Ninjago

Castle of the Forsaken Emperor

A frosty Ninjago fortress with a dragon, seven figs, and a genuinely great villain story.

Brick Rated Score

4.1/5

Set 70678 · 2019

Pieces1,223

Minifigs7

Year2019

Set number70678

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This one won me over more than I expected.

It looks like a straightforward kids' playset on the box, but the ice-blue castle, the posable dragon, and that whole Ice Emperor twist give it real character. At its old ninety-nine dollar retail it was a touch pricey for the parts, and it's built to be played with rather than displayed, but the minifigs and the frosty color palette carry it. If your family loves Ninjago, or you just have a soft spot for icy castles, you'll be happy here.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want a play-first castle with a strong minifig lineup

The full review

What it is

The Castle of the Forsaken Emperor is a 1,223-piece LEGO® set from the 2019 Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu season, and it pulls straight from one of the best Ninjago stories they ever wrote. The whole thing is drenched in that frosty white-and-blue palette, with two towers, a throne room, and a white Ice Dragon coiled and ready. The Ice Emperor himself is the villain on the throne, and if you know the show you know that reveal is a good one. Even if you don't, the set gives you a proper icy fortress with a dragon and seven characters, which is a lot of story packed into one box.

The catch

Here's where I'll be straight with you. At its original ninety-nine dollar price, this sat right on the line. Roughly eight cents a piece isn't outrageous, but a good chunk of those pieces go into stud shooters, a spring-loaded launcher, and the usual play-feature machinery rather than anything you'd frame on a shelf. The core castle build is competent but plain, so if you build for clever engineering you'll find it a bit paint-by-numbers. And it retired back in December 2020, so buying one today means secondhand prices that have climbed well past what it ever cost new. That's great if you kept yours sealed, less great if you're shopping now.

Who it's for

The right home for this is an easy call. Kids who love Ninjago will adore it, because every function here begs to be knocked over and rebuilt: the throne reveal, the crossbow tower, the opening ice prison, the poseable dragon. Fans of the show get an outstanding cast, led by Akita and that memorable Ice Emperor twist. If you're a display-first adult builder chasing intricate technique, this probably isn't the set that'll move you, and the current resale premium makes it a tougher call. But as a play-first castle with a strong roster and a color scheme you don't see every day, it holds up beautifully. I came in skeptical of a licensed kids' castle and left genuinely fond of it.

The parts story

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

Building it goes in clear chapters. You start with the main keep and its throne room, which has a satisfying reveal function built into the seat, then move out to the two towers, one carrying a stud-shooting crossbow and the other an ice tower with a spring-loaded shooter and an opening prison cell. The dragon comes last and is the most fun stretch, a poseable white-and-blue beast that ties the whole scene together. Nothing here is a brain-teaser, but the pacing is friendly and the sections feel distinct, so it never drags the way one long repetitive wall would.

On the parts front, the fun is in the colors and the accessories more than any headline new mold. You get dark red shield elements worked into the roofs and walls, and the sides of the throne use those old Nexo Knights cockpit pieces recolored in blue, which is a lovely little touch. The accessory haul is the real draw: Lloyd's new-for-2019 tornado spinner and powered-up hood, Cole's katana holder, ice armor for both the Emperor and General Vex, and Akita's wolf head and cape so she can flip between human and animal. Add seven minifigs, two of them exclusive to this box, and the part-count value story leans hard on the figures. That's exactly why collectors chase it now that it's gone.

Fun facts

01The Ice Emperor on the throne is secretly Zane, the ninja team's Ice-elemental robot, who lost his memory in the Never-Realm and was manipulated by General Vex into ruling as a tyrant.
02Akita is a Formling, a shape-shifter who transforms into a three-tailed wolf, and her minifigure is the single most valuable one in the set, worth roughly a third of the whole box's figure value.
03The set retired in December 2020 and has since climbed around 170 percent above its ninety-nine dollar retail, one of the stronger Ninjago performers on the secondary market.
04It stands about 22cm tall and 32cm wide, with a play-feature list that includes a throne reveal, a stud-shooting crossbow, a spring shooter, and an opening ice prison.