Ninjago

Young Dragon Riyu

A small, snappy dragon that packs more posability into 132 pieces than it has any right to.

Brick Rated Score

3.8/5

Set 71810 · 2024

Pieces132

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number71810

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The verdict

I built this in one sitting with a cup of tea still warm, and that is exactly the point of it.

Riyu is a buildable dragon from the Dragons Rising era of Ninjago, and what got me was how much movement they squeezed out of such a small piece count, the neck, wings, and tail all articulate, so the finished dragon actually poses instead of just sitting there stiffly. It will not fill a shelf or wow anyone from across the room, but as a quick, satisfying build for a young Ninjago fan or a completist tracking the Riyu story through the show, it earns its keep. I would not buy it expecting a display centerpiece, I would buy it because the building itself is genuinely fun for a smaller set.

Best for: Ninjago fans following Riyu's story in Dragons Rising who want a fast, playable dragon build

The full review

What it is

Riyu is one of the small buildable dragons LEGO rolled out for the Dragons Rising relaunch of Ninjago, and I will admit I went in expecting a simple, static figure. That is not what I got. The build uses a handful of ball joints and hinge pieces to give the neck, tail, and legs real range of motion, so once it is together you can actually pose the dragon crouching, rearing, or curled up, rather than just standing it on four legs and calling it done.

The catch

I do want to be honest about where this set sits. At 132 pieces it is small, and the price reflects that, so you are paying for a character build more than a construction challenge. If you are coming to it wanting a long afternoon of building, you will finish faster than you expect. The ball joints, while good for posing, are also the kind of connection that can pop loose with enthusiastic play, so younger kids might need a hand keeping the wings and tail seated properly.

Who it's for

This is a set for a specific person, the Ninjago fan who is watching Dragons Rising and wants Riyu on their desk, or a parent looking for a quick, satisfying weeknight build with a younger kid. If you want a big, impressive dragon for a shelf, look at the larger Ninjago dragon sets instead, this one is about the character and the quick win, not the scale.

The parts story

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

The build goes fast, and it is mostly assembling a skeleton of ball joints and small connector pieces before cladding it in the dragon's scale and wing elements. There is not much repetition to slog through, which keeps it feeling like you are always making visible progress, one small section becomes a leg, then a wing, then suddenly it is a dragon.

The standout parts are the wing pieces and the molded head and jaw elements, which are specific to the Dragons Rising dragon line and give Riyu real character rather than a generic dragon face. The ball joints doing double duty as both structure and articulation are the clever bit of engineering here, they are what let a 132 piece set pose more expressively than sets twice its size.

Fun facts

01Riyu is a central character in Ninjago: Dragons Rising, the 2023 relaunch of the Ninjago animated series, appearing as a young dragon bonded to one of the show's new heroes.
02The Dragons Rising era introduced a wave of buildable dragon sets built around poseable ball-joint skeletons, a design approach distinct from the brick-built dragons of earlier Ninjago waves.
03As a smaller, character-driven set, Riyu was positioned as an accessible entry point into the Dragons Rising line alongside larger vehicle and dragon sets released the same year.