LEGO Monkie Kid 2023

[Lyichir]

On 1/23/2023 at 1:33 PM, Natant16 said:

So, as someone who hasn't seen the season, what new characters are introduced and how likely are they to appear in sets? I'm hoping to get as many characters from JTTW/Chinese mythology in minifigure form as possible, personally

So, here's the major new characters introduced so far this season, with notes about how likely I think they are to appear in sets. Minor spoilers for season 4 below...

Spoiler

• Kui Mulang, the Yellow-Robe Demon: Probably not the most likely? He mostly serves as a minor antagonist for one episode and has a strong design, but otherwise doesn't play a major role. He could possibly appear again as a more major foe in another story arc if the theme continues.
• Ao Lie, the White Dragon Horse: Possible, but again only shows up in one episode (and his design in the show doesn't necessarily look like it's based on a real fig to me).
• Zhu Ganglie/Sha Wujing: In addition to the Journey to the West-inspired versions of Pigsy and Sandy from the sets, they also appear in their more distinct demon forms in the show. However, I'm not sure either is likely to appear in addition to the more toned down versions that appear in the sets.
• Patriarch Bodhi: Might appear, but I doubt it. Bodhi appears multiple times in both the Scroll of Memory and the "real world" throughout the season as a mentor figure, but is not directly involved in any major conflicts or associated specifically with much that would seem to be a likely subject for a set.

EDIT: Can't forget the Jade Emperor himself! In the show he's depicted at a gigantic scale compared to other characters like the Azure Lion. It's possible he could appear as a giant build similar to ones from the Harry Potter or Ant-Man themes, but I wouldn't count on it.

Here are some of the things that I think may be possible subjects for sets in the future. Again, spoilers:

Spoiler

• Sandy's new blimp/airship: This is probably the single most likely thing to appear in a future set. While it's only briefly shown off near the end of the new season, like Sandy's past vehicles (the ship, dronecopter, and van), it gets a big showy introduction and looks extremely "toyetic".
• Lion Camel Ridge: While it has only briefly appeared in the season, it has a fairly distinctive design—maybe it'll appear as a more prominent setting in the Season 4 special?
• DBK's Palace: I know, I know, I've been hoping for DBK and his family to get another set appearance for a while. But his palace does reappear in the show again this season and his family appears a couple times throughout the season. Maybe this'll be the time it happens?
• The Jade Emperor's Palace: I don't know how likely this is given its aesthetic overlap with last year's Heavenly Realms set. But it's the last major setting in the current season and may be where MK and friends make their final stand against the Azure Lion and co.

All of this said, like last season, this year's season ends on a cliffhanger that will presumably be resolved in a TV special later in the year. Some summer sets may end up drawing more from subject matter in that than from what's happened in the season so far.

EDIT: Added a character I forgot.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Lyichir

[Natant16]

5 hours ago, Lyichir said:

So, here's the major new characters introduced so far this season, with notes about how likely I think they are to appear in sets. Minor spoilers for season 4 below...

  Reveal hidden contents

• Kui Mulang, the Yellow-Robe Demon: Probably not the most likely? He mostly serves as a minor antagonist for one episode and has a strong design, but otherwise doesn't play a major role. He could possibly appear again as a more major foe in another story arc if the theme continues.
• Ao Lie, the White Dragon Horse: Possible, but again only shows up in one episode (and his design in the show doesn't necessarily look like it's based on a real fig to me).
• Zhu Ganglie/Sha Wujing: In addition to the Journey to the West-inspired versions of Pigsy and Sandy from the sets, they also appear in their more distinct demon forms in the show. However, I'm not sure either is likely to appear in addition to the more toned down versions that appear in the sets.
• Patriarch Bodhi: Might appear, but I doubt it. Bodhi appears multiple times in both the Scroll of Memory and the "real world" throughout the season as a mentor figure, but is not directly involved in any major conflicts or associated specifically with much that would seem to be a likely subject for a set.

Here are some of the things that I think may be possible subjects for sets in the future. Again, spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

• Sandy's new blimp/airship: This is probably the single most likely thing to appear in a future set. While it's only briefly shown off near the end of the new season, like Sandy's past vehicles (the ship, dronecopter, and van), it gets a big showy introduction and looks extremely "toyetic".
• Lion Camel Ridge: While it has only briefly appeared in the season, it has a fairly distinctive design—maybe it'll appear as a more prominent setting in the Season 4 special?
• DBK's Palace: I know, I know, I've been hoping for DBK and his family to get another set appearance for a while. But his palace does reappear in the show again this season and his family appears a couple times throughout the season. Maybe this'll be the time it happens?
• The Jade Emperor's Palace: I don't know how likely this is given its aesthetic overlap with last year's Heavenly Realms set. But it's the last major setting in the current season and may be where MK and friends make their final stand against the Azure Lion and co.

All of this said, like last season, this year's season ends on a cliffhanger that will presumably be resolved in a TV special later in the year. Some summer sets may end up drawing more from subject matter in that than from what's happened in the season so far.

Interesting, I'm still a bit annoyed the scorpion never showed up in a set, so hopefully that doesn't happen again.

[Killian]

I'm up to episode 5... And it references a lot from JTTW and Chinese Mythology...

Spoiler

 

Tang finds the female land from the novel and gets offered the pregnancy water that the original Tang drank and had to abort his foetus. Did not expect them to put that in Monkie Kid 🤣

The Yellow Robed Demon and White dragon Horse that Lyichir already mentioned.

We see Chang'e taking her one way trip to the Moon.

We see a scene from one of Nezha's legends where he faces Ao Bing or Ao Guang or one of the other dragons from his story. I couldn't tell if it was the child Nezha, or if it was later in his story when he's been reborn from the Lotus.

The White Bone Spirit/Lady Bone Demon briefly appears, presumably in one of her early guises.

 

I'm intrigued to see how the English dub handles some of the stuff that would be very familiar to a Chinese audience, but not so much to Western viewers. I wonder if they just won't explain it like The Tutelary Deity in season 3, Wukong just called him Tu-De and that was all we got 🤣

[Takanuinuva]

Spoiler

Curious what happened to Mei's Samadhi Fire powers. Did Lady Bone Demon take them away last season?

 

[Lyichir]

55 minutes ago, Takanuinuva said:

  Hide contents

Curious what happened to Mei's Samadhi Fire powers. Did Lady Bone Demon take them away last season?

 

I didn't get the impression she lost them—just that to keep them from getting out of control she can't utilize their full power in most scenarios.

Spoiler

In the subbed version of episode 9 that I watched, she is still described by Patriarch Bodhi as the true wielder of the Samadhi Fire. So I imagine she still has that power.

 

[ToaDraco]

So I built the Yellow Tusk Elephant set Thursday and I absolutely love it! It's a wonderful build, it's much more solid and weighty than I expected and I love the functions. I find myself compulsively flipping his trunk up in the air, such a fun feature! Plus, the whole set gives me very strong Elephander vibes and that warms my heart. I was a huge Zoids fan back in the day and Elephander was always my favorite so now I have a soft spot for elephant mechs. That said, based on the stickers that make it look like it has fur, I don't think this is truly intended to be a mech. Either it's a larger form YTE can turn into or it's a giant elephant that he has tamed. My money is on the former.

Edit: just reread the product description were it explicitly states it's another form he takes. *facepalm* it makes it even stranger that they put a throne on his back so his minifig form can ride on his own back...

Having built the set and seeing his appearance is season 4, YTE definitely should have been a bigfig. The little "mech" build in the set is definitely just meant to be his actual body and I have a feeling he was originally going to be a bigfig and it later got changed so they included this small mech instead. There has been a lot of talk about there not being bigfigs the past couple of years and I think this set(and by extension this theme considering we have not gotten a bigfig Sandy for quite awhile)has the strongest proof that bigfigs may be no more. I hope I'm wrong though, I love bigfigs and want to see so many more in the future.

Edited February 5, 2023 by ToaDraco

[Killian]

1 hour ago, ToaDraco said:

There has been a lot of talk about there not being bigfigs the past couple of years and I think this set(and by extension this theme considering we have not gotten a bigfig Sandy for quite awhile)has the strongest proof that bigfigs may be no more. I hope I'm wrong though, I love bigfigs and want to see so many more in the future.

Bigfigs never fit into the buildings and most vehicles, so I'd rather have a minifig version of a character unless it's supposed to be a big monster that fights the minifig vehicles etc. In that case, I prefer brick built for posability and being able to capture varying body shapes/extra limbs/wings etc. 

 Fat/Thin/Muscular characters tend to be basic minifigs with the only variance being the printing or limb length. I wonder if we'll ever see a longer minifig torso and how cursed it would look?

[TeriXeri]

I'd rather see more unique big torso's like Axl from Nexo, and not Bigfigs.

[Takanuinuva]

6 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I'd rather see more unique big torso's like Axl from Nexo, and not Bigfigs.

Agreed Sandy and the Yellow Tusk Elephant would work well as an Axl fig.

[Killian]

16 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I'd rather see more unique big torso's like Axl from Nexo, and not Bigfigs.

I wonder how cursed Sandy's organic torso would look compared to Axl's armoured one 🤔

[Lemerbrix]

I’m hoping the azure blue lion appears in a cheaper set this summer, because all of the other big bads came in cheaper sets then azure blue lion

DBK came in a $90 set

spider queen came in a $60 set

LBD AND macaque came in a $100 set

azure blue lion, on the other hand, is EXCLUSIVE to a $160 set

also now that I have seen the episodes, why does the golden winged eagle give me “dom de la whoosh” vibes (chima fans will get it)

[Lyichir]

I'm sure Azure Lion will appear in at least one other set in the summer. If I had to guess I'd half expect him to get some variety of mech or something as well. That said, it's hard to make any predictions on price point—he could show up in a slightly cheaper set or he could end up being in the biggest summer set as well.

[Killian]

I wonder what this year's JTTW lore set will be, as in the next Flower Fruit Mountain/Heavenly Realms ???

I'm expecting to see The Jade Emperor and/or maybe, but less likely, Inky Kid somewhere. Even Yin and Jin in new JTTW outfits maybe. We could even see The Tutelary Deity using parts from the Snow White Cottage if it includes those controversial gentleman of diminutive stature.

I'm hoping for some generic JTTW mountain demon lair, or Vulture Peak, Lion Camel Ridge, Demon Bull Crib... There's so many good locations and characters from the show that we haven't got in Lego form yet. A Megalopolis with an updated Pigsy's Noodles that's compatible with The City of Lanterns would be awesome too. Imagine if it ends up with several compatible sets that can create a massive display in the spirit of the Ninjago City modulars.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Killian
Cottaging

[Takanuinuva]

5 hours ago, Killian said:

I wonder how cursed Sandy's organic torso would look compared to Axl's armoured one 🤔

Probably how Mr Incredible's looked in the Lego game.

[Lemerbrix]

6 hours ago, Lyichir said:

I'm sure Azure Lion will appear in at least one other set in the summer. If I had to guess I'd half expect him to get some variety of mech or something as well. That said, it's hard to make any predictions on price point—he could show up in a slightly cheaper set or he could end up being in the biggest summer set as well.

Maybe? I usually like sets that go well together, so getting something for the ABL (azure blue lion) to go along with his buddies would be cool 

[TeriXeri]

A Lion or Eagle set might seem very likely, Lion even moreso as there's no small vehicle/mech type build for the character at all currently.

Spider Queen appeared 4 times across 3 waves of sets, with multiple types of spider builds.

 

I'm still hoping for some type of Fortress for the Ink villains, would go nicely with their style using cannons, bows and catapults.

Black walls, gold accents, brown wood, and some greys seems like a nice color scheme to use.

Especially with the current lineup of City of Lanterns, Team Hideout, and Heavenly Realms , I think if there's another location set, a villain location makes more sense for a summer 2023 one.

Edited February 6, 2023 by TeriXeri

[Lyichir]

Not MAJOR news but apparently there's an incredible-looking new Monkie Kid ad in China:

I wish my internet sleuthing skills were good enough for me to find a higher quality upload of this video, but even this rather compressed one looks pretty epic for a Lego ad!
 

[Lemerbrix]

New set leaks

Looks like my prayers of the azure blue lion coming in a cheaper set have been answered 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoryQmOLtN9/?hl=en

[Agent Kallus]

At first I wasn't sure it it was

Dragon of the east palace ( as in the dragon that is of the east palace) or dragon of the east palace as in the palace that belongs to the east dragon) but having seen the show isn't the east dragon the pink bearded underwater guy? So I guess it's his palace.

 

[icm]

Someone in Reddit the other day (or maybe it was somewhere else) was wondering why we can't get a $200 dragon set. Well, looks like they're getting their wish. Dunno what the price of the dragon is but at ~2400 parts that's in the $209 range. But maybe whoever-it-was wanted a different kind of dragon for $200. You know, the way us Space folks want a great big spaceship but not necessarily that great big spaceship (speaking in generalities, not specifics).

[kill will]

Oh wow I was just about to buy the dragon from the 76177 Shang Chi set, will hold off until we see the Eastern Palace Dragon. I'm not a fan of the existing chunky Dragon of the East with a shell? and all sorts of blasters attached to it though. Hoping for a more lithe and less sci fi dragon to terrorize (or protect) my Chinese village with!

[a guy from somewhere]

Kind of annoyed we aren't getting the lion camel ridge as a set, would have loved to have that as a way to get S3 macaque, monkey king, the 3 demons and maybe Tang, Mei and MK? to be fair, we haven't seen much of it in the show. I'm excited for the dragon of the east palace, kinda weird that we are getting 2 dragons in the wave, although I'm not complaining. ninjago doesn't have many asian dragons, mostly European dragons like wyverns. Airship will be good, I've been waiting for another lego airship for some time now and I cant wait to see how they do the blimp. Hopefully its with regular parts that I can just reconstruct with my own but it will probably be specialised parts. Super excited for the mighty azure lion mech, thats gonna be great, and I'm glad we are getting a (hopefully) cheaper way to get him. 

[Agent Kallus]

Isn't it the dragon of East's palace, so the dragon of the east is a person ( pink beard guy iirc) and this is his palace so the set will be a palace not a dragon.

[Lyichir]

Not a lot of activity here lately, huh?

Recently Season 4 of the TV series became available on several home streaming apps, including the Lego channel on Roku and FireTV and the HappyKids app on Roku, FireTV, iOS, and Android. They're not sorted into a proper season order so if you want to watch them this way, you might have to search the episode titles themselves:

Personally I'm really impressed with the season overall, can't wait to see how it resolves (presumably in a multi-episode TV special like last year).

[Meaf]

Seems like the Action theme threads have all been quiet as of late. I'm sure we'll have more to talk about once we get to see the summer sets, so hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

Personally I am still hoping to get the Macaque mech and Heavenly Realms from last year, but I don't know how likely that is with the new Ninjago City expansion coming up. I kind of hope none of the summer Monkie Kid sets interest me, but knowing this theme at least one is going to be among the best sets of the whole year.