When Did Ninjago Start To Decline (Or Did It Decline At All?)

[thewimpykid]

@Axelford

Well, I for one would support you voicing your thoughts

Perhaps the best way to do this would be to quote another one of my posts.

@thewimpykid

Honestly, the way I feel about Ninjago is very similar to how I feel about Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. I adored it when I was younger, I went through a phase where I started to dislike it for overstaying its welcome, and I ended up remembering why I liked it in the first place, and I embraced its longevity. I, as a consumer, will continue to devote time and money towards this franchise that I’m a fan of. But at the same time, I’m worriedly thinking “It can’t go on forever…can it?”

@Axelford

the so called “final battle” was a big turning point, the metamorphosis of a another standard 3 year theme into something bigger, the sets that year screamed final wave with the mediocre builds and weak theming

I think that’s why so many people were angry that Ninjago was getting cancelled. It was such a big, epic theme that did NOT deserve this lame excuse of an ending. Some folks would agree that Season 10 was a good ending…but it wasn’t the end.

@wild_toa

(but the OG spinners were a huge loss in my opinion, those were fantastic)

Yeah, those were pretty neat. But the Chima Speedorz that replaced them were cool, too.

@wild_toa

Hunted (is that the name?) the year following ended up being a favorite year of mine

Hunted is Season 9, which came out the same year as Season 8 (Sons Of Garmadon). But I agree, Hunted was really good.

@Tarkur

they kinda take away the potential for other themes because its generally a theme that’s underrepresentative like scuba diving, castle and more mixed with dragons and mechs that gets picked for the next wave.

I mean…yes.

Ninjago does eat up a lot of ideas that could work as their own themes. Sky pirates, VR games, undersea adventures, ghosts, robots…and all sorts of things.

@SirKeksalot

the recent arcade arc. That has potential as its own thing, but nope, it’s a Ninjago subtheme.

But at the same time, it keeps me guessing. Like, what can Ninjago do next? They’ve done practically everything under the sun by this point, so what can the creators possibly come up with next?

Please tell me it’s not another snake theme. Wait…that’s the theme for the early 2022 sets…

@LegoDavid

I think Ninjago is one if those things where you either grow super attached to it if you were right from the beginning, or if you were just casually into the theme, you quickly grow out of it. I have started watching the series pretty late into its run, when it was already at season five, so that might explain my lack of dedication to it.

I fall into the first category, in that I was there at the start. My Fifth Grade self freaking loved the 2011 wave, and my love continued throughout most of middle school. During my high school years, I was kind of an on and off Ninjago fan. I didn’t watch the show, but the sets…there were some phases where I was wishing Ninjago would just end already, but other phases where I was like “Hey, this new wave actually is kind of cool!” And I was one of the few people who went to see The Lego Ninjago Movie.

@LegoDavid

If the writers would have made an effort to make the series more mature, say, the way Avatar the Last Airbender did, I am willing to bet things would have been vastly different.

Season 4 definitely felt more mature than past seasons. And I’d argue that the characters have had development over the years. But as far as status quo goes, yeah, I can see how one would think nothing’s changed.

@Tarkur

I also can’t say I was very hyped about the spinjitzu burst sets

I didn’t exactly love those, either. I got the Cole one, and I had a tough time figuring out how to use it right-hence why I made this topic:

Spinjitzu Burst Tips

The Spinjitzu Burst power presented in Season 13 was pretty cool. The Spinjitzu Burst sets have a nice gimmick-you slam down on the button, the spinner spins, the side blades fan out, and then they fan back in. This would be a nice feature, but there’s one problem. The rubber band on the spinner prevents the blades from fanning out, and when you take it off, the blades just fall down. Granted, it spins a lot better when the blades are fanned out, but you still have to take the rubber band off to do it. But does anyone know how to make the spinner work like it’s advertised?

@Krelikan

Ninjago is Bionicle to a lot of people, so hating the theme is just hypocritical.

Eljay once said that he got a lot of what he loved about Bionicle out of Ninjago. And the more I think about it, the more I realize I agree with him. It’s a big, epic story-driven Lego theme with diverse characters and a plethora of cool sets.

@Stuubh

I’ve heard of complete retcons of previous plot elements (something I’m sure also happened between 2011-2014) and characters going through the same plot beats over and over again because the creative team is stuck.

I’d say that’s the biggest problem with Ninjago’s lore: they tend to retcon a lot of things. And there’s only so much one can forgive.