A complicated set with some cool techniques. This is a quick/in-depth review of the 1462-piece LEGO 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter set from the Monkie Kid line, retailing for $149.99.
TL;DR:
- Original Price: $149.99 via BrickEconomy
- Pieces: 1462
- Minifigure(s): Mr. Tang (red and white jacket), Syntax, Huntsman, Spider Queen, Mei (dragon armor suit), Fei, Mo, Red Son (jet pack), Monkie Kid, Sandy (big fig)
- Sticker Sheet: Yes
- Pros: Many unusual techniques, good looking minifigs, very colorful
- Cons: Challenging build (which could also be a pro), a few minor construction issues
Assembly:
Bag #1 - Mr. Tang (red and white jacket), bedroom container
Bag #2 - Syntax, villains' container start
Bag #3 - Huntsman, Spider Queen, villains' container finish
Bag #4 - Mei (dragon armor suit), Team's container start
Bag #5 - Team's container finish
Bag #6 - Fei, Mo, Red Son (jet pack), small vehicles
Bag #7 - Monkie Kid, escape pod
Bag #8 - Sandy (big fig), dronecopter core
Bag #9 - Dronecopter nacelle attachment points
Bag #10 - Dronecopter legs and handle
Bag #11 - Dronecopter rear nacelles
Bag #12 - Dronecopter front nacelles
Bag #13 - Dronecopter cockpit
Bag #14 - Dronecopter final details
Leftover Pieces
Interesting Steps:
- 13: Simple but effective, the "bedroom" container's little bookshelves are just made with SNOT bricks and stacked plates and tiles, using color alone to differentiate the books. I like how spacing is incorporated (here between the blue and red tiles) to make it feel more organic without overwhelming such a tiny corner with details.
- 26: Another simple but effective technique is the use of just three parts to make a boba tea cup with straw.
- 14: A good little detail on Mo's rocket cat carrier, the rocket pods are made from flat silver minifigure ray guns with tiles and bowls (or "dome bottoms") added on.
Interesting Techniques:
- The core of the villains' secret cannon includes a black 3x4 tile with studs in the middle; since it seems that CMFs are again being packaged with these ubiquitous baseplate pieces, it's always interesting to see them in use. Here it holds the two 1x4 projectile launchers together on either side of 1x2 Technic bricks. Also interesting is the use of 1x2 slope pieces, anchored only on their bottom antistud. Given the cannon's tucked-away position, I suppose they don't need to be super secure since they won't be in danger of being knocked off with more active play.
Interesting Pieces:
- The dark purple 4x4 macaroni tiles are able to perfectly encircle the light bluish grey 6x6 webbed radar dish...in writing this out, I realize this is because an 8x8 circle (made of the four 4x4 macaroni tiles) is indeed a size larger than a 6x6 circle. But it still looks nice, very precise and clean. I could see this technique—utilizing robot arms and bar-end plates to hold the dish in place—being used to put a domed skylight on a building MOC, or a window on a space ship.
- The "Dark Bluish Gray Slope, Inverted 45 4 x 2 Double with Pins" piece is an old one, but one I haven't seen too often. It could easily be used for a see-saw-style trap door or floor activation switch, for example, and the Technic axle hole in the middle also has many possible applications.
Pain Points:
- In step 30, we place a sticker on top of a tile to ease the transition between white "pillow" and red "bedspread." However, normal sticker placement (square in the middle of the piece) leaves a border of red around the sticker, breaking the intended effect.
- Syntax's hair doesn't completely cover the back face printing on his head.
- Usually sets like this include places to clip the characters' oversized weapons—like Monkie Kid's staff—but this set doesn't seem to, requiring that he either leave his staff behind when piloting the escape pod, or else have it sticking out of the cockpit in a very un-aerodynamic manner.
- The pilot's seat for the dronecopter is more of a saddle, which suits the big fig's big stance, but also means that Sandy is the only one who can pilot it (also that doesn't look very comfortable).
Play Features:
- All three shipping containers open, each in a different way: the bedroom container opens vertically to reveal bunk beds and a desk, the villains' container splits in the middle to reveal a projectile-throwing cannon, and the team's container unfolds horizontally to reveal the essentials: video games, movies, and boba tea.
- Pressing the two lime 1x2 Technic liftarms on the back of the villains' container fires the two projectiles.
- I've never been a fan of the inside of big figs' arms. I get that it's necessary from an engineering standpoint (just like with the Ninjago dragon-form tail pieces, as discussed in my 71857 Ninja Vehicle Tree House Battle review), but there has to be a more elegant solution. The first time I saw a big fig I actually thought it was a knockoff copy: "There's no way LEGO would allow an official figure with such a sloppy mold technique," I thought, incredulous. But there it is; poor Sandy.
- Through the use of some Technic lever and gear wizardry (as shown in the second picture) pulling the trigger of the dronecopter's handle (first picture) will fire both projectile bolts from the cockpit, no matter which direction it's facing.
- The shipping containers clip to bars built into the dronecopter's sides, and the escape pod connects to tow balls extending from its front.
My Modifications:
- I noticed that the 2x2 inverted slope securing the movie screen in the team's container butts up against the header tile for the arcade console, keeping the container from closing all the way (in the first picture you can see a little gap between the pentagonal tile and the 3x6 wedge plate); removing this slope allows the container to close completely (no gap in the second picture). I guess this shows that even seasoned Master Builders can overlook details.
- The use of flat silver Technic pins with stop bushes to secure the handle is pretty smart, with the bushes serving as handles in their own right when it's time to disassemble the build. The tolerances are so close, however, that it can be hard to push them in on Step 85. I found that using the brick separator gives more leverage and a bigger handhold, especially for builders who might have larger than kid-sized hands.
Final Build (additional photos)
• Overall: A great set and a fun build.
I had a blast building this set, especially the first half. I loved the creative approaches to the different shipping containers: I've always been a fan of things that open up to other things (as a kid I had Transformers, Micro Machines playsets, Star Wars Micro Machines playsets, and even borrowed my sister's Polly Pockets) so these definitely fired some neurons. But that aside, the fact that each one was handled differently made this into quite the lesson on how to make unfolding sets.
The second half of the build was devoted to the eponymous dronecopter, and this I found to be a little less stimulating. In part because there was a lot of repetition (as is to be expected in a large symmetrical structure like this), and in part because the Technic underpinnings made it more...technical. It was still interesting to see how different angles and shapes were achieved, but that process was less fun to me than the little shipping container builds. Perhaps I just like set decorating more than vehicle engineering...actually, yeah, that rings true.
Regardless of personal preference, this set was a fun challenge to build, and looks great. It should also be noted that the single sticker sheet felt appropriate to the size of the set, allowing for extra detailing (such as on the nacelles) without becoming arduous. The minifigures, too, are an interesting mix of common figs (Sandy, the Spider Queen, and Mei, for example) and exclusives (Syntax, Mr. Tang, and Red Son), but they're all good additions to a collection, especially for Monkie Kid fans. At 10¢ per piece, the original price does feel like a fair deal, but new-in-box sets seem to be hovering around $200 which would be about 13¢ per piece. That's a bit high, but if you really wanted this specific set (especially with the minifigures, which BrickEconomy currently values at $104, and the shipping container panels in such rare colors) it might still be worth it.
Score (out of 5 🧱):
- Price: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Process: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Play: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
- Total: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
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