.

Model

The completed mech stands quite tall for a mech of only $60. There is extensive detail put into every part of this set. The “helmet” for the mech is small, yet provides great articulation, as you can make the helmet turn from side to side and up and down. Spring-loaded shooters are placed on both sides of the cockpit, with a large range of up and down movement. The cockpit is detailed quite well, although it is a bit difficult to fit a minifigure in there.

The chest area is probably the worst part of the mech, as red and black are visible, which contrast with the main white and sand blue color scheme. Continuing onward, the legs are sturdy and provide good articulation. The standout feature of them is the fact that they have functional knees, which can move back.

The arms are also well-made, with a lot of medium azure in their builds. The shoulders use the large triangle pieces in white for shoulder pads. The right hand has a movable sword attached to it. The left hand is armed with a silver saw; unfortunately, there is no gear piece for easily turning the saw. The mech's fingers are built uniquely, using a 1x1 modified piece with a hole in it attached to a modified 1x2 with a bar attached.

Minifigures

The standout exclusive figure here is Golden Jay. He uses the armor used for the Prime Empire to great effect. Along with Jay, Zane is included in a revised Possession suit. It looks excellent, this time using more chrome silver.

The ghosts are just about what you would expect. Ghoultar is present, although the only difference is the armor. Ghoultar's weapon is especially cool, using the ghost blade piece introduced a while ago, this time in trans-green and purple. Soul Archer is re-used from the $10 Cole vs. Ghost set.

Comparison to Original

*Disclaimer: I don't own the original set, so this comparison will take from pictures*

The original titan mech was priced at $60, but it also includes two mechs and a few side builds. This already gives the original an edge. The play value on the original is much higher due to the inclusion of more enemy builds.

The display value is certainly better for this build, as it has a higher calibre of detail. However, the original has decent displayed presentation as well. The minifigures are at about the same quality, but the original gets the win on this one as it has more.

The original set was tried to me more of a playset, and it accomplished that perfectly. The new version focuses more on making one really cool mech, and it completes that goal as well. These two are pretty evenly matched in my opinion.

Value

This set is priced at $60 and has well over 800 pieces. I think the value for volume and value for pieces is perfect here, as the model is large and very detailed. The play value is also fitting for a set of this size, although I wish some parts for the mech would've been redistributed to an enemy build.

Pros

• Good price per piece ratio
• Exclusive Golden Jay
• Great figures, especially Possession Zane
• Interesting play features
• KNEES!
• Fun build experience

Cons

• Expensive
• No enemy build unlike original
• Only 4 figures
• Some parts may be fragile

Overall

Overall, this set manages to improve upon the original mech, although it may be a bit lacking in play value. I think this set will go down as one of Ninjago's better mechs, and also a great set. I would recommend this for the Golden Jay and for anyone who wants a good mech for their kid to play with or to display.

- Christmaskingcool

This set looks very nice. I loved it the moment I saw it. I couldn't wait to get it and build it and let my KFOL play with it.

The build was OK. Nothing exceptional, nothing bad. The head and knee joints were interesting.

The model is actually mediocre. The hip joints and, especially, the feet joints are too weak and the model wiggles a lot. It's unstable, and it is difficult to make it stand straight.

Parts are OK too. Good amount for the money, some ninjago-unique pieces, some technics parts. Nothing special, though.

Playability is where is the set lacks most. It breaks very easily. You barely have a place to grab it without some pieces falling off. All the armour plates are very weakly attached and fall off constantly. Leg armour plates fall of when you spread model's legs wide. Arm plates fall off when you try to move arms. I told my KFOL to put all the fallen-off pieces to a heap in one place, and after each session the heap is significant.

Value for money it's a large set, and it's reasonably cheap. Lots of parts, though most of them are decorative, not construction bricks. If you want it on display only, it's perfectly fine, great even. For playing - I wouldn't recommend it.

Overall - good to put on a shelf, bad for playing. It'd be 3 stars from me, but I add 1 additional star for the unique minifigures.

Okay...so, this is a great set. I'll try to categorise each bit so you can find what you're looking for.

Minifigures

Legacy Possession Zane: Nice remake but it's missing something, the draw to me is the hair-piece in flat silver.

Legacy Soul Archer: Don't like this one, he is just generic compared to his older version.

Legacy Ghoultar: Decent, but the face print is the same as Soul Archer's.

Golden 10th anniversary Jay: Amazing! This is a celebratory minifigure for the 10th anniversary of Ninjago, and I got to say, it delivers. It would be nice if it came with an exclusive Golden face print.

Playability and Articulation

For playability, we have a silver spinning blade, spring-loaded shooters, hidden BOO-sters (cleverly made with a beehive piece in gun-metal grey) and a big golden blade.

For articulation there are 3 points of movement on each leg, 2 on the arms, rotation wrists, adjustable fingers and a pose-able head. I think they should have added waist movement. Oh, yeah, and KNEES! The knee joints are a creative technique that uses 4 (8?) ball and socket connections, that I haven't seen anywhere.

Parts

Not much to say about the parts, only a few are rare.

Building Experience and value

Fun build that took me about 2 hrs to construct, a bit of repetitive building with having to build 2 arms and 2 legs, but it's all good. As for value, with the last few Ninjago mechs of this size I believe this is the best one for the price (for $20 less than Lloyd's Titan Mech you get about the same amount of parts).

Overall thoughts

This set is very good for what its worth, you get 3 exclusive minifigures, plenty of articulation and tons of playability, all for the best price. But compared to the older version of this set, it doesn't stand out much. I recommend this set very much and I rate it a 4 out of 5.