2516 Ninja Training Outpost
Price: $4.99
Price Per Piece: $.11
Minifigures: 1
LEGO Description:
Walked by Target a while back when someone here reported that they were putting out their NinjaGo sets and I was inexplicably drawn to them. This is the least expensive of the Ninjago sets, but sadly not the smallest. The smallest belong to the little booster packs with one minifigure and a few accessories.Help Cole master the art of spinjitzu!
A calm, steadfast and strong ninja, Cole spends much of his time mastering the spinjitzu element of earth. Help him learn to fight using all of the weapons in his collection so that when the time comes, he'll be ready to take on the skeleton army! Set includes Cole minifigure and 5 weapons, scorpion, weapon holder and target. Includes Cole minifigure Features 5 weapons: sword, spear, bow and 2 knives Train the scorpion to fight for the ninjas! Practice your aim with the target! Master all 5 weapons! Ninja Traning Outpost measures over 3'in tall (7cm) and 2'in (5cm) wide
This is going to be quite the quick review. There is not much to this set. It consists of one minifigure, a ninja named Cole, which doesn't really sound like a ninja name, his tiny training outpost, which is just a weapon stand and a target. Really, there is not much here.
Minifigures
Now onto the aforementioned ninja named Cole.
Here is he is unmasked. He has quite an odd facial expression, a mix between glaring and trying to stare you down. He also has the most caterpillar looking eyebrows in the world.
On the plus side he has quite the unique printing. If you know anything about ninjas and LEGO you would know that this is their third incarnation of ninjas. The first, in their original Castle line looked like this (had to use a third party image, I do not own any myself.)
(courtesy of Brickset)The details are pretty stark. The printing is a bit more bold and well defined, and the eyes are completely different. The only thing that remains the same is the head wrap.
The next incarnation of the ninja came in series 1 of the collectible minifigures.
The printing is pretty close to the newer one, and the face is definitely more similar to the newer than the old.
Now back to Cole.
The only way he is entirely similar to the previous incarnations of the ninjas, along with the head wrap, is that Cole has absolutely no backprinting. This is probably good for a ninja though. I can't imagine defining features are something that is to be desirable for a ninja.
Accessories
A big selling point for the NinjaGo set is that each set comes pretty well stocked with a large assortment and number of weapons of all kinds. The Ninja Training Outpost is no exception. In his arsenal, Cole has at his disposal a sword, two knives, a spear and a bow. The only odd thing I can find here is that there is no quiver for the bow. I understand that the quiver doesn't fit with the head wrap, but just including it would have been nice.
Build
Normally this part of the review would be the meat and potatoes, but this set is just a step up above a polybag set, and the build really is not much. It can pretty much be captured in two shots.
This set is essentially two pillars and a lantern with an archery target set up. Here are the two pillars. In between them is a pretty nifty paper lantern build to illuminate the area. It should be noted that there is a technic connector piece and a technic hole 2x1 brick on the sides. This suggests to me that you are supposed to connect this set to other sets. I do not have any other sets to confirm this theory though. Maybe you can get 4 of these and make a full circle with them? :idea:
The set also has a barrel and scorpion. Just thought I'd mention it.
Here's the archery target. It's a clever small build that they've used in countless other sets for the same purpose. The LEGO website also shows Cole throwing knives at the target.
Final Thoughts
This set isn't much to look at, but at a $5 price tag, there's not much to expect. It gives you a minifigure, a large array of weapons and something to play with. For a $5 set, I couldn't ask for much more. This set wont be winning any awards any time soon but it's not bad to have either. I certainly don't regret getting it.
