Today we are talking about the set 70617 Temple of The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, one of only two buildings in The LEGO Ninjago Movie range, somewhat overshadowed by the announcement of the set 70620 Ninjago City which (logically) steals the show.

This big box of 1403 pieces sold for 111.99 € leaves me skeptical. On the one hand, I find it the usual charm of plush playsets and on the other hand, I still have a few big complaints.

The various reviews I have read are filled with fiery statements for the futuristic-medieval look of the thing. Is. Even if the overall appearance of the temple is really very successful, it is however not enough in my eyes to make it an acceptable product, except for those who will choose to exhibit this cinema facade on the chest of drawers in the living room. A good point for the door, which I find very successful.

Seen from the front and back, this temple is a pretty building that has allure. Seen in profile, it unfortunately becomes a simple slice of a temple with no real depth. LEGO, which is usually so generous with diverse and varied visuals of its products, is careful not to present the thing in this less flattering angle on the product sheet.

It's a criticism, but this presentation having almost become a signature at LEGO, we have to live with it. We will remember the other sets using this principle: 71040 The Disney Castle, 10937 Arkham Asylum Breakout, etc ... I always experience a little frustration with these constructions where the available spaces shrink as I go upstairs, but I have also passed the age of playing with them and I am not the main target of these playsets.

Some will find that it is the right size at the right price. I'd rather think this set would have deserved to see its higher retail price to get a temple deeper than a flattened dollhouse. But it is necessary for all budgets and LEGO will have decided that this temple at 111.99 € is well positioned in the range.

The real stars of this box are in my eyes the two stone lions. They are imposing and easily manipulated to make them take more or less aggressive poses. A few pieces float a little at ear level but nothing dramatic. I find them a really successful look, but it's very personal.

Let's talk about playability. I'm talking about real gameplay here, not the one usually touted by LEGO in the description of its products (... pour a coffee, send something to wash the line, put something to sleep ...). What can we do that is really fun in this temple?

A wheel allows you to raise the suspended rock and then drop it, a "blade launcher" ejects the two discs provided in the feet of the ninjas and you can open a trap by pulling the central mechanism.

The other functions based on rocking stuff are more than anecdotal and the rest is just filling spaces with lots of accessories. The fact remains that with a little imagination, this set will allow young fans to have fun, that's for sure.

Another critical point in my eyes: this set is above all a playset, it is in any case presented as such by LEGO, and its finish leaves much to be desired. Many assemblies, especially at the roof, are far too fragile to withstand the onslaught of young fans.

I understand LEGO's desire to give this temple a Japanese look, but the construction techniques used with parts that protrude from the edges of the roof and which only rest on one or two studs are a bit "light". I spent long minutes looking for a lost blue scorpion ... Same observation with the upper part of the roof, which in my opinion lacks solidity, also held in place by the two vertical lances.

On the construction side, nothing exciting. We pile up big gray pieces for the wall, and we only start to have fun with the finishes and accessories.

It is obviously not a modular even if we find here the same desire on the part of the designers to put a maximum of details in a minimum of space.

As if the designer of the set started with both "Guardians of the Temple"and ended up building the building with the remaining parts / budget quota. I'm exaggerating, I know.

The "playable" spaces are too small, at least for my adult hands. It is not uncommon to demolish something by carrying out a manipulation yet planned and documented. A detail to note for the youngest who will quickly get annoyed, the rock mechanism only works counterclockwise. In the other direction, it does not remain blocked in the high position.

Some parts of the temple are so loaded with accessories that there is hardly any room left to house a minifigure and have fun with it. The only solution is to balance the minifig on a stud with one foot on the outside, once again the fault of the overall lack of depth.

A note concerning the instruction booklet: The parts using many blue parts which are superimposed are difficult to read. An effort should be considered on this side so as not to spoil the pleasure of the youngest, such as surrounding the piece to be installed with a red or white line.

I don't even dare talk about the stickers anymore, I have the impression of rambling. Once again, large surfaces like the outline of the door are dressed in stickers that will have a hard time withstanding the ravages of time and dust.

A good point, the whole team of young ninjas is present in this box. So it's a good way to bring the team together without getting too scattered. The only villain of the set is Garmadon in Jungle version and the statue provided will probably have a role to play during the raid of the temple by the ninjas.

In the end, I say no. Even if this temple is aesthetically very successful, I think the playability is penalized by the fragility of some elements and the compactness of the whole. LEGO will have wanted to put too much in a small space and it shows in use.

I would point it out for all intents and purposes: This is not an infomercial, I am giving you my opinion on a product without necessarily taking a pinch of salt. Everyone will have their own opinion, express yourself in the comments, and there's no point insulting me by email because I don't serve the soup to the maker, which in your eyes makes me a fan of the second. zoned...

Note: We do as usual, you have until August 22, 2017 to manifest yourself in the comments.

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.

Because it takes a few baddies to stand up to this bunch of pretentious young ninjas with their robots of all kinds, today we are talking about the set The LEGO Ninjago Movie 70609 Manta Ray Bomber, with its 341 pieces, its 4 minifigs, and its public price of 29.99 €.

If you've watched the movie trailer closely, you already know that this stingray seaplane bomber with a Zodiac on its back is actively participating in the invasion of Ninjago City. It is the basic flying machine which comes in excess to darken the sky of the city.

First observation, the thing actually looks like a manta ray. The designers did the job, and whether from the front or from above, we find the curves and the expression of the batoid that everyone knows.

We add to that a color that gives it a military aspect without seeming to touch it too much, a few stickers with numbers and that's enough to create an army of mechanized flying fish.

The presence of the Zodiac on the back of the craft seemed incongruous to me at first. But that was without counting on the fact that these infamous shark-men can thus go hunting for the nice frightened civilian in the port of Ninjago City and knock them out with the on-board cannon after having destroyed half of the city by dropping their bombs. colored. A good point for the playability.

The machine seems to me here faithful to the version of the film and that is a good thing. No excessive narrowing or massive simplification. The spring rifles are really well integrated in the mouth of this bomber and the machine is easily handled.

On the minifig side, we get the young Ninja Cole, the frightened nice civilian Shen-Li with his yoke and two buckets, and two villains: one Great White and Shark Army Gunner. It's enough to have fun.

As usual, too bad for the difference in color between the arms and the upper torso at Cole's. Yellow on a black background, it's yellow less yellow ...

Those who want to build a fleet of flying rays will have a few copies of Cole to sell to amortize the investment. The other minifigs can still be used to create a large army. Regarding Shen-Li, it seems that we all have a double somewhere ...

There is nothing here to philosophize for hours but this set does the job. So I say yes for this box, it is above all a good way to get something to tickle at a reasonable price. The LEGO Ninjago Movie mechs by spraying them with bombinettes disguised as bees before zigzagging in a Zodiac in the canals of Ninjago City. An entire program.

Note: We do as usual, you have until August 19, 2017 to manifest yourself in the comments.

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.

A bridge, some rocks, a bamboo cage, a river and two scorpions, this is the box The LEGO Ninjago Movie 70608 Master Falls, with its false pre-movie set airs, its 312 pieces, its 3 minifigs (and a skeleton), and its retail price of € 29.99.

You saw it in the second trailer of the film which gives us a glimpse of the scene reproduced in this LEGO box, here is the simplified version of the bridge on which Garmadon and Sensei Wu clash, with perhaps the key to a unenviable fate for the old sage with pants off.

Once again, LEGO kept only the essentials and transformed the film bridge into a simple strip of nougat-colored caterpillars stretched between two rocky peaks incorporating a few meta-pieces. It's minimalist, but we'll do with it. Everything is symbolic in this set: the river, the vegetation, the ruins, the rocks ... There is a bit of everything but above all too little of each element.

The set will probably find its place in a "house" jungle and perhaps provide a few hours of play for young fans of the Ninjago universe even if I have the impression that when choosing between something that flies and who throws bombs and this bridge, the young fan will move towards other sets.

There are two blue Technic pins on the bridge, to easily stage two minifigs without them falling. Why blue, I don't know.

The railing of the bridge is summed up here in an alignment of a few pieces which hang in the void. They are not even connected to the deck floor. It's almost aesthetic but not very functional. You will spend time aligning the pieces that make up this railing, it will keep you busy.

Integration of three color microfigs Tan in the ruins does not save the furniture, but it is still taken.

The minifig collector will find here something to fill his Ikea frame inexpensively with Garmadon in "Jungle" outfit, the usual version of Sensei Wu and the young haired Kai.

Something definitely bothers me about Kai, probably the fact that he seems to have lost his way under an Italian ice cream machine ...

"Jungle" Garmadon is here decked out with a "camouflage" epaulet that struggles to hide its strong hairiness and that we will probably see again equip some less festive custom minifigs very quickly.

The skeleton holds a map in its hand that leads from Destiny's Bounty to the Temple of the set 70617 Temple of The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon passing through the bridge in question. This card is also logically present in the set 70618 Destiny's Bounty since the boat is according to the drawing the starting point of the quest which leads to the temple.

I am far from sharing the enthusiasm found in other "reviews" about this box. The bridge bears little resemblance to the one in the movie, and while I can understand LEGO's desire to provide a solid and playable set, it's visually very, very far from the reference scene. The use of caterpillar elements seems to me to be more laziness than creative genius.

This set could possibly come to complete the temple of the reference 70617 but it will be difficult to be sufficient on its own. Even putting the whole thing together isn't very exciting. A good point for the bamboo cell which will occupy you five minutes, the time to correctly align the bars that compose it.

In short, I pass. This set is a starter product that does not appeal to me much.

Note: We do as usual, you have until August 14, 2017 to manifest yourself in the comments.

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.

This is one of my favorites from the line of sets based on The LEGO Ninjago Movie: The Set 70616 Ice Tank, with its 914 pieces, its 5 minifigs and its retail price of € 79.99.

I'm even ready to forgive him for being once again just a budget version of the machine seen in the trailer for the film. The ensemble, with its futuristic insect look, caught my eye.

My first thought went to Plasma Bugs from Starship Troopers, find out why. This is probably what unconsciously attracted me to this tank with the appearance of a bellicose insect.

In the first trailer of the film, the original version of this tank is equipped with two sets of tracks on each side and a very elaborate suspension system. The LEGO version is less ambitious.

As usual, LEGO has therefore simplified the thing but I want to be indulgent today: the end result does not suffer too much. I was already a fan of Titanium Ninja Tumbler from set 70588 with its removable cell released in 2016, and here I find the type of vehicle that a ninja like Zane must have in his garage.

While moving, the tank spins the mixer of the ice cream vat, the blue abdomen, which contains a few parts. The functionality of this ice cream maker is admittedly anecdotal, but I found the idea pretty cool.

The rotation of the blades striking on the parts which themselves strike on the surface of the tank generates a noise which will probably please the youngest but that some will quickly find annoying. It will suffice to remove these pieces to find a little silence on the living room carpet.

The whole is held up rather well, the machine is easy to move. The blue tank is well designed, it does not fall apart at the slightest manipulation. The less careful will find their account without having to rebuild everything after each slightly hectic session.

The machine really suits Zane, Elemental master et Ninja of ice of his condition. We are in the theme, no doubt about it.

As for the planned armament, it is necessary to be satisfied with the rotating cannon located to the left of the cockpit. A gear allows the cannon to be put into action to sow coins all over the living room. It's limited, but there is a bit of fun.

Lots (too many) of stickers to stick again, mainly to dress the cockpit and the banners located at the back. But it is at this price that the whole gets a really nice look. No stickers to put on the canopy of the cockpit, that's already it. A second canopy identical to the one protecting Zane is located under the cockpit. The MOCers of spacecraft may find their account there.

As on the other sets which feature these vaguely Japanese flags, these elements are the weak link of the whole. They hamper the handling of the machine a little and have a tendency to turn and to unhook a little too easily. We can always consider removing them temporarily for an "active" play session so as not to spoil the fun.

On the minifig side, LEGO obviously provides the owner of this Ice Tank, namely Zane, a Shark Army Thug, a Shark Army Angler, Patty Keys and Torben. A single ninja for 79.99 € is not much, especially since the rest is made up of generic characters.

Regarding the two frightened civilians to protect, nothing very exciting as it stands. We will have to see what their exact role is in the film to judge the interest of these two characters and determine if LEGO is filling or if Torben and Patty Keys are doing anything other than running away from Garmadon's men.

A good point for the Shark Army Angler's helmet, if you like monkfish this is for you.

As is the case with many other sets in this film-based range, this gearbox is sorely lacking a second vehicle, even minimalist, driven by the two villains.

For maximum playability, it will therefore be necessary to extend the planned budget and purchase another set featuring the machines piloted by the shark-men such as the sets. 70609 Manta Ray Bomber ou 70610 Flying Jelly Sub which we will talk about in the coming days.

You can still have fun crushing baddies with the caterpillars of this tank, I tried, but it's fun for five minutes, no more.

In summary, the machine has style and that's what makes me say yes. Regarding the public price, it is the high bar. This box will end up being available for barely more than 50 € one day or the other and it will be time to have fun.

Note: We do as usual, you have until August 11, 2017 to manifest yourself in the comments.
Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.
If I do not get a response from him to my request for contact details before August 20, a new winner will be drawn.

This is a bit of a downside to the entire line of sets based on The LEGO Ninjago Movie. There are good ideas, but the realization is in decline, the fault of a blatant simplification of the vehicles, probably to ensure them a certain solidity and to contain the selling price.

The and 70611 Water Strider does not escape this adaptation as a rule to obtain a solid product intended for the youngest and we also end up with a machine that looks from afar to that of the film but which is in fact only an economic reinterpretation of the thing . The result: a box of less than 500 pieces, with 4 minifigs and a reasonable retail price of € 39.99.

As the official description of the set indicates, the cockpit rotates 360 °. Which does not add much knowing that the vehicle is symmetrical. The cockpit cannot be tilted, even slightly, it remains horizontal on its axis of rotation.

The canopy is not equipped with a fixing and opening system, it must be removed to place Nya in the cockpit of this "Hydro-climber". Too bad. This canopy does not have any blue reflection in the LEGO version. The part is quite simply transparent, which is a little detrimental to the visual cohesion of the whole. Re-damage.

At the front, a rotating cannon ejects round 1x1 pieces thanks to the mechanism located at the rear under the cockpit. It's fun and rather well integrated even if to vary the angles of fire it will be necessary to play with the angles of the legs, the cockpit not being orientable. And that's it, it's the only gun available. The other weapons placed around the cockpit only have an aesthetic function.

Before starting to build the machine, I could already see myself making him take the "memorable fighting poses"praised by the description of the set to stage it. I'm a little disappointed, the four legs are well endowed with a joint at the" knees ", but they are connected to the central axis in a fixed way. take the pose seen in the trailer of the film by raising the top of the legs of the machine as much as possible.

This somewhat rigid spider which seems to have escaped the late range Ultra Agents is here accompanied by four minifigs including two ninjas: Nya, Kai, Puffer and a Shark Army Thug. By the way, a small jet-ski would have been of good quality to give the two villains something to escape and optimize the gameplay.

Nya is supplied with her skirt (or her kusazuri), also simplified for the occasion. The prop is in two colors in the film, it's totally gray here. Kai is similar to the set version 70615 Fire Mech.

Nothing special from the bad guys. The polycarbonate visor integrated into the Puffer helmet is nice, you can remove the helmet without keeping the design of the visor on the head of the manifig.

In the end, we also see here that LEGO has taken liberties in adapting the machine from the film. Nothing prohibitive for the young audience who are the target of these sets, but we are still in the rough. This Water Strider isn't an exact representation of the film version mechanically and aesthetically and (I said this before) it's a real shame.

I'm not totally convinced by this set, the machine lacks mobility and the spider effect is not fully achievable with the proposed structure. The more creative will not fail to modify the system of fixing of the legs around the central axis to correct the problem.

Note: We do as usual, you have until Aug 8, 2017 to manifest yourself in the comments.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.
If I do not get a response from him to my request for contact details before August 20, a new winner will be drawn.