LEGO designer says NINJAGO combo mech is ‘toy Voltron’

The designer behind LEGO 21311 Voltron and 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech has explored the connections between the similarly-functioning sets.

Voltron’s iconic combination feature was designed in part by Niek van Slagmaat and in our recent interview with the LEGO designer, he took us through his most iconic LEGO sets from the LEGO Ideas entry to an array of NINJAGO mechs. During this discussion, it was revealed that the designer believes 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech is just as good in some aspects as the massive 21311 Voltron while being more playable as a toy.

At 2,321 pieces, the retired 21311 Voltron is massive and focused mostly on being a display build. Still, you can transform it into the five lions and back again. Comparatively, 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech is much smaller at 1,104 pieces but has similar functionality, instead splitting into four vehicles.

Speaking about the NINJAGO mech, Niek mentioned, “I think this does a lot of the things that Voltron does well, while also being a toy. I think it’s super fun that you have five separate toys and four of those come together to form a bigger one.”

In 21311 Voltron, all five lions combine into the giant mech but in 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech, the snake vehicle is left over to battle against the combo mech.

“This is my favourite set I’ve designed to date I think because it combines a lot of the things I’ve learned during my time at the LEGO Group into one set,” Niek explained.

“It’s also specifically a toy and as time has gone on I’ve become more interested in designing specifically for younger age marks and generally toy and play over display, like what I did with Voltron.”

“The same excitement that made me want to work on Voltron brought me to this where we’ve never done this before specifically for kids, so I thought it’d be cool to make it a reality.”

Despite their size differences, 21311 Voltron and 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech’s notably similar main features – from the same designer no less – are the product of experience as a LEGO designer with lessons taken from one and applied to the other.

Another difference between these two mech models is that 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech is the only one to still be available at the time of writing for £89.99 / $89.99 / €99.99. You can watch the rest of our discussion with Niek by clicking on the video below.

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