Review on Unleash the Excitement: LEGO Tournament Elements with Minifigures by Brian Manfre

This set has an amazing amount of very fun play features and some really unique and outstanding characters. When I saw this set I knew it was a first day purchase for me. Now that I have it, it's as excellent as it looks. Here are my pros and cons: Pros: There are always interesting characters in the Ninjago line, but even among them, this is by far one of the most creative and unique Legos I've seen. I love all of their details, especially Gravis (a turbaned psychic) whose lush crimson color scheme looks menacing, Jacob Pevsner (the Beatles Sargent Pepper character) whose white guitar is a really rare piece, and Bolobo, a bearded guy with a very cool feather is fixed on the chest. Lloyd's golden figure is also stunning and I can't wait to collect all four. Likewise, they all carry a wide, varied array of weapons. Between green scimitars, nunchucks, grimoire, magic blasters and daggers, I haven't gotten tired of playing with this set. The swirling energy field that you can place one of the ninjas in is made of nice, hard, durable plastic and is shiny, although it doesn't hold up very well on its own. The set itself is fun to build and destroy, and includes many rare parts for other uses. I especially love how Lego included a pair of roller skates and hid the dagger in one of the vases. Japanese architecture also looks very cool. Cons: There are three things that bother me about this set. First, while the set looks great from the front, it's very basic from the back (see one of my photos). I want Lego to texture the back of the set to make it as detailed as the front of the set. Also annoying is that the balconies are not very big and it is difficult to place more than one figure at a time. This is unfortunate because it results in the characters fighting themselves on set despite all the gameplay features of the set. Finally, some stickers interfere with attachment. although fortunately there aren't too many of them. Overall I am very happy with this purchase. I think the figures will one day become collectibles in their own right and it's a lot of fun to collect and own a set. I cannot recommend this set enough.