Since there are currently no new episodes of the popular NINJAGO TV series airing, the current wave of sets takes inspiration from the overall world of LEGO® NINJAGO instead of a particular storyline. The aim is to capture a new age range as well as shaping the design and connectivity of the all early 2022 sets. But that doesn’t mean they have left behind the creativeness we’ve come to expect from NINJAGO sets. A series of vehicles that combine to create a larger mech is certainly creative. Think of the Power Rangers’ Megazoid just in LEGO form. As awesome as that sounds, does it also create a decent NINJAGO set? Let’s find out with a closer look at set 71765: Ultra Combo Mech.
Product Details
Kids aged 9+ will be thrilled to play out hours of enthralling ninja action with this Ninja Ultra Combo Mech (71765) – a 4-in-1 vehicle playset. This mech toy is the ultimate fighting machine and consists of a mech, car, tank and jet that can all be played with separately.
Premium building set packed with minifigures
This Awesome toy includes 7 minifigures: Kai, Jay, Zane and Cole, plus Wu Bot and evil snake duo Cobra Mechanic and Boa Destructor for kids to create awesome battles. New for January 2022, when kids defeat the ninjas’ enemies and complete their mission, they are rewarded with a collectible banner.
Building sets to fuel the imaginations of ninja fans
NINJAGO® toys lure kids away from their screens and into an enthralling world of fantasy action. Here they can team up with their brave ninja heroes to battle the forces of evil with an extensive collection of building sets including mechs, dragons and temples.
- Set Name: Ninja Ultra Combo Mech
- Set Number: 71765
- Pieces: 1104
- RRP: £74.99/$79.99/79.99€
- Number of Bags: Bags x 8
- Stickers: Sheet x 1
- Minifigures: Kai, Jay, Zane, Cole, Cobra Mechanic & Boa Destructor plus Wu Bot
- Instructions: Booklet x 1 + LEGO Building Instructions App
- Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
NINJAGO is no stranger to mechs, the theme is largely populated by them as well as vehicles and the odd temple. But there haven’t been that many mechs that are made up of individual vehicles. So at the very least, this is a unique take on a popular NINJAGO trait. The format seems to be inspired by the popular Japanese centric concept of super-sized robots, created by teams of heroes. So think of Zoltron or Power Rangers’ Megazoids. There is a single sheet of stickers (which I forgot to take a picture of) and a special mention must go to the instructions, which have some great illustrations of the various vehicles.
The set features 4 themed vehicles that are built independently but can also be combined to create the larger Ultra Combo Mech. As expected from a character-focused theme such as NINJAGO each of those vehicles is themed around four of the ninja characters including Kai, Cole, Zane and Jay. But every good hero needs a bad guy to face off against and this set features the return of a snake-like foe. The Snake Warriors have an almost animal-like vehicle. It has like-leg appendages in place of the usual wheels. These legs use the new angled rotated plate introduced in the new NINJAGO sets. Although they don’t offer any sort of movement abilities, they do provide an interesting shape to incorporate into builds. Another unique element is a hinged plate, it’s a sort of chest plate but here it’s used as a cover for the cockpit of the snake tank.
Kai’s Mech
As mentioned, the combo mech is created from different vehicles. The vehicles are all built separately and are builds in their own right. The biggest of them is Kai’s Mech. This acts as the core of the larger mech. It’s quite a chunky build with jointed legs offering limited movement and a section in the central area where a minifigure can be placed. Although it’s sort of lost behind the fins on the chest section. Now the arms seem a little on the small side compared to the rest of the mech’s body. I guess it’s because they need to make way for other sections once they are added. The one holding the sword doesn’t look too bad. But the empty arm/hand feels a little odd. Mechs are closely associated with Kai, with various different sized creations featuring in past sets including The LEGO NINJAGO Movie.
Zane’s Tank
Zane’s vehicle is best described as a tank but is built in two sections. Each side of the tank is almost a mirror of each other. The elongated shape of each section is tipped with a section that can be folded over to create a foot. In vehicle mode, this section does look a little odd. Although both sides are very similar, there’s a slight difference with the cockpit areas. One has a clear angled canopy, with the other being left open. One of the best features of Zane’s tank are the tracked wheels. Piecing all the links together can be a little tedious but the end result does look great. Both sections of the vehicle are connected together with a pair of Technic pins. These are secure enough to hold them together but make it easy enough to split apart. Unlike Kai’s mech, Zane’s past vehicle connection is a lot more varied. But the tank could also be loosely tied to his movie vehicle. However, it does follow the same colour scheme as other vehicles, matching that of Zane’s outfit.
Cole’s Driller Car
In a similar fashion to Zane’s vehicle, Cole’s offering is also crafted from two sections which connect to create the final vehicle. In this case, it’s a pair of drill-tipped pods. Cole’s earth-based powers also see his crafts featuring drilling equipment so it’s not surprising, that’s also the case here. The gold-coloured drills combine nicely with the large plastic wheels featured on each side of the vehicle. Unlike Zane’s tank, only one part of Cole’s drilling machine features a cockpit. It uses the same angled canopy as the other vehicles. However, I found it annoyingly easy to detach it simply by holding the set. Even more so it’s in just the wrong place for when you are splitting the two sides apart. Every single time I did, the canopy fell off. Nothing major but quite annoying.
Jay’s Jet
Jay’s vehicle is a flying craft, which is sort of a glider jet. He’s piloted a few jets in previous sets, but none of this scale. It’s quite small compared to the other vehicles and although it’s mainly blue in colour, it’s an odd darker blue. Normally, Jay’s vehicles or other associated sets are a much brighter blue. I guess it does combine better with the rest of the colours found on the mech, but it feels at odds with the character’s normal style. The various stickers used on this section of the build, add a great bit of extra detail to what is largely a fairly simplistic build. One of the collectable elements of the current line of NINJAGO sets is banner flags. There are two found in this set and they are attached to Jay’s jet and also become quite prominent with combined into the mech.
Ultra Combo Mech
With every vehicle complete you have the option to combine them together to create the Ultra Combo Mech. It’s very much inspired by the Megazoid from Power Rangers. The instructions guide you through the process and begins with Kai’s Mech. The legs fold upwards behind the mech and then unclip at the knees. This creates a new connection point on each leg to which Zane’s vehicle is added. This is split apart and each half becomes the lower half of the mech. The front section folds over to become a foot. The same happens with Cole’s vehicle, once it’s split in two they become arms of the mech. This requires a couple of pin sections to be popped out of Kai’s Mech and then they are used to secure the drill arms. Oddly, the arms of Kai’s Mech remain in place.
Finally, Jay’s vehicle becomes part of the back section of the Ultra Mech as well as its head. Each wing is detached to become epic shoulder plates, with the central part of the glider attaching the rear of the mech and its front section looping over the shoulders to become its head. The final result is obviously a much bigger set and adding the various sections is easy enough to do. I would say the mech does feel a little wobbly. The legs seem sturdy enough but I would expect it to easily topple if not stood correctly.
There are seven characters featured in the set, including four of the main ninja. Although not inspired by a season of the animated show, the ninja each have new outfits. They are largely similar to their usual appearances and match the colours you’d expect each of them to wear. On Kai, Cole and Jay’s robes, they each feature patterned detail that begins on the right side of the chest and this flows onto the legs. They have different coloured right arms, this is a simple yet effective detail. Zane’s outfit is similar but has a lot more detailing on the torso. As well as having their own weapon each of the ninja also includes a different coloured sword.
Wu Bots were first featured in the Hydro Bounty set and are a nod to the LEGO Alpha Team theme’s character called Tee Vee. This is basically a TV with legs, and the Wu Bot version is very similar. The printed screen features a face similar to Master Wu’s but loses the hat in favour of a couple of stud shooters. The land of Ninjago has been attacked by a number of snake-like foes and they have returned for this special wave of sets but don’t appear to be linked to any previous clans. They have a similar look and colouring to the Pyro Vipers. The print detail on their outfits is extremely detailed and certainly more jazzy than any of the past snake clans.
Review Round-up
The way each of the ninja vehicles has been crafted to be builds in their own right as well as being part of the larger build is quite clever. There are some obvious traits in each to allow them all to combine but these features have been incorporated into the build quite well. Admittedly some are better than others. The combined mech is quite cool, although it feels a little unsteady, yet robust enough not to fall apart when being readied to be combined or once it is all connected together. It’s a shame not all of the ninja were included in the combined mech as that would have provided an excellent set, especially as the wave is deemed a soft reboot for a new age range.
For
+ The way all vehicles combine is clever
+ Another Wu Bot
+ Ninja outfits are quite cool
Against
– Transformed mech is a little wobbly
– Not all ninja characters are included in the mech
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This set was requested and provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
