It's very important that we capture that shadow and not include any of the negative space left of the subject to balance the image. Peak photography right here.

@NatureBricks said:
"Is this the first NinjaGo set of the day?! History in the making. We will all remember this day for this and nothing else of importance was going on in the world."

No there have been others, I just went through and I counted at least 5 other Ninjago sets that were picked for random set of the day but 4 of them were spinners. I think this is the first 2012 Ninjago set for RSOTD though.

For some reason I thought this set was huge, and cost like 80 bucks. Was pleasantly surprised when I saw the 40$ price tag.

This set helped bring me out of my dark ages. It's still up there as one of my favorites designs.

@KoolKreeper489 said:
" @NatureBricks said:
"Is this the first NinjaGo set of the day?! History in the making. We will all remember this day for this and nothing else of importance was going on in the world."
No there have been others, I just went through and I counted at least 5 other Ninjago sets that were picked for random set of the day but 4 of them were spinners."
And the first one was manipulated and forced for Ninjago's anniversary. Changing the algorithm to favor specific themes is cheating and we should not count it.

@MCLegoboy said:
" @KoolKreeper489 said:
" @NatureBricks said:
"Is this the first NinjaGo set of the day?! History in the making. We will all remember this day for this and nothing else of importance was going on in the world."
No there have been others, I just went through and I counted at least 5 other Ninjago sets that were picked for random set of the day but 4 of them were spinners."
And the first one was manipulated and forced for Ninjago's anniversary. Changing the algorithm to favor specific themes is cheating and we should not count it."

and the other 4 sets don't count either?

@KoolKreeper489 said:
" " @MCLegoboy said:
And the first one was manipulated and forced for Ninjago's anniversary. Changing the algorithm to favor specific themes is cheating and we should not count it."
and the other 4 sets don't count either?"
No those are legitimate, but whatever day in 2021 that was Ninjago's 10th anniversary was manipulated to pick any of the first year's sets since it finally qualified for Random Set of the Day and it hadn't happened yet. Everyone got all excited that Ninjago got picked on its anniversary and then it was revealed that the game had been rigged just this once.

The only times the algorithm has been changed is to allow more themes that were initially excluded from previous biases, such as Constraction (Bionicle, Hreo Factory, Galidor) and Pre-School (Fabuland, Jack Stone) so more sets could be added to the pool and discussed. Most recently, we've also gained the Vintage Set of the Week, so the Algorithm only chooses sets after 1978-10 years before the current year 6 days of the week, and a set from 1977 and earlier once a week every Saturday.

Actually, I think Clikits was also manipulated to be picked for an April 1st since it was seen as heavily favored by Huwbot, but that's a little different because it was also for the meme and the whole site had been changed for it. Any other holiday never gets such preferential treatments and the April 1st gag hasn't happened again since that first time.

I never did buy this one, but Ninjago has put out so many awesome mecha, that I think I'm okay.

This was for the first faction of snake villains, wasn't it? I bought the snake mecha, which I thought was super-cool, so I was okay with missing the samurai robot.

One of my favorite sets from the early Ninjago, despite not owning it. I'm keeping an eye in one for sale in a local site. The seller is asking a pretty good price for it but I need to save some money.

I still find funny to remember how I used to hate Ninjago back when it debuted. Despite being 15 years old at the time, I was too influenced by the AFOL talk back then that Ninjago was ridiculous and childish, and that Lego should have made a proper Ninja theme like the one from the 90s, and that Lego was better in the 80s and 90s... blah blah blah

Thankfully my view changed with the time, by 2014-15 I was already liking some sets, but it still wasn't my priority (SW still was my fave). After I got 70651 in 2019... things changed completely and now it is by far my favorite theme (while SW has been a big disappointment for me in most of the sets).

Poll: is that belly button an

a) ‘innie’ or
b) an ‘outie’?

Also, that being a spinner crown, is it related to the spinner sets already chosen? Or is the navel really the gold tile below the crown? What does that make the gold tiles above the crown? Discuss.

@MCLegoboy said:
" @KoolKreeper489 said:
" " @MCLegoboy said:
And the first one was manipulated and forced for Ninjago's anniversary. Changing the algorithm to favor specific themes is cheating and we should not count it."
and the other 4 sets don't count either?"
No those are legitimate, but whatever day in 2021 that was Ninjago's 10th anniversary was manipulated to pick any of the first year's sets since it finally qualified for Random Set of the Day and it hadn't happened yet. Everyone got all excited that Ninjago got picked on its anniversary and then it was revealed that the game had been rigged just this once.

The only times the algorithm has been changed is to allow more themes that were initially excluded from previous biases, such as Constraction (Bionicle, Hreo Factory, Galidor) and Pre-School (Fabuland, Jack Stone) so more sets could be added to the pool and discussed. Most recently, we've also gained the Vintage Set of the Week, so the Algorithm only chooses sets after 1978-10 years before the current year 6 days of the week, and a set from 1977 and earlier once a week every Saturday.

Actually, I think Clikits was also manipulated to be picked for an April 1st since it was seen as heavily favored by Huwbot, but that's a little different because it was also for the meme and the whole site had been changed for it. Any other holiday never gets such preferential treatments and the April 1st gag hasn't happened again since that first time."

Well then this still isn't the first Ninjago set for RSOTD no matter what you don't count.

One of the best Ninjago sets of all time. Time for la-la-looooree!!!

When Kai and Nya where very young their parents were kidnaped by a mysterious foe, leaving the two children to fend for themselves. The two made a living manning their parent's blacksmiths, and lived in relative peace for years.

Eventually their blacksmith was raided by the Skulkin Army, searching for a map that had been gifted to Kai and Nya's father years ago. The skeletons made off with the map and kidnapped Nya, but Kai was saved last minute by the mysterious Master Wu.

Wu revealed to Kai that he had gifted his father a map many years ago, and the Skulkin had stolen it to hunt down the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu for their dark master Lord Garmadon. Kai went into training as a Ninja under Wu's guidance to recover the Golden Weapons and rescue his sister Nya.

After the ordeal, Nya felt embarrassed by the damsel in distress role, and wanted to work on something to protect herself from future attacks. However, the behavior of Wu's other students convinced her that the Ninja were a "boys club," and so she began experiments in secret. After hours of welding, wiring, and testing behind the team's back, she'd finished her experiment. Samurai X.

Two suits of cybernetic armor, one human sized and one gigantic, that could be summoned by pressing a button on her bracelet. The smaller mech served as a disguise to hide her appearance from the public, the larger function as a giant artillery and flight unit, and both served as super strong fighting machines.

At this point, the Ninja's duels against Garmadon, the Skulkin, and the Serpentine had earned them celerity status. World renowned superheroes, they seemed the talk of the town. That was, until Samurai X appeared. A mysterious and giant warrior, X would arrive at the scene of the crime far before the Ninja did, and would solve the problem with much more ease. While everyone knew who the Ninja were under their Gi, what lay behind X's goggles was captivating and mysterious. "He" quickly took the world by storm, as the new hero everyone looked up to.

Through various competitions between the heroes, and fights with the Serpentine, the truth soon came out. Nya first reveled her secret to Kai after loosing her helmet, then Jay when she thought they would die, and at that point decided to tell the whole team. To her surprise they were enthusiastic about her technical skill, and welcomed her on the team with open arms.

From this point on, Ninja and Samurai worked in harmony, fighting together to protect the world from evil. A new Ninja joined the team, young Lloyd Garmadon. Nya used her Samurai X mech to help fight off the indestructible Stone Army, calculating Nindroids, and (with other tech than Sam X) the viscous Anancondrai Cultists.

But their next adventure would change Sam X forever. An army of terrifying Ghosts had invaded Ninjago, under the guidance of the vengeful spirit Morro. The Ghosts were nearly unstoppable, but could be temporarily dispatched by water. Kai and Nya's mother had been an Elemental Master of Water, and so Wu set out to discover if Nya had inherited her power.

Wu revealed to Nya that in order to unlock her full potential and access the elemental Water she would have to shed the Samurai suit and become a Ninja (a plot decision that I personally think was dumb. You could've had a WATER CYBORG LEGO!!! Way to throw that away.) Nya was initially unwilling to abandon the identity of X. For ages it had been her defining feature, a destiny she'd forged herself. She didn't want to just become the girl Ninja! Samurai X was all she had.

The final push was a harsh one. Morro and his ghosts broke into Sam X's lab and possessed the mech, taking it to climb a snowy peak. In the ensuing pursuit by the Ninja, the Ghosts lost Sam X, and the mech plummeted off the mountain, shattering at its base. Her greatest invention gone, Nya had no choice but to lay Sam X to rest and become the Ninja of Water. After five seasons of adventures, the suit was dead.

However, Samurai X would not stay

However, Samurai X would not stay dead forever. It's remains were retrieved by another, who repurposed them into their own suit to revive the mantle. But that's a story for another day...

@lynels said: "I still find funny to remember how I used to hate Ninjago back when it debuted. Despite being 15 years old at the time, I was too influenced by the AFOL talk back then that Ninjago was ridiculous and childish, and that Lego should have made a proper Ninja theme like the one from the 90s, and that Lego was better in the 80s and 90s... blah blah blah "

I didn't actively dislike Ninjago, but I remember at the time, I didn't quite get it. Like, I loved the dragons (that first range of brick-built dragons were so interesting, and different to anything Lego had done before, that it really caught my eye), but overall, I wasn't quite sure what Lego was doing with them. I didn't pay it much attention (and the focus on the spinners made it feel like just another gimmick-heavy line that kids would get bored with and move on).

I think it was the second year, when the snake villains showed up? Collecting all 16 of the snake figures (which I totally did) was like the gateway drug that really got me onboard the whole Ninjago thing. Some of the vehicles were cool, but I loved the mecha designs, and I adored having an entire legion of villainous antagonists -- and, in the following years, both of those became Ninjago staples -- and yeah, that's the point where I was in.

Part of the reason I got this set was because of the cowcatchers used as shoulder armor. That's just some really NPU there.

@LegoDavid said:
"I am honestly surprised that a set of this size only costed 40$ back then. If this set were to be released today, it would probably cost twice as much... "
I doubt it. It’s not as large as one might imagine from the picture and prices haven’t gone up that much for Ninjago. Take for example 71736, a Ninjago set from last year with about the same number of pieces; it was $40. I reckon if 9448 were released today, it would be $40 to $45, possibly $50 at most.