LEGO® Monkie Kid™ review & MOC: 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech & 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet

The January 2023 wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid™ includes two sets at the £17.99 price point. Today I take a look at 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet, and highlight the interesting elements they contain.

 

Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® Monkie Kid™ 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech
US$19.99/ £17.99/ 19.99€/ AU$32.99
277 parts
1 January 2023
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LEGO® Monkie Kid™ 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet
US$19.99/ £17.99/ 19.99€/ AU$32.99 
246 parts
1 January 2023
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There are quite a few common elements so I will group them together where appropriate. I'll also reference the other sets in this wave, 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant, 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout and 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech which was recently reviewed by Thomas Jenkins.

New moulds in 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet

There's a new hairpiece colour in both sets (actually a recolour rather than a new mould as I had originally thought when taking the photo) but the stand-out new mould is the huge sword element, which comes in two new colours:

• 1x Hair Mohawk with Ponytail in Black (6422914 | 75512) - only in Monkie Kid's Combi Mech, Mei's Dragon Jet and Yellow Tusk Elephant

• 1x Big Sword with Axle in Warm Gold/Pearl Gold (6408777 | 2601) - in Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and Monkey King Ultra Mech

• 2x Big Sword with Axle in Transparent Bright Green/Trans-Bright Green (6420280 | 2601) - making an exclusive appearance in Mei's Dragon Jet

Rare elements in Monkie Kid's Combi Mech

The following elements are in just one other set:

• 3x Hinge Plate 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger on Top in Bright Yellow/Yellow (6410523 | 53968) - additionally in 75572 Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight
• 2x Plate Round 1 x 1 with Hollow Stud and Horizontal Bar 1L in Bright Bluish Green/Dark Turquoise (6333124 | 32828) - also in 80037 Dragon of the East

These are in two other sets:

• 2x Technic Brick Special 2 x 2 with Ball Receptacle Wide and Axle Hole, No Arm Holes in Bright Red/Red (6406930 | 67696) - additionally in 76226 Spider-Man and 76230 Venom
• 2x Technic Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular Double Split [Reinforced] in Red (6349275 | 69819) - also in 42137 Formula E Porsche 99X Electric and 42143 Ferrari Daytona SP3
• 1x Tile Special 1 x 2 with Sloped Walls AKA Money / Gold Bar [Ingot] in Dark Turquoise (6391344 | 99563) - in 41714 Andrea's Theater School and Dragon of the East
• 1x Weapon Sword with Thick Crossguard (Roman Gladius) in Black (6349964 | 18034) - just in 76392 Hogwarts Wizard's Chess until this wave - now also in Yellow Tusk Elephant

These pieces are in three other sets:

• 2x Brick Special 2 x 5 with Slope, Studs on Side in Red (6371695 | 79897) - also in 71767 Ninja Dojo Temple, 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech and 75574 Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls
• 2x Plate Special 1 x 1 with Vertical Tooth in Red (6224467 | 15070) - also in 31131 Downtown Noodle Shop, 40556 Mythica and 76394 Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix
• 2x Wave / Power Blast Rounded Energy with Bar Handle in black (6422913 | 27393) - previously in 76084 The Ultimate Battle for Asgard from 2017 - also in  Mei's Dragon Jet and Yellow Tusk Elephant

There is one piece which is also in four other sets:

• 1x Wedge Plate 8 x 8 Cut Corner in Sand Yellow/Dark Tan (6395743 | 30504) - additionally in 76408 12 Grimmauld Place, 76402 Hogwarts: Dumbledore’s Office and 76401 Hogwarts Courtyard: Sirius’s Rescue and also now in Monkie Kid's Team Hideout

Rare elements in Mei's Dragon Jet

The following elements appear in two other sets:

• 2x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Clip Horizontal on Side in Bright Green (6405103 | 65458) - in 71403 Adventures with Peach Starter Course previous to this wave, now also in Yellow Tusk Elephant
• 4x Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Inverted in Bright Green (6401818 | 99207) - also in 71404 Goomba’s Shoe Expansion Set and 71411 The Mighty Bowser
• 2x Hinge Plate 1 x 12 with Angled Side Extensions and Tapered Ends (6423003 | 53031) - the new 7-tooth version of 57906 with a new Element ID - the older mould was also in 10186 General Grievous and 7714 Golden Guardian [Limited Gold Edition] - making a welcome return in white from these previous 2007/2008 releases

These elements are in three other sets:

• 2x 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 Elephant and Monkie Kid's Team Hideout
• 4x Wave / Power Blast Rounded Energy with Bar Handle in black as per the list in the Monkie Kid's Combi Mech section above
• 1x Windscreen 6 x 4 x 1 Hexagonal with Handle in Trans-Bright Green (6208786 | 35043) - previously in 72002 Twinfector, 72003 Berserker Bomber and 76096 Superman & Krypto Team-Up, it appears here with a new Element ID due to the change to MABS plastic
• 3x 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
• 6x 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
• 1x Slope Curved 2 x 1 with Stud Notch Left (6291018 | 29120) and 1x Right (6291017 | 29119) in Dark Turquoise - both in 76909 Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance & Mercedes-AMG Project One, Dragon of the East and 41722 Horse Show Trailer
  

There is one element which has only appeared in 4 other sets:

• 1x Brick Special 1 x 2 Rounded with Center Bars in Pearl Gold (6370621 | 77808) - just seen in 43206 Cinderella and Prince Charming’s Castle, 43205 Ultimate Adventure Castle and 80108 Lunar New Year Traditions previously, now now also in Yellow Tusk Elephant

Minifigures in Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and Mei's Dragon Jet

Some of the minifigures are common to both sets, so it made sense to deal with them together:

Monkie Kid (Just in Monkie Kid's Combi Mech)

All of the following have only previously appeared in 80034 Nezha’s Fire Ring which I reviewed recently. The rest of the parts are fairly common in the Monkie Kid theme:

• 1x Minifig Head Monkie Kid, Red Visor with Gold Frame / Angry Open Mouth Print in Yellow (6366649 | 81242)
• 1x  Torso Armor, Gold and Dark Red Plating, Circle with Chinese Character Print, Bright Light Orange Arms with Gold, Dark Red, and Dark Turquoise Armor Print, Yellow Hands in Red  (6375861 | 76382)
• 1x Hips and Red Legs with Dark Red, Gold, and Dark Turquoise Armor, Gold Toes Print in Red (6366646 | 81280)

Ink Demon (Appears in both sets)

These elements also appear in Yellow Tusk Elephant:

• 1x New Printed Head in Black (6417491)
• 1x New Printed Torso in Black (6424050)

Ink General (Just in Mei's Dragon Jet)

Head and torso as above, lower body is:

• 1x  Lower Body, Ghost Marbled Black in Transparent/ Trans-Clear (6236394 | 82434) - appears in a handful of other sets, with a different Element ID (probably due to a change in material to MABS)

Mei (Just in Mei's Dragon Jet)

The hair and head have appeared in a few Monkie Kid releases to date, while the torso and legs also appear in 80038 Monkie Kid's Team Van, 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter, White Dragon Horse Jet and The Bone Demon:

• 1x Torso Armor, Intricate Gold and Bright Green Design, Zipper Print, White Arms, Bright Green Hands in White (6339329 | 76382)
• 1x  Hips and White Legs with Green Straps, Gold Trim Print in White (6296331 | 970c) - also found in 80013 Monkie Kid's Team Secret HQ, White Dragon Horse Bike and 80016 The Flaming Foundry

Monkie Kid's Combi Mech - the build

Both of the sets in this review are aimed at the 7+ age range, and as such don't really have any difficult techniques in them. But they still contain a few interesting SNOT builds, especially for the legs in the mech. I also enjoyed the clever use of the large red Vehicle Body, Wheel Arch/Mudguard (98835) as pauldrons to cover up a large gap at the shoulders. Monkie Kid stands comfortably in his compartment at the top of the mech but he fits best if his hands are by his side. 

One annoyance was the friction of the fingers - if you try to bend all three back at the same time to unclip the wand or sword the whole back of the hand assembly tends to come off instead. Peeling them back one by one alleviates this issue but kids may well get frustrated with this aspect. 

The handful of stickers added to the build give some nice extra details. The mech can stand well on its own and the arms and legs can be posed to give different expressive gestures.

The rear of the mech's torso is a bit chunky and not very attractive - but there are reasons for that which we will become clear later. Monkie Kid can clip his regular staff into one of the two holders on the back while he is wielding the supersized version in the mech's hand.

Mei's Dragon Jet - the build

The Dragon Jet has a few SNOT assemblies to provide some covering for the sides, and the wings will fold outwards for a better flying configuration if required. The jet is very swooshable, a vital feature for such a flying craft!

There is a little runabout which can be stowed at the rear of the bigger jet when not in use. 

Play features

So why is this mech called a "Combi Mech" you might ask? Well, this is where the two sets have another fun feature up their sleeves. The box art on the packaging for each set shows a combination with Mei's jet becoming a jetpack for the mech! At first, I wondered if we would have to wait until the sets are released for digital instructions on how to build this model variant. But the transformation is actually quite straightforward.

First, the Jet must be flipped on its back:

The front nose section must be folded towards the cockpit (downwards in the second image) and the, up until now, rather superfluous shield and bar combination which decorates the underside must be flipped towards the front of the vehicle.

Once you have removed Monkie Kid's staff from the clips at the rear of the mech, they can connect into the modified brick with bars on the underside of the Jet. The two studs provided by the grey brackets just above the clips on the mech's back are for Mei to stand on behind Monkie Kid, looking over his shoulders.

Finally, the shield assembly on the end of the bars is folded down to sit in front of the mech's chest and helps to further stabilise the combined model.

The combi machine looks like a fearsome hybrid, and presumably it can both walk along or fly as required. I'm sure that's what will be in kids' heads, and why not?!

The rear view shows the wings have to be folded outwards slightly in order for the combi to stand up, but that does not really detract from the look of the "jetpack". The only annoying omission in this configuration is the lack of anywhere to clip Monkie Kid's small staff to, which means it could easily go astray.

Original build inspired by 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech

In conversation with one of my New Elementary colleagues about the new moulds recently, it was suggested that the big gold sword looked a bit like a butter knife. Personally, I thought it was more of a cheese knife, so inevitably I had to build the whole cheese board to go with it! 

And a cheese board wouldn't be complete without a selection of crackers, pickle and cranberry sauce, creamy butter, some Red Leicester, a roll of Goat's Cheese, a slice of Gouda, two types of Brie, a chunk of Double Gloucester, some Cheddar and a nice wedge of Feta. Yummy!

Conclusion

In isolation, each model provides an interesting build experience and fun opportunities for imaginative play, at a very good price point (the Mech has a price per part of 6.5p / 7.2c / 7.2c while Mei's Jet is 7.3p / 8.1c / 8.1c). It's great to see these smaller and more affordable Monkie Kid sets in the lineup for 2023. Combining the two of them adds another level of fun and play potential which I'm sure the target 7+ audience will enjoy. Both sets offer modest minifigure selections, but they do contain some interesting rare parts and share examples of the new sword mould with this wave's biggest release, the Ultra Mech, so there is something for AFOLs to appreciate as well.

Editor: Chris Baginski

READ MORE: LEGO® Monkie Kid™ review: 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech

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