Review: 71851 Kai's Dragon Mech Battle Pack
Posted by CapnRex101,
While the spectacular Titan Mechs monopolise attention, another series of smaller mechs has gradually developed lately. 71851 Kai's Dragon Mech Battle Pack is the newest addition to this range and follows similar vehicles belonging to Jay and Zane.
Previous sets focused on minifigures, although the mechs were definitely not bad either. Kai's dragon-themed mech seems more interesting than its predecessors, however, while the minifigure selection is appealing too, especially for a low price of £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99.
Summary
71851 Kai's Dragon Mech Battle Pack, 85 pieces.
£8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 | 10.6p / 11.8c / 11.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
This is probably the best NINJAGO mech of its size, with great minifigures too
- Characterful mech, for its size
- Plenty of articulation
- Appealing minifigures
- Draconus Form Kai lacks his wings and tail
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
The ninja take on Draconus Forms in Dragons Rising season four, reminiscent of their Dragon Forms from Crystalized. Kai appears in a variant of his Draconus Form here, albeit lacking the tail or wings, sadly. I wish the full minifigure was included, although this version fits straight into the mech without needing to remove anything, so I recognise the advantages for play.
Unlike the classic ninja, Sora only seems to receive a new gi every couple of seasons, which is a shame. I like this design though, introduced in the summer and only available in two relatively expensive sets. The torso and legs look splendid and while I prefer the heavier shoulder armour from Dragons Rising season three, a smaller pauldron with sheaths on the back works too.
I have never liked Sora's double-sided head because its facial expressions are not particularly versatile. The dual-moulded hair and headphones element looks brilliant though, matching the dark blue and vibrant coral details on Sora's suit. Both ninja are equipped with a pair of golden katana.
An imbalance in Elemental Powers creates a group of Elemental Monsters in the new season, including the Earth Monster. This predominantly dark tan minifigure is visually striking, as the massive spikes on its head are completely unique within NINJAGO. In addition, the occasional orange highlights look good, re-using a shoulder armour component from Crystalized.
The cracked designs on the head, torso and legs are excellent as well, but the spikes are the standout feature, of course. These are made from hard plastic, which surprised me because I expected a rubber material. The same parts double as weapons in other sets, but this monster wields a club.
The Completed Model
There have been lots of smaller LEGO mechs and they tend to look similar, sharing the same body element created for NEXO Knights or the part's successor introduced in 2023. However, the addition of dragon wings gives this design quite a distinctive character and makes it seem larger, which is no bad thing.
Ball joints at the shoulders, wrists, hips and ankles provide a decent range of motion, although those wings again come in handy because they are moveable, as are the pearl gold claws and the leaf piece forming the tail. All these features combine to offer different options for poses and probably as many as you could realistically imagine for a mech of this size.
The torso design is very familiar, although it features a unique tile decorated with the Source Dragons' emblem. I love the wood grain texture behind this symbol and the golden tile works nicely with the dark red chest element. The black spines on the upper arms look great as well, giving the arms some mass, without the need for chunky shoulders.
As usual, the chest opens to accommodate a minifigure. Kai's mask matches the spines on the arms and there are clips available to store his swords on the waist. The weapons look awkward sticking out behind the mech, but storage for accessories is always useful.
Other than two dark bluish grey studs, the back of the mech is fully finished. The dual-moulded red and flame yellowish orange wings are impressive and I like the trans-orange tail. This piece appears in lots of the new NINJAGO sets, serving mostly as a leaf or decorative feature, but it is only available here in trans-orange.
The tail can help to support the mech in particularly dynamic poses, though the feet generally offer sufficient stability. 2x3 elements with rock texture form effective claws and I like the trans-orange and orange accents on the legs. Even the grey joints do not seem too out of place.
Overall
71851 Kai's Dragon Mech Battle Pack is a simple set, but one executed pretty much perfectly! While none of the minifigures are exclusive, their availability in a cheaper set is pleasing, even without Kai's tail and wings, welcome though those would be. Predictably, the Earth Monster is the most interesting, with its spiked head.
Also, the dragon mech is superb. It is nowhere near as stunning as bigger mechs, needless to say, but this mech has a lot of personality for its size. Furthermore, the price of £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99 represents excellent value, so I would definitely consider this a worthy purchase.
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16 comments on this article
She turned me into a horny toad!
And, yet, Clone Troopers can't have cloth kamas because THEY get in the way.
This is much better than the 4+ style arms and legs they did with those chonky parts in this range a few mechs ago.
Why can’t Star Wars mechs get this kind of articulation?
The earth monster with that head attachment piece looks incredible.
Excellent set if only for the parts. Will get this at some point.
Huh, I now kinda like this more than I did initially. I guess it helps that we're back to Mixel joints and not those horrid prefab parts. That said, 70500 remains the definitive $10 Ninjago mech to me - no giant prefab parts for the body, only 1 joint fewer than this (the rotating waist), and a better Kai minifig as well.
Speaking of Kai, I remember back in 2013 when there were leaked "images" of the Ninja minifigs for Rebooted; they were dressed in bizarre eagle-like suits, probably inspired by Chima. I'll never find the pictures again, but I recall what they looked like: they looked like these "Draconus Forms." 12 years later, we've finally come full circle, or something.
$10 for a good Sora and a balrog starter to go with my deskGandalf? Yes please.
I foresee those earth elemental hats being used as some sort of crab pincher in MOCs.
This is confusing for me, having only watched Ninjago to season 8 before abandoning it forever
@ALegoFan said:
"This is confusing for me, having only watched Ninjago to season 8 before abandoning it forever"
I've never watched Ninjago and it makes perfect sense to me: the dragon guy is piloting a mech to fight the little rock guy
A little related to this set, does anyone know if the Legs on Jay's mech in 71853 are new? I'v not seen dino legs with studs on the outside before but seems odd to make that part just for this set when it's not needed.
The horny guy looks pretty neat.
@StyleCounselor said:
"And, yet, Clone Troopers can't have cloth kamas because THEY get in the way."
I'm honestly getting a little sick of every set somehow getting a comment related to kamas on clone troopers...
@SMC said:
"A little related to this set, does anyone know if the Legs on Jay's mech in 71853 are new? I'v not seen dino legs with studs on the outside before but seems odd to make that part just for this set when it's not needed. "
They're new I believe, previously these sets would use the 4+ Mech legs (also in the same set) or the normal dinosaur legs. I thought they existed before but I couldn't find any matches when checking previous 4+ sets just now.
Reminds me a little bit of Horny from the Dungeon Keeper series of games.
@dimc said:
"$10 for a good Sora and a balrog starter to go with my deskGandalf? Yes please.
I foresee those earth elemental hats being used as some sort of crab pincher in MOCs. "
I foresee them being used exactly as such in official sets.
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
"And, yet, Clone Troopers can't have cloth kamas because THEY get in the way."
I'm honestly getting a little sick of every set somehow getting a comment related to kamas on clone troopers..."
We fight for our right to party!!
My first thought, when you linked to 71805 and 71827, was "Those two had weapons. Why doesn't this one have those?" But then, those two didn't have claws or wings, so I guess it balances out.
@Ryangaff said:
" @ALegoFan said:
"This is confusing for me, having only watched Ninjago to season 8 before abandoning it forever"
I've never watched Ninjago and it makes perfect sense to me: the dragon guy is piloting a mech to fight the little rock guy"
The only Ninjago media I've ever consumed is the movie, but that hasn't stopped me from getting a lot of sets not related to it. So I really have no idea about the story behind them. They're still fun to build and play with!