The second largest of the new LEGO® Monkie Kid sets just so happens to be the first of them to be revealed late last year. Since then the set has been given a name change, but still remains an interesting addition to Monkie Kid’s line-up of vehicular weaponry. Although it’s not really a helicopter or a drone, it is a feature-packed build, which also includes the largest number of characters of any Monkie Kid set. The Dronecopter takes its inspiration from the team HQ released last year. With various shipping containers, reflecting some of the characters. But does this epic looking set deserve a place in your LEGO collection? Here’s the final of my LEGO Monkie Kid Season 2 set reviews with a look at the Monkie Kid’s Team Dronecopter set.
Product Description
Children can become heroes in their own epic stories and wow their friends with Monkie Kid’s Team Dronecopter. This LEGO® Monkie Kid™ helicopter toy (80023) features 2 spring-loaded shooters and 2 detachable ‘cargo containers’ with lots of homely features inside, including bunk beds and a buildable arcade machine. The playset includes 8 minifigures and 2 figures, including Monkie Kid, Mei, Sandy, Mo the cat, Spider Queen, Mr. Tang with a Journey to the West book element and Red Son with a flyer, plus a spring-loaded ‘spider poison’ shooter for battle action.
- Set Name: Monkie Kid’s Team Dronecopter
- Set Number: 80023
- Pieces: 1462
- RRP: £119.99/$149.99/149.99€
- Measurements: Measures over 7.5 in. (19cm) high, 15.5 in. (39 cm) long and 15.5 in. (39 cm)
- Minifigures: Monkie Kid, Mei, Mr. Tang, Huntsman, Syntax, Red Son, Spider Queen and Fei, plus Sandy and Mo the cat
- Availability: LEGO.com exclusive
The Build
Despite the set being on the large side, it features a number of smaller sections, which are built separately to the main Dronecopter. These include a trio of shipping containers, which are tied to various characters. There are two hero containers and one themed towards the bad guys. The affiliation of the containers is clearly denoted by their colour schemes. So the pair of brightly coloured ones are used by Monkie Kid’s companions and can also be added to the Dronecopter. Where the villain’s unit is clad in darker colours. They all open out to reveal detailed interiors.
The Spider Queen’s container features a cannon-like weapon, which has two flick missiles. These can be fired by a couple of loosely hanging Technic beams, which allows the end of the missile element to protrude, once loaded. This particular container opens longways, as you’d expect a cargo container to do and what I really like about it, is how a radar dish is incorporated into the roof and can flip up once the container is opened up.
The two hero containers are themed towards two of the characters included in the set. The first is Mr Tang’s quarters. This container flips open, so one of the sides becomes a second floor by sitting on top of the roof. There’s a little study on the ground level. With a pair of bunk beds on the upper section. The colouring and style of this container is a little more traditional, which matches Mr Tang’s character.
The final container is the most intricate and completely folds open to reveal Mei’s hangout. Various aspects of it are coloured green and white to match Mei’s out and various vehicles. Minibuilds dotted along the open container include a flip-out TV screen, arcade machine, throne and a plinth to display her dragon blade weapon. Once closed, both of these containers can be clipped to the body of the Dronecopter.
The rest of the auxiliary builds include a flying crate for Mo the cat to blast around in and Red Son’s flame-flicking hoverboard flyer. Mo’s crate is a fun addition and I like how the character has been given an expanded role in these new sets. Red Son’s hoverboard is also a fairly simple build but it elevated with the additional of fire-like effects, which use the power blast elements, often found in Super Hero sets. These may only be small aspects of the set overall, but they add great play elements which can help expand the story of the set.
The Spider Queen has an army of Spider Drones, which she has deployed across the new Monkie Kid sets. Their base build is similar for each drone, but the two included here are a unique design to this set. One is a surveillance drone, with the other featuring a ray blaster. They may not have the right amount of legs, but they look spider-like and I like that each set includes a different looking drone.
The Dronecopter is made up of a number of different sections, which all combine to unique a quite looking craft. It’s similar in style to a Helicarrier from the Marvel universe. This is partly due to the four large yellow coloured fin blades, which each house a propeller surrounded by bright blueish green arches. These are then connected to the corners of the large central platform.
Considering this looks like a fairly simple platform, it actually requires a surprising amount of building. This is in part to incorporate the play feature ties to a handle and the central gun turret. Under the handle is a trigger, which fires a pair of bolts loading into the turret. But the best part of this section is a simple gear system powered by a small Technic gear wheel. Twisting this causes the entire central platform to rotate.
As well as being able to rotate the central platform, it also looks quite cool. Two large weapon barrels point upwards, with the dashboard more like a bridge of a ship. It’s the perfect size to hold Sandy, with a pair of painter roller handles, topped with ball elements making the perfect sized levers. A couple of stickers add a little extra detail to the control panels.
There’s a pod-like section at the front of the DroneCopter. This is a vehicle in its own right and can be detached from the rest of the build should the battle get overwhelming for MK and his chums. In fact, it’s one of the first parts of the main Dronecopter you build. Its shape and style is similar to an A-wing ship from the Star Wars universe. This makes it the perfect proportions for both a cockpit for the Dronecopter and a separate little craft.
The Minifigures
The set features an impressive 10 characters, including a unique character and this waves only BigFig. For the bad guys, the set includes the Spider Queen, Huntsman, Syntax and Red Son. Of all the villains, Red Son is the best as he includes a menacing-looking hoverboard and is jazzed up with power-like pieces. All these characters have all appeared in other Monkie Kid sets.
The heroes include Monkie Kid in the new-for-2021 outfit. Mei, who is also in her new-for-2021 outfit, which has an amazing torso print, as well as either a hairpiece or helmet. Sandy is a unique character as he’s a BigFig and this set is his only appearance in the new wave of sets. He includes a buildable staff-like weapon and is joined by his mohawk-sporting cat, Mo. It wouldn’t be a Monkie Kid set without a random civilian character. This set includes Fei, who is a female character and rather generic, especially when compared to other Monkie Kid characters. Finally, the set includes a unique Minifigure. Mr Tang is an important part of the Monkie Kid story and is one of the only characters from the show not to appear in physical form until now. He also includes an important accessory, which is the book of the Journey to the West story.
Overall
It’s a unique looking set, which has some cool play features. I especially like the ability to rotate the central platform while holding the set by the handle, which also acts as the trigger point for the flick missiles. This is a good idea in practice, but the set is quite bulky and heavy so it will be tricky for younger fans to hold securely. But as a playset, there’s plenty of things to take apart and open out to expand the play area. This is especially the case with the shipping containers. Not only do these tie nicely to the ship-like team HQ from the first wave of sets, but they are also a great way to reflect various characters. Of all the new sets I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing, I really enjoyed the build of this one mostly thanks to the use of some unusual elements. It does offer plenty of playability, I’m just a little unsure if the set was created with ‘swooshabilty’ in mind. Sure it has the handle but I struggled to hold it so kids certainly would. The line-up of characters is quite impressive, something the Monkie Kid range excels at. It’s just a shame, they don’t offer more variants of the characters, especially as many of them appear across multiple sets.
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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.
25th May 2021
Heyo, the torso print for Red Son is also currently unique to this set.