We’re just three weeks out from the grand launch of the vast majority of LEGO 2016 sets, but there’s at least one theme that I haven’t touched upon at all yet: Ninjago! As we inch ever closer to the upcoming Ninjago movie hitting theaters, the series continues in full force next year. And the Ninjago theme for the first half of 2016 is a continuation of what we saw at San Diego Comic Con 2015–Sky Pirates! And of this new wave of Sky Pirates set, there’s one that caught my attention more than any other: Jay’s Elemental Dragon 70602!

From fighting Snake Men to battling diabolical technology in the future, the Ninjago ninjas have pretty much done it all! But this winter, they’ll be taking to the air like never before–to battle sky pirates!! Hey, everybody loves pirates, right?

When I first heard that the 2016 Ninjago theme was going to be “sky pirates”, I definitely raised an eyebrow at the notion. But now that I’ve actually seen the sets that TLG has in the works, well–these sky pirate sets give off a real steampunk vibe, and this turns out to be one of my favorite batches of Ninjago sets ever!

Like most Ninjago dragons, the 12″ long Jay’s Elemental Dragon has ball-joints all over the place, making this dragon super-poseable at the head, neck, legs, knees, wings and tail. He’s even got a snapping jaw and some intimidating large teeth!

I do wish that this poor guy got a better name than “Jay’s Elemental Dragon”, but with his surprisingly cool-looking electrical decals and mixture of translucent blue and opaque pieces that he’s comprised of, I think this is one of the better-looking dragons that we’ve seen released as part of the Ninjago theme. Does anyone else get a wee bit of a “Toothless” (How to Train Your Dragon) vibe from this dragon, or am I imagining things…?

I was pretty satisfied with the multitude of Jay minifigures that I already have, but the black and blue costume this Jay is wearing matches his new mount so perfectly that I really don’t mind yet another Jay minifig. Nice design!

Meanwhile, Cyren’s Pirate Flyer may be small, but it turns out to be a tun of fun! The front of the ship is basically just a six-barrel rapid stud shooter with a pirate sword mounted on the side, which looks to make the aircraft pretty lethal (despite being a mite small).

But wait–Cyren has a few more tricks up her sleeve! Not only does the Cyren minifigure include a special Djinn blade sword (with translucent blue blade and “captured Nya element”–whatever that means), but she’s also got her own pirate monkey (Monkey Wretch) with harpoon hook shooter! Female air pirate with harpoon-launching pirate monkey…? Yes, please!!

LEGO 70602 Jay’s Elemental Dragon and the rest of the LEGO Ninjago 2016 sets should be released online and in retail stores in January/February 2016. I didn’t expect this theme to be one of the ones available on January 1st, but with some shoppers already finding the Marvel sets I didn’t expect until February in stores now, all bets are off! Regardless of when I first spot it in stores, though, Jay’s Elemental Dragon is definitely the one Ninjago winter 2016 set that’s a must-buy for me.

What do you think of the Ninjago Jay’s Elemental Dragon set, brick fans? Are you bored with dragons after the sheer number of them released as part of this theme, or does Jay’s new dragon manage to, well… ‘electrify’ you? =D