Micro NINJAGO City Gardens — B- · The Brick Drop Score
B-
The Drop Score
Micro NINJAGO City Gardens
40705-1 · Ninjago
Early read · 2 reviews
Micro NINJAGO City Gardens squeezes a whole skyline into a tiny footprint, but the C across the board says it never quite punches through to must-have territory — it's a decent nod to a beloved set that stops just short of special.
Is the price fair?AFair but not exciting — you're not getting hurt, but you're not getting a deal either.
Will you love it?CCute tribute to an icon, but the magic of the original doesn't survive the downscale.
Holds its value?CAll three grades landed C, and that kind of middling profile rarely builds secondary-market momentum.
True ValueA
$18
Street price
$26
Parts value
149%
Ratio
The parts alone are worth about 149% of the street price — the basis for this A price read.
What you get
Plain bricks
$24
Functional piecescalc
$2
BargainThe parts alone are worth more than you pay — $26 of parts for $18.
The Full Take
The original NINJAGO City Gardens is one of the most ambitious sets LEGO® has ever made, so shrinking it down into a micro build is a fun idea on paper. In practice, the result is charming but thin — you get the silhouette without much of the soul. At 376 pieces with no minifigs, the build is short and the shelf presence is modest compared to what this IP can deliver. The price lands in a middling zone: not a steal, not a rip-off, just kind of there. For die-hard Ninjago fans it reads as a nice little companion piece rather than a centerpiece. The micro-scale technique work is tidy enough, but there's not a single jaw-dropping moment in the build. Straight C all the way down — it's fine, and sometimes fine is the harshest thing you can say.
