Ninjago

Elemental Dragon vs. The Empress Mech

Jiro the dragon is a stunner, and honestly he carries the whole box.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 71796 · 2023

Pieces1,039

Minifigs6

Year2023

Set number71796

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The verdict

This is a set with one clear star and one clear runner-up.

Jiro the lightning dragon is one of the best builds Ninjago has put out, all long sweeping curves and lightning bolts bursting from his mouth and tail. The Empress mech is fine, but it gets dwarfed so badly that the fight barely feels fair. If you buy this for the dragon, you'll be thrilled. If you came for a titanic mech battle, temper that a little.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want a genuinely gorgeous dragon and don't mind a supporting-cast mech

The full review

What it is

Some sets sell you a fight and one fighter shows up ready. That's this LEGO® set. You get Jiro the elemental dragon on one side and Empress Beatrix in her golden mech on the other, and the moment you finish both you realize the dragon just runs away with it. Jiro is the reason to own this. He's built with long, flowing curves that genuinely feel different from the Ninjago dragons that came before, and the little lightning bolt elements exploding out of his mouth, his tail and his sides give him this crackling, mid-strike energy. He's a Dragons Rising set from the 2023 first wave, 1,039 pieces, and the overwhelming majority of those pieces go straight into making the dragon look good. Stand him up on a shelf and he holds his own against sets costing a lot more.

The catch

Now for the honest wrinkles. The Empress mech is where the value wobbles. It's a perfectly nice model, poseable at the knees and ankles, wielding a big sword, and if it came in its own box you'd nod and move on. But sitting next to Jiro it looks small and a little sad, which undercuts the whole versus setup printed on the front. The other snag is the play feature. You're meant to strip golden blade wings and stud shooters off the ninja flyer and bolt them onto the dragon for an upgraded mode, and in practice that combined build can feel loose. Reviewers flagged blasters that don't sit tightly on the Technic axles, so bits pop off during rough play. At the original 129.99 dollars it's a fair but not generous price per piece, and there's the minifigure math too: Jay, Sora and Zane all turn up in cheaper sets, so you're really paying a premium for the dragon and for Beatrix.

Who it's for

Here's where I land. If you love dragons and you want the single best one from this wave without hunting the aftermarket, grab it and enjoy Jiro every single day. He earns it. Fans of Empress Beatrix will be glad too, since she's only in one other set and her prints, expression and hair make her feel properly menacing. But if you specifically wanted a big, evenly matched mech-versus-dragon clash, or you already own the ninjas from other boxes, you might feel like you're buying a great dragon with some spare parts attached. It's retired now, so prices have crept up past the original RRP, which makes the decision simpler: you're in it for Jiro, and Jiro delivers.

The parts story

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

The build is lopsided in the best and worst ways. You spend most of your time on Jiro, and it's a lovely stretch of construction: repeated ball-joint segments down the neck and tail that let him bend into real poses, plus a lot of shaping work around the head to get that snapping, alive look. It flows nicely and never drags. The mech comes together faster and simpler, with a body full of attachment points and jointed legs, and the little ninja flyer is a quick side snack. The one section that tests you is the combining feature, where flyer weapons transfer onto the dragon and don't always clip in as cleanly as you'd like.

On pieces, this is a color and effects set more than a rare-mold set. The lightning bolt elements in trans-blue are the fun ones, scattered across the dragon to sell the electric theme, and there's a nice haul of gold: golden katanas for the three ninjas, gold blade wings, and the Empress's gold armor plating. The standout collectible is the yellow dragon power element, one of a family of power cores spread across the wave that Ninjago fans chase. Value-wise, 1,039 pieces landing at roughly 12.5 cents each is reasonable rather than a steal, and honestly most of that value is sitting inside the dragon.

Fun facts

01This set is from the very first wave of Ninjago Dragons Rising, the 2023 series reboot that followed the original Ninjago show's finale.
02The yellow dragon power element inside is part of a collectible set: four more power cores in other colors plus four golden dragon energy cores are spread across other Dragons Rising sets.
03Empress Beatrix, the set's villain, appears in only one other set (71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores), making her the rarest figure in the box.
04Reviewers consistently rate Jiro among the best-shaped dragons in Ninjago's long history of buildable dragons, even while calling the paired mech a letdown.