“Lion Dance, Up sized.”
First of all, a big thank you to LEGO for sending us this awesome set for review. The Lion Dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. However the lion in this set looks like a mech that helps protect the Monkie Kid from the attack of the Spider Queen. This set is priced at USD79.99 with a parts count of 774 pieces alongside 5 Minifigures. Let’s see what’s inside this set.
The box is square in shape with the usual Monkie Kid banner at the top. Here we can see Mei and Monkie Kid riding the lion mech while fighting the Spider Queen and her Huntsman. Lu is also annoyed by the small robot spider disturbing her quest for a high score on the dance machine.
The back of the box shows us the playability of the set and the one that catches my attention is the claw machine that actually works (not the real world way but given the size of it, it is a very clever approximation of it) and those golden nano figures are the prizes inside the claw machine.
Sticker sheet. These are mostly applied on the arcade room build while the bottom ones 13, 14, 15 are the decals for the lion.
The Spider Queen’s cape. This cape comes in a film which is quite special. It is a plastic cape like the Spider Queen in CMF Series 14.
Let’s start building.
The arcade shop. I think the shop is named Anti Gravity as the sign board indicates. Dancing machine on the left with two speakers and the claw machine on the right with two eyes and a mouth. I like the trans blue pillars here.
A better view of the dance machine. I suppose Lu is the pro here scoring each arrow at 100% accuracy.
Here is the claw machine. The joystick is not functional but you can actually rotate the gear behind this build to push out the pearl gold nanofigures and they will drop through the hole below under the joystick.
This build can be folded into a square building with the entrance at the left and the inside at the right. The three Chinese words 营业中 translates as Open in English indicating that the arcade shop is open for business. At the right you can see a grey gear behind the claw machine. That’s the one to ‘push’ out the prize.
Here you can see the claw manipulator (the gear on the right). There is a dancing mat (which is a sticker) on the floor where Lu gets her high score with. 6338499 is a new part in this Monkie kid wave which is used as the corner of the roof on both side of the entrance. It gives it a Chinese cultural touch to the shop.
6338503 an angled purple clip which is also a new element that will be introduced in several sets from this wave . I suppose this is also a quite versatile part to be used in micro MOCs if it comes in other colours in the future.
Six legged spider drone. Here the angled clip is used as the legs of the spider. The colour matches quite well with lime green and I love the printed 1×1 round tile with a spider logo on it. The head looks like a camera so maybe this is a recording drone that wants to record how Lu gets her high score on the dance machine? Haha..
So Shelob killed some Uruk-Hais and took their weapons as hers? Okay we digress, this is not Lord of the Rings. This platform build acts as an extension for the Spider Queen, again utilising the angled purple clips to hold the legs. The build is quite weak as the base of the platform is actually the support of the build. It is impossible to make it stand on the tip of the legs as the grip of the purple clips cannot withstand the weight.
Let’s move on to the main build of the set. Here is the front view of the Lion’s head. I like the design of the nose using two Dark Turquoise 6293280 Tile, Round 1 x 1 Heart. The ears are built using 6268401 Wheel 14mm D. x 9.9mm with Center Groove, Fake Bolts and 6 Double Spokes in pearl gold.The golden teeth are nicely built using 6207764 Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 3 Teeth (Claws) as sharp incisors coupled with 6270109 Barb / Claw / Horn – Small in pearl gold as the canines. The eyes are nicely embedded inside the 6050914 Brick, Round 2 x 2 Dome Bottom in white.
Here you can see the difference of the metallic gold and pearl gold. I love the metallic gold bar 6294492 Minifigure, Utensil Ingot / Bar at the bottom of the picture. I feel rich by just looking at it.
At this stage, without the support of a pillar that extends into the body, the mouth opening can be very wide indeed.
6334574 is definitely a brand new printed eye part currently exclusive to the set. If it is not printed, the part name would be 32474 Technic, Ball Joint. Luckily it is printed as I just cannot imagine applying a sticker on these. Haha..
Top view after the torso is built. Here we can appreciate the metallic gold parts better. The round 2×2 red tile at the middle is actually attached to a pillar that can be pushed upward (in this picture) to close the Lion’s mouth. I really love the colour combination of Dark Turquoise, red, pearl and metallic gold here.
Here is a stop motion on how the jaw is moved by pushing the 1×2 orange cheese slope to the front.
The front legs. 6099396 Wave Rounded Single with Pin (Flame) is widely used here as detailed extension of the lion mech. The front legs are bulkier than the rear but still looks thin for a beast this big.
Like I mentioned previously, this 6253815 Wave Rounded Single with Pin (Flame) is also used here as the extensions of the tail. 6323584 Torso Mechanical, Battle Droid comes in red, a brand new colour that attaches the three pearl gold 6262192 Arm Mechanical, Exo-Force / Bionicle, Thick Support to the body of the tail.
The Lion Mech looks heavy but it still can be supported upright using the front legs only. This means that the design of the legs are strong enough to make the lion stand on its feet leaving free roaming for the design of the hind legs
The hind legs are actually thinner than the front but as shown in the previous pictures, it is the front legs that carry the heavy load of the build.
The weapons. These two brown boxes are attached to the side of the torso as the spring shooter for the lion mech. That round 6334575 printed plate acts as the lid to cover the spring shooter when it is not in use. The designer brilliantly use two 6171764 Bar with Light Cover (Bulb) / Bionicle Barraki Eye in trans orange to disguise as the extra ammo for the box.
The flag. When it is attached to the bar, it has this curve that reflects light makes it more shiny. I really love the design of the flag and the colours in it.
The final build of the Lion Mech. It really looks majestic and ready to strike in this pose. It does look unfinished as the studs on the hind legs are not covered up by tiles. However the sharp looking claws at the toes are really nicely done by using the 6083975 Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Tooth Vertical in pearl gold.
We are ready for the Spider Queen!
The ‘Ready to Strike’ pose where the legs can be stretched so wide without making it fall.
Minifigures
The Monkie Kid. This is the same minifigure like the one in 80024 except that he has a different alternate face with the wide smile showing his teeth.
The comparison between the facial expressions.
Mei. She is not exclusive to the set as a minifigure but both her facial expressions are currently exclusive. She first appeared in 80011 Red Son’s Inferno Truck in her dark turquoise jacket and here in this set. The jacket is very nicely printed with two white horses and a dragon at the front and back of the torso. The green eye patch is also a very nice print. The weapon she wields is very nice small build. Maybe Rocket Raccoon would want to buy that. 6301803 Minifigure, Weapon Sword Hilt with Dragon Head is a very nice part ever produced.
Lu. This torso appeared in a city set last year’s Main Square set as Poppy Starr. However the determined face shows that she is a real deal in getting the high score in that dance machine.
Huntsman. The facial expression reminds me of those macro spider pictures. He looks scary with four eyes but is still very mesmerising to watch. Is he that scared of the cold? That gun build looks to be right at home in Rocket Raccoon’s shopping cart.
The scarf 26066 Minifigure, Collar Fur (Bird Nest) previously comes in white and tan only. The grey one in this set 6338387 is new and currently exclusive to the set. However, 27325 Minifigure, Collar Fur, Long, is still exclusive to Mr Penguin and it only comes in white.
Spider Queen. She previously appeared in 80014 Sandy’s Speedboat in 2020 with different torso and skirt print. She had the same spider hair piece but this time with different facial expressions. The “Bane looking” mouth mask on her face makes her looks scarier.
Plastic cape and similar hair piece. These are the Minifigures that the Spider Queen reminds me of.
We all needs a platform to stand on, don’t we?
Final build. Do you notice a balance between the main build and the side build? Was Thanos here?
Verdict
I give this set a 4.5/5.0 score as the design of the Lion Mech is very majestic and the colours are striking. This set is priced at USD79.99 with a part count of 774 pieces alongside 5 Minifigures. The minifigures are mostly repeats, albeit with different facial expressions. . However I think that the main attraction of the set is the Lion Mech.
They are available in the stores starting 1st day of March 2021!
Hope you enjoy my review. Thank you!
The set used for the review was sent to us by The LEGO Group for the purpose of a review. Provision of sets do not in any way influence or guarantee a positive review.
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