Over the past few weeks I’ve been taking a look at some of the latest LEGO® NINJAGO sets released. The plan was to review the set alongside the new ninth season of the show, however despite being aired in a number of countries including the US, UK LEGO NINJAGO fans still haven’t been able to watch season 9 and won’t be able to until December. Therefore elements of this review could be considered spoilers. The biggest of the new LEGO NINJAGO Dragon Hunter sets is the menacing looking Dragon Pit. Home to the dastardly Dragon Hunter, the Dragon Pit is found in the dusty wastelands of the Realm of Oni and Dragons. The set includes 9 minifigures and a cool brick-built dragon, so let’s take a closer look at the set.
Product Description
Join the ninja heroes in a battle against Iron Baron and the Dragon Hunters at the LEGO® NINJAGO® 70655 Dragon Pit, with 3 detachable sections for easy play. The viewing gallery features a throne for Iron Baron, weapon rack and a gate-opening function to let the posable Earth Dragon into the pit. There’s also a watchtower with rooftop dual missile shooter, buildable telescope and a blacksmith’s workshop, plus a jail with a trapdoor function to drop a minifigure into the pit. Fight for all 4 of the collectible Dragon Armor elements (worn in this set by Dragon Master) with 9 minifigures and their assorted weapons.
- Set Name: Dragon Pit
- Set Number: 70655
- Pieces: 1660
- RRP: £119.99
- Minifigures: Dragon Master, Jay, Zane, Cole, Kai, Iron Baron, Arkade, Heavy Metal and Chew Toy
- Measurements: 27cm high, 51cm wide and 20cm deep
- Availability: General Retail, LEGO Brand Retail Store & shop.LEGO.com
The Build
The Dragon Pit is the largest of the sets to be released as part of the Summer range of LEGO NINJAGO sets and it continues with the Mad Max-esque look just like the Dieselnaut has. The Dragon Pit is where the a Dragon Hunters fight there captured beasts against each other or in this case against the stranded Masters of Spinjitzu. The first part of the build is a rather cool looking dragon. These mystical creatures have always played a key role in the world of NINJAGO, with almost all dragons featured in sets being entirely brick-built, instead of using moulded heads, like the Elves range did. This results in a uniquely satisfying build.
Slab, the Earth Dragon maybe smaller and less elegant compared to Firstborne the fire dragon and Stormbringer the lighting dragon from other sets in this wave. But it still a great looking beast. It’s very poseable thanks to the various ball joint connections in the legs and wings. It also makes great use of colour and parts. The sand green and two shades of grey work great together. I also like have golden goblin swords have been used to tusk-like details on the head. Plus printed pieces are used for the eyes.
The rest of the build is focused on the main structure of the pit, it also has a Star Wars or Roman arena feel to it. We always see in movies a huge arena, with an imposing door that is ready to unleash a beast of some sort upon those trapped in front of the baying crowd. Which is exactly what you get here. This central section includes a viewing platform and a wide gated doorway for dragons to be forced through.
Of course you don’t get a full arenas worth of set but enough of it to give an expression of one. This pit is made up of three sections, beginning with that central part, which features a gate which opens and a cool looking dragon skull chair. As you build this central section, the gates become connected so that they open together with a turn of a dial on the side of the building.
The Dragon Skull chair is a fun bit of detail, despite it meaning the Dragon Hunters do actually kill the dragons. It’s a fitting throne for the Iron Baron. In fact the small details, such has this are dotted throughout the set. Like the petrol engine ‘connected’ to gate opening mechanism, the exposed dials connected to the actual gate opening system and discarded dragon bones dotted about the building.
This central sections is joined by a smaller build, connected to the left-hand side. This is a small holding cell, complete with collapsing floor and twist opening cell door. On the opposite side is a taller structure, which has a little more detail. Including a small room in the lower section which features a weapons forge, complete with iron fire and anvil. Above that is a lookout platform, topped by a catapult. Both these elements of the set add a few play features and I like how they aren’t just the same style building either, giving the set a bit more character.
It’s a fun build, especially the main central part of the structure. As you build it look like you can open each gate independently, but as you near this parts completion the whole thing connects together. Allowing you to swing open both gates with the twist of a single dial. I like how this is blended into the rest of the build and isn’t a in-your-face brightly coloured thing, which stands out far too much. As briefly touched on above, I like how the inner dials are on show, as it’s adds to the cobbled together feel of the desolate wasteland the ‘Hunted’ storyline tastes place.
The Minifigures
As the latest series of NINJAGO has yet to be aired in the UK, parts of this bit of this section of the review could be considered a spoiler, especially in regards to the Dragon Master. In the storyline of Season 9, the ninja are split across two realms. This is reflected by the minifigures included in the set. Four of the ninja are featured including Kai, Jay, Zane and Cole. Each are in battle worn outfits and feature their relevant weapons. The little bits of wear and tear on their outfits is a nice touch.
Oddly both Kai and Cole are exclusive versions of the minifigure to this set, for the tiniest detail. Kai has a different coloured scabbard and Cole has a different coloured symbol and his headband compared the versions in set 70653: Firstborne. I’m not sure if this is a design choice, oversight or story related.
The good guys are great, but it also good to be bad where the Dragon Hunters are concerned. I’ve previously expressed by love of past ‘in/out’ LEGO themes such as Ultra Agents, Galaxy Squad and the like, particularly due to the inventiveness of the characters included. Something which seems to have been introduced into the NINJAGO theme in recent years. The Dragon Hunters are a crazy looking bunch of bad guys, with four of them appearing in this set. Lead by the evil Iron Baron. This mean looking minifig, has the whole bad guy vibes down to a tee, with his top hat, a peg-leg, a cyborg arm device and a evil looking staff. Plus a rather cool looking piece of shoulder armour, that holds a tanto knife. Next is up is Chew Toy, the comedic relief who acts as a warm up act in the Dragon Pit and named for often appearing in a dragon’s jaw on more than one occasion. Chew Toy likes his food, which is shown in the cubby chinned face print of the minifigure and the use of the curved chest plate armour, which appeared heavily in the Lord of the Rings sets.
Every bad guy leader needs a right-hand minifigure, which is where Heavy Metal steps in. Heavy Metal has a chained crossbow and a great headpiece, I love the printing on Heavy Metal’s torso and that menacing looking scarf/shoulder pauldron combo element. Topped off by an oriental style hat. Finally there is the aptly names Arkade, a minifigure which can only be found in this set. Arkade has amazing print detail, which represents the spinning wheels of a fruit machine, built into his chest. This is combined with a welders mask, featuring a slight bit of print detail. I love this minifigure, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as some of the other Dragon Hunter’s do, but it’s still a character-filled minifigure.
One of the best minifigures in the set is the Dragon Master. He features all aspects of the Dragon Armour, that have appeared in other Hunted sets. Legend states the one who wears the Dragon Armour, can command the Dragons. Thankfully that honour has befallen the younger version of Wu. Yes after some time based shananigans has seen Wu vastly decreased in age. By the time season 9 comes along Wu has rapidly aged back to his teenage years. It turns out the Dragon Armour doesn’t control the Dragons, purity of heart does.
I love that the Dragon Armour is very detailed, especially the shoulder piece, which features a dragons head and scales. I also like the Sashimono aka the flag, connected to the the back of the Dragon armour, unfortunately the detail on it is achieved by a couple of stickers. Apart from that, this is one of my favourite NINJAGO minifigures.
Overall
As the biggest of the LEGO NINJAGO Dragon Hunter sets, you can expect a few hours of building time and it’s certainly a much more fun build than the Dieselnaut was. The dragon is my favourite part of the whole build, even though it only makes up a small section of the overall set. Although play features are limited, they are still fun, especially the gate mechanism, which really didn’t seem like it would control both gates simultaneously at first. Despite the sets muted colour scheme, which is necessary for the world this set is based upon, there is still little details that make the set more visually exciting. The top of the viewing platform on the central section, is packed with detail. The dragon skull chair is a great little build, which I’d like to have seen more of across the rest of the set. The selection of minifigures are also a bonus. Although the main ninja characters are a welcome addition to the set, they seem very plain when compared to the bad guys and the Dragon Master. I’d like to have seen maybe another unique villain or maybe set exclusive versions of the ninja, beyond the confusingly tiny differences on Cole and Kai. The Dragon Pit set along with the rest of the new LEGO NINJAGO sets are available now from LEGO stores, shop.LEGO.com and all good toy retailers.
These sets were provided via The LEGO Group for the purposes of review. The thoughts and opinions of the set reflect those of BricksFanz and not that of the LEGO Group.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks