My son has been a devout LEGO fan throughout his childhood. It seems to be the one “toy” that remains cool, even when the kids start to move out of the “playing with toys” time in their life, and into the inevitable video game phase. Even in that case, LEGO has done a great job in retaining the audience by bridging the transition with LEGO inspired video games such as LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, and more.
My son’s LEGO focus for years has been the LEGO Star Wars universe, and I’m sure if you stacked all his LEGO bricks together, it would in fact reach that galaxy far, far away! He has dabbled in some of the other themes, but the LEGO world has become so vast that you almost need to stick with one or two themes and build out your collection from there.
The latest draw, and one that looks to have some potential staying power, is the new LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu series. It is currently very popular among my son and his friends due to the combination of standard LEGO building sets melded with interactive game-play. The game consists of a card game and LEGO Ninjago Spinner Sets where rival minifigs, can physically battle in an arena-like setting.
All this wrapped up neatly in the classic good versus evil motif!
The Story...
Entrusted by their father, two brothers are charged with the care of the Ninjago world in which he, the first Master of Spinjitzu created using the mystical Four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. The first of the brothers, Sensei Wu, has held true to his promise in defending the world and the powers of the Four Golden Weapons. The Second brother, Lord Garmadon, consumed by the lure of power and greed, challenged Sensei Wu for control of the all-powerful weapons resulting in his defeat and banishment to the underworld.
In typical bad guy fashion, the now evil Lord Garmadon has amassed his legion of warriors from the under-worldly Skeleton Army in an effort to regain control of the Four Golden Weapons. With names like; Bonezai, Chopov, Frakjaw, Krazi, Kruncha, Wyplash, Nuckal, and Samukai, you know you’re in for some trouble!
To contest the evil forces and defend the power, Sensei Wu has recruited four young ninjas to learn the ways and disciplines of Spinjitzu as the last line of defence versus the evil Lord. Kai (Red Ninja of Fire / Weapon: Sword); Jay (Blue Ninja of Lightning / Weapon: Nunchucks); Cole (Black Ninja of Earth / Weapon: Staff); Zane (White Ninja of Ice / Weapon: Shuriken). Also in the fight for all that is good and pure is Nya, the non-ninja sister of Kai who also has a keen eye on Jay. After all, the boys need something else to fight for other than the fate of their world!
In all, a well presented basic story with enough storyline potential to create the makings of a sustainable LEGO theme! And to help the story along the way, the release of the video game: LEGO Battles – Ninjago for Nintendo DS!
