It is time to start the Ninjago reviews for 2023. Today I’d like to focus on set that only includes NEW Characters appearing in Ninjago Dragons Rising – I’ll address some of the Classic Ninja soon. Set 71792, Sora’s Mech Bike Racer, features Sora, Arin and Baby Riyu, as well as Rapton – A member of the Imperium whose role we are yet to fully understand.
The set will be released in June 2023, has 384 parts, and will cost $47.99USD/$79AUD/£42.99/€47.99.
Read on to see whether or not this is an engaging and enjoyable set. And whether it glows under UV light…
Let’s take a quick look at the parts knolled out here: There are two parts to the build: Rapton’s flyer – a small build, with the requisite studshooters, along with a regal Black, Dark red and Pearl Gold colour scheme. Sora’s vehicle is mainly Dark Blue, Vibrant Coral and white, with pearl gold trim here and there. I am particularly interested in the pearl gold wheels, which appear to be a couple of modules smaller in diameter than those introduced in Spike Prime a couple of years ago.
Let’s take a look at our minifigures.
This year, the Ninja – our classics, as well as Sora and Arin, have two part hoods: a larger part, which sits on the shoulders, incorporating the scabbards for the katana, and covers the chin, as well as a hood, which sits on top of their head.
Arin is primarily Bright yellowish orange, with a split at the top of the print to show a t-shite under his robes. While it appears to be similar to that of the other Ninja, when you examine it closely, it appears as if it is intended to be a hoody. Arin has a couple of golden bone structures on the forehead of his hood, An ‘A’ is printed in Ninjago Script on his torso, and he carries a grappling hook/whip- this rubber element has a bend incorporated on the rope.
Sora’s figure follows the colour scheme of the rest of the set: White, dark blue, vibrant coral and gold. Her hood is dual molded in dark blue and vibrant coral, with cat ears incorporated on top. Her shoulder hood is dark blue. On her torso,
There are some designs that look great in outlined gold: the cat logo on her back; the cat shaped keyring hanging from her straps. Her racing suit features dark blue and golden details, including a large golden cat on the back. Her left arm is gold, decorated with a dark blue pattern. The other is white, with a navy blue hand. Printing continues down her suit from torso to legs, with lots of detail printed on the front of the legs.
Baby Riyu has a footprint of 2×3 and slopes downwards, from back to front. The wings extend out approximately 1 module. His back is scaled, and I am intrigued to see how future models might appear as he grows or encounters adults of the same species. He certainly has a different shape from the traditional Ninjago Dragon.
Rapton has a reversible head, and is wearing a colden visor over his eyes. One face is angry, the other looks angrier. He has golden arms and black hands. there are two panels of intricate golden linework on his torso, with the negative space between featuring red linework. Printing extends onto the legs, looking like scaly armour. He wields a somewhat impressive energy sword, although itmight have been cool if it were made with a fluorescent colour, rather than regular transparent orange.
Long-time readers will remember that I love to check out how a colour fluoresces – particularly bright light orange and vibrant coral. Lets get the gang together under the disco light…I am not surprised to see the vibrant coral plastic elements flouresce. Unfortunately, the printed elements: torsos/stickers do not. I was also hoping to see the bright yellowish-orange glow, as it has previously, but it would appear that there has been a new source of pigment here, resulting in the orange being unremarkable under UV.
The Vehicles
Rapon’s flier is a relatively simple construction, around 10 studs in length, small wings, lined with golden katana. There are front winglets, as well as a red panel with fine linework on the ‘bonnet. At the rear, 2 batteries of stud shooters fold out to the side. This is a small, and easily swooshable side build. While more complicated than my favourite piece of swooshable kit of all time, 885 Space Scooter, this build feels as though it has been inspired by it and similar small flying craft..
We start building the Transforming Bike from the main fuselage – there are forks on either side of the front wheel. White and Coral angle elements line the sides, while the top is covered in dark blue. The cabin opens with the hinge at the front, and some white flags on golden poles are revealed to the rear.
Out next two steps/bags are essentially mirror images of each other and incorporate the legs, with wheels incorporated near the fixed knees, moving up to click joints at the hips. The feet fold up and down, depending whether you are standing or racing.
The arms are attached to small ball joints, and move freely in most directions. The angled bricks at the top of cockpit open up, and fold out, while the flags can be listed. The arms are hinged at the elbows, with stud shooters extending to the end.
To transform from the racer form, the legs fold forward, and the feet move into position. The cockpit can be angled down a little, and the arms moe into action. Golden katanas are taken from behind the cabin and placed on the wrists.
As you can see, we have a 3-wheeled racer, which can transform into a standing mech when required. (and back to the racer again…)
While the knees are fixed, the vehicle has a remarkable amount of posability. I love the use of colours here: vibrant coral bricks are good at demonstrating fluorescence under ultraviolet light, however I am disappointed that this property does not extend to the stickers.
Overall, I really enjoyed this set: the colour scheme is appealing – particularly the way that Sora’s personal style lines up with that of her vehicle. I had great fun transforming the vehicle from one form to the other, and it was great to look a little closer at the minifigures in real life rather than merely as rendered images on the interwebs.
I went straight to this set as it was loaded with brand-new characters. It has great features, and I find Sora’s vehicle great fun to transform and zoom across the floor. The stickers were reasonably simple to apply and enhance the final model, giving it a real racing feel. I am still adjusting to what pricing should feel like in this post-inflationary world, but $73 AUD just feels a little too much. I happily give it 3.5 out of 5 arbitrary praise units. (points lost for price). It is an enjoyable set, though.
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Play Well.
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes: all opinions are my own.
The Rambling Brick 