Using the power of the Ice Dragon, Zane transforms himself into a Dragon warrior and hence becomes Zane-DX! Now he rides the Ice Dragon into battle to purge the world of evil skeletons with SUVS, Tanks, evil fortresses and evil samurais. (just sound so weird  )

Set name: Ice Dragon
Theme: Ninjago
Year released : 1st half of 2011
Number of pieces: 158
Number of minifigures: 2


Box

The front of the box shows our Ninja Hero Zane attacking a jester skeleton. I wonder if those gold shurikens can do any damage to the Ice Dragon?


The rear of the box shows Zane dismount from the dragon and attacks the skeleton directly. A small picture shows the ball launcher in the dragon's mouth. At the top right corner is a picture of Zane in spinning Ninja attack mode.


For once, TLG showed the characters smaller than they actually are!


The boxes nowadays a thinner compared to yesteryears. It is only 6 stud wide. Guess they need to reduce the paper usage as part of their greening process.



Box contents

You get 3 plastic bags; 1 large bag, 1 small bag and 1 bag holding the dragon's head and lower jaw. The plastic used to bag the bricks are superior than the one used to the bricks in the Nya spinner set. Makes me wonder if the Nya set is made in China.....



Instructions

A random instruction page showing the construction of the dragon's head. The upper and lower portion of the head is joined with a technic beam with the ball launcher at the center. Pneumatic parts are attached to the mouth to allow the installation of the chains to control the dragon.


Also in the instructions are some ads for the other Ninjago sets. Take a look at the awesome array of weapons in this theme! apparently it is ok to have tons of weapons provided it is a fantasy setting.


Another page showing a map of Ninjago. Like the Atlantis map when the Atlantis set first came out, there could be a possible hint on future sets shown.


Then there is a page showing an ad for the current line of Ninjago sets. Also a chart showing a list of characters to collect. We see that there is a regular Zane and a Zane DX.



Lastly there is an ad for the Ninjago board game. Very expensive when compared piece by piece, but if you watched the Natgeo megafactories, they actually had to make a new mold just to cast the dice. Have not tried the game out though.



Minifgures

The minifigures does not dissappoint. In fact, it looks superior than the blister pack versions, especially Zane. Zane is now Zane DX and wears a dragon suit. The suit has a dragon motif on it and is printed on the torso as well as the legs. Look carefully and you can see the blue ice lines on the dragon. Krazi is the skeleton and he wears a jester hat. I think he used to jester which got tired of entertaining ninjas and now plot to use the ninjas as entertainment.


This second picture shows Zane and Krazi without their hats. Zane is as serious as ever while Krazi is blood thirsty.


Krazi does not have any backprinting, but Zane DX has his name printed on the back as well as a symbol with a kanji character. The normal Zane I believe does not come with any back printing.



Ice Dragon

The Ice dragon is finally assembled! It looks menacing but at the same time able to pose in various positions using the various Bionicle and Technic joints.


There is no saddle for Zane DX to sit on, but somehow as a Ninja 4 white studs on the back of the Dragon is enough for him to sit on. The words written on the white plate is Japanese for 'Dragon God'. I am happy to report that the plate is a printed piece!! A common problem with the sign is that while the rest of the dragon is extremely swoosh able and stay in 1 piece, this sign almost always come off. Maybe a proper technic beam of pin would be better, but would hurt the aesthetics of the dragon. Zane controls he dragon by holding on to 2 chains connected to the Dragon's head. 


The legs are made up of Bionicle joints and wide feet piece. I wonder where this piece came from? The benefit of using such a wide feet piece is that the dragon is very stable no matter how it is posed.


The tail meanwhile is a simple flexible tube piece which I last saw in my Monster dino set in as glow in the dark pieces. More work could have been made on the tail.


The wings of the Dragon can be extended or closed as shown in the combo picture below by using the hinge pieces. If you noticed the wings have claws and trans-light blue cheese slopes to add more detail.


Another pose while in flight mode. The legs can be swept back and the dragon can be posed to perform a dive attack if you can support it with additional bricks. No matter how, Zane will always be attached to the body of the dragon.



Extras

Zane examining the Ice Dragon while both of them are taking a break.


A better use of the sharp teeth that the Ice Dragon have.


Fire and Ice. Nya and Zane - they could make a great match.



Conclusion

The ninjas may not have large tanks, choppers or SUVs to assist them, but they do have fearsome dragons! The Ice Dragon is a well designed set in my opinion since it fits the theme and as fierce as the ninja warriors that rides them.The Zane DX minifigure is superior that the blister pack minifigure since it comes with back printing and a highly detailed front. Highly recommended.

P.S. I also bought this since my surname is Dragon too. 

The quality looks superior than the Nya minifigure. But when compared to a white bodied collectible minifig (I have the female tennis player) it is hard to tell the difference. Even when compared to the black ninja from Series 1 I cannot tell the difference.

Maybe you can tell me what are the things to look out for?

Oh, was at KLCC TRU yesterday. Turns out all the red ninja (Kai I think?) and Nyas blister packs were snapped up until habis. Surprised to see so much stock move in 1 week. All that's left is the black ninja and white ninjas. The skeletons all tak laku  Also left saw some dragon sets disappear, now only a few left.

Also Garmodon's fortress is a 400++ set compared to last time I thought it was only 300+ set 

Nolah, just itching to get some 2011 sets. Besides, some of the ninjago sets are quite nice.

Next half of the year I believed there would be red, Brown and Blue Dragons.

Why did I clicked this review , I'm so certain to skip this set prior.