Quite a spicy dish!
TL;DR:
- Original Price: $59.99
- Pieces: 662
- Minifigure(s): Pan, Lee, Pigsy, Mr. Tang
- Sticker Sheet: Yes
- Pros: Complex build techniques and part usage
- Cons: Some build techniques fragile, many stickers
Assembly:
Bag #1 - Pan, pandabots
Bag #2 - Lee, tank base & forks
Bag #3 - Pigsy, bowl-kitchen
Bag #4 - Mr. Tang, left arm
Bag #5 - Right arm
Bag #6 - Signage & treads
Leftover Pieces
- Interesting Steps:
- 43: This shows how the bowl's structure was created, by using upside-down 6x6x2 round corner pieces and macaronis to encircle two 6x6 circles. The black "space seat" brackets keep the lower portion of the bowl from rotating once the level above this is pushed into place (both by mounting onto the circle's studs and with the insertion of a Technic pin in step 78).
- 75: The wok is simply an inverted 3x3 radar dish mounted on the bar arm of a modified 1x2 plate. If the plate were the same color (medium nougat) as the plate below—or vice versa—I think it would look a lot better, but it's still a neat technique. I could see modifying it by using a trans-orange plate underneath to represent fire or a hot cooking element, and then having 1/4-circle 1x1 tiles framing the bar on either side to look like a range top.
- 164: Though simple, the use of bright pink 1x3 slopes for the legs on the pig stud shooter are quite effective.
- Interesting Techniques:
- The Lee minifigure comes with a clear 1x1 round brick on which to mount his costume head, allowing him to hold it when removed. I've used this technique myself in storing full minifigure costumes (that is: legs, torsos, and head coverings without specific minifigure heads), as well as standalone masks (like Luna Lovegood's festive Gryffindor headdress) that otherwise would just rattle around unsecured.
- While it functionally serves as a noodle-disk shooter, the fridge design is excellent. I could see this being used in a modular MOC to give a retro feel to any kitchen (the triple-curve wedge plate that forms the top of the door front comes in many colors, including light aqua, as do all of the other pieces currently in red). I removed the handle to better display the cute sticker.
- Interesting Pieces:
- Neither of these are particularly rare, but I don't think I've ever seen a wing end slope paired with a 1x1 half circle tile like this; it's so satisfying seeing how well they fit together. They also do a good job of making the inflexible elbow look like a joint, especially with the grey 2x2 round jumper plate beneath them.
- Pain Points:
- The instructions show that we stack a white 2x2 turntable base on top of a white 2x2 with two studs on top of the delivery box, and mount that assembly to the underside of the panda drone, which would then be entirely dislodged when the red ball on top is pushed. This, however, seems to be a mistake in the rendering as the turntable base sticks to the bot's underside and the two-stud plate (acting like a jumper plate) is dislodged to drop down with the package, and act as the box's lid.
- The mech fingers we assemble in step 98 look good—a mix of mechanical grey, porcelain white, and piggy pink—but the clips that attach the fingers to the bar of the plate aren't very strong, which means they easily slide off at an angle, particularly if any sideways force is applied. That said, I'm not sure how I'd make the joint stronger without compromising the hand's compact design; it's also worth noting that the pot-lid shield does protect them somewhat...and also hinders their mobility a bit, so the designer may simply have decided that it was a good enough exchange between aesthetics and functionality.
- Play Features:
- Both arms move, the bowl rotates, the pig fires studs from its snout and the fridge opens to fire 2x2 noodle tiles. Also the fork raises and lowers as the treads move.
- Final Build (additional photos)
- My Modifications:
- MOC Gladiator Sweat Vendor
- The tomato sauce and battle damage stickers that are supposed to be applied to the 8x8 radar dish shield would have made it less useful for other builds (a domed roof, for example), so instead I decided to place those stickers on smaller tiles. The tomato sauce one looked so much like a blood spatter, that I was inspired to place it in a MOC.
- While current research seems to indicate that the use of gladiatorial sweat as perfume...or more...is a Victorian invention (indeed, it seems that the gladiators' blood was actually the commodity prized by the ancients for its healing and magical properties), it's still a funny idea that I wanted to utilize as an 8x8 habitat for my little gladiator minifig. I suppose it's fitting that the tile does indeed look like a blood splatter at the arena's entrance:
• Overall: This set is exactly why Monkie Kid is such a cool line: it's fun, wacky, creative, detailed, and also functional. The build was full of creative tricks and unusual techniques, and the result looks good. Though they aren't functional, the fish sauce and carrot guns mounted on top of the pig blaster show the sense of humor that pervades the entire MK lineup.
That said, some of the build techniques are a bit on the extreme side, and the final build is so vibrant one might call it "cluttered"...there is a lot going on, and some simple changes (for example, making all of the countertop surfaces in the kitchen area the same color—instead of reddish brown, bright light orange, medium nougat, etc) would help unify the space and keep the focus on the minifigures and their tools and actions.
The vehicle (as well as the panda bots) appears in the Season 2 episode "Sweet 'n' Sour," where Speedy Panda (and their new owners, the Gold and Silver Demons) challenges Pigsy's Noodle Shop to battle in Food Wars...and after winning the cooking challenge, Monkie Kid uses his staff to transform Pigsy's food truck to defend their honor from the attacks of the duplicitous Speedy Panda team. The noodle tank only appears for a few seconds before a demon accountant stops the whole battle before it even begins, but with this set kids (or AFOLs) are able to have a robot dust-up and determine the true winner themselves.
It was originally quite a good value (at 9¢ a piece), but in the time since its retirement in January of 2023 the price of a new set has increased dramatically, in some cases as high as $150. I wouldn't say it's worth it at that price, but with great minifigures and a creative build it's definitely worth the original $60 price. If you can pick up a used set as I did (or find a new one at close to the original price), I'd highly recommend it.
Score (out of 5 🧱):
- Price: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Process: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Play: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Total: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
Official Instructions: here
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