The Ninjago City Docks is a great set. It is a fantastic intricate AFOL build on par with the Creator Expert Modular sets. Layered with complex inventive builds. But it must be said, this is the third Ninjago D2C set. Prior releases being the Temple of Airjitsu and the Ninjago City set. This set is by far the weakest of the three. The Ninjago City set in particular ranks as one of the all time top 5 Lego sets ever. It stands alongside the legendary UCS Millennium Falcon or the Taj Mahal. It is possibly the single best most complex playset that Lego ever released. This Ninjago City Docks set is a great set. But really it is at best an add on for Ninjago City. And one that seems puny in comparison. As a standalone set it feels a little small for it's price. Which is strange considering it stretches across a 32x48 base.

Box/Instructions - The Box is gorgeous. Slightly smaller than Ninjago City, but still huge. About the same size as a large UCS set. Inside half the parts are in a smaller white interior box. The rest simply bagged and packed around it. On the box art the set looks gorgeous. But the box art does start to give a hint towards one of the sets issues. Both front and back main pictures show the Dock side of the structure. With only a tiny inset photo showing the street side. This becomes an issue when combined with Ninjago City as NCDocks has it's pretty side to the rear. The Instructions are a single thick squarebound book. Once again comparisons to Ninjago City must be made. Those instructions were three square books, each with a unique opening section providing information on the section of city being build and names and biographies of the associated minifigs. This one sort of does that, but it feels a bit half arsed. They do give some character bio's. But they are just a few pages to the rear. They don't have the lush histories in the prior instruction books.

The Instructions have one other major flaw. Something feels very off about them. While they don't have any missing steps or flawed diagrams, it feels like many of the build steps are oddly ordered. Attaching small detail parts late in a sub assembly that you must dissasemble parts of it just to be able to get fingers in to seat the parts. The ordering of steps just seems very odd for a Lego set. You might almost think they hired the Megabloks instruction maker.

Parts - Way way too many to mention. Much like any large D2C set, this set is a gold mine for newer construction parts and unusual parts and colors.

Minifigs - The set has a delightful 14 named minifigs. 15 is you could the skeleton statue in the stone workers shop. Most of the figs are Civilian residents of the City. The figures in General can be broken down into Ninja related figures. And Ninjago City Civilian related figures.

Ninja - We have Lloyd, in his Green Ninja outfit (includes extra blonde hair), Garmadon, and Private Puffer. The only unique figure among them is Private Puffer, and I think that is just his face print. Lloyd and Garmadon are standard Ninjago Movie figs. And honestly? They feel wildly out of place in this set. They feel like filler. And they don't fit in tonally with the city market feel of the set.

Civilians - Way too many to go through detailed reviews of. We have Betsy and her Baby, who famously shouted "garmadon, Garmadon GARMADON!" in the movie. Chad who sang the cringy Lloyd song to insult him. Civilian Cole in a really neat outfit. Master Dereth the Brown Ninja in his school training uniform. Lil Nelson one of Dereth's students with a broken arm. Mystake the mysterious Tea Lady and friend of Master Wu. We have the Asian themed civilian siblings Runde Runje and Runme. And Chan Kong San in a nice Kung Fu'ish outfit.

Build/Models - It's gorgeous. A nice three tiered Asian themed small dock and fishing area. On a fully tiled water base that achienves some masterful effects by using trans blue tiles, but varrying the colors beneath them to give depth.

The first layer, the Old City layer includes the large Dock area. A fruit and vegetable merchant. A turkey rotiserie place. The stone cutters shop and a watery cave. The detail on this level is amazing.

Second level matches up to Ninjago Cities Street level. It includes the Explorers Office/Map Room. A large private residence. and Master Dereth's Mojo Dojo.

Above that is a third level, which roughly corresponds to Ninjago Cities upper street level. This contains Mystake's Tea Shop and a Video Arcade. Other than some wonderfully unique roofs, that is as far as it goes. Ninjago City Docks does not reach the upper three stories of Ninjago City.

Much like Ninjago City, once you get above the first level the buildings are individual modules that stack like small Modular Buildings. Each is quite unique, with a lot of fun detail and great builds. The final crowning piece is a pink Cherry Blossom balloon or sculpture that matches NC's Puffer Fish and Squid.

Overall - It is a great set that you will not regret having. and will spend a good 10 hours building. As a standalone it feels a little weak compared to its prior 2 sibblings. As an addon for Ninjago City it is fantastic, but has a few odd display problems that collectors should be aware of.

In Ninjago City you have the extremely detailed front corner facings. The back is a nice fully finished canal area. But it is by no means the pretty side. Whereas when you connect Ninjago City Docks to Ninjago City, The pretty side of the Dock's is away from the Towers best look. If you display your modular type buildings on a shelf, it likely means the most interesting part of this set will be facing the wall. The "Front" Facing is quite nice. But it lacks the detail and the places for figures to go about theirl business that the rear has. It's a minor flaw, but a strange one.

I was pacing the floor waiting to purchase this, L was so bummed it was sold out online so quickly, I considered buying the price theifs on E-Bay and Amazon, as the store near was sold out . I found that the Glendale store had just and they kind enough to hold for me, so we drove 95 miles to get this awesome set !

*Firstly I love the assortment mini-figures, for the price of this set you get nice choice of peeps with this one.

*Lego created yet again an amazing structure, this has many unique features in the design and I was not disappointed at all. At $229-, its a great value it easily fits into my village, which is a mix creator, city and ninjago. They blend perfectly.

* Really cool selection of brick colors and deigns.

* It took me 7 days to complete the set, but I only have one hand. When you get such an awesome set I like to pace it out as its like eating a banana split you want to make every yummy bite last.

I gave this great ratings and I think anyone who is into Ninjago or Creator Expert will really get off on building this newly released set.

Lego on my Friends !!

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Summary

When seeing my local store had was selling Ninjago City Docks, I jumped on the opportunity to get it; regrettably, it took me an additional week before I had the time to build it. Much had been made of its rumoured price, as well as its size and looks. Much of the complaints seemed to come down to 'It is not Ninjago City 2.0'. And it definitely is not, yet - as long as that is kept in mind - IMHO it is still an extremely good set, good for some 8 hours 30 minutes of building fun. The stickers add a lot to the appearance of the whole thing, but if you are a sticker hater, this might not be the set for you: there are about 60 of them.

As long as you ignore the store front of the arcade hall, this set is at its heart an expanded version of Old Ninjago City, done very successfully IMHO. The modular concept of the buildings/stores/residences works extremely well (again). There are many new - to me - interesting building techniques used, and in general the design is to the same extremely high standard set by Ninjago City (set 70620). Great attention to detail, the variety, the minifigures, it all adds up to this set being a worthy addition (also literally) to Ninjago City. I really hope there will be another set like it next summer.

Almost inevitably, a set such as this comes with a serious price tag, that could well put it out of range for many. Also, one has to like the general looks of this set. If oriental styled architecture does nothing for you, this set is probably not meant for you; I would advise you to download the instructions, however, just to have a look at the numerous techniques used. Still, IMHO, this set offers a lot of value for money, and is one of those sets that is definitely worth saving for.

Build experience

The first thing I noticed opening the box was that there were fewer 'same-number-bags'. The first bags are concerned with building up the base, and are the most monotonous: laying the playes, tiling the water, and building the dock-planking. When that is done, the true fun starts, IMHO with the building of the superstructures. Those at the bottom are fixed, subsequent layers/floors are built as separate modules. Quickly one encounters one of the elements borrowed from the Temple of Airjitzu (set 70751): the stairs leading from the cave to the cartographer.

The boat is a nice little side-build, which neatly fits into the cave, as well as on the inside of the docks.

The designers have attempted to give each module its own character, with some variation in building techniques. The technique used in building the wall for the dojo was the one thing where I thought that the 12+ age range might be appropriate. The rest of the construction techniques should easily be within the capabilities of younger builders.

The one technique that I think does not work as well as the others is the one for the large round window (the cart wheel) in the middle building; it seems to be loose, and easily come out of position. That for the middle roof (the boat shape) works OK, as long as one dis not look at it from the top. The pig sign is built with a technique substantially different from the similarly looking puffer fish from Ninjago City. Top techniques for me: the pig, the wall of the dojo and the small little roofs above the food stalls.

Minifigures

There are 14 minifigures included in this set: two of the ninja's (Lloyd dressed as such), Garmadon, one thug, and the rest civilian inhabitants of Ninjago City, one of them a baby. They are, in general, a nice and varied set, some in modern dress, others in more traditional garb. To my untrained eye only Garmadon and Lloyd can be found in other sets, the rest seems to be unique - though the constituent parts are far from unique, it seems.

IMHO they are generally good minifigs: nice prints on the torso, most of them nice prints on the back, a good variety in hair, and nice facial expressions. Some of them actually have two face prints. Private Puffer's head dress is of soft-plastic, and looks good. Personal favourites are Mystake (the tea lady), Chad and lil' Nelson (with the broken arm).

The build

The designers have - first of all - done a very great job in lining up the various elements with that of Ninjago City without it negatively impacting the overall design of the set. All buildings and the set up feels quite organic and 'natural'. The designer(s) also have done a great job in being consistent in style with the Ninjago Old City level, while just incorporating enough elements (antennae, the signage, the aircos) to make it fit the modern era of Ninjago City as a whole.

As was indeed feared somewhat, it is true that - if properly connected - the most attractive side of the Ninjago City Docks is lined up with the least attractive side of Ninjago City. What the designers have done a great job with is the transition between Old City and modern Ninjago City; the arcade hall would have looked dreadfully out of place if it had faced the other way around. Now the modern facade fits in well with that of - for instance - the comic book store, while the rear works nicely with the Old City environment.

Somehow, the designers still have managed to give every structure its own roof-design, even though they have started to borrow from other sets. Similarly, the designers are still looking for variety in window designs (though there they are seemingly running out of options). Similarly each support for higher floors is unique.

The stairs towards higher levels are integrated very well; they fit in naturally, and give the impression of the small alleys that are found in old town centres.

My personal favourite modules are the tea shop, and the residential dwelling above the food-market (presumably the house of Mystake and Runde). The latter can be nicely compared with Lloyd's and Misako's residence which was built in Ninjago City. The one detail that truly stands out is the pig-balloon or 'puffer pig' above the arcade, presumably signalling a food stall is nearby. If there is one thing missing, I missed a bit of interior for the food shop.

Play vs display

As with Ninjago City, IMHO this is primarily a display set. The minifigures can be moved around, there is quite a bit of space for them on the outside., but playing with them inside the structures is a little more difficult. Not only are some of the interiors crammed with stuff, the height of the walls makes placing minifigures somewhat difficult, at least for adults. At the same time, there also a few nice little play features in the food store (including the rotating turkey) and soda-vending machine. Of course, the fact that one has to take apart the modules to put in the minifigs might make for some off play as well.

This set is above all IMHO a display set. There are enough minifigures included to set up some nice little stories; the set is not big enough to make them disappear. Both long sides look very good - the short sides are downright ugly; then again, one of them (at least) is meant to connect to Ninjago City. Just as Ninjago City, Ninjago City Docks could easily be the center piece of a display, or a centrally placed object. The set is bright, well designed with many details, and made to have many little story-lines set up on/in it.

The verdict

Overall, I think this set is superb. Does it equal Ninjago City? No, it does not, and it was never meant to be. Ninjago City itself is so unique and outrageous, and made such a splash when it became public that IMHO it could well be impossible to surpass. This set, IMHO holds up very well though. It is excellent, and definitely surpasses the basic standard of design of the whole Ninjago Movie line, and IMHO meets that of Ninjago City. Personally, I think the designers have done a great job in balancing size, cohesion within the design and with the design Ninjago City and general looks. Although slightly above Ninjago City in Price Per Part, I think it still good. In general, I think it holds its own competing against Ninjago City and Destiny's Bounty (set 70618). Having built the set, I am very happy I went out and bought it, and it has ended up as one of my favourites. If having to choose between Ninjago City Docks and Assembly Square (set 10255), having seen and built them both, and knowing what I know now, I would have a hard time deciding between which one of them to get.

The designers IMHO have done themselves proud, and IMHO this set is worth every penny. Personally, I would say that even if you are not into Ninjago or the Ninjago Movie, but simply like a good, big, and attention grabbing Lego set, this one deserves to be at or near the top of your list. It is one of those set worth saving up for, and I sincerely hope that it will be available for a very long time, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to buy this set.