Ninjago

Destiny’s Bounty - Race Against Time

The ninja ship reborn as an airship, and honestly it flies.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 71797 · 2023

Pieces1,741

Minifigs6

Year2023

Set number71797

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The verdict

The Destiny's Bounty has been rebuilt more times than I can count, but turning it into a proper airship with a real dragon curled into the bow is the version that won me over.

At 1,741 pieces it's a genuine afternoon build with clever play features and six solid minifigures. My one grumble is the price, which sits a touch high for what you get, and none of the figures are exclusive. If you love Ninjago or you just want a big display ship with wings, this one earns its shelf.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want the definitive flying version of the Bounty

The full review

What it is

The Destiny's Bounty is basically Ninjago's Millennium Falcon. It's the ship that keeps coming back, redesigned for every era of the show, and this 2023 LEGO® set is the one where it finally takes to the skies for real. Instead of a sailing ship with a dragon head bolted on, 71797 is a full airship with posable sails, 360 degree rotating engines, and a living dragon named Zanth curled into the front of the hull as the figurehead. That dragon is the part that got me. The way it nests into the bow, with the head sticking out over the water and the body tucked into the structure, is one of those builds where you finish a section and just grin at how neatly it all clicks together.

The catch

This is a big set. 1,741 pieces, roughly four hours of building, and a finished ship that has real presence on a shelf. The play features are where it earns its keep for younger builders. The whole roof lifts off to reveal a navigation room and a little playroom complete with an arcade machine, there are stud shooters tucked into the back, and the engines actually swivel. It's designed to be flown around a bedroom, not just admired, and it does both jobs well.

Who it's for

Now for the honest part about the money. At 159.99 dollars this is the most expensive version of the Bounty LEGO has ever made, and the value only lands as just about fine rather than great. The piece count works in its favor, but a lot of those pieces are small and the ship uses its bulk cleverly rather than densely. The bigger sting for collectors is the minifigures. You get six of them, Master Wu with his staff, Arin, Sora, Lloyd and Kai in their Merge outfits, and the villain Rapton with an Imperium sword, plus Baby Riyu. They're all lovely, but every single one shows up in cheaper sets elsewhere, so you're not paying a premium for anything exclusive. If you want the definitive flying Bounty and you'll actually display or play with it, grab it and enjoy the dragon. If you're purely chasing figures or hunting bargain parts, you can do better by shopping around. For Ninjago fans though, this is the ship you've been waiting to see fly.

The parts story

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

The build breaks into satisfying chunks. You start on the hull and the internal rooms, which is where the surprise sits, because the interior gets as much love as the exterior with a navigation room and a full arcade playroom hidden under the removable roof. From there you work outward to the sails, the swiveling engine pods, and finally the dragon figurehead, which is the highlight of the whole session. Zanth clips into the bow with a genuinely smart connection, and getting the head to sit right over the front is the moment the ship stops being a hull and becomes the Bounty. Pacing stays lively throughout because you're always moving to a different sub-assembly rather than repeating the same rows.

On the parts front, the standout is a brand new grappling hook mold made from the same bendy rubbery material as the bent equipment whip, with a standard 3.18mm bar handle, handed to Arin and Rapton. There are a handful of tempting recolors scattered through the ship, but here's the catch builders keep flagging: they turn up in ones and twos, not in bulk, so as a MOC parts donor this set is too big and pricey to justify. The value story here is really about the finished model and the play features, not a treasure chest of rare elements. You're buying a great ship, not a bargain bin of exotic parts.

Fun facts

01This is the version of the Destiny's Bounty that appears in Ninjago: Dragons Rising, debuting on screen in the episode The Merge: Part 2.
02The Bounty is Ninjago's most frequently remade vehicle, rebuilt across nearly every era of the theme, and this is the first time it was designed as a true flying airship rather than a sailing ship.
03The dragon Zanth actually functions as the ship's figurehead, with its head extending out over the bow and its body built into the hull structure.
04Baby Riyu, the tiny dragon included as a separate brick-built model, became one of the breakout mascots of the Dragons Rising era.