LEGO® Monkie Kid review & MOC: 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant

Thomas Jenkins has already reviewed the largest offering of the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid sets, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech, and I have taken a look at 80040 Monkie Kid's Combi Mech and 80041 Mei's Dragon Jet in a combined review. Today I'm turning my attention to 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant, which sits in the middle of the range, and I will be assessing 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout very soon. For brevity, I will refer to them by their set numbers in the text below.

Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® MONKIE KID 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant
79.99 USD/ 59.99 GBP/ 69.99€/ 119.99 AUS
844 parts
1st January 2023
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New Moulds in 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant

Analysing the inventory, we see that there is a whole family of new moulds in the form of:

• 1x Weapon Pack in Warm Gold/Pearl Gold (6410229) - this also makes an appearance in this wave in 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout (which I am yet to review) and 80045.

In this instance, the only weapon we use is the straight-edged sword (Mei's blade of choice) but we get all the other elements shown. These 'family moulds'  are bagged up together as part of the moulding process so will always come as a little collective. The other pieces will be great for MOC purposes - and Thomas Jenkins has already fashioned very lovely ornate keys in his review of 80045, from some of the other elements in this pack.

There is also a new minifigure neckwear elephant trunk/ears element, which I will deal with in the minifigures section.

Recoloured & printed elements

The largest piece in the whole set is hard to miss, and is one of a handful of recoloured elements including:

• 1x Panel Curved Tapered with Bars at Each End in White (6424040 | 65783) - unique in this set and only the second colour we have seen for this mould
• 1x Tile Round 2 x 4 in Flame Yellowish Orange/Bright Light Orange (6422093 | 66857) - unique to this set
• 1x Minifig Neckwear Shoulder Guards in Medium Stone Grey/Light Bluish Gray (6426615 | 41637) - also in 80045, and is surprising to me that this is not more common!

The unique printed element in the set is:

• 2x Tile 1 x 1 Quarter Round with Magenta and Dark Purple elephant eye print in White (6417500 | 25269)  

Rare & returning elements

The following have appeared in one other set to date (left of image):

• 2x Windscreen 8 x 6 x 2 Curved in White (6424469 | 40995) - only seen in one other set from 2018, 75221 Imperial Landing Craft, returning with a new Element ID and Design ID for reasons best known to LEGO - I can't see any functional difference with the old mould
• 2x Brick Special 2 x 5 with Slope, Studs on Side in White (6365687 | 79897) - previously seen in 71761 Zane’s Power Up Mech EVO
• 2x Technic Rotation Joint Disk with Pin and Double Rotation Joint Ball Half in Light Bluish Gray (6372460 | 79505) - just in 75335 BD-1
• 2x Animal Body Part/Plant, Tail/Neck/Branch/Trunk, Middle Section with Pin in Bright Yellow/ Yellow (6430218 | 40378) - in just one other release from 2009, 6751 Fiery Legend, returning with a new Element ID

These elements have been seen in just two other sets (right of image):

• 2x Brick Round 3x3x2 with Recessed Center with 2x2 Studs and Axle Hole in Black (6375973 | 73111) - also in 80034 Nezha’s Fire Ring and 75336 Inquisitor Transport Scythe
• 2x Plate 3x3 in Olive Green (6408049 | 11212) - seen in 75323 The Justifier and 10306 Atari 2600
• 1x Weapon Sword with Thick Crossguard (Roman Gladius) in Black (6349964 | 18034) - just in 76392 Hogwarts Wizard's Chess until this wave of Monkie Kid, now also in 80040
• 2x Tile Special 2x3 Pentagonal in Bright Green (6334125 | 35341) - previously only in 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet which Aron Gerencsér reviewed for us last year - also now in 80041 and 80044 (yes, OK, that's 3 other sets, oops)
• 2x Tile Round 1x2 Half Circle in Light Bluish Gray  (6408629 | 1748) - a new mould in 2022, this has only appeared in this colour in 75331 The Razor Crest and 10497 Galaxy Explorer so far
• 2x Plate Special 1x2 with Clip Horizontal on Side in Bright Green (6405103 | 65458) - just seen in 71403 Adventures with Peach Starter Course previous to this wave, also now in 80041

Noteworthy elements which have appeared in just three other sets (left of image):

• 1x Hinge Plate 2x4 with Articulated Joint - Female in White (6310912 | 3640) - in 80037 Dragon of the East, 71391 Bowser's Airship Expansion Set and 71721 Skull Sorcerer's Dragon, it surprises me that this is not more common  
• 1x Brick Round 2x2x1 1/3 Inverted in Bright Orange/Orange (6368880 | 24947) - just in 41701 Street Food Market, 60347 Grocery Store and 75338 Ambush on Ferrix 
• 2x Vehicle Body, Wheel Arch / Mudguard 3x4x1 2/3 Low Profile, Curved Front in Dark Stone Grey/Dark Bluish Gray (4652464 | 98835) - only seen in 3 sets between 2013 and 2018, 76099 Rhino Face-Off by the Mine, 79105 Baxter Robot Rampage and 60008 Museum Break-in 
• 6x Slope Inverted 45° 4x1 Double with 1x2 Cutout in White (6338001 | 32802) - also in 76231 Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar 2022, 43189 Elsa and the Nokk Storybook Adventures and 76393 Harry Potter & Hermione Granger, another element which feels like it should be more common
• 4x Bar Holder with Clip and 90° Angle (Mechanical Leg) in Medium Lilac/Dark Purple (6338503 | 72869) - seen in 80022 Spider Queen's Arachnoid Base, White Dragon Horse Jet and 80021 Monkie Kid's Lion Guardian 
• 4x Plate 1x1x2/3 with Hole in Stud in Light Bluish Gray (6401023 | 86996) - seen in 76911 Aston Martin DB5 76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger R/T and 10305 Lion Knight's Castle
• 3x Wave/Power Blast Rounded Energy with Bar Handle in black (6422913 | 27393) - previously just in 76084 The Ultimate Battle for Asgard from 2017, also now in 80040 and 80041

The following have been in four other sets (right of image):

• 2x Rotation Joint Socket with 2 Pins in Dark Bluish Gray (6369944 | 80563) 
• 1x Plate Special 2x2 with Only 2 studs in Dark Orange (6394948 | 33909)
• 6x Plate Round Corner 3x3 with 2x2 Round Cutout in White (6339103 | 68568) 
• 1x Brick Special 1x2 Rounded with Center Bars in Pearl Gold (6370621 | 77808) 
• 2x Plant/Animal Body Part, Tree/Branch/Tail/Appendage/Tentacle with Pin in Pearl Gold (6324841 | 69858)
• 4x Animal Body Part/Plant, Tail/Claw/Horn/Branch/Tentacle, End Section in Yellow (6430220 | 40379) - returns after an absence of 10 years

Minifigures in 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant

Notable parts from the five minifigures which are included are as follows:

Mei

Her shoulder guards have been dealt with in Recolours above.

• 1x New Printed Torso with White Arms in Flat Silver (6427266) - unique here
• 1x New Printed Legs in White (6417498) - also in 80045

Pigsy

The character also appears in 80044

• 1x New Printed Torso in Blue (6427306)
• 1x New Printed Medium Legs in Dark Blue (6420206)

Yellow Tusk Elephant

All elements for this character appear additionally 80045

• 1x Hair Mohawk with Ponytail in Dark Bluish Gray (6338388 | 75512) - which has been in just a handful of Monkie Kid sets previously
• 1x New Printed Head in White (6417494 | 3626)
• 1x Minifig Neckwear Elephant ears, trunk and tusks in White (6420208 | 2689) - a completely new mould
• 1x Minifig Neckwear Shoulder Guards in Dark Purple (6392222 | 37614) - additionally just in 60340 The Blade Stunt Challenge
• 1x New Printed Torso in white (6426648)
• 1x New Printed Legs in Dark Turquoise (6417496)

Ink Demon/Ink General

These share new prints for head and torso, and the characters also appear in 80040 and 80041

• 1x Hairpiece with Plaited Ponytail in Black (6422914 | 75512) - Ink Demon only
• 2x New Printed Head in Black (6417491)
• 2x New Printed Torso in Black (6424050)
• 1x Lower Body, Ghost Marbled Black in Transparent/Trans-Clear (6236394 | 82434) - Ink General only, also in a handful of other sets

Sticker sheet

This colourful sticker sheet provides decor details for much of the elephant. On this occasion I decided not to apply the stickers as I felt they may be more useful in MOCs. I don’t think it detracts from the model which still looks like a fearsome mechanical pachyderm!

Build & play features

The build itself was not too difficult, being aimed at an 8+ audience. Most steps required just a small number of pieces, and these built up quite a few sub-assemblies before being finally put together - particularly for the limbs of the elephant.

Each of the Elephant's legs articulate at the hips, with fixed knees at the front to make it easier to find as stable position during play. However, the most interesting play features are demonstrated in this video:

Initially I was a little disappointed with the design of the trunk, which remains floppy at the joints and will only rest in one set position, rather than each joint being articulated with a friction ball, as would have provided different posing angles. But the decision makes more sense when seeing the "trunk waggle" feature, which is accessed by pushing a Technic L-Beam located either side of the head, just behind the ears. 

The head can be turned with the gun turret on top, and the cannons swivelled in the desired direction for the best aim.

The other little surprise is that the Minifigure Yellow Tusk Elephant actually sits on a smaller Yellow Tusk Elephant upright mech, which slots into the back of the big Yellow Tusk Elephant. It's ellies all the way down!

To access this mech, you remove the seating platform on the back of the large beast, flap down the holding clip just above the tail and lift out the walking mech. The arms need to be folded forwards, the legs realigned and the front breast-plate folded upwards, and then the smaller mech is ready for action.

When images of the Yellow Tusk Elephant first emerged, a friend from my LUG pointed out the similarities to an old Adventurers set, 7414 Elephant Caravan, which was released in 2003:

 © 2003 The LEGO Group

80043 certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to 7414, so perhaps this is a 20-year homage to and old favourite on the part of the designer? 

Original MOC inspired by 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant - Kepler 42 D Outpost

It took a while for inspiration to strike for a MOC related to the set's elements, but I started off fiddling around with the 8 Round Corner 3x3 Bricks, combining them with some trans yellow Round 4x4 Dome Top Bricks from my collection. The idea of a microscale Space Base began to form. I imagine it is set on the desolate exoplanet, the 4th in orbit around the distant star Kepler 42, in the constellation of Cygnus.

The big  tapered curved panel which formed the Elephant's stomach offered itself as a canopy under which some ship maintenance could be carried out. The hulls of the two shuttle craft started off life as the Brick Special 2x5 with Slope, Studs on Side and required a few other elements from the set to complete their structures. 

Here are a few more views of the base for your enjoyment.

Conclusion

The set contains 844 pieces, which brings the price per part value to 7.1p / 9.5c / 8.3c, although the US cost seems significantly higher than the rest of the world. As such, think it offers reasonable value for money, and the interactive play features will hopefully keep kids entertained; I like the clever integration of another smaller mech into the main model. The selection of new and rare pieces should also keep the AFOL fans engaged.

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

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