Ninjago

Journey to the Skull Dungeons

A small, scrappy dungeon crawl that punches way above its price tag.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 71717 · 2020

Pieces402

Minifigs4

Year2020

Set number71717

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The verdict

This is one of those sets that never tries to be the hero of the shelf and ends up winning you over anyway.

It is a modest slice of the Master of the Mountain storyline, but the button-triggered floor trap is genuinely fun to reset and trigger again, and the minifigure lineup is stacked for the price. I would not buy this expecting an epic centerpiece build. I would buy it for the four hard to find figures, the price per part, and the fact that it plays with the bigger sets in the wave.

Best for: Ninjago collectors filling out the Master of the Mountain wave on a tight budget

The full review

What it is

I will be honest, the first time I opened this one up I expected filler. What I got instead was a tight little dungeon segment with a floor panel that pops a minifigure into the air when you press a hidden button, and I found myself resetting it and triggering it again just for the fun of it. It is built around the Master of the Mountain storyline, so it slots into the bigger sets in that wave like a puzzle piece, which is a smart way to get people buying more than one box.

The catch

Where it earns real caution is scale. At 402 pieces and two short stretches of path, this is not a display centerpiece, and if you are picturing a sprawling dungeon complex you will be disappointed. The build goes together fast, which is great for a younger builder but means there is not much of a construction challenge here for someone who wants an afternoon project.

Who it's for

I would point this at collectors who care about minifigures and part value over spectacle. Four figures, including a villain in Murt that does not show up everywhere, and a handful of printed and scarce pieces, add up to a genuinely good price per part. If you are chasing an impressive standalone build for the shelf, skip it and put your money toward one of the bigger sets in the same storyline instead.

The parts story

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

Putting this together took me less than an hour, which tells you a lot about who it is for. It is not a meditative multi-session build, it is a quick, satisfying snap-together session that a kid can finish start to finish and then immediately start playing with, which honestly might be the whole point of a set like this.

The standout here is the minifigure roster more than any single piece. Hero Nya, Hero Jay, and Hero Lloyd come in the newly designed ninja suits mixed with knight-like armor, and the printed shield details are sharper than I expected for a set at this price. Murt rounds things out as a villain figure that is genuinely tricky to find outside this box, and combined with a few scarce and printed elements, the part count does real work for the price you pay.

Fun facts

01The set was designed by Freddy Charters and released August 24, 2020 as part of the Master of the Mountain subtheme.
02It launched at 401 to 402 pieces (depending on source count) for $29.99, working out to well under 10 cents per piece once minifigures are factored in.
03The floor trap play feature ties directly into the larger Master of the Mountain sets, letting builders combine several sets into one connected game board.
04BrickEconomy tracks the sealed set trading well above its original retail price since retirement, reflecting steady collector demand for the included figures.