Ninjago

Lloyd and Arin's Ninja Team Mechs

Two mechs that click into one, and the moment they combine is the whole reason to own this.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 71794 · 2023

Pieces764

Minifigs5

Year2023

Set number71794

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The verdict

This was the set that launched Dragons Rising, the big Netflix reboot, and it hands you Arin's very first minifigure alongside a grown-up master Lloyd.

The party trick is real: Arin's little mech snaps across Lloyd's chest to form one towering 31cm figure, and it looks great whether merged or split. I'll be straight with you, the combining costs you a lot of the leg articulation, and the back of the big mech hides some ugly connection parts. For a Ninjago fan chasing the new show's cast, though, five figures and a genuinely clever gimmick make it easy to forgive.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want in on the Dragons Rising cast from set one

The full review

What it is

The first thing I did when Lloyd's mech was finished was hold Arin's little mech up to its chest to see if the combine trick was as good as the box promised. It is. Arin's compact machine clips across the torso and thighs of Lloyd's 31cm giant and locks into one heavily armored figure, and the reveal genuinely made me grin. This is the set that kicked off Ninjago Dragons Rising, the show's Netflix relaunch, and it does its job as an introduction beautifully. You get a grown, confident master Lloyd and the very first minifigure of Arin, his self-taught new student, plus three villains to point them at. For a theme built on posable mechs and quick story battles, this is Ninjago doing exactly what it does best, with a fresh twist bolted on top.

The catch

There are a few things worth flagging, though. That lovely combine function comes at a cost, and the cost is movement. Once Arin's vehicle is strapped across Lloyd's hips and torso, the leg joints can only travel a short distance, so the merged mech stands proud but does not really pose. The back of the big mech is the other letdown: to make the two halves connect, the designers left a reddish-brown Technic brick and a bright blue pin exposed, and against the clean front they look like a mistake rather than a choice. The feet are styled as wooden sandals to match the Japanese-inspired look, which is a charming idea on paper, but in the hand they read as slightly awkward and I found myself steadying the model more than I wanted to. At its launch price of around eighty dollars, none of this is a dealbreaker, but it stops the set short of the top tier.

Who it's for

So who is this really for. If you love Ninjago and you want to be there from the first set of Dragons Rising, this is close to essential, because Arin's debut fig and the new-look Lloyd anchor a whole cast you will keep collecting. Kids around nine and up will get hours out of the split-and-combine play, and the five figures give the battle plenty of sides. If you build purely for engineering elegance or for a display piece that holds a dynamic pose, though, I would gently steer you elsewhere, because the frozen hips and the messy back will nag at you. Buy it for the story and the characters and you will be happy. Buy it expecting a flawless mech and you will spot the seams.

The parts story

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

The build splits into two very different experiences. Arin's smaller mech is a quick 15-minute affair, punchy and satisfying, the kind of thing a younger builder can knock out and immediately play with. Lloyd's giant is the real project, running closer to two to three hours across its seven numbered bags, and that is where the interesting engineering lives: a solid Technic core, layered green and gold armor plating, and the internal clips that let Arin's machine dock onto the chest. It never gets fiddly enough to frustrate, but there is enough going on to keep an adult engaged rather than bored.

On the parts front, this is more of a fun-elements set than a rare-parts goldmine. The standout for me is the play feature itself, the docking system that turns two models into one. Watch for smart reuse rather than brand-new molds: Arin's knee guards are actually cockpit canopy pieces first seen on the Nexo Knights battle suits and later on the Marvel mechs, repurposed here as armor, which is exactly the kind of clever sideways thinking I enjoy spotting. With 764 pieces, five minifigures and a genuine transformation gimmick for around eighty dollars, the value is fair rather than remarkable, and the recolored green and gold armor panels are the parts most likely to end up in your own builds afterward.

Fun facts

01This was the flagship set for the launch of Ninjago Dragons Rising, the series' Netflix-era reboot, and it carries the very first minifigure of Arin, Lloyd's new student.
02Arin's knee protectors are repurposed cockpit canopy elements originally designed for the Nexo Knights battle suits, later reused on Marvel mechs.
03The combined model stands about 31cm tall, with Arin's detachable smaller mech measuring roughly 13cm on its own.
04The big mech's design leans on traditional Japanese garb, from the conical hat and oversized spaulders down to the wooden sandal feet.