Ninjago

The Crystal King

A crystal centaur golem that is more fun to build than any Ninjago fan expected.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 71772 · 2022

Pieces722

Minifigs5

Year2022

Set number71772

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The verdict

The Crystal King caught me off guard.

I went in expecting another humanoid Ninjago mech and instead got this jagged, four-legged crystal golem that looks like it wandered out of a fantasy game. The build is genuinely satisfying and the trans-dark-pink parts are gorgeous, so my only real gripe is that it wants an action feature it never got. If you like Ninjago villains or unusual creature builds, this one rewards you.

Best for: Ninjago fans who want a display creature rather than another swooshable mech

The full review

What it is

The first time I clicked the last leg into place on the Crystal King, I sat back and just looked at it, because this is not the Ninjago mech I thought I was buying. Instead of another humanoid robot with punching arms, you get a crystal centaur, a four-legged golem with a flip-up Oni mask, a hunched crystalline back, and a chest cockpit glowing with trans-dark-pink. It reads more like a fantasy creature than a machine, and reviewers were quick to compare its silhouette to the Pit Lords from Warcraft. For a 722-piece set aimed at kids, it carries itself with a lot more menace and character than the box art suggests.

The catch

I will be straight with you about where it falls short. For a big villain centerpiece, there is no real action feature. The limbs and the mask reposition, and the minifigures perch on it, but nothing swings, flaps, or fires, and after a couple of models that surprised me for a creature this size. The wings are also thinner than I wanted, just a couple of crystal blades each, so from behind it looks a little narrow and bug-like rather than imposing. The forelegs are mostly locked in place too, so the posability that the back legs promise does not carry all the way through. At its original 79.99 US dollars it was priced fairly, though, and it did retire in December 2023, so shelf copies now run closer to a hundred.

Who it's for

So who is this for? If you love Ninjago, and especially if you followed the Crystalized season and want its final boss on your shelf, this is an easy yes. It is also a lovely pick if you enjoy creature and golem builds more than vehicles, because the engineering here is the fun part. If you specifically want a mech that swooshes and shoots for play, though, this is the wrong one, and you would be happier with a set built around a real action gimmick. As a display piece it earns its space. As a toy it asks you to bring your own imagination.

The parts story

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

The build is a proper mix of creature and mech technique, and that is what makes it click. You start with the torso, then add the head, the hind legs, the forelegs, the arms, and finally the wings, and each stage feels a little different from the last. The head with its flip-up Oni mask was the highlight for me, and the way droid arms and horns get repurposed into the rib-cage detailing is the kind of clever parts use that keeps an adult builder engaged even on a kids' set. Stability is excellent thanks to the four-legged stance, so it never feels fragile once it is standing.

For parts, the trans-dark-pink is the headline. There is a lot of it here, fused right into the Vengestone warrior head molds and packed into that transparent chest canopy, and it is a color you do not get in bulk very often. Add pearl gold fingers, purple claws, and the printed Oni mask and you have a genuinely useful haul for anyone who builds fantasy or crystal MOCs. My one wish is that the King's own mask had used trans crystal parts to match the theme, because right now the most crystalline pieces are elsewhere on the body rather than on the face.

Fun facts

01The design takes clear inspiration from the Pit Lords of Warcraft, giving it a centaur-golem shape unusual for Ninjago mechs.
02It packs five minifigures, three of them exclusive, including a green-suit Lloyd found only in this set and the two-armed Crystal King.
03It launched on June 1, 2022 in the UK and Europe (August 1 in North America) and retired in December 2023, with sealed copies now trading above the original 79.99 US dollar price.