Review – Ninjago City Chase [70607]

I have actually had Ninjago City Chase for a really long time… since Christmas. It has been sitting un-built, sealed in its box, until now. I have been imagining a custom extension to my Ninjago City set (click here for the review), and this little guy will feature in it as part of the traditional lower level. But, that project is still a long ways off, so I was not in a rush to build Ninjago City Chase. However, I recently came to the conclusion that I should review this set before it is retired, especially since it can be found on sale quite often these days. Who knows, someone out there might want a review before picking it up on the sale rack?

SET SUMMARY

NAME: Ninjago City Chase
SET #: 70607
THEME: The LEGO® Ninjago Movie
COST: $24.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 233
MINIFIGURES: 5
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2017

SUMMARY REVIEW: 86%

VALUE: 90% (At $0.11 per brick, it is a little cheaper than average.)
BUILD: 80% (Nice set, but I wish there was more to the vendor’s stand.)
MINIFIGURES: 98% (Really nice Minifigs, lots of accessories, excellent brick:fig.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 75% (Good for building up a city, but lacks substance/playability.)

REVIEW

VALUE: 90%
Ninjago City Chase costs $24.99 in Canada. At that price, you are look at a cost of $0.11 per brick. That is just slightly below the current average of $0.12, calculated using the last catalog that I got in the mail. The overall average for all of the 2017 catalogs was $0.13, so Ninjago City Chase is actually a pretty decent value. I rate it at 4.5/5 (90%).

BUILD: 80%
Ninjago City Chase consists of three little builds. The first is a tuc-tuc for the police officer to drive. It is a cute little build, but nothing overly impressive. The tuc-tuc has a front driver’s seat, and a back seat for a passenger or cuffed-prisoner.

The second and third builds go together. You have two lamp posts connected by a string of lanterns, and fish/fruit stand. Both come with great signage in the Ninjago language to add to those seen in the Ninjago City set. There is not much depth to the stand, but it looks pretty good when examined head-on. There is an unattached barrel of apples that can be placed beside it. One thing that I really liked about this build was the design for the fish and cherry bins. They are slanted in order to hold the food, but they are also angled inwards to give the stand a tiny bit of dimension. I like this set, but it doesn’t thrill me like some others. I wish there was a little more to the vendor’s stand, and not just a facade. I give Ninjago City Chase 8/10 (80%) for build.

MINIFIGURES: 98%
There are five Minifigures included in Ninjago City Chase: Lloyd, Nya, Officer Toque, Ham the vendor, and a shark army thug. Only Nya and Lloyd have double sided faces, but all of them have front and back printed torsos, and some kind of head covering. The only character without leg printing is Officer Toque. Based on my rating scale, I would give them 56/75 (75%) for design alone. But, you also get a number of nice accessories, including: a hammer, three fish, four cherries, three apples, a cell phone, a $100 bill, a walkie-talkie, and handcuffs. 15 accessories bring the score up to 71/75 (95%).

 

Ninjago City Chase has a total of 233 bricks in the kit. With five Minifigures, you are looking at a brick-to-fig ratio of 47:1. That is excellent, and earns a full 5/5 (100%). Averaging the ratio score and design scores gives this set an overall Minifigure rating of 98%.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: 75%
Ninjago City Chase took me 35 minutes to build. With a price tag of $24.99, each minute of build time set me back $0.71. That is not the best build time I have ever gotten, but it is not the worst either. I will rate this set at 3.5/5 for build time value.

In terms of enjoyment, you get a lot of fun characters, with a little corner of the city to interact with. I wouldn’t say this is the most fun LEGO® set that I could imagine getting as a child, but it has some good city-building value. I will be incorporating this into an upcoming custom project, but I will probably give it a little more substance. For that reason, I rate it at 4/5 (80%) for enjoyment. Averaging this score with the build time score gives an overall entertainment rating of 75%.

OVERALL: 86%

I like Ninjago City Chase for its potential in terms being added to my LEGO® city. You also get a very good value in terms of the cost per brick, and the build time. The set comes with an excellent brick-to-Minifigure ratio, and the characters are well designed. Even at full price, I would say that this set is worth the purchase, though I do wish Ham’s stand had a little behind-the-scenes substance. What are your thoughts on Ninjago City Chase? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Until next time,

-Tom