I tested for you: 70620 Ninjago City

Ninjago City is the other main actor of The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The vertical metropolis in the streets of which the young ninjas, Garmadon and Godzichat clash, therefore deserved an adaptation worthy of the name in LEGO sauce, even if it was condensed and necessarily caricatured.

I built the set 70620 Ninjago City sold at the public price of 299.99 € on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores and I give you here some thoughts on what I retain, that I like or that I like less. This is not a guided tour, it is just my opinion.

Ninjago City is running out of space. So we build up and we end up with three distinct levels that stack up over the years called the Old World, the Street and the Skyscraper (It's LEGO that says it). Everyone will find there a resemblance or an inspiration coming from the universes that they know: Blade Runner, Total Recall, the 5th Element, Star Wars, etc ... Each overcrowded urban environment made up of social and architectural layers flanked by illuminated signs will do the trick to draw a parallel with this set.

The LEGO version of this city takes the characteristics of this cartoon Hong Kong to the letter, compressing spaces and themes in the process, and the whole set of more than 4800 pieces fits on a gray 32x32 base plate. So much the better for those who lack space on their shelves. So much the better also for those who will want to make the thing enthroned within their city based on Modulars. LEGO has also thought of these by integrating the necessary connection points.

No question of making here the usual comparison between the set and the film from which it is inspired. The set does not claim to reproduce Ninjago City, it offers a selection of what is there, arranged to put as much as possible in the available space. It's a best-of.

It's really Ninjago for grown-ups. And this is the marketing stroke of genius of this box: to bring teenage or adult fans to a world where they would not necessarily have set foot via a box that meets their requirements and that uses the codes and format to which all those who collect Modulars for years are now accustomed.

For once, we can really say that there is fan service on all floors. Winks to the Ninjago universe developed in the TV series, references to old ranges that only the oldest will have known (M-Tron, Galidor, Adventurers, Fabuland), parts diverted from their usual function, etc. .. The designers have conscientiously set out to seduce the adult fan, even to the point of overdose. The set becomes a tailor-made product to appeal to a very specific clientele. Whether it is a Ninjago product becomes almost secondary.

I am not going to make you a Prévert-style inventory here of what you will find in each area of ​​the set. It is the privilege of those who will offer it to themselves to discover all this during the assembly. I could also tell you that it is an exceptional product, that you absolutely must buy it, that your life will not be the same after assembling it and that it is the product of the year, end Of the history. But no, you know that I like to go there with some very personal remarks on the weaknesses of the sets that I have the opportunity to test.

For those who will not buy it and who will therefore be content to watch it from a distance, the reviews which spoil you all the content abounds. As the other would say, at € 300 a set, it can be eaten in small slices to make the most of every detail and every reference that the designers have disseminated to the four corners of the set. The real fun is there. We come to the end by telling ourselves that it is unfortunately already over and that we would like more.

Ninjago City will pass some of your others Modulars for simple suburban pavilions with its 63 cm high. It's up to you to see how to combine all this so that the whole retains an acceptable aesthetic appearance, especially at the level of the canal that circulates under the city that will have to be extended in one way or another.

This set is also a real Structure, it really has all the attributes: removable floors, access to each of the rooms and systematic filling of each of the available spaces with a multitude of furniture and accessories. Some fun features to wrap the whole thing up and the fan of Modulars will not be disoriented despite the specific theme of this construction.

The only notable difference with the Modulars usual, it is in fact a miniature city and not a single building. Everything is compressed to the extreme with inevitably some freedom in terms of surface area allocated to the different spaces to force everything to fit on a 32x32 base plate. When a bathroom is bigger than an apartment, you have to deal with ...

The pleasure of construction is very present, we quickly get caught up in the game of discovering ingenious techniques (roof tiles, visual rendering of the depth of the canal) and there will always be something acquired for future creations.

Take your time for assembly, this will be the only opportunity you will have to take full advantage of certain details of the set ... This is also the principle of Modulars : the fan will be content to know that this or that detail is there, even if it is no longer really visible or easily accessible after assembly.

You will have at your disposal three thick instruction booklets, one for each level, embellished with some preliminary sketches already seen online a few weeks ago and a few blurbs of the city and minifigs (in English). You will soon be able to download the French version of these instruction booklets in PDF format at this address.

As is often the case with this type of construction at LEGO (and in real life), the front is much more dressed than the backyard. Nothing annoying here, the whole forms a street corner and the rear has some interesting features, especially for navigation (acrobatic) between the different levels. However, the elevator would have deserved better than an apparent rack (Unless it is a faithful reproduction of the one in the film) and a simple platform that must be moved by hand.

This set lacks lighting and mobility elements to make it a product offering a minimum of interactivity. Pushing a joystick, turning a crank, moving an elevator by hand, it's like being in one of those playsets from the 80s with its rubber bands that maintain basic mechanisms.

I read a lot of fiery statements regarding the integrated cash dispenser next to the comic book store. Calms you. A manual pull tab pushes each coin from a stack of 13 bills recessed into a wall. You will withdraw 1300 legodollars once to verify that it works.

The famous "sushi conveyor belt" only moves if you activate the large lamp-shaped wheel above it and the crab oven which unleashes passions is satisfied with a mechanism that turns on itself to present two crabs of different colors depending on the degree of doneness. These functions at least have the merit of existing, but you will not play cook for long. Not a replacement rubber band, it's petty.

Two or three bright bricks would have been welcome, this condensed and colorful representation of Ninjago City and its many signs deserved better than a few stickers. Being able to light up restaurants and shops without having to go back to the cash register would have been a real plus. Like all cities of the same type, overcrowded and overcrowded, Ninjago City reveals itself after dark. Here, it's pitch black.

As for the stickers, you will have to be patient, there are more than fifty in this box. Impossible not to paste them, the general appearance really depends on these illustrations, which are otherwise very successful. Some stickers are printed on a transparent background and that's good even if they are still a little more difficult to apply due to their extreme finesse. The advantage: no difference in color between the support and the sticker.

In the end, I understand the general enthusiasm for this box. It is visually very attractive, there are a multitude of more or less obvious references to other LEGO ranges, some of which date back to Greek calendars and above all it is a Crossovers successful between a popular range (Ninjago) and a successful concept (Structure).

It does not take more for this set to be unanimous, at least on the internet. As to whether those who cracked on the first visuals will go to the checkout after reflection, that's another story.

This set is indeed a product of the Ninjago range, but it is above all a Structure moreover disguised in the colors of the film. It is only intended to flirt with adult fans and it is not a playset that can be manipulated by the youngest. The cash machine, sushi conveyor belt, and crab oven aren't very exciting features for epic adventure seekers anyway ...

Those who would like to make it Chinatown of their LEGO city will have to deal with the surreal side of construction. It is a 32x32 digest of the imaginary city from the animated film. It will therefore be a question of refining the thing to reduce its caricature side.

The few "integrations" that I have been able to discover so far are not really convincing, the set is placed in the city without taking into account any visual or technical transition. I'm waiting to see the creation of the one who will have been inspired by this condensed neo-Japanese-futuro-ninjagesque architecture to create a whole city on the same theme.

On the minifig side, this set is well supplied. Lots of civilians, a little less ninjas (Jay, Kai and Lloyd) is also good when it comes to populating a city. LEGO is providing a Neutral Head Ninja Outfit for Lloyd and the mannequins in the store will give you two sets "Spinjitzu Training"extra. Only one villain in uniform.

Among the "civilians", we get Misako (Lloyd's mother), young Tommy and Sally, Guy the guy who likes to show off, Juno who likes fashion and Ivy Walker.

You also get Konrad the crab fisherman, the old frog trader villager, Severin Black the chef who gets confused all the time with his brother known as the king of sushi, officer Noonan who rules the law, Mother Doomsday who sells comics and Sweep the maintenance robot that keeps the city clean.

If you want to meet Severin Black's brother, you will have to lift Garmadon's bathroom. Understand who can.

The endowment in minifigs is excellent, there is something to liven up the city. Ninjas, Sensei, Garmadon and other villains are anyway provided en masse in the other sets in the range.

Should we invest € 300 in this set? If you are looking for a nice display product with a maximum of references that will flatter your longtime fan ego in a minimum of space, I say yes. You will get what you pay for and you will really have fun putting it together. As a bonus, you will have a souvenir set really representative of the atmosphere of The LEGO Ninjago Movie that does not take up too much space.

If you have kids and are looking to treat them to a few boxes based on the movie to have fun with, go your way and instead look to the mechs and other gear available in the same range.

For the rest, you know what it is with LEGOs. We only really get excited about what we have not yet added to our own collection. As soon as a set hits our shelves, we already look to the next one. It's up to you to see if this box really deserves your 300 € while waiting for the next sets that LEGO prepares for us.

Note: We do as usual, you have until September 3 at 23:59 p.m. to manifest yourself in the comments.

Bonus: Following a comment, here is a photo made with the means at hand which highlights the different elements trans neon of the set under black light.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.
Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.