LEGO NINJAGO summer 2026 model follows up on success

Part of LEGO NINJAGO's summer 2026 set selection is following up on proven success, borrowing an old concept but with a few upgrades.

Senior Model Designer for LEGO NINJAGO, Lee Chi Wing, has taken a closer look at 71863 Zilvar and Grimtak on the Masters of Brickjitzu YouTube channel. This has revealed some key insights into this model and how it follows up on a notably successful set.

71863 Zilvar and Grimtak features 232 pieces for £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99, featuring an animal figure, rare pieces, a creature-specific decoration and three minifigures. That package should sound familiar, as it's practically the same as 2023's 71790 Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound.

"[It's] kind of a follow-up to the successful Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound, because we saw people really like that set," explained Lee in the video.

71790 Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound costs £18.99 in the UK, $19.99 in the US, and €20.99 in Europe, but with fewer pieces and no exclusive minifigure. The concept alone proved that it would be successful, likely assisted by the affordable price point. This resulted in the 2026 sequel model. The new 71863 Zilvar and Grimtak has a few improvements to note, as well.

71863 Zilvar and Grimtak features the entirely exclusive Zilvar minifigure, whose role Lee did not delve into. As well as having an animal-specific decoration, similar to the eyes in 71790 Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound, the designer opted to reuse an existing piece, rather than brick-building the full head of the creature.

This led to some challenges in how to differentiate it from the gimmick models and mechs that have frequently used the head. Thankfully, there was a solution to make it look more organic.

"One of the cool challenges of this model is actually the head. If you remember it, it's from the Rising Dragon action toy, and I've used that before on the jet mech side build, but this time around, because in the show it's a creature that is alive, I wanted to make sure that the eyes are not hollow. To fit that space inside was quite the challenge, especially because this set has a rather low age mark, so we have to make sure it is simple enough."

This dragon head element has only been used for spectral dragons or as skulls previously, where the hollow eye sockets worked well. Shifting it to be the head of a living dragon required some additional thought and filling out those sockets. That said, the NINJAGO design team has decided to use this technique in another summer 2026 model.

71872 Ultra Dragon Battle uses four of these pieces for the heads of the Ultra Dragon, though it's not easy to see whether or not the interior of those heads has the same build as that of 71863 Zilvar and Grimtak.

Both models will be released on June 1 or August 1 in the US, as part of the huge summer 2026 wave for NINJAGO. It's interesting to learn about what goes into each of these new sets, and that 71790 Imperium Dragon Hunter Hound was such a success for the theme.

LEGO NINJAGO sets for 2026

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