A few months ago I bought some of the very detailed and immensely attractive Xingbao Chinese Town buildings. I’ve only built (and reviewed) XB-01003 Xinya Palace (review, buy) thus far, and really like the way it looks. I’ve also got XB-01020 Chinese Theatre (buy) and XB-01001 Silk Shop (buy) waiting to be built, and I look forward to both of them. When I first saw 06066 Ninjasaga City (a clone of the Danish brand’s 70620 Ninjago City), I was very intrigued. The set came out in 2017, not long before I found out about clones. I was hesitant to dive in to the brand in such a major way, so I sort of put this one on the back burner of my mind, so to speak. As I became better acquainted with the clone brands and both their idiosyncrasies and advantages, I became less risk-averse, and have gone “all in” with major sets such as the Bugatti Chiron, Hogwarts Castle, Star Wars UCS sets, and a sizable modular city.

There is something inherently attractive in my mind about Asian urban design. I love the compactness of it all, for one. Having lived briefly in China (long enough to be counted in the 2011 census in Hong Kong!…that could be a fun diversion for my descendants doing genealogy research centuries from now!), I find a certain charm in the randomness and hodge-podge appearance of many of the buildings in the more densely packed parts of town, which is of course common to many Asian cities. One of my favourite anime films is the 2011 “From Up on Poppy Hill” (partly because I love the backgrounds). Though our Ninjasaga city is clearly more modern-looking, there are nods to mid-20th century Japanese urban scapes, as shown in that lovely animated film.

Of course, this set is based on the 2017 Lego “Ninjago Movie“, which I rather enjoyed and found to be quite hilarious and clever in parts. I love the visual chaos that is evident in the Ninjago City world of the film, and to see part of that translated into actual bricks is really fun and enticing. It took me a while to commit to buying the set, because it is one of the more expensive brick sets, either in its original Danish form or the Chinese clone version. But there’s no question that the Chinese clone at less than half the price is a good value…as long as the quality is good (more on that below).

Even though Ninjago, and by extension, Ninjasaga, has it roots in Japan, there are still a lot of similarities between urban areas in the two neighboring countries, where packing as many shops or flats as possible into a city block is seen as an urban design goal. Ninjasaga City brings this design aesthetic to the world of clone blocks. Sporting a colour palette that spans the spectrum, focusing largely on the brightest shades, the design is very striking and imposing, and draws immediate attention. It’s definitely one of the more attractive sets released in recent years, and one of the more unusual-looking. Let’s dig in to the set and look at some of its cool features and hidden gems.

Starting out, the build is divided in 16 building stages, with numbered bags, a very thick instruction manual, and two sheets of stickers (numbering over 50 in all). The manual is printed on thick, glossy stock, and between each stage includes some fun “concept art” based on the build.

First, we must build the city’s foundations and the lovely blue river that flows through the city. It’s clearly intended that one might link up Ninjasaga City with the City Docks that were also released in 2018. Among the highlights of the first stages are the traditional fishing boat (complete with a fisherman and a spear for fishing) and the traditional fish market stall along the river’s edge. When I dumped out the bags and found dozens of crow bars in the mix, I was quite curious as to their use. Turns out a bunch of crow bar elements snapped onto a lateral bar all in a row make a great awning.

There is also a “wooden” dock, which looks really cool when finished. I did find this to be one of the more troublesome parts of the build, due to having to shove a technic axle into a series of stacked cylinders. As is well-known, some cloned technic parts can sometimes lack the tight tolerances necessary to go together as easily as their other-branded counterparts. It took some real effort, but I did get the axles all the way into the columns of cans, and get them attached flat into the dock layout.

Other little gems along the way include the lily pads throughout the transparent blue/green river waters, sewer outlets, and a little shack in which the city’s mechanical maintenance man is stored. The maintenance/sweeper robot is cute (is it ok to call something in the Ninja world “cute”?), especially with his traditional kasa hat: it’s a perfect mix of the ancient and the new-fangled.

Other major features on the ground level include a taxi stand with a somewhat anachronistic telephone (how many kids of the Ninjago target age have even seen a phone like this, I wonder?), a walkway, and a traditional-looking river bridge with mock stone decorative finials.

As we work our way up the multiple storeys (this is a very tall set: including the radio tower on top, the total height is 65 cm), we’ll build a section of hand-operated elevator with each storey. It became evident early on that the cloned reproduction of this elevator was going to be the weak link in an otherwise very good clone set. I chalk this up to those slightly wigglier tolerances in the clone bricks, which are not noticeable on static elements but which become more problematic when mechanical movement is involved. The photos show some of the ways in which the elevator pieces don’t all fit quite right, which results in an elevator that is tricky to move through the entire height of the city. I found it a bit easier to move the lift platform by removing the small pinion that interfaces with the track along the back of the shaft. Since there’s plenty of friction within the confines of the elevator, the lift stays put even without the rack and pinion interface being utilized. Of course, due to the variances in the bricks–which are the source of this problem–your set may not experience quite as dramatic of a problem once complete.

“You’ll never get away from me on THAT lift!” — Officer Noonan

Poorly fitted bricks make an inoperable lift. Deal killer? I don’t think so. All parts are pretty common and can easily be replaced with major brand if an operable lift is required.

Throughout the set, there are numerous signs and posters bearing fake kanji script which lend an additional Asian aesthetic to the town. These all require the careful application of stickers, which were all printed very well. There were no mis-cuts or mis-prints among the 50+ stickers in the set.

The next level contains a tea-room with a bonsai tree and a small flat, complete with fold-out “solar panels”: Ninjasaga City might be traditional in many respects, but it is working on being “green”! The use of fence elements with square holes and adjoining arches placed opposite one another on their sides, to form a circle, also adds to the Asian ambiance. These Ninjas know their feng shui (Fusui, in Japan). Each room contains pleasant surprises in the level of detail. The sliding shōji that lead into many rooms or buildings are another realistic touch. Though these are made of window panes here, the printing definitely looks like the transparent paper it’s meant to mimic.

Working up the tower, the next level contains more fabulously detailed buildings. The largest of these is a crab restaurant with a grill that “magically” grills a raw crab into a cooked crab. A turn-knob and elastic system on the outside wall are responsible for this magic. The restaurant’s also got a brick-built crab looming over the entrance, and its windows are flanked by red lanterns and orange “bubbles”. Next door is an ATM (cash point) that dispenses stacks of 100-stud notes (thanks to a clever handle and elastic system operated from the back of the ATM). Further to the right is a comic and collectibles shop, with comic books, collectible statuettes and action figures, and more. One of the highlights here is the brick-and-plate “comics” sign above the entrance. This requires a handful of 1×1 plates with a small black mark on one side. To the left of the crab shack is an alleyway to access the rears of the buildings and the elevator, and to the left of the alley is a hoarding which features four interchangeable billboards and cleverly secreted storage for those not on display. The street sign in the alley doubles as a lever to change out the signage, which advertises all manner of Ninjasaga goods and services from films to automobiles (“Tired of walking?”)

Next, is a modern fashion and skateboarding shop, complete with mannequins modeling the latest Ninjasaga fashions including headwear and samurai suits. This shop has a large curved window, which came packaged in its own small plastic bag. I found all the large window pieces, including the curved “glass” (also found in the Downtown Diner set), to be clear and free of scratches or cloudiness. This level also houses a nod to nature, which is often lacking in urban settings: a large cherry tree, in full pink and white blossom, grows from within a small greenhouse and wends its way out the window into full display. The construction of the tree limbs and the blossoms involves particularly clever yet simple techniques.

At the very top, we find a rooftop terrace sushi joint with a modern conveyor belt sushi delivery system (I loved this build as well–another simple yet creative technique, which I can see being useful in other applications), brick-build sushi, plenty of seating for Lloyd and his pals, a bathroom with the most modernistic brick-build toilet to date, and radio and TV antennae broadcasting the latest hits and “Good Day Ninjasaga” to audiences all around town.

Lloyd and his mom’s flat is also on this level, and is surprisingly well outfitted for such a tiny footprint (Asian flats tend to be that way). The bunk beds built into the wall are another clever feature, as is the attic storage compartment for Lloyd’s ninja attire.

The puffer fish and octopus sculptures are very cool, as are the techniques used to make traditional Japanese roof tiles and flying eaves. Using car doors and upside down hinges for roofs is quite functional and provides a very convincing appearance of terra cotta tiles. Compliments to the designers responsible for such techniques!

All in all, you get 16 mini-figures and 2 mini-figure mannequins with which to fill your city. I found this to be a generous allocation of population, with a great variety of characters including Lloyd, a sushi chef, boatman, a croissant-eating Kai, Sally, Shark Army Gunner, and Officer Noonan. There’s plenty of playability in this set even if it’s your only Ninja set. Of course, for more fun, add any of the dozens of other cloned or Lego Ninja sets such as the City Docks (a natural addition adjacent to the city) or the temple of Airjitsu.

Once I started building, I knew I would be in for a treat. From the outset, even though I loved the build, I saw the completion of each additional stage as a slightly sad milestone toward not having any more Ninja city to build. To me, that’s a sure sign of a successful set design: when I never want the build to end. This was so fun to build and looks great on display. It’s huge, as mentioned before, so make sure you’ve got room, or make room! If you’ve never built a clone set, this is a good introduction to the brand: it’s pretty high quality, with the caveats noted in this review, which sort of summarizes the overall brand experience. For the price, it can’t be beat! For perfection, stick with the more expensive major brand.

At 166 USD for 4,867+ pieces and 18 mini-figures, the price per piece is attractive: about 3.4¢ per piece US, before shipping (which will vary, of course). Our friends at Building Toy Store are offering a coupon for 10 USD off your order, exclusively for readers of Alt-Blocks, in addition to other discounts on their site. Just go to BuildingToyStore.com using this link, create an account (which gets you a 10% discount), and use coupon code K7CXYREL. You may also find a coupon code on their site for an additional 5% discount.

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