I’m happy to do so in the form of a full review! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I figured this was a good opportunity.
As you can already tell, the subject of this review is Zilvar and Grimtak. It’s a new Ninjago set that came out just a few days ago on June 1st, although America is apparently getting it two months later.
The box and its contents
The set comes in a moderately sized box (Lord Ras for scale) with an eye-catching battle scene. I appreciate that Lego is now printing the piece count on European set boxes, for some reason that info was exclusive to American releases for years.
The back shows a similar picture, except that Zilvar has jumped off his steed and is now directly battling the Ninjas. Grimtak is shown at a slightly different angle, I think it would’ve been nice to see his other side instead… But that’s barely a complaint, we’re not here for the cardboard after all.
Inside you’ll find four numbered paper bags, instructions and a small sticker sheet. It’s beyond me why they thought that four seperate build sections were necessary for a set of this size…
The pieces are par for the course with a few standouts. First there’s of course the dragon skull headpiece, which has been around for a while but this is my first time getting one. It looks very striking, but doesn’t have a lot of versatile connection points.
My favorite new piece is the updated tail/horn/tusk piece, of which Grimtak has two in black. The original (shown in silver) has an integrated pin, whereas the new design features a pinhole instead. That’s a very nice change as it gives you much better connection abilities.
Minifigures
The set comes with three: Kai, Nya and Zilvar.
Kai gets his full dragon suit in this set, complete with tail, wings and claws. It’s an amazing design and even features an alternate face with more dragon-like eyes. Nya wears a similar suit but without the dragon accessories, instead wielding a standard golden sword. I really like her shade of blue!
The star of the show is of course the namesake Zilvar. He is clearly part of Lord Ras’ species, featuring the same head piece recolored in white. Zilvar carries a massive club and also features an interesting sword holder on his waist, able to store one standard sword.
Despite using the same head mold, the different color and printing make Zilvar and Lord Ras feel very distinct yet clearly familiar at the same time. Lord Ras is probably my favorite thing to come out of Ninjago, so getting another one of his kind is awesome. Giving them different eye colors would’ve been nice, though.
Building experience
Putting Grimtak together is a quick and easy process without many surprises. The only thing that stood out to me is the inner construction of the head, which narrows down to one stud width in order to add eyes.
The instructions are exactly what you’d expect from a modern 7+ set: very spacious and oversimplified, adding no more than two or three pieces per step.
In the end you’re left with a surprisingly large amount of spares.
The complete model
Grimtak is officially described as a “dragon beast”, a title that feels very fitting. He’s certainly got a very unique silhouette with lots of presence. The color scheme is eye-catching and consistent, showing some nice layering of dark gray and red over the white body.
One of the standout design points is of course his head, featuring the dragon skull piece with massive tusks and a moving jaw. The head’s range of motion is very limited due to the surrounding pieces, but you wouldn’t get much out of it anyways - the head always droops under its own weight.
I’ve mentioned the eyes before and they work to a great effect, although I think it’s kinda weird for them to exactly match the pink color of Grimtak’s tongue. Any other (ideally transparent) color would’ve worked better, possibly even featuring an iris print/sticker.
Grimtak has very Gorilla-like proportions, his massive front arms and head being contrasted by rather slim hind quarters. The back legs are attached using click hinges instead of ball joints which allows them only to splay outwards, unfortunately. There must be some stability reason for this design choice, as the Imperium hunter doggo released two years ago features the same attachment.
The saddle on Grimtak’s back offers space for one rider, offering two chains to steer the beast and a flag denoting its owner. Zilvar is held in place with two studs, but the saddle really doesn’t look secure - I feel like the rider would be able to slip off at any second.
I do miss a clip/space on Grimtak to store Zilvar’s club when be doesn’t use it.
Grimtak definitely looks like he’d put up a good challenge for anything in his way. Despite the articulation being pretty limited in some areas, there’s still enough for lots of dynamic play options. His large, three-fingered hands can pick up a minifigure with ease, and he’s certainly able to overpower a small mech too.
Final verdict
Zilvar and Grimtak offers quite a lot of fun for its size. It’s a well-designed, unique and very playable beast with three great figures. Of course it has a few flaws, but the end result is great nevertheless - and if you don’t like it, the piece selection is useful for MOCs.
All in all, this is a fun set which feels like fair value for 20€. I recommend it!
