Ninjago

Jay and Nya's Race Car EVO

A proper two-seater ninja racer with a helicopter chaser and four figures to squabble over it.

Brick Rated Score

3.6/5

Set 71776 · 2022

Pieces536

Minifigs4

Year2022

Set number71776

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The verdict

This is the set that finally put Jay and Nya side by side in one car, and honestly that small thing is what makes it charming.

It builds fast, plays hard, and the four minifigures give you an actual scene instead of a lone hero. I wouldn't call it a value champion at fifty dollars for 536 pieces, and grown-up builders looking for a challenge will breeze through it. But for a Ninjago-loving kid it hits the exact sweet spot of build-then-smash.

Best for: Ninjago-mad kids aged 7 and up who want to build fast and play hard

The full review

What it is

The thing that got me about this one is the seating. For years Ninjago cars have been strictly one-ninja affairs, and then along comes 71776 with two bucket seats sitting right next to each other so Jay and Nya can actually ride as a pair. It sounds like nothing, but if you've followed these characters it lands as a sweet little detail. The set is a 536-piece Ninjago playset from early 2022, and what you get is an armored race car with a pop-off flyer, a snake helicopter with spinning blades, and four minifigures ready to go at each other the second the last brick clicks in. It builds in an easy hour or two, and by the end you have a proper action scene rather than a shelf piece.

The catch

I'll be straight with you about the value, though, because that's where this one wobbles. The recommended price was 49.99 dollars for those 536 pieces, and that maths out to roughly nine cents a part, which is on the expensive side for a set with no big licensed hook. A lot of what you're paying for is the minifigures and the two vehicles rather than a dense, clever build. The EVO idea, where you upgrade the car partway through, sounds exciting on the box but in practice it's a swap of a few elements rather than a real transformation, so don't go in expecting engineering wizardry. And if you're a grown-up builder chasing something meaty, the simplicity here will feel thin.

Who it's for

So this is a kids' set first and foremost, and judged on that it does its job with a smile. If you've got a Ninjago fan around 7 to 10 who wants to build something quickly and then crash it into a snake helicopter for an afternoon, this is a genuinely fun pick, and the collectible mission banner that came with the 2022 wave adds a little reward-chart thrill to the whole thing. If you're an adult collector or you live for satisfying builds and tight part-per-dollar value, I'd point you elsewhere in the theme. It's a good toy that knows exactly who it's for, and it never pretends to be more than that.

The parts story

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

Building this is a relaxed evening, not a project. The car goes together in clean, satisfying stages: a low chassis, the twin-seat cockpit, then armored plating and a pair of spring-loaded shooters up front, with a small flyer that pops off the back for extra play. The helicopter is quicker still, a compact snake craft with a rotor you can actually spin. Nothing here is fiddly or frustrating, which is exactly the point for the 7-plus age range, and the instructions (paper plus the free digital app with its zoom and rotate tools) keep even a newer builder moving without a stumble.

On the parts front, the real treasure is the minifigures rather than any exotic mold. You get Jay and Nya in their movie-styled outfits, plus two Cobra-faction baddies, the Cobra Mechanic and the excellently named Boa Destructor, so the printed figure faces and torsos are the standout printed elements in the box. The build itself leans on solid workhorse pieces in ninja blues and snake reds, with the spring shooters and translucent trim doing the heavy lifting for the look. It's not a set parts hunters will raid for rare recolors, but the figure lineup alone gives it a reason to exist.

Fun facts

01This is the first race car in Ninjago history to have two seats positioned side by side, letting Jay and Nya ride together instead of one at a time.
02The set was part of the 2022 EVO wave, where completing the mission and defeating the enemies rewarded kids with a collectible display banner.
03One of the four figures carries the gloriously over-the-top villain name Boa Destructor, alongside his sidekick the Cobra Mechanic.
04It launched at 49.99 dollars in January 2022 and, after retiring, has crept above its original price on the secondary market.