Review - 4805 Ninja Knights

[makoy]

I'm taking a quick look at this old set that I got recently. This is not counted under my Reviewers Academy reviews as it does not follow the same format. This is more like a pictorial review.

Overview

Name: 4805 Ninja Knights
Theme: LEGO System / Castle / Ninja
Year: 1999
Pieces: 34
Minifigures: 5
Price: USD 6.00
Resources: Brickset and Bricklink

There is no build involved here because this is a battle pack for the Castle subtheme Ninja. Apart from the accessories and weapons, there's no bricks at all. It is more aptly marketed as 5 Ninja Warriors in the UK version of 1999 catalogue.

Minifigures

front view - with headgears & armour

back view - without headgears & armour

front view - without headgears & armour

back view - without headgears & armour

All geared up with weapons and armours

Final thoughts

I bought this set with the intention of getting all the other Ninja minifigures that I missed during my dark age period. Was it really just 6 USD back in 1999? I bought this for 15 USD and I know I could get this cheaper if I bought the used minifigures individually. However, I don't want to waste money on shipping from multiple sellers. As these minifigures are in very good condition, I think I made the right decision to get them all together in 1 set even without the box.

The play factor in having 5 ninja warriors is better than having mediocre build, fancy torso prints or unique minifigures. Back then there is no storyline to follow. From this set kids will get 2 ninjas, shogun, robber and samurai minifigures -- they can make up stories to stage their own medieval Japanese civil war.

Adjusted for inflation the price  of this set is only 8.75 USD. Compare that to new blister packs that are starting to appear with only 3  minifigures and retailing between 12 to 15 USD, somehow along the way TLG just stopped producing good army builders like this.

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by makoy
typo

[Littleworlds]

Cool review! I was so deep in my dark ages in '99 that I had till now no idea there was a ninja theme around the time. They look in hindsight very much like the transitional phase they indeed were. Details are pointing into the right direction, like the weapons and face prints. But the colour palette is still knee deep in the 80s and 90s. Thank you for this Lego-history lesson. Was really interesting! 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Littleworlds
Appalling, tablet-inflicted typos!

[VaderFan2187]

Nice review @makoy! The good old days of cheap Battle Packs will be missed… (as I didn't buy LEGO back then. )

The only thing I don't like about these figures are their eyes. The eyes look kinda strange. Otherwise it does seem like a great set.

[makoy]

Thanks @Littleworlds for dropping by. I didn't mention about the classic grey and dark grey in the review but you noticed it. (always good to have colour-balanced photos). For other folks interested about LEGO colour history, this is an awesome colour chart and article.

Thanks @VaderFan2187 -- true... I also missed those days. About the strangeness of their eyes, they are not as bad as those minifigures with nose  

Edited February 24, 2017 by makoy

[josykay]

As much, as I love the Shogun and the Ninjas, I can not stand lower samurai warrior. I just don't like the prints. The equipment however is pretty nice. 3 swords, 2 banners, 1 gun and one pistol, plus the Shogun armor.

Great review of a classic set. ;)

Anyway, I really do miss the old minifigure packs, being relatively cheap, and containing many minifigures. During the Kingdoms era we got 5 for 12-15 Euro made in china, and in case of the Dragon knights with non darkpearl gray weapons boooo. In Castle II it went down to 4... now it even came down to 3 in some...

Edited February 24, 2017 by josykay

[makoy]

Thanks @josykay ... you mentioned it was relatively cheap. I think you're just being humble. It was really cheap.

As for the prints, we can't really expect much back in 1999 so I didn't even score this review. Pad printing technology had advanced enough that it can almost print anything we can see on the surface. Not to mention the dual mouldings on arms and legs are becoming more common. Maybe if all these advancements are utilised on all minifigs in the new accessory pack/army building blister packs, I can understand the price inflation. 

[Aanchir]

On 2/22/2017 at 9:04 AM, makoy said:

Adjusted for inflation the price  of this set is only 8.75 USD. Compare that to new blister packs that are starting to appear with only 3  minifigures and retailing between 12 to 15 USD, somehow along the way TLG just stopped producing good army builders like this.

Keep in mind that some of the new blister-packed battle packs like the Ninjago and LEGO Batman Movie ones are priced the way they are in part because they include entirely unique characters that don't appear in other sets. In that sense, it makes sense that they are priced more like collectible minifigures than regular building sets. Value-wise, classic boxed minifigure packs like this one are more comparable to LEGO City starter sets, which include three or four generic figures plus sixty to eighty other bricks for $10.

On the one hand I recognize how useful a set like this which is just figures and no builds is to army builders, but personally I have never been an army builder and feel like it's better for the brand's reputation that today's low-priced sets tend to have more substantial builds and play features, even if it means fewer figures. Since I was a child, low-priced "starter sets" have often been the types of sets I've been most likely to skip, because I knew that if I saved up for the bigger sets I could get a lot of the same figures along with much more exciting builds. And I didn't see much point in getting multiple sets with the same figures unless there was something interesting or unique about the parts or builds that came with them.

I did enjoy these figures and the ninja theme as a kid, at least in its first year. Sort of like Nexo Knights today, it put the type of LEGO Castle sets I was used to on hold in order to explore a concept that LEGO had never really tried before. The Ninja theme didn't really hold my attention as well in the second year, which I found more confusing than anything since it became harder to tell who was good and who was bad. The first year's color coding was much stronger, with the black and red characters being evil bandits and the blue and grey characters being heroic subjects of the shogunate. In hindsight the torso decorations in this theme feel kind of flat, and the eyes of the grey, green, and white ninja feel sort of racially insensitive.

At the same time, these adhered far better to minifigure design standards than many other themes of that era, like the Indians of the Western theme whose faces felt like grotesque racist caricatures, or the Insectoids and UFO minifigures which went way overboard with their level of detail. And the Ninja theme did sort of pave the way for Ninjago, which is one of my favorite themes, so I can't fault it in that respect!

Edited February 24, 2017 by Aanchir

[josykay]

5 hours ago, makoy said:

Thanks @josykay ... you mentioned it was relatively cheap. I think you're just being humble. It was really cheap.

As for the prints, we can't really expect much back in 1999 so I didn't even score this review. Pad printing technology had advanced enough that it can almost print anything we can see on the surface. Not to mention the dual mouldings on arms and legs are becoming more common. Maybe if all these advancements are utilised on all minifigs in the new accessory pack/army building blister packs, I can understand the price inflation. 

True. But it is just that specific minifigure. The Shogun and ninjas in particular have very nice prints.  The bandit is tattered but looks related to the theme. But the normal samurai... I don't know, but I think, it just doesn't really look like armor for me.

Edited February 24, 2017 by josykay

[WhiteFang]

Superb pictures. I like this comprehensive review and you ought to save it for the grading. This could be a really nice grading for me to drool. 

I own this minifigures' pack and it is definitely one of my favourite in 1999. The minifigures are excellent with generic soldiers with a good mixture between ninja and samurai. Very nice indeed and if I could turn-back time, this is certainly some of the packs which I love to pick up the most. 

I should find an opportunity to re-arrange my classic Ninja collection. 

[makoy]

I sobbed when I saw your picture @WhiteFang -- I wish I returned from my dark age sooner... totally missed them by more than a decade.... Do re-arrange your classic Ninja collection and show off the entire army. 

Anyway, I referenced this in my Ninjago review so this is not "wasted" and it's hard to really grade the very old sets like this because of the time gap and rosy retrospection bias due to nostalgia.