“I’m just going to come out and say it, you guys have run out of ideas and now you’re just repeating yourselves,” Tommy Andreasen says, wearing a hoodie sitting across from Tommy Kalmar in long sleeves and Michael Svane Knap in a black hat. And he’d know too, Tommy A has been working on LEGO® NINJAGO® since its early days, when it was called LEGO Ninja.
He is of course referring to the LEGO NINJAGO: LEGACY sets. These sets might seem familiar to long time fans of LEGO NINJAGO—they are updated versions of some of the first LEGO NINJAGO sets.
“it’s not a matter of running out of ideas, it’s taking the great ideas we had and making them even better,” Michael explains. Michael’s role in LEGO NINJAGO is two part, not only does he build models, he also works in creating the TV show.
Why LEGACY?
“When a lot of these sets originally came out, it was back in 2011 and 2012. The way we build with LEGO bricks, the way we actually put sets together, has changed a lot. This means we have new elements; we have new ways of making the build even better.”
This LEGACY sets also cater to a new audience of LEGO NINJAGO: kids who are watching the series for the very first time but have no way to get their hands on sets which have been off the shelves for years.
“And of course, for existing fans, it’s re-igniting their love, that is what is what LEGACY is about. It’s a celebration of NINJAGO,” Tommy Kalmar says, who is Story Manager for LEGO NINJAGO.
Classic Sets with New Minifigures
“With the Minifigures we want to bring some newness into the line. The first wave of LEGACY is grabbing 1st and 2nd season, so we’re taking the designs of those two, and for the ninjas, mashing those together to create a new NINJAGO design,” Michael goes on.
The Overlord appearing in the Golden Dragon is an example of this – he appears as a Minifigure reflecting his different states and bridging different designs.
70666 the Golden Dragon was a set which was designed to be more affordable and reach more children, but in other cases, the team gets to beef sets up more, such as 70669 Cole's Earth Driller.
“it wasn’t much in the show, but it was there, and it was awesome. It could fit 6 Minifigures!” Tommy A exclaims.
70502 Cole's Earth Driller 2012 vs. 70669 Cole's Earth Driller 2019
“The original product back in 2012 – it was tiny – It was far away from where it fit in the TV show,” says Michael. The LEGACY model has 3 times as many pieces, although the team lament that it still only fits 2 Minifigures.
Truer to the TV Show
The new LEGACY sets are designed to look more like their counterparts in the TV series.
“During the first year of the TV show, some of the models weren’t fully developed when they put into the series, so the earlier products didn’t always look exactly as they did in the show,” Michael explains.
This was also an opportunity to release the most iconic location in the world of LEGO NINJAGO: 70670 the Monastery of Spinjitzu. While 2504 the Spinjitzu Dojo was released in 2011, this is the first time the Monastery as a whole has been done.
It’s so iconic, it’s amazing we’ve never done it,” explains Michael. Afterall, this is the home-base of the ninjas, and where Wu and Garmadon grew up with their father, the First Spinjitzu Master.
“It’s something that we really saw the potential of putting the love into presenting it as it was in the TV show.”
Not Done Yet
There are still mountains of LEGO NINJAGO stuff to do, and despite what Tommy A says, the team hasn’t run out of ideas.
“We hope to have more launches—we could do ideas from tv show which never made it into products… there’s so many things from the NINJAGO universe,” he adds.
“I have more locations on my list as well which could be interesting. There are still golden opportunities from the epic final battle to explore and beef up,” Michael hints and smiles.
Edited by Sara Skahill
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