Ninjago

Battle at the Dragon's Blade

A gorgeous dragon skull centerpiece with side builds that don't quite keep up.

Brick Rated Score

3.6/5

Set 71871 · 2026

Pieces1,017

Minifigs4

Year2026

Set number71871

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The verdict

The dragon skull with the katana driven through it is the reason to want this LEGO® set, and honestly it's a great reason.

The rest is where I get a little torn, because the dragon and the mech that perch on top feel simpler than their scale wants them to be, and the joints run loose. If you want a dramatic shelf piece from the new Duskfall story, you'll be happy. If you want hours of clever engineering, temper that a bit.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want a dramatic display centerpiece over a play set

The full review

What it is

Some sets are built to be played with and some are built to be looked at, and Battle at the Dragon's Blade knows exactly which one it is. The heart of it is a huge weathered dragon skull with a katana buried straight through it, and it's the kind of thing that stops you when you see it finished on a shelf. This is a 1,017 piece set from the new Ninjago Legends: Duskfall storyline, the far-future chapter that follows Dragons Rising, and it comes with four new characters plus a posable dragon and an Oni Warrior mech that mount on top of the skull in a few different battle poses. The skull itself uses some clever Technic work under the surface to get that organic, cracked-bone shape, and that section is easily the most satisfying part of the whole build.

The catch

Here's where I'll be straight with you. The reviews on this one have landed mixed, and I get why. The dragon and the mech that sit on the skull feel a size too small for their own ambition, so they read as simple next to that dramatic centerpiece. The joints are the bigger frustration. They're loose enough that finding a pose that actually holds can turn into a fiddle, which is a shame when posability is half the selling point. And the value is just okay. You're paying $99.99 for 1,017 pieces, most of them ordinary bricks rather than big specialized parts, so you're really buying the look and the new characters more than a deep parts haul. There isn't much here to pull apart and repurpose into your wider Ninjago world either, which is something builders raised.

Who it's for

So who ends up loving this set? If you're following Duskfall and you want one dramatic piece that captures the whole vibe of it on a shelf, this is the easy pick of the three new dragon sets and the most affordable too. Display-first collectors and Ninjago minifigure fans will be glad they grabbed it. If you build for the engineering and you want joints that stay put and side models with real depth, this one may leave you a touch cold, and one of the bigger mech sets in the wave might scratch that itch better. Go in wanting a centerpiece, not a playset, and you'll get along with it just fine.

The parts story

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

The build splits into three chunks, and they're not created equal. The dragon skull is the star and it's where the good stuff lives, with Technic elements hidden inside to shape that cracked, hollow-eyed look and give the katana somewhere solid to anchor. It's a genuinely fun section to work through. The dragon and the Oni Warrior mech come together faster and simpler, and because they're small for their role you'll breeze past them without much of a challenge. Then it's the posing stage, where you slot everything onto the skull in one of a few battle arrangements. Nice in theory, a little fussy in practice thanks to those loose joints.

On the parts front there's real news for collectors. The headline is the katana holder (part 8011), a hip-worn scabbard that finally lets a minifigure carry a blade at their side instead of clipped to their back, and you get one in dark red and one in black with a spare of each. There's also an updated mech chest plate (part 8091) with a deeper cutout and cleaner layering than the 2017 Nexo Knights version it replaces. The four minifigures carry fresh prints and a couple of new head molds, including Mira's hooded piece and the Oni Warrior's horned mask. Fun detail: Jin and Mira are essentially new faces on the Kai and Nya bodies, with swappable expressions. Beyond those highlights the parts list is mostly standard fare, so the value story here is the new molds and the characters more than a pile of rare recolors.

Fun facts

01Duskfall is set in the far future, well beyond Dragons Rising, and follows a whole new generation of ninja led by Jin and Mira.
02Jin and Mira are effectively next-generation versions of Kai and Nya, with the minifigures using swappable faces to transform the classic duo into the new characters.
03The long-awaited katana holder (part 8011) debuts here, letting minifigures finally wear a sheathed sword on the hip instead of on the back.
04At $99.99 it's the most affordable of the three Duskfall dragon sets, sitting below The Twin Titan Mechs and the larger Ultra Dragon Battle.