Review: Cole's Dragon, set 70599

[randomreviewerbros]

I will be starting my winter 2016 Ninjago set reviews with the smallest of the wave (not including the two polybags that are available) set 70599 Cole's Dragon.

 

This set was released here in Australia on January 1st in LEGO Shop at Home and I first saw in retail stores (Big W, Target and Kmart) on around January 10th. In the USA these will be released March 1st, so look out for that.

 

I am a huge Ninjago fan and own around 90% of all sets ever released so my opinion is that of a true fans perspective on these sets.

 

My reviews will encompass my personal opinion on the sets and if I think they are worth purchasing and adding to your Ninjago collection or not. I will specifically say at the end of each review what my final thoughts are so keep reading to find all that info out.

 

I apologise for no pictures in this first review because at this particular time I'm not 100% sure on how to add my own pictures to these reviews so if you know how could you please inform me on how to do so? Thanks in advance on that!

 

Anyways lets get to the review:

 

Presentation/Price:

 

The box art on the new 2016 Ninjago sets feature Jay as the primary protagonist on the top right corner of the box, if you have watched all of the newest season you will undoubtedly understand why that is that Jay is the cover art for this wave of sets. This set also retails in Australia for $15.99, in the USA it will retail for only 9.99 for 98 pieces, which puts it at exactly 10 cents per piece.

 

Pieces:

 

Cole's Dragon has 98 pieces, one very great positive is that there were only a total of 5 stickers in this set, I am not the biggest fan of stickers but having as minimal as possible is always a great positive. However as I am aware, this set did not feature any newly moulded parts, however there is a ton of great pieces in this set, and for the price (well in the USA) you can't go wrong with buying multiple of these just for the parts included to add to your parts collection. A vast array of Mixels ball joint pieces are included in the set which I also find to be a positive.

 

Building Experience:

 

The build of this set was extremely simplistic, as with any set of this size. The majority of the 98 pieces included in this set are in the dragon's build, 76 to be exact are actually from the dragon itself (this makes it the smallest Ninjago dragon that any of the ninja have used, the second smallest in terms of piece count was the Ice Dragon Attack set from 2011, this does not take into account polybags). The build only takes several minutes and isn't all that enjoyable.

 

Minifigures/Accessories:

 

The minifigures included in this set are Cole and Pirate Bucko, Cole is actually exclusive to this set but that is based off a major technicality. Cole is only exclusive because he isn't the same as the version of Cole included in the Tiger Widow Island set, where he has the face he should have in this set, and that is his ghostly face. That's right, the Cole included in this set is just regular Cole with a yellow head, this should not be considered any kind of draw however because it is kind of a con. Bucko is just a standard pirate and not exclusive at all to this set. Overall the minifigures are not the major draw in this set in my opinion. 

 

Cole carries a new version of a Scythe which is nicely made, he also carries a flag (that is normally seen on the back of every Ninjago dragon owned by the Ninja) on his back instead of where it should be which is connected to the dragon.

 

Bucko holds a new Pirate Sword with a fantastic print on the handle which I do actually think is kind of a draw as it is the cheapest way to get one of these swords in any of the mass produced commercial released Ninjago 2016 winter sets.

 

The Djinn Blade included in this set depicts trapped Zane and as I will say in all my reviews, I absolutely love the Djinn Blades as the collectibles of the first part of Ninjago 2016, the main section of the Blade is brilliantly detailed and the overall look to them is great.

 

Final Build:

 

It is not just my opinion, but the opinion of many others, that the final build to this set is fairly simplistic and not very detailed compared to Ninjago dragons of the past, it feels more like a polybag build then an actual boxed set build. 

 

However the dragon does do what it is supposed to, and that is to have a lot of pose-ability and this set does not disappoint, I just counted every point of articulation on my set and it has 13 points of articulation which is absolutely fantastic for a set of this size.

 

One personal opinion I do hold is that the head does look like a Dragon's head, I am very surprised LEGO was able to pull this design off at such a small scale. The dragon does look good, but nothing in comparison to Jay's Elemental Dragon which is also available in this wave and I will be reviewing later on. 

 

Final Thoughts and Recommendations:

 

As the least expensive set of this wave I imagine many people will buy this set as either a present for someone or just something saved for with pocket money, however Cole's Dragon, has a few pros, but also a few cons, here is my list of pros:

 

Great pose-ability

Good minifigures

Great parts selection

Very few stickers

Djinn Blade and Pirate Sword

Price

 

Here are the cons:

 

Cole with normal head piece, I understand though that they are trying to make the ghost version of Cole an exclusive to Tiger Widow Island well at this point at least

Small stature of the dragon

Could have been a polybag set

No new moulds (at least to my knowledge)

 

My final recommendation on buying this set is fairly positive, I do believe that this is a set many people will own because of it's cheap price point and such, but as a Ninjago fan this is for the completionists like myself, it is not a set you buy hoping for an exclusive minifigure. I do like this set, but I feel if you're on a budget and want only a few of the Ninjago sets from this year then this is not a set you need to get.

 

But overall its a solid set and sits at a great price which really drives the value up for me.

 

I hope you all enjoyed my first review, feel free to leave feedback and let me know what I can do to improve on in my next review! Also if you know how I can put my own images in without having to post as a link, then let me know that as well!

[fishers64]

I apologise for no pictures in this first review because at this particular time I'm not 100% sure on how to add my own pictures to these reviews so if you know how could you please inform me on how to do so? Thanks in advance on that!

Quick picture adding tutorial for BZPower: 

 

1. Upload your image to a reputable image hosting website, such as Flickr, majhost (if it is up), or imgur. 

 

2. In your image hosting program, right click on the image and click "Copy Image". Paste the image into the post box on BZPower. 

 

Wallah. 

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I like the review anyway. Good format, and you nailed the set's pros and cons squarely. Look forward to more. 

[randomreviewerbros]

 

I apologise for no pictures in this first review because at this particular time I'm not 100% sure on how to add my own pictures to these reviews so if you know how could you please inform me on how to do so? Thanks in advance on that!

Quick picture adding tutorial for BZPower: 

 

1. Upload your image to a reputable image hosting website, such as Flickr, majhost (if it is up), or imgur. 

 

2. In your image hosting program, right click on the image and click "Copy Image". Paste the image into the post box on BZPower. 

 

Wallah. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

I like the review anyway. Good format, and you nailed the set's pros and cons squarely. Look forward to more. 

 

Thanks for the feedback and the help with the images, I very much look forward to reviewing the rest of the sets!

[Eyru]

I enjoyed your review! I think you were fair in addressing the pros and cons, and there's lots of relevant information in there for anyone considering purchasing the set.

 

fishers already told you how to add images (because she's super helpful and awesome), but I'll drop another link here: the Official Pictures Topic has everything you could ever need to know about posting images on BZP. Let me know if you need any help.

 

Looking forward to more reviews!

[randomreviewerbros]

I enjoyed your review! I think you were fair in addressing the pros and cons, and there's lots of relevant information in there for anyone considering purchasing the set.

 

fishers already told you how to add images (because she's super helpful and awesome), but I'll drop another link here: the Official Pictures Topic has everything you could ever need to know about posting images on BZP. Let me know if you need any help.

 

Looking forward to more reviews!

Much appreciated, will be uploading review of the Sky Shark tonight!