Ninjago 2015

[PenPlays]

The Chain Cycle Ambush is good set with many exciting things, but with one little problem - it's confusable to Skull Motorbike from 2011. Or Lego decided to make rebirth of sets of 2011, but with another design?

Ahem...

X-1 Ninja Charger and Jay Walker One

Jay's Storm Fighter and Kai Fighter

Kai's Fire Mech, the Earth Mech in Thunder Raider, and the Electromech

Dragons upon Dragons upon Dragons

Two Destiny's Bounties

Every group of villains has had a motor bike of sorts, and Ninjago strives off of rehashes. Sure every rehash has cosmetic differences, but they still are rehashes. Don't get me wrong. I love them. That's the one thing about Adventure themes, they rehash ideas, but they are never the same as the first time, that's why I collect them specifically.

[TheOneVeyronian]

Every group of villains has had a motor bike of sorts, and Ninjago strives off of rehashes. Sure every rehash has cosmetic differences, but they still are rehashes. Don't get me wrong. I love them. That's the one thing about Adventure themes, they rehash ideas, but they are never the same as the first time, that's why I collect them specifically.

The Anacondrai cultists (to me, they're a separate group from the Serpentine) don't have a motorbike vehicle (unless I'm missing something), so you might want to change that "every" to "most" . The closest thing I suppose is the Anacondrai Crusher, but it doesn't really resemble a motorbike at all. It's actually quite a unique vehicle. If I had to compare it to any other Ninjago vehicle, I'd say it's quite close to Nuckal's ATV.

Anyway... is anyone able to read the names off the top of all the boxes now we have the box art? Maybe now is the time to try and determine the number of unique Ghost characters.

[DraikNova]

You also forgot Zane's ice mech and Cole's Tread Assault (which, as you'd expect, uses wheels rather than treads).

[Zusammengebaut]

Hello,

I did a review of set 70755 - the LEGO Ninjago Jungle Raider.

If you are a fan of the series, you will like this vehicle, I guess. But: If you do enjoy LEGO Technic or cars of any type - this is a very cool set, as well.

Many greetings

[PenPlays]

The Anacondrai cultists (to me, they're a separate group from the Serpentine) don't have a motorbike vehicle (unless I'm missing something), so you might want to change that "every" to "most" . The closest thing I suppose is the Anacondrai Crusher, but it doesn't really resemble a motorbike at all. It's actually quite a unique vehicle. If I had to compare it to any other Ninjago vehicle, I'd say it's quite close to Nuckal's ATV.

Ah, I stand corrected.

You also forgot Zane's ice mech and Cole's Tread Assault (which, as you'd expect, uses wheels rather than treads).

The Titan Mech is comparable to the Samurai Mech. Being larger puts it in a different size scale from the other mechs, so I consider them as rehashes of their own. This goes for the Golden Mech as well. Will we get larger mechs for the other three main characters? Probably not, but due to scale, I keep them separate.

IMO, I've always considered Cole's Tread Assault to be in a "heavy vehicle" class alongside the Thunder Raider and the Ninja DB X. Since practically each character needs a type of vehicle to their own, I've always thought that Cole's Earth Driller was more of Cole's comparison of the JayWalkerOne and the X-1 Ninja Charger.

[Ninja of Fire]

The Chain Cycle looks like someone blended together the Skull Motorbike and the Warrior Bike and recoloured it.

[Mandate]

-Cole's Tread Assault, X-1 Ninja Charger, Jay Walker One, Jungle Raider, DB Xpress, (Zane vehicle missing)

-Samurai Mech, Golden Mech, Fire Mech, Earth Mech, Electro Mech, Titan Mech

-Wisp, Shard, Flame, Rocky, Ultra Dragon, Golden Dragon, Titanium Dragon, Master Wu Dragon

-Blade Cycle (X-1 Bike, DBX Bike (noncanon)), Blaster Bike

There's a bunch of other different vehicles, such as the jet fighters, hoverboards, and half-treads, but as you can see there are some gaps in the types of vehicles per character. From that, we can guess what forms of future sets we will get.

[LegendsOfNinjago]

Does the Ice Bike from the Fangpyre Truck Ambush count for anything?

[Lyichir]

I really don't see how any of the sets mentioned are really "rehashes".

Yes, the subjects sets depict might occasionally be repeated. But just because two sets represent similar subjects doesn't mean one is a "rehash" of the other. Jay's Storm Fighter and the Kai Fighter have almost completely different structures, even though they're both jets. The X-1 Ninja Charger and Jay's new vehicle have almost nothing in common besides both being vaguely car-like land vehicles. The Titan Mech and Samurai Mech may both be humanoid mechs, but their builds are vastly different and no one would ever confuse the two.

It's true that Ninjago vehicles can, for the most part, be separated into categories based on the class of vehicle they resemble, just like you can do with ANY vehicles. But calling any set with even the most superficial similarity to a past set a "rehash" doesn't do justice to the unique designs we get each and every year.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Lyichir

[PenPlays]

It's true that Ninjago vehicles can, for the most part, be separated into categories based on the class of vehicle they resemble, just like you can do with ANY vehicles. But calling any set with even the most superficial similarity to a past set a "rehash" doesn't do justice to the unique designs we get each and every year.

So what would be a better term for something that is the same idea, but with a different style?

-Cole's Tread Assault, X-1 Ninja Charger, Jay Walker One, Jungle Raider, DB Xpress, (Zane vehicle missing)

-Samurai Mech, Golden Mech, Fire Mech, Earth Mech, Electro Mech, Titan Mech

-Wisp, Shard, Flame, Rocky, Ultra Dragon, Golden Dragon, Titanium Dragon, Master Wu Dragon

-Blade Cycle (X-1 Bike, DBX Bike (noncanon)), Blaster Bike

I see the Ninja's vehicles from this perspective:

-Dragon: Zane (Ice Dragon), Kai (Fire Temple), Cole (Earth Dragon), Jay (Lightning Dragon), Lloyd (Golden Dragon), Titanium Ninja (Titanium Dragon)

-Hoverboard: Zane (Chain Cycle), Kai (Morro Dragon), Jay (Morro Dragon), Skylor (Condrai Copter)

-Jetpack: Kai (Rattlecopter), Jay (Warrior Bike), Zane (Battle for Ninjago City)

-Motorbike: Kai (Blade Cycle), Zane (Fangpyre Truck), Lloyd (OverBorg), Cole (Blaster Bike)

-Air Vehicle: Jay (Storm Fighter), Zane (Ninjacopter), Kai (Kai Fighter), Cole (Boulder Blaster)

-Small Vehicle: Zane (Garmatron), Nya (Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty), Kai (Ninja DB X)

-Medium Vehicle: Cole (Earth Driller), Nya (MechDragon), Kai (X-1 Charger), Jay (Jay Walker One), Lloyd (Jungle Raider)

-Heavy Vehicle: Cole (Tread Assault), Jay (Thunder Raider), Nya (Ninja DB X)

-Mech: Nya (Samurai Mech), Kai (Fire Mech), Lloyd (Golden Mech), Cole (Thunder Raider), Zane (Titan Mech), Jay (Electromech)

-Team Vehicles: Ultrasonic Raider, Destiny's Bounty (Mk. I & II)

[BrickBuilder3213]

What are the UK prices for Titan Mech Battle, the Morro Dragon and Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty?

[TheOneVeyronian]

What are the UK prices for Titan Mech Battle, the Morro Dragon and Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty?

Not 100% sure these are right (but given they're normally reliable with RRP's of pre-release items, I think they're right), but Amazon.co.uk lists Titan Mech Battle as £39.99 and Morro Dragon as £59.99. I'd take the Titan Mech Battle price with a pinch of salt, the price tag does sound too good to be true. There's no listing or information for Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty that I can find yet (which is odd, given the rest are up except the Chain Cycle and Jay Walker One, but I'm assuming those will be retailer exclusives), but given it's US RRP is $119.99, I'd guess it's no more than £89.99, just like Battle for Ninjago City, the Phoenix Fire Temple and other similar flagship action theme sets with the same US RRP.

May as well link the rest individually, Blaster Bike is £17.99, Master Wu Dragon is £34.99, Ronin REX is £39.99. Airjitzu sets are £7.99 each, I can't be bothered to link all 7 but they're easily searchable from here.

Ignore the descriptions in the links, I think it's placeholders until Amazon gets the official descriptions

[Lyichir]

So what would be a better term for something that is the same idea, but with a different style?

I dunno... a variation on a theme? I think literally anything would be better than "rehash", which implies a lazy or effortless reskin or copy of an identical subject, as opposed to an entirely new vehicle, designed from the ground up, which just happens to not be the first car or plane or bike or mech the series has depicted. After all, considering how many vehicle sets Ninjago has included so far, just about the only type of vehicle they could use that HASN'T been depicted before would be a submarine.

I mean, the Titan Mech and Samurai Mech have less in common than 90% of Exo-Force sets. Considering one a "rehash" of the other just because both represent bipedal mechs doesn't take into account that how stark the differences between them actually are. And the same could be said about most other "rehashes" that have no similarities other than their nature as land or air vehicles or the number of wheels they sport.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Lyichir

[tafkatb]

After all, considering how many vehicle sets Ninjago has included so far, just about the only type of vehicle they could use that HASN'T been depicted before would be a submarine.

...kinda want to see that happen now. That or a zeppelin!

[Mandate]

I dunno... a variation on a theme? I think literally anything would be better than "rehash", which implies a lazy or effortless reskin or copy of an identical subject, as opposed to an entirely new vehicle, designed from the ground up, which just happens to not be the first car or plane or bike or mech the series has depicted. After all, considering how many vehicle sets Ninjago has included so far, just about the only type of vehicle they could use that HASN'T been depicted before would be a submarine.

Then what of the Storm Fighter and Kai Fighter? The sets were mostly different in form, but in function and trace parts of the aesthetic they're incredibly similar. Blade-tipped wings, wing extension function, dual-tail wings, etc... there wasn't a lot of improvement between sets either.

Anyway, I apologize for forgetting sets like the NinjaCopter and Boulder Blaster.

[DraikNova]

We also haven't seen any non-bipedal mechs yet, with the exception of the Mechdragon, which is mostly the result of the dragon theme. I suppose you could call the Destructoid a mech, but I'd just call it a tank with arms.

[Lyichir]

Then what of the Storm Fighter and Kai Fighter? The sets were mostly different in form, but in function and trace parts of the aesthetic they're incredibly similar. Blade-tipped wings, wing extension function, dual-tail wings, etc... there wasn't a lot of improvement between sets either.

Anyway, I apologize for forgetting sets like the NinjaCopter and Boulder Blaster.

The functions of the Storm Fighter and Kai Fighter are actually a perfect example of what's NOT a rehash. They're completely different—the Storm Fighter's wings fold open, revealing an array of arranged blades, while the Kai Fighter's simply fold backward for a faster, sleeker appearance. The way they work (multiple hinged segments versus turntables, rubber bands versus simple lever action) also is vastly different.

I mean, if you consider the Kai Fighter a "rehash" based on a few shared features, where does it end? Are all Vic Vipers made by the fan community "rehashes"? No, clearly not—they're just variations on a common theme or motif. Just because they share a common inspiration does not mean that they're not legitimate models in their own right.

[obsidianheart]

All sets are rehashes of interlocking brick design. Why don't they do something new?

[DuckBricks]

All sets are rehashes of interlocking brick design. Why don't they do something new?

Weeeeelll, Kai's Mech had CCBS parts... ;)

[PenPlays]

All sets are rehashes of interlocking brick design. Why don't they do something new?

You just won the internet. Unfortunately I lost it, so I can't give it to you until it has been located.

I guess when I use the term "rehash" I mean that it is a redo of the same general idea, despite aesthetic of color, design, and features.

[obsidianheart]

Weeeeelll, Kai's Mech had CCBS parts... ;)

I was actually convinced someone would bring up Technic before CCBS.

[Mandate]

The functions of the Storm Fighter and Kai Fighter are actually a perfect example of what's NOT a rehash. They're completely different—the Storm Fighter's wings fold open, revealing an array of arranged blades, while the Kai Fighter's simply fold backward for a faster, sleeker appearance. The way they work (multiple hinged segments versus turntables, rubber bands versus simple lever action) also is vastly different.

I mean, if you consider the Kai Fighter a "rehash" based on a few shared features, where does it end? Are all Vic Vipers made by the fan community "rehashes"? No, clearly not—they're just variations on a common theme or motif. Just because they share a common inspiration does not mean that they're not legitimate models in their own right.

1) They're both jet fighters

2) They both feature a very similar design

3) The outcome of the features are exactly the same at their basic concept: the wings extend.

It's a rehash of the same concept. If I recall correctly, your own brother avoided buying the Kai Fighter because of its heavy similarities to the Storm Fighter. Is it a rehash in a bad way? No, not at all. But they are undeniably similar, sharing the same core features.

[PenPlays]

Also, for the record. I never said rehashes were a bad thing.

The Kai Fighter and the Storm Fighter, OverBorg Attack and the Anacondrai Crusher, and the Fire and Ice Dragons; each pair is loved equally.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Penkid11

[AyliffeMakit]

Brick Fanatics just revealed the exclusive figure for the Secret World of the Ninja book:

Nothing spectacular, but still pretty neat-o.

[Mandate]

Brick Fanatics just revealed the exclusive figure for the Secret World of the Ninja book:

*snip*

Nothing spectacular, but still pretty neat-o.

Can someone install an ATM on my computer so I don't have to keep throwing my money at the screen?