LEGO Ninjago 2023 Discussion

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

Yo, this wave looks really good and fresh! I can feel the variety and the minifig lineup looks absolutely stellar! The theming reminds me a good bit of Prime Empire and I like that 

If I have the cash and space, this might be the wave that I don't mind completing.

[Fenghuang0296]

Oh wow. Arm printing? In my Ninjago? A surprise, but a welcome one. 
Also happy that all three new heroes are included in Sora’s Mech Bike. Definitely getting that set, it looks so good. Less thrilled about a lot of the others. The Temple in particular is so . . skeletal. Looks very, painfully, incomplete. What’s there is good, but actually using it for anything in my layouts is not an appealing prospect.

Very curious about the Dragon Energy cores. The dragons themselves look great. I’m disappointed by the final revealed design of the Bounty, though. I was really hoping that it would be an ‘Elemental Dragon merges with the Bounty’ scenario and its body would split in half and fill in those gaps on the sides. I am wondering if that blue dragon is a grown-up Riyu, or possibly Riyu’s mom. We saw ‘size change’ before with Chompy in MoM, after all. The villain designs are lit, but I’m disappointed that a Ras minifigure doesn’t seem to be included in the set that I presume is him transformed into a large, feral form. 

[danth]

Very interested in that Motorcycle Mech! Of course that's the only one I can't find any more pictures of.

[a guy from somewhere]

So you know how I said that my opinion may change with the offical pics? 
 

It’s definitely changed. Love this wave. Although I still feel the same about the mech bike. But that’s a mod that I’ll begin working on soon. Love the bounty, although it does feel skeletal and incomplete, I’m happy we are getting one. Just wish they could fully implement a better engine technique like the one on the old possession or original bounty…

[THELEGOBATMAN]

Told you to wait for the HD pictures to properly judge the wave.

It's incredible. The builds are fantastic, the minifigures are amazing, and the variety of villains is awesome.

[a guy from somewhere]

Yes, we should have waited. I also want to thank @Lego_Minecraft_Goatfoe the hype build up, you did pretty good considering what we where up against. 
my biggest surprise this wave is definitely the mech bike racer. It looks awful in mech mode, bike mode looks pretty damn good and close to the show, but there’s no alternative build for the hover mech? That seems to be the main mode used…. Maybe there’s going to be separate instructions on Lego.com

Has @fernando143 woken up and posted yet? They’re going to be absolutely ecstatic about all this. They’ve been waiting on the edge of their seat for some time. 
 

I have to say as well, I’m loving the bounty. The forward deck being a dragon storage bay is amazing, I love that, and there’s decent room in the hull at the back (sadly it doesn’t look like it’s standable) and the house section above seems a bit sparse. I’ll mod it. The place above it for Riyu is amazing, I love that, and from the top down, I’ll give the Lego designers credit on that, it looks sleek AF! 
 

Transforming lava dragon looks interesting as well, not a fan of the villain flyer but the dragon looks interesting, and I’m yet to see how the play feature works. Hound also looks great, as does the temple in my opinion. It’s pretty sparse for £90 and I’d like to see it at £75 personally, but i love the tower structure and the weird green person looks interesting. The Rempress looks a bit weird. Not sure if that’s the best face print. But I’ll roll with it. 
 

dragon vs mech looks amazing, love the combination factor, definitely explains the weird jet. Also Sora uses the ninja armour?? Cool! 
 

Team mechs look very clustered but I still like them, and zanes race car also looks pretty damn good. Love the spinners too, they actually seem to be decent builds and value for their price, not just 2 giant molded parts.

Ohhhhh so it just flips upside down. I thought the neck would move all the way round or something. Also the markets looks to be on the horizon as well. I just wish Lego could have done it, and done it earlier. Now JB has scuppered the big reveal and split it up. 

[a guy from somewhere]

Arins mech has a dragon head with printing. That’s a MOC to add to the list!

[a guy from somewhere]

Green guy in the temple is called “spirit of the temple”. Kind of disappointed, I was hoping they would be an interesting side character or mentor like Yang. Still a neat figure though.

[Darth Shadowthrone]

Oh no! I thought this would be a cheaper year for me, for Ninjago anyway, but then I saw that lava dragon. I prefer dragons with less stylised designs and more muted colour schemes so that Lava dragon is right up my alley. 
 

That brings me up to three dragons I want this year: water, earth and lava. Hats off to the designers, they’ve absolutely smashed it on the dragon front! 
 

That temple build is also the best they’ve put out in a few years too. 

[JJ Tong (zfogshooterz)]

2 minutes ago, a guy from somewhere said:

Green guy in the temple is called “spirit of the temple”. Kind of disappointed, I was hoping they would be an interesting side character or mentor like Yang. Still a neat figure though.

At first glance I was expecting the spirit to be part of the villain faction or possible somehow be related to the Skull Sorcerer (which I'm sure is a stretch) but yeah "spirit of the temple" does sounds like they're more tied to the temple than being a villain.

Also yeah definitely agreed with the spirit being a neat figure, the printing design is really nice. 

[Scotticus the White]

City market pics are up. It looks good but for some reason I’m not 100% sure about it like I was the other 3.

Look forward to pics of it with the others for comparison 

[Fenghuang0296]

Oh they did not make casual Arin and Sora’s wig exclusives to the worst Ninjago City set to date. Wow. Those had better come in other sets later on.

Not in love with this set, if that wasn’t obvious. Too much space and part count devoted to the cable car feature, choking out pretty much anything else. Unless better images change my mind, which I doubt, I don’t think I’ll be devoting the requisite money or space to this one. Pity . .

[a guy from somewhere]

I agree. There’s something about this set, I think it’s the lack of a big centrepiece. I don’t really count the cable car, but from what I’ve seen I like it. Still not sure on if I will pick it up though. The toilet features a bit weird, and the minifigs are stellar. The last elemental master we need, chamile, Borg, Nya in her imperium suit, Gayle gossip, hounddog Mcbrag and misdemeanour. 

I think my problem with the set comes down to its very good, and the price is incredible, but it’s still too expensive. My budget is already going to be strained from dragons rising and I don’t think I can also fit in a massive city module.

[Dardanel]

Really, no one? :D



Source: https://brickset.com/article/95404/ninjago-city-markets-official-images!

Feels a bit empty on it's own, but looks really nice next to the Gardens! Also, finally all the elemental masters <3

Here are all the figs:

No cat ears for Sora :/

Video from LEGO.com shows how the cable-car operates:

https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/bltf13f06ff1d78df24/71799_v2.mp4

Edited May 9, 2023 by Dardanel

[Fenghuang0296]

Yeah, no, that picture of it next to the Gardens is not doing it any favours in my opinion. That slim but visible gap between the museum and the tree is what ruins it for me. Not to mention the awkward half-arch underneath. I’d be more interested in seeing them the other way around, since if I did get the Markets, that’s where it’ll go. (I constructed a custom ‘Port’ module that functions as an ‘inside corner’ between the Docks and the Gardens, and after going to all the effort of constructing balconies and buildings that line up and maintain the designs of the railings that are cut off at the edge of the Gardens, I’m not taking them apart, especially not for this.)

I hope that black buzz cut and coral version of Mei’s hair comes in another set sooner or later. Disappointed that we’re not getting a cat-ear-headphones mould for Sora, though (yet . . ?)

[Undi3sss]

And now it hurts even more that I'll never get City or the Docks 😅.

[a guy from somewhere]

56 minutes ago, Dardanel said:

Really, no one? :D



Source: https://brickset.com/article/95404/ninjago-city-markets-official-images!

Feels a bit empty on it's own, but looks really nice next to the Gardens! Also, finally all the elemental masters <3

Here are all the figs:

No cat ears for Sora :/

I’d like to see it on the other side of the gardens, and also the backside and how it connects to the back of other modules. Not liking that gap though on the side. This one just feels a bit sloppy and empty. Need more pics and angles to make a final judgement, although I’ll probably pick it up by the end of the summer.

Also the price hikes on the new sets, I know they’re only a couple of quid but they will add up. Not a fan at all of the bounty price or the team mech price.

[Nearlyheadlessbrick]

Hmm. The mini figure selection is great, and the build is quite good, but I agree that there some parts that feel like it didn’t have enough care put into it. Will probably have to see a review before I say much more, but at the moment I’m unconvinced, and it’s not pushing either way on the Gardens.

….

That Bionicle jumper print is class though, despite it being inaccurate for the character. If I end up getting the set I might give it to my sigfig.

[BrickSP]

I felt a bit underwhelmed when I first saw the pictures but now after looking at it for an hour or so I think it's lovely.  However it does feel a bit bare bones in parts - especially in the centre and at the base.  I can't seem to find any pictures of the back - am I missing them? 

The video put me off a bit as well as it's far too childish.   I don't care about the sewer system give me Sora's cat ears instead.

I think there was too much hype and now it all feels a bit flat.  I'm sure in a day or so though when more videos come out we will see it as a great set.

I was going to buy it day one but I'm not so sure now - feel like waiting for a good gwp but hopefully a good gwp arrives June 1st 

 

 

 

 

[Agent Kallus]

I love the city markets set. Just love it.

[Clone OPatra]

As a passive Ninjago observer and only very occasional buyer (besides cool figure parts on PaB more regularly), I've got to say the new Dragons Rising wave is really not doing it for me.

It looks like an extention of core rather than a cool summer wave with a strong identity like we've gotten for quite a number of years now. It's just a bland mish mash of stock Ninjago things, and though I know the dragons will be quite complex builds as usual, something about their style and the Bounty's make them look way too smooth and simple.

I find both the villain characters and heros aesthetically unpleasing to the extreme. Ugly can be cool sometimes if done right, but these designs just look yuck to me. The return to full solid colours for the ninja looks weird, and I'm not a fan of their new headgear either.

The one set that stands out is the wolf thing. That one is cool and different. The transformation of the mech into a car also is impressive, though the mech version is again quite ugly to me.

I think I liked the January core stuff more than this honestly.

[a guy from somewhere]

21 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

As a passive Ninjago observer and only very occasional buyer (besides cool figure parts on PaB more regularly), I've got to say the new Dragons Rising wave is really not doing it for me.

It looks like an extention of core rather than a cool summer wave with a strong identity like we've gotten for quite a number of years now. It's just a bland mish mash of stock Ninjago things, and though I know the dragons will be quite complex builds as usual, something about their style and the Bounty's make them look way too smooth and simple.

I find both the villain characters and heros aesthetically unpleasing to the extreme. Ugly can be cool sometimes if done right, but these designs just look yuck to me. The return to full solid colours for the ninja looks weird, and I'm not a fan of their new headgear either.

The one set that stands out is the wolf thing. That one is cool and different. The transformation of the mech into a car also is impressive, though the mech version is again quite ugly to me.

I think I liked the January core stuff more than this honestly.

That’s completely fair, I understand why it can’t be appealing. It doesn’t help that the background for each box is different, and I agree there isn’t really a consistent theme to the sets apart from dragons, which we get every wave anyways. From what I’ve seen online this appears to be the most controversial wave in a good while. A lotta people hate this wave and a lot of people love it. I like it, just the prices are the issue for me.

[TeriXeri]

Temple set will definately fit in with the Core Dojo + training ground, as it uses very similar colors, beside the roof being darkblue instead of darkgreen but that sets it apart as a different building, the trees have the same autumn coloring.

It does have a bit of a "Facade" feel to it however, there are hardly any rooms, but are partly cut off with angled plates, but it still looks good.

I don't really like this season's Ninja hoods either.

I haven't really collected many of the dragons, beside the 2020 Wu and Skeleton dragons, but I do like the Lava and Elemental dragons here.

The Wolf / Hound, set is probably my favorite here, in terms of size/price etc, and can even be used as some form of Viking Fenrir .

Edited May 9, 2023 by TeriXeri

[RODDY]

As someone who only buys the Ninjago City modulars, got to say I’m not a huge fan of the City Markets. There’s way too much empty space between the two buildings and I have no idea how this has more than a 1,000 pieces more than the Gardens and is $70 more. I remembered being absolutely stunned everytime a new Ninjago modular is released, this left me feeling kinda empty to be quite fair. 

[Harren Tonderen]

To be fair, i have left with mixed feelings about this wave.

Perhaps looking how Lego does big sets for MK, and Ninjago gets shortest end of a stick again.

Minifigures are nice, presonally love new suits (when they have dark eyes. Otherwise they are not that good somehow)

Villains are great, glad to see Roundheads got unique face. Ras is unfortuately atrocious, his eyes are way too high from mouth position which they have fixed in show. Empress is similar case, mouth is too close to eyes which imo ruins it.

Wolf is epic besides goofy eyes, Mech-Bike's bike mode is very good that it can work very well as standalone vehicle set.

Lava Dragon is a scam, sorry. 55$ dragon, which whole selling point is "Transforming". What transformation we get from lego in this 50 bucks set? "Flip limbs." Manually flip legs and head, rotate them 180, and tada. Yeah they want to be "Tread Assault" so bad, yet still in my eyes this is either lazy or zero budget. No words. Dragon itself is allright though. and purple ball is my favorite so far.

Elemental Dragon is best set to me, Mech is too thin but ok. Good minifigs choice.

Temple... I mean, it's nice building, but "cores" in name yet there's only 1 and it's generic one. But there's also unique minifig? Guy looks cool, love his torso. It is also very remniscent of Airjitzu Temple design, hmm...

Wu got Lloyd's treatment and lost his cape from prelims, seems they have run out of fabric for summer sets. I assume most pieces in Bounty went into it's base and outerior. Also rip Ninja Dragon Samurai idea :(

To be honest, i myself surprised that my final emotions are partially negative. I liked prelims, i liked figs, but still, wave looks so off. Yet maybe it's just personal feeling that will wear off through some time, idk.
But i'd say, Hound, Mech-Bike and Mech vs Dragon so far are best in my eyes. Sad to see Team Mechs not looking good combined.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Harren Tonderen