LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is filled with Easter eggs

The new LEGO NINJAGO City set may not be huge but it doesn't skip out on Easter eggs, with tributes to classic themes, the series and more.

The fifth LEGO NINJAGO City set is right around the corner and as well as looking at what it adds to the ongoing modular range, it's also worth analysing official images to see some of the best references scattered across stickers, miniature models and more.

Before 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops arrives on March 1 for £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99, we're looking at some of the many references. It all begins by looking back to the very beginning of the NINJAGO City series – the original movie – and one of the many innovations it brought to the theme.

Translating the Ninjargon

After the term was coined with the release of The LEGO NINJAGO Movie in 2017, NINJAGO now has a language that can be translated into English – Ninjargon. As well as being a clever pun, the language usually hides many more Easter eggs in NINJAGO City sets, and that continues with 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops.

We've translated the stickers visible in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops to see what they're hiding whether they're used inside, outside or on minifigure accessories. For those that don't quite have the time to pour through our translation images, we've picked out some of the best Easter eggs below.

Classic themes

71837 NINJAGO City Workshops pays tribute to all kinds of classic themes, including the iconic red rabbit from DUPLO. Much like the first LEGO NINJAGO City sets, Fabuland has a poster on the ground level and the classic ninja subtheme of LEGO Castle is referenced via a poster too.

A Spybotics banner is also included, using the same stylised logo as the older sets but with Ninjargon instead of standard lettering. As usual NINJAGO City is proving to be a treasure trove of classic LEGO theme Easter eggs.

Classic NINJAGO sets

Following the Fabuland poster, 70620 NINJAGO City is more clearly referenced via an advertisement for a costume shop using the same colour scheme as the larger upper floor store of the original NINJAGO City.

The Tournament of the Element's Boulder Blaster jet has a poster on the back of the build naming it the Quake of the Skies. Zane's home is full of references to the character, most notably including miniature models of 70588 Titanium Ninja Tumbler and 71770 Zane's Golden Dragon Jet. That's not all the Easter eggs in Zane's apartment, but there's more on that shortly.

The model shop in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops has many mechs from older waves of NINJAGO, including the first Samurai X mech, but a standee on the roof of the store and in the store both pay homage to 71821 Cole's Titan Dragon Mech.

NINJAGO show references

There are also some Easter eggs for the NINJAGO TV series, one of which is the 'Protect' doormat in Zane's apartment – referencing that he protects those who cannot protect themselves.

The dragon egg-stealing Lava Tides chef has also started a noodle restaurant with enough budget for advertisements throughout NINJAGO City, despite the species not being recreated as minifigures just yet. Other NINJAGO businesses referenced in the 2025 set include the Darnagom demolition company (apparently still in operation after their founder passed multiple times) and Buddy's pizza.

There are plenty of other references to spot in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops and we can all look forward to spotting the rest when the model launches on March 1, 2025, for £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99.

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