Review: LEGO Monkie Kid 80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain

Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Monkie Kid set 80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain, the biggest box of the second wave of products from this range freely inspired by the legend of the Monkey King. It should also always be borne in mind that these products target a very specific clientele who is familiar with the context to which the content of this box makes a particularly strong reference.

No futuristic spaceship or machine in this set of 1949 pieces, this large box strives to pay homage to the very popular tale in Asia with a staging directly borrowed from the art of shanshui, a pictorial style that highlights natural landscapes. Mountains, waterfalls, clouds, vegetation and calligraphy are generally in the spotlight in these works and the LEGO version takes all the codes to offer a rather impressive diorama.

This set is also and above all the cultural guarantee of the range, it is responsible for convincing parents that the Monkie Kid universe draws deeply from Chinese culture despite the accumulation of over-armed robots, over-equipped mechs and futuristic-looking machines. that compete on packaging. Thus convinced that the Monkie Kid universe is a good reference to the legend they know, parents will undoubtedly be more inclined to go to the cash register to please their children.

In all fairness, I don't think the substance of the product is too exciting to put together, but the shape on the other hand is quite satisfactory. The pleasure of assembling something other than a ship or any mechanical device quickly takes over and a certain poetry finally emerges from this Mountain of a Thousand Flowers (or Fruit-Flower Mountain). A few stickers and other large pieces are necessary to obtain this playset with limited functionality, but the end result seems to me sufficiently interesting from an aesthetic point of view to forgive the shortcuts.

The construction of nearly 70 cm long by more than 30 cm high is divided into three sub-sections connected to each other by Technic pines and we quickly realize that we mainly get a half-mountain, the back of the playset contenting itself with the bare necessities with its exposed Technic beams and minimalist finishes.

Unlike the other boxes in the range which feature clashes between the Monkie Kid and his various enemies using futuristic machines and weapons, this product focuses exclusively on the legend that serves as a common thread. this range by offering the different stages that led Sun Wukong to become the Monkey King.

There is therefore a logical progression in this diorama, starting with the birth of the one who will become Sun Wukong. Each of the six milestones in the story is illustrated by a small gold panel adorned with a sticker on a red background that describes (in Chinese) what takes place there.

According to legend, the young monkey came out of a rock located on the Fruit-Fleur mountain and we therefore have here a dedicated space which allows to stage the character in his stone egg and to "explode "the rock to free the child. A tab is installed at the foot of the cavity in which the minifig is installed, just pull it to open the rock and reveal the one who will then be nicknamed the Stone Monkey.

The story continues with the crossing of the waterfall which allowed the young monkey to gain the respect of his peers and to discover in passing a wonderful place then occupied by the future king and his congeners. It is possible to vaguely replay the scene by pressing a lever which moves two of the uprights of the waterfall covered with stickers on a transparent background.

Here too, the functionality is disarmingly simple, but the solution used always works and the waterfall easily separates into two parts. There is no complex mechanism, it will be necessary to close the cascade manually. We then continue with the learning and training phase of the young pretender to the throne with the raft on which he traveled for ten years before meeting Soudhobi of which he became the disciple.

The obtaining of the title of King of the Monkeys by Sun Wukong is embodied here by the presence of the throne at the top of the left part of the mountain. Some might wonder why the story progression is right to left on the diorama. The explanation is simple, the staging here respects the traditional meaning of reading still used in China for certain content.

We also have a feature to replay the clash between the Monkie Kid and the Six Ears Macaque, the cunning and jealous alter-ego of the Monkey King. Nothing crazy, it is actually pedestals on which we install the minifigs and two notched wheels which allow the supports to rotate to create a little movement.

The endowment in minifigs of this big box which allows to accumulate the monkeys plays on two tables: on the one hand, it is responsible for providing us with the different versions of Sun Wukong which are necessary to stage the birth and the evolution from the character until obtaining his status of Monkey King and on the other, she makes the link with the animated series by adding the inevitable Monkie Kid who makes a detour through the mountain in question on the screen.

So we get a Monkey King in a newborn version, in a teenage version, in an apprentice version and in his usual form with his shiny armor. These minifigs come with the Monkie Kid and the Six Eared Macaque, a deceitful and ill-intentioned character with whom the young hero chooses to train. The villain briefly seizes the powers of the Monkey King but then loses them in a clash with the "real" king. The inventory is completed by two young monkeys with mischievous looks and short legs.

Let's face it, this big mountain sold for 170 € which offers few real fun possibilities will not appeal to everyone. The public targeted directly by this range will find themselves there with an original incarnation of the Fruit-Flower mountain, very present in the popular legend of the Monkey King. Those who have not been lulled by this tale may find it a little difficult to grasp all the subtleties of this diorama which draws its inspiration from the art of shanshui and will ultimately only see a mountain that is a little rough and much too expensive.

In Asia, the first opinions on this box are however unanimous and the product seems to reach its goal. With us, it will probably be less obvious, but I remind you that this range of products is only distributed elsewhere than in Asia because LEGO is committed to no longer geographically limiting the distribution of its "general public" products. . We cannot therefore blame the manufacturer for developing products on themes that are not particularly familiar to us.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at March 20, 2021 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.