LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores review

71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores manages to bring something unique to LEGO NINJAGO even a decade into the theme’s run, mixing gorgeous colours with desirable minifigures.

That’s high praise for the LEGO NINJAGO Dragons Rising set, but it’s true as 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores stands out in just about every area – value, size, minifigures – even if it does skip out on some details.

Despite not being the biggest LEGO NINJAGO Dragons Rising set, 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is arguably one of the (if not the) best in the wave.

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores set details —

Theme: LEGO NINJAGO Set name: 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores Release date: June 1, 2023

Price: £84.99 / $94.99 / €94.99  Pieces: 1,029 Minifigures: 6

LEGO: Available June 1, 2023

— Where to buy LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores —

71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is launching on June 1, 2023, and will be available in LEGO stores, online and through other retailers for £84.99 / $94.99 / €94.99. For that price, you’re getting over 1,000 pieces, six minifigures and a handful of play features too.

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— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores build —

The detail in 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is surprising, to say the least. The beautiful autumnal colour scheme works wonderfully with the usual uniform design of LEGO temples, and having a giant tree interwoven throughout the structure gives it a unique appearance.

However, that’s arguably only true from the outside. Inside the build, the temple is unfortunately empty with plenty of space for posing minifigures in battle – though that’s not necessarily a good thing. On the bottom floor, a single bookshelf built into the wall is all that you’ll find and it feels like such a wasted opportunity compared to previous NINJAGO temples.

The mysterious nature of this temple is highlighted in a couple of aspects of the set, including a swirling green mass at the bottom of the well and the strange Spirit of the Temple minifigure. Throughout the build of 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores, it only became more and more exciting to see what part this temple and the World Forest would have to play in the new series.

The play features in 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores are focused on traps and though most are ultimately forgettable, the falling barrels that are designed as part of the tree’s shape are genius but simple and blend perfectly into the tree. This makes the feature entirely unintrusive, ironically also making it the most memorable.

Working further up the model, the small space in 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is only further highlighted with barely any room to place minifigures the higher you go. Despite this, the outside of the build just about manages to make up for this shortcoming and you’ll consistently find something new to love.

Little is known about this temple as we wander into a new era of LEGO NINJAGO, but with many mysteries to explore in this location alone, it could be an especially interesting chapter of the long-running theme.

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores characters —

The minifigure selection in 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is fantastic, comprising familiar characters, two of the most interesting villains from the Imperium faction, and the exclusive Spirit of the Temple.

Cole, Nya and Kai represent the ninja, and while Sora or Arin could have been in place of any one of them, the two new characters at least aren’t hard to find elsewhere in the new wave.

Empress Beatrix’s exclusive hair element is a great addition to the LEGO portfolio and gives her a menacing yet intriguing appearance, but Lord Ras’s new head piece isn’t quite as strong, as the teeth are a bit hard to make out. Some dual-moulding or printing could have solved this. The intricate printing on these two minifigures’ torsos is great and they’re destined to be repurposed for custom minifigures in the future.

However, easily the highlight of 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is the enigmatically-named Spirit of the Temple minifigure. Their design feels all at once strange, unique and familiar, and there are plenty of questions that need to be asked. For now, this exclusive minifigure certainly adds to the value of 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores.

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores price —

At £84.99 / $94.99 / €94.99, 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is fantastic value in terms of the piece count, minifigure selection and overall volume of the set.

While the interior feels a bit empty and lacking in parts, the rest of the model makes up for it and in a lot of ways, including minifigures, 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is better than some of the bigger LEGO NINJAGO Dragons Rising sets.

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores pictures —

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores pros and cons —

Even those who have dozens of LEGO NINJAGO temples should consider picking up 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores on June 1, as it’s hard to recall a model quite like this, blending beautiful colours with natural and man-made structures and an exclusive minifigure.

This model’s autumnal colours make it a worthy display piece alongside similarly tall sets, such as 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck, but you shouldn’t ignore the lacklustre interior despite the beauty of the exterior. Provided that’s important to your LEGO NINJAGO temples, it’s advisable to look elsewhere in LEGO NINJAGO.

71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores pros	71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores cons
Gorgeous colour scheme	Barely any space in the interior
It’s surprisingly big for the price	The bottom floor is too empty
An exclusive and mysterious minifigure

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores —

Despite our belief that 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores is unique in its design, it’s not the first LEGO NINJAGO Temple – not by a long way – and the closest alternative currently available is 71767 Ninja Dojo Temple. It has a better interior to boot, and you can read our review of the Core creation by clicking here. Otherwise, 71787 Creative Ninja Brick Box allows you to make custom temples however you so choose.

— LEGO NINJAGO 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores FAQs —