LEGO NINJAGO 71861 The Old Town is designed to be extended with more modules, and its designer pitched it to be the start of a new collection.
LEGO NINJAGO 71861 The Old Town is the biggest 15th-anniversary build launching in the theme next year, celebrating the theme's birthday with a new kind of build instead of a familiar location or a known concept such as NINJAGO City. Designer Lee Chi Wing has already revealed why 71861 The Old Town isn't a NINJAGO City entry, but his reasoning extends to the hope that fans will be inspired by the build.
You might have heard of NINJAGO City, but a NINJAGO Town collection might be right around the corner, should Lee get his way. The designer has shared more insight into the initial pitch for 71861 The Old Town and his hopes regarding custom modules and maybe even a new NINJAGO set collection.
"If you want to expand it, there's also the chance to expand it because it's modular," Lee said to Bricks By Mind. "I saw some speculation from people wishing it were a modular, and to me, what's cool about modulars is how you can customise and play around with them.
"Technically, this set has more modularity than any of the NINJAGO City sets, because the kind of modular system we had there is like, every set is a block, and all you can do is arrange them differently. But in 71861 The Old Town, when you rearrange the modules, you can create a lot of different layouts."
71861 The Old Town may not be a baseplate-driven modular like NINJAGO City's sets, but Lee is correct in that the set is modular. The circular town is made up of four modules that you can rearrange into a wall-like structure, but the multi-angle connection points which this straight formation requires mean that you can arrange the four sections in other curves to create something unique.
Lee hopes that this modularity will inspire fans to create custom additions to the town, similar to the many fan-made modules online for NINJAGO City
"I really hope that this set will inspire people to make their own modules, because I remember when I was a fan of collecting the modular buildings, I always wanted to build my own modulars, but it's so intimidating to think about building a whole modular building," Lee continued.
"And it's the same, I assume, for NINJAGO City. I think there are a lot of fans out there who want to expand their NINJAGO City, but they are always such complicated models. It's very daunting to try to think of another module. But with 71861 The Old Town, another module can be anything. It can be a bridge, a wall, or a little building. I really hope that people will be encouraged to extend the town."
While making a custom multi-level NINJAGO City module is undoubtedly daunting, the community is filled with custom entries into the range, sometimes taking parts of other official sets and seamlessly integrating them into the varied cityscape.
Theoretically, it will be easier and more approachable to adapt official sets to the style of 71861 The Old Town, and it will be interesting to see just how the community responds to the set when it launches next month. The community's reaction to 71861 The Old Town is more crucial than you might expect, though, potentially determining whether the LEGO Group will start an all-new NINJAGO set collection.
"Will there be more modules for 71861 The Old Town? I don't know. When I pitched the idea, I was suggesting that the door is always open, because once you unplug a chunk at the back, there's an open connection point that you can maybe make a future set that connects to it, but I guess it hinges on how well it sells."
The designer does not outright confirm that 71861 The Old Town is the start of a new collection, but that was part of the intent when it was pitched, and as they say, that door is now open if it is received well enough. 71861 The Old Town features 4,851 pieces and 24 minifigures for £269.99 / $299.99 / €299.99. You can pick up the set starting from January 1, 2026. In the meantime, check out our thorough review of this major NINJAGO release.
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