71746 Jungle Dragon LEGO Review - Ninjago, 2021

A great dragon, but could have used other set pieces.

TL;DR:

• Original Price:  $39.99
• Pieces: 506
• Minifigure(s): Island Zane, PoulErik, Thunder Keeper, Island Lloyd
• Sticker Sheet: Yes
• Pros: Really well-done dragon
• Cons: Lack of other builds, some accent pieces fall off the dragon
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Assembly: 

Bag #1 - Island Zane, PoulErik, Thunder Keeper, Zane's windsurfer

Bag #2 - Dragon body

Bag #3 - Island Lloyd, Dragon head & tail

Bag #4 - Dragon hind legs

Bag #5 - Dragon forelegs, wings, saddle

 Leftover Pieces

• Interesting Steps:
• This is an interesting way to make a striped sail, including the dragon finial with a 1x1 round tile making it look like part of the mast. The only issue with this setup is that the three flag pieces are easy to misalign, but that's a minor point.

• Interesting Techniques:
• The staggered snot pieces (2x2 underneath, 1x2 above & below, 2x2 above) is a great way to add strength to the build, using different layers of pieces (moving from the inside out) to lock everything in place, especially for the core of the creature, where there is the most need for that strength.

• The use of two battle droid arms to form the jaw  - like a Massiff from Star Wars: makes for an aggressive creature that can also look cutely-derpy

• Interesting Pieces:
• Ninjago Storm Amulet in pearl gold and transparent purple is a nice inclusion, and could be used for a fancy stained-glass window or wall decoration. 
  
• Round 1x1 with binoculars, aka droid head 

• Pain Points:
• Steps 70 & 82 show placing a 1x1 open-stud plate underneath A-shape plate, but don't make it super clear that it should be mounted on the pin.

 

This was overall a great set, with some creative techniques used to make the dragon feel more organic and dynamic—the flexibility of the hip/shoulder and wrist/ankle joints also helps that. The wing style (three pearl gold propeller blades per wing) isn't my favorite, vs There is a bit of a problem with some of the accent panels on the dragon falling off, and it would have been nice to have the minifigures spread out among the bags. It would also have been nice to have some jungle-themed set-pieces to give a sort of context to the overall set.

 

Build aside, this set also had a lot of pieces in dark turquoise and pearl gold, and some interesting minifigs.

Score (out of 5 🧱):

• Price: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Process: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
  
• Play: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

• Total: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

Lego Instructions: here