Ninjago

Sora's Tech Mech

A pocket sized mech that gets the pilot right, even if the machine itself stays simple.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 71807 · 2024

Pieces209

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number71807

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The verdict

I like this one for what it is honestly trying to be, a quick, satisfying build that puts a great character in a cockpit and lets a kid start swinging arms within twenty minutes.

Sora herself is the reason to care here, she is one of the more interesting new faces to come out of Ninjago's Dragons Rising era, and the mech gives her a proper vehicle instead of just standing around. I will be straight with you though, at 209 pieces this is a starter set through and through, so if you are hoping for the kind of engineering surprises the bigger Ninjago mechs deliver, this is not that set. It is best for the person who wants a fast build and a good minifig, not the person chasing part count value.

Best for: Younger builders and Dragons Rising fans who want Sora in mech form without a big price tag

The full review

What it is

Sora's Tech Mech is one of the smaller entries in Ninjago's 2024 Dragons Rising wave, a compact walker built around a cockpit that opens up to seat Sora, the tech savvy pilot introduced in the animated reboot. The build itself moves quickly, which is exactly the point. This is not a set designed to make an adult builder sit back and admire a clever mechanism, it is designed to get a mech into a kid's hands with as little friction as possible, and on that front it does its job.

The catch

Where it comes up short is value for money against the rest of the Ninjago mech lineup. Once you have built the legs, arms, and cockpit, there is not a lot left to explore, and the piece count reflects that. If you are the kind of builder who wants a satisfying number of new elements or a mechanism that surprises you, this set will feel thin fast. It is also very much a solo focused set, there is no environment or second vehicle to build against it, just the mech and its pilot.

Who it's for

Buy this one for a younger Ninjago fan who loves Sora and wants a mech they can actually build and rebuild themselves without help, or for a completist filling out the Dragons Rising wave. Skip it if you are shopping by part count value or want a mech with real building substance, the bigger sets in this theme give you a lot more for your money.

The parts story

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

The build is short and linear, legs first, then the torso and cockpit, then the arms, which makes it a good confidence builder for someone newer to LEGO sets. There is nothing here that will trip up an experienced builder, and that is by design, this is meant to be finished in one sitting without instructions becoming a chore.

Do not go in expecting rare molds or printed showpieces, this is a starter tier set and the parts reflect that, mostly common Technic and System pieces doing straightforward jobs. The real payoff is Sora's minifigure and the small greebled details on the cockpit that give the mech some personality despite the modest piece count.

Fun facts

01Sora is one of the new characters introduced in Ninjago: Dragons Rising, the animated continuity reboot that began in 2023 and shifted the show's tone and cast alongside the classic ninja
022024's Dragons Rising Season 2 wave leaned into personal mechs for several of the newer characters, giving each one their own signature vehicle the way earlier Ninjago waves did for the original ninja
03Smaller mech sets like this one are typically positioned as accessible entry points into a theme wave, priced and sized to sit alongside the larger flagship mechs rather than compete with them
04Ninjago mech sets have been a recurring format since the theme's early years, evolving from simple poseable figures into increasingly detailed cockpit builds over more than a decade