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Toy Fair 2020: Ninjago
 Wednesday, March 4th, 2020 at 9:40pm by Andrew, BZPower News ManagerLife! It keeps getting in the way of posting about Toy Fair. Fear not, we haven't forgotten about it, and are back to show of another playtheme. Ninjago returns this year with a new video game centric theme called Prime Empire, featuring a lot of sets that appear to be straight out of a video game. From mechs to dragons to arcade pods, there's a lot going on with the theme. Check out our full Toy Fair coverage of the sets below. Ninjago
71699 Thunder Raider
576 Pieces.
8+
A remake of a 2014 Ninjago model, and both the tank and the mech get some nice upgrades with newer pieces and styles. The tank is very sleek and the mech is more buff than the original. 71700 Jungle Raider
127 Pieces.
7+
It's a simple green car much like the original; it's not a huge upgrade but still seems like a decent set. 71701 Kai's Fire Dragon
81 Pieces.
4+
A very basic dragon, clearly made for younger builders, but nicely captures the feel of the first year of Ninjago with the dragons. 71702 Golden Mech
489 Pieces.
8+
In what was supposed to be the final wave of Ninjago sets, the Golden Mech was the center piece of the build. Now it's being redone on a larger and grander scale, with lots of neat shapes and styles. Quite fitting for the Ninjago Legacy theme. 71706 Cole's Speeder Car
52 Pieces.
4+
It's for younger builders, so the very basic car design fits for them, but it is very generic. Still neat for the figs and some pieces like the new orange katana. 71707 Kai's Mech Jet
217 Pieces.
7+
To me it seems like a bit of a flimsy model, but it's a neat concept for a transforming mech / jet. The white / red / trans neon green color scheme gives it a sleek, futuristic look that works well for the virtual world. 71708 Gamer's Market
218 Pieces.
7+
It's clearly a minifig pack, but there's a lot of great characters here, with the highlight being pink suit Zane. The builders are unremarkable but offer a lot of weapons and accessories for the characters. 71709 Jay and Lloyd's Velocity Racers
322 Pieces.
7+
Some more fun futuristic vehicles. Lloyd's green bike is yet another Ninjago motorcycle, but I like the sleek look of Jay's jet. The trailing green elements on the back are very reminiscent of TRON and add to the virtual game feel. 71710 Ninja Tuner Car
419 Pieces.
8+
I honestly thought this was kind of a generic car with some futuristic looks, didn't realize that it also transforms into a jet, similar to the flying SHIELD Cars from the Spider-man sets. 71711 Jay's Cyber Dragon
518 Pieces.
8+
Honestly the dragon looks a bit chunky and subpar compared to the amazing models we've seen from Ninjago before. That said, it looks really good standing off against the Empire Dragon, which has a similar design making them seem like two dragons out of the same digital universe 71712 Empire Temple of Madness
810 Pieces.
9+
It looks like a sizable temple with lots of play features that make it look like a video game level. Perhaps not the greatest Ninjago temple ever, but a decent attempt. 71713 Empire Dragon
286 Pieces.
8+
This dragon has a bit of a sleeker design that works better than Jay's dragon, and the teal and orange highlights on the gray really work. Arcade Pods
Well, this was a strange concept to replace the spinner sets with. You get two figs of the same characters, lots of weapons, and a big chunky arcade game piece that can be customized with stickers and an interior display. As a completionist, I'm kind of disappointed that all the Ninjas didn't get the Arcade treatment (Cole and Nya get their generic avatar forms in the marketplace set). The giant arcade container piece is a bit clunky, but I've heard a lot of people express excitement over the element and there's lots of building potential there, so I'm eager to see how folks will make use of it. 71714 Kai Avatar - Arcade Pod
49 Pieces.
7+
71715 Jay Avatar - Arcade Pod
47 Pieces.
7+
71716 Lloyd Avatar - Arcade Pod
48 Pieces.
7+
Overall, I think this Prime Empire theme is a cool direction to take the Ninjas, giving them more of a futuristic appeal while still holding onto their Ninja roots. Some of the designs are a little bit better than the others, but it looks like there's a lot of play value. And the handful of Legacy sets also do a good job at recreating some of the more iconic vehicles from previous waves. We're still chugging through our Toy Fair 2020 pictures, which you can check out right here!
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