80048 The Mighty Azure Lion LEGO Review - Monkie Kid, 2023

TL;DR:

• Original Price:  $79.99
• Pieces: 789
• Minifigure(s): Monkie Kid, Ink Demon, Monkey King, Pigsy, Azure Lion
• Sticker Sheet: Yes
• Pros: Unique minifigs (MK, Pigsy, Lion), creative mech, unique/rare parts/colors
• Cons: Somewhat inflexible joints make for difficult posing

Assembly: 

Bag #1 - Monkie Kid, Ink Demon, Torso

Bag #2 - Thighs

Bag #3 - Monkey King, Pigsy, Azure Lion (pictured above), Shins & feet

Bag #4 - Shoulders

Bag #5 - Arms & hands

Bag #6 - Head

Bag #7 - Tail & accessories

• Interesting Steps:
• Step 219 has us place these printed eye tiles (thankfully not stickers) on the pearl gold leaf pieces, which really works well both to highlight the eyes and give them a bit more flash.

• Interesting Techniques:
• This set is one that I had actually built before, so I didn't have the advantage of having the pieces in the sub-build bags like you would with a brand new set. So I sorted by color instead. For as nice as it looks, I wouldn't advise this for organizing an entire collection, but with a single set it makes it easy to differentiate pieces without having to go crazy trying to classify and organize several one-or-two-off pieces. There were still several times when I couldn't find something small just because it had gotten tucked under or into a larger piece of the same color, but it was still easier than going through a massive pile (as you can see in the first picture). Dollar Store project trays (second picture) have convenient shallow depressions, making them very useful for keeping parts corralled; even with new sets I'll use them to hold each bag's pieces as I build.

• The mech's ankles are constructed from layers of SNOT brackets, which makes it possible to have gold ingots and slopes placed around them like jewelry, while also rounding out the leg very effectively

• The shoulders—for example step 117 shown here—have a really complex combination of curve pieces, which do a great job of hiding the click joints without impeding their movement, but also tying in with the ink-stain motif of the figure (which ties in to the series quite nicely)  

• Interesting Pieces:
• The 4x3 black plate with stepped wedges has shown up in a lot of Ninjago and Monkie Kid sets, and could make for interesting roof tiles, or even sushi rolls
  

• The Ninjago dragon jaw in bright orange makes for interesting mane shapes and contrasts well with the dark turquoise

• 246 trans-clear 1 x 2 x 1 2/3 brick with studs on the sides appears in many sets (most often in dark bluish grey) but is a nice addition to my SNOT collection

• 254 "Large Figure Weapon, Blade Rounded Swirls and Spike with Axle," even more so than the cloud piece, is currently unique to Monkie Kid sets

• Pain Points:
• Minifig distribution: with five figures and seven bags, it would have made more sense (from a builder's point of view at least, perhaps there are manufacturing/packaging-side reasons that were more weighty) to have them distributed more evenly. Because this isn't a "battle in a bag" like other sets, where each side has a vehicle and a few minifigs, I could see a more story-based setup. For example, having the Azure Lion Minifig be part of the first bag would help with the comparison between the on-going build and the figure it represents; while the Ink Demon would be good to have in the last bag, as that also contains the scroll from which the ink demons spring.
• In steps 34-55 it can be easy to miss the "2x", leading to a bit of backtracking:

• The knee joints are made from Technic axle holders (135 degrees), resulting in inflexible non-joints. This is good for stability, but drastically limits the number and variety of poses available. Having a click-joint like in the shoulders and hips would have really improved this while not weakening it overmuch.

 

• My Modifications:  
• It's a small adjustment, but I flipped the pauldron spikes (pearl gold claw with clip) to point downwards, which match the "Pearl Gold Minifigure Armor Shoulder Pads with Spikes" on the minifigure itself.
  
  

 

The Azure Lion is a complex and enjoyable character in Monkie Kid (though funnily enough is little more than a stepping stone battle in the actual Journey to the West, who with Yellow Tusk Elephant and Great Roc forms a trio of man-eating demons who must be defeated...and not sworn brothers to Monkey King and Demon Bull King like in the story), so it's fitting that the best part of this set is his minifigure. The mech is, I suppose, intended to show his corrupted form, once he ...like many of the sets, it seems it was designed before the episodes were completed, leading to fun builds and interesting designs that don't quite tie in to the series as closely as might be hoped but are still worthwhile additions to a collection.

You can see a few clips of Azure Lion in the series collected here—warning, spoilers.

On the whole, this build is as complex and enjoyable as the minifigure it's based on, with a fair amount of flexibility (apart from the knees as mentioned above). It also has a really good use of stickers to blend the transition between dark turquoise fur and black ink, giving an almost-Venom-like corruption feel.

It's worth noting that, on the one hand, the back looks rather lackluster, but on the other it's intended to hold the oversized scroll (the Scroll of Memory from the show, which contains the Journey to the West...and releases ink demons, corrupting those it touches)

This is a great set for fans of the character and series, and mech-builds in general, with only a few downsides.

Score (out of 5 🧱):

• Price: 🧱🧱🧱
• Process: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  
• Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  
• Play: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  

• Total: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱 

Lego Instructions: here