Review: LEGO Ninjago 71763 Lloyd's Race Car EVO

Today we are very quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ninjago set 71763 Lloyd's Race Car EVO, a small box of 279 pieces which will be available at the public price of 29.99 € from January 1, 2022. The designers of the wave of Ninjago products which will be marketed at the beginning of next year have confirmed, this series of boxes does not is not directly based on a particular arc of the saga and it is therefore more or less timeless products that pay homage to old references by trying to bring them a touch of modernity and modularity under the name EVO.

The Lloyd vehicle in question here is probably not unknown to you, you have necessarily come across the sets somewhere 70641 Ninja Nightcrawler (2018) et 71700 Jungle Raider (2020). We therefore find here the green body dressed in golden elements characteristic of Lloyd's favorite car and LEGO promises us a "transformable" vehicle that would go from the state of a simple buggy to that of a "more powerful and faster" vehicle thanks to adding some decorative elements.

It is not in reality, we simply go from a vehicle that is not finished to a machine loaded with various and varied elements that give it an acceptable appearance. This nickname EVOutivity will perhaps amuse the youngest, but there is in my opinion not enough to make it a major feature of the product knowing that the passage from one stage to another is only identified by the change of bag and does not arise from a possible challenge.

The final vehicle is also rather convincing when it is equipped with all the elements presented as "modular" and covered with the half-dozen stickers provided. It has allure, it remains easy to handle without breaking everything and it will just be necessary to put up with the canopy which does not completely cover the cockpit. at 30 € per product, you shouldn't expect mechanical refinements like steering or suspensions.

To be able to play with two people with the contents of this box, LEGO provides something to assemble a mini-quad piloted by Cobra Mechanic. The machine is not very exciting and it is a bit painful to see alongside the big green car but it at least has the merit of being provided and offering playability to the product. Still in the gameplay area, we get three new Stud Shooters two of which are placed on the hood of Lloyd's vehicle, the third one being a version designed to be held in the hand by a minifigure.

The principle of this accessory remains the same but its design has evolved and this angular aspect allows an integration without doubt more discreet than usual. Those Stud Shooters are always delivered disassembled in two parts to be assembled, the firing pin being larger than in previous versions and therefore less likely to get lost during assembly. Nothing to say about their operation, it always works and LEGO will generalize their use in this range from the beginning of next year. The accessory will also be found in other ranges, for example in the LEGO DC set 76181 Batmobile: The Penguin Chase.

Another detail presented as a playful novelty: the presence of new flags in the various boxes which are planned for the semester 2022. It will obviously be a question of encouraging children to collect these pad-printed objects distributed in the different sets, other ranges are regularly entitled to this type of collectible coins to motivate the purchase of all the references available on the shelves, fans of the Harry Potter universe who are still chasing the Chocolate Frog cards know something about this. Eight different banners are currently available, so you will have to break the bank to bring them together. The graphic designer has done his homework correctly, the designs on these banners are attractive.

Three minifigs are delivered in this box: The owner of the vehicle, Lloyd, and two opponents: Cobra Mechanic and Python Dynamite. The pad prints are successful, LEGO provides a mask and hair for Lloyd, the three characters are well equipped with various accessories, everything is there. Lloyd's minifig is not exclusive to this box, it is only found with its mask in the sets 71757 Lloyd's Ninja Mech et 71767 Ninja Dojo Temple, and complete with her hair and her mask in the set 71766 Lloyd's Legendary Dragon .

In short, this product sold for 29.99 € offers plenty of fun without having to go back to the cash register and that's already a good thing. Car race, clash with shots Stud Shooters, the possibilities are there. The marketing argument of the evolutionary vehicle seems a little pretentious to me, the intermediate versions look more like assembly stages than separate vehicles and this very relative modularity only takes the object from a basic structure a little stripped down to an acceptable finish. In the end, this "generic" set still remains in my opinion a good product which should delight young fans who arrived late in the Ninjago universe and who are looking to build a collection.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at December 22, 2021 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.