Monkie Kid

Building Outside the Box: 80047 Mei’s Guardian Dragon [Hands On Review]

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Is this one of the best LEGO Dragon Sets Ever?

Fun Fact: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first ever LEGO Dragon being released, as part of the Dragon Knights range in 1993. This year, we have seen lots of dragons appearing in Ninjago Core, as well as the forthcoming Dragons Rising series. However, Ninjago does not have the Monopoly on LEGO Dragons.

Dragons are frequent characters in The Journey to the West, the novel which inspires the Monkie Kid range. We recently looked at the 80049 Dragon of the East Palace – and Mei is descended from the Yu Long, the White Dragon horse, 3rd son of the Dragon of the West – brother of the Dragon of the East, featured in that set. As such, it is quite reasonable for Mei to have a Guardian Dragon, probably sent by her ancestors, to provide protection in times of trouble.

This set was sent to me by the LEGO Group for review purposes, and I’ll admit, there was something intriguing about its appearance from the outset, that I couldn’t initially put my finger on. But we will get to that later.

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80049 Dragon of the East Palace: Cultural Context and Hands-On Review

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The Palace of the Dragon of the East Sea is a key location in both the animated series Monkie Kid, as well as in the classic novel, The Journey to the West. Set 80049 Dragon of the East Palace focuses on the original story, which tells of how the Monkey King gained his staff, while also providing references to the animated series. Let’s take a look at the set, one of the more splendid builds from the Monkie Kid range – due for release in June 2023. In fact, you might almost mistaken it for a castle set!

At the time I received this set (kind thanks to the LEGO group for sending it over for an early review: all opinions are mine), I had not spent any time reading The Journey to the West. I had watched the 1978 Japanese production of Monkey, featuring dubbed English dialogue, back when it was screened in Australia as an evening show for a few years in the 80s. But not since then. So I relished the opportunity to return to the source.

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Monkie Kid on a Budget: 80040 Monkie Kid’s Combi Mech/ 80041 Mei’s Dragon Flyer [Hands On review]

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One of the criticisms offered to the early waves of Monkie Kid sets is the relatively high prices, compared with other playsets, for what is essentially an in-house IP. The sets themselves have not been bad value, more tending towards the higher end of the spectrum, with the initial wave featuring no sets for less than $50AUD. As such, I was quite excited to see that there were a couple of playsets in the upcoming 2023 wave with sets retailing for the much more palatable 32.99AUD. That’s right: Not one, but two!

80040 Monkie Kid’s Combi Mech and 80041 Mei’s Dragon Jet. Both sets are great standalone sets, but they also have the capacity to join together to form a larger vehicle: in part serving to introduce the target market to the idea of mixing and merging LEGO sets together.

Both Mei and Monkie Kid have fairly distinctive colour blocking in all of their sets: MK’s are red, gold, teal, and yellow, while Mei’s vehicles are almost all white, lime green, teal, bright green and lime green (which a touch of vibrant Yellow.) The near exclusive use of these colours, with the exception with grey and black elements for joints and hinges leaves me thinking back to the space themes of the 80’s and 90s, where themes were defined by a specific palette, although in this case, we have parallel streams representing different characters.

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80045 Monkie King Ultra Mech [Rambling Review]

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For a theme steeped in classical Chinese mythology, Monkie Kid continues to bring us some of the LEGO Group’s best homegrown Science Fiction type content: mechs, flyers and drivers, along with more organic elements, including animals and landscapes. The latest wave is no exception. Now entering its fourth year/season we see a refresh of the original 80012 Monkie King Warrior Mech. Manifested through sheer willpower by MK, it makes sense that as he develops his powers, the mech will become upgraded. I initially started thinking about this set as MK Ultra… and then I was reminded about the use of this designation for the CIA’s experiments into mind control in the ’60s and ’70s.

I was excited when the opportunity to take a pre-release look at this set came along, and I appreciate the LEGO Group sending it over for an early review.

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New Spring Festival, Monkie Kid and Duplo sets revealed at CIEE5.

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Today, at the Chinese International Import Expo, the LEGO group unveiled some of the most anticipated sets for the new year.

Announced at the expo, and streamed on WeChat, we saw new sets in Duplo, Monkie Kid, and also commemorating the Year of the Rabbit. I apologize for the quality of images, caputered from the live stream of the press conference.

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Monkie Kid Seasons 1-3 Now Available to Stream in Australia

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Over the last few years, the LEGO® Monkie Kid theme has provided us with an imaginative, and somewhat colourful collection of sets, incorporating both fantasy and science fiction themes. However, the animated series has been available in only a patchy fashion in Australia, despite being the home of the animation studio.

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80032 Chang’e Moon Cake Factory [Hands-On Review]

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The 2022 Monkie Kid sets continue to delight and surprise me with the diversity of their content. Having looked already at the the Staff Creations, City of Lanterns, and Mei’s Dragon racer, this set takes us off world, and brings us a different type of playset.

In Chinese legend, Chang’e is the goddess of the moon, accompanied in some versions of the story by a Jade Rabbit or hare – based on the shape of the shadows cast on the moon. The rabbit is said to be pounding herbs, or making mooncakes. And so in this set, we see s mashup, with Chang’e and her rabbits overseeing a Moon Cake Factory.

Moon Cakes are traditionaly part of the mid autumn festival, and wonder if we will see aspects of this festival appearing in another set later in the year, or next year.

In this version, imagine Chang’e as a streamer, livestreaming the goings on at her mooncake factory, while playing games in her spare time. Living on the moon, she is accompanied by her rabbits, who pilot a rabbit shaped mech, while she has a rabbit shaped robot taking care of security. In the mean time, she sends boxes of Moon cakes back to earth… in a carrot shaped rocket. I have not had the chance to see how the story plays out in the Monkie Kid series yet, but I am looking forward to seeing how it pans out.

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80031: Mei’s Dragon Car – [Hands-on Review, With a New Hue]

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MK’s friend Mei is descended from dragons (and in particular, a dragon that took on the form of a horse). As such, she has acquired a number of Dragon themed vehiclesover the last few years.The latest wave is no exception, bringing us 80031 Mei’s Dragon Car.

The set comes with 4 minifigures, 456 parts, 3 vehicles and an eye burning new colour. Due for release on January 1, 2022, it will cost $AUD 69.99 / £34.99 / $USD49.99 / 39.99€. How does this set stand up for play value and building experience? Read on to find out.

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Monkie Kid 80036 The City of Lanterns – Full of easter eggs [Hands-on Review]

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Monkie Kid draws its inspiration from the Classical Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and in the closing moments of season 2 of the animated series, that is exactly where the Monkey King told MK and his friends that they would need to go: on a Journey to The West. I presume that the 2022 wave of sets relate to the path that this journey takes.

Today, I would like to present the flagship set of the wave: 80036 the City of Lanterns. with 2187 pieces, and 9 figures, the set presents some highlights from LEGO History, while embracing the spirit of the story.

While the set, along with the theme as a whole is said to be ‘…designed to be a fun, creative way for parents and grandparents to pass on legendary tales of the Monkey King to the next generation.’ This set also sets out to refresh the iconography of LEGO sets from the past, to educate a new market of its history and provide extra inspiration to older people who build it…just in time for the LEGO Group’s 90th birthday!

The set will go on sale on January 1 2022 from LEGO.com, ad branded retail stores. At this stage, I do not believe it will be routinely available from independent retailers in Australia.

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80030: Monkie Kid’s Staff Creations: New Elements, New Techniques

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Last week, the new Monkie Kid sets for 2022 were revealed at LEGO.com. Across the range, we see a mashup of old-school space, along with an appearance from classic town. This compares with Ninjago, which often brings more of a mashup of science-fiction/Space and medieval fantasy/Castle vibe to the picture.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll bring you reviews of most of the sets coming up in the new Monkie Kid wave – and it looks like it will have something for everyone.

Today, I’d like to start with 80030 Monkey King Staff Creations. This set has 309 pieces and will retail for $49.99 AUD; $34.99 USD;$44.99 CAD; £24.99 GBP; €29.99. It comes with 2 minifigures: Monkie Kid/MK and Monkey King.

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