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SeaStar
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 11:55am | IP Logged
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I am looking for some thoughts about Lego Ninjago...
My ds has recently taken a big interest in this line of Legos, but it does strike me as being somewhat violent. I know it is good vs. evil... and ,to be honest, I don't think it's any more violent than the Redwall books, which are also good vs. evil. Yet Redwall is obviously fiction...
Growing up a friend of mine was totally into Ninjas as a teenager. He wore black and carried throwing stars- yet he was very outgoing, personable and a pretty good kid. His parents (his dad is a minister) did not try to curb this phase in any way, and the boy grew up to join the Coast Guard, serve well and have several kids with his high school sweetheart.
So I can't decide if I should let my ds run his phase with this or not...
there are so many other Lego lines that are not violent or have tons of weapons, etc.
Thoughts?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 11:59am | IP Logged
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My sisters allow these Legos, but I do not. I see some underlying magic and foreign religion and I don't want it in my house.
Star Wars was an exception to my rule. I don't like many aspects, but I did give in to the Star Wars. Those are all over our house. But I don't want to bend my rule further with these Ninjagos.
It's your comfort level. I just see my sons acting out what they see and play. When they use them with their cousins, their behavior is bit too much "violent" for me.
I already have to deal with war and super heroes. Just not wanting to add to it.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 1:27pm | IP Logged
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I let my boys play with them. Ninjas are real, but talking snake people are not, so I don't see it as any different from a "fantasy" perspective as Star Wars. It is definitely more real than Redwall, though. My boys went through a Knights Kingdom Lego phase, which is as violent and more real than Ninjago. It came and went, but honestly with 4 boys in the house, there are always swords and light sabers flying regardless of the phase. I don't fight it anymore. For me the bigger deal has been whether or not the good guys look like good guys and the bad guys look like bad guys. I have a problem with the good guys looking as evil as the bad guys (like Bionicle). Like with fairy tales, I want evil to be obvious in their play even though we know it's not in real life. This is the biggest problem I had with Star Wars. Like Jenn, I eventually gave in there. :-/
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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 1:35pm | IP Logged
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What made me uneasy about the Talking Snakes and such was the shrines/altars for these snakes. I think that was on the videos, but since my son had seen one, that was in his head.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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We've seen the videos on and off too but I hadn't noticed any shrines.  Thanks for mentioning it as I definitely want to bring it up with my boys.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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So loving my bubble right now.  Had no idea Ninjago existed.
Also, my dh is really anti "theme" for lego. It just wasn't like that when he was little, and he's a curmudgeon, so it isn't really how my boys play with them anyway. However, they don't have cousins their age playing with them either, so that makes a difference.
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Lindsay
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 19 2012 at 4:22pm | IP Logged
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To me it is equivalent with knights/castles, pirates, Star Wars, dinosaurs, GI Joe and little green army guys, bionicles, cowboys, etc. It's all violent stuff that most boys seem to phase through at one time or another.Opinions differ, of course, but I see it as harmless, healthy, and normal--unavoidable, even to a certain extent. My boys even made their hotwheels cars fight each other. I remember ds Sam, who is the most non-violent teen I know, at the age of 3 making his plastic waffle blocks battle it out for supremacy!LOL!
So, my take on Ninjago is--same old story, new cover.
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Theresa
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Oct 20 2012 at 9:57am | IP Logged
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My ds has no interest in Star Wars, oddly, but, yeah- we've got all the other violent things covered: swords, nerf guns, cap guns, sling shot, bows and arrows, army men....
I'm finding it's such a thin line. We are reading about Davy Crockett. He had guns galore (and then let's not forget his Alamo pal- Jim Bowie of knife fame). Guns, knives, weapons of all kinds- they're out there. Boys are just drawn to them- it must be that testosterone influence, one that I don't always understand. I've even seen little boys at church picnics using plastic silverware as pretend guns.
Oh- and Bible stories. The entire book of Joshua. Everyone gets killed. I tried to skim over the gory parts while reading this aloud to the kids, and I wound up skimming most of the second half of the book!
I guess what I really want to avoid are things that are really evil/twisted/new age. It sounds like Ninjago is mostly OK- I'll have to check on the snake altar thing. I think, too, that if I help ds keep in mind that Ninjago is something made up by some old guys at Lego Land, that will give him perspective as well.
My ds loves to fish. He loves to watch that guy Buck on PBS who fishes and hunts. I think that for him Ninjago really is what Theresa said- same old story, different cover.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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VanessaVH
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| Posted: June 20 2013 at 9:40pm | IP Logged
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This was very helpful as I try to make up my mind on what to allow for my boys 
Bumping this in case there are any new insights?
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stefoodie
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| Posted: June 20 2013 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
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I found this study silly, but interesting as well.
My boys are past the age where they're interested in these things, and my 4-year-old is interested in Ninjago only because we got him underwear that had Ninjago on them (they were on sale, what can I say  ) ... We haven't gotten any sets or videos or books, but I did buy him a Lego minifigure on eBay that had the white ninja suit. Talking Snakes is new to me. 
I do remember years ago when I was very disturbed about our boys' preoccupation with Bionicles. Now I can say that it was indeed just a phase and they're long past it, and at 14 and 16 they seem to have a good grasp of what's good and what's evil. I would just continue to cultivate interest in other toys, movies, etc.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: June 21 2013 at 6:10am | IP Logged
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I have avoided buying these because I really prefer the more open ended sets- the complicated cars, trucks, and airplanes. We have a few Star Wars sets and I hated paying for the Star Wars name. Those sets are ridiculously expensive. Plus, they have such specialized bricks that you can pretty much never do them again or use the bricks in free play.
I am disenchanted with Lego these days. I long for the days when it was just a big box of bricks and there wasn't Harry Potter Lego, Star Wars Lego, Ninjago Lego, etc.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 21 2013 at 6:23am | IP Logged
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The Ninjago phase has waned here. It was fairly short lived, but my dc did enjoy it. I let them have a couple of books and they enjoyed their Ninjago spinner sets, which thankfully were not hugely expensive.
I agree that Legos are very expensive... what a shame when they are such a great toy. The Pleygo site lets you rent Lego sets in a similar fashion to NetFlix. They are based out of California, though- so if you live close by I think it would be a great deal. If you live on the east coast you are limited by the week or so it takes to send and receive a set in the mail.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Topic: Lego Ninjago opinions
