Gary Collinson reviews the Garma Mecha Man (70613) set from The LEGO Ninjago Movie…
It’s an exciting time for fans of LEGO’s Ninjago theme, what with the release of the animated big screen adventure The LEGO Ninjago Movie from Warner Bros., and with it of course comes a range of tie-in sets (and a series of Collectible Minifigures). In addition to the fantastic Ninjago City set, the LEGO Ninjago Movie line features several mechs for our heroes and villains, including the evil Lord Garmadon’s Garma Mecha Man, which you may have seen in action in the film’s trailers.
Garma Mecha Man consists of 747 pieces in total, along with four minifigures, and retails for $59.99 / £59.99. The build is straight-forward enough and shouldn’t prove too challenging even to younger builders, while the mech itself contains several nice little touches and play features. It also measures an impressive 13″ in height, towering over the minfigures and helping to give it a rather menacing look (as I’m sure is Garamdon’s intention!).
The first thing to note with the model is that it is surprisingly sturdy given its size, and also features a fair amount of articulation, particularly in the arms and right hand. With a lack of a knee-joint, the legs are a little more restrictive, but double articulation in the hip ensures that the model can still be posed in a variety of ways. Visually, it’s a fairly faithful recreation of the mech from the movie, and comes complete with spring-loaded shark blaster hand and a rather hilarious fish tank/ammo belt to the rear, which is very well designed indeed. It also has an opening cockpit to allow Garmadon to stand in its torso, although unfortunately the cockpit roof/mech head is rather loosely attached, and will likely end up flopping around like a fish out of water during play (keeps with the aquatic theme, I guess!).
Turning to the minifigures and as you’d expect, we get a version of Lord Garmadon himself, complete with double torso and four swords. Garamdon is joined by the Green Ninja, a.k.a. his son Lloyd (a.k.a. L-Loyd), the shark-themed henchman Great White (who’s packing a fish spear weapon), and the Ninjago City civilian Pat. It’s a decent selection, and it’s nice to see that LEGO have included the movie’s main protagonist and antagonist together rather than having them split across different sets (that being said, they are also available together in the Green Ninja Mech Dragon set, which is available for $10 / £15 less than this).
In closing, as a LEGO mech, the Garma Mecha Man set is a solid enough offering, and kids will surely get plenty of enjoyment sending their heroes into battle against Garmadon and his war machine as they recreate scenes from the movie and craft their own adventures.
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Ninjago is the story of six young ninja tasked with defending their island home, called Ninjago. By night, they’re gifted warriors, using their skills and awesome fleet of vehicles to fight villains and monsters. By day, they’re ordinary teens struggling against their greatest enemy: high school.
The LEGO Ninjago Movie is set to hit cinemas on September 22nd in the US and October 13th in the UK, with Charlie Bean directing a voice cast that includes Dave Franco as Lloyd Garmadon, Michael Pena as Kai, Kumail Nanjiani as Jay, Fred Armisen as Cole, Zach Woods as Zane, Abbi Jacobson as Nya, Justin Theroux as Lord Garmadon, Olivia Munn as Koko and Jackie Chan as Sensei Wu.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.