Review: LEGO NINJAGO The Old Town 15th Anniversary (71861)

An Old Town that’s only 15 years of age!

The LEGO NINJAGO The Old Town 15th Anniversary Set is the largest set of the LEGO 2026 January Wave. With a boastful 23 Minifigures, exclusive characters never seen before and lots of references, this is a set with high expectations. But a lot of focus pulled in on Ninjago for 2026 and it’s 15 Year Anniversary, each set comes with a new level of scrutiny. Is this is a set worth the 15 year title? Is this a set that you absolutely MUST get on day one? Read on to find out!

The Tall Peaks and Hidden Imperium

The tallest part of the set and undeniably the largest, we are going to start here. With tall architecture not unlike anything we’ve seen before, the model stands proud and strong.

At the base of this structure, our set has a hidden hideaway for the followers of the Imperium. Hid behind a not-so-subtle rock, the force of Imperium have a small meeting table hidden away.

Amongst other details in this section, we are also shown a poster advertising the Kingdom of Shintaro, the 2020 Ninjago line. We also get a poster of Garmadon from later seasons (four arms), moon cycles and the battle between the Ninja and the Wojira from 2023.

There is also an allusion to some previous sets across the architecture and colours of this. I for one see the staircase in this section to be reminiscent of 71819 LEGO Ninjago Dragon Stone Shrine. But I’m sure there are countless others.

It should be also noted that with the architecture of this set, it is quickly apparent where most of the 4500+ parts are going. Buckle in, it’s a bit of a building to do.

The Outlook

The Outlook is the only part of the model that is directly trying to ‘be’ something. That is, something that belongs to someone or is a reference to something. The upstairs room has a spyglass and crossbow if need be, but is otherwise a nicely built overlook. The water currents and grasslands help connect this module to the other parts aesthetically, but not much more to see here.

Faith’s Workshop Corner

This section of the model is weirdly enough one of my favourites. Having a blend of steampunk with traditional Ninjago architecture has always been an interesting take by LEGO, but I like it here.

There is a lot going on in regards to rock work, breaking walls and plant life that definitely isn’t perfect, but I can see past these things. What I see is a quaint little workshop with a crane mechanism to boot. We get plenty to play with on this inside, including references to the Digital wave of Ninjago. Even on the outside of the building space we get a small shrine to the First Spinjitsu Master too.

On the sides of the workshop near the overlook is a small sticker decorated wall with small references too. With sticker details like the Wu Crew and to the Skybound series, the LEGO Ninjago team really know their stuff!

The Gateway

The gateway of the model is probably one of the more ‘bare-bones’ sections of the model, with no amassing of references and a clean design. The gateway is lovely piece of architecture with repeated patterns, subtle curves and bends, as well as a bit of foliage to boot.

I really like the colours here, and I appreciate the balance that this gives the rest of the model. We also get a missing poster of Zane, a reference to early seasons.

Additional town props

The additional town props that come with the set are small sections of build that aren’t exactly designed to be placed anywhere particular. With small platforms and space for storytelling, LEGO have allowed for kids to choose their own layout for the Old Town.

We get three additional town props, with Chuck’s Carpentry, a statue to the First Spinjitsu Master and a small tea cart. I really like the design details on the stickered elements of this model. With allusions to travel carts and the four golden weapons of season one on display.

NINJAGO Minifigures (Past)

This set comes with a total of 23 LEGO Minifigures, which is a heck of a score of figures.

From amongst some never seen before figures, we do get some generic ones thrown in between. But long term fans and collectors of the series shouldn’t be too disappointed here!

First up, the most desirable and sought after figures of this set are Young Wu, Young Garmadon and the First Spinjitzu Master. These figures have been in the series since the early days of Ninjago’s history and are fantastic to finally see! With unique robes, head printings and opportunity to enact battles of the past, these are great.

Focusing more on our figures from the past, we also get the Time Twins Krux and Acronix, both adorned in red and steel vermillion armour. At first I thought not much of these figures, until I noticed that the armour of the figures are the same. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not! The figures released in 2017 aren’t the same as these ones, as these characters don’t have their mp3 player or hourglass accessories. These are the versions of the Time Twins from Ninjago’s past, and I appreciate them here.

We get Dr. Julien, Zane’s creator who purged himself from Zane’s memory upon the moment of his death. He comes equipped a crow accessory (recoloured parrot) and a wrench for his robotic works. I do wish that we got the Falconer’s falcon from the CMF or a new bird mould here, but I can only ask so much. Oh, and this is a character that was deceased before the show began. Oof.

Lastly, it should be also said that Garmadon, the original titular villain, is in his season 1 version. Although we know him to have four arms, here he represents the very first version of him that we ever got. It’s updated and with a new face print, and welcome nonetheless.

NINJAGO Minifigures (Current)

Following this, we get Dr. Saunders for the first time, who is actually Krux, the Time Twin, who escaped the past and arrived a little earlier than his counterpart. The figure is detailed well and I appreciate the leg printing.

Chuck the Carpenter was a character I actually had to look up. An odd addition to the set by any means, the character is a former ghost and their real name is ‘Jerahn’. As for the figure? Well, Chuck is made entirely of pre existing elements. An odd addition and nothing new makes me feel like this figure is out of place.

Within this set we also get our six protagonists in their older outfits. These figures are all updated for 2026 but showcase nothing new in this set compared to other sets in the wave. Each figure is updated nicely, but I’m not going to spend too much time on them here. Same with Wu.

For Harumi, we get ourselves the version of her as ‘The Quiet One’, post her resurrection. She comes with a simplistic outfit that matches her appearance in the show and is a welcome addition to all who don’t have her.

As some additional extra characters, LEGO have given us the Postman, an almost identical figure to his previous release in 2017. It’s nice to see him after 9 years!

We also get Mystake, a character who helped the ninja and actually was an Oni in disguise. This would be one of the last secrets she reveals to the Ninja before her untimely death.

Continued…

And lastly on this row, we also get an agent of the Administration. These guys are purposely vague in what they are going, and this figure doesn’t actually correspond to any figure in media. They are generic, and funnily enough, so is the figure. With not new parts being used, this is one of my least favourites from the set.

The new villains for 2026 appear to be the Loyalists, but with not much information being available at this time. I’ve been able to discern that our Loyalist Leader however is Dr. LaRow – the Imperium Scientist who appeared in Ninjago City Workshops in 2025! Very clearly reminiscent of the Imperium Arc of Ninjago, these characters appear with matching robes but different heads and hoods between them. Each of these figures are good, but will be numerous alongside other sets in 2026.

Our pale-faced lady with one eye is Faith, a character who worked for both the good guys and bad, eventually working alongside the Ninja. Faith actually has had a character appearance before as “Heavy Metal”, a character from the Realm of Dragons. At first glance she may seem the same torso/legs wise, but there are minor printing updates and the removal of jarring orange colours that make this figure better. As a fan of this wave of Ninjago, I’m glad Faith is here.

Verdict

Overall, this is a set filled with passion covering the past 15 years of the theme.

Is the set perfect? No. There’s a lot of part bulk and building that younger builders might find deterring or overwhelming.

What about adults? Well, apart from exclusive titular characters such as The First Spinjitsu Master, the build doesn’t add anything too new. Sure, subtle techniques here and there, but overall this is a set about bulk and playability.

This is a set that I would actually recommend that you build with a friend, child or parent. There is a lot to do to get the model together, and to one person, that’s a lot of work.

But how do I feel about it on an aesthetic/consumer level? I feel the model uses the 4800 parts as a selling point, but you don’t actually “see” where it goes. Examples of this are the LEGO Ninjago City Street models. They gain incredible height and utilise landscapes for the aesthetic. This model is certainly more of a ‘play’ based model. It isn’t as polished as you’d expect for the price tag.

But what does do well is the 15 years worth of references to keep you building and focused. That doesn’t carry to the final model when all is done.

Do I recommend this to die-hard LEGO Ninjago fans? Absolutely. The building experience of references in nooks and cranny’s are fantastic.

But to the average builder? Or a first-time Ninjago person? Maybe wait a bit. Read more reviews before you jump in. Or wait for a sale!