The Future of Ninjago

[LegoBrickSteve]

Wow. Just wow.

[lightningtiger]

I have been told that the reason for the snake dudes was because of the faults in the skeleton warrior's legs breaking all the time.

The way we have been finding out about later in the year sets, I guess maybe in a only a few months we will have all our questions answered.

[LEGOman273]

I have been told that the reason for the snake dudes was because of the faults in the skeleton warrior's legs breaking all the time.

The way we have been finding out about later in the year sets, I guess maybe in a only a few months we will have all our questions answered.

Arms too.

[zewy623]

@horizon

Maybe the chinese ninjago figs have changed from when I got some of mine. I got the very first set I could find, and they had looser hands and c-clip on ninja hood, the printing looked duller and the hood was loose and the fig could barley stand, plus the parts just had a weird look to them.

[LEGOman273]

@horizon

Maybe the chinese ninjago figs have changed from when I got some of mine. I got the very first set I could find, and they had looser hands and c-clip on ninja hood, the printing looked duller and the hood was loose and the fig could barley stand, plus the parts just had a weird look to them.

That was from last year.

[zewy623]

I know the figs are supposed to be better this year. But how much better?

[Javert]

I'm sorry but Ninjago is a really poor theme

I mean, the figs are nice but the buildings, and the things you are meant to do with them (spin them for battles?)

I find the idea a bit lame and a few others I know agree with me

I think this theme may end midway 2012 depending on how successful it is

[LEGOman273]

I know the figs are supposed to be better this year. But how much better?

Not-made-in-China better.

[zewy623]

oh ok.

[LEGOman273]

I'm sorry but Ninjago is a really poor theme

I mean, the figs are nice but the buildings, and the things you are meant to do with them (spin them for battles?)

I find the idea a bit lame and a few others I know agree with me

I think this theme may end midway 2012 depending on how successful it is

We have confirmation that the show will continue into 2013.

[Capt. Bluebeard]

I think this theme may end midway 2012 depending on how successful it is

You're wrong: there is a summer wave planned for this year.

And anyway, Ninjago has shown no signs of poor sales and will probably continue for at least 2 more years after this year.

Bluebeard, out-

[LegoBrickSteve]

And anyway, Ninjago has shown no signs of poor sales and will probably continue for at least 2 more years after this year.

Bluebeard, out-

But a ton of their sets are dramatically reduced in price at Lego.com and after X-Mas, all you

could find on store shelves were Ninjago leftovers.

I'm sorry but Ninjago is a really poor theme

I mean, the figs are nice but the buildings, and the things you are meant to do with them (spin them for battles?)

I find the idea a bit lame and a few others I know agree with me

Agreed.

[Nealybealy]

I know the figs are supposed to be better this year. But how much better?

I like the figs this year.. Quite good, especially the ZX Ninjas and the Snakes.

[horizon]

If Ninjago only consisted of the snake theme I would agree with the fact that the theme isn't good.

But the first waves where really great. Vs skeletons was really good.

Some points I noted:

"Skeleton legs break"

--Under heavy endurance (kids ;) ), so far no leg broke.

"Skeleton arms break"

--One hand clip snapped under even more endurance. It was from Samukai. A Non-spinner model, produced not in China.

"the minifigs are nice... but spin them for battle"

-- Uh yeah, Lego designed a game with it. You either like the game or not. But you can collect Ninjago two ways: the game: only spinner sets needed, or the theme: no spinner sets needed.

"Maybe the chinese ninjago figs have changed from when I got some of mine. I got the very first set I could find, and they had looser hands and c-clip on ninja hood, the printing looked duller and the hood was loose and the fig could barley stand, plus the parts just had a weird look to them."

-- Which set? I never experienced the weirdness you experienced

[SilvaShado]

I think Ninjago is strong in certain areas. For where I live, TRU were wiped out of Ninjago during the holidays. The LEGO store had some, but were also cleared out. I think the reason the LEGO store online has some is that they always have to stock a lot since they don't know who's going to order from where. So if anyone is going to have stock for clearance, it will be them.

I know not everyone likes the spinner game - I'm not a fan, but I do like the minifigures and all the weapons. One of these days, the ninja will fight knights in my world.

I like the buildings much more than the vehicles, but the 2012 stuff gives me hope that it will be better built than than the ones in 2011. I haven't gotten any vehicles yet, so I don't know. Been going after the boosters first. Well, actually, been spending my money on Super Heroes first, which is why I haven't gotten any of the bigger Ninjago sets yet.

[Aanchir]

Something to point out about stores that seemingly have lots of overstock is that this is sometimes a result of stores overcompensating for a massive initial demand by purchasing more of the next wave than they need. This is what happened at an independent toy store I went to in NH when the Series 3 minifigures came out. The demand for Series 1 and 2 was so high (and the supply so low) that they went ahead and bought lots of Series 3, and had leftovers for quite a while. Of course, they continued to stock the Collectible Minifigures as additional series came out, suggesting that while they had overestimated the demand for Series 3, the demand was still high enough for them to continue making a profit in future series. I imagine the same is true for Ninjago.

This is part of the reason that I can't really make any predictions on how long Ninjago will last. A phenomenal initial success isn't really any guarantee that the theme will have lasting success or longevity. The only "story theme" to have an outstanding lifespan within my lifetime was of course BIONICLE.

As for discounts on LEGO.com, it should be noted that the sets discounted in the U.S. are all spinner sets, with the exception of Nuckal's ATV and the Ninjago Battle Arena, both of which contain spinners and are store exclusives, and the Ninjago Card Shrine, an extended-line product. And not all of the spinner sets are discounted or even available. Perhaps TLG has realized that they flooded the market with spinners last year, hence why this year's sets have a mix of spinner sets and cheaper "booster packs" to be used in conjunction with spinner sets.

Most of the spinner sets discounted are also skeletons, so perhaps for some reason the skeleton spinners didn't sell as well. I know they were awkward to use since the skeleton feet didn't grip the spinner as well as regular minifigure feet and the balance of weight tended to be skewed towards the upper body (the largest skeleton, Samukai, cannot be used on a spinner at all). This is probably part of the reason the bad guys in this year's story are snakemen, who, besides the generals, use regular minifigure body parts. This is part of the reason I don't expect the skeletons to come back as the main villains for any future waves.

[Peppermint_M]

OhMyGosh. The spinners are amazing fun! Ok, so I do not quite understand the cards part (I only got the hang of YuGiOh before a load of changes came along) but I now have three spinners from a freebie in a magazine and two spinner sets. Me and my brother had loads of fun battling random figures from our collections (My brother even started making "undead" versions after each defeat). The two most fun were Highland Warrior vs Custom Katana Ninja (THER CAN BE ONLY ONE!) Punk Rocker vs Policeman (Guitars work really well) Tesni vs Cameric (My brothers little adventuring knight) Jake Raines vs Mummy and Mechanic vs Everyone (The Wrench is undisputed king of combat). They sell amazingly well and are/were out of stock in most shops here.

Really, this looks like they might make it last on and on (Sensie Jay anyone?).

[Darth Nihilus]

I'm sorry but Ninjago is a really poor theme

I mean, the figs are nice but the buildings, and the things you are meant to do with them (spin them for battles?)

I find the idea a bit lame and a few others I know agree with me

I think this theme may end midway 2012 depending on how successful it is

If you don't like this theme, fine. I'm not especially fond of some of the Ninjago sets either. Quite a few of them are <insert that tiresome argument> a little too much for my tastes, but that's not the point. You and LegoBrickSteve say that no-one likes Ninjago, but guess what? I have evidence that both kids and adults love it. I have 2 nephews and 2 nieces, ages 14, 11, 9, and 6. They all love Ninjago, and save up all their allowance for it and Collectible Minifigs. The workers at WalMart literally tell me when I walk into the store with them whether or not they have Ninjago left. That's how obsessed these four are with the theme. They know the storyline inside out. They could tell you the difference between Bonezai and Frakjaw in an instant, regardless of whether or not they can see the minifig. They are such fans, their parents (My sister and her husband) even grasp the basics of the storyline and theme! And literally, when I walked into Target the other day, they had every LEGO theme in stock except one. Ninjago. The kids cleared them out of Ninjago. Literally. So that, my friend, is where you and LegoBrickSteve are wrong. Ninjago is wildly successful, at least where I live.

[Aanchir]

OhMyGosh. The spinners are amazing fun! Ok, so I do not quite understand the cards part (I only got the hang of YuGiOh before a load of changes came along) but I now have three spinners from a freebie in a magazine and two spinner sets. Me and my brother had loads of fun battling random figures from our collections (My brother even started making "undead" versions after each defeat). The two most fun were Highland Warrior vs Custom Katana Ninja (THER CAN BE ONLY ONE!) Punk Rocker vs Policeman (Guitars work really well) Tesni vs Cameric (My brothers little adventuring knight) Jake Raines vs Mummy and Mechanic vs Everyone (The Wrench is undisputed king of combat). They sell amazingly well and are/were out of stock in most shops here.

Really, this looks like they might make it last on and on (Sensie Jay anyone?).

I had fun with the spinners and my various minifigures as well. It's interesting to experiment with which headgear works for head-spinning, and which weapons work best for taking out opponents. Ironically, the weapons that protect your minifigure the best are the ones that are closest to having no weapon at all-- they don't give your opponent anything to latch onto on your fig. I managed to win many matches using the Ringmaster from Minifigures Series 2 with his rubbery whip.

I think this unintentional advantage of not having a weapon is part of the reason why holding a golden weapon is necessary for many of the Spinjitzu card effects, and also why the booster packs this year contain so many more things to "attach" to your spinner. These raise your offensive and defensive capabilities at the same time rather than giving you more offensive potential but weakening you defensively.

They could possibly make it last a long time; it's hard to tell. After BIONICLE ended it seemed like they were going out of their way to avoid making Hero Factory have the same type of expanding story that theme had, instead making it as episodic as possible. Ninjago, on the other hand, has a lot of the same story complexity that BIONICLE had, and TLG has not tried to disguise that the similarities in the two themes are by design rather than by coincidence. The real question will be whether the theme's similarities to BIONICLE help or harm its overall lifespan.

BIONICLE was at one time expected to last up to twenty years, and while its eventual nine-year lifespan was impressive, it was abundantly clear by the time it was cancelled that it had lost a lot of its sales strength over the course of those nine years. While a lot of BIONICLE fans try to attribute this to poor story and set design decisions in later years, TLG's official stance is that with the constantly-expanding story they had created a franchise that it was difficult or in some cases impossible for new fans to jump into. One wonders whether Ninjago will have the same problem, and if so whether that problem will begin to emerge sooner or later.

Obviously, Ninjago is a lot simpler than BIONICLE in many ways. The main characters are human, not some fantasy race with its own complicated life processes. The story has a lot more humor and a lot fewer ongoing mysteries (the "who is the green ninja" thing will obviously be resolved by the end of this year). The 44-minute TV special from the first year has been made available for free online (check it out here), making it easy for fans to catch up on past story.

I think web content might be a deciding factor in how well people can keep up with Ninjago's story, and so I anxiously await a more complete 2012 web update, with characters pages for the new figures and so forth. Sadly, this doesn't seem to be happening today. I was hoping it would be to tie in with the return of the TV series on American TV, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[LegoBrickSteve]

Ole Kirk Christiansen would roll over in his grave if he knew his company was now shilling something as RIDICULOUS as Ninjago.

If you don't like this theme, fine. I'm not especially fond of some of the Ninjago sets either. Quite a few of them are <insert that tiresome argument> a little too much for my tastes, but that's not the point. You and LegoBrickSteve say that no-one likes Ninjago, but guess what? I have evidence that both kids and adults love it. I have 2 nephews and 2 nieces, ages 14, 11, 9, and 6. They all love Ninjago, and save up all their allowance for it and Collectible Minifigs. The workers at WalMart literally tell me when I walk into the store with them whether or not they have Ninjago left. That's how obsessed these four are with the theme. They know the storyline inside out. They could tell you the difference between Bonezai and Frakjaw in an instant, regardless of whether or not they can see the minifig. They are such fans, their parents (My sister and her husband) even grasp the basics of the storyline and theme! And literally, when I walked into Target the other day, they had every LEGO theme in stock except one. Ninjago. The kids cleared them out of Ninjago. Literally. So that, my friend, is where you and LegoBrickSteve are wrong. Ninjago is wildly successful, at least where I live.

So, the Hillbillies at Wal-Mart recognize you and Ninjago...what an endorsement!

[LEGOman273]

Ole Kirk Christiansen would roll over in his grave if he knew his company was now shilling something as RIDICULOUS as Ninjago.

Please stop trolling. Post in a thread about something you actually like.

Ole Kirk Christiansen would roll over in his grave if he knew his company was now shilling something as RIDICULOUS as Ninjago.

So, the Hillbillies at Wal-Mart recognize you and Ninjago...what an endorsement!

Please stop!

[DashCobra]

Here is the actual text from LEGO Universe. Page 8 is where the actual LU part of the story picks up:

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Through the missions, you find out that the Skeletons are mining Maelstrom from Crux Prime (part of the exploded Planet Crux) to forge into weapons and armor that will be more resistant to Spinjitsu. Players spend a lot of time and energy wrecking the place, but it is too late; the Skeletons have equipped themselves with Maelstrom-infused weapons and armor, and are attacking the new, larger Ninjago Monastery world. (I'll summarize and post that story later.)

I seem to remember that at the time Crux Prime was released it was Fire Air Earth and Water the elements that that the Ninjas were.

[Darth Nihilus]

So, the Hillbillies at Wal-Mart recognize you and Ninjago...what an endorsement!

Stop trolling. If you don't have anything productive to say, don't say anything.

Back on topic:

I really want aliens in Ninjago, that would be frickin' awesome!

[LegoBrickSteve]

I'm not trolling...I am supporting the continuing greatness of Lego. I am a 25+ year lover and fan of the product. If Ninjago is where you would like to see Lego move towards in the future, you must not truly enjoy the product. It is the anti-thesis.

You like the story? Lego is about giving YOU, the builder, command of the story; with your own creations. Subscribing to a Cartoon Network half-hour show and the CHEAP plastic toys it spawns goes against the very things that made Lego the perfect alternative to all those other lazy toys. Shame on you.

[LEGOman273]

Edit:

Edited January 11, 2012 by Legoman273