These are great if you have younger kids, or if you need to buy a gift for a young girl or boy under the age of 10 – it’s not really meant for adult or more mature builders, unless you’re a hardcore Ninjago completionist or fan. As part of Ninjago Core, the LEGO Ninjago team have introduced a new play feature, dubbed EVO which allows you to “evolve” or level-up your dragons or vehicles with brand new features. Lloyd's Journey · 70672 Cole's Dirt Bike · 70673 ShuriCopter · 70674 Fire Fang · 70675 Katana 4x4 · 70676 Lloyd's Titan Mech · 70677 Land Bounty · 70678 Castle of the Forsaken Emperor Cyrus Borg · Dareth · Falcon · Lord Garmadon · MiniPix Seven · Misako · P.I.X.A.L. · Ronin · Skylor Lloyd Spinjitzu Master · 70633 Kai Spinjitzu Master · 70634 Nya Spinjitzu Master · 70635 Jay Spinjitzu Master · 70636 Zane Spinjitzu Master · 70637 Cole Spinjitzu Master

Beginning with the smallest form, the dragon feels short and stubby, with a head that is not proportionately sized to the rest of its body. Thankfully, this can soon be fixed by progressing to the next stage of its evolution, with a single piece extending the body being enough to make this creature seem suitably sized. Add to that a longer tail and a small pair of wings, and while this dragon might not be flying just yet, it’s a lot more intimidating. The set also comes with an additional minifigure – you get 3 in the set, Kai in his Ninjago Core outfit, Cobra Mechanic and Boa Destructo, which I guess justifies the slight price bump, along with an extra 60-odd pieces. Ninjago and conflict-heavy themes aren’t really her thing, she’s watched nearly all the Ninjago animated series episodes, so she had some connection to the themes and characters which she enjoyed. It’s been a while since I’ve had to build a set at this scale, meant for younger kids, and I really enjoyed the simplicity and playability of it all. With just the right number of minifigures, and an awesome dragon that you can level up.

This is the first 4+ set to come out in the Legacy sub-theme. The other 4+ set to come out in this wave is the 71703 Storm Fighter Battle. Lloyd's Ninja Mech · 71760 Jay's Thunder Dragon EVO · 71761 Zane's Power Up Mech EVO · 71762 Kai's Fire Dragon EVO · 71763 Lloyd's Race Car EVO · 71764 Ninja Training Center · 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech · 71766 Lloyd's Legendary Dragon · 71767 Ninja Dojo Temple · 71776 Jay and Nya's Race Car EVO

I also think the minifigure selection could be improved, especially on the villain side – if you plan on getting the pair of dragons, and more from the wave, the orange Snake Warriors get old after awhile – despite unique printing, they do blend in one another pretty easily. For sets aimed at younger builders, where playability is the name of the game, it doesn’t get much better than these EVO Dragons. If you’re buying this for a younger Ninjago-obsessed builder, you simple won’t go wrong, and kids will have a blast with the new EVO Dragons. LEGO® 4+ buildable toys introduce younger children to a wide universe of their movie favorites, TV characters, and everyday heroes, helping them to understand the purpose of building steps and boosting their confidence. Flame has both, a Ninjago: Legacy remake ( 71753 Kai's Fire Dragon) and a Ninjago: Legacy 4+ remake ( 71701 Kai's Fire Dragon) exactly like the Blade Cycle, and the Storm Glider. Not counting the Ultra Dragon, the Fire Dragon is the only dragon out of the four original dragons to be remade in Legacy.This Red Dragon toy is highly posable and can move its legs, wings, tail, head, and mouth as it battles alongside Kai against Lord Garmadon. Kids can devise stories as they seek to protect the Sword of Fire. Lloyd's Jungle Chopper Bike · 71746 Jungle Dragon · 71747 The Keepers' Village · 71748 Catamaran Sea Battle Cole's Speeder Car · 71707 Kai's Mech Jet · 71708 Gamer's Market · 71709 Jay and Lloyd's Velocity Racers · 71710 Ninja Tuner Car · 71711 Jay's Cyber Dragon · 71712 Empire Temple of Madness · 71713 Empire Dragon Kai's Spinjitzu Ninja Training · 70689 Lloyd's Spinjitzu Ninja Training · 70690 Jay's Spinjitzu Ninja Training

The two snake minifigures feel just as appealing as Kai, with patterns and designs that differ between them. Anyone hoping to own one or more of the LEGO NINJAGO Core wave will collect quite a few of these and in that respect, these repeating simplistic designs may be an annoyance compared to the variety present in recent NINJAGO ranges, such as The Island. That said, there’s nothing wrong with them, and they don’t detract from the rest of the set. Lloyd's Hydro Mech · 71752 Ninja Sub Speeder · 71754 Water Dragon · 71755 Temple of the Endless Sea · 71756 Hydro Bounty Kai's Fire Mech · 70501 Warrior Bike · 70502 Cole's Earth Driller · 70503 The Golden Dragon · 70504 Garmatron · 70505 Temple of Light Of course, given the option, I think I’d rather take home the “top of the line” 71766 Llyod’s Legendary Dragon. As a return to “Core” Ninjago concepts, the EVO wave has done a great job of adding three new dragons into the lore. Admittedly, the 6+ models aren’t as complex (or expensive) as the dragon aimed squarely at the older fans. But they hold their own quite nicely and add some interesting variations into the Ninjago Draconomicon. Spinjitzu Kai · 70660 Spinjitzu Jay · 70661 Spinjitzu Zane · 70662 Spinjitzu Cole · 70663 Spinjitzu Nya & Wu · 70664 Spinjitzu Lloyd vs GarmadonI really love how cool the illustrations are here – plenty of comicbook/manga-inspired graphics, that really bring the build to life – huge props to the graphic designers who were responsible for this. 71760 Jay’s Thunder Dragon EVO Set Details This version of Garmadon is, technically, exclusive to this set. This is the first set not from 2011 to feature a two-armed Lord Garmadon, though he could be created by removing the second set of arms from the version in 70664 Spinjitzu Lloyd vs Garmadon or 70679 The Ultra Dragon.