Review: 71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet
Posted by CapnRex101,
Formidable fighter aircraft belonging to Jay and Kai have been released before, featuring similar shapes and variable wings. 71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet continues this selection and appears effective, particularly given the attractive colour combination.
Moreover, two exclusive minifigures accompany the vehicle, including Golden Dragon Cole and General Vangelis, previously dubbed the Skull Sorcerer. These minifigures and Zane's aircraft are certainly appealing, particularly given the creative transformation function and the relatively modest price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99.
Summary
71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet, 258 pieces.
£24.99 / $34.99 / €29.99 | 9.7p/13.6c/11.6c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Zane's Golden Dragon Jet is perhaps my favourite NINJAGO aircraft to date.
- Appealing shape and colours
- Neat transformation function
- Good minifigure selection
- Relatively similar to previous sets
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Three renditions of each ninja are available across the Crystalized subtheme, including their standard, golden and golden dragon variants. Golden Zane is among my favourite examples because the white and pearl gold colour combination looks great, particularly across the torso and legs, alongside light bluish grey accents.
The pattern on Zane's waist and shoulder armour is effective too, resembling studded leather. Zane's separate shoulder armour and sheath element also complements this minifigure, while his pearl silver head remains unchanged from part appearances. I dislike the angry expression, which seems ill-suited to Zane, but the mechanical detailing is perfect.
Golden Dragon Cole is undoubtedly the Earth ninja's most spectacular appearance yet, with dramatic wings. Trans-orange and pearl gold plastics are combined to outstanding effect here, although I think slightly more trans-orange could have improved this design further. The actual minifigure therefore includes trans-orange arms and legs, mimicking molten rock.
The same colour decorates Cole's helmet, which features an elaborate dragon design. I like the shoulder armour as well, with Technic pin holes to attach both wings on his back. Unfortunately, the wings are secured using blue Technic pins with axles, standing out against the surrounding colours. The element remains only available in a single colour, so options were restricted.
I love Cole's familiar orange and black designs, especially alongside the trans-orange accents found here. Removing his helmet reveals a trans-orange head underneath, seeming unusually inhuman for a ninja. In fact, the golden katana is the only feature of this minifigure that matches more conventional versions.
Several past villains comprise the Crystal King's council, including General Vangelis, formerly known as the Skull Sorcerer. The character's sinister mask returns and looks suitably imposing below his textured hat, particularly with its distinctive eyes. Vangelis' wings return from previous minifigures too, although the villain's attire has otherwise been updated.
The Crystal King's generals each feature matching uniforms, including pearl dark grey armour and purple highlights. Pink crystalline details visible across the chest are also shared with the Vengestone army, matching the trans-pink shoulder armour. This component features superb jagged shapes, again present throughout the Crystal King's forces.
General Vangelis wields two matching accessories, both made from Vengestone. The bigger blade is interesting because there is room to place another accessory, such as the pearl gold Scythe of Quakes. The blending of pearl gold and trans-pink is not entirely successful, but the opportunity for easy customisation is certainly appreciated.
A collection of golden weapons is packaged in several of the new NINJAGO sets, including two scythes, two swords, four shuriken, grips for the Nunchucks of Lightning and horns from Nya's new Samurai X helmet. Each accessory exhibits lovely moulded detail, although these golden weapons vary surprisingly from their onscreen presentation.
The Completed Model
Zane's aircraft measures 26cm in length and appears beautifully streamlined, featuring sharp angles and closely resembling 9442 Jay's Storm Fighter. The colour combination of white and pearl gold looks fantastic and I like the angled cockpit, which is neatly attached to the fuselage using ball joints, providing a secure connection.
9442 Jay's Storm Fighter and 70721 Kai Fighter, as well as their respective Legacy designs, include variable wing configurations. This vehicle includes a similar transformation, as sliding the engines forward causes the wings to splay outward. While the narrower wing configuration appears quicker, I imagine this arrangement allows the jet greater manoeuvrability.
Dual-moulded blades extend from the wings, reaching almost 30cm across. Once again, they are a common feature among NINJAGO aircraft, although their position here appears unusual. The set description identifies the resemblance between the bladed wings and a shuriken, which seems appropriate, given Zane's association with the Shuriken of Ice.
The pearl gold and trans-light blue dragon head, which forms the nose, looks marvellous and assures pleasing consistency between this vessel and 71768 Jay's Golden Dragon Motorbike. The transition from the nose to the canopy is equally impressive, while the pearl gold elements across the sides are attractive too. Additionally, the entire cockpit section can be removed and become an escape craft, so includes two small wings.
There is enough room to seat Zane inside the cockpit, although space is extremely limited, so he must lean back. There are no control levels or consoles, but a sticker decorates the canopy, displaying General Vangelis in flight. Further stickers are applied behind the cockpit and feature medium azure highlights, which complement the rotor housings on either wing.
Printed elements are placed at the centre of each housing. Such details are welcome, but the rotors seem very small. However, the golden bodywork between them looks outstanding and I love the central stabiliser, that matches the winglets around the cockpit. The colour consistency between these golden elements and the stickered panel behind the cockpit is poor though.
The engine nacelles are protected beneath thick armour, seamlessly combining the new 4x4 wedge slope with rock texture and the existing 4x4 wedge slope. Their angle looks appealing and the simple engines are perfect. Unfortunately, a red Technic axle remains visible between the engines, uniquely conflicting with the predominant colours.
Overall
71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet is undoubtedly my favourite among the smaller Crystalized sets, containing an excellent jet alongside some great minifigures. The wing transformation is smooth and completely changes the vehicle shape, which looks nice in either configuration. Moreover, I think the price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99 represents relatively fair value.
The similarities between this aircraft and its predecessors could introduce an issue, although changes have been implemented to distinguish them. In fact, the transformation is better than ever, in my opinion. The addition of two exclusive minifigures alongside Golden Zane completes an enjoyable Crystalized set.
101 likes
21 comments on this article
Looks amazing, however it feels a little shallow and empty for the price, especially the marked up price coming in September!
RIP Vangelis
@STUNT said:
"i wish the 10 year golden zane came with this mask to fit better the design of the rest. Same for Lloyd's mask and Wu's head (although the pieces needed to "fix" those already existed)"
Honestly I thought it was cool that the anniversary ninja minifigs were based on different variants of their costumes — and in most cases, specifically on ones from seasons they had played a major role in. Kai and Zane's anniversary costumes were based on the Fire and Ice chapters of "Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu", Jay's on "Prime Empire", Cole's on "Master of the Mountain", Lloyd's on "The Island", and Nya's on "Seabound".
But if you wanted a golden mask for the Anniversary Zane without the "Forbidden Spinjitzu" effect, a golden one with a white headband was previously available from the Legacy minifig pack 40374! And that one lacked any printed letters/symbols, so would be a better match for the other anniversary ninja masks.
Anyway, I do like the design of this set, which makes good use of the dragon motifs of this wave's ninja vehicles. However, as with the Kai Fighter, I don't feel like this set's "transformation" is as dynamic as the way the the Storm Fighter's wings swing apart to reveal a fan-like array of blades. Perhaps I'd have a fonder opinion of this set if it had pushed the dragon wing motif further (such as by adding some claws to the leading edge, or folding the wings back instead of forward to put them in a "closed" position).
The minifigures look as outstanding as ever in my opinion, and the Golden Dragon variants of the ninja stand out as particularly cool and unique! That said, I'm a little bummed that the original four ninja get SO many new minifigure designs this wave, yet there's only one for my favorite of the main characters, Nya. :(
Also, The Ninjargon "R" motif appears extensively across the "good guy" minifigures, vehicles, and accessories, but I'm still not sure what the R is meant to stand for. "Resistance", maybe? It's not exactly intuitive, though perhaps the TV series clarifies things.
As it is, I'm still WAY behind on the Ninjago TV series, since lately I've only been watching it with my wife who's still on Season 8. At this point, maybe I should really take some time on my own to get caught up so I don't get spoiled any more than I already have been. Even here, General Vangelis's very NAME is a bit of a spoiler for "Master of the Mountain", which I still haven't seen — though that particular plot point had already been spoiled for me elsewhere, and LEGO certainly doesn't owe it to me or to anybody to avoid spoiling a storyline that aired two years ago!
Anyway, thanks for the review! Looking forward to reading Brickset's reviews of the other sets from this wave!
Is the villain’s mask attached to the hat piece? It’s really cool and would work well in a Batman MOC for the Court of Owls.
So, what happened to the summary box?
Very solid set!
@TheOtherMike said:
"So, what happened to the summary box?"
I know, I was wondering that!
@TheOtherMike said:
"So, what happened to the summary box?"
I forgot to add the summary box, but have done so now. Thanks!
@WemWem said:
"Is the villain’s mask attached to the hat piece? It’s really cool and would work well in a Batman MOC for the Court of Owls."
Yes, the hat and mask are one piece.
This looks like a great set for getting all the cool new gold/transparent elements. I'm not usually so fixated on the minifigs, but I'm stoked to have a cheaper way to get General Vangelis!
The Sisters from Kubo and the Two Strings, anyone?
Wonder if they’ll ever get around to giving us Vangelis in his standard Sky Folk form.
With the wings in and the ship sitting on a flat surface, it kinda looks like some kind of melting ice cream bar...
Surely General Vangelis should have come with a chariot of fire.
@WemWem said:
"Is the villain’s mask attached to the hat piece? It’s really cool and would work well in a Batman MOC for the Court of Owls."
Unfortunately, it is. The hat design looks great and I would've loved to use it elsewhere, without the mask.
The same piece appeared in the Master of the Mountain wave in 2020.
This is the only set I'll be getting from the wave!
I have always been very fond of Ninjago, but Star Wars will be swallowing most of my budget this year.
Finally, a Scythe of Quakes with an accurate blade design!
After 10 years, surely every Ninjago fan should be excited about this.
I like the minifigures a lot, but unfortunately Vangelis/Skull Sorcerer's mask is still no printed. It looks pretty bad in my opinion, and the black strips for the eyes don't effectively convey the sense of evil.
For some reason, only this set and 71774 Lloyd's Golden Ultra Dragon are currently available on LEGO.com's Australian site. Those two can be purchased, but as for the rest of the wave, they are "Coming soon on 1 August, 2022". Very peculiar.
Does anyone have any idea about why?
@The_Lard_Of_Fear said:
"Surely General Vangelis should have come with a chariot of fire."
this had zero likes, I'm severely disappointed in the community.
I'm also not vibing with Vangelis being immortalized in Lego form as a creepy bird villain
I got 71756 recently and realized the minisubs too didn't have controls. I know that our little minifigures do not use them but come on Lego! After door-less cars, now it's time for control-less vehicles. Or... Do they control the vehicles with their minds? Well, I don't care. At least find a way to stick a 1x2 printed tile somewhere in the cockpit.
@Ephseb said:
" @The_Lard_Of_Fear said:
"Surely General Vangelis should have come with a chariot of fire."
this had zero likes, I'm severely disappointed in the community.
I'm also not vibing with Vangelis being immortalized in Lego form as a creepy bird villain"
I'm not vibing with you calling our Lord and saviour the Skull Sorcerer a "creepy bird villain".
Cool looking set with nice figures, I personally would avoid the sticker on the canopy. Although it is a nice sticker, the canopy piece is just too good to be used in this set only. I like the fact, that the whole front section serves as an escape pod or separate little flyer. I can not excuse the red axle, though. Lego still produces the black one, they just need to use it! And the big black flap on the back could be exchanged with pieces... that just screams "part reduction" to me. The past has shown that smaller Ninjago sets tend to get the most discount, so wait for it to be $20(€), then it's indeed a very sweet deal.
@Ephseb said:
" @The_Lard_Of_Fear said:
"Surely General Vangelis should have come with a chariot of fire."
this had zero likes, I'm severely disappointed in the community.
I'm also not vibing with Vangelis being immortalized in Lego form as a creepy bird villain"
Wouldn’t that be creepy BAT villain? I wouldn’t call what either version we have of the character has bird wings.
I've just got this set at my local LEGO store.
I wasn't planning to get this set, but rather the Crystal King.
However, here in Australia, we have only this set and 71774 Lloyd's Golden Ultra Dragon, and the rest will be released in August.
Plus, there were only two copies of this set left at the store. So I immediately bought this set since I was unsure of whether I would see another Crystalised set again (since LEGO is very wacky with their shipping, and Australia basically never got any 501st battle packs)
With the set in hand, I would say that the price, if slightly overpriced, is for the most part justified. There is obviously the excellent minifigure selection, and the functioning of the jet also works very nice although the "ninja star" wing formation is a little strange.
I am very happy with this set and I hope Crystal King will not disappoint. (I won't be getting it at full RRP of $100 AUD though, would rather wait for a discount since I already have one Crystalised set anyway)