Review: 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens (3)
Posted by CapnRex101,
71741 NINJAGO City Gardens features appealing architectural variety and looks spectacular when displayed alone. However, combining the model with previous instalments from the theme yields additional variation and interest, especially since multiple arrangements are possible.
Many such arrangements appear successful and accentuate the qualities of these impressive models. However, there are some disappointing inconsistences between 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens and the other sets from 2017 and 2018.
The configuration suggested in official images places these three sets in order of their release, reaching 102cm in length. The most obvious feature of this arrangement is the height of 70620 NINJAGO City and 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens, almost overwhelming 70657 NINJAGO City Docks and the Temple Island which are positioned at the centre. The temple seems particularly lost among such large buildings.
While instances of ancient structures standing beside modern buildings certainly exist in reality, this contrast is extremely dramatic. Completely removing the Temple Island therefore creates a more attractive display in my opinion, offering excellent symmetry as both larger buildings flank smaller structures at the centre. Additionally, this arrangement links the elevated walkways that have appeared throughout this series.
In fact, identifying where one set finishes and another begins is surprisingly difficult, especially when viewing them from a distance. The heights correspond precisely and I think the buildings look excellent together, despite their varied colours. Of course, each separate model combines diverse colours and architectural styles. The only obvious difference between 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens and the previous sets are the new trans-light blue lanterns.
Connecting these models directly necessitates detaching the projecting walkway from 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens. Fortunately, this can easily be placed on the other side of the model, beside the Ice Planet ice cream shop. Ideally, the walkway would have continued to meet with another balcony behind this shop, although it looks good without that option.
The only notable problem with this configuration relates to the balcony outside the apartment, which interferes with the neighbouring roof. This is surprising because the gap is almost large enough to accommodate the balcony, although placing that beside an antenna might not have been ideal! Of course, omitting the balcony leaves behind a door to nowhere, unfortunately.
Omitting the Temple Island and 70657 NINJAGO City Docks creates the impression of denser construction, reflecting the enormous megalopolises which frequently appear in fantasy. I think this configuration looks reasonable, although the extraordinary density of buildings makes them difficult to distinguish in certain areas. Moreover, I dislike how the roofs above the Zen Gardens and Lloyd's apartment vary in direction.
Swapping the positions of 70620 NINJAGO City and 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens changes the environment dramatically. The aforementioned rooftops no longer clash but the towers are brought much closer together. That perhaps appears slightly awkward, although I think I favour this arrangement over the example above, particularly around the Old City.
Viewing these models from behind reveals the most obvious difference between them. 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens features considerable detail on every side while 70620 NINJAGO City was designed to be viewed from the front. The reverse is not necessarily unattractive but I think the finishing could have been improved, most notably concerning the exposed lift.
Alternatively, displaying the new model beside 70657 NINJAGO City Docks yields an unusual graduated design. This certainly appears less chaotic than those shown above and the varied heights work quite nicely. After all, the city remains under construction and I could imagine the central structure within the docks being subsumed by another building in the future.
This arrangement seems particularly effective around the elevated walkways, even continuing behind. The balcony outside the Ice Planet ice cream shop, for instance, lines up perfectly with the neighbouring arcade! However, the fantastic roof which comprises undecorated video game controllers reaches narrowly beyond the confines of 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens so requires minor adjustment for the models to connect properly.
Another inconsistency becomes apparent at ground level, where the varied subjects for each model are particularly evident. While both previous sets were quite industrialised and focused heavily upon waterborne trade, the new addition encapsulates the integration between natural and urban environments. The resultant contrast is too pronounced in my opinion.
Expanding beyond the NINJAGO theme, 80107 Spring Lantern Festival includes compatible connection points too. However, that is where the compatibility ends. These sets were clearly not designed for integration and serve completely different purposes. NINJAGO City sets look utterly fantastical while the Chinese Traditional Festival range is more authentic. Nevertheless, 80107 Spring Lantern Festival would provide ideal elements to design your own expansion for 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens.
Overall
70620 NINJAGO City and 70657 NINJAGO City Docks seem absolutely magnificent together, featuring consistent architecture and design techniques. I imagine the models were designed almost concurrently, given their close integration and release. 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens has evidently been developed separately and that does become apparent when placing them together in my opinion.
Omitting the Temple Island creates my favourite arrangement, although minor inconsistencies are seemingly unavoidable under any circumstances. On that basis, I actually plan to keep the new set separated from its predecessors, perhaps with a baseplate covered entirely with water and river traffic between 70620 NINJAGO City and 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens.
The previous two sections of our review are available here:
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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64 comments on this article
Thanks for this article.
I actually really like the official placement with all three sets. If you visit Tokyo there are many small ancient temples, completely surrounded by futuristic skyscrapers. That contrast is part of what makes Japan so special, and I like that contrast in these models also.
So is anyone else who skipped over the City and Docks set kicking themselves too now once they have seen all three together and wondering why they didn't start collecting these already? Just me?
The docks just looks so small by comparison.
Anyone else think the ninjago building could become like the modular building where we see a new fantastic addition every year?
Dedicated work, Cap'n!
Now all they need to do is rerelease the other two sets, with goats, and everyone's golden.
Would be interesting to see if you could arrange them in an "L" configuration, with the Old City Docks being one of the ends of the "L". The way I'm envisioning it, the back of Old City is joined with the front of one of the other Ninjago Cities. Maybe that'd create an interesting canal effect?
The sets look beautiful together. I missed out on the original NC and Docks. I hope to one day get them, but at the current prices it’s not in the cards. At this point I’ll just save up for a few years and buy a couple of goats.
Is it possible to see the other side of the final picture? I really like that configuration but curious to see how the back lines up. Amazingly detailed set of reviews, thanks for all the effort put into them!
The official line reminds me of Up, with the one small shopkeeper who's refused to allow expansion on his roof. I think that break also gives your eyes a bit of rest. City and Gardens are so packed with details and crazy colors, and having Docks and the temple between them levels the playing field a bit.
No matter what arrangement, they're certainly fantastic builds!
Thank you for this!
I also agree with @ajbrown141 that arranging them in order of release looks fine to me. I thought the reduced height of the temple island module would bother me more than it does, but in the end the combination of that and the docks ended up providing a nice "breather" from the height at both corners. And the Gardens, to their credit, seem designed to facilitate such a steep drop-off between modules, not just in terms of having the walkway extension and balcony but also in terms of having windows and openings on the sides of the buildings, and not just the front and back. Leaving the temple island in place also helps to ease the transition between the old and new lantern colors, another feature that I thought would bother me more than it did. With the temple island breaking up the space on the middle level, it's easy to imagine the change in hue being the result of moving from one "neighborhood" to another.
I wouldn't describe the apartment door in the version where you omitted the temple island as "going nowhere—it seems to offer very convenient roof access for the neighboring building! If you wanted to, you could also potentially attach a small barrier to the connection points for the balcony to indicate that that door was no longer in use, not entirely unlike the one barring the "door" leading from the clothing shop to the under-construction apartment in the original City set.
One little-known fact about the first two sets in the series is that the stickers create a quote-unquote "canon" arrangement between the two of them. A sticker on a column at the rear of the docks features directions to the fish market from the original set, pointing right—implying that the docks are meant to attach to the City on that side. You could, conceivably, add a module between the docks and the City and still have that directional signage be correct, but having the two sets attach on the other side of each other would make that signage incorrect. Not that anyone would hold it against you for simply ignoring or omitting that feature if you simply preferred an alternative arrangement.
I've never liked docks because of the lower profile. The configurations shown here do nothing to change that. I guess docks will remain torn apart and I will put City next to the gardens! Thanks for this special!
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"So is anyone else who skipped over the City and Docks set kicking themselves too now once they have seen all three together and wondering why they didn't start collecting these already? Just me?"
I skipped the Docks cause I wasn't as big on that one and thought the City looked fine alone...and now I have the regrets! :(
@Henry_D said:
"Honestly if you look at it from a distance ot looks like a pile of random Duplo bricks put together"
Color blocking = successful!
For the sake of display, I wonder if any of these sets could be constructed in mirror image? Without needing to buy opposite versions of certain pieces.
@Scottchay said:
"Is it possible to see the other side of the final picture? I really like that configuration but curious to see how the back lines up. Amazingly detailed set of reviews, thanks for all the effort put into them!"
I have added a photo taken from behind. I believe that is also the arrangement described by @ArtfulDodger and it does look appealing, as long as you have room to accommodate the deeper configuration.
Honestly, these are three fantastic models and there is no wrong way to display them in my opinion!
@Lyichir said:
"I wouldn't describe the apartment door in the version where you omitted the temple island as "going nowhere—it seems to offer very convenient roof access for the neighboring building! If you wanted to, you could also potentially attach a small barrier to the connection points for the balcony to indicate that that door was no longer in use, not entirely unlike the one barring the "door" leading from the clothing shop to the under-construction apartment in the original City set."
Given the gymnastic ability required to navigate 70620 NINJAGO City, perhaps that rooftop door is considered adequate to reach Mystake's tea shop!
Our cunning Antarctic interloper has returned, by the way. He is attempting camouflage on this occasion...
This is the Ninjago City Gardens perspective I was most looking forward to. Thank you so much for this!
I hope Lego rereleases the original 2 Ninjago City sets some day
Lego, if you're listening, next year is the 5th anniversary of the Ninjago Movie...
I am not sure which is more impressive—these amazing sets or CapnRex’s terrific, thoughtful, comprehensive and well written reviews. Thanks so much for the tremendous effort here!
"I imagine the models were designed almost concurrently, given their close integration and release."
Nope.
As set designer Markus says over on NewElementary:
"I also got myself a copy of LEGO NINJAGO City Docks that I built to see if I could learn something, which proved quite helpful. "
@CapnRex101 said:
"Our cunning Antarctic interloper has returned, by the way. He is attempting camouflage on this occasion..."
I see him!
The official arrangement looks fine to me; it kind of reminds me of how Manhattan looks with huge skyscrapers around the Battery and from midtown up starting around 30th st (bedrock is closest to the surface in those areas) with much shorter buildings in-between.
The sets look incredible together, but you can definitely see the difference in the designs. I love the tree on the Gardens set when it's on its own, but when it's all lined up in the official configuration I kind of feel like the right side is just overwhelmed with foliage. It's curious to me because I love the Gardens on their own, but I think it clashes a little bit when it's connected. I don't like the way Temple Island is just left hanging, either, because while seeing an ancient temple break up the city is nice, it's far too sudden - Mystake's walkway just awkwardly falls off into nothing. Maybe I'd prefer it if the walkway at least continued in the air over the island, so I guess that's something I can try to MOC! I'm probably going to display the three sets fully connected with the Temple Island on the other side of the Gardens, forming a shallow L. I do agree that the Docks get lost a bit in the official configuration, but they still look fantastic to me. I just wish they had a little bit more height overall.
@Duq said:
""I imagine the models were designed almost concurrently, given their close integration and release."
Nope.
As set designer Markus says over on NewElementary:
"I also got myself a copy of LEGO NINJAGO City Docks that I built to see if I could learn something, which proved quite helpful. ""
I was referring to 70620 NINJAGO City and 70657 NINJAGO City Docks being designed concurrently. They were only released nine months apart, after all.
Despite the inaccuracies these sets all look stunning and could arguably be considered the fantasy equivalent of the Modular buildings.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"So is anyone else who skipped over the City and Docks set kicking themselves too now once they have seen all three together and wondering why they didn't start collecting these already? Just me?"
Very much so. Kicking myself would be a huge understatement, especially given how ludicrous the re-sale price of both docks and the original city sets are now.
Now would be the ideal time for Lego to re-release one if not both of the first two sets to compliment the gardens.
@CapnRex101 said:
"Our cunning Antarctic interloper has returned, by the way. He is attempting camouflage on this occasion..."
And doing a damn good job xD Took me forever to spot him ^^
In the end, my favourite configuration ended up being the gardens on the left, the docks in the middle and the City on the right, omitting the temple island altogether. That way there's no random door leading on the rooftop and the table next to the Ice Planet isn't squeezed awkwardly between two walls. Plus, the stairs from the back of the docks lead nicely to the upper levels of the Gardens.
While I do love the display piece the whole thing makes, I can't help feel a little disappointed by the lack of hidden clever mechanics. The Docks and City had those stupid but insanely awesome turkey and crab grill, ATM and drink dispenser but here, nothing (well, OK, it does get a point for that joystick on the arcade cabinet). I don't know, I kept expecting some surprise twist during the whole build but it never came.
Don't get me wrong, it is an absolutely fantastic set but I guess that's the price of having set the bar so high on the first go.
@Synthia1980 said:
"For those that can’t afford the entire ensemble, if you squint a bit, you get exactly the same effect by pouring a load of skittles into a big glass jar. Cheaper too, and you can eat them when you get bored of it. "
I think you just described all Lego. What is Lego if not an assortment of small parts in varying colors?
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"So is anyone else who skipped over the City and Docks set kicking themselves too now once they have seen all three together and wondering why they didn't start collecting these already? Just me?"
You are not alone! The combination of all three models is unlike anything I have seen Lego produce before. I really wish that I had bothered to get them (although my wallet would have disagreed!)
Unfortunately, the Gardens set seems to have affected the aftermarket price of City and Docks. Ninjago City was formerly selling for about $400-600 on Bricklink, but now you would have to pay >$700! Way too much for a $300 that went out of production fairly recently!
Like someone else said I am hoping for a rerelease. There is definitely enough demand.
I skipped the Docks at the time because I wasn't convinced. I was hoping that the lantern festival could bridge the gap. Now that I see that won't work I regret it, since Docks works much better as a bridge than a standalone set. But I still don't want to pay over 350€ for the Docks now. So cheers for showing City and the Gardens put together. While it looks massive it works.
Many thanks for this article! The new set was actually developed as a corner set which I think really shows in the last configuration, which is my favourite too.
It'd be great if you could please provide higher resolution images (as you've started to do in some reviews), so that we could zoom in on the various connection points - it's hard to see the details as of now.
Excellent review as always :) I spied our camoflagued guest from the south ;) I think had the water pagoda been one storey higher it might've alleviated the dramatic height difference a little for more compatible linking to the other sets. I said the same about Mystake's tea tower in the docks set. I'm so glad I forked out for the docks & city sets last year when the mark-up wasn't too bad.
Would the arrangement of:
Garden | Temple
City | Docks
work? City being to the "left" of the docks was considered as-designed and ideal when the Docks set came out. I think Garden being "behind" City works nicely too (though obviously uses more storage depth than all in a row) with the tower/ice cream shop side being flat and featureless vs the other side having balconies etc, but I'm curious what it the interior canal would look like with the island added to that arrangement.
It's all moot for me anyway, though. Didn't pick up City and Docks in the past and am now kinda kicking myself over it...
I plan on removing the water from the "front" of the models and reconfiguring the sidewalk to make everything fit with the Spring Lantern Festival. Ninjago City and the Docks have always been a sort of floating urban island in our set-up, and now it's time to properly join them up with the rest of our modular buildings and modular MOCs.
Thank you so much CapnRex101 for these 3 articles!
I'm a bit sad because you didn't take much picture with the temple island during this last article. I know you like to omit it, but I'm going to comprise it (expecially because I don't have 70657 Docks, so the temple island could create a "pillow" between city and garden).
I was tempted to insert also spring lantern festival but...it would be too strange.
Now I have to study how to create an appropriate dedicates glass showcase...:D
what is this temple island you keep mentioning? is it a set?
@dougts said:
"what is this temple island you keep mentioning? is it a set?"
It’s the small 32x16 baseplate included with the gardens set
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Scottchay said:
"Is it possible to see the other side of the final picture? I really like that configuration but curious to see how the back lines up. Amazingly detailed set of reviews, thanks for all the effort put into them!"
I have added a photo taken from behind. I believe that is also the arrangement described by @ArtfulDodger and it does look appealing, as long as you have room to accommodate the deeper configuration."
Appreciate the additional picture Cap!
I have mine separated by putting the temple of airjitzu on the back of a baseplate with the two sidebuilds that come with that set in the front. I continued the walkway from the docks in front of the blue sidebuilding and then the green market to the the right. When you walk through the market building you reach the point where the temple building from the gardens set begins.
This setup creates a lot more depth, because the tall temple of airjitzu is in the back.
With the earlier rereleases do you think they will rerelease the city and haven for the 10th anni?
Is there an ETA for the PDF's because I want to keep the books unused.
@bananaworld said:
"
Dedicated work, Cap'n!
Now all they need to do is rerelease the other two sets, with goats, and everyone's golden."
Too right, although I’d settle for a goat character pack or a collectible goat blind bag series.
I love this but I'll need to buy both the docks and Gardens to make the master piece myself.
@DualBoot said:
"With the earlier rereleases do you think they will rerelease the city and haven for the 10th anni?
Is there an ETA for the PDF's because I want to keep the books unused.
"
I don't think there's any plan to rerelease either the City or Docks. They're barely 4 and 3 years old
I don't have room for the "official" configuration so I went with
Temple
Gardens - Docks - City
@fakespacesquid said:
" @DualBoot said:
"With the earlier rereleases do you think they will rerelease the city and haven for the 10th anni?
Is there an ETA for the PDF's because I want to keep the books unused.
"
I don't think there's any plan to rerelease either the City or Docks. They're barely 4 and 3 years old"
I have my doubts as well but you never know. They rereleased the Saturn V rocket 9 months after its production ended.
@Your_Future_President said:
"The docks just looks so small by comparison.
Anyone else think the ninjago building could become like the modular building where we see a new fantastic addition every year?"
I really, really hope so. My wallet has a different opinion and I won't even get into what the amount of storage/display space left in my small city apartment has to say on the matter.
My plan when Gardens is finished is to place City/Gardens up front as in the last image and Docks, Temple Island & Temple of Airjitzu in the back, forming a rectangel with added water in between.
Then you have a high futuristic front and a lower Old Town behind it.
@CapnRex101 said:
"I was referring to 70620 NINJAGO City and 70657 NINJAGO City Docks being designed concurrently. They were only released nine months apart, after all."
Oops... I should really wear my reading glasses...
Still building my Ninjago City Gardens set, but I wonder if you took the temple island from it's small 32x16 baseplate and instead built it on a 32x32 baseplate if it would give it more room to breath in between with a canal type vibe to it as well, or it would be too much space in between?
I am also trying to figure out how to integrate my Temple of Airjitzu into the overall skyline of these three sets, and I think I have a MOC solution to transition them.
@Lamarider said:
"My plan when Gardens is finished is to place City/Gardens up front as in the last image and Docks, Temple Island & Temple of Airjitzu in the back, forming a rectangel with added water in between.
Then you have a high futuristic front and a lower Old Town behind it.
"
I like it and was thinking something similar, but the depth of my display space is about 6-8 studs short of being deep enough
Like others I am now kicking myself for not snagging City / Docks while they were still being made. I am not big on Ninjago, however I do like these three buildings and the aforementioned Temple, as well as the possibilities for an uber-set. Considering getting the Gardens in the near future, and hoping to be able to grab at least one of the others later on.
@xboxtravis7992:
I liked Ninjago City, but just had way too many higher priorities at the time, plus the Docks just...didn't do anything for me. Part of me looks at Gardens and wishes I had the previous two so I could justify buying this, and part of me is thankful I didn't as it means this expensive set is an easy pass, as will be the case with any future installments.
It's easy to look at the lineup that comes out every year and do the "I want, I want, I want" game, but lines have to be drawn, and I still have other priorities that rank higher than this.
@Brickmarked:
Alternately, the temple island could have been wider, which would have provided some appropriate negative space around the temple itself, allowing it to stand out more.
Just realised that while this has a similar part and minifig count as 75978: Diagon Alley, this is almost 25% cheaper!
Um, yeah, that is almost always the case with licensed sets.
Very interesting combinations. However I am not a big fan of the Ninjago city theme, as I prefer traditional architecture (when I visited Japan for example I loved Kyoto but was not so impressed by Tokyo). For me the best Ninjago set of all times remains the amazing Temple of Airjitzu, which I might combine with the beautiful Spring Lantern Festival I just received :-)
They look awesome together! Especially NC and NCG.
My plan for the lights is to just mix them up and have alternating orange/blue across all three.
Impressed that they combine so well together both at the front and back whichever orientation you have. Just missing the 70751 Temple of Airjitzu, shown with City and Docks here https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/8znish/temple_of_airjitzu_modded_to_be_modular/
@ambr said:
"Impressed that they combine so well together both at the front and back whichever orientation you have. Just missing the 70751 Temple of Airjitzu, shown with City and Docks here https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/8znish/temple_of_airjitzu_modded_to_be_modular/
"
The Temple of Airjitzu doesn't fit with the Ninjago City sets.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"So is anyone else who skipped over the City and Docks set kicking themselves too now once they have seen all three together and wondering why they didn't start collecting these already? Just me?"
I did, and decided to get the first two.
The official arrangement is the better one.
@PurpleDave said:
" @xboxtravis7992:
I liked Ninjago City, but just had way too many higher priorities at the time, plus the Docks just...didn't do anything for me. Part of me looks at Gardens and wishes I had the previous two so I could justify buying this, and part of me is thankful I didn't as it means this expensive set is an easy pass, as will be the case with any future installments.
It's easy to look at the lineup that comes out every year and do the "I want, I want, I want" game, but lines have to be drawn, and I still have other priorities that rank higher than this.
@Brickmarked:
Alternately, the temple island could have been wider, which would have provided some appropriate negative space around the temple itself, allowing it to stand out more."
Yes that may have helped a lot too in showcasing the feature a bit more but I suppose the focus was the levelled city part. There's some interesting ideas from others about incorporating the pagoda island into the temple of Airjitsu build.
Sadly I didn't buy that set last year, instead opting for the city & docks sets. It seems to have also increased in price quite a lot now. :(
On the off-chance LEGO considers a re-release of Ninjago Docks, have they ever done a re-release with significant changes? I passed on the set because (a) the height was too low compared to NC, and (b) it was a bit lackluster from the front, with the best view being the back. Both of those seem to be the most common complaints. So it would be great if LEGO did a new version of Docks that had a more interesting front and some additional height, not necessarily as tall as City and Gardens but at least closer.
At least I did get Ninjago City back in the day, so I will be getting Gardens to go with it. I just wish there were a slightly more impressive version of Docks available to go with them.
Finding the hidden animal is like looking for Gold Bug before that deranged serial killer copied him.
@Bocce:
The Winter Village Toy Shop did have a few notable changes when it was rereleased a few years later. Shuttle Adventure and Shuttle Expedition are two of three total builds possible. The external tank on the first one was prone to imploding if you used it to pick up the combined STS. There was a patch kit you could call and ask for that fixed the immediate problem, and there was a redesigned version that was released as a different set. Wall-E had a recall and was rereleased with some crucial tweaks to the design. When the Legends theme debuted in the early 00's, some of the parts used in the original sets had been retired or updated, so the Legend version was noticably different in a few cases. Some would also argue that the second Death Star playset was just a reissue of the barely-retired first Death Star playset, but with an updated roster of minifigs.
I want to see th spring lantern festival set between Ninjago city and Ninjago Garden. It is not unusual the small temples are located between big buildings in Asia.
a re-release would be awfully nice
Actually here are a lot more possibilites shown, some are quite nice (I love the last two) :
https://youtu.be/nD5eUK9Fx9k
Would you add them to your review ?
Thanks a lot for your exhaustive review !
Anyone have the dimensions of the first two layouts mentioned? Trying to figure out display space...