I've spent a lot of time thinking about why the Ninjago theme succeeds compared to the seemingly impossible uphill battle of modern LEGO’s other non-licensed themes. Like many, I'm pretty discouraged about the lack of new original themes and wish they’d do more original stuff, but in the mid 2010s when they’d try to make original themes they'd usually fall flat with general audiences. To diagnose the problem I've taken a closer look at the design language for LEGO's "big bang" themes that didn't catch on.

For themes like Chima, and Nexo Knights the first thing I noticed design wise was the sets were extremely busy, and seemed to lack a strong aesthetic focus. What I mainly mean by this is that they lack a strong cohesive identity between sets.

Both themes start simple enough with the core concept being marginally clear. For example Nexo Knights is a theme about futuristic knights so the early sets are clear takes on horses, crossbows, and catapults.The color scheme is gray [light and dark gray] and blue [classic blue and dark blue] to invoke the castle spirit, with translucent orange to add futurism. This is already a lot of colors, but for the 2017 sets they add in another color to the mix for each main knight character. Given that each knight would only go on to get only one or two vehicles it makes it so that none of the hero vehicles match in a satisfying way. Additionally at this point the design has already strayed far away from the castle roots. While the vehicles are still technically themed around things like lances and jousting sticks the resemblance is loose at best. Because of this the theme basically lacks a true identity of it’s own, it's basically just Ninjago with uglier colors... It got to the point where design wise it becomes hard to identify what exactly makes a Nexo Knights set a Nexo Knights set, is it the focus on Castle? If thats the case then Ninjao has many castle inspired waves, what makes that unique? Despite having so many different colors and unique parts, the sets all blend together into a mush, and when put against the clear design and diverse aesthetics of the Ninjago sets it’s understandable why one would succeed over the other.

Where Ninjago succeeds is how instead of always adhering to a core aesthetic, most waves of Ninjago are keen to basically create a new theme under the Ninjago name. While each character has basic colors they're associated with, no one color is forced into every set to make it read as "ninjago" (besides the obsession with gold). The same goes with the general graphic design, After 2011 these sets are Ninja themed basically by name only. While that could be seen as a bad thing, I think it allows for a far greater yield for creativity. Think about how the original space theme encompassed many different sci-fi factions that often shared very little with each other. Despite having consistent characters and a few tropes that continue to be used (dragons, mechs, temples) Ninjago is basically LEGO’s be all and end all theme for original ideas.

In my opinion this distinction has prevented the theme from reaching stagnation. A set like Zane's Dragon Powered Spinjitzu Car (when did the names get so bad...) is emblematic of what makes Ninajo so great design wise. It implements a refreshingly simple color scheme of white, and light azure with gold accents. It also has a bold well-defined shape, the sharp edges are really appealing to me. It also has a strange yet pretty unique gimmick of spinning in circles. There have been a few other race cars in the Ninjago line, but this one is pretty singular in its focus on hard edges and the unique spinning function. All in all it's just a lot of fun.

I'm not sure if this write up is a review of the set at this point, I really just wanted to try and piece together why I'm drawn to this particular set, and the Ninjago theme when other modern non-licenced themes haven't appealed to me. I'd also like to note that Dreamzzz is a great step away from the cluttered designs of previous big bang themes, the sets are pretty singular in design, which excites me about the theme's future. We will just have to wait and see if it does well, and if this great diversification in design equates to sales.

The minifigures are pretty decent, with Zane and Cole as the good guys, and wasp and frying pan head as the bad guys. They have hover jet skis and a robot, which are kind of weird. But the main highlight is the car. It looks beautiful and has a very elemental feel, but really? The car is basically a spinner. And it is ridiculously awesome! I love how they use the dragon balls to make it spin and raise the wheel. This set is a bit expensive, but it is easily worth it. I wish I could do 20 stars, because I would.

Spinner not dragon powered.

First set of the Dragon Rising I got. Zane has been given a Race Car, however the spinning function isn't dragon powered... When you move the spoiler down, it left up the wheels which is meant to allow the 2 Dragon Core and gold ball in the back to spin it.

Problem is that the gold ball is the only thing that move, whiles the Dragon Core just stay in place, cause of that, it'll just damage the bottom plates as it's not spinning with the balls.

Race Car

Aside from that problem, the race car is very good-looking, the dragon core part can easily be removed with the bottom plates and look even better without it.

While the back have a very smooth looking design, the front is pretty messy, maybe turnout better without the engine opening gimmick.

It gives us some nice new ice shard pieces which are good-looking in the build if not for the messy front. Even getting gold blaster pieces and unprinted controller for the steering wheel.

Sidebuilds

There are 3 side build, each with their own spinning gimmick. While the bot is neat, the hoverboard is just bland to me, they're not bad but feel like it should just be the two villain and bot.

Minifigure

Set comes with Zane, Cole, Imperium hunter and guard.

The new uniform for the ninja is a lot better than the core with a great lower mask/amor piece. These new face printing of a black eye cover with the ninja element is a lot better compare to the normal faces for these.

Sad downside about the new mask are the hood part of it is very bland, and oddly unneeded new piece; as it feel like it's a modded version of the hunted hood piece.

Imperium are fantastic looking and a bit goofy with the frying pan headwear. The gold and black are a nice choice for these villains to have that royal high-class look, but a problem with having gold in their colour scheme is it clashing with the Ninja; as they commonly use gold.

It would be good if while these villains are around, the Ninjago stop using gold for everything in place of silver or pearl dark grey.

Overall

I don't recommend doing the spinney gimmick if you don't want to damage the plate pieces, but I do recommend if you want your hands on an ice theme race car. Though I suggest modding the front to be a bit more smoother.

Lego Set 71791 Zane’s Dragon Power Spinjitzu Race Car is a set that was released earlier this month and retails for $34.99 USD, $39.99 CAD, or £29.99.

MINIFIGURES: The set includes four minifigures which all look amazing. I am definitely impressed that all the minifigures have leg printing unlike in the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic and also the Shrieking Shack. For the price of the set, four minifigures is a bit more than expected. Though, I feel like it makes sense that there are four because the extra one mini figure feels like it boosts the set just over that last hurdle to make the set full worth the price.

The side builds included aren’t that interesting and just feel like random pieces put together. Though, they do add to the play of the set since it gives the car enemies to hit.

PLAY: I really like how the spoiler is what allows the car’s wheels to lift up and allow the Spinjitzu balls and cars to spin. The mechanism works really well to lift both wheels off the ground. I also believe that it does not really take away from the look of the car. The technic beam that allows both wheels to move up does not have any weird colors and the technic holes would look just like detail on the car.

PIECES: The pieces included in the set are nothing special. I must also say that I am not judging the quality of the pieces which is something I will judge in the value of the set. The set has no big special molded pieces which is absolutely fine. The balls could be interesting pieces though pieces similar to it can be found in less expensive sets.

Build Experience: This set was a smooth build though I can’t say it was extremely easy. Some of the Technic pieces are a bit confusing to put on and need some alignment. I can definitely see why this set is 7+ and not 6+. I can say that my Technic experience is building Star Wars ships, two technic sets, and putting Modular Buildings next to each other. (Now, that last one was quite an experience) I’d say this set does require some building experience and for a fine experience, I’d say the builder should have built around five or seven sets with each of them being $30 or more with one of them having some sort of technic. Even at that point, it might be a little frustrating though I think that the builder does have the potential to learn.

VALUE: For what is here, the value is fine. It is definitely more worth it than the Star Wars Pirate Snub Fighter. Though, there are some upcoming City sets that may rival the price as they include two monster trucks for around the same price. I do think that the number of Minifigures and extra play features may make this set a bit more valuable. I do have an important thing to say about this set. In this set, one of the pieces I got was chipped. Luckily, it was not a structural piece thus I could finish this set. I do understand that some pieces may have some light scratches, but I feel like something as big as this is not acceptable. I do know that this may be because of transportation though Lego pieces should be able to withstand heavy transportation. This is not the first time it’s happened to me. Recently, I built Ninjago City Gardens and a plate was chipped a bit. Even if this didn’t happen to me, I would still mention this as JANGBRICKS had the same problem with this set. Though, since this has happened to him and me, I decided to be extra hard. I have had over 260 absolutely perfect sets. I don’t see why this set can’t be perfect.

I apologize for the rant though, I feel like this is important as LEGO is quite expensive, and this set is just barely worth its price tag. I do know I can order replacement pieces online for free, but I would just like to have a perfect experience right out of the box as I’ve had it happen over 260 times.

PROS:

• Lots of good minifigures
• Fun Play Features

CONS:

• Piece Quality
• May be complicated for non-technic builders