Aron Gerencsér (on Flickr) already has another 2021 LEGO® Monkie Kid review for you today – two little ones actually! 80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike & 80019 Red Son’s Inferno Jet. Buying Monkie Kid sets? Consider using our affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.
With the first wave of 2021 Monkie Kid sets, LEGO® fans have a better selection of smaller, entry level sets than they did last year. Aside from polybags, 80006 White Dragon Horse Bike was the smallest 2020 set at 259 pieces. This time around, 80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike at 203 pieces retailing for US$24.99/ €19.99 and 80019 Red Son’s Inferno Jet at 299 pieces with a price of US$34.99/ €29.99 give the lower price points better variety. Are these sets a good introduction to Monkie Kid, or will they fizzle out?
The Parts
New Elements
There is just one new mould in these sets, appearing in 80018 and is plentiful throughout the wave. We covered this new bar holder piece in our review of 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet, where it appears in dark purple.
But in 80018 we get 6 of the part in Black (6338384 | 72869) where it is used as the legs of the small spider drone - this is the most frequently recurring use of the mould. We’ll show it off in some MOCs following the rollout of these set reviews!
Recolours
80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike is surprisingly well-stocked with recoloured pieces, whereas the larger 80019 Red Son’s Inferno Jet not only lacks new moulds but has a grand total of three recoloured pieces.
In 80018 we have the following, alongside some recoloured minifig pieces that we’ll cover below:
- 4x Wedge-Belt Wheel Ø24 in Transparent Bright Orange/ Trans-Orange (6328510 | 4185)
- 4x Wedge-Belt Wheel Ø24 in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6327080 | 4185)
- 2x Rim Wide 18/14 W. Hole Ø4.8 in Medium Lilac/ Dark Purple (6327074 | 55981)
- 2x Tooth Ø3.2 Shaft in Bright Yellowish Green/ Lime (6311215 | 87747)
- 1x Brick W. Bow 1X4 in Dark Purple (6346521 | 61678)
- 1x Flat Tile 1X1, Round in Black with Spider print (6334604 | 35381)
While 80019 has fewer recolours, two of them are particularly exciting for me since I love the colour in question, but your mileage may vary:
- 4x Design Element Deg.135,W/ Crosshole No.1 in Titanium Metallic/ Pearl Dark Gray (6327871 | 65473)
- 4x 1/4 Arch Brick 3X3, W/ Cutout, No. 1 in Pearl Dark Gray (6327876 | 65617)
- 2x Design Brick 2X2X1, Circle W/ Spikes in Warm Gold/ Pearl Gold (6327879 | 27266)
Sticker sheet
The sets each come with a sticker sheet. I chose not to apply these.
Notable and rare parts
80019 has some additional rare pieces to make up for it though, while 80018 only has one notable piece, other than the new ones.
In 80019:
- 1x Plate 2X2, W/ Beard, Mini Figure in Pearl Dark Gray (6207932 | 15440) which appears in 7 other sets
- 4x Brick With Bow 1X3X2 in Red (6056816 | 88292) which appears in 8 other sets
- 4x Flame 7M Shaft Ø3,2 in Trans-Neon Orange blended with Trans-Black (6301397 | 28577) which appears in 4 other sets
In 80018:
- 1x Mini Accessory, No. 17 in White (6316325 | 68547) in 80018, which appears in only 4 other sets including 80015 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Roadster which we reviewed recently.
Minifigs in 2021 LEGO Monkie Kid 80018 & 80019
Both 80018 and 80019 come with three minifigs.
Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike features our hero in his new season 2 outfit, complete with the minifig hoodie piece in dark turquoise (6337294), as well as one of the new spider villains who comes with a minifig pauldron piece appearing in dark purple (6338441) for the first time.
Red Son’s Inferno Jet, on the other hand, features the old-style Monkie Kid with the teal headphones, Red Son and Bob, our favorite henchman with a crooked horn. None of these figures feature any new parts.
Building 80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike
While sporting more new parts, 80018 is definitely less interesting in the build department. We get one of the spider drones utilising the new bar holder piece as legs - if you’re getting multiple sets from this wave, get used to building a lot of these buggers - and two bikes.
Monkie Kid’s titular vehicle can (slightly) transform into a flying machine by rotating the wheel assemblies outward. The bike features two disc launchers aimed sideways which can be triggered by a simple Technic liftarm mechanism.
While definitely the simpler build of the two, I much prefer the look of the villain’s bike. The combination of the disc launchers and flying gimmick make Monkie Kid’s ride really bulky, whereas this ride definitely looks slick and mean.
There really isn’t much to discuss here, as neither build breaks any new ground. I felt like this is an unreleased Ninjago concept nicked from the idea bin and rebranded a bit with Monkie Kid colours.
Building 80019 Red Son’s Inferno Jet
Meanwhile, Red Son’s Inferno Jet makes up for its few (albeit cool) new pieces by being a surprising build.
Red Son being a low-key Bionicle fan is definitely my favourite bit of deep-lore from this theme, as he clearly based his custom flying vehicle on 8943 Axalara T9. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this set based on the box art, but am happy to report I have been proven wrong!
The little side build is cute, I think depicting Monkie Kid first acquiring his iconic stave weapon. Meanwhile Bob is trying to thwart him with a flamethrower, and a poor little frog is hiding behind a waterfall to escape the fire.
While the main jet build doesn’t really showcase any new building techniques, I am definitely impressed by the play features. The bottom engine section is designed as a grip - intended for hands smaller than mine, granted - with a trigger built into the fuselage used to fire a pair of spring-loaded missiles from the circular opening up front. This whole section is connected with one clip at the top and two at the bottom with the intention of folding it down for a reload.
Un-clipping, reloading the missiles and clicking the section back in and of itself feels like a bit of a play feature, being more involved than just pushing the little darts back into the launchers. The LEGO Group has always claimed to distance itself from realistic depictions of firearms (something a few minifig weapons clearly violate) but this “reloading action” complete with clicking sounds definitely plays to that. This is essentially a brick built Nerf gun!
Conclusions
These sets leave me in the curious situation of recommending both with just about the same levels of enthusiasm, but for different reasons. 80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike doesn’t distinguish itself as a build, but can be fun enough for younger fans with its roughly equally-matched opponents and launchers. The main attraction, however, is the relatively large selection of new pieces in the cheapest set of this wave; also the cheapest way to get some of those new bar holders in a set.
On the other hand, 80019 doesn’t quite have that quantity of new parts but the recolours are for me among the most exciting this wave has produced, and the build was a pleasant surprise. Red Son’s Inferno Jet nails the play feature aspect extraordinarily, more so than just about any set I’ve built recently. Either of these sets - or both! - are a solid choice, depending on what you’re looking for.
- 80018 Monkie Kid’s Cloud Bike has 203 pieces and retails for US$24.99/ €19.99/ HK$159/ ¥2280/ 29900 KRW/ 89.9 MYR/ SG$29.9/ TW$649. Affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission.
- 80019 Red Son’s Inferno Jet has 299 pieces for a price of US$34.99/ €29.99/ HK$249/ ¥3580/ 44900.0 KRW/ 139.9 MYR/ SG$44.9/ TW$999. Affiliate links: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. New Elementary may get a commission.
My other 2021 Monkie Kid reviews so far:
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Personally I really like the look of the Cloud Bike set. Like a lot of MK's vehicles, there's a chunkiness to the cloud bike that feels wonderfully distinctive, and the two side-mounted disc shooters feel pretty fresh to me. As somebody who likes to get all the characters as well, the villain in this set (Spindrax) is unique to it, and the only female one of the Spider Queen's henchmen. And her bike isn't shabby either—while it's more conventional looking, I love the way the stud shooters and headlights combine to form a spider-y set of eyes.
ReplyDeleteRed Son's Inferno Jet feels like more of a pass to me, despite being a really good design as well—with all three figures being repeats, it just feels less essential for me to get, especially with a bunch of the bigger sets calling my name as well. Still, it's kind of remarkable how much more impressive it feels than last year's White Dragon Horse Bike, despite occupying the same price point. Compared to that, which split its build between a bike, hoverboard, and bulky gatehouse, this one focuses more of its build on the main model. I'm certainly not opposed to side-builds—I certainly loved the restaurant/apartment build in last year's Monkey King Warrior Mech, which was both impressive in its own right and helped to make the mech feel even more massive by comparison—but at these lower price points, every bit of the set's budget that can be put toward the main model seems to count for a lot more.
Thanks for this review- I have one vintage part in my collection that is ever so slightly larger than a 3.18mm bar, so now I have no choice but to buy one of these sets and see if it fits in that elbow piece. Nice to see I can get a few in black at a low price point!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Nerf enthusiasts prefer to call them "blasters" (that shoot darts), to create some distance between them and firearms. (the language is especially important in the age of automatic bots that police content on several websites, and for other reasons).
Oh, my gosh! That little cow dude is trying to set the fire on fire!
ReplyDeleteFight fire with fire! That's their motto!
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