Master Wu

Ninjagopalooza23 Part I: EVO/Core sets: Hands-On Reviews: 71781,71783,71787

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I hinted a couple of weeks ago about my fondness for the intrinsic ‘spirit’ of series such as Ninjago and Monkie Kid – they are both sci-fi fantasy themes and, as such, bring us the closest thing to Classic Space and Castle themes that we are likely to see on an ongoing basis for the time being.

We have seen the first half year present a ‘Core’ Range for Ninjago, while the second half of last year tied in closely with the animated series.

Earlier in the year, I joined several other Fan Media in a conversation with Niek van Slagmaat and Markus Rollbühler, both part of the Ninjago team, about the ‘Core’ Series – the sets we saw released in January, with seemingly no connection to the series, beyond the presence of those Core Ninjago values: Mechs, Vehicles, Dragons, Dojos and of course, Ninja.

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Ninjagopalooza: Magazine Cover Minifigures

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Now, I don’t have the greatest collection of Ninjago sets or minifigures. I just haven’t really focussed on collecting the theme. But I was recently wandering through my local newsagenct, and saw a collection of LEGO themed magazines, mostly imported from the UK, and one in particular caught my eye:

Ninjago Legacy Magazine #7, an alleged special edition. A huge picture of Jai on the cover. But lets be honest, this isnt what caught my eye: it was the attached blister pack of minifigures! It might not be the latest magazine – travel time to our side of the world is often a bit prolonged, but that doesn’t change the personal value of the figures on the cover to me!

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Ninjagopalooza I: Ninjago City Gardens 71741 [Official Images/Preview]

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This week, around about afternoon tea time on Thursday, we celebrate 10 years since Ninjago made its debut on Cartoon Network. Today saw the release of the latest Ninjago® City set: Ninjago City Gardens. An epic modular set, following in the tradition of 70620 Ninjago City from 2017, and followed up in 2018 by 20657 Ninjago City Docks. Chances are you have seen the images elsewhere, so I’ll take a quick dive into what we have seen in the set, and point out some of the obvious highlights.

For reasons best known to the LEGO marketing team, first official images for this set came from the North American Shop at Home print catalog. Why does an online store still get a print catalog in this day and age? Are there that many sales that are placed by phone? These images were followed up with a scattering from the LEGO Certified Store in Singapore. Finally, on Wednesday, the LEGO online store listed the set, going on sale on Thursday 14th January. So, by the time you have read this, it has been available for the better part of a day depending on where in the world you are standing! (so long as you are a VIP at your local LEGO retailer, and they had stock in a timely fashion.)

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