Lego Ninja

Last updated
Ninja (LEGO Theme)
Lego Ninja logo.png
Parent theme Lego Castle
Subject Ninja
Availability1998–2000
Total sets29

Lego Ninja (stylized as LEGO Ninja) was a theme and product range of the construction toy Lego. Launched in 1998, the collection was its own theme. It had many elements of the ninja warriors from feudal Japan. [1] The majority of the sets were released in 1998 and 1999; however, three small sets of minifigures were released in 2000 as part of the "Mini Heroes Collection". After this, the theme was discontinued, and was effectively replaced by the "Knights Castle" theme in 2000.

Contents

Background

The Ninja theme was released as a sub-theme of the Lego Castle theme, which from 1984 had started to develop into specific factions. Lego Ninja immediately followed the Fright Knights theme, which had been in production from 1997 to 1998. In contrast to Fright Knights, Lego Ninja took its influence from a more realistic starting point and was set in mountainous Japan with medieval buildings. [2]

Construction sets

A total of 29 toy sets were released as part of the Ninja theme, which centred on three distinctive groups; the ninja, the samurai and the robbers. [3] The toy sets featured a variety of buildings and vehicles, including fortresses and boats. The ninja crest was yellow with a black wingless dragon. The Samurai had blue banners bearing a golden fan. The robber's crest was a red, black and silver bull's head. The ninja minifigures were designed in a variety of colours, including black, red, grey, green and white and featured grey shoulder plates. In contrast, the samurai were dressed in black, blue and silver, and the robbers were dressed in red and green. [2]

NumberNameYearPiecesMinifigs
1099Ninja Blaster1999241
1184Cart1999241
1185Raft1999251
1186Cart1999251
1187Glider1999231
1269White Ninja1999231
3016Master and Heavy Gun1998241
3017Ninpo Water Spider1998251
3018LEGO Shogun Go!1998251
3019Ninpo Big Bat1998231
3050Shanghai Surprise19991043
3051Blaze Attack19991452
3052Ninja Fire Fortress19991693
3053Emperor's Stronghold19993314
3074Red Ninja's Dragon Glider1999201
3075Ninja Master's Boat1999211
3076White Ninja's Tank1999231
3077Ninja Shogun's Mini Base1999221
3344One Minifig Pack - Ninja #1200091
3345Three Minifig Pack - Ninja #22000213
3346Three Minifig Pack - Ninja #32000223
4805Ninja Knights1999315
6013Samurai Swordsman1998131
6033Treasure Transport1998543
6045Ninja Surprise19981123
6083Samurai Stronghold19981983
6088Robber's Retreat19982774
6089Stone Tower Bridge19984095
6093Flying Ninja Fortress [4] 19986949

Legacy

In 2010, Series 1 of the Lego Collectable Minifigures Series contained a ninja minifigure clearly based on the theme. [5] A year later, in early 2011, Lego released the Lego Ninjago theme and associated television series Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, which took heavy inspiration from the Ninja theme. [6]

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References

  1. Lipkowitz, Daniel (2009), The Lego Book , Dorling Kindersley, p.  64, ISBN   978-1-4053-4169-1 .
  2. 1 2 Herman, Sarah (2012-07-09). Building a History: The Lego Group. Grub Street Publishers. p. 159. ISBN   978-1-78340-804-7.
  3. "BrickLink Reference Catalog - Sets - Category Ninja". www.bricklink.com. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  4. Farshtey, Gregory; Lipkowitz, Daniel; Hugo, Simon (2020-10-01). LEGO Minifigure A Visual History New Edition. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 72. ISBN   978-0-241-50202-0.
  5. "Lego Collectible Minifigures Series 1 Poster". www.bricklink.com. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  6. Estrella, Ernie (2017-09-20). "LEGO Ninjago has a long and storied history you definitely didn't know about". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-06-12.