Review: Spinjitzu Burst Sets
Posted by benbacardi,
For the past couple of years, LEGO has released a range of small sets under the Spinjitzu banner, each containing a single minifigure and an interactive element to allow you to spin the minifigure like a spinning top.
They’ve released three previous designs since 2018 (Spinjitzu Masters, Spinjitzu, and Spinjitzu Slam); this year’s offering, Spinjitzu Burst, is an evolution of last year’s, featuring much the same launch mechanism with a different spinning effect. We’ve reviewed all three available versions below to see how they compare.
Minifigures
The sets contains their single titular minifigure - Cole, Kai, or Lloyd. Surprisingly, the torso, legs, and head for each minifigure are unique, never having appeared in a previous set before. The torso and legs are each printed with fantastic detail, showing ripples of energy bursting from traditional Ninja clothing, with the print continuing below the belt and onto the legs. The designs are particularly striking, colour matched to their character, although the detail on Lloyd’s green torso looks a little less vivid than the others.
Removing their head wraps reveals the new head prints. All three feature aggressive grimaces, glowing eyes, and jagged bursts of energy. They do not provide an alternative expression, but given that all nine elements are brand new prints, and the type of set they appear in, this is neither surprising nor much of a negative.
Each character is also provided with a hat as an alternative to the full face coverings. These hats have appeared many times before in Ninjago sets, although Lloyd’s is a new recolour in metallic silver. I’m not sure why green wasn’t chosen, to match the rest of his outfit like that of Cole and Kai.
Parts
A handful of the parts included are interesting - there is one recolour (Lloyd’s hat, mentioned above), two new moulds, and two parts reused for only the second time.
The first new mold, shown centre and right below, is titled Function Element, W/ 3.2 Shaft. One is included in each set, and it’s basically two 1x2 jumper plates side by side, with a bar attached to each of the four sides. The protrusion between the two studs (presumably there to grip the minifigure tighter than two plain studs would) unfortunately prevents anything other than minifigure legs from attaching to the top of the plate, limiting its potential reuse somewhat.
The part shown on the left above attaches to the underside of the new plate, and allows the minifigure’s stand to lightly screw into the launcher assembly. This, along with the corresponding part into which it sits, were introduced in last year’s Spinjitzu Slammers.
The remaining new element is shown below, Function Element, W/ Hinge. Four are included in each set, in three different dual-moulded colour pairs—gold and trans clear for Cole, gold and red for Kai, and silver and trans green for Lloyd.
The clip at the bottom attaches to the bars on the new element above, and allows the part to sit loosely at roughly a 45º angle. I can’t see much use for the new part beyond these sets, but I have learnt that you shouldn’t underestimate the imagination and ingenuity of creative fans!
The Build and Play
All three models are built in a near-identical fashion, with the only changes being the colour and shape of four pieces adorning the launch platform. A few orange plates form the base, on top of which a housing is constructed for the launcher. Strangely, a light grey ingot and vibrant coral 1x2 brick are used for no apparent reason in the walls, which become completely covered when the build is finished. Vibrant coral is possibly my favourite colour of brick, so I’m not complaining, but their inclusion seems odd when they’re no longer visible.
When complete, the launcher is integrated quite nicely with the base, sitting in a rounded housing with some basic decoration. Lloyd’s base, shown below, includes four trans bright green 1x1 pyramids, which are new for this year (and a relatively rare mold as it is.) Cole and Kai both feature cheese slopes instead, in trans clear and trans red respectively.
Once the launcher is assembled, the minifigure’s spinner is put together. The sides are lifted and held in place with a blue elastic belt, and the whole assembly can be screwed into the base, which lifts the end of the launch pad’s lever. They’re now ready to play!
Play is quite simple; hit the lever, and watch the minifigure spin off the base and onto the table. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as satisfying as it sounds, and it’s a lot trickier than it should be to get the result the box art indicates. On the first few tries, I obviously wasn’t hitting the lever hard enough, and the minifigure simply spun onto the table and collapsed. Hitting it harder sends it flying quite a distance across the table, but the blue belt is too strong to allow the spinner to open up and reveal the minifigure inside for more than a split second.
The best I could seem to achieve was a second or so of spinning partially open, and then longer continued spinning closed until it lost momentum and stopped. The spinner worked best on a smooth surface, like a table or wooden floor, but that also meant the base had to be held down with one hand while the other triggered the lever. At least it’s shaped in such a way to make that easy!
Conclusion
The concept of the Spinjitzu series of the years is an interesting one; small, relatively cheap sets designed to be played with either individually or as a whole, with a unique play element not seen before in a traditional LEGO set.
This year’s Burst sets, however, fell short of my expectations by making it too difficult to spin satisfactorily, due in most part to the tightness of the elastic belt. Last year’s Slam models seemed much more effective with what is essentially the same launcher, and although these are clearly an effort to improve upon the somewhat clunky mechanism of the original Spinjitzu Master spinners, I think this particular iteration may have missed the mark.
The unique figures and new elements are interesting, but not enough, in my opinion, to justify the price of £8.99 / 9.99€ each for 48 pieces and a disappointing play experience.
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30 comments on this article
Regarding the base element of the spinners, you can attach some parts other than minifigure legs to those kinds of studs—most notably, you should be able to attach 1x1 round plates, which will give you some more versatile studs to attach other parts to.
The thing I hate about recent Spinjitzu sets is the fact that not every ninja gets the exclusive variant. I suppose 6 spinner sets twice a year might be too much, but then include the rest of the ninja in this variation in the regular sets.
I sense a building challenge coming, for the Function Element, W/Hinge.
I hadn't even seen these before, but they look like they could be decent for parts, particularly from the minifigs and those hinge pieces in the base.
Also, the hats they have always remind me of Embo, even though I don't think they ever used it for him.
I dunno, me and the kids really enjoyed season 11. 12 was pretty enjoyable good, too, although it felt like there were some time skips, especially right after they found Jay. I could swear I am missing an episode in there.
Dont u think lego ninjago spinners etc line of spin swts seem a little like beyblades?
I thought it ever since I first saw them: "Spinjitzu Burst" sounds, to me, like a Ninjago-themed line of juice boxes. The shape of the packaging, too, does little to dissuade me of that notion xD
Those trans lucid elements look useful on a MOC....
@Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai and Lloyd yes, but Cole hardly ever gets attention. It normally alternates between the other four Ninja and Kai and Lloyd.
I like the minfigs, remind me of the old NRG figures. Will probably buy at half price, the normal discount when the new wave launches, for this Winter.
@Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai, Lloyd and the character of the season. Last wave there was a Jay arcade pod, but no Cole one.
@WOLKsite said:
" @Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai, Lloyd and the character of the season. Last wave there was a Jay arcade pod, but no Cole one."
But cole got a stand alone $10 set of a car and Hausner minifig.
We need more Zane!!!
@Rolyat24 said:
"The thing I hate about recent Spinjitzu sets is the fact that not every ninja gets the exclusive variant. I suppose 6 spinner sets twice a year might be too much, but then include the rest of the ninja in this variation in the regular sets."
Exactly. Only the four original Ninja got Airjitzu sets, but Nya and Lloyd’s Airjitzu variants were included in another set. But neither of them got Dragon Master variants, Nya and Cole didn’t get Spinjitzu Slam forms, and Nya, Jay, and Zane apparently aren’t getting Spinjitzu Burst. Also, Nya and Cole’s “Avatar” variants were pretty sad, not coming with any new/exclusive parts like the other four. It’s kind of aggravating that the main female character in the series always gets shortchanged.
I have a feeling they made Lloyd’s hat silver so it’s a bit easier to work with when building your own characters.
Good review! The function concept for these new spinners is quite clever and I can't wait to try it out for myself, even though it results in an overall design that's more specialized and less customization friendly than the early 2019 spinner sets. I do feel like both the bases and hinged flaps could have numerous non-spinner uses in MOCs since they use fairly standard connection points, but I would probably have to have them in hand to really begin brainstorming particular uses for them.
The simple mechanical launcher design for the Spinjitzu Slam sets was pretty great, and I'm sure it's similarly effective here… but I do feel a little let down that there's not much besides colors and minifigures to differentiate the three Spinjitzu Burst sets from one another. By comparison, the 2019 Spinjitzu sets had varied add-ons for the spinners themselves, while the Spinjitzu Slam sets had additional builds which could serve as obstacles or challenges. Not having EITHER in this series feels pretty underwhelming.
I'm also in agreement with @Rolyat24 about how frustrating it is not to get spinners and minifig variants like this for all the ninja — especially given that Kai and Lloyd have each gotten Spinjitzu Slam, Arcade Pod, AND Spinjitzu Burst sets, while Nya (my favorite of the ninja) hasn't been included in ANY of those three series! I wouldn't mind so much that these impulse-type series don't feature every ninja if they at least showed more of an attempt to balance out how often each of the ninja gets featured…
@CCC Personally, I think the 2019 spinner designs (https://brickset.com/parts/design-40923 and https://brickset.com/parts/design-50663) were a BIG improvement on the original spinners.
The original spinners had a relatively simple geometric shape, but also an elaborate pre-assembled design with a built in turntable/ejection feature, not to mention highly detailed printed patterns. As much as I loved them and the clever card game LEGO constructed around them, I always struggled to come up with uses for them in MOCs other than as a decorative mandala-like pattern on walls or archways… especially given their tendency to have theme, character, or faction-specific graphics. Aesthetically, they often weren't even very effective at portraying Spinjitzu!
By comparison, the 2019 spinners' single-piece designs don't drive up costs nearly as much as the original pre-assembled designs did. They also have a simple molded design with a more convincing vortex/whirlwind shape, a wavy texture and smooth blended colors — fitting in wonderfully with the many similarly versatile flame/wave/lightning elements that are listed as part of the Energy Effect category on BrickLink: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?catType=P&catString=994
And as far as playability is concerned, the 2019 spinners' conical shape remains easy to spin either manually or using a turntable or launcher. Plus, the handles on 40923 open up all kinds of possibilities for customization, whether for playing with them as spinners or using them in MOCs! As soon as I first saw pictures of the 2019 spinner sets, my mind lit up with all kinds of practical uses outside the Ninjago theme, from tornadoes to whirlpools to magic spells to spaceship exhaust.
@Steam_Team_Plus_Oliver: I can underrstand feeling underwhelmed about particular recent sets or even recent story arcs, but I can't even fathom how you think recent Ninjago waves somehow lacks good sets IN GENERAL.
I mean, most of the Legacy sets are pretty decisive improvements on their classic counterparts, The mechs, vehicles, creatures, and structures from the summer 2019 wave were also pretty outstanding and fit really brilliantly with the classic LEGO Ninjago design language — arguably more so than a lot of the Rebooted and Tournament of Elements sets from 2014–2015 did. And a skeleton dragon like 71721-1 is something I've been dreaming of seeing since Ninjago's very first year!
@TheLegoFan: I mean, sort of, but only in that both Beyblades and Ninjago spinners are both part of the much larger category of competitive spinning tops. Similar toys have been around for quite some time: "Spin Fighters" in the early 90s, "Spinja" in the late 80s, "Battling Tops"/"Battling Spaceships" in the 60s and 70s, and even the traditional Malay game of "Gasing Pangkah" which has been around for centuries!
@Steam_Team_Plus_Oliver said:
"Remember when Ninjago had good sets and was a good show..."
The sets haven’t really gone down in quality, I don’t think, and the show has always been variable. I think the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 9th seasons are particularly good while 3 and 8 are abysmal.
@jaredhinton said:
" @WOLKsite said:
" @Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai, Lloyd and the character of the season. Last wave there was a Jay arcade pod, but no Cole one."
But cole got a stand alone $10 set of a car and Hausner minifig.
We need more Zane!!!
"
Actually, what everybody needs is that LEGO stops producing these .. how to call it eloqently.. "total throw-aways" that are remade every 6-12 months.. the only thing they have in common with ordinary LEGO bricks is.. well. just the bricked minifig! How extraordinary.. the packaging is low-cost, the looks of that "assembled thing" is beyond eyecatching.. the overall value per brick / set is awfully annoying as the only worthy part is the minifig itself..
LEGO really stepped out with these concepts.. trying to offer some "toy" for the not-so-wealthy individuals.. its just short of a blasphemy and totally ridiculous.. there is a saying that goes like "Im not that wealthy to buy cheap stuff / things" - which is exactly what these Ninjago spinning things in ricidulous cartonpaper boxes are .. 2nd class of regular LEGO sets.
@LukasM said:
" @jaredhinton said:
" @WOLKsite said:
" @Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai, Lloyd and the character of the season. Last wave there was a Jay arcade pod, but no Cole one."
But cole got a stand alone $10 set of a car and Hausner minifig.
We need more Zane!!!
"
Actually, what everybody needs is that LEGO stops producing these .. how to call it eloqently.. "total throw-aways" that are remade every 6-12 months.. the only thing they have in common with ordinary LEGO bricks is.. well. just the bricked minifig! How extraordinary.. the packaging is low-cost, the looks of that "assembled thing" is beyond eyecatching.. the overall value per brick / set is awfully annoying as the only worthy part is the minifig itself..
LEGO really stepped out with these concepts.. trying to offer some "toy" for the not-so-wealthy individuals.. its just short of a blasphemy and totally ridiculous.. there is a saying that goes like "Im not that wealthy to buy cheap stuff / things" - which is exactly what these Ninjago spinning things in ricidulous cartonpaper boxes are .. 2nd class of regular LEGO sets."
You could always just not buy them and let the people who enjoy them keep getting them. Not everything is made for you. For my part, I enjoy these sorts of character-specific, gimmick-driven sets, considering they usually do things you couldn't do nearly as well with ordinary bricks and offer new and interesting parts in a wide variety of colors (as well as, often, flashy new variants of characters). They're often a lot more interesting to me than a similarly-priced boxed set would usually be, since those often constitute little more than a scaled-back version of the bigger and more impressive vehicles or scenery you can get in larger sets.
Also, "impulse-priced" sets are an essential part of Lego's business. Very few parents are going to drop big bucks on an expensive new set in a theme they haven't heard of, but a $10 action toy is a great way to engage kids and get them to come back for bigger sets to go with it. I don't even know what to say about the classism in your derision of "not-so-wealthy" individuals...
The only good spinners were the first ones. I DO like 2019 spinner designs as well.
I do like the fact they are making launchers, but the whole feature without game is...not fun anymore. Or fun for 4 times xD
As usually I will wait for HUGE sales(They always end up on sale) to get two Coles who will be Magma guards. Perfect addition to Nexo knights Lava monsters!
@lordofdragonss said:
"get two Coles who will be Magma guards. Perfect addition to Nexo knights Lava monsters!"
I do enjoy a good lava monster and wish there were more.
@Bhahouighf said:
" @benbacardi
I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so: the legs of these figures are NOT exclusive. They're reused from the Ninja's Legacy II designs; Cole's legs also appear in 71699 Thunder Raider, Kai's are in 71704 Kai Fighter, and Lloyd's are found in 71699, 71704, and 71700 Jungle Raider as well as Spinjitzu Burst."
You're right. New for this year, though, and for some reason none of them appear in Brickset's inventories.
Love the Kai and Cole figures , especially because they go so well with Moltor and Flama from Nexo Knights.
The orange round plates can also be used as custom expansion of the Boardgame area.
Seeing that the crystal pieces can be clipped onto other pieces is nice too, certainly allows some rockwork decoration instead of just spinners.
So I wonder if the cone game dice piece can be launched from this as well.
@Steam_Team_Plus_Oliver said:
"Remember when Ninjago had good sets and was a good show..."
I might disagree on that. Besides, who needs spinners when you have those excellent sets of Ninjago "D&D" this year???
@TeriXeri said:
"Love the Kai and Cole figures , especially because they go so well with Moltor and Flama from Nexo Knights.
The orange round plates can also be used as custom expansion of the Boardgame area.
Seeing that the crystal pieces can be clipped onto other pieces is nice too, certainly allows some rockwork decoration instead of just spinners.
So I wonder if the cone game dice piece can be launched from this as well."
It's the same launcher piece as last year's Spinjitzu Slam sets, so yes. You can launch pretty much any reasonably balanced part from this as long as it fits on the circular 2x2 base... for instance, last year I tried it with the star-shaped characters from last year's Lego Movie 2 sets to hilarious results.
Genuine question; what's the difference between a user review and a front page set review like this one?
@Lyichir said:
" @LukasM said:
" @jaredhinton said:
" @WOLKsite said:
" @Snazzy_Bricks said:
"It's always Kai, Cole and Lloyd who get the attention in small sets. Kind of annoying."
Kai, Lloyd and the character of the season. Last wave there was a Jay arcade pod, but no Cole one."
But cole got a stand alone $10 set of a car and Hausner minifig.
We need more Zane!!!
"
Actually, what everybody needs is that LEGO stops producing these .. how to call it eloqently.. "total throw-aways" that are remade every 6-12 months.. the only thing they have in common with ordinary LEGO bricks is.. well. just the bricked minifig! How extraordinary.. the packaging is low-cost, the looks of that "assembled thing" is beyond eyecatching.. the overall value per brick / set is awfully annoying as the only worthy part is the minifig itself..
LEGO really stepped out with these concepts.. trying to offer some "toy" for the not-so-wealthy individuals.. its just short of a blasphemy and totally ridiculous.. there is a saying that goes like "Im not that wealthy to buy cheap stuff / things" - which is exactly what these Ninjago spinning things in ricidulous cartonpaper boxes are .. 2nd class of regular LEGO sets."
You could always just not buy them and let the people who enjoy them keep getting them. Not everything is made for you. For my part, I enjoy these sorts of character-specific, gimmick-driven sets, considering they usually do things you couldn't do nearly as well with ordinary bricks and offer new and interesting parts in a wide variety of colors (as well as, often, flashy new variants of characters). They're often a lot more interesting to me than a similarly-priced boxed set would usually be, since those often constitute little more than a scaled-back version of the bigger and more impressive vehicles or scenery you can get in larger sets.
Also, "impulse-priced" sets are an essential part of Lego's business. Very few parents are going to drop big bucks on an expensive new set in a theme they haven't heard of, but a $10 action toy is a great way to engage kids and get them to come back for bigger sets to go with it. I don't even know what to say about the classism in your derision of "not-so-wealthy" individuals..."
You are, of course, absolutely right (that I could avoid them). . but if I do so (in the shop).. then nobody knows why I did that.. thus.. (even supported by the likes issued) .. Im not the only one who thinks the same..
- but back to YOU .. how many of these cheap Ninjago sets have you acquired.. ? (cheap = aka the non-standard irregular packaging, value less than 15 USD)..
P.S. as to the remark "not-so-wealthy" - im not English native speaker so you shoul perhaps allow for some "allowances" with regard to some improper or insutable verses. But your take on that actually says a lot - if not all. "impusilve" (= catching) pricing that sooner or later would lead to a purchase of solid LEGO boxes worth 50+ GBP. Clever mareting for sure - but I would not dare to consider and APPRAISE this approach as something "kind" from LEGO side.. they are ust after the bucks .. and the parents are the first on the line.. as for some plausible cause like these "cheap" ninjago 2nd class packaged sets could give your kid some grate benefit and added value in whatsoever you think of .. I consider in contrast that Classic bricks that do not lead you step by step give your kid a much higher value in creative thinking than pre-planned unavoidable following of the book instructions.
I really like the Glatorian wheel used as a pad for the launcher. Hard to believe that part's been around since '09
@LukasM said:
"You are, of course, absolutely right (that I could avoid them). . but if I do so (in the shop).. then nobody knows why I did that.. thus.. (even supported by the likes issued) .. Im not the only one who thinks the same..
- but back to YOU .. how many of these cheap Ninjago sets have you acquired.. ? (cheap = aka the non-standard irregular packaging, value less than 15 USD)..
P.S. as to the remark "not-so-wealthy" - im not English native speaker so you shoul perhaps allow for some "allowances" with regard to some improper or insutable verses. But your take on that actually says a lot - if not all. "impusilve" (= catching) pricing that sooner or later would lead to a purchase of solid LEGO boxes worth 50+ GBP. Clever mareting for sure - but I would not dare to consider and APPRAISE this approach as something "kind" from LEGO side.. they are ust after the bucks .. and the parents are the first on the line.. as for some plausible cause like these "cheap" ninjago 2nd class packaged sets could give your kid some grate benefit and added value in whatsoever you think of .. I consider in contrast that Classic bricks that do not lead you step by step give your kid a much higher value in creative thinking than pre-planned unavoidable following of the book instructions."
My sister and I have gotten many of them including all the ones that came out last year and the year before that. Still haven't picked up this year's "arcade pods" yet but that's less because I don't want them and more because, as "impulse-priced" sets, they can make for a good pick-me-up if I'm feeling low and don't want to commit to a larger set (of course, that's less practical for instant gratification when we're cooped up at home, so I should probably just break down and order them soon).
Speaking of the packaging, I personally love what they've done with it in recent years. It's extremely eye-catching much like the Bionicle canisters I used to enjoy but it's also fully cardboard, unlike the hard plastic canisters of Bionicle or the cheap blister packs of the early Ninjago spinners, making it both easier to keep as well as more environmentally friendly if I do ever decide to dispose of them.
As for your remark about "impulse-priced sets" like this being a bad thing, I respectfully disagree. As a Lego fan and a fan of themes like Ninjago, it's my opinion that they're good toys for kids—ones that they can build upon and needn't abandon when the next big thing catches their interest. Every fan has to start somewhere, and in fact, my first set was 6537 Hydro Racer, a set not much more complex than one of these spinners. If it hadn't been for my positive first impression then, perhaps I'd never have graduated to larger and more impressive sets or developed the love of Lego I've maintained to this day.
Basic brick sets are all well and good (and I had several of those in my day as well), but eventually every kid is going to want to branch out to more specialized sets and themes that offer them things that the basic brick buckets alone can't. So a set like this offers a bite-sized experience of the kinds of characters, builds, and play scenarios a new and different theme can offer.
@Bornin1980something said:
"Genuine question; what's the difference between a user review and a front page set review like this one?"
LEGO have provided the sets for review in the reviews that are on the front page, and when not reviewed by Brickset staff they reviewed on behalf of Brickset (such as mine).
@Lyichir said:
" @LukasM said:
"You are, of course, absolutely right (that I could avoid them). . but if I do so (in the shop).. then nobody knows why I did that.. thus.. (even supported by the likes issued) .. Im not the only one who thinks the same..
- but back to YOU .. how many of these cheap Ninjago sets have you acquired.. ? (cheap = aka the non-standard irregular packaging, value less than 15 USD)..
P.S. as to the remark "not-so-wealthy" - im not English native speaker so you shoul perhaps allow for some "allowances" with regard to some improper or insutable verses. But your take on that actually says a lot - if not all. "impusilve" (= catching) pricing that sooner or later would lead to a purchase of solid LEGO boxes worth 50+ GBP. Clever mareting for sure - but I would not dare to consider and APPRAISE this approach as something "kind" from LEGO side.. they are ust after the bucks .. and the parents are the first on the line.. as for some plausible cause like these "cheap" ninjago 2nd class packaged sets could give your kid some grate benefit and added value in whatsoever you think of .. I consider in contrast that Classic bricks that do not lead you step by step give your kid a much higher value in creative thinking than pre-planned unavoidable following of the book instructions."
---------- sorry to cut your initial reply short but we exceeded the max chars limit per submission ----
The fact that Im not on impulsive side of buying whatever I spot does not make my critics any less trustworthy. Simply I have some aesthetics benchmarks in stuff (not just LEGO sets) and the packaging sells - everybody in the marketing knows that. I have no reason to re-consider my initial statement.. you added some interesting fact that these tiny boxes could be something like the initial step into LEGO world for youngsters. I can not neither agree or disagree because Im simply in not a position to judge that. But even so.. I can hardly imagine that a parent would be buying more than 1-2 sets of this "theme". Because they are all the same - just different colour and different fig. The function(s) are the identical only different colours. These are more like baby pacifiers in my eyes serving only one purpose - build it, forget about it - throw it eventually away.