The Ninjago Golden Weapons

Donovan from Once Upon a Workbench is my kind of nerd. He’s a maker, a good dad and an excellent storyteller. You need to check out his YouTube channel immediately, it’s packed with all kinds of wonderful nerdiness including these life-size LEGO Ninjago golden weapons. While I’ve never been much into Ninjago, I can appreciate it’s appeal, and I can certainly get behind making cool stuff for your kids.

Samurai Mech

I was stunned to learn that builder Eero Okkonen constructed this gorgeous behemoth in two days, TWO DAYS! I know I’m a slow builder, glacially slow any more (seriously, my current MOC has been on the table in the studio for well over a year) but this just blows my mind. Sometimes it’s the pressure of a contest deadline that can kick a build into overdrive, in this case the Eurobricks Ninjago Contest. But to beat the deadline with such an awesome figure, color me impressed.

The Ninjago Burbs

Can you believe I still haven’t seen the Ninjago Movie yet? It’s not that I’m actively avoiding it, it’s just that almost universally Ninjago does nothing for me, so I haven’t sought it out. I will say that the Ninjago City set that came out last year caught my eye, even if I never purchased it, and this imaginative and impressive extension of that set by builder rsmbricks captures the essence and aesthetic of that set perfectly.

Pagoda Park

Life in Ninjago City is crowded, but splendid. Builder Galaktek decided to heed the call of The Brothers Brick and contribute to the Ninjago collaboration at BrickCon 2018. If you’re in the Seattle area and not already at the con (I am not, sad face) I encourage you to go see some amazing creations this weekend, including this stunning addition.

Full Steam

This is presentation taken to the next level. Builder Markus "madstopper78" Ronge has not only crafted some amazing builds, he’s imagined an entire mini universe, Full Steam. It’s like LEGO plus fan fiction, but not just a backstory, a whole…thing! Tune into an imaginary network to watch an imaginary series featuring amazing builds, it’s brilliant. And this ship plus the display around it are just stunning. I’m not a huge Ninjago fan, but I think I’d watch this.

Ninjas On Parade

I don't watch many parades, even the ones at Disneyland, but when I do I'm hoping to see things like this fantastic Ninjago float by builder LegoFjotten. With a little animation and some smoke effects, can you imagine the children's faces when this thing rolled down the parade route?

Fun fact: when I was about 10 years old my brother and I got to ride a float in our little town's annual Flower Festival. Every year, a bunch of locals will fashion crude floats around old junker cars, slather them with glue and fasten millions of flowers to them. Another fun fact: said glue will also fasten children to said float, resulting in ruined pants, emergency response crews and many tears.

This Monastery May Wu You

Robert4168/Garmadon expects us to learn to fight in a place of peace. Recreated from season 1 of LEGO Ninjago, this monastery really captures my attention with the blending of colors. The tower in the back is one of my favorite parts of the building, and also the front doors with an ornamental gate. But wait, there's more! The inside reveals the training grounds that Kai used to first learn his ninja skills. The builder did an excellent job with the detailing, keeping things simple but also curved and textured to really capture that Asian architecture. 

When Life Gives You Ninjago, You Make a Dragon Mech

Microscale dragons are cool, but what about massive dragon mechs that minifigures can ride?! The LEGO Ninjago Movie comes out this weekend, so of course we have to look for a couple impressive Ninjago builds, right? This model of L-l-oyd Garmadon's green dragon mech by Jared R. is full of sand green goodness. Not every dragon needs wings to show its power, it only needs a menacing head and strong tail, with a few spines thrown in for good measure. This is the first MOC version of this dragon that I have seen, and I have no doubt it will remain one of my favorites. Are you excited to get your ninja on this weekend?!

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Mobile Mech Temple

I will admit I've never really gotten into Ninjago. I have a few sets, and there's been some pretty cool stuff, but overall it doesn't do much for me. I think if there was more awesome models like this one from bricks.life.idea I might be more into it. I mean, a walking (and rolling) battle-ready mechanical temple? Bring it on.

American Ninja Warrior

We don't watch much sports at our house (is American Ninja Warrior a sport?) but we do watch this from time to time. And when you combine it with stop motion animation and LEGO, well, that's a winner in our book. Find out what happens when the Ninjago team faces the course. The animation in this is pretty amazing, and the build is fantastic. I don't know who to credit for it, but it's excellent work.

Steampunk Airship

This is a well crafted mashup of steampunk, Agents, Ninjago and awesome. It sort of reminds me of something you'd see in Bladerunner or Fifth Element, and I love that. This was a free build for the Agents of the Imperial Crown contest at the Steampunk Flickr group. There's still time to enter (by the 28th) so get building!

...While Visions Of Assassinations Danced In Their Heads

The holidays are over, but there's still some Christmas cheer to spread around. TBB's own Nannan Z. has conjured up a charming little story of Santa's visit to the Ninjago dojo. The sticker use here is brilliant, and I love a MOC that tells a story. One glance and you know everything that's going on here.

I still Don't Get Ninjago

But I appreciate a good arena, and this is excellent. The mosaic is really well done, with great color. I especially like the giant stone warrior though, it really makes the piece.