LEGO Monkie Kid 2020

[TeriXeri]

6 hours ago, Grey Magistrate said:

I just built Red Son's Inferno Truck.  It's great!  It gives off a Nexo Knights vibe, right down to the trans-neon orange styling.  It reminds me of an updated version of Jestro's Headquarters.  I didn't think anything could distract me from Nexo Knights, but I am thinking maybe I should give this Monkie Kid a try...if only because I can cannibalize the parts later for Nexo builds.

I love the Neon Orange parts on the Monkey Kid sets for sure, I was a big collector of Nexo Knights.

But right now my main focus is on collecting the new summer Ninjago wave, since Monkey Kid isn't getting any discounts as long as it's LEGO.com Exclusive.

But the White Horse Bike set still looks decent, so at some point I might get that one.

Edited June 9, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Pulp Detective]

So do we know when the english dub for the cartoon will drop? 

[Odin]

It can be found on YouTube if you look for Monkie Kid: A Hero is Born 

[Lyichir]

1 hour ago, Odin said:

It can be found on YouTube if you look for Monkie Kid: A Hero is Born 

I just watched it!

As is probably to be expected, it doesn't really shed much light on future sets since it mostly focuses on the existing set contents. The only key character who hasn't shown up in any sets yet is Tang (the bespectacled storyteller who accompanies the other main heroes), who I do hope shows up in a set at some point. And of course like Ninjago City before it, the urban setting offers no shortage of potential street scenes that could be made into their own sets or included as part of larger sets like the ones in the Monkey King Warrior Mech and Red Son's Inferno Truck. I also think it'd be cool to get printed animals (either molded or brick built) representing some of Monkey King's transformations in future sets!

Edited June 14, 2020 by Lyichir

[Pulp Detective]

Watched it.It's pretty much a 40 minute ad for the sets and nothing else.I was expecting this to be like the Ninjago show,with an expanded lore and some decent characters.The setting is ripe with potential considering that it's based on the 'Journey to the West" and acts as sequel of sorts.

Edited June 14, 2020 by LOTR34

[GarmaFan]

31 minutes ago, LOTR34 said:

Watched it.It's pretty much a 40 minute ad for the sets and nothing else.I was expecting this to be like the Ninjago show,with an expanded lore and some decent characters.The setting is ripe with potential considering that it's based on the 'Journey to the West" and acts as sequel of sorts.

Hard to have a whole expanded lore like Ninjago when it's only 40 minutes compared to 12 seasons.

[Pulp Detective]

37 minutes ago, GarmaFan said:

Hard to have a whole expanded lore like Ninjago when it's only 40 minutes compared to 12 seasons.

I wasn't talking about a massive lore dump, just small bits and pieces sprinkled here and there.

[Lego David]

8 hours ago, GarmaFan said:

Hard to have a whole expanded lore like Ninjago when it's only 40 minutes compared to 12 seasons.

When you compare the Ninjago Pilot Season with the first two Episodes of Monkie Kid, Ninjago felt like it did it better. 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Lego David

[Lyichir]

20 hours ago, LOTR34 said:

I wasn't talking about a massive lore dump, just small bits and pieces sprinkled here and there.

This show had that, though. A lot of the scenes recounting Monkey King's past exploits, including the intro, MK describing the contents of his journal (which, by the way, I seriously hope gets the physical book treatment like the Nexo Knights Book of Monsters did), and the visions MK has upon reaching Flower Fruit Mountain, showcase characters and stories from the original tale that have not yet become part of this new series.

I do hope that this isn't the only content we get for this year—even if we don't get any more full episodes, I hope that this might get the same treatment Ninjago and Elves did in their debut year with shorter webisodes featuring the same animation and voice cast as the rest of the series. This special did a good job putting together the basic structure of the series, and I don't feel like it was really lacking in terms of characterization or plot, but it'd be nice to flesh things out a little with things like the backstory for various characters.

[Robert8]

How is this even possible?

 

Is there someone inside TLG selling info or something?

Edited June 16, 2020 by Robert8

[Pulp Detective]

Good God it's hideous 

[Peppermint_M]

That looks like a mish-mash of Enlighten original sets (a lot of cool things popular in Chinese markets. I got hold of Monkey and company years ago from Enlighten sets) and some LEGO stuff.

[Vindicare]

Haha, wow. It’s weird seeing Sandy in minifig form.  They worked fast to get that out...

[Tobias_Jay]

4 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Is there someone inside TLG selling info or something?

Usually, it’s people inside the factories that leak pictures of pieces and sets to these knockoff brands (and to us). I believe it’s one of the main reasons LEGO don't showcase future sets at the public Toy Fairs anymore. The myriad pictures that were taken there and posted online were used by knockoff brands to replicate sets. 

It’s interesting that we didn’t see many leaks for Monkie Kid before the official unveiling, but obviously the people who shouldn’t see them did. A shame really.

[Robert8]

I think so too, they were sent pic from the sets assembled , but not the artbox because you can see the villain bull mifigure seems to be fighting the mech along with the heroes. So, whoever made this didnt know the bull dude is a villain and is supposed to be fighting against them

[Ninjaguy99]

What the heck is it even s'possed to BE!?!?!?

[Killian]

On 6/16/2020 at 9:24 PM, Robert8 said:

How is this even possible?

 

Is there someone inside TLG selling info or something?

I WANT IT!

 

I'm not a fan of bigfigs like Sandy. So I like the minifig version.

 

Just built the Dragon Horse Bike set today. I love the detail on the MK  and Mei figures. Looking forward to army building some Bull Clones too.

Glad I got the Monkie King  CMF last year to go with this line, as I don't want to buy the mech

 

 

I've been watching The New Legends of Monkey in preperation for collecting some Monkie Kid sets.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6807662/

[Faefrost]

On 6/14/2020 at 4:31 PM, LOTR34 said:

Watched it.It's pretty much a 40 minute ad for the sets and nothing else.I was expecting this to be like the Ninjago show,with an expanded lore and some decent characters.The setting is ripe with potential considering that it's based on the 'Journey to the West" and acts as sequel of sorts.

Agreed. I found it to be almost seizure inducing. No character development. Not even any explanation for any of the a Hero characters. Like why Does Mei show up like some sort of Superhero? The show is pure short attention span randomness blended with seizure inducing animation. 

I also picked up a few sets. My views are mixed. The builds seem decent. The minifigs get split right down the middle. The main cast such as Monkey Kid and his friends are some of Lego’s all time best minifigs. But every set undercuts that by piling in an equal number of identical Bull Minions. They compound this by giving each a specific name, even though there is no way to tell them apart. It just rubs salt in the wound. 

The line itself has some problems. The biggest being there is no reasonable entry point. The cheapest set is $35 US. There re no impulse sets. No small sets to hook the kids. For an 8 set theme, where you want the kids to collect the named characters, there are three sets well over $100 USD. Heck all three are above $120. With two at or over $150. Lego is normally much better at hitting a well balanced and scaled series of price points than this. 

It’s a nice theme with some really cool figs and a few fun sets. But It’s missing some desperately needed hooks and approachable pricing. The story elements need more polish. For most Western consumers the sum total of their exposure to Journey to the West begins and ends with Dragonball Z. Unless they are over age 50, and might remember the Great Alakazam movie when some tv stations would run it late on Christmas Day. Actually delving into the story and mythology instead of going with complete random visual hash in the videos might have made for more compelling characters, that you want to play with. But that’s just my opinion. 
 

With all that said the Monkey Kid minifig is currently competing with The a Hidden Side’s Wave 2 Jack with new hair and hood pieces as my favorites so far this year. 

 

[gedren_y]

13 minutes ago, Faefrost said:

Agreed. I found it to be almost seizure inducing. No character development. Not even any explanation for any of the a Hero characters. Like why Does Mei show up like some sort of Superhero? The show is pure short attention span randomness blended with seizure inducing animation. 

I also picked up a few sets. My views are mixed. The builds seem decent. The minifigs get split right down the middle. The main cast such as Monkey Kid and his friends are some of Lego’s all time best minifigs. But every set undercuts that by piling in an equal number of identical Bull Minions. They compound this by giving each a specific name, even though there is no way to tell them apart. It just rubs salt in the wound. 

The line itself has some problems. The biggest being there is no reasonable entry point. The cheapest set is $35 US. There re no impulse sets. No small sets to hook the kids. For an 8 set theme, where you want the kids to collect the named characters, there are three sets well over $100 USD. Heck all three are above $120. With two at or over $150. Lego is normally much better at hitting a well balanced and scaled series of price points than this. 

It’s a nice theme with some really cool figs and a few fun sets. But It’s missing some desperately needed hooks and approachable pricing. The story elements need more polish. For most Western consumers the sum total of their exposure to Journey to the West begins and ends with Dragonball Z. Unless they are over age 50, and might remember the Great Alakazam movie when some tv stations would run it late on Christmas Day. Actually delving into the story and mythology instead of going with complete random visual hash in the videos might have made for more compelling characters, that you want to play with. But that’s just my opinion. 
 

With all that said the Monkey Kid minifig is currently competing with The a Hidden Side’s Wave 2 Jack with new hair and hood pieces as my favorites so far this year. 

 

I agree with everything except the underlined. Jackie Chan and Jet Li did an awesome movie, and Thomas Gibson did a wonderful Hallmark miniseries.

[Lego David]

3 hours ago, Faefrost said:

Agreed. I found it to be almost seizure inducing. No character development. Not even any explanation for any of the a Hero characters. Like why Does Mei show up like some sort of Superhero? The show is pure short attention span randomness blended with seizure inducing animation. 

I also picked up a few sets. My views are mixed. The builds seem decent. The minifigs get split right down the middle. The main cast such as Monkey Kid and his friends are some of Lego’s all time best minifigs. But every set undercuts that by piling in an equal number of identical Bull Minions. They compound this by giving each a specific name, even though there is no way to tell them apart. It just rubs salt in the wound. 

The line itself has some problems. The biggest being there is no reasonable entry point. The cheapest set is $35 US. There re no impulse sets. No small sets to hook the kids. For an 8 set theme, where you want the kids to collect the named characters, there are three sets well over $100 USD. Heck all three are above $120. With two at or over $150. Lego is normally much better at hitting a well balanced and scaled series of price points than this

Agreed. This line has so much potential, but all those things you mentioned keep it back from becoming a truly great theme.

[Fenghuang0296]

So, has anyone been able to find these anywhere other than Shop@Home and LEGO Stores? Because normally, even with D2Cs and such exclusives that don’t go to the main retailers, they pop up in local hobby stores. But I haven’t seen so much as a hint of Monkie Kid anywhere other than Shop@Home.

[Pulp Detective]

9 hours ago, Faefrost said:

Agreed. I found it to be almost seizure inducing. No character development. Not even any explanation for any of the a Hero characters. Like why Does Mei show up like some sort of Superhero? The show is pure short attention span randomness blended with seizure inducing animation. 

I also picked up a few sets. My views are mixed. The builds seem decent. The minifigs get split right down the middle. The main cast such as Monkey Kid and his friends are some of Lego’s all time best minifigs. But every set undercuts that by piling in an equal number of identical Bull Minions. They compound this by giving each a specific name, even though there is no way to tell them apart. It just rubs salt in the wound. 

The line itself has some problems. The biggest being there is no reasonable entry point. The cheapest set is $35 US. There re no impulse sets. No small sets to hook the kids. For an 8 set theme, where you want the kids to collect the named characters, there are three sets well over $100 USD. Heck all three are above $120. With two at or over $150. Lego is normally much better at hitting a well balanced and scaled series of price points than this. 

It’s a nice theme with some really cool figs and a few fun sets. But It’s missing some desperately needed hooks and approachable pricing. The story elements need more polish. For most Western consumers the sum total of their exposure to Journey to the West begins and ends with Dragonball Z. Unless they are over age 50, and might remember the Great Alakazam movie when some tv stations would run it late on Christmas Day. Actually delving into the story and mythology instead of going with complete random visual hash in the videos might have made for more compelling characters, that you want to play with. But that’s just my opinion. 

I agree with everything you said.I should also add that this theme being a Lego store exclusive is a detriment for its success,it limits the exposure of this theme significantly.

[TeriXeri]

1 hour ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

So, has anyone been able to find these anywhere other than Shop@Home and LEGO Stores? Because normally, even with D2Cs and such exclusives that don’t go to the main retailers, they pop up in local hobby stores. But I haven’t seen so much as a hint of Monkie Kid anywhere other than Shop@Home.

I see one webshop here (Brickshop) selling the sets, but at prices €10-€20 higher compared to LEGO.com , so I don't think this will appear widely.

1 hour ago, LOTR34 said:

I agree with everything you said.I should also add that this theme being a Lego store exclusive is a detriment for its success,it limits the exposure of this theme significantly.

No discounts is the biggest factor for me, for skipping this theme when there are other somewhat comparable themes out right now.

I don't consider this theme must-have enough to pay full price.

And I was already planning for this Season 13 Ninjago wave which also has a Mech I like.

Edited June 18, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Lego David]

1 hour ago, LOTR34 said:

I agree with everything you said.I should also add that this theme being a Lego store exclusive is a detriment for its success,it limits the exposure of this theme significantly.

All those factors combined kinda scream failure honestly. Competition with Ninjago, limited availability, insanely high prices and no discounts are all gonna hold back this theme from being successful.

[mrfang2]

I just can’t agree with the statements made here about the show. Yes, not everything was fully explained, but this is also very clearly not all there is. I mean the intro itself showed like 5 villains who don’t appear in these episodes, this is not the whole story. This was a pilot, for a show meant to sell toys, of course they have to show all the current sets in it. ninjago did the exact same thing and arguably worse, considering several of them weren’t even remotely close to their set designs in that (blacksmith shop, earth dragon, etc.) and here they are atleast recognizable, if a bit more stylized. 
 

the story was simple but made sense as a starting off point, introduced our main heroes and villains, introduced an ongoing conflict, and showed off the powers for everyone who has powers. They kept it lighthearted and fun, and the animation was slick and constantly moving. As someone who loves cartoons, i can say it did a fine job as a pilot, and did everything it needed to to set up the main series, while leaving enough things open ended, like sandy and pigsy’s past, or mei’s powers, to give them something to explore later. 
 

the only part I felt really needed more explanation put in was the mech at the end, but from the looks of it, it seemed to be similar to a cartoonified version of a “master builder” creation from the movies, so I can give it a pass and see if they do more with that power later. 
 

I dunno, I can see why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I can also see this becoming very popular, especially in regions more familiar with the original monkey king stories. 
 

in terms of the sets, I do agree they need some more smaller sets in the next wave, and I’m pretty sure we will get them. Given the number of additional villains shown in the intro, I’m sure they have plans for atleast a couple more waves of this, and they will see the complaints about the price. I don’t really agree that the sets are over priced for the content given, aside from the bull tank and mei’s bike, as all the ones I’ve gotten so far have been bigger than anticipated and absolutely lovely builds, but I honestly feel they should’ve maybe left the monkey mech for wave 2 so the line didn’t feel so unbalanced. 

Edited June 18, 2020 by mrfang2