Review: LEGO 71772 The Crystal King

Following on from my review of 71775 Nya’s Samurai X MECH, I thought it’d be a good idea to check out its adversary, 71772 The Crystal King, the primary villain and antagonist of Ninjago Season 15 Crystalised.

In this set, we get introduced to the Crystal King, the powerful leader of the Vengestone Army, and is capable of taking on the form of a terrifying centaur-like creature.

It’s a really cool set, and one that blurs the line between buildable creature and mech, and with the great new trans-pink aesthetic introduced in the Summer 2022 wave of Ninjago sets, I couldn’t wait to put this one together.

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set and the rest of the Ninjago Summer 2022 wave for review.

71772 The Crystal King Set Details

Name: The Crystal King
Set Number: 71772
Pieces: 772
Price: AU$99.99 | US$59.99 | £5499 – Buy from LEGO.com [US] [AUS] [UK] [Amazon]
Minifigures: 5
Exclusive to: N/A
Theme: Ninjago Crystalised (Season 15)
Set Designer: TBD
Release Date: 1 June 2022 [UK & Europe] 1 August 2022 [USA, Australia, Canada]

Here’s a look at the sticker sheet. Surprisingly, the set doesn’t rely on a ton of stickers for details, which is always a pleasant sign as the sheet was much smaller than expected.

The villains are always the highlight of any new Ninjago wave, and this set is crawling with baddies. You get a Vengestone Guard, the Crystal King himself, a Vengestone warrior, and the return of fan favourite – Harumi!

The Vengestone warriors, with trans-pink legs & arms, and new moulded heads, which have trans-pink elements fused within are a treat – the moulding and printing quality is outstanding, and I also like the pink armour piece on the Vengestone Guard, which jazzes him up slightly.

Here’s a look at their back prints, and Harumi’s dual-sided head.

Harumi and the Crystal King are the standouts in this set, and I especially love Harumi’s white hair. Harumi WAS the former princess of Ninjago and the founder of the Sons of Garmadon, and according to the Seasin 15 lore, is the Crystal King’s herald, and assumed leadership of his council which brought back past enemies.

The Crystal King shines with his mask and helmet, which is a slightly modified Oni mask, but with its own unique shape AND printing across the mask as well.

While it’s a really nice mask, and I appreciate the new mould, it feels like despite being the Crystal King, there’s a severe lack of any crystal about him, and I’m left wondering about how cool would it be if the mask were completely transparent, or had translucent parts fused into it.

You can flip the mask up to reveal the Crystal King’s face, which is suitably frightening. And reminds me of a certain Overlord…

And last but not least, we have the sole Ninja going up against The Crystal King – Lloyd comes with an exclusive new torso, which has some really nice printing on it – I really like the mix of patterns on his robes.

Here’s a look at his back printing, and alternate face.

The minifigures for 71772 The Crystal King are particularly strong – you get a nice helping of bad guys, and a cool Lloyd variant. Lloyd in particular will be a treat for Ninjago fans, as he’s the “mascot” depicted on the box art, and this set is the only one which has him in his green Ninja outfit in the wave.

Between him, the Crystal King and Harumi, the minifigure lineup will attract no complaints from Ninjago fans.

Here’s some build-in-progress shots of The Crystal King, which was honestly very fun.

It’s a cross between a brick-built creature and a mech – you begin with the torso, and before adding the head, hind legs, forelegs, and arms before snapping on the wings.

The Crystal King’s centaur form makes great use of joints, and because he’s four-legged, offers impressive stability and posability.

Here’s the completed model, which was a lot larger than I expected it to be. It has tremendous presence, and stands tall at 26 cm (10″), but at the same time has a width of 40cm (15.5″) thanks to his crystal wings.

It occupies a larger footprint, is satisfyingly large and imposing, which is exactly what you want from a set like this.

The Crystal King is a centaur-like beast, and I really like its four-legged shape – the combination of rocky grey limbs and body, punctuated by pops of trans-pink, and pearl gold make for a very fun aesthetic that just screams BIG BAD GUY AESTHETIC.

Even if you’re not a fan of Ninjago, the design is still a lot of fun, and reminds me of fantasy video games like Warcraft.

In fact, the four-legged silhouette, tail, wings and oversized weapon remind me of Pit Lords from Warcraft, which I believe were referenced heavily in the design of the Crystal King.

I spent a lot of my teenage years and early 20s playing Wacraft and Dota 2, so this particular design resonates strongly with me.

One of the the model’s defining features is the Crystal King’s head, which is cleverly brick-built and employs some very ingenious techniques, with brilliant use of lines, and parts like magenta horns for its face.

The Crystal Horns are kinda cheesy, but work well against the overall aesthetic. I also like just how posable the head is, as you can tilt and pose it in so many different angles.

The Crystal King’s chest is also cool, with great use of droid arms and horns for its ribs, which encases a crystal windscreen canopy.

The canopy’s sloping shape works really well here, giving it very organic look – it’s just designed really well, with minimal elements to get the shape right.

You can pop open the canopy, for a little cockpit/enclosure for the Crystal King minifigure to sit and relax in, as his centaur form wreaks havoc on the ninja.

Extra bonus points that the canopy is clear, allowing him to see outwards, and also being true to the crystal aesthetic.

Oh, and while we’re in this vicinity, I also really like the design of the Crystal King’s hips – that curved technique works SO well here, and is one of the nicest parts of the model to look at. Very clean.

Here’s a look at the Crystal King’s arms, which are pretty stock-standard mech arms.

I do like the purple claws, which go so well against the pearl gold fingers, and on his right arm, there’s a sneaky hidden clip inside that allows the Crystal King to securely grip his crystal spear.

Here’s the Crystal King’s legs – the forelegs are mostly rigid, with only the feet offering some articulation, but the back has more posability.

The legs here, mostly function to provide stability, but if balanced (tail comes in handy here!), you can even have the Crystal King rear up on its hind legs, which makes for a pretty cool pose.

Here’s a look at the Crystal King’s tail, and back – the back is quite skinny, and narrow – and looks more like a bug than a large, imposing crystal demon centaur.

The Crystal King’s “wings” are a great concept, but the execution doesn’t quite work for me. They can “flap” backwards and forwards, and there are some nice features like the angle they’re splayed out in, as well as the dark blue Nexo shields.

I do think they feel a little “light” and there just isn’t enough of the large crystal blades to make it look imposing and cool. I feel like they should’ve added in at least one or two more sets, to make the wings look more dense.

That said, the ways the wings are spread out does help augment the Crystal King’s overall silhouette and shape.

Here are some more poses. The huge range of articulation of the arms, allow you to strike up some very impressive poses, so whether you intend to just display the Crystal King, or play with it, you’re bound to have a lot of fun.

It does feel quite empty on its own, even with 5 minifigures..

Which is why it’s really best paired with a set like 71775 Nya’s Samurai X MECH, a suitably sized adversary. They really do feel like a pair, so if you want to splash out on the Summer 2022 Ninjago sets, these 2 would be great to pick up together, as they cancel off each other’s weaknesses – a Crystal centaur beast needs an equally-sized mech to fight off.

Another great thing about pitting the both of them together is that their colours clash in the right ways – with the Crystal King embodying the Vengestone colours, and Nya’s Mech providing a bright pop of blue and gold.

But let’s be frank – this Crystal King is simply no match for the OG 8692 Crystal King from Power Miners!

What I liked:

Crystal King is a fun, imposing fantasy creature
Great lineup of minifigures
Very large and posable
Makes for a great companion and foe to Nya’s Samurai X MECH
Fantastic use of colours

What I didn’t like:

Crystal King minifigure lacks transparent elements
Slightly on the pricier side of sets
Forelegs are mostly rigid
Wings could’ve been more impressive and denser

FINAL THOUGHTS

It goes without saying, if you enjoy video games, especially fantasy-type ones like Warcraft, or even anime, you’ll find yourself comfortably drawn in to 71772 Crystal King.

The Crystal King just oozes display presence, and is imposing and commanding – all attributes you’d want from the big bad villain of a Ninjago wave.

The size of The Crystal King is what impressed me the most, from its height, and windspan, to even its length which is accentuated by its tail, this is a model with a very large footprint, that makes the most out of its 772-piece count.

While the price might seem a little high, it’s not outrageous and out of reach, and firmly sits in the “big toy you get for birthdays or Christmas, or that you need to save up for a bit” category.

Despite the set’s high price, the value feels fair, from the solid lineup of minifigures, especially the Crystal King, triumphant return of Harumi, and the exclusive Lloyd.

It does work best when paired with another “big good guy set” like 71775 Nya’s Samurai X Mech, or even 71774 Lloyd’s Ultra Gold Dragon.

There are flaws, such as the Crystal King’s severe lack of crystal parts on him, as well as the wings which I feel could’ve been made to be more impressive, but they’re not detrimental at all, to what is an easy set to recommend.

Ninjago doesn’t do big bad villain sets all that well, but this is an uncommon example, where it gets most of it right, and you’re left with an awesome crystal centaur beast, that’s piloted by the Crystal King himself – the perfect foil to the Ninja’s mechs, vehicles and dragons.

Rating and score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰

Build [3] – Quite a fun build, that blends mech and creature building techniques
Real Value [2] – A little on the high side, but will be a great buy if it goes on sale
Innovation [3] – We rarely get large centaurs, so this was novel. Also liked the posability and playability
Coolness [4] – This oozes fantasy video game energy, and is a great Ninjago big bad
Keepability [4] – With the Crystal King, Lloyd and an awesome centaur build, I can see this one having staying power

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this early review of 71772 The Crystal King!

7 71772 The Crystal King will be released in UK and Europe on 1 June 2022, and in North America, and Australia on 1 August 2022.

Check out the rest of the Summer 2022 Ninjago lineup, and be sure to also read my review of 71775 Nya’s Samurai X MECH!

What do you think of the Crystal King? Do you get boss-vibes from him?

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