Ninjago impressions

[dyntar]

I bought a few copies of the smaller sets and they have some pretty nice pieces.. I don't really care about Ninjago as a theme.. but the smaller sets have very useful parts.
The smallest sets .. 2516 and 2258 have an arrow, spear, daggers, axe head, a barrel, scorpion, green tree parts, tan 2x2 tiles, lots of brown bricks, grey slopes, a bone, a different skeleton head [good for adding variation to a skelly army] and the ninjas faces look great especially the red ninja who has scars across his eye.
Off hand I can't remember any small sets that have this many useful parts.

[giellsworoth]

I have bought four ninjago sets so far, i enjoy them mostly. The dojo has some unique pieces and plenty of weapons, also the windows are actually painted on not stickers. Ice dragons head is to big for its body and has trouble standing on its own, but overall the design is pretty good and its fun to play around with. The other two are the smallest sets witch are nice just for the mini figs and the weapons. Even if you don't enjoy the ninjago theme there is lots of cool and unique parts and mini figs to collect.

[Ye Olde Republic]

The LEGO store is inundated with Ninjago. I'm not sure we've seen a new theme release like this before, there must be close to thirty unique products! They had a few things that aren't shown in the catalog or on-line. Foam costume items, a battle arena and an exclusive Master Wu card pack, which I couldn't help but pick up even though it's a couple bucks higher than the other packs. I'm going to say that I don't not like this. I'm probably not into the game aspect of this but my boys will have fun playing with the figs on the spinners and they absolutely love skeletons of any kind. I think the colour schemes are right up my alley; red, black, white, brown and green...yummy!
I suspect that because the line is so huge that this will be clearanced down the road when the dust settles. I'll watch for these on sale or maybe after next Christmas these will be 50% off so I'll be waiting until then to go really crazy. At least to pick up any multiples I may want.

[Count Blacktron]

I work in a store that features the area's largest selection of LEGO, and I am the store's "guru" to that audience. I have to say that the reception has been overwhelmingly positive to the product and the theme sparks a lot of giggles. Zombies and Ninjas combined with that Beyblade style battle AND cards like Pokemon? Are you kidding me? I think it will do quite well and the only thing in it's way is pricing, but that does not seem to stop the wishes and momentum the store has seen going toward this product. The pricing structure is not too different from the other themes driving kids into the store (and the adults who pay for their stuff) and LEGO compatibility seems to dampen many of those concerns over "value".

As for me? I really, really enjoyed the original Ninja theme as a feeder for my own Castle worlds and this adds a lot of diversity. I feel like this is a world somewhat between Castle and Ninja where the Skeleton army has seen some advances and is confronted on the Eastern side by a new group of warriors (i.e. Ninjas). I can work with it.

I like the new minifigure scale accessories (especially the black army helmet and the long bone-club), but despite the new Ninja colors I feel like the classic armored Ninja torsos had a superior look to them.

However, I too, like the kids, want more

[Count Blacktron]

Something to be aware of as you purchase these sets is that with the blister card assortment, the piece count does NOT reflect LEGO pieces in the package. Apparently LEGO feels that the game cards count as pieces in this case which is a 100% departure from their previous pack-in materials policy. Either that or I get ripped off by a count of 5 pieces every time I purchase a 2114 set expecting to get a few more parts or accessories from the 20 piece count on the package.

[Memsochet]

Something I noticed this past weekend on Cartoon Network, is it seems that they are also releasing a Ninjago cartoon/anime. I didn't watch it when it aired, so I have no comments as to how well it's done and how it compares to other Lego cartoons. But I did notice that there were 2 30m blocks aired back to back with different subtitles, which leads me to believe that it will be an on going show.

[Ye Olde Republic]

I saw that too. Unfortunately, I get promos for CN but don't actually get the programming here in Canada. I did get the impression that it was going to be a bit of a series too; a mini-series at least but not a one-off show like we got for Atlantis.

[Elephant Knight]

I saw that too. Unfortunately, I get promos for CN but don't actually get the programming here in Canada. I did get the impression that it was going to be a bit of a series too; a mini-series at least but not a one-off show like we got for Atlantis.

From what I have seen and heard(Which is very little) I think it is more likely to go the path of what the Hero Factory show thing got.

EKnight

[friskywhiskers]

I dislike the concept but the sets are good for what they are. What mostly annoys me is the unrealistic image givin to ninjas with this theme.

1.Ninjas didn't fight skeletons-The previous ninja theme where they fought samurai was better.
2. The skeletons themselves are pretty much useless - they look like circus freaks not undead.
3.The whole "this of earth and that of fire" thing is getting old - we had quite enough elements with Bionicle.
4. Ninjas lived 300-400 years ago - I don't think they had ATVs back then.
5. "Spinjitsu" ? Really?
6. And Lastly: This-go whole-go theme-go is-go messed-go up-go!

Lego had a chance to do redo the ninja theme and I was really excited when I first saw the ad but........they totally blew It.

[Aliencat]

Lego had a chance to do redo the ninja theme and I was really excited when I first saw the ad but........they totally blew It.

Oh man, I couldn't disagree more I think this is the greatest theme ever! This is the most epic incarnation of ninjas LEGO has ever conjured up, it looks, sounds and feels like something straight out of a 1980s B-movie, in the best way possible.
I just can't get over how cool the whole concept of ninjas on dragons vs. skeletons on bikes and monster trucks is
This takes ninjas right to the next level from where the more "realistic" 1999 ninja line left off.

[Thoriun]

hi

i agree with the fact that the theme itself isin't very interesting. personaly i just bought the smaller sets for the minifigs and weapons. the others are not my thing. a few years ago the was a samurai line, and that was interesting. i'm afraid it was on my dark times. i left lego in 1992 and only return in 2009.

Thoriun

[eNiGMa]

I bought the 2263 Turbo Shredder really just to get a blue ninja, but I came out pretty satisfied with the build itself. While I'm not much into vehicles, I appreciated how solid the construction was (and the way the "hood" moved up and down as the wheels turned was quite entertaining--good play value). I admit to not having much use for many of the Technic pieces, but there was still a decent selection of parts for me (1x4 trans-red tiles, wedge plates in white and purple, some basic bricks in black and dark gray, giant flames, that new bamboo hat, and the Ninja sword in a beautiful new color, just to name a few). I was pleasantly surprised with my introduction to the Ninjago theme.

[Highwayman]

I picked up the 2516 Ninja Training Outpost for the nice selection of weapons and the black ninja, but no more so far. I don't care for the theme as a whole really. It's not horrible or anything...just not for me. TLG has really went all out with their marketing for this though. I've seen more large LEGO displays for Ninjago in the Wal-Marts in my area than I've ever seen for any theme. Even the tiny Wal-Mart close to where I live has a Ninjago display.

I did manage to watch the first episode of the show on Cartoon Network and it was about as bad as I figured it would be.

[Forestboy]

I wasn't quite sure what to think when I saw the original promo posters for Ninjago. Right off the bat, I knew that it wouldn't be necessarily what I hope it would be. And then I saw the sets...

...I can't say that I'm disappointed with them, since they're not necessarily for my age range, but I just really do not like the skeleton super technological stuff. I'm basically only "half" liking the theme right now. I do really like the Dojo sets, and the ninja prints and designs, but not impressed with the skeletons (the porportions for the motorbikes are humongous! ).

They introduced that new torso piece for the skeleton and the strange printing on them, that I'm not a fan of at all. But,the skeleton heads will be useful for adding more "personality" to my Castle (2007) skeleton army as well as using some of the other new pieces (weapons such as throwing stars, bone, etc.).

The theme seems like Knight's Kingdom (Four young heroes, defeating infinite hordes of baddies trying to defeat main bad guy), the Ninja theme (Ninjas), and Castle (2007) (Skeletons) all thrown into one theme. Yes, Lego recycles themes and ideas frequently (probably too much then they should), but I'm just not too big on this one...For every one thing I do like about the theme, there is one thing I don't like about it...

~FB~

[Tower of Iron Will]

My first thought after seeing this theme is, "Where are the Samurai?" I like the black = earth theme, etc, that gives some extra flavor to the different ninja colors. The opposing skeletons are ok but could not take the place of samurai and oriental castles. For me, ninja are only one aspect of a oriental setting; its hard to make a whole new story setting like a fictional medieval Japan with just one element. I think they focused too much on the "game" and then developed a marginal theme around it instead of developing a full theme and let the game be an offshoot of it.

The prices of the game items is a bit high and cause me to limit how much I'll spend to complete the theme. I won't be buying so many extra sets as it would seem funny to have a large army of black ninja (for example). They would be more inclined to operate in small units (my opinion). Plus it would be more expensive than say having extras of Kingdom Lion Knights.
-Tower