I was really enjoying this review for the amount of Bionicle-like articulation here, inclusion of various pieces I long thought had gone out the catalogue as part of the functions - was really enjoyable to watch!
This set feels like the culmination of years of experience. The previous 4 headed dragons always look kind of messy to me, their proportions often buried behind the head/neck assembly. This one is just so well defined. If this really is the last dragon before a soft reboot, it’s one hell of a dragon to go out on.
Personally I think the best four headed dragon is the legacy remake of the Ultra dragon. At first I was a bit disappointed with the different head designs but having it in person, it looks really amazing and feels very impressive. My biggest problem with this one is that the wings are way too small and don’t look great imo, I wish they used a fabric or plastic sheet piece like they do with a lot of other dragons.
@@asc3nded397 I understand that cloth wings are probably more popular and typically look nicer, but I think it's a nice touch when they stick to the classic style that the og dragons had, especially in this sort of scenario where you have lots of callbacks to older seasons. I think if the legacy version had cloth wings it would be my favorite as well, but I'm personally not a fan of the plastic ones, couldn't tell you why though
I definitely think that the abundance of minifigs helps soften the blow of the price. If this was a Star Wars set there would probably be 4 minifigs included instead.
The dragons just get better and better. I wasn't a fan of the head molds at first, but they have really allowed the look to materialize with piece counts going towards the better sculpting of the bodies. I do wish this set had cloth wings.
Despite the price I love this set. Thanks for the review, I honestly never buy a set without hearing what you have to say about it first. Your reviews always give me a really good feeling of what I’m actually getting, but still let me come to my own conclusion about how I personally value a set.
My guess with the absence of cloth wings either comes down to style, as this dragon is made out of golden metal, or the consideration that getting cloth wings to fold up consistently without dislodging themselves would have been a nightmare to get right. This is a really great-looking model.
Something about the crystal king mask that could look off, the teeth in show are white/silver whereas on the figure they’re simply molded. Great review!
I have the 2019 Ultra Dragon and honestly once I built this one I was impressed by how much more I liked it than I thought I would. If u want just wait until a sale but it's definitely a must buy.
I rlly like the wing mechanism here. Definitely agree that it looks more regal and complete without the wings. Maybe with some customization we can make more grandiose wings
For me the only downside to this set is that there is no up and down articulation to the wings. The folding mechanism is top notch but there really should have been something allowed the wings to be angled.
As you are holding it up and discussing the price, I just cannot get over about how huge it is compared to the size of the figures. I was going to pass on this, but I love Lego dragons soooo much, that I think I would be mad not to get it. Especially if this is the last we see of these characters for a while.
Definitely gonna pick this up at some point, LEGO has really been knocking it out of the park with dragons recently(aside from those 2 EVO ones. You know which ones I’m talking about) probably one of the best in the wave, super excited to get my hands on this set
Considering the last ultra dragon we got 10 years ago (didn't realize it was that old) was $84.99, adjusting for inflation, it would be $110 today, they'd probably sell it at $120, so I agree that I think for this one, roughly $130 is a better price for it, due to the roughly 30 more parts, 3 more minifigures, and more specialized pieces than the previous one in 2012. I also really like that they seemed to have listened to a LOT of the criticisms of the original set, including the cool, albeit annoying action feature for such an expensive set. I guess they recognize these well over $100 sets aren't being bought by kids, but more by teens and older, who would appreciate more poseability over an action feature. That being said, I'd 100% get this if I had the room, even though I own the 2012 version. It's just so cool, and dragons are always great.
Another case where I was very lukewarm on the build of the set, but your praise of it is making me like it a lot more. Only trouble is that painful price point... really hope it goes on sale at some point. I personally disagree with your takes on Lloyd's and the Crystal King's masks, I'm honestly just itching to get my hands on both minifigures and the masks are the highlight for me.
Wow this review has completely changed the way I look at this set, i thought it was overpriced, and i mean it is, but now it does not seem too much of a disaster as i thought it would at that 150USD price tag. Your reviews are so helpful with deciding what sets i should get! Also everyone, lets try and get this legendary review channel to at least 120k by the end of the year!
I think I figured out why the Crystal King helmet doesn't feel right... it's the teeth. The Vengestone Warrior heads have the teeth the same colour as the eyes and it makes the mouth easier to find. However, with the Crystal King's teeth being the same colour as the rest of the helmet, you can barely tell he has a mouth at all. It just kinda resembles a long, weird-looking nose...
I've always intended to make this be the last set of the wave I get. It's mostly because of the price, but also because I already have 5/7 of the wave I wanted to get and since it feels like it'd be the big set to finish the wave for me
the main issue i have with the crystal king's mask is that the 'teeth' are not painted white/light blueish gray like the crystal king is shown to have in the trailers. I have seen some custom paint jobs on the teeth of the mask and that alone makes the mask look 100 times better in my opinion.
This is a good set, the Dragon and Oni Lloyd are both amazing. But I think I’m gonna skip it because in my country (Canada.) tax brings it above 200 dollars 😬 plus all the other figures come in cheaper sets anyway.
Shinigami Llyod. I can understand why Ninjago got so popular, its the same reason why Anime is so popular, really well designed characters in time period that sorta blurs time periods Futuristic mech meshed with historical/futuristic Japanese architecture. The Monkey kid sets also stand out to me for incorporating a stylized building design that is similar to ninjago but unique in its building design (clouds everywhere) The Monkey King Warrior Mech is absolutely insame and probably the best looking robot mech set Lego has ever produced.
I think the main problem with the mask of the Crystal King is the lack of white printing for the teeth and "fur?" underneath his chin, as is portrayed in the show. I don't understand why Lego chose to skimp out on this detail when he's such a deluxe figure who appears more than almost any other minifigure in this wave of sets.
I got this set as a longtime fan who finally had the finances to justify getting an ultra dragon back in June when it was available in my country. I remember seeing reviews talking about how it didn't support itself and was slightly worried about that, but I feel that it is certainly sturdy enough to support itself and that it acts as more of a display piece than a toy to play with for me - and therefore does not need to be moved around frequently. I agree with your sentiment about the wings - they are certainly the main part of the thing I have a problem with. While the action feature is very smooth and was a joy to build, it feels slightly gimmicky and would have preferred to just be able to move them up and down and have a cloth wing structure. The action feature is very clever but feel like it would be more appropriate on a different model, one that felt more designed for play rather than display. Great review as always though, would've loved to have heard your thoughts before purchasing but it was one of the two ninjago sets that came out early in New Zealand and I got itchy feet 😅
The build of this set looks great, but the amount of pearl gold (though I understand why it's here) is just such an overload it kills it visually for me, I think it could desperately have used some more contrast or highlights. Great review as always, Jang!
Honestly, as a European Teen, I really hope this will be a similar case to the hydro bounty. Imo that was also very overpriced but eventually it was discounted and I even saw it for 70€ which was a really good deal
I really thought this set was way overpriced, as only large location sets were what mostly cross the $120 mark, but when Jang said otherwise, I seem to agree lol. Been eyeing this set since it came out in June. I tried to convince myself that I only needed the Samurai X Mech since it has better value, but I couldn't fool myself. I knew that in the future I'd want the ultra dragon too. So I just got it yesterday because I know they will both look amazing.
I would consider this a terrible value compared to something like the Land Bounty or other boats. I just like 100 dollar+ sets to have rooms, and places to put people. But to be fair, I've never been a fan of statues/mech type things. I mean how does this compare to Bowser, or those robots from Star Wars? I mean that little droid thing for 100 bucks seems comparable to this, and it doesn't even come with dudes. So are the dudes worth an extra 50 bucks? Not really.
I’ll almost always prefer cloth wings to boney wings but the rest of the dragon looks amazing, so I can forgive it. Those wings definitely are visually the weakest part of the dragon though, they don’t look like they’d be able to lift that whole thing into the air
Hello Jang $150 wow it's $235 at Lego shop hear so hopeing to get it on sale hear. $80 at Target like last eppic dragon .befor this one. 25% sale on hear atm. I got do Jo temple for 95 from $112 and Adidas shoe $95 from $112 ..$55 so dollers saveing on them to set s. I only got the motor bike. New Ninjago set atm .but getting all the new Ninjago sets just for the mini figs. 🙂👍
One of our discount stores in Australia, Kmart, is selling this for $179 which is $60 less than the official price of $239... that's a permanent 25% discount! Lego needs to wake up and realise they are going to lose a lot of customers to their competition unless they get their pricing in line with consumer expectation.
This set is barely less pieces than the justifier, but is 20 less dollars. It also comes with nine minifigs to the justifiers four...... I guess maybe the Star wars tax is still a thing in 2022??
In my personal opinion, of course everyone has they're own, I would say the price should have been closer to 130$. The current cost for minifigures (as per the CMF series) is 5$, of which there are 9, would be 45$, the throne looks like it's worth 3-4$ at most, while the dragon looks like he's worth around 80$ Edit: I just paused to make this comment before you made your personal value statement. Glad we both recognized the value before I even knew
Usually I really like Ninjago but I was never really a fan of the big 4-headed dragons, this one is definitely my least favourite though, all the golden pieces just really drown out a lot of character, and this one doesn't have enough interesting features or side builds
Think after this, I misjudged this set since it had the lower part count. Still WAY overpriced for my liking when I can get the other figures in other sets. Would be cool if this set gets a price drop, but probably wont be significant enough for me to get it. Thought the heads and too much gold would be the issues, but it seemingly works
overlord looks like hes wearing sunglasses and his mouth on the "mask" is hardly there and I say "mask" bc in the shoe he talks with his mask acting as a mouth and the figure doesn't really show that
I just bought myself the Medieval Blacksmith Ideas set for £129.99... £125 for this seems quite absurd given that it has fewer than *half* the pieces. No cloth or thin plastic wing pieces kills it. Also, I was never much of a ninjago fan to begin with but all this fake looking gold is extremely tacky to me. It only looks special if it's drum lacquered or chrome.
