Set Review ➟ 71820 LEGO® Ninjago Dragons Rising™ Ninja Team Combo Vehicle
Do the wolf mask warriors have a whisker of a chance against four ninjas and their massive tank-treaded combo vehicle? In a word: no. Why? Let’s take a look at the combo vehicle.
The combo vehicle is comprised of four interconnecting sections: Lloyd’s tank-treaded car, a motorcycle for Nya, a motorcycle for Cole, and a flyer for Sora. Each section is color coordinated with its driver.
The little flyer is equipped with stud shooters which can undoubtedly zoom around and shoot out the eyes of the wolf mask warriors. It mounts to the main car via technic brick and axle connections.
The two motorcycles attach one on either side of the car using a combination of technic pin-and-hole connectors and a hinge connector. The hinge does not allow for any hinge type movement and my guess is that it simply adds some stability to the connection. Either motorcycle can be attached to either side of the car as they are identical except for color.
When connected to the car, the front wheels of the bikes are lifted and do not touch the ground.
Bike profile when not attached to car.
Bike profile when attached to car.
The bikes cannot be attached backwards to the car as a white technic pin in front of the back axle prevents a snug connection. If this pin is removed, the bikes can be successfully connected in two positions (one pin hole forward or back because it can now use the hole previously occupied by the white pin), but some unfortunate proportions means that the wings of the flyer are positioned to lop off the top of the head of any rider.
The bikes can join with each other with the addition of a weapons module that connects the two vehicles. The weapons module is omitted from the assembly when all four vehicles are combined.
The car section alone looks sufficiently dangerous with its pair of tread tracks in the front along with the gold blade.
Lloyd does have to recline in the seat to fit under the canopy.
LEGO wisely added some rubber studs to the treads so they would have some traction on smooth surfaces and therefore actually turn and not just slip slide along.
All six minifigures are available in other sets in the summer 2024 Ninjago series with only the red shoulder armor on one of the wolf mask warriors being unique to this set.
The Randolph T. Fielding Absolutely Administriva Section
Head pieces for Cole, Lloyd, and Nya are part number 3626 while Sora and the Wolf Mask Warriors use part number 3274.
Here are closeup pictures of the part 42478 tank treads and the part 24375 rubber studs used on the vehicle.
The 2515 tire, an old throwback, reappears infrequently over the years since its debut. This iteration has a slightly different shaped rib compared to the previous version.
Left to right the oldest version to the newest version of 2515. Note the difference in the rib shapes.
Wolf mask warrior’s shoulder armor in red. This armor is seen in flat silver in set 71818.
The set’s only printed piece is this 1x2 cheese wedge used as a control panel on the flyer.
Summary
This is an enjoyable build punctuated by the presence of some less frequently seen parts. While the individual machines can assemble sort of Voltron-style into a single vehicle the combined vehicle does not gain any obvious battle advantage over the car alone, but it does have play value and cool factor. The fact that the two motorcycles can also combine into a separate single vehicle also adds play value plus the multiple component design of the set is perfect for tandem play. The wolf mask warriors are hopelessly outgunned here, but at least they show up in this set to be overrun compared to their notable absence in the 71816 Ice Motorcycle set.
Disclaimer
Thanks to LEGO for kindly providing the set for review.
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