The LEGO® Ninjago Movie brought us a lot of really awesome sets. I have by no means collected them all, but taking a look at the ones I do have, and my reviews of them, the theme currently has a rating a of 91% in my books. This week, I am going to take a look at another of those sets, The Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon (hereafter just The Temple). This set intrigued me from the get-go, but I opted not to pick it up initially. However, an opportunity too good to pass up arrived not long ago in the form of a 40% off sale at Chapters and Indigo. Now, the time has come to see if this set lives up to its predecessors. As always, if you are curious how I generate the scores in this review, you can read about my rating system by clicking here.
SET SUMMARY
NAME: The Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon
SET #: 70617
THEME: The Ninjago Movie
COST: $129.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 1397
MINIFIGURES: 8
OF INTEREST: 1 skeleton
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2017
SUMMARY REVIEW: 88%
VALUE: 100% (Amazing value per brick, and for build time.)
BUILD: 80% (Great look, a couple of traps could be re-thought.)
MINIFIGURES: 80% (Great characters, but the brick:fig is not so good.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 90% (Lots of fun for play.)
REVIEW
VALUE: 100%
The Temple retails for $129.99 in Canada, and comes with 1397 parts. At that price, you are looking at a cost per brick of $0.09, which is downright excellent. So, already at full price, I would award this the top score of 100% when it comes to brick value. I really lucked out, and I picked mine up at 40% off. This means that I paid $78.00 for the set. So, my price per brick dropped right down to $0.06. That is really hard to beat.
In terms of build time, I spent 4 hours and 36 minutes piecing The Temple together (276 minutes total). At full price, that would mean that each minute of build time costs $0.47, which is also amazing (my current average is $0.85 per minute). So, again, even at full price, you are getting an excellent value. In my case, each minute of build time cost $0.28. Full price or on sale, this set is an amazing value, and I give it the full 100%.
BUILD: 80%
I enjoyed the build for this set. The detailing is excellent. I especially like the dungeons built into the base, and the skeleton bits locked away in there. I like even more that you can piece together the rest of the skeleton with parts strewn around The Temple. The doors are large and imposing for Minifigures, and fitting of a temple housing the Ultimate ULTIMATE weapon. But, probably my favorite part of this build is the stone statues outside. These are just amazing in terms of design and detail. They each feature multiple points of articulation as well, so they are in essence characters in the set that can be played with.
There are a number of play features built into the temple, and I will discuss them more in the entertainment section. However, I will mention one here: the ball and chain booby-trap. The concept is a really fun one. There is a boulder attached to a chain, and the chain can be wound up into the ceiling. Releasing a lever is supposed to send the boulder crashing towards unsuspecting Minifigures. I found the feature does not work very well. The boulder needs a little help in its downward plummet. That was a shame in my books. It could be that a little tinkering with the build would make the system flow a little better, but it just didn’t work easily for me. There is another trap involving a sword that just swings out into an empty space where there is no walkway or anything. That also seemed pointless to me.
I also found that The Temple is a little narrow. I know this is meant to be a big set for kids to play with, and this open-back design is deal for that. But, I still would have liked a little more depth to this build. So, mostly, I love this set. But the depth and the lack of functionality in the traps bugged me a little. I rate this set at 8/10.
What I liked: (0+5 = 5 points)
- This set looks great both inside and out.
- There are lots of fun details.
- The dungeons were a nice touch.
- The scattered skeleton adds a potential subplot to play.
- The stone guardians are AMAZING.
What I don’t like: (5-2 = 3 points)
- The temple lacks depth
- A couple of the traps have questionable or troubled functionality.
MINIFIGURES: 80%
There are eight Minifigures included in The Temple set, plus a skeleton. You get all six ninjas from the movie, Garmadon, and an armored statue that is actually a complete Minifigure. The statue has no leg or torso printing, but it does come with a double sided face that makes it seem as though it comes alive. Zane and Garmadon are the only characters without double sided faces, but Zane’s head is printed all around to make it look like his hair is shaved on the sides and back. I particularly like Cole’s hairpiece as I did not have one like it before. Based on design and printing, I would already give these characters 107/120 (89%). But, The Temple also comes with a great many accessories. Among the many accessories, you get a skeleton, four scorpions, 2 snakes, a spider, 2 spears, one bow and quiver, 11 swords of varying types, a sac, a set of armor, a crate, and a boulder. With so many extras, the design score easily reaches 100%.
With eight Minifigures and 1397 bricks, you are looking at a brick-to-fig ratio of 175:1. However, I do count the skeleton as a figurine, even if it isn’t a “Minifigure”. So, including the skeleton, you are looking a ratio of 155:1. That is not the greatest ratio, but it is still passable. I rate the ratio score for The Temple at 3/5 (60%). Averaging this score with the design score gives an overall Minifigure grade of 80%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 90%
The Temple is a lot of fun from a play perspective. There are load of features. Even though I don’t feel it works particularly well, the boulder trap is still a good idea. Right below it, you have a trap door that drops Minifigures below the front steps outside the temple. The trap door is triggered by pulling out the rocky outcrop that supports the treasure crate. At the same time, pegs are revealed that Minifigures have to jump across to reach the crate. The dungeons have a door and removable walls to allow Minifigures to escape. There is also a separate cage that hangs off of the side of The Temple, and it is built out of bones. Despite its narrow design, there is a lot of play time and fun to be had with this set. I would have loved this build when I was younger.
From a grown-up perspective, I think this set looks great and has a neat design. I don’t like the open back concept, but I will be keeping this set all the same. I will get a lot of additional build time and fun out of it as I redesign it to become modular so that it fits into my China town set up in my LEGO® city. Based on the adult-me feelings for this set, I would rate it at 4/5 (80%). Based on the kid-me feelings for this set I would give it 5/5 (100%). So, overall, I will give it the happy medium of 4.5/5 (90%).
OVERALL: 88%
I really like the Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. I really liked building it, and I think kids will get a hoot out of playing with it. This set is also a great value, even if you are buying it at full price. You also get a number of well designed Minifigures. The brick:fig ratio is a little high, and the set needs a little modification before it would fit nicely into a city layout. But, overall, I do recommend this set.
Do you have any thoughts about the Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon? Feel free to leave them in the comments field below. Also, if you like the content at True North Bricks, I would love it if you followed me here on WordPress (click the “follow” option in the menu to your right), Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter for regular updates.
Until next time,
-Tom
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