LEGO NINJAGO designer reveals challenges of developing sets and series in tandem
LEGO NINJAGO’s designers have the task of developing sets in tandem with the series, and one has revealed the challenges this presents.
Dimitrios Stamatis, senior designer on the LEGO NINJAGO team, has been in the spotlight recently following an appearance at Brickworld Chicago 2025, where he revealed a tease for NINJAGO’s 2026 plans.
Within the jam-packed weekend, the senior designer thankfully found the time to speak with LEGO NINJAGO enthusiasts to share some insight into the development of NINJAGO sets, including the unique challenge of designing sets for an animated series at the same time as the episodes are being written and seasons are being conceptualised.
“We present [the TV series team] with the main story idea for the season, and we present them with some priorities and what we think needs to be featured more, and then it gets translated as much as possible in the show,” shared Dimitris to DuckBricks.
“That’s why sometimes you see something that’s featured more or less. The vehicles are so difficult to fit in when you have so many characters to develop and interact with each other, so we try to find a good balance. Even sometimes when it’s not necessarily shown for a long time in the show, it can be so striking or significant that we give more focus to the depiction as a set.”
The designer was also asked why some specific sets and aspects of models don’t make it into the NINJAGO series, revealing that it all comes down to what is best for the story and pacing.
“I think it’s an intentional decision, and we’ll do what we think is best for the toy as standalone storytelling, and then we’ll see how the story [of the show] evolves. It’s also a style of writing from Kevin Burke and Doc Wyatt where they find how a set fits as they progress through the season, so sometimes things can work out, and sometimes they feel that it’s changing the direction too much.”
Another aspect of the series that needs to be considered when developing NINJAGO builds is avoiding spoilers, where possible, and it’s something that the team goes to great lengths to avoid without ruining the experience of the set.
“Sometimes we discuss names like Rogue in terms of how we present it, because we don’t want it to be a spoiler, because those reveals happen earlier than the TV show. That’s why sometimes we might fake situations in a product, because it makes sense for the set, even though it might not be in the show. We might add an extra character that’s not in the scene, just because it makes sense for the experience that the toy provides.”
LEGO NINJAGO isn’t the only theme with an accompanying animated series, as it sits alongside DREAMZzz at the time of writing, but with nearly 15 years of episodes, there’s much more to consider with characters and how the teams can continue to impress fans, while NINJAGO only gets bigger.
LEGO NINJAGO is turning 15 next year, and while we wait to see what’s next for the theme and TV show, don’t forget that a live-action film is in the works from Universal Pictures, or that NINJAGO Legends isn’t over just yet.
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