Review: LEGO Ninjago Character Encyclopedia

[Hapori Tohu]

Today we have an interesting review - LEGO and DK provided us with a couple copies of the LEGO Ninjago Character Encyclopedia, one to review and another to give away. Here's the review portion of that, so read on to see if this book should be added to your personal library! http://www.bzpower.com/story.php?ID=5813]View the full article[/url]

[Obsessionist]

I think that, with the end of Ninjago looming, it would have been a good idea to put off this book a half year or so. On the other hand, with another year to go, interest is still at its peak- so buisiness-wise, I can see why they released it now.I believe this is the first book where the minifig wasn't pre-assembled, but the accesories might make that too expensive.

[Lyichir]

Just picked this up the other day. It's far from perfect; there are a couple of errors, albeit minor ones. In many cases these errors were due to basing their information on stock art that itself had errors, rather than on the finalized sets themselves. So for instance it calls Jay DX's spinner (which came with the Skeleton Bowling set) gold and gray, when in fact in the final set it was gold and red like all the other DX Ninja spinners. Still, these errors are fairly trivial, and the book is generally high quality like all of the DK Lego reference books.The "Green Ninja ZX" minifigure is spectacular, save for that on our fig at least, the back printing was slightly misaligned, which is only noticeable due to the gold ring around his new emblem not being aligned properly with the sword holder on his back. His name is a little bit ridiculous, too; after all, the Green Ninja's ZX form already exists in two existing sets, whereas this is his new outfit from the latest episode, matching the new "kimono" outfits of the other ninja (which I assume will tie in with next year's sets).The book also includes the first officially-released teaser of next year's Ninjago sets, that being one of the Stone Warriors who serve as the current antagonists in the show. He looks excellent, and I can't wait to see him "in the brick".

[FrozenFlash]

So, there's no 2013 information? Maybe they didn't want to spill all of the info for the future parts. The book is still really cool though but unfortunately, I don't think there's any other way to get that "Green Ninja ZX" minifigure without getting the whole book.

Edited October 28, 2012 by FrozenFlash

[Meiko]

Just picked this up the other day.

Seriously bro. You need to start telling me these things. I was so close to buying you one today. :spank:Yeah, I need me one of these. And yes. The contest. Oh I can't wait.

[~garnira returns~]

Huh. I never knew ZX stood for zen extreme. Cool.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

You know, you could have reviewed the book too...

[Lyichir]

They did, though not very in-depth. But reviewing books like these is a lot harder than reviewing sets. For one, it's hard to judge the accuracy of the information unless the reviewer is already an expert on the subject. Secondly, a book like this (which presents information graphically) is best represented by pictures. But using pictures of the inside pages comes awfully close to copyright infringement. Frankly, I think they did a decent job with this review, even if it was short.

[Black Six]

You know, you could have reviewed the book too...

I'm pretty sure what I wrote was a book review. What would you have liked to see that you didn't?

[Aanchir]

You know, you could have reviewed the book too...

I'm pretty sure what I wrote was a book review. What would you have liked to see that you didn't?

I think he probably expected to see a more in-depth analysis of the individual sections of the book or something. In other words, more or less the same amount of detail you'd find in a set review. Unfortunately, book reviews typically don't work that way.It would have been nice to see more depth on the book's assets and flaws, but a lot of those are ones you wouldn't notice unless you were either a dedicated Ninjago fan or a collector of the LEGO reference guides by DK.Incidentally, some things the review didn't point out:

• The new Lloyd minifigure has a new emblem (different from his emblem in 9450 Epic Dragon Battle and 9574 Lloyd ZX). It's a stylized front-facing snake head rather than an Ouroboros. This is pretty unusual, since no other Ninja's emblem has changed between versions. However, the new emblem is more consistent with the other Ninja emblems in a lot of ways.
• The book is divided between the 2011 and 2012 sets/story.
• Before and after each year's section is a summary of the main story and conclusion for each story year. It's not totally consistent with the TV show and other media-- a lot of details in the description of the 2012 finale are changed and simplified to better match set 9450 Epic Dragon Battle-- but it's still detailed enough that people who haven't watched the show will essentially understand where each story year leaves off.
• There's a pretty substantial (though not totally comprehensive) weapons catalog towards the end of each year's section.
• There's a teaser for one of the 2013 Stone Army minifigures at the very end of the book.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

This looks like an interesting book. It's a shame that it doesn't have any 2013 info in it, but I guess it doesn't take anything away from the book. And getting an exclusive minifig with it doesn't hurt either.Thanks for reviewing it!

[xccj]

I dare say I am very interested in this because of the green minifigure. (GREEEEEN!!) But I've very much enjoyed the theme's sets and TV show, so I wouldn't mind picking up the book as well. It appeals to me more than some of the Star Wars / other licenced theme books.

[Meiko]

I dare say I am very interested in this because of the green minifigure. (GREEEEEN!!) But I've very much enjoyed the theme's sets and TV show, so I wouldn't mind picking up the book as well. It appeals to me more than some of the Star Wars / other licenced theme books.

The book is nicely made. Not that much out of your wallet, and the minifigure is definitely worth it.

[Devorath]

As they said on a "Bigger Lego Forum", Dareth would have been a better minifigure. The Gold Lloyd should only come in The Temple of Light, and the green Lloyd should come with his dragon.

[Aanchir]

As they said on a "Bigger Lego Forum", Dareth would have been a better minifigure. The Gold Lloyd should only come in The Temple of Light, and the green Lloyd should come with his dragon.

I don't exactly understand that justification. Dareth is at best a secondary character, and certainly not a main character. If you look at the exclusive minifigures from the other character encyclopedias and visual dictionaries, they are invariably main characters: two alternate costumes for Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker in his clothes from the celebration on Yavin IV, and Han in his clothes from the same celebration. The reason for this is obvious-- they are the characters buyers will likely have the strongest emotional attachment to, and the characters who buyers will be most likely recognize. Certainly a lot of kids would be less interested in the character encyclopedia if its chase figure were a character who exists almost exclusively for comic relief.Also, brown sets don't sell. :PFurthermore, getting all the figures from next year's Ninjago sets already requires getting almost every set. If the Golden Dragon had its own exclusive fig, that "almost" would go away, and we'd have a line made up almost entirely of unique "chase figures." Probably wouldn't stop me from buying the sets, but it certainly wouldn't be something I'd really appreciate.

[Devorath]

 

As they said on a "Bigger Lego Forum", Dareth would have been a better minifigure. The Gold Lloyd should only come in The Temple of Light, and the green Lloyd should come with his dragon.

I don't exactly understand that justification. Dareth is at best a secondary character, and certainly not a main character. If you look at the exclusive minifigures from the other character encyclopedias and visual dictionaries, they are invariably main characters: two alternate costumes for Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker in his clothes from the celebration on Yavin IV, and Han in his clothes from the same celebration. The reason for this is obvious-- they are the characters buyers will likely have the strongest emotional attachment to, and the characters who buyers will be most likely recognize. Certainly a lot of kids would be less interested in the character encyclopedia if its chase figure were a character who exists almost exclusively for comic relief.Also, brown sets don't sell. :PFurthermore, getting all the figures from next year's Ninjago sets already requires getting almost every set. If the Golden Dragon had its own exclusive fig, that "almost" would go away, and we'd have a line made up almost entirely of unique "chase figures." Probably wouldn't stop me from buying the sets, but it certainly wouldn't be something I'd really appreciate.

Then for the Visual Dictionary, make Neido. It could be DX, ZX or whatever, but I what a Neido. Edited December 18, 2012 by Devorath

[Aanchir]

 

 

As they said on a "Bigger Lego Forum", Dareth would have been a better minifigure. The Gold Lloyd should only come in The Temple of Light, and the green Lloyd should come with his dragon.

I don't exactly understand that justification. Dareth is at best a secondary character, and certainly not a main character. If you look at the exclusive minifigures from the other character encyclopedias and visual dictionaries, they are invariably main characters: two alternate costumes for Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker in his clothes from the celebration on Yavin IV, and Han in his clothes from the same celebration. The reason for this is obvious-- they are the characters buyers will likely have the strongest emotional attachment to, and the characters who buyers will be most likely recognize. Certainly a lot of kids would be less interested in the character encyclopedia if its chase figure were a character who exists almost exclusively for comic relief.Also, brown sets don't sell. :PFurthermore, getting all the figures from next year's Ninjago sets already requires getting almost every set. If the Golden Dragon had its own exclusive fig, that "almost" would go away, and we'd have a line made up almost entirely of unique "chase figures." Probably wouldn't stop me from buying the sets, but it certainly wouldn't be something I'd really appreciate.

 

Then for the Visual Dictionary, make Neido. It could be DX, ZX or whatever, but I what a Neido.

 

Again, the issue becomes recognizability. The majority of Ninjago fans probably don't know about the Ninjago expansion to LEGO Universe, seeing as LEGO Universe was a major flop.Not to mention that at this stage of the game, it seems like the Ninjago plotline in LEGO Universe is completely non-canon within the context of the Ninjago story (now that Lord Garmadon has been redeemed). It'd basically be like suggesting that Tyson Ritter should have been a BIONICLE Stars set since the All American Rejects appeared in the Free The Band promotion.

[Lyichir]

 

 

 

As they said on a "Bigger Lego Forum", Dareth would have been a better minifigure. The Gold Lloyd should only come in The Temple of Light, and the green Lloyd should come with his dragon.

I don't exactly understand that justification. Dareth is at best a secondary character, and certainly not a main character. If you look at the exclusive minifigures from the other character encyclopedias and visual dictionaries, they are invariably main characters: two alternate costumes for Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker in his clothes from the celebration on Yavin IV, and Han in his clothes from the same celebration. The reason for this is obvious-- they are the characters buyers will likely have the strongest emotional attachment to, and the characters who buyers will be most likely recognize. Certainly a lot of kids would be less interested in the character encyclopedia if its chase figure were a character who exists almost exclusively for comic relief.Also, brown sets don't sell. :PFurthermore, getting all the figures from next year's Ninjago sets already requires getting almost every set. If the Golden Dragon had its own exclusive fig, that "almost" would go away, and we'd have a line made up almost entirely of unique "chase figures." Probably wouldn't stop me from buying the sets, but it certainly wouldn't be something I'd really appreciate.

 

Then for the Visual Dictionary, make Neido. It could be DX, ZX or whatever, but I what a Neido.

 

Again, the issue becomes recognizability. The majority of Ninjago fans probably don't know about the Ninjago expansion to LEGO Universe, seeing as LEGO Universe was a major flop.Not to mention that at this stage of the game, it seems like the Ninjago plotline in LEGO Universe is completely non-canon within the context of the Ninjago story (now that Lord Garmadon has been redeemed). It'd basically be like suggesting that Tyson Ritter should have been a BIONICLE Stars set since the All American Rejects appeared in the Free The Band promotion.

 

Now I want to see that.