Ninjago – The Lighthouse Siege – 70594

Recently, I found a number of Ninjago sets on clearance at my local Walmart, and was able to pick up Set 70594 The Lighthouse Siege for a mere $40! Obviously, for 40 dollars it wasn’t hard to go wrong on this 700+ piece set, but even at it’s full retail price of 89.99, I think there is great value here, both in terms of build quality and play ability!

Set #: 70954 – The Lighthouse Siege

Theme: Ninjago

Age: 8-14

Pieces: 767

The Build

I was very impressed with this set the second I began putting it together, although it is not without it’s faults. From the front view, the set looks phenomenal once it is put together. The creators found a great way to put a number of traps into the set, without – for the most part – compromising the look and feel of the Ninjago world. For example, the trap that drops the floor out from under intruders at the top of the stairs, is activated by pulling a vine located at the side of the lighthouse. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always pan out, as higher up on the set, a silly bright red handle is used to initiate a trap. I wish they could have used some foliage here as well.

It wasn’t a overly difficult build to accomplish, but it still took my seven year old son almost two hours to complete. A few of the sections in the instruction manual are not always clear on what is actually being constructed, and many times throughout the build, my son realized he had missed placing a piece earlier on.

Like I said previously, from the front, this is a very aesthetically pleasing set, but once you begin looking at it from the left side – the right side is OK by me – there is much to be desired. Since the set can open and close at the middle for play ability inside the lighthouse, I was disappointed that LEGO left on whole side of the lighthouse fairly open, with nothing to hide what was going on inside. Even if their goal was to allow people to play with the lighthouse closed – and not hinged – a few well placed leaves could have at least provided an illusion of coverage.

The other disappointing factor in this build was the jail cell inside the lower part of the lighthouse. When initiating the trap door at the top of the stairs, unsuspecting LEGO figures would fall into a jail cell beneath. However, the cell doesn’t actually have any solid walls – it is the worst jail cell ever created, in reality.

Rare and Unique Pieces

The Lighthouse Siege comes with its own fair share of unique and rare pieces. Obviously, there are a number of stickered pieces that will be unique to this set, but in most situations, having these stickers on pieces isn’t generally universally usable. Sure, it might work if you are purely doing custom builds for Ninjago, but otherwise, not really.

The exception is the lighthouse door, which comes with a beautiful wood-like sticker to give the door some character. This could easily be used in future builds NOT in the Ninjago universe.

Many of the other pieces are just hard to come by in LEGO sets, including a full set of LEGO tools – which, if I’m correct, does a LEGO set rarely come with the full tool set like this one: drill, screwdrivers, ratchets, wrenches, oil can, and much more!

This set also comes with numerous weapons – some common and some more rare – as well as a light brick which acts as the beacon for the lighthouse. Throughout the set, you will also find hard to find pieces around every corner! For a collector, this is a must buy, especially if you can find it at a discounted rate like I did!

Play Ability

Based on the number of hours my son has already played with his LEGO set, I think it is safe to assume that the play ability of this set is really good. He’s been attacking the lighthouse for a number of days now, and has even found ways to incorporate his other LEGO Ninjago sets into the action.

Conclusion

All is well with The Lighthouse Siege, and whether you are a LEGO Ninjago fan or not, it’s still worth picking up for the great pieces included alone. From the vines that cover the outside of the building, to the tools used inside, there is a lot to like for every LEGO fan in this set, regardless of how much you like the Ninjago franchise!

Let us know on social media what you think of this set. Will you be picking it up?