lego ninjago: temple of light

Part of my Christmas present this year was the Lego Ninjago Temple of Light... actually I keep calling this the "Golden Samurai Mecha", you know, for obvious reasons (or, in keeping with the other Ninjago mech I already have, this one would translate, badly, out to Kin Shenshi, or Gold Warrior).

And on Friday, after a week of moving and unpacking boxes I sat down to put the set together.

This is the first time I've photographed anything in the new house, and clearly I still need to find the right spot and the right time of day for photos. I think the bedroom may also be a good spot, but that's less convenient for "in progress" photos.

I may also take some more beauty shots when I work out the best lighting spots.

Inside the box (which I forgot to take a shot of) were four bags, two for the mecha and two for the temple, a large tan square plate, two instruction booklets (again, one for the mecha, one for the temple) and a sheet of stickers.

All of the minifigs were in the first bag... the Golden Ninja, Lloyd (seriously, what kind of ninja name is Lloyd?) and Sensei Wu for the good guys... and Lord Garmadon (he of the double torso) along with a Waruwaru samurai scout (with the short legs and crossbow) and a Waruwaru samurai warrior (with the sword and shoulderpads).

The first bag also held the torso of the mecha, which came together fairly quickly... then the second bag held all the limbs.

The legs were actually interesting builds... they came together in three pretty discrete pieces, and then they slotted together to become a leg.

And then once there was one leg, you have to go back and do the whole thing over again for the second leg...

I do love the little grey wheels on the sides of the knees... they don't serve any practical purpose, they're purely cosmetic, but they look like they should be involved in the knees bending (even though they don't bend).

Next up were the two "bicep" units with stickers instead of printed tiles... I know the stickers are cheaper, but I always prefer printed tiles... they just look better.

I didn't completely realise that the next pieces were the hand units until I connected the fingers... only two fingers and a thumb though, whereas the last Ninjago mecha I made had three fingers.

The last parts in the second bag made up the spine support column as well as the coolest feature of the whole mecha... the printed saucer hat/dome.

It reminds me of one of the few good things from the movie Sucker Punch, the giant samurai mechas towards the beginning of the film. But, you know, infinitely cooler.

I honestly didn't realise that the collection of odd little parts that were left over all went into making up the sword hilt, they honestly looked like the usual mixture of leftover parts you get on a build like this... but next thing you know... katana!

It may be been nicer if the handle had been white instead of red, since there really isn't any red on him beyond a touch on the stickers, but the sword still looks pretty badass.

Unfortunately I didn't take anywhere near as many photos of the construction of the temple...

Partly because there weren't as many easy stopping points like there was with the mecha, but also because I just got into it.

I love the fact that the two side pieces actually fold out into a much wider building, but for the purposes of display, the fact that it folds shut works really nicely for me.

In the first half of the build I love the little lanterns, and the printed dragon windows (a little hard to see, but they're on the sides). I also didn't realise that there was a "playability" action point build into the grey floor of the raised section... pull a little lever in the back and you have no only a trapdoor, but also a golden sai that swings down and stabs anybody to the left of the gong.

My favourite pieces of the build though have to be the towers at the top... I seem to think they're inspired by Nepalese mountain temples, but I can't find any evidence of either Nepalese or Japanese architecture that looks exactly like that... they do also really remind me of the Klingon monastery from Star Trek: TNG though. 

And this final shot is how this build is going to appear for the majority of it's life I think... the Golden Samurai Mecha standing guard in the Temple of Light.

Oh, and in the actual temple, it doesn't look quite so much like the Mecha is burning/melting his undercarriage off... and I already moved Master Wu from behind the Mecha to the front right hand side, otherwise he would have just been hidden from view permanently.

There is a light up box at IKEA currently that is unfortunately just the tiniest bit too short to fit this piece in (it would go in, but the gold dragons on top of the towers would need to be moved). Shame really as it would have looked really good all lit up.

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