The Set is very good. The playability is a four because if I want to play in Ronin's Pawn shop I have to take the whole thing apart. The minifigs are the best part. My favorites are The Mechanic, Ronin, and Urban Jay. Overall it was a good set and if you have the money I would buy it.

Okay, let's start off with saying that this is my first ever review, and im not that familiar with reviewing any sort of thing, so i might not be that detailed in my review.

Foremost, the building experience! Now for me, it's a 3/5. And this is mainly because of roof of the noodle shop which is made out of black sausage, putting these sausages where they needed to be was an absolute pain in my butt, the same goes with the ice cream shop. Which contains cleavers for the roof pieces. While both of them look amazing, it was really annoying for me to build. And i have a lot of trouble building any kind of tree, so the trees in this set were a little tough.

Now, the parts are an easy 5/5. There's a few big aqua pieces for the top of the build (the radar) and a bunch of special bricks i would have never thought to use. Also, the Minifigures are excellent, and you get 22 of them!

Playability is a 4/5 for me. While its huge, and you could easily do a bunch of playing with it, it's hard to get around it because your hand is very likely to hit and not even fit into certain places. Now, there are a few play features like the ladder on the radar tower.

And last, the value for money is an easy 5/5. $350 for 5685 pieces and 22 Minifigures, a ton of building hours and looks really good on display.

Thanks for reading! Please give me some feedback if you would like to.

This set was an absolute joy, it's a stunning display piece and while building it, it took on a different adventure through each floor from museum heists to video game plays.This is a set both ninjago and non-ninjago fans can enjoy due to its beautiful aesthetics and gorgeous interior detain. 100% recommend

#71741 NINJAGO City Gardens

NINJAGO

2021

5685 parts

$299.99 US (2021)

The NINJAGO City Gardens are a beautiful display model, fantastic build experience, and highly interactive playset.

Parts

As with the previous NINJAGO City sets, the Gardens are rife with interesting parts, some in astronomical quantities. There's a healthy number of spring green and lime green foliage parts, nearly 400 transparent blue 1x2 tiles, several interesting parts in black used for roofs, a sand blue gear rack, a red roller coaster track part, bright and sand green tiles, and a set of Super Heroes weapons in a perforated bag. The set utilises several stickers, but they're all well-designed and produced, and all of them enhance the design.

Minifigures

The set contains an impressive 22 minifigures, which feels appropriate for a set of this kind. They're all well-designed and printed, with my favourites being Clutch Powers, the collectable Sensei Wu, and the Exo-Force robot.

Build

This set represents one of the most purely enjoyable builds I've ever undertaken. The incredible piece count is intimidating, but the variety of the construction process is astonishing. Even laying the 300-odd blue water tiles over the plate foundation is satisfying. The build is full of new, interesting, and challenging build techniques, and each module is well-designed so that it's sturdy throughout the build.

Completed Model

This is an incredible model. It's varied without being cluttered, thanks to some careful colour blocking and combinations of shapes, and it's quite substantial. The model is tall, but also quite dense. It's sturdy, and highly modular, which assists with transport. The level of detail throughout the interior and exterior is astounding.

Play Value

The Gardens are entirely modular, which allows for excellent access to the interior. It's also pretty minifig-acessible, barring the lack of transport from level 1 to level 2, with all sorts of stairways and doors. The few outright play features are really well-integrated and function perfectly, and the number of minifigures and variety of characters make for great play and display possibilities.

Price

$300 is a lot of money, but this set is definitely worth the price in my opinion. The size and quality of the model more than justifies the price, and it's a fun build, which goes a long way.

Overall

This is one of my favourite sets. It's beautifully designed, well-priced (albeit expensive), and has a great selection of minifigures and a ton of play value. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Pre-Release Thoughts

The Ninjago City Gardens were leaked around late December. I remember many people in the community having a positive reaction to it, as I did. The set looked great and was immediately my top priority for buying.

Build Experience

As one of the people who own the Colosseum 10276, I know what a repetitive build is. This is absolutely the polar opposite. The build is jam-packed with numerous techniques and effective construction. The colours boost the build and every bag is a new challenge to face. The build took me about 12 hours, but I took a few long breaks so perhaps a little less. Honestly, this was my favourite building experience. I could see a nine-year-old completing this model as it's not too difficult of a build.

Model

The completed model is a sight to see. It is over 2 feet tall and has enormous detail packed onto every tier.

The first level consists of Ronin's shop and a restaurant. The restaurant is adorably small and packed with small kitchen details. Ronin's shop has multiple references to the Ninjago TV show with the Fang Blade cup and some Ninjago trading cards.

The next level has a Ninjago fan's apartment and a tea shop. The fan's apartment is loaded with nano builds that represent some 2021 Ninjago sets. It has other cool features like a lava lamp and a Zane figurine. The tea shop is quaint and has some art on its walls. All of these first four buildings have a feature where one of the walls is angled and can be pulled off for better interior access.

We now continue to the main floor of Ninjago City Gardens, which is present in the Ninjago City Docks and Ninjago City. It is filled with references to themes like Znap and Power Miners. On top of this layer is Ice Planet Ice Cream Shop. This and the other build on this floor may be my favourites. The ice cream shop is colourful and has cute builds for ice cream. The branding is also a reference to a previous LEGO theme. On the other side is Chen's Noodle House, a chain restaurant from the show. The restaurant is sort of empty, but has some seating and a small kitchen. A stool protrudes from this building. Both of these buildings have an angled wall that can be detached for easier access to the inside.

On the level above, we have a museum and a painter's apartment. Stairs from the ice cream shop lead on up to the Ninjago Museum of History, an iconic location in the show. The museum has an outstanding colour scheme of bright orange, dark red, and teal. The interior has a gift shop and loads of painting and nano builds that represent major events in the show. There is even a hole in the wall for robbers to escape that is covered by an advertisement and a painting. The dome on top has a cherry blossom and a model of Griefbringer attached to it. The front wall of the museum is removable, so you can see the interior. The painter's apartment has 2 opposite walls that can be lifted off. Inside is a bed with paint buckets under it, a TV displaying Gayle Gossip, and a canvas with Ninjago City Gardens painted on.

For the last tier of this model there is a Zen garden and a large tower. The Zen garden is simple, with a small bonsai tree on a table inside. The roof is the most interesting part, comprised of treasure chest lids as tiles on the roof. If you lift these up, you can find a helmet and skates, a reference to an episode in Season 4 of the show. The tower has an arcade below with a playable arcade machine and a hat rack. There is a ladder that can be lifted down to allow access to this floor. The next level of it has a spot for a suit and 2 movie posters that can fit on one side of the tower. The highest level has only a seat for a figure and a screen showing incoming dangers.

There is a small temple island with Zane's statue on it. This may be one of my favourite parts of this build as it is small and quiet. The nature elements are perfect and make a small and effective build.

The floors all fit together in a modular style and can be easily lifted off. The complete model is an incredible presentation piece.

Minifigures

The minifigure selection is similar to the other sets in that it isn't very strong but has some outstanding figures. The 10-year golden Wu is exceptional and easily the highlight. The Mechanic is a long-awaited figure done perfectly. Urban Jay, Cole, and Nya are fine, with Jay standing out for his unique torso. Zane and Kai are both present in their Ninja suits which I'm sure many of us already have. Young Lloyd is perfect and all I need in a young version of him. Cece is a decent figure to accompany the Mechanic. Ronin is amazing with a revised and more detailed print. Clutch Powers is nothing new, just a nice accompaniment. Hai is great with his Ice Planet uniform. Misako is a neat addition, as I missed out on the Temple of Airjitzu a few years ago. Scoop is a unique figure that is comprised of unique pieces. Mei, Kaito, Tito, Christina, and Eileen are simply civilian figures and are nothing special. Master Wu's dog is also present, a random reference to a Season 5 set. There are three non-figures present: The Master Chen mascot, Zane's statue, and Jay's ninja suit. Jay's suit is nothing special, just his Legacy outfit. Zane's statue is slightly inaccurate but fine. Chen's mascot is a great figure that completes the look of Chen's Noodle House.

Value

The play value is off the charts for this set. I could spend HOURS moving minifigures around and telling stories with this set. It truly encapsulates the joy that I get from LEGO. The price is INCREDIBLE, being the same value as Ninjago City, which already had a great value, but this has around 800 MORE pieces.

Pros

• Great display piece
• Amazing value
• Fun for play
• Some stand-out minifigures
• Unique building experience
• Great parts
• Continues Ninjago City modular line

Cons

• Hard to carry
• Fragile parts
• Long build time
• Some boring minifigures
• Pricey

Overall

Ninjago City Gardens may come down as my favourite LEGO set of all time. Its amazing build and good minifigures certainly boost it, but my favorite part is the play value. I could spend hours dissecting and playing with this set. It's so unique of a set and I HIGHLY reccomend it. If you have the money and the time to build this, you will NOT regret it.

-Christmaskingcool