LEGO Ninjago Castle of the Forsaken Emperor review 🥶 70678

Another major Ninjago season 11 set, this one split between a large villain structure and a pretty impressive ice dragon. Also includes the very special Akita (human form) figure.
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[@JANGBRiCKS]

Here's the full 2-hour pure build, with still better sound than previous videos (and I'll improve again soon): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmPViHZ4hs2Si9U The speed build is 20 minutes and 60fps: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qojZhoaepph0n7M

[@MG-ls4eu]

Thanks so much for the in depth reviews it really helps a lot when buying a set. I will be getting this, the fire fang and lloyd’s titan mech

[@nindroidgamer123]

Hi

[@LetMeEatIt]

But where is clutch powers?

[@morgank.2788]

Hi

[@lordofthehunt5402]

How many seasons of ninjago are theyre

[@michaelcubed]

Ninjago: attention to detail, several new molds for guard figures Endgame: here’s a helicopter

[@Pattamatt1998]

Tbh Lego's original themes really should get priority on the cooler stuff

[@williamalvarez3844]

Michael Cubed there’s limits on what they can do for licensed themes

[@Sondergirl1610]

The bright side is that the original ips are getting some love But for god's sake what they did with endgame is inhumane and evil . *Helicopter scoff*

[@mutaakermit5529]

Honestly we’re did that plane come from

[@waterblazek2288]

Season 11: Fire and Ice Season 12: Earth and Electricity(?) Oh wait one theme has already tried Rock/Electric combination and it did not go well...

[@yusufshazaad3748]

WaterBlazek that’s so 😂

[@antektadek2858]

Another theme tried fire and ice and it also didn't go too well

[@BlueToad6456]

What tyeme?

[@veronicachu2054]

@@antektadek2858 no... Fire and water

[@veronicachu2054]

@@BlueToad6456 yeah

[@archie1205]

Hello clearance, my old friend. 100 bucks has got to me again.

[@patch-fm]

Oh my gosh that rhymes.

[@lamaduckie932]

Gasmask Mcgee [Carl] of course it rhymes he didn’t change the words that rhymed in the original song, the impressive part is that it stills maintains the tempo of the old song

[@MiniLegoProductions]

Marquis De Potter lol!

[@CuppaTeaExe]

For $100, this is pretty good! I might pick this up, really cool

[@veronicachu2054]

NO!!!! I NEED TO QUESTION YOUR JUDGEMENT

[@katelystt]

I have it myself got it for 85 euro (which is such a good deal), it's pretty CHILL displays nicely and the little things in the set such as the paintings and ice hokey gear adds a lot of personality.

[@Jonag__M]

Veronica Chu It’s a better deal them the Avengers Compound or Hulk Helicopter Drop sets

[@johnhartshorne4223]

Really? 100 USD is a lot for that play value.

[@whycantiuselegendasatag]

I own this set and it's actually a really nice set! 10/10 (for me at least)

[@WattoXtreme]

The “actually jang” voice will never get old

[@kytexgd1463]

N*ice* review you got there Jang! The price is just a little *frost*rating I am truly sorry 🤦‍♂️

[@diananiestegge249]

Totallally missed Pr*ice*

[@ryme6641]

Why?!!!

[@ofekhaziza]

This dragon is so small,he probably eats only r'ice'

[@AerthQuakeWasTaken]

Hmmm. What a *Winter*esting disscussion.

[@deniserodden6079]

Hey, don't leave us in the *cold*

[@valentinodaspi4350]

Wyvern: *Exists* JANGBRiCKS: *Confused screaming*

[@Lordodragonss]

It's weird they havent reused that cool ice prison piece from CHIMA. It would be great for details

[@yfrit_gg]

Honestly what *is* it with LEGO and their inability to print light on dark properly? Why are they not getting that right?

[@valentinodaspi4350]

There was a time when they did it right, but it looks like they've decided to cheap out

[@theaces3697]

the sad thing is the knock off brands like Lepin has better dark prints, i actually had to buy some star wars minifigs from them to replace my poorly printed offical ones

[@BdSlidin]

I think it is to do with the stamp like if the ink is too light and not thick

[@marinekong235]

Cost, cost, cost .... it is profit they want to maximise. After all it is targetted at children and no child will be able to detect such defects

[@MelindaColden]

just today i looked at my maleficent minifig from 2014 i think (part of a past collectors series) they printed her light green skin colour on a black minifig head and the colour was crisp and clean, exactly matching the colour of her hands so we know they were still able to print properly in 2014 when did it go downhill?

[@steffy2]

wish they'd have just made a temple/building in that style and not a throne thingy that destroys the whole aesthetic imo.

[@darandomdog]

NADAKAN: your wish is yourse to ceep

[@dtfilmmaker]

Sort of like 70728 or 70749 would have been epic. Would you agree?

[@samgates8242]

@@darandomdog *keep

[@MiniLegoProductions]

Steffy agreed

[@sparkworks4401]

That ice dragon is what the Hungarian horntail should have been.

[@henrydegroff4282]

No way this dragon is far to much like a Bionicle. Ninjago dragons don't look very organic at all

[@ratbat1072]

But this dragon is supposed to be made of ice or stone, while the Hungarian horntail is supposed to be a large lizard

[@BdSlidin]

Is has similar aesthetic‘s but no the same

[@brickjam69]

Guys, what Glazed Donuts meant is that the Hungarian Horntail should have been as large and impressive as this ice dragon.

[@ltb1345]

Henry DeGroff The Ninjago dragons are supposed to look like they're made out of elements/energy though, and the ones that were supposed to be organic did look pretty organic, I think.

[@aych-rn]

Reminds me of the fire temple nostalgia

[@BdSlidin]

I agree

[@MiniLegoProductions]

Same

[@bendakstarkiller5738]

I don't see the similarities except theres a dragon.

[@RobinHoodBricks]

That ballista / catapult is awesome. Very clever build and lots of fun with the brown bolts!

[@kirklandgarrett4112]

Hey jang I have been watching your videos since I was 8 I’m now 14 love your vids keep up the good work

[@asphyxiuh]

Same for me man

[@Jazmission]

Me too but

[@shynocru7783]

akita looks so adorable, must protect her from haters

[@radstaz2029]

The dragon is the best part of this set I might get it just for the dragon. I love ninjago dragons especially the big ones.

[@BdSlidin]

Most of the dragons nijago makes are awesome

[@keaton1589]

I love how you explained all the ways to push and pull it open :)

[@waterblazek2288]

"Why would I complain about level of detail" Maybe because it raises the price?

[@katelystt]

I have this set myself and I agree with Jang that the action feature should be simpeler to add more play space. one could also remove the pillars for more space and a better look at the paintings. But I don't regret my purchase since the set just has a lot of character with the paintings and the ice hokey stuff making me really like the ice warriors (I like Ninjago bad guys better than the ninja) the price is fair at a 100 and I got lucky and got mine for 85 euro.

[@DonaldWWitt]

Yeah, I do wonder if it wasn't two or three sets bunched together, as the Ice Dragon and Ballista Tower look like they would have made good sets on their own, and the complex structures build patterns scream the Ninjago Movie to me.

[@insertclevernamehere1186]

Gotta say, It's nice to finally see a Kitsune in the Ninjago series... Although it's weird that they put her fox form in the cheapest set and her human form in the most expensive...

[@ninjayoshi8020]

Actually, it's a wolf. Yeah one group doesn't know their canines (are foxes canines?).

[@pawelowi7528]

Thst ballista is the best one LEGO's ever done!

[@bean_boy752]

Lord of the rings ballista is the best one

[@crash8542]

To anyone that complains that the dragon is a wyvern, the definition of a wyvern is a bipedal dragon. So yes, its a dragon.

[@maizatulbaizuramohammed2443]

It's a wyvern Jang: *zoom in the word dragon* *Top ten anime plot twist*

[@liammarron5744]

Lol

[@Jazmission]

Yes

[@jcdraws4524]

Am i the only one that puts their Finished legos on display and won`t play with them Or am i crazy?

[@8elementallords]

I think that's kind of what tends to happen with most adult collectors, I mean I take mine down and fiddle around with them and all the different guys from time to time, but most of the time they just sit on their shelves or in their drawers.

[@jcdraws4524]

Uh im a kid

[@tpbricks1467]

I am also a kid but I display them but bring them down time to time just for fun

[@Tasuku.]

Ofc not. Many lego collector like to display it as decoration. Srry bad english

[@Tasuku.]

Ofc not. Many lego collector like to display it as decoration. Srry bad english

[@gulorful8488]

Jeez. I love the wyvern so much but the ice temple is totally not my thing. I've been waiting for an ice dragon for years but the moment they make one, they have to shove it into a $100 set. Great review. Perhaps I'll try to buy just the dragon on eBay.

[@maxwell4466]

I used to watch the old Ninjago show when I was younger.

[@rohindhaliwal182]

AcTuAlLy JaNg ItS a WyVeRn 😂

[@fenrizsharp3938]

a beautyful wyvern

[@DrNA142]

i definitely agree with you on the unnecessary complexity argument. as an adult, i actually enjoy the complexity and finer details in the build, but it's getting harder and harder to equate the price with the amount of "toy" you get at the end. This set is beautiful, but it might as well be an architecture set…..also, the combination of small pieces and specialized pieces make it way more difficult to come up with alternate builds, which is sad😢

[@katelystt]

Here's an idea for an alternative build: a big tower or perhaps two towers connected by a rope bridge like the LEGO orient expedition Temple of Mount Everest. also the most specialized pieces are mostly windscreens.

[@vaimantobe3034]

This level of needless detail raises the price and the part count without adding anything.

[@braylondunlap5630]

The Wyvern looks like the star of the set to me and I like the shovel and hockey sticks And the Minifigures

[@nx5347]

I guess we know what the blizzard samurai do in their spare time.

[@bionicvulcan]

I feal like the ice dragon is the perfect rival for the fire dragon from 2 seasons ago

[@waterblazek2288]

Good point, also there was no Ice dragon in S9 sets, unlike the other three main elements

[@mjkg6026]

Recently I went through a dark age in which I cast away my lego and now that my exams are over I am slowly emerging back into such a warm welcome community, I couldn’t be happier 😃

[@bricksfordom]

Yay more people in the Lego community!

[@savageguineapig5857]

Fire and ice😐 Chima flashbacks

[@Brickfilmer125]

Yes! Thank you so much for reviewing this!

[@geeknerd9829]

OMG I love Akita, she's an akitsune.reminds me of alot of anime

[@charliemilward878]

This build has a very similar structure from the sir fangars ice fortress from Chima

[@thesonofdormammu5475]

"Why" "Vern" - Dang that made me laugh out loud. I have a friend that looks like Jim Varney, he is a huge part of our friend culture.

[@craig5886]

I love the set altogether I actually have this set and I think it's great and fun and I do respect your opinion on the set my favorite part of the set is actually the wyvern *not dragon* and also the great minifigure selection.

[@booproductions2459]

Yes! Also I built a custom forsaken emperor ice dragon, The opening part reminds me of how the fire temple opened in the set

[@amethyst_dawn]

Pretty chill review... ... I'm sorry JANG I had to.

[@Khether0001]

It's complicated because some of the minute details are half as big as a stud, so sometimes you don't know what to disregard and what to consider in this busy... Build.

[@EverythingRedditContentt]

I think it would have been a good idea to spend all the parts given in the set to just make a small building-max arund 100 parts ad spend the rest on the dragon and make it big and more detailed

[@thepuresh5671]

New red arrow build! I love it :D

[@SirVyval]

I find this set works best as a display piece. The dragon can be placed on top of the collums with its wings resting on the two towers. It fits pretty tightly this way, so it won't fall off easily and it just looks AMAZING. The dragon is one of Lego's best to begin with (apart from not being able to fold the wings properly), but atop the castle it just feels extremely menacing!

[@Mika-ee1kv]

I think it's worth it. I really like samurai and ice, and the combination of it is just great. I love the armor pieces, the emperors ones in general. The dragon also looks amazing and the amount of detail on it too. There are little features but that's fine. 🥶👌 Luckily my birthday is just around the corner🙃

[@MG-ls4eu]

YES! I’ve been waiting for the review :D

[@BdSlidin]

I have too

[@foza6363]

You are the best KZbinr in the world. LEGOS ARE THE BEST. And so are you.

[@BlackringIII]

Sad to hear the negativity over these sets, but those minifgs- my gosh. Detail is great, nevertheless, an ergonomic play space is even more important/appreciated

[@EricIsntSmart]

Honestly, the castle isn’t much of a castle. If I could get the dragon build separately, it would be cheaper and more price effective for what you’re paying. Lego needs to prioritise the detail to the centrepiece

[@mooster4080]

All of this reminds me of game of thrones The white walker dragon The white walkers The giant ballista is just the dragon killer from season 7

[@enderpup9289]

Akita minifigure is utterly adorable

[@ВсеволодЧалей]

I like how Jang slowly transforms from a serious professional reviewer into a lego meme lord.

[@connorcowan7606]

If he gets any meme-ier he'll have to run for public office. On one hand, I like Jang better than most politicians. On the other, I'm not sure what other nations might think about the United States having a LEGO reviewer as their president...

[@xSkye629x]

Wyverns ARE dragons. It's like turtles and tortoises, all tortoises are turtles but not all turtles are tortoises (due to some significant feature, in this case the ability to swim/live in water or in the case of dragons the anatomical differences between forearm and wing)

[@8elementallords]

Exactly, or like dinosaurs, all Tyrannosaurs are dinosaurs, but not every dinosaur is a T-Rex. "Dragon" is simply a catch-all term like "dinosaur" is, or as you used, turtle.

[@novero5463]

Way better than I imagined it would look. Nice informative video!

[@matthewacker7796]

Ice-warriors could easily shift into ice-ogres or ice-orcs, the Akita headpiece would be good for tribal or festival builds, and the dragon will make a nice addition to any collection.

[@skye1112]

I don't usually like Ninjago, but this is awesome

[@BdSlidin]

Ninjago makes some very interesting sets that I like but there are also very bad sets in this theme

[@snekkans]

Wow this thing looks fantastic. I'm a huge fan of the dragon and for me at least the castle is going to make for a pretty sweet display. I might need to build a second tower for the other side to get better symmetry but overall I'd say that I'm a fan of this one.

[@stressd4842]

This really sacrifices any playability for displayability and I am unsure how I feel about that

[@nx5347]

Adding this to the list of sets that I'll never own.

[@jonathangiese5727]

Not sure if you mentioned it, but they finally put tiles on the technic beams!

[@metadude1234]

I might have to grab this set to go with my Chima stuff

[@legorocketraccoon8297]

LEGO: Packs a ton of unnecessary but great looking detail into a set. JANG: Why Vern?

[@AerthQuakeWasTaken]

Wyvern

[@plesmem]

Loving that brick sound at the start! Great video Jang!

[@jasongott1094]

I don't collect Ninjago so the set kinda bores me, but I want that Akita minifigure more than I have ever wanted a non-licensed figure. She is amazing!

[@ieatgluesoyoudonthaveto]

Jason Gott Bricklink! It’s the best website for ordering minifigs! Just go to Bricklink.com , and go to Ninjago minifigs

[@LG-jt3lr]

My family does collect Ninjago but this set is not very interesting. I like the villains, especially Akita. I hope I can separately at a decent price.

[@LEGOFoxBricks]

i somewhat feel the designers were slightly influenced by game of thrones for this set. The figure prints, the ballista, and the dragon. I could be entirely wrong, and reading into this too much, but its cool to think of (pun entirely intended).

[@BrotherDog]

Jang you are once again a hero for your beautiful punderful puns. Including how the wyvern isn't "knee"ding knees.

[@theforgottenones1542]

I feel like the castle is just way too small for this price point. The Castle of Stiix a few years ago was much larger and had more play features for the same price. I would've liked if LEGO would have made it a more expensive set and made a larger castle. Maybe they could have made a separate set for the dragon and just focused on a massive castle

[@cjy_leo]

My first expression for this set was good but when I see that amount of space in the castle I want to just buy the land bounty instead of the castle

[@defenderprime8046]

Yeah, this set is very cool! (sorry, couldn't resist!) The castle would have needed more space for minifigs, adding more playability, and that dragon is really great! That was a n-ICE review! LOL

[@BrodatyGeek]

This set looks dooooo good:O I'm not big fan of dragon but the rest is hot:)

[@copingflower1909]

Out of all the characters in season 11 akita is my favorite now i know she hadnt been shown yet i just cant get over her design its so unique especially for a ninjago figure

[@KingTouched]

So actually, Wyverns are dragons. in many different mythologies, dragons are depicted as two legged, or wyverns but, on top of that, dragons are depicted as leg less. of course, they’re still called dragons, because they are dragons

[@8elementallords]

Exactly, there are so many different body variations across the term dragon, getting hung up on any of them is like complaining about someone referring to a specific type of dinosaur, say a T-Rex, and just using dinosaur. Both dragon and dinosaur are the same sort of term, which is a catch-all to describe a potentially wide and radically different set of animals that are still at least somewhat similar to each other.

[@Armageist]

They should've called this "Castlegate" of the forsaken emperor

[@KhanKristopher]

That fox themed hair piece could be recolored and used as a tribal head piece for a barbarian warlord or an orc or the like. So we might see it in other sets down the line.

[@directorm.o.c.8461]

Who else remembers Garmadon's Dark Fortress?

[@EverythingRedditContentt]

I would really like to see if the set actually matches with the in-show castle

[@bayalbricks2166]

Whenever a castle set like this comes out I like to compare it to the 8877 Vladek's castle. That castle had 932 pieces, absolutely MASSES of useable space for figures and play, and TONNES of action features. There's so much fun just exploring and playing with the set. This set has 1218 pieces - significantly more - and it's the biggest waste of pieces I've ever seen. More detail does NOT equate a more fun or better set. I can imagine a kid having hours and months of fun with Vladek's castle. But this set, with significantly more pieces, looks like the most boring thing to play with. BOO on this one, which is so unfortunate.

[@gumbycat5226]

Feels like a glorified throne room. First big structure from Ninjago that I won't be buying, for quite some years.

[@matthewacker7796]

If you buy this set, it reduces the likelihood of lego getting its assets frozen. But I feel you get the cold shoulder in how little playability there is in this set. I might have thawed a bit of the set had more ice or perhaps a single ice-snake warrior.

[@AnthonyAvon]

It looks like if there are 4 or more of the same pieces that need the same decoration, they do the print.

[@FromKag1]

Hey who's waiting for episode 9&10

[@ieatgluesoyoudonthaveto]

Toy Is The Best what are you watching ninjago on? Season 10 and 11 aren’t on Netflix yet

[@whitetiger5104]

Me defo, I'm not the biggest fan so far tho

[@mmlawton31]

Meee

[@turduckenman7599]

👍

[@FromKag1]

@@ieatgluesoyoudonthaveto I know,I'm just watching it on cartoon network

[@parkercook8326]

17:52 ok I see you princess Mononoke

[@pokefanmelody]

Wyvern is a subcategory of dragon. A pure dragon has 4 legs and 2 wings, yes, but "dragon" is also the umbrella term. Yes, this technically means dragons are a subcategory of dragons. However, as a dragon enthusiast, I do wish they would use the term wyvern.

[@Guyon-to3tu]

Lego really needs to up their game when it comes to minifigure printing. The fact that they still haven't changed their printing proces after all the atrocious pieces we've gotten (Akita's legs, Mercy's head and Sirius Black's torso to name a few) is just sad. We're already paying way too much for lego sets, I think we shouldn't be worried about quality (especially since their advertising and the boxes themselves include the proper looks)

[@zaksharaz5105]

I really like this line so far I was thinking of picking up Lloyds journey but this seems very nice too i really don't know now

[@aastudios1009]

Yes! This is one of my fav sets

[@lukaswilson389]

that lego arrow is clever! props to you

[@KaninManeepairoj]

Love the new intro animation with sound transition

[@jdsing4203]

I think the spinjitzu trap feature isn’t actually a trap, it’s more likely just a way to show a ninja spinning into the throne room

[@magixharmonix6843]

The Wyverns head should be the old dragon head mould from the pilot season sets.

[@cab12300751]

haha that "Why Vern" part with Ernest

[@rokushou]

The entrance action feature reminds me of the Elves Ragana's Castle opening doors feature except scaled up 10x. Unlike the elves one which was pretty compact and well-hidden, this seems like the whole castle was designed around one action feature and ends up not looking very good imo.

[@apprenricebrickoflegend]

Man this set is *cooler* than I thought!

[@skyborne80]

Awww, it's a shame they didn't have the part that the drawstring is slotted into as an actual moving part that one could use to shoot the spring shooters. That would have been awesome and I don't think too hard to pull off.

[@jakethesnake2579]

They could’ve left out the basement support pillars for more room.

[@davidfoster5105]

I LOVED the Earnest reference

[@michaelbaptist7694]

jang has way too much fun making these videos.

[@cloudcleaver23]

After having gotten into making some (simple) Bionicle MOCs, I now get irritated when I see joints done like the ones on that dragon's wings. You get much better range of motion if you put the socket on the *limb*, and have the ball joint remain stationary on the torso so that the socket moves around it. It's especially true if the ball joint protrudes from an axle or something narrow, so the socket can get around it pretty far in any direction.