What's next for the modular LEGO NINJAGO City series?

The fifth entry into LEGO NINJAGO City adds a mech and more to the range, leaving the question of what's left to cover following the workshops.

LEGO 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is a standout entry into the long-running modular city collection, adding a mech and its corresponding workshop and parts storage. This follows the usual array of futuristic buildings blended with Asian-inspired architecture and the likes of a cable car more recently.

With news that 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops may be alone on shelves by next year, hopefully, the collection has at least one more set in it – leaving us to ponder the question of what is left to cover in the expansive NINJAGO City collection.

Based on the five sets released so far and what they have and have not managed to include, here's what we think might be next for the collection. This is only speculation, but rest assured that 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops will expand the range on March 1 for £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99.

One final corner

Across the five sets so far, NINJAGO City currently spans seven full 32-stud baseplates wide or almost creates a full loop measuring four baseplates long and two deep. This offers a clear opportunity for the next addition to NINJAGO City – one more corner.

A standard one-baseplate corner entry into NINJAGO City would be perfect to close off this loop, though such a model would be more awkward to display with the rest of the range in a straight line. The NINJAGO City designers have had much more experience with corner modules, and closing out the range as it started in 2017 would be an ideal way to end the collection – maybe even redesigning the original 70620 NINJAGO City.

A NINJAGO City train

The LEGO NINJAGO City set boxes have been known to tease future entries, starting with the pig sculpture on the box of 70620 NINJAGO City, which then appeared in 70657 NINJAGO City Docks. This has been the only clear instance of a future set tease, but there's at least some precedent for it.

With this in mind, the box art for 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops is especially interesting for including a form of transportation other than boats – a train or monorail system weaving through the skyline.

A small monorail-style train similar to that which is included in 80036 The City of Lanterns would be an innovative addition to LEGO NINJAGO City, perhaps including options to expand the track to stretch across the rest of the city range. LEGO Monkie Kid's similarly futuristic and cyberpunk-esque city model has already proven that this concept can work in a small space.

A dragon-centric model

Since its beginning, NINJAGO has always revolved around three core concepts – mechs, temples and dragons. This has remained true for the past 14 years and has even affected NINJAGO City. Temples and their related architecture have always been present in the collection and are explicitly included in 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens. There's a mech in the heart of 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops too, just leaving Dragons from debuting in the city collection.

While you might assume that fitting dragons into NINJAGO City is impossible, you might have thought the same about mechs before 71837 NINJAGO City Workshops. The collection's diverse nature means that nothing is entirely off the table with the correct approach. A dragon hatchery, refuge or even a transportation port would be a suitable fit in the future, adding something unique compared to every other NINJAGO City set.

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