It’s 10 years since LEGO NINJAGO launched! The incredible action-adventure theme has gone from strength to strength, and now its origin story is revealed.
To celebrate 10 years of LEGO NINJAGO, the LEGO Group has revealed the story of how the theme began (don’t worry, there are also lots of great new products too). Here is what the secretive company has shared about how it all began:
Late on a Friday in fall 2019, a drawing was made that would be the beginning of something big. Tommy Andreasen did a sketch showing different elemental ninjas and the team had the idea of the ninja being on a sort of spinners to make an active minifigure play.
On the drawing you see a ninja of water, tough that ended up not being added until Nya became the master of water in 2015. The sketch has the word ‘Spinjago’ on it, which was the first idea of a name, which then developed into ‘Spinjitzu’ – a combination of the words ‘spin’ and ‘ninjitzu’.
The ‘NINJAGO’ name was also a combination of the words ‘NINJA’ and the word ‘GO’ which was taken form the end of the LEGO Group company name. It was also thought to be a great activator, like a battle cry.
Well… that’s the short version of the story at least. For the full story, including what Tommy thinks about the name NINJAGO and why it’s special, you’ll need to get Blocks magazine Issue 75. It has an in-depth look at how the action-adventure range began, how it has become a LEGO evergreen and how it is now celebrating its legacy.
And if you think the artwork above is cool, it’s just the beginning. Our special feature includes dozens of never-before-seen pieces, including LEGO designer sketch models, television development sketches and concept art.
To get Blocks every month – at a discount and earlier than the shops – order a 12-month or 24-month subscription. Direct debit payment options are available too; to find out more get in touch via subs@silverbackpublishing.rocks.