Set Review ➟ LEGO^® Ninjago Dragons Rising 71854 Cole’s Mission Mech

2026-01-05 | Mark

By my count (which may be either or both incorrect and debatable but should be in the general ballpark) this makes at least the 63rd mech in the Ninjago line. Here is a breakdown of mechs to this point in time:

Cole’s Mission Mech is a medium-sized mech suit featuring Cole’s signature colors of black and orange. Cole stands rather than sits in the chest cockpit. The mech’s arms, legs, and ankles are connected by large ball-and-socket joints while the head, cockpit, fingers, forehead horn, and shoulder ornaments use bar-and-clip connections.

The neck connection allows for only a minor tilting of the head, and it is questionable if that small amount of tilt is necessary to get Cole placed in the cockpit. The mech’s elbows, wrists, and knees are fixed, which is not uncommon in Ninjago mechs of this size. The palms of the hands provide a pin for attaching weapons, and there is an additional pin on the back of the left wrist.

Two long pins are provided on the back of the model for weapon storage, and clips on the thighs provide storage for Cole’s hammer.

Instructions suggest that you can mix and match weapons from this set and set 71855 Ninja Dragon Riyu’s Battle.

Three weapons from this set (missile-shooter gun, staff, blade) and two from set 71855 (sword, star).

Part 7727 flame/leaf seems to be the signature part for this wave of Ninjago. Used in this set for shoulder decoration (and thankfully not a flame coming out the mech’s arse as in set 71851) the pieces provide a nice splash of color, echoing the Cole minifigure’s pearl gold shoulder pads, but prove sometimes annoying in practice as they can either prevent shoulder movement by poking the mech in the neck or requiring being repositioned as to not poke the mech in the neck.

Posing the model comes with some caveats. The inner thighs bump into the codpiece and make for a somewhat bow-legged figure. I found the ball-and-socket joints at the hips to be loose, posing the model for photos was problematic as the model would not hold position and often would want to go splay-legged and collapse.

The goat-leg-backward-knee construction of the legs with articulation only at the hip and ankle provided only limited positioning possibilities. The thighs cannot be placed directly below the torso, they must be projecting forward, for the figure to assume a standing position. Arms at the shoulders also showed signs of being loose and absence of articulation at the wrist and/or elbow also limits positioning, especially in regards to holding weapons in positions relative to the rest of the body. It is pretty obvious that the relatively heavy weight of the arms and legs, compounded by the added weight of large and lengthy weapons attached to arms, puts gravity in a position to overcome whatever friction the ball-and-socket is able to provide. Maybe someday LEGO will come out with some pimpled ball joints that may be able to provide some relatively stable, if not universal, positioning.

Minifigures

The set contains three minifigures: Zane Dragon Form, Cole, and Acid Monster.

Dragon Form Zane and Cole are exclusive to this set, at least so far.

This set is the least expensive of the three in the early 2026 wave containing the Acid Monster, if you must have an Acid Monster figure. At the time of writing Acid Monster is going for $11 on BrickOwl, and of course, BrickLink has yet to approve the set inventory.

Acid Monster’s neck has a protuberance that prevents the head from being turned far to either side.

The Randolph T. Fielding Absolutely Administrivia Section

The Cole and Zane heads in my set are old mold part 3626, both prints having been seen in previous sets.

Aside from minifigure parts, there is one printed piece in the set, a part 1762 curved slope tile for the mech’s face. There are no stickers.

Summary

The suggestion that you swap weapons with set 71855 is clearly an attempt at an upsell, but I cannot see that alone as a compelling reason to purchase either of these sets. My son, he who owns many, many LEGO mechs, felt that for a Ninjago mech this one offered more play value because of the various weapons. I felt the figure was a fail because of the loose joints. If you keep the figure in your hand, it is probably fine; if you put the figure down without spending time to specifically pose it, it tends to slump. This is disappointing in the fact that the sculpt of the model provides a fairly aggressive design, but is a wimp when it comes to holding a pose. I have certainly seen instances in LEGO models where the ball-and-socket connection is a bit loose, but this is without a doubt the worst instance of it fresh out of the box. I do not know whether to attribute the looseness to the design or the parts tolerances or some of both, but I hope LEGO can get a handle on what’s happening here and come up with a resolution going forward.

Disclaimer

Thanks to LEGO for kindly providing the set for review.

33697