Review: 71832 Thunderfang Dragon of Chaos
Posted by CapnRex101,
NINJAGO: Dragons Rising was launched in 2023, introducing numerous dragons onscreen and in the accompanying sets, unsurprisingly. Most are aligned with the ninja, so villainous dragons like 71832 Thunderfang Dragon of Chaos serve as a welcome change from the norm.
Beyond its distinct colour scheme, Thunderfang has an interesting two-legged stance, unusual among NINJAGO dragons. The various chains restraining this monstrous dragon further enhance its evil appearance, so I hope the mighty 71721 Skull Sorcerer's Dragon finally has a rival!
Summary
71832 Thunderfang Dragon of Chaos, 668 pieces.
£64.99 / $69.99 / €74.99 | 9.7p / 10.5c / 11.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Thunderfang is a unique and impressive dragon, slightly let down by the minifigures
- Creative dragon design, full of personality
- Striking colours
- Excellent articulation
- Clever chain release function
- Mediocre minifigure selection
- Fairly expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
The ninja are dressed in armoured Storm Suits for this season, each featuring straps over their shoulders and metallic chest armour. As normal, Lloyd combines several shades of green and that works in some areas, but I find the lime green hands and belt distracting. Though intricate detail is welcome, I often favour simpler colour schemes, like the gi from the Tournament of the Sources range last year.
Nya fares better, in my opinion. Her pearl dark grey and dark azure colour combination seems more cohesive, with metallic blue highlights on the torso. In addition, I like the minifigures' dual-moulded masks, including subtle slits on the face, reminiscent of their knight-inspired garb from Master of the Mountain.
Lloyd and Nya re-use their standard heads introduced with the launch of NINJAGO: Dragons Rising and are armed with pearl gold swords. These weapons can be sheathed on their back and Lloyd only appears here with his shoulder armour and scabbard.
Sora received a new suit for the Tournament of Sources, but reverts to her original attire here, which is a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, this is a fantastic minifigure overall, as the torso and legs are brilliantly detailed, featuring a cat motif repeated with her headphones. The mechanical arm looks great too, although I would still appreciate more variety in Sora minifigures.
Allying yourself with the enemy certainly means an updated suit and I love this version of Arin. The design bears a close resemblance to his original minifigure, albeit with a black head wrap, shoulder armour and arm to match his increasingly cold personality. The magenta dragon is a nice touch too, replacing an orange design from his earlier appearances, perhaps in honour of Thunderfang.
Considering his change in personality, Arin's smiling face is really not suitable, so a new head should have been provided. The reverse would be useful for Sora, whose angry and 'powered-up' expressions are restrictive. Like the other ninja, these two are equipped with blades, though Arin also carries a mysterious trans-yellow gem.
The Forbidden Five are apparently determined to free Thunderfang from his imprisonment and one of their number, Nokt, is supplied for the task. As his name suggests, the character wears dark robes, decorated with sinister screaming faces and some metallic blue highlights. I like the claws hanging over his belt in particular, matching those printed on the feet.
Tyr leads the Dragonian forces found in many NINJAGO sets this year, likely in service of the Forbidden Five. Unfortunately, longer horns are the only detail separating Tyr from the normal Dragonian Warriors, which is disappointing because these mid-level commanders are typically among the best NINJAGO characters. The likes of Samukai, General Vex and Char are a few memorable examples.
Despite this missed opportunity for something truly unique, the minifigure does look superb. I like the pearl dark grey shoulder armour and matching armour across the torso and legs, with scaly details too. Also, the double-sided head is unusual, showing a standard face on one side and flames on the other, as though Tyr is breathing fire through the helmet.
The Completed Model
The minifigures are fine, but Thunderfang himself is undoubtedly the highlight. The dragon's upright stance is highly unusual and differs even from past two-legged dragons, as this model looks more humanoid, though still with plenty of animalistic features. Moreover, the red, purple and black colours are striking and again stand out from previous NINJAGO dragons.
Thunderfang's two-legged stance also allows a greater range of poses than would be possible with a four-legged dragon. There is no elbow or knee articulation, but the many other joints are pretty versatile, notably including strong hips and adjustable claws. Furthermore, the wings and tail are helpful in balancing the creature in dynamic poses.
You could even display Thunderfang on four legs, if you wish. The structure of his body better suits the above poses, but options are always welcome and the moveable claws on the hands and feet are particularly useful in this kind of stance.
One area in which this dragon does seem familiar is the head. The upper and lower jaw pieces have appeared many times before and there is nothing necessarily wrong with their integration here, but I think this dragon deserved something special. Even so, the articulation works nicely and I like the printed markings around the eyes.
The collar is a highlight as well, using the ring element designed for Harry's glasses in 76391 Hogwarts Icons - Collectors' Edition. The chains hanging off and connected to Thunderfang's wrist look superb and the stickered 4x4 curved tiles are attractive to, complementing a pair of decorative blades.
I often dislike the angled limb element used for mechs and creatures, but it works well on this occasion, forming part of the dragon's spindly arms. The stickered details and tan spines look perfect on the forearms and shoulders, although I am less convinced by the exposed studs on the forearms.
These studs are useful for posing minifigures climbing on the dragon, but still look awkward to me. Also notable are a couple of empty clips on the wrists. Maybe these are intended as extra connection points for the chains.
Though I prefer fabric wings to vinyl overall, the swirling patterns on Thunderfang's wings are appealing and using the vinyl material means they are visible on both sides. In fact, the wings look remarkably complete from the underside because their Technic frames comprise the same colours as the rest of the dragon.
1x1 round tile launchers are also found on the underside of each wing, which are nice for play. Most importantly, however, the wings are incredibly articulated. They are connected using ball joints, which provide a full range of motion, so you can fold the wings against the body, spread them for maximum intimidation, or anything in between.
In contrast with his massive wings, Thunderfang's body is very slim and hunched over. I really think this works for the character, making the dragon look rather emaciated in its captivity. The spines on the back are an excellent addition too, mirroring those on the arms. Maybe the claws on the hands and feet should also have been tan, although red is effective.
Tan spikes do appear on the legs though, so the whole model seems cohesive. Moreover, the tail is quite well articulated and I like the dual-moulded trans-pink and purple blade on the end, returning from 71841 Dragonian Storm Village.
Thunderfang's feet are attached with large ball joints and they feel completely stable, without losing the ability to rotate or tilt sideways. They cannot rock forward and back though and this does limit poseability to some degree, but was probably unavoidable, given the weight passing through these joints.
The chain hanging from the dragon's left wrist has been unattached at the other end thus far, although you could link it to the chain on his collar. However, this is actually included to chain Thunderfang to a shrine. Given its small size, the dragon could surely free himself quite easily by destroying this structure or the chain, so presumably magic prevents this.
There is a method of releasing him though. Inserting two Prismatic Blades into the shrine will open the clasp holding the golden ring attached to the chain. Functions like this one are quite unusual for NINJAGO and it works perfectly. Moreover, the simple shrine looks reasonable, as does the banner displaying Thunderfang's menacing visage on top.
1x2 double corner panels comprise a crate behind the shrine. You could store an accessory or ammunition for the tile launchers inside, though perhaps the animated series will reveal its true purpose, as this seems like quite a specific detail.
Overall
While 71721 Skull Sorcerer's Dragon remains my favourite evil dragon from NINJAGO, 71832 Thunderfang Dragon of Chaos follows closely behind in second place. The creative absolutely oozes villainy and I love its hunched and two-legged design, ensuring this model stands out on display. The colour scheme is appealing too, as are the chains.
There is little to dislike about the set. The minifigure selection could probably be improved, as only Arin is really unique and even he closely resembles the figure from 71833 Ras and Arin's Super Storm Jet. Also, the price of £64.99, $69.99 or €74.99 feels quite expensive, particularly in the Eurozone, but this is certainly a strong addition to the menagerie of NINJAGO dragons, nevertheless.
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19 comments on this article
Set of the year, also why does the face give Hero Factory vibes 44021
Okay, the sword-releasing mechanism is pretty great.
71721 skull scorchers dragon was only £10 more. Not seeing the value here, but it looks superb at maybe 10-20 quid off.
This is a really cool set. Ninjago has had a lot of dragons over the years, but the hunched, bipedal stance of this one is very unique. The ornate neck shackle looks very cool and even the typical head build looks somewhat fresh with the many-eyed print. The color scheme is also great—reds, blacks, and purples are a pretty typical villain color scheme in Ninjago but they don't fail to look stunning here.
I don't mind the minifig selection here one bit—I like that between this set, 71836, and 71841, you can get all of the ninja in their new costumes and all of the Forbidden Five characters available so far. I also prefer this version of Arin (with a recolor of his unique horned face wrap) over the one from 71826 and 71833, with the horns taking on a darker vibe with Arin's new edgy phase.
I love this. It looks like a final boss sort of character, especially with that collar! The bipedal stance is great and finally something new for a dragon, as it's not quite like a regular humanoid either. The sword release mechanism is a nice touch too!
This is the coolest Ninjago dragon we've had in a while!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"This is the coolest Ninjago dragon we've had in a while!"
71822 would like a word with you.
The design looks good. The color scheme makes me want to cry.
@shedjed said:
"The design looks good. The color scheme makes me want to cry."
Imho, the color scheme is amazing, so vibrant.
Thanks for the review. You took some super helpful pictures there.
@CapnRex101 nice review!
Slight error: Thunderfang got written as “Thunderjaw” in the paragraph where you talked about Nokt.
Also, I think Tyr’s helmet is also darker red than the Dragonian Warriot’s. Still not too impressive for a general, but slightly better than longer horns.
@SearchlightRG said:
" @CapnRex101 nice review!
Slight error: Thunderfang got written as “Thunderjaw” in the paragraph where you talked about Nokt.
Also, I think Tyr’s helmet is also darker red than the Dragonian Warriot’s. Still not too impressive for a general, but slightly better than longer horns."
Thank you. I am honestly surprised I only made that error once, as I keep wanting to call him Thunderjaw because of the robots from the Horizon games!
Regarding Tyr's helmet, it is dark red, so the same as the standard Dragonian Warriors.
@CapnRex101 thanks for the review! "Emaciated" was the word I learned today from this review.
Lloyd with his pauldron and scabbard is actually available in 71836 Arc Dragon of Focus as well
I think it’s time the ninja get a Luck Dragon.
Maybe on their way to visit the Childlike Empress…
The yellow armor piece is really cool. Love the pink dragon that starts at the back and transitions to the front.
This looks like something you would see in a D&D campaign.
@Lordmoral said:
"This looks like something you would see in a D&D campaign. "
It's apparently Chaotic Evil.
The color sceme, the stance, it just looks very menacing. A nice addition to dragon collectors!
Can't figure out where the dragon's eyes are...