Ninjago

Lloyd's Elemental Power Mech

A quick, punchy little mech that gets a kid's imagination moving fast

Brick Rated Score

3.8/5

Set 71817 · 2024

Pieces253

Minifigs1

Year2024

Set number71817

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The verdict

This is the kind of set I hand to a kid who wants to be building and playing in the same afternoon, not the next week.

Lloyd climbs into a chunky green and gold mech with a spring loaded arm, and the whole thing snaps together fast enough that the payoff never feels far away. I would not buy this expecting adult-grade engineering, it is not trying to be that. But as an entry point into Ninjago, or a stocking-stuffer sized dose of Dragons Rising energy, it does exactly its job and does it cheerfully.

Best for: kids building their first mech or fans catching up on the Dragons Rising storyline

The full review

What it is

I like sets that know exactly what they are, and this one does. It is a small standalone mech built for Lloyd, sized and priced for a younger builder or someone who wants a short, cheerful project rather than a weekend commitment. The green and gold color story ties straight into his elemental power identity, and once it is built the mech has real presence on a shelf for something this size.

The catch

I will be honest about where the corners get cut. At this piece count the model leans on bigger, simpler elements to fill out the silhouette, so if you are the kind of builder who lives for clever part usage, there is not a ton of that here. The single minifigure also means it plays best alongside other Ninjago sets rather than completely on its own, and depending on what it is discounted to, the price per piece can feel a bit steep next to LEGO's bigger box sets.

Who it's for

Get this one for a kid who is just getting into Ninjago and wants something they can finish start to finish without help, or for a completist chasing every Dragons Rising release. If you are shopping purely for piece count value or intricate build technique, put your money toward a bigger set in the wave instead.

The parts story

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

The build itself moves quickly, which is exactly the point. There is a short main body section, then the legs and arms snap on in a way that even a newer builder can follow without much backtracking. The spring loaded action feature goes in near the end, and testing it out is genuinely the fun part, it gives the finished mech a reason to be picked up and played with instead of just displayed.

Nothing here is going to make a parts collector's week, this is not a set built around rare molds or printed rarities. The value is in Lloyd himself, dressed in his elemental power gear, plus the mech's color blocked green and gold panels which are useful if you are into MOCing your own Ninjago builds. At 253 pieces it is a light bag for the price point, so the appeal is really the character and the play feature rather than raw parts value.

Fun facts

01The set is part of LEGO Ninjago's Dragons Rising era, which relaunched the theme's story after the animated series rebooted.
02Lloyd's elemental power look ties the mech into the show's central plot about the ninja rediscovering their original elemental abilities.
03Mech sets like this one are designed as an accessible entry point into Ninjago, sized to be a first build for younger fans rather than a display centerpiece.