Ninjago

Arin's Ninja Off-Road Buggy Car

A scrappy little buggy that punches above its piece count.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 71811 · 2024

Pieces267

Minifigs2

Year2024

Set number71811

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The verdict

I picked this one up expecting a filler set and ended up genuinely charmed by the buggy itself, the wide stance and exposed engine block give it more personality than most sets twice its size.

It is not going to blow anyone away with rare parts or a jaw dropping build sequence, but it does exactly what a mid range Ninjago vehicle is supposed to do, it gives you a fun, sturdy, playable model and a couple of decent minifigures for a fair price. Builders who want a display centerpiece should look elsewhere in the range. Builders who want something a kid can actually grab off the shelf and crash around the living room will get a lot of joy out of this.

Best for: Kids and casual Ninjago fans who want a playable buggy, not a shelf trophy

The full review

What it is

This is one of those sets that does not try to be more than it is. It is a buggy built for Arin, one of the new faces from Ninjago's Dragons Rising era, and it leans hard into that scrappy, off road, thrown together by a mechanic energy. The wheel arches are exaggerated, the roll cage is prominent, and there is enough greebling around the engine area that it reads as a working vehicle rather than a toy shaped like one. I like that it does not hide behind stickers to sell the design, the shaping does the work.

The catch

Where it earns its honest caveats is scope. At 267 pieces this is squarely a mid tier set, so do not expect the kind of layered building experience you get from the bigger Ninjago mechs or temples. The build itself moves fast, which is great for a younger builder wanting a quick win but a little thin if you are used to slower, more technical Ninjago vehicles. It also sits in a busy part of the range, so it is competing with plenty of other buggies and bikes at a similar price point, and a few fans online felt the color scheme runs a touch loud for their taste.

Who it's for

I would put this in the hands of a kid who is into the Dragons Rising show and wants a vehicle they can actually play with, not just look at. It also works fine as a small side purchase for adult Ninjago collectors filling out a vehicle shelf. If you are chasing complexity or a big centerpiece build, save your money for one of the larger sets in the wave instead.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build goes together quickly and in a logical order, chassis first, then the roll cage and engine detailing, then the panels that give the buggy its shape. It is a comfortable build for a solo afternoon rather than a multi session project, which suits its target audience of younger or newer builders. There is enough sub assembly work in the suspension and wheel mounting to keep it from feeling like a pure block stack, but nobody is going to call this a technical showcase.

The parts themselves are practical rather than flashy, mostly standard Ninjago era elements in the set's signature color palette, with the wheels and tires doing a lot of the visual heavy lifting for that off road look. The minifigures are the real value add here, Arin comes with his own printed detailing tied to the character's design from the show, and the accompanying opponent figure gives the set an actual reason to exist beyond just a vehicle, you get a small conflict scene out of the box rather than just a car with nowhere to go.

Fun facts

01Arin is one of the new lead characters introduced in the Ninjago: Dragons Rising era, which relaunched the show and the toy line's cast alongside longtime ninja favorites.
02The set is part of a wave of smaller, vehicle focused Ninjago sets designed to give each new character their own signature ride at an accessible price point.
03Off road buggy designs like this one recur across Ninjago's history, they are a reliable format for the theme because the exaggerated wheel arches and roll cage let designers pack in personality without needing a huge part count.