Hello All! I just picked up two new Ninjago Hands of Time sets - Dragon Forge and Samurai VXL, and wanted to share a pictorial review.

The set contains six minifigures (All new to 2017) and a large, brick-built figure, costs $79.99 in the US, and contains 1,137 pieces not counting spares.

Minifigures

The set contains six figures - from left to right, there's Ray, Maya, Kai, Nya, Commander Raggmunk, and Slackjaw.

All the figures are great and I love the fact that we are getting more and more metallic torsos - in this case gunmetal - but it really is a shame that Ray doesn't have the stunning metallic torso that debuted in Episode 40: Spellbound in a flashback. It's especially unfortunate the metallic highlights are gone, as this wave has a strange abundance of metallic torsos even for foot soldiers, so I'm not sure why this particular outfit wasn't made, especially as Maya has the exact same outfit she wore in the flashback.

 

Removing all headgear, weapons, and accessories, we see that all the figures have alternate faces - Ray and Maya have scared expressions, and Ray gains a headband, Kai and Nya have normal faces (nut new expressions!) compared to their powered-up elemental Fusion faces, and the two Vermillion get slightly different faces - Slackjaw appears to be winking in his.

What do I think of Kai and Nya's new faces? As far as the show is concerned, Nya's face is very similar to her previous Samurai X face that debuted in the Ninja DBX, which is fine and pretty accurate to the show. As for Kai's face, there's something about it I can't quite put my finger on, but something about it seems off compared to the show, besides the obvious scar difference. Perhaps it looks a tad too much like an expression Jay would make...

As for Ray and Maya, the alt faces are nice, but I wish they had been angry/fighting faces instead - it would work in their captured situation, and that way, you could use the expressions in battle as well. Unfortunately, neither face really works for battle - the other sides are too calm and relaxed.

Additionally, you can view the alternate faces with headgear here. Also, you can see Kai and Nya's new regular faces with hair and the new Fusion faces with hair.

 

Build

The set is composed of 8 bags, as you can see, and it also comes with instructions with a cardboard backing as per the usual in larger sets like these. There is a sticker sheet included as well.

Here's a link to an image of the the built contents of every bag:

Bag 1

Bag 2

Bag 3

Bag 4

Bag 5

Bag 6

Bag 7

Bag 8

 

New/Interesting Parts

There are a number of new and recolored parts for 2017 here - the most obvious being the new weapons, armor, snakes, and of course the Hand of Time. The snakes, armor, weapons, and the Hand of Time will be covered in-depth in my review of Samurai VXL up soon, but for now, we can highlight a very nice selection of Apollo studs:

The Elementally colored extras are great for bringing the elements to life in the hands of the characters, as you can see. Why so many extra trans-blue Apollo studs, you ask? Well, that's because they're ammo for a special play feature - but we'll get to that later.

 

Model 1: Buffmillion

The final character to showcase is Buffmillion, one of the new brick-built Vermillion figures. 

Since I built Samurai VXL first, to be honest I didn't have too high hopes for this guy - the brick-built figure in VXL was plagued with stability issues and a jumbled color palette. However, I was fortunately surprised with Buffmillion and he is really growing on me - he is completely stable due to the bend in his tail which actually looks more realistic (for a massive cluster of snakes in a suit of armor). The use of bigfig arms are great, and they really make him look... well... buff. (Sorry, I couldn't resist ). The only unfortunate thing is the color of axles, which wreak havoc on the color scheme (a problem Bionicle fans are very aware of). Also, the black Technic element holding the tentacles together stands out as well and is a break from the usually cohesive flow. Overall, though, this is a really great figure and a step-up from his counterpart in Samurai VXL. What I really want to see is how he is handled in the show - I can't think of how he will translate to the screen. I guess we will find out next month...

 

 

Comparison Photos 1, 2, 3

 

Model 2: Hydro-Pyro Dragon

Kai and Nya's Fusion Dragon is the latest addition to the growing dragon lineup. It's about the size of Jay and Nya's Hydro-Electric Dragon and uses a similar wing design to boot.

There's a lot to like about this model, but a lot to dislike as well. I'll start out with some Pros:

1.) The Split design is very unique and hasn't really been seen before in any dragon, not even the previous Fusion Dragon which was really marketed as solely a lightning dragon.

2.) I especially like the backside of the model highlighting a fire/water swirl pattern using the relatively new shorter angled plate elements. This motif is seen throughout the set and looks really good here. It's simple but elegant.

3.) Leg Variety - Compared to some other dragons in the line with no variety in the leg shaping at all (Looking at you, Master Wu Dragon), this contrast between hind and front legs is a welcome breath of fresh air, although it isn't without its problems.

Cons:

1.) Figure placement is really, really awkward. Most dragons have a decent enough saddle to seat the figures on, with some better than others. For this dragon, an attempt at a semblance of a saddle occurs with the brown elements under the top of the dragon, but the figures are raised so high up that the brown pieces don't even help. Nya has it a bit better as it's not as obvious how high she is due to the crossbow cannon, but for Kai it is very noticeable.

2.) Having very short back legs and very long front legs make posing a bit of a struggle.

3.) Every Ninjago dragon since Zane's has brought something new to the table, be it a NPU for the head build or a new type of wing. This dragon feels like a bit of a step back. The heads are way too generic and simple, and we've seen the wings before in Jay's Elemental Dragon. The only unique thing it has is the fusion aspect, which is alright but not a standout.

 

 

 

Play Features

The only play feature the dragon has is a single stud-firing crossbow. The only real interest here is the lovely trans-medium blue Apollo stud ammo, which I'm sure will come in handy.

Finally, here's a shot of all Ninjago dragons together on the same shelf for comparison purposes.

 

Model 3: Blacksmith Workshop

Ray and Maya's Blacksmith shop is easily one of if not the best blacksmith shop Lego has ever produced. Comparing it to the most recent one in Ninjago in 2011, this new one is leaps and bounds ahead of the old shop. Unfortunately, this is a model that is very photogenic from certain angles only, and looking at it from the top, back, or sides when it is splayed out makes it a lot less appealing.

 

Pros

1.) I love, love, love how the archway entrance was done. The slanting pillars were done well - simple, but effective. The crossed sword logo comes together nicely as well.

2.) The interior is filled with many interesting and accurate features, and even has small printed sushi roles that debuted in the Friends line. Also, note that really nice and re-usable rug sticker.

3.) The play features are all great, and I'll cover them more in-depth in a bit.

 

Cons

1.) When viewed from other angles, especially the top and when it is opened up, the image kinda falls apart - especially because there wasn't the set budget to give it a roof. To be fair, the set was only $79.99, so you win some, you lose some...

2.) The geared play feature, which we are about to get to, features several large, four-tooth gears which jam a lot. Almost every few seconds a lot.

Play Features

There are two main play features in the set, both of which are closely related to each other. In addition, there are other smaller secondary play features.

Lift up the stairs and pull out a shelf holding this mysterious bladed weapon. What is its purpose? We shall see...

Now comes something I have never seen before in a LEGO set - and I like how new and innovative it is.

See that exposed Technic pin under the fire?

Stick the blade into the grooves of the pin and rotate, revealing four different beautiful stickered patterns on the column.

Nya:

Fusion Dragon:

Blacksmith Emblem:

Kai:

 

Additionally, there is a minor play feature: Lift up the bench and underneath is yet another collectable ninja card sticker. This time, it's Samurai X.

 

Also, this isn't really a play feature, but the abundance of weapons such as this neat copper Uruk-Hai sword is great.

 

Summary

For $79.99 (US), Dragon Forge has really good value for its price. I appreciate the all-new figures, although Ray could have been done a bit better, and Buffmillion is growing on me. The dragon is good, if not great as it brings pretty much nothing new to the table. The shop is much better, and I love the door shaping. Overall, here's my rating chart for this set:

 

Value: 4.5/5

Figure Selection: 4/5

Dragon: 2.5/5

Shop: 4/5

Part Selection: 3.5/5

Playability: 4.5/5

 

Total: 23/30 "Above Average"

 

PS - This is pretty much my first review ever, so please go easy on me but do give constructive criticism. Thank you!

Excellent review, you did a wonderful job. I think the set looks pretty good overall. Were you going to review the VXL also? thanks for taking the time to write the review.

Great review! I was really excited to see this set in more detail and you certainly delivered!

It's possible that Ray's outfit change (from armor to an apron) was to make it more obvious that he's a blacksmith. Or perhaps the story will explain it somehow (like Kai and Nya encountering their parents after they've basically retired from fighting). I love that both Nya's outfit and Maya's echo Nya's previous outfits — both figures have Nya's classic collar design, and Maya's outfit also includes a similar style of armor to the original Samurai X figure and a similar skirt to the original Nya figure. It's also neat that all the figures in this set have back printing and dual expressions. The color schemes and decorations of the new ninja costumes are excellent.

The time blades are a cool piece, and I quite like their two-colored design. It's also great to see a new copper color on the LEGO color palette (looking at that final picture I think it's fair to say it's not the classic 139 Copper that we're used to from older themes like Fantasy Era Castle, but rather a brighter copper). I guess we'll know for certain what it's called when the inventories for these sets are added to LEGO Customer Service.

Buffmillion is great in concept (a huge metal golem animated by a bunch of small snakes), and alright in execution. The click hinge tail construction works better than I thought it would, although the stickered patterns on the front sort of start and stop abruptly, leading me to wonder whether there could've been any way to make them feel more continuous. Its upper body also might've felt more continuous if it could've used some piece like this instead of abruptly expanding from two studs wide to four studs wide between the upper and lower body.

The elemental fusion dragon may not be too groundbreaking in terms of building techniques but I still think it is a very impressive dragon in its own right. The heads, while somewhat basic compared to other recent dragons, still look great, and the way the colors twist around the midsection is delightful. My biggest disappointment is the way the wings are mounted, but I understand it might've been hard to mount them differently and still give them enough friction to hold a pose, considering their size. While those flap pieces used for the wings have been used on several other dragons, I still think this dragon's wings are very distinctive in their own right due to the combination of those pieces and larger plates.

The forge itself is brilliantly constructed, and personally I don't think it looks so bad from the back and sides. Even the open top doesn't distract from the overall beauty of its design. It's packed with all kinds of great imagery associated with Kai, Nya, and their elements… the orange and blue gems on the sword hilts in the front, the orange and blue plates underneath the two anvils, the fusion blade, the chimney stickers, and their symbols on the wall scrolls. I'm glad to see that the chimney gets four different stickers and that they all look excellent. The chimney function is quite distinctive, although it's disappointing to learn that the gears are prone to jamming.

The trading card, interestingly, is based on the Boomerang battle card rather than the Samurai X character card. It has a different power level, (SP300 rather than SP200), but it can still be identified as a battle card due to having only one set of colored bars rather than four, and as the Boomerang card specifically by Samurai X's pose. I'm glad they've kept these easter eggs going, as I have a lot of nostalgia for that card/spinner game. I kind of wish they could bring it back for real in some form.

Great review overall. Thank you for providing such excellent pictures and descriptions! There's no doubt that this set offers an excellent value at $80. I don't really plan on purchasing anything this big for myself until after Christmas, but I'm definitely looking forward to adding it to my collection!

 

8 hours ago, Sunset550 said:

Excellent review, you did a wonderful job. I think the set looks pretty good overall. Were you going to review the VXL also? thanks for taking the time to write the review.

 

4 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Great review! I was really excited to see this set in more detail and you certainly delivered!

It's possible that Ray's outfit change (from armor to an apron) was to make it more obvious that he's a blacksmith. Or perhaps the story will explain it somehow (like Kai and Nya encountering their parents after they've basically retired from fighting). I love that both Nya's outfit and Maya's echo Nya's previous outfits — both figures have Nya's classic collar design, and Maya's outfit also includes a similar style of armor to the original Samurai X figure and a similar skirt to the original Nya figure. It's also neat that all the figures in this set have back printing and dual expressions. The color schemes and decorations of the new ninja costumes are excellent.

The time blades are a cool piece, and I quite like their two-colored design. It's also great to see a new copper color on the LEGO color palette (looking at that final picture I think it's fair to say it's not the classic 139 Copper that we're used to from older themes like Fantasy Era Castle, but rather a brighter copper). I guess we'll know for certain what it's called when the inventories for these sets are added to LEGO Customer Service.

Buffmillion is great in concept (a huge metal golem animated by a bunch of small snakes), and alright in execution. The click hinge tail construction works better than I thought it would, although the stickered patterns on the front sort of start and stop abruptly, leading me to wonder whether there could've been any way to make them feel more continuous. Its upper body also might've felt more continuous if it could've used some piece like this instead of abruptly expanding from two studs wide to four studs wide between the upper and lower body.

The elemental fusion dragon may not be too groundbreaking in terms of building techniques but I still think it is a very impressive dragon in its own right. The heads, while somewhat basic compared to other recent dragons, still look great, and the way the colors twist around the midsection is delightful. My biggest disappointment is the way the wings are mounted, but I understand it might've been hard to mount them differently and still give them enough friction to hold a pose, considering their size. While those flap pieces used for the wings have been used on several other dragons, I still think this dragon's wings are very distinctive in their own right due to the combination of those pieces and larger plates.

The forge itself is brilliantly constructed, and personally I don't think it looks so bad from the back and sides. Even the open top doesn't distract from the overall beauty of its design. It's packed with all kinds of great imagery associated with Kai, Nya, and their elements… the orange and blue gems on the sword hilts in the front, the orange and blue plates underneath the two anvils, the fusion blade, the chimney stickers, and their symbols on the wall scrolls. I'm glad to see that the chimney gets four different stickers and that they all look excellent. The chimney function is quite distinctive, although it's disappointing to learn that the gears are prone to jamming.

The trading card, interestingly, is based on the Boomerang battle card rather than the Samurai X character card. It has a different power level, (SP300 rather than SP200), but it can still be identified as a battle card due to having only one set of colored bars rather than four, and as the Boomerang card specifically by Samurai X's pose. I'm glad they've kept these easter eggs going, as I have a lot of nostalgia for that card/spinner game. I kind of wish they could bring it back for real in some form.

Great review overall. Thank you for providing such excellent pictures and descriptions! There's no doubt that this set offers an excellent value at $80. I don't really plan on purchasing anything this big for myself until after Christmas, but I'm definitely looking forward to adding it to my collection!

 

Thank you all for the feedback and thoughts. I'm typing up the VXL review now.

Nice review! I like how you not only had the minifigures covered form a ton of angles, you also linked a bunch of other references like bricks.

4 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I love that both Nya's outfit and Maya's echo Nya's previous outfits — both figures have Nya's classic collar design, and Maya's outfit also includes a similar style of armor to the original Samurai X figure and a similar skirt to the original Nya figure.

I like that about them too. Also, if you look closely at the collar, it's connected to the rest of Nya's clothing. They call it a "qipao" I think.

The little swirls are usually just designs on the collar. Sometimes we see them as the collar though. It's weird how it's not consistent.

Edited December 17, 20168 yr by gamejutzu

39 minutes ago, gamejutzu said:

Nice review! I like how you not only had the minifigures covered form a ton of angles, you also linked a bunch of other references like bricks.

I like that about them too. Also, if you look closely at the collar, it's connected to the rest of Nya's clothing. They call it a "qipao" I think.

The little swirls are usually just designs on the collar. Sometimes we see them as the collar though. It's weird how it's not consistent.

Thanks for the thoughts and ideas!

Speaking of Nya outfits, here's a picture I omitted from the review (because I couldn't get all of Kai's to fit on the screen):

 

3 minutes ago, legozebra said:

Speaking of Nya outfits, here's a picture I omitted from the review (because I couldn't get all of Kai's to fit on the screen):

Are you lining these suits in chronological order? If so i'd personally think the fifth figure would go between the Skybound suit and the DoD suit, or the DoD suit and the HoT suit. I'd say Nya didn't really wear it, but maybe built it and just never wore it. But that's just me, we won't see the outfit in the show anyway... 

What's also interesting is the two outfits without the swirl design are the most recent ones... Huh.

Thank you very much for this great review, legozebra!

In general I'm no Ninjago fan. But the blacksmith workshop is really a beauty and will go very well with the Temple of Airjitzu and the Airjitzu Battle Grounds to create a small medieval Asian layout!

Great Review! What colour plastic is used for Nya's suit too if I may ask? You were great by the way! You have a strong future in this!

Edited February 13, 20178 yr by Peppermint_M
Try to use the reply button, not the quote button. Thanks

25 minutes ago, Storm6075 said:

Great Review! What colour plastic is used for Nya's suit too if I may ask? You were great by the way! You have a strong future in this!

Thank you very much! That means a lot. 

 

I believe her suit is gunmetal gray, like the Vermillion. I may be off on the exact color, though. I'm loving these metallic torsos!

2 hours ago, gamejutzu said:

Nice review! I like how you not only had the minifigures covered form a ton of angles, you also linked a bunch of other references like bricks.

I like that about them too. Also, if you look closely at the collar, it's connected to the rest of Nya's clothing. They call it a "qipao" I think.

The little swirls are usually just designs on the collar. Sometimes we see them as the collar though. It's weird how it's not consistent.

Yeah, I meant collar as in the collar of her shirt/blouse, not as in an accessory like a choker/necklace. I guess I wasn't very clear about that! Regardless, I appreciate that bit of design continuity there.

5 minutes ago, legozebra said:

Thank you very much! That means a lot.

I believe her suit is gunmetal gray, like the Vermillion. I may be off on the exact color, though. I'm loving these metallic torsos!

The official color name is Titanium Metallic (or Pearl Dark Gray on BrickLink). And I agree, it's pretty nice!

39 minutes ago, Storm6075 said:

Great Review! What colour plastic is used for Nya's suit too if I may ask? You were great by the way! You have a strong future in this!

You didn't have to quote the whole review; it's a lot of scrolling for a much less words.

12 hours ago, legozebra said:

As for Kai's face, there's something about it I can't quite put my finger on, but something about it seems off compared to the show, besides the obvious scar difference. Perhaps it looks a tad too much like an expression Jay would make...

You're right, that kind of face is not something you would see in the show. I Noticed that (1) Kai's smile starts on the wrong side of his face (facepalm) and (2) Jay's smile in the show is usually not that big and always looks something like this. Which explains why his smile looks off in the minifigure too.

Edited December 17, 20168 yr by gamejutzu

Great review. Please do more if possible!
Most reviewers lack both knowledge & patience for all the great details & easter eggs that makes the Ninjago line great.

I think both main builds would have needed more parts to gain their full potential. It's a missed chance that they didn't do a "split" function with the dragons (whether that would mean you'd have to put parts from one dragon to the other, to complete it, or that they would have included additional pieces for that function).

I didn't think high of Ninjago, until I fell for the great brick built dragons. Then one thing led to another
So a shame that this dragon brings nothing new designwise..

Excellent review! I look forward to more.

 

Overall, I'm not very impressed with this set. The dragon, while huge, is all over the place and about as generic as they get. The blacksmith shop is incredible from certain angles but bland in the back. The figure selection is decent, but I'm not really feeling "Buffmillion", even though it's an interesting concept.

 

The price, however, is great. With a piece count over 1100 parts, I expected this set to be around $120, but $80 is really, really good. Nice change of pace from Lego there.

Great review and lots of pictures to illustrate the details.

For me, the most interesting components in this set is the blacksmith workshop. The dragons... not so much. We've seen so many dragons already and the techniques used here are combinations of all those dragons we've seen previously --not that it is a bad design, but seeing how good the blacksmith workshop is, I would personally prefer if this is just a more detailed building / playset. For the price point I think it is already a good deal. Like others have mentioned this set looks good next to Temple of Airjitzu.

I think the dragon would turn out better if it was either a little smaller, or put more emphasis on the actual "split" down the middle (things like that little swirl they did).

Right now, this could be the only dragon, where the TV incarnation could actually look better. Well, this and Cole's dragon (but that isn't a real full-sized one ).

This has been the first Ninjago set in years that I have been actively looking at non stop with delight. I haven't really paid to much attention to Ninjago since the stone army wave a few years ago, but this wave has really grabbed my interest. I just love the dual headed dragon and the blacksmith shop just looks really nice for such a small building. Then the $80 dollar price tag is really good for a set with over 1,000 pieces. With this wave and the upcoming movie I think that my interest in Ninjago might be rekindling. Also nice review with some great pictures! 

This is a very nice review and I enjoyed reading it. I am thinking if I should get it or not as the main attraction for me to do so, is actually the Blacksmith Workshop and the nice minifigures in there. I prefer to own more Ninjago buildings than vehicles. Dragons are welcomed and it used to be quite an uncommon sight. Lately, many Ninjago set releases tend to include some form of dragons and the space to contain them is getting rather restrictive due to space constrain. Thanks for sharing and this review certainly help me to improve my decision making. 

7 hours ago, WhiteFang said:

This is a very nice review and I enjoyed reading it. I am thinking if I should get it or not as the main attraction for me to do so, is actually the Blacksmith Workshop and the nice minifigures in there. I prefer to own more Ninjago buildings than vehicles. Dragons are welcomed and it used to be quite an uncommon sight. Lately, many Ninjago set releases tend to include some form of dragons and the space to contain them is getting rather restrictive due to space constrain. Thanks for sharing and this review certainly help me to improve my decision making. 

Wow! I'm really honored that you liked it - your excellent reviews are some of my favorites as well. Thank you!