LEGO Monkie Kid - Monkey King Warrior Mech - 80012

Product Information

Windscreen 6 x 4 x 1 Hexagonal with Handle in White (6341902 | 27262) - also seen in White Dragon Horse Jet, 80028 The Bone Demon and 80006 White Dragon Horse Bike

Macaque’s face shows that he has fully embraced darkness, now forever with the red markings of anger, this guy isn’t here to mess around.Plate Special 1 x 2 with Pin Hole on Top in Dark Turquoise (6336511 | 11458) - additionally in 40448 Vintage Car, 10294 Titanic and 43200 Antonio's Magical Door One minor correction—while Monkie Kid's torso is indeed exclusive to this set, I think his legs are also used for Mei's similar armor in the Yellow Tusk Elephant set. I'm looking forward to seeing those two figs side by side! The legs and head for Monkey King also look like they appear in an upcoming polybag set (though that set seems to use an older torso). Combination models like this one often disappoint, either because the separate vehicles are not integrated naturally, or because their bulky structure hinders play. Fortunately, this example was a pleasant surprise, especially since 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet do seem like genuine companions, but are also enjoyable alone. That the model stands is itself an engineering miracle, for just how heavy the final build actually feels. Yet, in stabilising its weight, securing its knees and minimising the mobility of the other joints, this is a giant mech that can’t move all that much. If at all.

The comments calling this a downgrade are funny. The review itself shows that both mechs are eye to eye in terms of height; the new one has much more intimidating and natural shaping which frees up movement in the arms; and, of course, the "horns" are and always have in fact been plumes, so they should be floppy! While a dimension of play is lost in removing the original's tiny enemy mech and side building, the new mech introduces new features to make up for it: spring-loaded guns, glowing "golden gaze" eyes, and a modular detachable jet. The original mech has no functions of its own, and its weight and limited articulation don't lend themselves to action figure style play, either. This mech maintains the size and visual beauty of its predecessor while integrating actual play features! I do wish that the Azure Lion had a small mech or build, since this is his only appearance and his allies each have one in the other sets they respectively appear in, but it couldn't possibly rival the main course here anyway— the tiny bull mech from 2020 is more funny than fun to play with. All things considered, this Monkey Mech is definitely on par with the original, and while it may not be different enough to attract some collectors, it's great in its own right."As it is, we have two giant mechs to sit on the shelves and look menacingly awesome, just so long as they aren’t asked to change stance, or walk. And don’t dust them too heavily because things will ping off, argh! — LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech characters — The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author. Minifigures Chill out with Monkie Kid in his bedroom above Pigsy’s noodle shop. But watch out - here come General Ironclad and Growl, causing trouble! Climb Flower Fruit Mountain and use the power of The Golden Staff to create the mighty Monkey King Warrior Mech. Bash those Bull Clones with the huge staff. Make the staff bigger if you need to! You must save the civilians... and their delicious noodle meals! [1] Both 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech and 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech are great, somewhat static mechs. If one worked for you, the other definitely will. LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech pros

After creating the mech, MK let Mei use the mech to hold off the Bull Clones while he stops the Demon Bull King. Mei later used the mech to rescue MK when a boulder was about to fall on him. Perhaps most interesting of all, however, is Mr. Tang. This minifigure takes inspiration from Tang Sanzang, the Buddhist monk who led the heroes in Journey to the West and in turn inspired the LEGO character in Monkie Kid! The costume portrayed here appeared briefly in an illustration during the series' pilot episode, atop Flower Fruit Mountain. While the shoulder armour is bulky, the arms remain free to move and the ball-jointed wrists are particularly useful for posing. The elbow joints are more limited, but are again sufficient to create dynamic combat stances. Moreover, I like the large fingers, which can firmly grip Monkey King's staff, with assistance from Technic axles on the palms. I find the booster assembly's shape even more appealing when viewed from the side, although the trans-red canopy is noticeable. Official images have shown that the boosters, golden swords and wrist blades can be reconfigured into a jet, which is ingenious. Even so, I wonder whether this canopy could have been transformed into a prison cell, for example.Tile Special 2 x 3 Pentagonal in Bright Green (6334125 | 35341) - previously only in 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet which Aron Gerencsér reviewed for us in February 2021 - also now in Yellow Tusk Elephantand Monkie Kid's Team Hideout As a fan and collector of Monkie Kid, I'm of two minds about these two sets. For me personally, they feel a bit inessential—the "hero" characters are all repeats from earlier sets (albeit good ones, and in MK's case a rare variant), while the "villain" characters are in one of the larger sets as well. These sets also don't have much else that's exclusive, apart from those tasty-looking Trans Bright Green blades in Mei's jet. Zander:How many posts have you ever read about a “spider mech”? Rules are created specifically to exclude Star Wars, and then set aside as soon as the discussion turns to pretty much any other IP or original creation."

Having not kept up with the television show, we can’t speak to the accuracy of this LEGO model nor where context might explain particular aspects to its appearance, but from a pure build and LEGO viewpoint, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is an impressive and notably huge mech, covered in extravagant detail and colour. You really feel the entire 1,705 pieces in putting this together and can see where the depth and extra design considerations have been made – from the feet all the way up to the head, there is a 360-degree level of attention that has gone into this model, resulting in something that looks entirely implausible but totally fun from pretty much any angle. Oh, for sure—Voltron was another step forward (among other things, its shoulder construction went on to inform the designs of the 2020 Monkie Kid mechs). Bowser is an interesting case since while his arms are hinged similarly to modern mechs, his legs are designed "loose" so they can move realistically as you puppet him around.It’s a hefty investment, but it’s for a hefty LEGO set that will take enough of your time and attention to put together to make it worth it. If it could fully run around and pose like a lot of other LEGO mechs then it would be a sure winner, but for what it is, there’s little to otherwise be disappointed by. What is fascinating to build and then to take in as a final piece is not very playable at all. The quite frustrating feature of some of the smaller pieces wanting to ping off every time you even just breathe too close to it could be overlooked if its range of movement was any greater than a couple of different standing poses. Unfortunately, though, LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech feels restricted out of necessity. To get this thing to stand at all is a real achievement, but the result is a compromise on play, which for this being the flagship set of a theme very much targeted at a younger LEGO audience, feels a little counterintuitive. This set’s strengths speak to an older audience that may not be even looking at this theme in the LEGO store. LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is the flagship release in the January 2023 wave of Monkie Kid sets, continuing to be loosely based on the 16th-century tale Journey to the West, reimagined somewhat for a modern audience (not sure how many mechs there were some 500 years ago in China). Let children create their own awesome battle stories with this LEGO® Monkie Kid™ toy playset (80022), featuring the Spider Queen’s Spider Arachnoid Base mech/mobile HQ. Monkey King Ultra Mech introduces another exclusive Monkie Kid minifigure, featuring extraordinarily ornate armour! This colour combination of white, pearl silver and light bluish grey differs from his more familiar figures, but the decoration is excellent and corresponds with Mei in 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant, albeit with red accents on the torso rather than green.