Playsets
Since 2011, Lego Ninjago themed playsets have been released in waves each year to correspond with each season of the Ninjago television series.[27] The playsets feature some of the main locations, vehicles, mechs, weapons and characters from the corresponding season. According to BrickLink, there have been 570 Lego Ninjago sets released since 2011.[28] Each season has corresponding boxed sets, either released in one or two waves across a given year. Design Manager Michael Svane Knap commented on the design process stating, "In our development of the toys, we always start with the story. Our first priority is to tell a good story both in the physical products and in the content we’re creating. And the ninja is always the constant starting point of the concept… They each bring their own unique thing to the story and products.[29]
In 2011, the Ninjago theme released 39 toy construction sets that were based on the Pilot Episodes. The product range included the spinner toys and skeleton-themed playsets, such as skull monster trucks, and vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Garmadon's Dark Fortress, Ice Dragon Attack and the Fire Temple.[30]
In 2012, the Ninjago toy line was based on the first season titled Rise of the Snakes. It introduces Lloyd Garmadon and focuses on the snake-like Serpentine. The product line featured dragons and snake-themed vehicles from the season, including Fangpyre Truck Ambush, Epic Dragon Battle and Ultra Sonic Raider.[31]
In 2013, Lego Ninjago was based on the second season Legacy of the Green Ninja, which focuses on Lloyd Garmadon becoming the "Golden Ninja". The toy line included The Golden Dragon set, which featured the character in his golden minifigure form and was later rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line in 2019.[32]
In 2014, the toy line was based on the third season, Rebooted. The season focuses on advanced technology and this was reflected in the nindroid-themed playsets, such as OverBorg Attack and Nindroid MechDragon. The toy line also included the Kai Fighter, Thunder Raider and X-1 Ninja Charger, which were all rereleased as part of the Ninjago Legacy line.[33]
The year 2015 was the first year to feature two Ninjago seasons in one year, and the toy line released sets based on the fourth season titled Tournament of Elements and the fifth season titled Possession. The fourth season focuses on Master Chen and the snake-like Anacondrai and its associated toy range included locations and vehicles from the season, including Jungle Raider, ElectroMech and Enter the Serpent.[34][35] The fifth season features an army of ghosts led by Morro, and the toy line included ghost-themed vehicles, dragons and locations from the season, including Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty and the Temple of Airjitzu.[34]
In 2016, the Ninjago playsets were based on the sixth season titled Skybound and the 45-minute special Day of the Departed. The Skybound sets focused on Nadakhan and his band of sky pirates and included pirate-themed locations and vehicles from the season, such as Tiger Widow Island, Misfortune's Keep and The Lighthouse Siege.[36] The Day of the Departed sets included the Ultra Stealth Raider, Samurai X Cave Chaos and Rock Roader.[37][38]
In 2017, the Ninjago playsets were based on the seventh season titled Hands of Time, which focuses on time travel and the main antagonists Krux and Acronix.[39] The playsets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Destiny's Shadow, Dragon Forge and Dawn of Iron Doom.[40] A second wave for the year was replaced by The Lego Ninjago Movie toy line, which introduced new hair pieces for the ninja characters that were adopted and used in subsequent waves.[39]
The eighth season, which was released in 2018 and titled Sons of Garmadon, focuses on a criminal biker gang and the associated sets included the vehicles and locations of the season, including Street Race of Snake Jaguar, Ninja Nightcrawler, S.O.G. Headquarters and the Temple of Resurrection.[41][42] The ninth season Hunted focuses on a band of Dragon Hunters and was accompanied by a wave of playsets featuring dragons, including Firstbourne, Stormbringer and the Dragon Pit.[41][43]
The tenth season March of the Oni focuses on an evil race named the Oni and was accompanied in 2019 by a minifigure pack of Oni villains.[44]
In the second half of 2019, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu was released, which focuses on themes of fire and ice. The wave of sets included vehicles and locations from the season, including Fire Fang, Lloyd's Titan Mech, the Land Bounty and Castle of the Forsaken Emperor.[44][45]
This was followed in 2020, by the release of two seasons titled Prime Empire and Master of the Mountain. Prime Empire's video game theme was reflected in its playsets, which included three arcade pods, dragons, vehicles and locations from the season, such as Jay's Cyber Dragon, Kai's Mech Jet and Empire Temple of Madness.[46][47] Master of the Mountain focuses on the evil Skull Sorcerer and the dungeons of Shintaro and its associated wave of sets included Spinjitzu Burst spinners and several playsets that can be used as a role playing board game, including the Skull Sorcerer's Dungeons.[46][48]
In 2021, Lego Ninjago released two waves based on The Island and Seabound. The first wave featured island-themed vehicles and locations from The Island such as Catamaran Sea Battle, Lloyd's Jungle Chopper Bike and The Keepers' Village.[49] The second wave introduced the sea-themed vehicles and locations of Seabound, including Ninja Sub Speeder, the Hydro Bounty and Temple of the Endless Sea.[50]
For the 2022 Spring range, the designer revealed the concept behind a wave of sets named Ninjago Core. Niek van Slagmaat explained, "We were asked to come up with a line of Ninjago that would not only stand on its own without content but also be the epitome of Ninjago toys" and continued, “After the specialized launches like Prime Empire and Seabound, the markets asked for a wave with the classic Ninjago identity. We would not get any story continuing content in order to make sure we could get started on 2HY 2022 as early as possible. Thus, Core was born."[51] The wave comprised various playsets that feature in the corresponding Ninjago Core shorts, including Lloyd's Legendary Dragon, Jay's Thunder Dragon EVO, Kai's Fire Dragon EVO, Lloyd's Race Car EVO and Zane's Power Up Mech EVO.[52] An additional four sets were released in March, consisting of Kai's Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Lloyd's Spinjitzu Ninja Training, Jay's Spinjitzu Ninja Training and Ninja Training Center.[53] Nine new sets that correspond to the final season of the original series titled Crystalized were released in summer 2022. The sets are based on the season's storyline and include Nya's Samurai X Mech, The Crystal King and The Crystal King Temple.[54][55]
In 2023, nine new sets were announced for release on 1 January 2023, including Kai's Ninja Race Car EVO, Lloyd's Mech Battle EVO, Cole's Earth Dragon EVO, Kai's Mech Rider EVO, Jay's Lightning Jet EVO, Jay's Titan Mech, Zane's Ice Dragon Creature, Creative Ninja Brick Box and Nya's Water Dragon EVO.[56] In addition, fourteen sets based on new series titled Ninjago: Dragons Rising were announced for release in June 2023, including Kai's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Flip, Nya's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Drift, Lloyd's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Spin, Kai and Ras's Car and Bike Battle, Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound, Zane's Dragon Power Spinjitzu Race Car, Sora's Transforming Mech Bike Racer, Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon, Lloyd and Arin Ninja Team Mechs, Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores, Elemental Dragon vs. Empress Mech, Destiny's Bounty: Race Against Time, Nya and Arin's Baby Dragon Battle and Ninjago City Market.[57][58][59]
In 2024, nine new sets for the 1st half of the second season were announced for release on 1 January 2024, including Kai's Rising Dragon Strike, Nya's Rising Dragon Strike, Arin's Rising Dragon Strike, Arin's Battle Mech, Jay's Mech Battle Pack, Cole's Elemental Earth Mech, Sora's Elemental Tech Mech, Kai's Elemental Fire Mech and Egalt the Master Dragon. other seven new sets for the 1st half of the second season were announced for release on 1 March 2024 including Young Dragon Riyu, Arin's Ninja Off-Road Buggy Car, Kai's Ninja Climber Mech, Wolf Mask Shadow Dojo, Kai's Source Dragon Battle, Lloyd's Elemental Power Mech, Dragon Stone Shrine, six new sets for the 2nd half of the second season were announced for release on 1 August 2024 Tournament Temple City, Zane's Ice Motorcycle, Tournament Battle Arena, Ninja Team Combo Vehicle, Cole's Titan Dragon Mech, and Source Dragon of Motion.