Review: 853687 NINJAGO Accessory Set
Posted by CapnRex101,
Accessory sets were once a rarity but many have been released in recent years, representing a broad range of original and licensed themes. 853687 NINJAGO Accessory Set is the latest addition to the selection and is perhaps the most appealing yet, offering two exclusive characters as well as a brand new outfit for Skylor.
Several of the Elemental Masters have already been seen in minifigure form but Ash and Shade, the masters of Smoke and Shadow, were hitherto absent from the theme so I am pleased to see them here. Furthermore, some very useful pieces are included, the most notable of which are the dark bluish grey shield and versatile torso elements.
Minifigures
Skylor previously appeared in 70746 Condrai Copter Attack but now wears a Skybound uniform in her role as the Elemental Master of Amber. The striking dark red and flame yellowish orange colour scheme works perfectly and is distinct from all other NINJAGO characters, an impressive feat given the volume of minifigures released! The head is printed with a new design but only features one expression which is a little disappointing as this smile is not suited to combat.
The hood can be removed in favour of a bright red hair piece just like that seen in the animated series and the back of the torso is printed with some scuffed leather armour. A quiver full of arrows, a longbow and a 1x1 sushi tile complete the figure, representing Skylor's role as the manager of Chen's Noodle House.
The Master of Smoke, Ash, wears an unusual light bluish grey and sand blue uniform. His head wrap is cast in light bluish grey and includes a clip for storing a single weapon at the back, although Ash is armed with a pair of smoke grenades so one has to be put aside or held in a hand. The torso is printed with a segmented cuirass and some dark brown padding which is decorated with the elemental symbol for smoke.
Detailed cuisses protect the legs and removing the mask reveals a grin and thick eyebrows, shown in an image below. Ash comes with an exclusive sand blue hair piece which seems appropriate for the Elemental Master of Smoke and complements the muted colours his attire perfectly.
Shade's uniform is similarly drab, with grey and black armour printed on both sides of the torso as well as light bluish grey skin. The chest armour is adorned with a wolf symbol at its centre and this is surrounded by layered armour. Unfortunately the legs do not feature a matching design but they are dual-moulded to give the impression of black boots.
I like Shade's determined expression and sunken eyes as this colour scheme allows him to blend into the darkness, unlike other characters with the typical yellow skin. The Master of Shadows is armed with an impressive selection of weapons including two katana which can be sheathed on his back, a large scimitar and a dark grey shield which is left plain.
All three minifigures are heavily armed and they look tremendous when fully equipped. I particularly like Shade's enormous shield and scimitar, although it seems odd that the stealthy Master of Shadow uses such cumbersome weaponry. On the other hand, I love the dark bluish grey shield and hope to see it appear in many more future sets as this element is only available elsewhere in 71042 Silent Mary at the moment.
Overall
Accessory sets always include a great selection of minifigures but this might be the best example yet. The two new characters are excellent and I like Skylor's Skybound attire very much so am delighted to see these Elemental Masters make the transition from the animated series to physical minifigure form.
However, 853544 NINJAGO Accessory Set contains only three minifigures while previous examples have come with four. Meanwhile, the price has remained at £10.99 in the UK and dropped slightly to $12.99 in the US. This seems very expensive, particularly since no additional models are included, unlike in 853651 The LEGO Batman Movie Accessory Set. For that reason I find it difficult to recommend this set at full price, although the appeal of these characters cannot be ignored.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
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17 comments on this article
This is probably my favorite Accessory Set however I will NEVER buy it at $13, that is outrageous. LEGO can try to nickel and dime it's fans and the masses will probably go "Okay, can I get price gouged some more?!" but I will never support $4.33 a minifigure when the old sets had them outrageously priced at $3.75.
So hopefully this beautiful set goes on sale like the first year Nexo nights sets are.
I'm hoping we get more of these! There are only five Elemental Masters that are still missing sets, plus Karlof in his Metal Power form, so two more Battle Packs like this could complete the set.
That shadow guy's legs would be great for Imperial Officers! And the sushi and hairpieces are awesome! I don't even like Ninjago much, but I may have to get this for the minifigure parts.
Previous accessory sets were actually $14.99, not $12.99. So that takes some of the bite out of the decreased minifigure count in the US, although 4 figs for $14.99 was still a better deal. I also feel like the completely unique character designs help make this feel a bit easier to swallow, as it's more like buying three collectible minifigures than an overpriced starter set without the bricks. Some other themes' accessory sets, with either generic figs or figs mixed-and-matched from generic parts, can't make that same claim.
I love that this set has more of the elemental masters, and also that their outfits are all updated to be more unique. In the show, Shade's torso was just a recolor of the CMF Roman Centurion torso without the belt. Here, it keeps the wolf motif but couples it with a more unique armor style. Ash's outfit is also more detailed than it was in season 4. Skylor's new outfit did appear in the show in Season 6, but is still a fabulous design, with a similar style to the ninja's "throwback" outfits from the Day of the Departed wave.
There are some quirks I observed with this set, though. Skylor's belt is printed in Metallic Red on her legs and hips but Dark Red on her torso, though this is not too noticeable except under close inspection. I'm not quite sure what Ash's weapons are… incense burners, maybe? Or bongs? :P He is the master of smoke.… Finally, I'm always a bit puzzled when a character (like Shade in this set) has THREE swords!
Overall, though, this set is impeccably detailed and helps shine a light on some of Ninjago's less prominent characters. I would not at all mind more packs like this one in the future!
I've never bought any of those, but you say it's now the same price with 25% less inside?
Does anyone else find it exceptionally offending?
@Alonzo Brickovsky thaaat's capitalism!
I absolutely love everything about this set. I'm very happy to get two more elemental masters, and Skylor's hair piece is great to get in this set. However, my favorite thing is that this is a HoT set, meaning the elemental masters will make an appearance on the Hands of Time!
Alonzo Brickovsky, the price in the USA went from $15 for 4 minifigures to $13 for 3, that's a 50 cent increase on each minifigure and makes it more expensive than even the CMF series.
But they do it because LEGO knows they can. As we see from just a few comments people will make up whatever excuse to justify it.
My favorite part is LEGO LEGO.com for two months now has had last years NEXO Knights set with three blue knights and a small robot for $7.50. Yet they still release a new version with three blue knights and no small rob thing for $13. The only difference is that the armor is now neon orange instead of blue. It's just outrageous and LEGO fans won't speak up and say "enough" so LEGO will continue with this.
I will wait for a sale, Shade looks like a good Witcher MOC with that torso.
These minifigs look great and it will be great to get this set, but as an AFOL I can be patient.
I'm not into Ninjago at all but wouldn't mind picking this set up for the parts (especially that sushi piece - I need about 100 of those!). However it will only happen if/when it goes on sale.
I want all the elemental masters. this is an easy buy for me! It was the only reason I bought some of the Ultra Agent sets...
@ZG Brickfilms: Some of the elemental masters MIGHT appear in Hands of Time, but I wouldn't assume that based on this set. After all, last year's Skybound accessory pack had both a Samurai X and Tournament Zane figure that never appeared in the show at all, let alone that particular season. Also, the top banner doesn't necessarily correspond to the season even with regular sets — all of last year's summer sets had a "Day of the Departed" themed header, but some of them were Skybound sets.
On a similar branding-related note, I found it interesting that this set has a "Hands of Time" header, but "Day of the Departed" background art.
And @The Green Brick Giant, I'm not saying the price increase per figure is justified. It's just that overpaying $1.50 once per year for one set is not a big enough difference for me to be worth getting upset about. I can make up that difference as easily as not buying a small bag of candy some time when I otherwise would. Plenty of people pay much more inflated prices for figs on the aftermarket.
I agree that the new Nexo Knights pack is not a good value. But then, I didn't think the old one was a good value either, hence why I didn't buy it. The figs only had minor cosmetic differences from the ones that came in sets; they didn't feel unique or special to me. That element of uniqueness matters more to me than any small increase in price. If I did want the pack but didn't want to pay $13, I could just wait for a price drop similar to last year's. No big deal.
I will not judge you for raising a fuss about this if it bothers you. You should at least have the courtesy not to judge me for NOT raising a fuss about something that doesn't bother me.
I customize a lot of zombie minifigs, so any new gray heads are fine by me!
Great review. Thanks, CapnRex.
Nice minifigures but not worth £11. I'll wait to see if they go on sale.
@Aanchir, I'm guessing that Ash's weapons are smoke bombs/grenades. I assume they do more than obscure vision. Maybe they asphyxiate, are noxious or even toxic.
Still less than $4 a fig, which is what the Collectables are up to... Not that it a good price, but it is a valid comparison.
wunztwice, still less than $4? Are we using alt-math now?
$13 divided by 3 is $4.33 a minifigure. Is $4.33 still less than $4?