Pick of the week: Ultra Sonic Raider

 

  • Pick of the week: Ultra Sonic Raider

    Posted by Huw, 21 Oct 2012 05:12. Filed under Pick of the week.

    9449 Ultra Sonic RaiderIt's about time we had another Pick of the Week, isn't it...

    This week I've just built 9449 Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider, which I acquired three of in the recent Argos 3-for-2 offer (then passed two on to others at GWLS). It retails at £60, or US$80, so it cost me £40.

    It's a bit of a weird vehicle, to be honest, what with caterpillar tracks at the front and huge Technic motorcycle wheels and the back, but I guess it works, just...

     

    9449 Ultra Sonic RaiderThe flying contraption can be detached from the back. and its blades splayed out using a clever Technic mechanism.

    The pictures on the box show the grey pipe-things pointing forwards but that looks a bit daft, IMO, so I pointed them back for this photo. They look more like exhaust pipes than weapons or whatever to my eye.

    9449 Ultra Sonic RaiderThe vehicle, once the flying thing has been removed, is a bit sparse. The cab area is nicely designed, though, and the caterpillar tracks in dark brown are very nice, and unique to this set. 

    I'm not sure that the flexi-pieces with daggers sticking out work particularly well, but I guess they are needed to make it a bit more interesting and add apparent 'bulk' to the design.

    9449 Ultra Sonic RaiderThe highlight of the set for many will be this chap, Pythor, who's the king of the Serpentine. His tail-piece is used on other Ninjago snakes, but his head is unique, and very nice it is too.

    The set also comes with all four (red/blue/white/black) ZX Ninjas and Spitta. The box and instructions state 'Jay ZX and Zane ZX included'. Why is that I wonder? Why are the other two not mentioned in that statement? Are they not as important? It's not as if those two are unique to this set: far from it.

    Overall then, it was an interesting build and quite fun to play with. The six minifigs are great, and it's a convenient way to get all four ZX ninjas at once.

    At the moment the set has been reduced by £10 to £50 at Amazon.co.uk, which is the lowest it's been. It's still at the retail price of $80 at Amazon.com. It's not been reduced there much in the past, and I guess probably won't be during the run-up to Christmas.

     


    13 comments, latest one posted 7 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by refriedbeans in United States, 21 Oct 2012 07:50

Huw it says that Jay and Zane are included because some people might not see them in the vehicle.

Posted by Goony in Denmark, 21 Oct 2012 08:46

Pythor might be a king, but it looks to me like an angry ex-girlfriend :-)

Posted by BlackFalconBirdman in United States, 21 Oct 2012 09:08

not a big fan of the black arms on python (would prefer purple), but he is a great figure.

Posted by PocasNuckie in Portugal, 21 Oct 2012 09:38

Great set for parts, specially ninja weapons. May get 2 :)

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 21 Oct 2012 09:56

Good call, refriedbeans, that'll be why...

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 21 Oct 2012 10:01

Cool little set, but not nearly worth 80$... ouch.

Posted by Aanchir in United States, 21 Oct 2012 10:45

My younger brother has this set, and it's definitely very cool. Great parts, great minifigures, and a great design in both structure and function. One of the details that really made me smile is the heat lamp in the prison cell on the vehicle, which I suppose is the only humane thing to do when the enemies you're imprisoning happen to be reptiles. =P

One correction I should make to your pictures is that in the official story, the structures ending in the black wheel elements should be pointed forward. Rather than exhaust pipes (I think the giant flaming exhaust vents are more than sufficient), they are meant to be directional sonic cannons ending in speakers which play a recording of Sensei Wu's Sacred Flute, which is the main weakness of the Serpentine and the Great Devourer.

If you ever get time, I encourage you to watch the 2012 TV episodes, which are all available for free viewing on the British Ninjago site: http://ninjago.lego.com/en-gb/GamesAndMovies/Movies/movies-s2.aspx It makes the context of the sets a lot clearer, and is IMO extremely enjoyable. Even if you don't like the story, the music and visuals are stunning.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 21 Oct 2012 10:49

> directional sonic cannons ending in speakers

Ah yes, of course :) Guess I had better check out the videos...

Posted by chrismajor2124 in United States, 21 Oct 2012 12:55

Nice, but if you watch episode 13 of Ninjago, you'll see that the grey pipe-things are supposed to be sonic cannons, and thus pointed forward.

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 21 Oct 2012 20:14

@Aanchir
I actually find that NOT watching the TV show makes the context of the sets a lot clearer... but that's just me... :P

Posted by bandana-joe in Singapore, 23 Oct 2012 23:23

The Ultra Sonic Raider is quite worth it actually, it has al, 4 ninjas in one set. It doesn't have Llyod though...

Posted by kookars2 in Sweden, 25 Oct 2012 15:34

Im just aching for that pythor head in lightbley. Preferebly whitout any printing.

Posted by DXninja9000 in United States, 25 Oct 2012 17:26

This should've been pick of the week a long time ago.

I just bought this set, and I think it's great, minus the hanging-open Pythor mouth. That just looks nasty, plus his halitosis ain't great. :P But aside from LEGO's epic Pythor fail, 9449 is a great set.

EDIT: @ Bandana-Joe: LLOYD! IT IS SPELLED L-L-O-Y-D! WHY DOES NO ONE GET THIS RIGHT! :P :P :P :P

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