REVIEW: 2519 Ninjago SKELETON BOWLING

[pikafunk]

Thank you for reading this review.

2519

Skeleton Bowling

Ages 7-14

371 parts

7 Minifigs

Released 2011

Box size (cm) 28 x 25.8 x 6.1

Weighs 531 grams

29.99 USD on Lego Shop@Home, "Exclusive & Hard to Find" Category (correct as on 4 July 2011)

Rating 4.7/5 on Lego Shop@Home

Background information:

This is quite a small set, and is also supposed to be a Ninjago spinner kind of arena, like the Spinjitzu Dojo or Battle Arena sets, but smaller. However, you do not go against a rival fighter, but rather topple as many skeletons as possible. I suppose you play it 2 players, and take turns knocking skeletons down. You then keep track of the score on the scoreboard.

7 minifigs are included, Jay DX and 6 light tan skeletons, which I will talk about more later. (thanks to Horizon for the name correction)

Sorry about the small pictures, as I am trying to avoid long loading times.

Here are is how the box looks like. This is supposed to be Special Edition, as indicated by the yellow strip on the side of the box. From what I've heard it is not available in some places. But it was available on the Shop@Home website.

<Front cover>

The back cover seems pretty similar, except for a closer look on Zane DX, and the spinner.

<Back cover>

The box opens by pressing on the thumbflap piece on the side, which is common nowadays, but I decided to cut it instead.

Here's everything in the box. 3 bags, a sticker sheet, 2 long flexible tubes, a Ninjago spinner and instrutions.

Close up of the stickers. 8 of them, all identical. The Japanese Kanji words literally mean "No surrender" or "Never give up". Or is that Chinese? Sorry I do not know...

Here's the contents of Bag 1. Minifig parts and others.

And you are supposed to build these with the parts.

Jay DX wears the dragon outfit and carries a black katana with a square guard. The spinner is pearl gold and red. The skeletons/bowling pins are tan skeletons on a red round plate. I presume the skeletons are wooden practice dummies for Jay to practice Spinjitzu on.

Here's what you get when you finish Bag 1. (Green plate is my own.)

Here's Bag 2. There's a bag within a bag, a style typical of Lego.

And here's the respective contents from each of the bags.

With the contents you will be building the base structure of the bowling arena.

Some interesting parts in Bag 2. There's a couple of modified plates with studs on the side. The green hinges will be part of the midline hinge of the whole setup.

The following are a few photos of the build in progress for Bag 2.

Something interesting for AFOLs who like rarer bricks. There are 2 grey curved top bricks with 2 studs on top in the set.

So here's Bags 1 and 2 completed with leftover parts so far.

When you open Bag 3, you will find 2 smaller bags inside.

Here are the respective contents from each bag.

There are a few interesting parts in Bag 3. There are 4 long modified plate/slopes (only 3 shown here), a scoring wheel, and a red modified round brick, which will become the knob for you to turn the scoring wheel.

With all the parts, you will finish the rest of the arena.

The few photos which follow will show the build progress. The set was rotated to show the build on the back.

You can see that the top adornments are similar in style to the Spinjitzu Dojo and Battle Arena sets.

The set is almost complete. Weapons are added to finish the decor. I feel it to be a waste of good weapons which should be in the hands of Ninjas!

The final touch is to place the parts from Bag 1 onto the structure. The midline hinge mechanism allows you to adjust the width of it.

And it's finished!

Leftovers at the end:

Jay DX, to battle!

Off with their wooden heads!

"Errr.... what happened....."

"Sayonara!!"

Personally, I found it to be a waste to have 5 tan-coloured skeletons without matching tan skull heads. Lego had made white, black, green-black skeletons, and modified ones like Bonezai and so on. I suppose they are meant to be wooden skeleton dummies.

I do not like playing the Spinjitzu game, but it is probably a hit with some kids. There are no instructions, so I guess that this set is meant to be placed beside the Spinjitzu arena/rink which you can buy, then play Spinjitzu with the minifigs and spinners within the rink.

If you look at the sides of the build, there are technic pins, similar to the Modular sets. Although not mentioned in the instructions, you can connect a few sets together to line the Spinjitzu rink, or even make a full circle (or even connect it to a Modular set??? Haha!)

SCORES!

Displayability: 7/10

Looks okay, suitable for display as makes for good background with the minifigs as the foreground.

Swooshability: 0/10

Certainly not! There is no baseplate either to keep the stuff stationary. But it is not meant to be swooshed.

Playability: 8/10

If you or your kids like the Spinjitzu game...

Overall score: 7/10

Looks good overall, and complements the other Ninjago sets well. Not bad for its price, a few interesting parts, and you get Jay DX, which isn't that common compared to the other DX minifigs. Buy it if you have a bit of extra cash.

Thank you again for reading this review.

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Edited July 5, 2011 by Peppermint_M

[horizon]

Hey,

the Ninja is called Jay.

Not Zane (he is the white one).

[Gregorovich]

Nice review, pikafunk! I like this set, but not enough to buy it. I wish Jay came in a spinner set so I could get him cheaply, though.

[lightningtiger]

Great review 'pikafunk' and it's a TRU exclusive (50 bucks Aussie).

I guess it makes a great expansion kit for the Dojo.

Keep on spinning everyone !

[The Crazy One]

Thanks for the review. I feel really bad because I bought this set before the official realease date but forgot to review it. Bit late know.