LEGO NINJAGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops review

LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops aims to innovate, shifting the series' familiar foundations in intriguing – but potentially controversial – ways.

After four huge LEGO NINJAGO City sets, the futuristic cityscape collection needed to innovate more than ever before to stand out – but 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops struggles to find the balance between innovation and substance, compromising in several ways compared to previous LEGO NINJAGO City models. Thankfully, it has four other sets to lean on, and it's going to need to rely on its compatibility with them.

71837 NINJAGO City Workshops

Release: March 1, 2025

Retiring: December 31, 2027

Price: £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99

Pieces: 3,244

Minifigures: 10

As someone who has had the opportunity to collect all five LEGO NINJAGO City sets over the past eight years, I can appreciate the innovation and experimentation in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops. After the huge cable car system in 71799 NINJAGO City Markets, precisely where the collection could go next was unclear, but it turns out that one of NINJAGO's core competencies had the answer.

NINJAGO's futuristic and technological setting lends itself to mechs perfectly, and adding the beloved LEGO models to the expansive NINJAGO City range is a fantastic thought on paper – but the execution in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops leaves a lot to be desired. Upon first impressions, the familiar multi-level structure is still present in this NINJAGO City set, but with a design that allows for a wide open space in front of the model for the mech to stand, already removing a lot of substance compared to its contemporaries.

It's a unique shape for NINJAGO City and in and of itself isn't a bad idea, but it's one of several compromises made for the mech that, when blended together, seriously impact the overall city structure. As can be expected from the LEGO NINJAGO City range, the references to both LEGO and NINJAGO history are exquisite, though they are entirely across stickers with few prints in sight – at least some things haven't changed.

The mech itself is one of NINJAGO's best, eschewing the unnecessary head for a far different shape than most NINJAGO mechs, and both its barebones structure and armoured version are rife with details and posing possibilities. It strongly calls to mind LEGO Ideas 21109 Exo Suit – one of the most generous compliments that can be awarded to a LEGO mech.

The mech stands on a moving platform in the middle of 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops, which is easily operated in one of the set's ample working features. The fact that small steps pop out of the back of this platform once it's pushed against the ground-level walkway demonstrates how much thought has gone into integrating a mech into NINJAGO City.

One of the two cranes featured in the set for building the mech is far less functional and easy to use than the other. A warehouse space on the second floor makes up one of two mech-centric interiors in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops that are mostly empty. This is instead of cramming in as many rooms as possible, as we usually see with NINJAGO City.

The crane in this warehouse is wedged into the ceiling, and it can only be described as non-functional. Despite being built and re-built to ensure that it was put together correctly, the mechanism only works when you physically hold the device together with your fingers instead of just using the cranks as instructed. Compared to the crane on the rooftop, it's a frustratingly dysfunctional play feature that takes up a significant amount of space in the city module.

Combined with the mostly-empty warehouse, this is one of the most impactful compromises introduced for the mech in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops, and it's a shame that the result is not as useful as intended. Moreover, when the build is placed up against other NINJAGO City sets, reaching those mechanisms at the back of the build is almost impossible, unlike the cranks and gears in 71799 NINJAGO City Markets, which were at the top of the set.

What the warehouse space lacks, the garage area helps to make up for with a fun rolling door play feature, showcasing some incredible part usage and an industrial exterior that immediately draws the eye. There's ample space to pose minifigures above and below, at least, and the overall element versatility on show is as excellent as it has always been in NINJAGO City.

Moving from the ground level to the upper floors, 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops becomes much more familiar with pull-out interiors – a concept borrowed from 71799 NINJAGO City Markets. Since the mech-based features mean the various levels of the city need to stay together, this is an elegant solution that makes the in-depth interiors far easier to admire. In fact, it works a lot better than most previous NINJAGO City sets and I've even come to prefer this approach.

Zane's apartment and the NINPLA mech model store are personal favourites thanks to the references to the theme and animated series, as well as a stunningly small bonsai build. Choosing to base the NINPLA store entirely around 71821 Cole's Titan Dragon Mech is an excellent moment of synergy, too.

Dorama's magic shop may not be quite as expansive as it is in the Dragons Rising series, but it makes the most out of the space available with some additional details that don't slide out of the building. The upper levels of 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops may not be huge, but they take advantage of every stud available, especially compared to the empty spaces in the warehouse and garage below.

Populating 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is the task of 10 included minifigures. As is usually the case with NINJAGO City sets, there are a handful of amazing exclusive characters and some generic citizens to operate the shops, build the mechs and clean the streets. It's the exclusive minifigures where the set shines, though, splitting the spotlight between the original NINJAGO series and Dragons Rising.

Twitchy Tim and casual clothing Haruma represent the former, and the knowledge that Tim would have been included in a cancelled set only makes these minifigures more desirable. Tim has some great detailing that is only missing purple lightning bolts to represent his time on the island, but that's a small nitpick in the grand scheme of the set.

Harumi's casual outfit is a long-awaited minifigure and suits the style of the NINJAGO City range perfectly. Despite some missing printing on the legs, this is one of the best minifigures in 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops, and fans will almost certainly agree she's been worth the wait.

Dr. LaRow's inclusion in an invention-centric set makes a lot of sense, and it's amazing to see more of Imperium's unique fashion make it to physical minifigures after their time in the spotlight has come to an end. The Dragonian Tourist may seem simple, but depicting the new villains of NINJAGO as tourists is an inspired choice and will hopefully inspire Serpentine, Nindroid, Oni and more realm-travelling tourists in the future. It's simply a fun and appealing minifigure concept.

Rounding out the exclusive characters is Dorama and his puppet. Dorama's minifigure is admittedly a shade lighter than would be ideal, and without the shining sequins he has in the show, he feels inevitably bland. Printing such details is not something the LEGO Group has often done, though, and it's still great to see the character get a minifigure at all. His puppet is also a lot smaller than it should be, but its size does allow it to be posed around 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops much easier, and it's suitably creepy to boot.

With 3,244 pieces for £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99, 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is the smallest set in the collection and attempts to innovate as much as possible to accommodate the mech. For those who have all four previous NINJAGO City sets, such innovation will be appreciated, but you'll be left missing the usually dense details and busy spaces, instead of the many open sections in this set.

For those just starting with NINJAGO City, 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops may be the more affordable option currently available, but compared to 71799 NINJAGO City Markets, it's likely to leave a less positive impression when all is said and done. NINAGO City collectors will appreciate the mech experimentation, but the compromises become hard to ignore when you compare this set to the rest of the collection.

71837 NINJAGO City Workshops in the wider NINJAGO City line-up

Finding space for 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops in the ongoing NINJAGO City display isn't impossible, despite being a third corner module, as it fits perfectly between 71799 NINJAGO City Markets and 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens. It's a surprisingly tall entry into the range, thanks in no small part to the crane on top.

It's ultimately much less dense than previous NINJAGO City sets, leaving plenty of space in the middle of the model to accommodate the mech. That mech stands out, more so than the cable car in 71799 NINJAGO City Markets, and when a set is already so fundamentally different compared to the rest of the range, it might as well make the most of it by introducing a giant mech under construction.

It's a drastically different concept for NINJAGO City, but when you're not trying to operate the cranes and are just admiring the model next to the other four, the mech integration works wonders.

When a LEGO collection is as expansive as NINJAGO City, it's not a question of 'why?', it's a question of 'why not?' 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops demonstrates the positives and negatives to this way of thinking, standing out from the crowd in the busy NINJAGO City streets while making some unfortunate but inevitable compromises that impact the overall quality of the build.

It's sure to fit in with whatever NINJAGO City sets you have, but the transition won't be as seamless as it was with other NINJAGO City entries before 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops. That appears to be the point of this set, though – to try something new after eight years in the city.

Our honest opinion: Despite many compromises for much-needed experimentation, this is an essential and appreciated addition to the expansive NINJAGO City collection.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Further reading

LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is filled with Easter eggs

Five of the best builds in LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops

Who’s who in LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops?