Review: 70609 Manta Ray Bomber
Posted by CapnRex101,
Both trailers for The LEGO NINJAGO Movie have exhibited 70609 Manta Ray Bomber quite extensively and this seems to be a major component of Garmadon's army. It should therefore be very appealing but I think the exceptional quality of many other sets in the range has drawn attention away from this one.
Nevertheless, the set is priced at a reasonable £24.99 or $29.99 and includes some superb minifigures, not to mention an impressive selection of sand blue parts. That being said, there is a lot of competition at this price point so I hope that the bomber will exceed expectations.
Minifigures
The design of the ninja has been updated for The LEGO NINJAGO Movie but their respective colours remain the same. Cole therefore sports a black shinobi shozoku which also features some reddish brown lining and a metallic gold belt. It is without sleeves and appears looser than those worn by his fellow ninja as the neckline is quite low and leaves some muscles exposed on the chest. I quite like this distinctive design and appreciate that the six ninja have customised their clothing to reflect their skills.
The NINJAGO script on his torso reads 'EARTH' and an 'E' appears on the dark brown band going around his mask. This consists of two new elements which go around the neck and on top of the head, combining to form a fairly traditional head wrap. I love the close fitting around the neck and the contrasting band of colour looks great, although it is more striking on figures which include a much brighter accent colour.
Removing the hood entirely reveals angry and happy expressions as well as thick eyebrows which have been a feature of Cole's appearance since season one! The back of the torso includes a floral emblem which is printed in metallic gold and shines quite nicely under certain light conditions but it is not so bright as to overwhelmingly contrast with the brown. The minifigure is equipped with a large stone hammer.
Most of The LEGO NINJAGO Movie sets include a citizen to flee in terror as Garmadon launches his attack. Shen-Li is one such character who appears to work at the docks based on the box image. He wears a medium nougat coolie which is moulded with a lovely texture and I like the printing on his torso too as this gives the illusion of similar texture, particularly around the neck where his tunic is bunched up.
The back of the torso also features some fabric folds and this continues over his dark blue trousers, although it is a shame that the legs are not dual-moulded so the dark tan is only visible from the front. Each citizen appears frightened, as one would expect given the marauding army of fish people which is attacking. However, Shen-Li seems to be handling the situation comparatively well as the head features a nervous expression and some facial hair.
Shen-Li comes with a wooden carrying pole, at the ends of which are two buckets. This is a simple but very unusual accessory and I love how it is attached over his shoulder using a neck bracket and a clip. The dark tan bucket handles break up the reddish brown colours nicely and the angle of the buckets can be adjusted to appear as though they are swinging which looks rather nice, especially if their carrier needs to flee from the oncoming army.
Garmadon's army is made up of many different kinds of troops, each of whom is intended for a different role. The Great White appear in just two sets and seem to be among the infantry given his heavy armour but the Shark Army Gunner is more lightly armoured, wearing a simple beanie hat. His face is scarred and includes some stubble while the Great White features brown eyebrows and an angry expression.
The shark helmet looks brilliant, with an even split between light and dark bluish grey skin along with shiny black eyes, "like a doll's eyes" perhaps! The shoulder armour is combined with the helmet but the twin air tanks are separate and have not appeared in pearl dark grey before now. Their torso and legs designs are identical which is slightly disappointing but the detail is pleasing and I like the sand blue colours which match those on the vehicle.
Each soldier carries a fish-shaped weapon into battle which is a consistent feature of this unusually equipped army. The fish is new in medium blue and could prove quite useful in this colour, either as a live fish or as a frozen one. In this case they are being used as the handles for a small drill and a sai, both of which look appropriately wacky.
The Completed Model
The Manta Ray Bomber is surprisingly large, with a wingspan of over 30cm. It feels very swooshable but gripping the model at the back of the fuselage is somewhat difficult which reduces the play value. Fortunately, most of the craft is perfectly sturdy so you can hold it from the underside or by the wings. Moreover, I love the sand blue colour scheme, particularly since many of the elements included have not appeared in sand blue before.
As the name would suggest, the bomber is designed to resemble a manta ray and it is very successful in this respect. The wings form the pectoral fins and the tips are mounted on hinges so you can adjust them just as a real manta ray would flap its fins while swimming. However, the resemblance has not gone too far as the model still includes some mechanical details and it certainly looks like a vehicle which could fly and land on water.
The mouths of manta rays are very wide and that is effectively replicated here using white wheel arches. A pair of firing missiles are hidden inside and a pair of trans-orange eyes are fixed on top. The open underside of the mouth looks slightly odd but I like the white oars which are intended to form the cephalic lobes and double as functional oars for the dinghy.
The missiles are launched using the levers on top, each of which is identified by a printed 1x4 tile featuring yellow and black hazard stripes. A dinghy is fitted on top and this shares the black and yellow colour scheme, although such a large block of yellow does not seem to fit with the rest of the model. Nevertheless, the positioning of the controls looks good and I like the mechanical details on the wings and in front of the pilot's seat.
There is also room for a rear gunner. Both seats feature a new 2x2 tile with two studs and these also appear beneath the dinghy. The cannon faces backwards but is mounted on a hinge and can be rotated all the way around. It is controlled by two levers and a magnifying glass represents the gun sight. This is not printed with a targeting reticule which seems strange given that an appropriate piece already exists.
The dinghy can be separated from the bomber and float in water. This is a welcome feature but it has not been implemented very well as there is no deployment mechanism. Perhaps the tail could have been designed to fold down and form a slipway. The dinghy would then slide down into the water which would make more sense than simply removing it from the top. The bombs must also be removed manually and their positioning is bizarre as they will simply fall onto the wings when the dinghy is fitted to the Manta Ray Bomber.
Unfortunately, the tail is attached using a Technic axle through a pin hole so it tends to wobble which is very irritating. However, I like the way the tail looks and am pleased that removing the dinghy does not detract from the appearance of the model as a whole. The absence of an identifiable cockpit in this configuration is disappointing but perhaps the vehicle is able to act without a pilot or can be remotely operated.
Two large floats are fitted to the underside. These resemble fuel tanks when the craft is flying but serve as propulsion units while it is on water. Personally, I find them more useful as bombs given the lack of an effective bomb dropping feature. They are easy to disconnect so you could pretend that the bombs are launched and then remotely directed to their targets using the propellers. The box does not suggest that they are intended for this purpose but it is certainly an improvement over the smaller bombs mounted above the wings.
Overall
This is a disappointing set. I think the Manta Ray Bomber looks reasonable on the whole but it lacks certain functions which I expected, most notably where the bombs are concerned. Many previous sets have included some kind of bomb dropping feature but that is not present here which seems like a strange decision. Perhaps these bombers are intended to be fairly rudimentary and the bombs are simply thrown over the side by the occupants, although if that is the case then it should be shown on the packaging.
Moreover, the minifigure selection is good but the inclusion of only one exclusive character makes it no more impressive than any other set at this price point, reasonable though that price is given the size of the model. I think this is among the weakest of the thirteen The LEGO NINJAGO Movie sets released so far, although that is testament to the high calibre of similarly priced sets. I would therefore recommend other sets over this one, unless you are looking to collect the full army of aquatic villains.
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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20 comments on this article
I will get shen-Li from bricklink so i can add him to my asian city. But the rest is not that cool...
I kind of want to get it because I love creative reuses of highly specialised pieces like the dinghy and the speed champions windscreen.
Looks like a decent set. Probably the cheapest way to get Cole at this point.
Agreed, it does seem odd to brand a set as a bomber but not be able to bomb with it. Still, I like the shaping a lot and am glad those hazard tiles are printed.
I was surprised that the mask is actually two separate pieces. Originally, this set didn't interest me, but it actually seems decent. I really like how these sets include civilians with little, interesting builds that go along with them.
I really like how this set looks. It gives me the opportunity to expand my selection of sand blue parts quite a bit!
Definetly the worst set so far
Very few of the Ninjago Movie sets have functions that aren't articulation or launchers of some kind, so that seems par for the course with this. Really, the main things that bug me are that it's boring and that the bottom of the mouth seems unfinished.
Still, it is probably one of the worst sets simply because all the rest are much better and more interesting, not that this is actually a bad model per se.
Sand blue parts pack.
I love the design, but I am very disappointed that there were no actual big bombs that pop off. I was really expecting the two big yellow propeller things to be droppable bombs.
It looks much better upside down. With the boat detached (for it only makes it look like a fat sandwich).
The characters look nothing special, yet Shen-Li stands out as having nothing to do with the "bomber".
Definitely not the best effort from the designers' department.
I think the large underslung elements are the bombs while the small black and yellow bits are propulsion, no?
Looks like a really fun set, even if I'm not a Cole fan. Neat/cool use of parts (like the yellow dingy being the cockpit, the oars...:)), and neat figures (w/the noted exception), definitely have to get this set.
Looks great, but I am not interested in this one.
It doesn't look bad and the value for money seems reasonable, but compared to the rest of the wave the Manta Ray Bomber is very weak. The Jelly Sub is probably at the same price point in Sweden, has a cool build for the civilian boat and better minifigs. I will get that one instead.
Is this wave of sets due out 1st August?
OK, I'm gonna have my outing here : )
I actually like the set, I have a soft spot for all brick-build huge mecha-animals and/or Ninjago dragons and I actually like this bomber. It surely is not perfect, and the figures are a bit on the weak side, but the Manta is pretty cool! It's so whacky and interesting, just like the giant squid or the huge shark! Love those bad guy vehicles here.
Although the idea is certainly amusing, I find this set disappointing when compared to the other elements of Garmadon's army. Given how many really superb designs are in this wave, I'll have to let this one pass. Maybe I can design my own take on a "manta bomber" later on.
This set has great minifigures, and the build isn't really bad too... But the set looks still very bland. I think this is the worst set of The Lego Ninjago Movie line.
It's only four days since release and Amazon US already has this set at a 17% discount, which makes it more appealing. On the other hand, so is 70611 Water Strider, which I suspect is a stronger set than this.