Ninjago

Zane's Titan Mech Battle

A big, poseable ice mech that punches well above its old sixty-dollar price.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 71738 · 2021

Pieces840

Minifigs4

Year2021

Set number71738

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The verdict

This is the one where the knee joints got me.

Ninjago mechs usually stand there stiff as a statue, and then Zane's Titan bends its legs and suddenly you can pose the thing crouching, lunging, mid-stomp. It stands around 28cm tall for what used to be a sixty-dollar set, which is genuinely a lot of mech for the money. If you love a big buildable figure you can fiddle with on a shelf, this is an easy yes.

Best for: mech fans who want a tall, poseable display figure without spending big

The full review

What it is

Zane's Titan Mech Battle is the Legacy reworking of the old ice titan, and the first time I stood the finished thing up I actually grinned. It reaches about 28cm tall, all angular pearl gold and white armor, with these dramatic wedge slopes across the shoulders and chest that give it a proper heavy, planted silhouette. What makes it sing, though, is the articulation. LEGO gave this mech real working knee joints, and if you have built the older Ninjago titans you will know how rare that is. Most of them just stand there. This one crouches, lunges, and leans, and once you start posing it you realize how much that one change opens up. The whole personality of the figure comes from where you put its legs.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the rough edges, because there are a couple. The famous one is the cockpit. Zane is supposed to sit inside gripping two control sticks, but to actually get him in there holding them you basically have to pull the front of the chest apart, seat him, and rebuild it around him. It is fiddly and a little maddening the first time. The other honest note is that the play features are minimal. There is a spinning disc shooter and not a lot else, so if you are buying this for a kid who wants a mech that does tricks, it is more of a big poseable action figure than a gadget box. And since it retired in 2023, the price has drifted up on the secondhand market, so the value calculus is not quite what it was at retail.

Who it's for

So who is this for? Anyone who loves buildable figures and mechs they can pose and display gets real joy here, and the size to price ratio at original retail was hard to beat. Ninjago fans chasing the 10th anniversary golden ninjas will want it for the Jay alone. I would steer away only if you specifically want heavy play functions or you are frustrated by finicky seating, because that cockpit will test you. For everyone else who just wants a tall, characterful mech on the shelf, it holds up beautifully.

The parts story

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

The build itself is a satisfying middle weight. At 840 pieces it never drags, but there is enough proper technique in the limbs and torso to keep your hands busy and your brain engaged. You spend a good while on the legs, and that is where the cleverness lives, because the knee and hip construction has to be sturdy enough to actually hold a pose without sagging. The torso comes together around a solid central spine, and by the time you are cladding the shoulders and chest in armor plates it genuinely starts to feel like you are assembling a machine rather than stacking bricks.

The standout detail for parts watchers is the pearl gold. A row of gold ingot pieces runs up the spine, and the 4x4 wedge slopes sitting at the shoulders read like shoulder blades, echoing the angular gold slopes down the chest. It is a smart use of a color that instantly makes the mech look expensive. The minifig printing is the other highlight: Deepstone Zane, the ghost warriors Ghoultar and Soul Archer, and the fully gold Legacy Jay produced for Ninjago's tenth anniversary. That golden Jay is the collectible here, the kind of figure people specifically hunt this set down for.

Fun facts

01The golden Legacy Jay was part of the special run of solid gold ninja minifigures LEGO made to mark Ninjago's 10th anniversary in 2021.
02The set is a Legacy remake of the original ice titan mech, but the design drops the old companion Ghost Mech and pours everything into making one much larger, more poseable figure.
03The working knee joints were the detail reviewers singled out most, since earlier Ninjago titan mechs were largely stuck standing upright.
04Released in January 2021 with a 59.99 dollar price, it retired in mid 2023 and now sells well above its original cost on the secondhand market.