LEGO Ninjago City Gardens, Nya’s Samurai X Mech, and Lloyd’s Golden Ultra Dragon Review

Nya’s Samurai X Mech is a fun and easy to build set that will net you the titular mech, a crystal dragon, and 8 highly detailed minifigs, including maser Wu, Samurai X (aka Nya), Golden Jay, Lil’ Nelson and some wild looking baddies, like General Python and Oni Garmadon. Nya’s Mech is well articulated, including possibility at the head, shoulders, elbows, thighs, knees, and ankles. The sturdy ratchets make sure to keep everything solid and upright. Though the ankle ball joints have a lot of weight to support, LEGO thought of this and engineered in a catch for each foot. You can fire missiles from the shoulder armor, and open the cockpit to situate Samurai X inside. The crystal dragon is simple, but has just enough poseability to be very expressive. The head can come off a little easily if you’re not careful. 

Next up we have Lloyd’s Golden Ultra Dragon. The main event of this set is the 4 headed dragon, but you also get 9 minifigures, including gold versions of all 5 Ninjas with their elemental weapons, and 4 crystalized bad guys, one of whom has 4 arms! Each head on the Golden Ultra Dragon can be posed independently, and the heads have distinct sculpts. Ratchets at the shoulders and thighs keep this guy stable, while ball joints at the feet offer you the ability to pose flat footed in just about any pose. There’s also articulation in multiple points at the tail and necks. Lastly, twist the bladed knobs to spread the dragon’s wing blades. Unfortunately, the wings do not flap up and down, but the tradeoff is greater stability. Also, be mindful of a couple parts here and there that can fall off and get lost without a watchful eye.

Last, but certainly not least, is Ninjago City Gardens. This is a stunningly ambitious and complex set, full of so much detail that it’s pretty much visual overload, and we love it! The uniformity of the clear blue bricks in the base is broken up by brown, green, and black bricks underneath, really giving the illusion of a riverbed. As you build each layer, you get to relish in all the minute detail of every space. Some examples include an arcade, a museum, ice cream shop, noodle restaurant, and much more. City Gardens is full of little secrets that the instructions make your privy to every step of the way. While there are a ton of stickers for this set, the added life it brings to the city through signage, posters and the like makes the effort well warranted. To top it all off, you get nineteen minifigures, featuring some of your favorite Ninjago characters in streetwear, and at different points in the Ninjago timeline. If you’re looking for a scenic set that will be a pet project of yours for days or even weeks, seek this one out. It is quite tall though, so make sure you have a place to display it when you’re done!