LEGO® Monkie Kid™ review: 80046 Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship

The June 2023 wave of the LEGO® Monkie Kid theme includes four sets. In this review, I will be taking a look at the smallest of them, 80046 Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship. 

Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® 80046 Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship
US$49.99/ £42.99/ 47.99€/ AU$72.99
540 parts
Released 1 June 2023
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Recoloured elements in 80046 Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship

There are no new moulds in this set, but we do get two new recoloured elements, both of which are exclusive here:

• 4x Aircraft Fuselage Curved Aft Section 8x12x2 Top in Bright Yellow/Yellow (6428435 | 67245)
• 8x Slope Curved 8x2 No Studs in Yellow (6428436 | 42918)

The fuselage piece was introduced in 2020 in just two sets and colours: White in a LEGO® Friends aeroplane and Bright Light Orange in a LEGO® City plane. This is the first time that four of the same element have been included in one set, and the pieces make up the left and right of the airship's envelope. The top and bottom is filled in with panels made from the long curved yellow slopes.

Rare parts in 80046

For a relatively small set, Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship contains quite a few rare parts. 

Those in the left column have been seen in just one other set previously:

• 1x Minifig Neckwear Wings, Angel in Warm Gold/Pearl Gold (6369006 | 77183) - also in 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech
• 1x Slope Curved 2x2 Inverted in Yellow (6411332 | 32803) - previously just in 71411 The Mighty Bowser
• 1x Animal, Cat, Kitten, Short Tail, with Orange Pony, White Nose print in Medium Azure (6417775 | 101336) - just in 80044 Monkie Kid's Team Hideout

Kitten-era Mo appears to be less of a bruiser than his later incarnation as this little cutie does not yet sport the distinctive orange punk haircut of the grown-up character. I'm afraid I don't watch the cartoon series, so I'm not sure what is going on with the timeline here - but hey, I'll take a cute LEGO kittie any day.

The middle of the image shows six pieces which have been in two other sets:

• 2x Slope Curved 8x2 No Studs in Bright Red/Red (6321762 | 42918) - seen in 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent and 71737 X Ninja Charger
• 2x Flag 2x2 Trapezoid with Flared Area between Clips in Flame Yellowish Orange/Bright Light Orange (6365499 | 80324) - in 75576 Skimwing Adventure and Monkie Kid's Team Hideout
• 1x Tile 1x2 with Groove and Pigsy Menu, Mandarin 'Supreme Delicious', Wood Grain print in Medium Nougat (6417774 | 101335) - in Monkie Kid's Team Hideout and a polybag, 30656 Monkey King Marketplace
• 1x Minifig Neckwear Mask Beak in Bright Light Orange (6428437 | 3156) - also in Monkie Kid's Team Hideout Monkey King Ultra Mech
• 2x Brick Round 2x2 Dome Top - Vented Stud with Bottom Axle Holder x Shape + Orientation in Medium Stone Grey/Light Bluish Gray (6429052 | 3262) - older mould variants are quite common but this latest incarnation has only been in 43217 'Up' House​ and 31134 Space Shuttle
• 1x Minifig Neckwear Armor Shoulder Pads in Light Bluish Gray (6426615 | 41637) - just in 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant and Monkey King Ultra Mech previously

The final column shows two parts which have been in 3 other sets:

• 2x Technic Connector 2x2 with 1x1 Cut-Out with Axle Holes in Red (6359066 | 72008) - from 75335 BD, 10306 Atari 2600 and 21327 Typewriter
• 1x Headwear Accessory Braid in Bright Bluish Green/Dark Turquoise (6397822 | 80681) - seen in 2 other LEGO Monkie Kid sets and one Stuntz release

Other minifigure elements

Aside from the elements noted above, there are also some rare and exclusive parts included in the figures. 

Monkie Kid

• Hair Short, Swept Up with Red Head Band Pattern in Black (6460984 | 66912pat0001) - also appears in 80048 The Mighty Azure Lion and 80049 Dragon of the East Palace from this wave, but seems to be a new Element ID for an existing part.
• Head has already been in several Monkie Kid sets from the January 2023 wave
• Torso is a new print (6439706) on Bright Light Orange with black and red arms, and also appears in The Mighty Azure Lion and Dragon of the East Palace
• Legs are common to quite a few Monkie Kid sets

Sandy (Power Up)

• Minifig Head Sandy, Bushy Orange Eyebrows and Beard Print in Medium Azure (6366633 | 81159) - appears in 3 other Monkie Kid sets
• New printed torso in Flat Silver with white arms (6439675 | 973c00pr) - unique here, although a very similar print with dfferent hightlight colours also appears as Pigsy's torso in The Mighty Azure Lion, and two other Monkie Kid team members' torsos in 80047 Mei's Guardian Dragon
• Hips and White Legs with Robe, Dark Turquoise/Gold Decorations print in White (6417498 | 101318) - in 2 other Monkie Kid sets from January 2023 as well as Mei's Guardian Dragon and The Mighty Azure Lion

Golden-Winged Eagle

All the elements making up this minifigure have appeared in two previous sets, Monkie Kid's Team Hideout and Monkey King Ultra Mech:

• Hair and beak (neckware) are covered in the Rare Parts section above
• Minifig Head The Golden-Winged Eagle, Dark Purple Eyes, Bright Light Orange Beak, Dark Turquoise Markings print in Light Aqua (6417770 | 101331)
• Torso, Gold Chains/Necklace, Yellow Belt, Dark Purple/Magenta Decorations print, Light Aqua Arms and Hands in Light Aqua (6428990 | 76382) 
• Hips and Black Legs with Yellow/Dark Purple Robe, Claws print in Black (6417772 | 101333)

Ink Demon

The Ink Demons appear to be the baddies' henchmen in the current series of Monkie Kid, and all the elements making up the minifigure have already appeared in several different sets.

Building Monkie Kid's Cloud Airship

The first bag contains the parts to put together all of the side builds: the gun carriage, rock feature and Sandy's independent flying craft (which also fits onto the rear of the gondola behind Monkie Kid's cab).

Bag two makes up the gondola with skis, which hangs below the dirigible. The mounting for the single rear ski is slightly longer than the front pair, making the whole model pitch forwards slightly, but the  angle gives the finished craft a bit more of a dynamic look, I think. The final three bags construct the red and yellow envelope, wings and tail modules of the dirigible.

You may have assumed that the envelope was completely empty (well, at least full of helium), but in fact a couple of hinged panels on the top open to reveal a crew space in the forward section and a cargo area in the aft section. 

As you can see from the first image of the completed model, being a tiny kitten doesn't stop Mo from taking charge of the shooter on top of the airship. It's not a place I would have thought of putting a feline, but that's how the fearless kitty is shown on the box art and instructions, so who am I to argue?

As far as play features are concerned, I guess the inclusion of four shooters in the set means that you can battle out the forces of good and evil quite comprehensively - especially given the odds: our heroes have three of the shooters and the ink demon only has one!

There is also a basket attached to the gondola which can be winched up and down, perhaps to pick up crew as the airship swoops low over the enemy. It's quite a swooshable craft, and the wings' pitch can also be altered in flight.

Conclusion

An airship is not a vehicle that we have seen very often in LEGO form, so it is a nice change to see one included in this wave of LEGO Monkie Kid sets. The build was enjoyable and there are some play features which should keep younger fans occupied. 

I find the look of the big, heavy LEGO Technic beam which connects the canopy to the gondola rather clunky, but I'm sure sturdiness during play was a big factor in the resulting design. You might decide to modify this to be more aesthetically pleasing for your own use, of course.

With a price per part value of 8.0p / 9.3c ($) / 8.9c (€), it offers reasonably good value for money, and another model in the LEGO Monkie Kid theme is always welcome in my house! 

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