Is Ninja one of the best eras of Classic Castle? Could be! Emperor's Stronghold: a pretty good tower. Enjoy episode two of 守備チェック(shubi no chekku)! Keep the Good Times Poppin'!
I would love a revival of the Ninja theme, one that isn't given over to gimmicks like Ninjago, I only got a couple of the sets sadly. Think it was the bandit stronghold mini set and the Emperor's Guard on horse figure set, should have them somewhere. I'd like these to return as they were a nice piece of design as you mentioned.
That Emperor Guard set is so iconic! Yeah, what gimmicks these had didn't take away from the Lego-ness or beauty of the sets. Keep the Good Times Poppin'!
So right on the unclear factions in this second wave. The first was was clear enough with the grey ninjas and shogunate against the black ninjas and red robbers, but I hazard to guess if the second ninja wave even had factions. For whatever reason, I guessed that the white ninja princess was "bad" based on the limited information offered in the lego magazines of the time.
@@thegoodtimegroup So I just looked up the theme on Brickipedia, and they claim that the emperor was evil, and the white princess and her red ninjas were good. However, the sets themselves contradict the story buy showing red ninjas serving the emperor, so my confusion was understandable. From brickipedia: "From a secret fire fortress, the mysterious Ninja Princess leads a brave band of red ninjas against the emperor. Trained by the wise Ninja Master, the red ninjas are the sneakiest ninjas around. The Ninja Princess plans to invade the emperor's castle and return the treasure to her people. Notably, this story does not seem to match the actual models, where the red ninja are clearly shown serving the evil emperor - for example, they man his boat in 3050 Shanghai Surprise. Their home base, 3052 Ninja's Fire Fortress, is also emblazoned with the emperor's symbol."
@@waderoberts3701 Thanks for the research! Jeepers, didn't realize it was a mess to that degree! Cool story which could work with the figures, but not quite with the sets. The Emperor certainly needs more servants for his boats and cannons and towers. Keep the Good Times Poppin'!
@@thegoodtimegroup One more thing. All this time I thought the red ninja master was the emperor, who looks way more the part of an emperor, but it turns out the emperor is the "samurai lord" if there's even an emperor physically represented at all. They probably just wanted to add new ninjas in different colors, but didn't pay much heed to story, which is fine since kids should be encouraged to make their own stories anyway. It shouldn't be long before y'all get to King Leo's Castle, right? That was the Lego castle of my childhood. I can't wait to see how it ranks. I can imagine the modular revolving catapult makes it quite offensive, but the hinged wall that launches treasure toward attackers doesn't do any favors for its defensibility. And of course accessibility is near non-existent anywhere outside the main keep.
@@waderoberts3701 Yeah, we really like the historicity and vagueness so characters and stories will be kid-made with just a bit of help to get them going. King Leo's is our next one! We have everything recorded; just editing. (and you're fairly spot-on!) Keep the Good Times Poppin'!
