When the latest wave of LEGO® Monkie Kid sets were first revealed many were seduced by the lure of the amazing Flower Fruit Mountain set. And rightly so, as it’s an incredible set, but there are others in the range, many of which I’ve already reviewed. Little did I know that one of the smaller sets would turn out to be a great build and one of my favourite of the new sets. The legend of the Monkey King is filled with many characters, for the LEGO Group’s take on the story, some of them have been reimagined. So Mei is partly inspired by the Buddhist Monk Tripitaka or Tang Sanzang. Tang’s horse was mistakenly eaten by the White Dragon prince. It later transformed into a white horse and accompanied Monkey and his companions on their journey to the West. This is also the inspiration for the great little set. But what makes it great? Find out in my review of White Dragon Horse Jet.
Product Description
Give your little hero a fun, rewarding building experience and hours of creative play with this exciting LEGO® Monkie Kid™ jet plane playset (80020). A top-quality gift toy for children, it features Mei’s White Dragon Horse Jet, with 2 spring-loaded shooters and 2 stud shooters, a buildable, working vending machine, posable robotic spider, spider trap and stud-shooting hoverboard. Children can role-play as Mei and Mo the cat battling to save a civilian from the Spider Queen’s Huntsman, with 3 minifigures and a LEGO figure.
- Set Name: White Dragon Horse Jet
- Set Number: 80020
- Pieces: 565
- RRP: £34.99/$39.99/39.99€
- Measurements: Measures over 3 in. (8 cm) high, 13.5 in. (34 cm) long and 7.5 in. (19 cm) wide
- Minifigures: Mei, Huntsman and Si
- Availability: LEGO.com exclusive
The Build
Unusually for a Monkie Kid, there is only one vehicle featured in the set. So although there’s a villain included he’s on foot. In fact, poor old Huntsman has two heroes to contend with. The first part of the build is focused around a small vending machine, one that actually works! Yes, this colourful drinks dispenser can churn out cans by slotting in a 1×2 tile in the gap on the front of the machine. It’s a great little build. It’s also quite detailed, with the inner workings needed to dispense cans and the outside featuring stickers and a clear 2×6 hollow brick filled with printed 1×1 round tiles.
Joining the vending machine is a pair of Minibuilds. One is another variant of the spider-drone, featured in a number of the new sets. Although the basic build is similar across the sets, the one here features a poison-filled tank on its back. As mentioned above, the villain may be vehicle-less, but there is a secondary hero craft, joining the White Dragon Horse Jet. Sandy’s feline chum, Mo has its own little flying craft. This is coloured to match Mo, who can sit atop the craft. It’s only a small build but includes two stud shooters and an angled plate which is exclusively found in this set in orange.
All those small aspects of the set offer great Minibuilds but my favourite part of the set is the jet. As with many of the vehicles in the Monkie Kid theme, they are closely associated with various characters via their use of colour. So the jet is mostly white but is trimmed with flashes of green, blue and gold. The jet is created by four different sections. The body of the jet is obviously the largest part of the build, with both wings and the nose of the jet created separately. These elements are also nicely tied to the namesake of the set. So the nose looks very horse-like and the wings feature layered NEXO shields, which look very much like dragon scales.
Play features are limited to a couple of stud shooters and flick missiles. All nicely hidden underneath the jet and its wings. But in all honesty, the set doesn’t really need them, the build is the key here and I had a great time putting this set together. I think this is a combination of the elements used and how well they are brought together. LEGO pieces are very angular in nature, but the lines achieved with this set just results in a very cool looking vehicle. The final flourishes of the set include a retro-looking transparent green canopy for the cockpit and a blade-like element jutting out the rear of the jet. This is an element heavily featured in the video game-inspired Prime Empire NINJAGO sets. The colour of the element used here is unique to this set.
The Minifigures
As well all the Monkie Kid sets, they don’t skimp on the Minifigures, with the set including three characters as well as animal figure. Another trait of the new MK sets is the inclusion of a random civilian character. That honour goes to Si, who doesn’t offer much in terms of unique pieces, although his torso is fairly rare, after only appearing in three other sets. Mei has appeared in a few other sets but has a new torso for the 2021 sets and I really like the detail on it. Especially when combined with the golden shoulder armour and Mei’s targeting VDU face. The final Minifigure is the Huntsman, a loyal and newly introduced member of the Spider Queen’s army. He has a similar spider-like appearance to his spider army chums. This includes light purple skin and a detailed outfit, as well as a fuzzy collar element and a new mohawk-like hairstyle. Finally, the set also includes Mo the cat. This oddly coloured feline used the same element for the mohawk cat introduced in The LEGO Movie 2 collectible Minifigures.
Overall
It may not be the biggest or most alluring on the new Monkie Kid sets, but I love it. The build was great fun and the finished model looks pretty cool. The use of parts and how they have been combined give the set an amazingly unique look and I love how parts of the set have been incorporated to look like the creatures which have inspired the character and name of the set. The Vending Machine is also a fun addition to the set, especially as it works and offers a different type of play feature. I also like the line-up of Minifigures, especially Mei, who is kitted out in a great outfit. I still think the civilians could have been a little more unique, especially as the main characters and villains are. The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain is certainly the pinnacle of the entire Monkie Kid range but this is up there as a great set, one that is fun to build, looks great and also proves not all sets need to balance to include vehicles for both good and bad characters. Also, it has a cat sporting a mohawk, flying a hoverboard, how cool is that!
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This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
