Released for January 2024, we have the first ever super battle pack.
The set contains 215 pieces and 9 minifigures, and retails for £24.99.
The Builds
Usually, when it comes to battle packs, the builds are nothing special, but this time I was pleasantly surprised by how good the builds were. The first thing you build is a speeder bike which can fit two clones: one to pilot and one to use the blasters on the back. The second thing you build is a turret which contains a stud shooter. Then you build a vehicle for the B1 battle droid, which goes well with the bike.
The final build of the set is the Tri-droid, which uses lots of good building techniques and has flick-fire missiles in the centre, which I have never liked.
Minifigures
Name
Ranking
Clone Shock Trooper
4.8
Clone Trooper 4.8
4.6
Battle Droid
4.5
Super Battle Droid
4.9
The clones would be higher if they did not have helmet holes. The battle droid is very common, but the super battle droid is very good.
Overall thoughts and price
Overall, I think you are getting some good builds, and a minifigure selection as good as this is getting rarer in Star Wars these days.
The price per part is £0.11 per piece, which is a little high, but you do get nine minifigures, and you can often find this set on sale for around £18, so I would say at that price it is worth it.
Released for spring 2024, we have the first ever Lego Hogwarts boathouse.
The set contains 350 pieces and 5 minifigures, and once you have finished the build you will have two small boats and the boathouse.
Starting with the boats, for their size I think they are very good, and they make great use of the sausage piece in black as the light.
The boathouse itself is very impressive. Of course, they had to base it on the first film, since when it appears in the last film it is quite a dark scene, and as Lego is a family-friendly brand it is obvious why they chose to make it the way they did.
When building the boathouse, I noticed that the exit is too small for a standard minifigure to fit through, which could easily have been fixed. I do also like how much room there is to place the minifigures in the set, and the tree build is also very good, using the new fern elements.
As you may have seen on the box, this can connect to the most detailed Hogwarts Castle ever. Right now there are only four of these sets out, but more are coming in 2025.
Minifigures:
The set’s minifigure selection is strong, coming with an exclusive Professor McGonagall who now has arm printing and skirt printing, making this a 10/10 minifigure.
As for the student minifigures, they are all nearly identical, but this is a good way to get non-house torsos. In this set you get Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas. It is also important to note that Hermione uses a different set of legs from the rest.
Price and overall thoughts:
For £31.99 you are getting a location never before seen in Lego and a very good minifigure selection, and even if you already own a Hogwarts Castle I would still recommend this set.
As for price per part, you are paying £0.09 per piece, which is very good. Another thing is that you could probably find this set for between £20 and £25, making it even better.
Released for spring 2024, we have the fourth addition to the Elemental Mech collection.
The set contains 253 pieces and 3 minifigures, and once you have finished the build you will have a mech for Lloyd.
The torso uses the EVO mech front and follows a similar style to the other three, where you can remove the torso from the legs. As for the rest, it continues to follow the same formula, which I personally really like.
One thing I must say is questionable is the use of dark red on the arms and legs. Since Lloyd has never used dark red before, I think this may originally have been designed as a Nya mech, but they changed it at the last moment because Lloyd sells better.
Minifigures
The minifigure selection is good: you receive Lloyd and Nya in their mech pilot suits, and Cinder.
Since release, Cinder has come in a lot of sets, including a magazine, so he is very common. As for mech Lloyd, he was previously exclusive to 71809 Egalt the Master Dragon and has recently been in a magazine, so there are a few ways to get him. Finally, Nya only comes in 2 sets, this being the cheapest, but you could get a near-identical copy in Nya’s Rising Dragon Strike 71802, just with a different hood. Here is how we would rank them.
Name
Ranking
Lloyd
4.8
Nya
4.7
Cinder
4.8
Lloyd would be a five if he had armour
Price and overall thoughts:
For £17.99 you get a decent mech with good minifigures, but if you already have Egalt the Master Dragon, you would not be missing anything too special. As for the price per part, the average for each part is 0.07p, making it a very good deal.
Before the review begins, I must give a SPOILER ALERT for Ninjago if you have not seen it before.
Overview:
The episode starts at the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where the ninja are training. Soon, though, they are interrupted by the postman, who has letters for all the ninja except Zane. This causes the other ninja to ask why he never gets anything from his family, and Zane explains that he has been an orphan all his life.
Meanwhile, the Hypnobrai, still under Lloyd’s control, are building a treehouse for him. This causes Skales to question the general, who says he may not have the staff but he is still in charge. Back at the monastery, the ninja are having dinner and laughing at the apron Zane is wearing.
After dinner, Zane disposes of the apron and then sees a falcon. He thinks he has a strange connection with it and decides to follow it to where it is going. He then sees Lloyd’s treehouse and runs back to tell the other ninja.
The next morning, the four ninja head to Lloyd’s treehouse and work out how to destroy it, but while trying to do so they are spotted, and Skales takes control of Cole again, forcing him to attack his teammates.
Cole keeps attacking them until he hears the Sacred Flute being played by Sensei Wu, who is on the back of the fire dragon Flame. Sensei Wu tells the ninja to hurry back to the monastery to protect the staff, but they are too late: they return to find the monastery burnt down. The ninja put the blame on Zane for leading them away, but Zane sees the falcon again and leaves.
In the Hypnobrai tomb, Skales challenges the general to a round of Slither Pit, where the winner will get the staff and be in charge. While they are battling, Lloyd sees a map and takes it. In the end, the general loses the battle, Skales becomes the general and orders Lloyd to leave.
The ninja, who are now homeless, are sitting near the monastery’s remains missing Zane, but he soon returns with the good news that he has found a new place for them to live. The ninja then follow Zane and see a giant ship known as the Destiny’s Bounty, which becomes their new home.
Thoughts:
We thought this was a very good episode that focused on Zane and his connection with the falcon.
Before the review begins, I must give a SPOILER ALERT for Ninjago in case you have not seen it.
Overview:
The episode starts at the Monastery of Spinjitzu, where the ninja have become lazy and are playing video games, until news comes that Lord Garmadon has returned. So the ninja dash off to Jamanakai Village, only to find that it is not Garmadon but his son Lloyd, who wants to steal all the sweets in town.
The ninja soon deal with Lloyd, but before they leave they find a scroll containing the prophecy of the Green Ninja. They start becoming competitive, so when they get back they hold a tournament where the last ninja standing becomes the Green Ninja. At first it goes all right, but then Kai nearly burns down the monastery and Sensei Wu is not happy.
After his defeat, Lloyd leaves the village and comes across a strange lever in the ground. He pulls it and falls into a tomb full of Serpentine. Lloyd manages to take control of the Hypnobrai general, returns to the village with them and takes control of the villagers.
The ninja soon learn about this and head back to the village along with Nya to try to get the general’s staff. In the process, they learn that the Hypnobrai can hypnotise you. While fighting them, Cole is hypnotised by a snake called Skales, but nothing happens because he is distracted. Since he is holding the staff, he puts it in the fountain, curing all the villagers.
Our thoughts:
We thought this was a good way to introduce the Serpentine as villains and Lloyd for the first time.
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