Baby Dragon Riyu was one of the cutest elements to be released with the first wave of Ninjago Dragons Rising sets. Now, as we approach the launch of the second season, he is starting to grow up. This set, due for release in March 2024, gives us our first take on a fully articulated Young Dragon Riyu. The set comes with 3 minifigures: Sora, Arin, and a wolf mask warrior, and it has 132 pieces. The set has a recommended retail price of $AUD24.99/$USD15.99 /€14.99 /£12.99.

Does this set have anything new to offer us? Or is it more of the same ‘Small Dragon’ models we have seen over the last few waves of Ninjago Core sets?

The Elements

The distinctive elements for this build are in sand blue: the head is a unique mould and printed with eyes, nostrils and some dark blue and bright yellowish-orange spots. The wings are the same mould seen in the Rising Dragon Strike sets – although those sets feature dual moulded, partially transparent wings, compared with these. The bulk of the upper surfaces will be covered in sand blue, while the underside elements will be dark blue.

As you might expect, we have many ball and socket joints, a few brackets, pale royal blue wedge plates, and 1×2 rounded plates to cap the deal off. Probably, the most interesting, new (to me) mould is this shell element that also appeared in the Elemental mechs released earlier this year.

The Minfigures

This set has three Minifigures: Arin, Sora and a Wolf Mask warrior. Arin is essentially unchanged from the previous version. Sora is in her standard race suit but has a new hairpiece with a ponytail and ‘cat ear’ headphones. The Wolf Mask Warrior has a mask over a double-sided, decorated head. He has ‘Wolf’ written down his tunic in Ninjago script and a picture of a curled-up wolf on his back. Sora and Arin are both equipped with swords, and Arin also carries a large hook, which might be just the thing for travelling down a zip line. The Wolf Mask Warrior carries a curved sword.

As mentioned earlier, this is a new headpiece for Sora. The latest version can be seen on the centre figure. On the left is the original hooded version, while the figure on the right has the Urban hair element initially seen in the Ninjago City Markets and a torso found in the Build a Minifig wall last year.

The Build

The build is relatively simple. The curved inverse slopes are placed within a double inverse slope element to produce the body’s overall shape. Ball joints are in place and ready for attachment. Riyu’s head is attached using a balljoint. A sand blue wheel arch serves as his neck. In the meantime, a saddle is added to the front end of the body. The new shell element forms the tail end of Riyu’s back.

The legs use several curved slopes, wedge plates and ball joint elements. The legs feature pale blue wedge plates and white claws on the feet. Stickers add some colouring to the curved slopes overlying the legs. A short tail is given detail using cheese slopes and some golden elements to the side. The wing elements clip onto the side of the body and a solitary claw is added to the leading edge of each.

With hips, ankles, a tail and wings, just how posable is he?

He certainly looks a little meaner when he sweeps his wings forward. The model is fairly stable on its feet, and its certainly a big step forward compared with what we had last year…

Closing thoughts

Overall, I quite like this simple, but more developed version of Riyu. Its a good point to get on, with Sora and Arin figures included, as well as an extremely generic enemy.

Young Baby Riyu will be available in March 2024, and has a recommended retail price of $AUD24.99/$USD15.99 /€14.99 /£12.99. It might be a little over the 10us¢/part, bart there are a number of specialised, larger elements included. I hope this means we can expect to see a related build in the future. I wonder how long it will take before he grows up completely? The build is simple, but the character of Riyu is engaging. I would have likes something more to fight against or hide around such as a ballista or piece of landscape, but by leaving this out, it has helped to keep the price in check. There do appear to be a few more sets that are affordable this year, compared to last, across many themes. I give this set 3.5 Arbitrary Praise units out of 5.

Things I liked:

• Minifigure selection. More screen Accurate version for Sora’s hair.
• Brick built Riyu is much more posable than the single element version

Things I disliked:

• No landscape or play element other than a solitary enemy minion with a sword

Are you interested in this set? Consider shopping at your local LEGO.com here. Using this affiliate link won’t cost you anything, but might earn the Rambling Brick a small commission.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!