LEGO Monkie Kid 2021

[Lady Bone Demon]

The many shout outs to old LEGO in City of Lanterns (especially weirder parts of LEGO history like ZNAP and the old mascot) are delightful. Didn't think it was possible to love this theme more than I already did.

[TeriXeri]

Just built 80020: White Dragon Horse Jet and it's even better in person then on images.

Quite a heavy compact build with lots of great pieces for spaceships, and the vending machine that actually works can be easily added to some town.

[Lyichir]

2 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

Just built 80020: White Dragon Horse Jet and it's even better in person then on images.

Quite a heavy compact build with lots of great pieces for spaceships, and the vending machine that actually works can be easily added to some town.

It's a truly lovely set. One small part (among many) of why I'm so looking forward to Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer next year is that I think it is the work of the same designer, Chris T. Perron (whose initials are visible on one of the internal stickered viewscreens).

Speaking of that vending machine, I've been working on trying to come up with additional modules for the City of Lanterns set and that's another nice bit of scenery that might be worth integrating into that modular format somehow.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Lyichir

[Meaf]

I got the Flower Fruit Mountain a few weeks ago, and as I expected it's a fantastic set, easily my second favorite of 2021 after Ninjago City Gardens. The build itself just looks great, and the back/interior sections are surprisingly detailed. The features are all very cool, especially the movable waterfall. And I also think the minifigure selection is great, I like all the monkeys and Black Macaque is fantastic (though I do think the 2022 version is better). Overall a great set and my favorite of the theme I own, which is crazy since I already thought the Monkey King's Mech was a sublime set (and among the best Lego mechs ever made).

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

Anyone saw a review of the spaceship yet?

[Lyichir]

10 hours ago, Kim-Kwang-Seok said:

Anyone saw a review of the spaceship yet?

Not yet! I've searched multiple times too since today is technically the first day the sets are available outside of review copies (general release in China). Of course I haven't checked Chinese sites or social media which is likely where some of the earliest impressions and such will come from. I'm eager to see some better looks at the set and its sticker sheet so I can complete my documentation of translations and easter eggs in the new set.

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

16 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Not yet! I've searched multiple times too since today is technically the first day the sets are available outside of review copies (general release in China). Of course I haven't checked Chinese sites or social media which is likely where some of the earliest impressions and such will come from. I'm eager to see some better looks at the set and its sticker sheet so I can complete my documentation of translations and easter eggs in the new set.

Unfortunate - I won't buy it or any of the others but it's quite respectable and I'd love to at least see a review

As a kid I'm sure I would have loved the current wave.

[Vindicare]

Just built Sandy’s Power Loader Mech. Another fantastic set & build from this theme. It’s such a shame this theme isn’t getting the exposure it deserves. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Vindicare

[a guy from somewhere]

35 minutes ago, Vindicare said:

Just built Sandy’s Power Loader Mech. Another fantastic set & build from this theme. It’s such a shame this theme isn’t getting the exposure it deserves. 

I agree and disagree with this. First off, I do also think this theme needs more exposure, mainly to the western market. Its one of the top selling themes in the east, where it is based of the well known myth. However in the west it's a different (ahem) story. The characters are not recognised, and its not something thats wildly talked about. There's been a couple of tv shows and movies centred around journey to the west, however I do believe that this line is the largest push to the west the journey to the west has ever had. I'm trying to read the book as well, and its got me really interested in Chinese culture, and I'm loving it. As for disagreeing, its obvious. The sets are selling in china, and they're getting exposure. We just aren't seeing it. I do wish that the west did get a bit more interest in the theme but for now im happy with it. All the more sets for us! 

On another note, im thinking of picking up the new macaque mech, and I also want to get the fire ring set, however I love everything about the fire ring set except the ring itself. Its not my type of build, but the figs, the macaque speeder, the bone throne, it all looks so cool. But the wheel is driving up the price and driving me away. Its a tough one. Does anyone know if the sets are still able to be found in lego stores on sale? I would like to pick up some of the older sets as well, but they're sold out on lego.com and one of the most prominent members of the MK community (my brick opinions) did find some on sale in a lego store, however that was in the US. I'm asking about UK stores. I firmly doubt it, as I saw the 1st and 2nd wave on sale a couple of months ago and I doubt they would still be available now. I still kick myself for not getting the cloud roadster at 30% off. 

[Lyichir]

2 hours ago, a guy from somewhere said:

I agree and disagree with this. First off, I do also think this theme needs more exposure, mainly to the western market. Its one of the top selling themes in the east, where it is based of the well known myth. However in the west it's a different (ahem) story. The characters are not recognised, and its not something thats wildly talked about. There's been a couple of tv shows and movies centred around journey to the west, however I do believe that this line is the largest push to the west the journey to the west has ever had. I'm trying to read the book as well, and its got me really interested in Chinese culture, and I'm loving it. As for disagreeing, its obvious. The sets are selling in china, and they're getting exposure. We just aren't seeing it. I do wish that the west did get a bit more interest in the theme but for now im happy with it. All the more sets for us! 

On another note, im thinking of picking up the new macaque mech, and I also want to get the fire ring set, however I love everything about the fire ring set except the ring itself. Its not my type of build, but the figs, the macaque speeder, the bone throne, it all looks so cool. But the wheel is driving up the price and driving me away. Its a tough one. Does anyone know if the sets are still able to be found in lego stores on sale? I would like to pick up some of the older sets as well, but they're sold out on lego.com and one of the most prominent members of the MK community (my brick opinions) did find some on sale in a lego store, however that was in the US. I'm asking about UK stores. I firmly doubt it, as I saw the 1st and 2nd wave on sale a couple of months ago and I doubt they would still be available now. I still kick myself for not getting the cloud roadster at 30% off. 

I do wish the theme were more popular outside of Asia, but less because I'm worried for its future or anything than because a) I wouldn't mind more fans to interact with online in general and b) I feel like its lack of global reach may be part of why we've gotten very little tie-in media (books, video games, etc.) beyond the show.

But of course the latter probably has just as much to do with the fact that across the board Lego's media strategy seems to have shifted dramatically from the kind of media saturation that was typical for themes like early Ninjago, Chima, or Nexo Knights toward a smaller scale, more focused approach. I've heard that part of why Lego has drawn down the number of tie-in books has just as much to do with the instability of in-person schooling during the pandemic, since apparently school book fairs are a major driver of kids' licensed books like the sorts of chapter books or guidebooks that other themes have gotten in the past. Perhaps when (or at this point, if) things start to approach a state of normalcy, that kind of thing might rebound. I personally hope so, since that tends to be one of the many reasons why I tend to enjoy Lego's in-house story themes over licenses or open-ended themes like City.

[Vindicare]

3 hours ago, a guy from somewhere said:

I agree and disagree with this. First off, I do also think this theme needs more exposure, mainly to the western market. Its one of the top selling themes in the east, where it is based of the well known myth. However in the west it's a different (ahem) story. The characters are not recognised, and its not something thats wildly talked about. There's been a couple of tv shows and movies centred around journey to the west, however I do believe that this line is the largest push to the west the journey to the west has ever had. I'm trying to read the book as well, and its got me really interested in Chinese culture, and I'm loving it. As for disagreeing, its obvious. The sets are selling in china, and they're getting exposure. We just aren't seeing it. I do wish that the west did get a bit more interest in the theme but for now im happy with it. All the more sets for us! 

That’s what I meant by exposure. There hasn’t been a thing about them in the last few catalogs & they don’t even sell them in their own stores over here. The only avenue is online. My hope was that they would show up in Target as they get exclusive sets now. But if they pulled them from stores, I don’t see that happening anymore. I can only guess the first wave(which I did see in stores) didn’t sell as well as they hoped to keep the shelf space.

As much as the rest of the world clamored for the CNY sets(even though they are very different) they have to know the interest is there.