The story of NINJAGO is much more than a product launch in January 2011, however. Months of research, testing, building, playing and testing again went ahead of the launch. The story had to be built from the simple idea of the ninja to an entire universe of heroes and villains, of weapons and vehicles, of skills and unique personalities.

Plenty more drawings follow in the first few weeks – hundreds of them steadily build up the content. Through numerous focus groups the content is tested and re-tested, and children seem to love the concept boards and the ninja. Appealing as the story and ninja characters are, one problem remains. Children in the focus groups cannot tell good guys from bad.

Working in a few different directions to find the best bunch of villains, the design team eventually settles on the Skulkins – an army of skeletons from the Underworld. The Skulkins are easy to relate to and easy to recognize as the villains of the story. They answer to the evil Lord Garmadon, who sends them out to claim the Golden weapons in the pilot episodes of the story.

The design team also learned from children in the focus groups that it is difficult to relate to four almost identical ninjas – all dressed in the traditional black. Introducing colours – red, blue, black and white – helps. And because it is a playful universe the ninja can have any colour imaginable.

Settling on four different colours (+ a green one later on) for the main characters the story begins to build, and the characters begin to take form. All four boys possess unique skills and personalities, their names are changed from Dante, Poe, Blake and Whitman to Kai, Jay, Cole and Zane. And they are ready to launch.

Adding an element of action play and not merely developing a construction toy, the design team comes up with the spinners for the piloting season. With a spinner – one for each ninja – the ancient martial art called Spinjitzu transforms the ninja into tornado. A tornado so strong that it seems impossible to defeat. The collectible cards, special weapons and minifigures spinning against each other in the battle arena are built into the storyline.

Spinjitzu is the ancient form of martial arts created by the First Spinjitzu Master (FSM) – the father of two key characters in the story. Sensei Wu, who serves as the wise old mentor of the four protagonists, and his evil counterpart; none other than his own brother, the darkest of lords, Garmadon. The FSM was nearly immortal and lived for thousands of years. His sons inherited a similar immortality, and they are both more than a thousand years old.

Developing a brand new play theme takes more than awesome martial arts, four cool kids, and a bunch of nasty villains. To become a successful homegrown IP it has to work on multiple platforms. Children already know the ninja characters pretty well. The key to success is to build an entire universe around the characters. Temples, monasteries, dojos, vehicles, dragons, and irresistibly captivating stories that engage an audience much broader than the original target group.

The temple is an icon of ninja culture, hence the Fire Temple #2507 launches in the pilot season in 2011. Plenty of minifigures, lots of action and even a fire dragon almost breathing its own element.

The Skeleton Army – known as the Skulkins – are defeated in the pilot episodes early 2011. Later, young Lloyd Garmadon accidentally wakes up a new enemy: the Serpentine with its five unique tribes all worshipping the Great Devourer. In later seasons a Stone Army, NINDROIDS, Sky Pirates and even ghosts make sure there is never a moment of peace in NINJAGO City.

LEGO NINJAGO launch January 2011 as a Big Bang product line. A Big Bang has a scheduled life span of no more than three years. It is backed by solid marketing activities, and it spreads from mere LEGO boxes to tv-series, lifestyle products, video games etc. According to the exit strategy NINJAGO is meant to end its retail career in late 2013, leaving room for a brand new homegrown IP: LEGO Legends of Chima.

The NINJAGO exit strategy has to be revised, however. Co-existing with Chima throughout 2013, the customers and consumers keep requesting more NINJAGO. Taking their voices into account the play theme continues. Year after year. Until 2017, when it is decided to restructure the portfolio and include NINJAGO in the group of evergreen play themes alongside LEGO Friends and LEGO City.

The original idea of adding an element of action into the product line has continued over the years. The spinners are replaced by Airjitzus in 2015, and since then other types of twirling accessories have sent the ninjas flying. Dragon Master, Spinjitzu Slam and Spinjitzu Burst to name a few.

The four ninjas we met in the pilot season, Nya, Lloyd and the rest of the crew remain relevant to far more children than originally intended. They are the heroes in a universe that knows no boundaries – in time nor in space. They work in TV-series, in LEGO sets, on t-shirts and even on the silver screen. Stories about friendship, collaboration, and good versus evil never grow old. The story has only just begun…