Ninjago

Ninja Team Combo Vehicle

One big rolling ninja fortress that breaks apart into four toys your kids will actually play with.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 71820 · 2024

Pieces576

Minifigs6

Year2024

Set number71820

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

I have a soft spot for Ninjago combo vehicles, and this one leans hard into the thing they do best: build one chunky centerpiece, then pull it apart into four small machines that each get their own pilot.

The transformation gimmick is genuine fun, the tank treads actually grip and turn, and six minifigures is a generous headcount. My honest hesitation is the price, because 576 pieces for its original ask is steep and almost none of the figures are exclusive to the box. Buy it for the play, not for the parts.

Best for: Dragons Rising fans aged 9 and up who want a transforming play set, not a shelf piece

The full review

What it is

This is the 2024 entry in a Ninjago tradition that goes all the way back to the old Ultra Sonic Raider: the combo vehicle. You build one big rolling machine, and then when the play mood shifts you separate it into four smaller vehicles, each with its own driver. Here that means Sora's glider with a pair of stud shooters, Lloyd's tank-treaded off-road racer, and two motorcycles for Cole and Nya. The treads are what got me, honestly. LEGO added little rubber studs so the tracks actually grip a smooth floor and turn, instead of sitting there spinning, and that small detail makes the whole thing feel alive when a nine year old pushes it around the kitchen.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the value, because that is where this set gets complicated. At its original ask this is a lot of money for 576 pieces, and the count includes a big chunk of chunky play-feature elements rather than a dense, detailed build. On top of that, five of the six minifigures turn up in other Dragons Rising sets from the same wave, so you are not paying for a roster you can only get here. The one genuinely exclusive touch is the red shoulder armor on one of the Wolf Mask Warriors, which is a thin reason to choose this box over the smaller ones. The good news is the aftermarket has been kind, and it now sells for noticeably less than the sticker, which changes the math a great deal.

Who it's for

So who should grab this one? A kid who watches Dragons Rising and wants something they can smash together, pull apart, and stage battles with will get real mileage out of it, and the six figures make for instant two-sides-of-a-fight play right out of the box. Parents hunting for the four ninja in tournament armor should price-check the cheaper sets in the wave first, since you can often assemble the same crew for less. And if you are a display-focused adult collector chasing rare parts or a clever model, this is not the set that will win your heart. It is a toy first, and a very good one at that.

The parts story

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

Building this is a quick, breezy sit-down rather than a long evening project, and that is by design. Reviewers peg it at somewhere around an hour or two, and a lot of that time goes into the four sub-vehicles that clip into the main body. Because it is aimed at the 9-plus crowd, the techniques stay approachable, but there is enough going on with the tread assembly and the connection points to keep it from feeling mindless. Nothing here will trip up a confident young builder, and an adult can knock it out in one relaxed sitting.

The standout physical pieces are all in the drivetrain. The tank treads (part 42478) paired with the small rubber studs (part 24375) are the reason the racer actually behaves like a vehicle on a hard floor, and it is a smart bit of engineering to see up close. There is also a nice throwback in the 2515 tire, an old mold that resurfaces only every so often, here with a slightly reworked rib. Beyond the play features, the parts value is where the set is weakest: most of the count is standard system with few new molds or rare recolors, so this is not a box you crack open for the bulk-parts haul. You buy it for what it does, not for what you can raid from it.

Fun facts

01The combo vehicle idea traces back to Ninjago's early days and the Ultra Sonic Raider, and LEGO has kept the build-one-then-split-into-many format alive across many waves since.
02The set ties into season 2 of the Ninjago Dragons Rising show, with the four ninja wearing their Tournament of Sources armor.
03The only element unique to this box is the red shoulder armor on one of the two Wolf Mask Warriors; every other minifigure appears in other summer 2024 sets.
04LEGO added rubber studs to the tank treads specifically so the racer would get traction and steer on smooth surfaces rather than slide.