Review: 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech
Posted by CapnRex101,Mechs have developed unmatched success and fantasy themes, including Monkie Kid, provide outstanding potential for such creations. 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech expands the selection and could complement the excellent 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech.
However, the mech seems substantially smaller than its heroic counterpart, which may prove detrimental because their similar designs invite comparison. These colours appear attractive though, while the detail potentially rivals 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech in certain areas. Simply nearing that standard would be excellent.
Minifigures
The eponymous Monkie Kid changes regularly throughout this range, albeit usually retaining the same casual clothing and colour scheme. This minifigure accordingly resembles examples from the original wave, sporting a similar flame yellowish orange jacket and dual-moulded legs. However, the character now features more detailed straps, perhaps reflecting a more serious approach to his opponents, alongside printed arms.
Sandy, contrasting with Monkie Kid, has undergone dramatic alterations since his introduction. The original bigfig has been replaced with a traditional minifigure, perhaps reflecting a change in his animated stature or simply to ensure easier interaction with vehicles. Regardless, I think the new design looks excellent, including the same white trousers and magenta necklace as the existing figure.
This hero's distinctive hairstyle and beard also remain, while the torso now includes a strapped bag. Beyond the character being scaled-down, the weapon from 80025 Sandy's Power Loader Mech has been reduced in size for the minifigure too. Monkie Kid, meanwhile, carries his usual staff, a printed compass and a stickered scroll to identify the locations of the Fire Rings.
However, the search has seemingly finished because Mei wears three Fire Rings in this set! This minifigure includes a new neon yellow torso, shared with 80031 Mei's Dragon Car, which certainly stands out beside other minifigures. Personally, I find this colour a little too bright, but the complementary metallic gold and teal decoration looks good.
Matching legs continue these ornate designs, but there is a noticeable difference between the white printing on the hips and that on the torso. Mei's double-sided head looks perfect though, featuring new facial expressions, while her hair piece remains unchanged from earlier Monkie Kid sets and includes green highlights.
Three golden Fire Rings are mounted on Mei's back, which looks surprisingly impressive. The purpose of these treasured items is presently unknown and their distribution across the range seems odd, as the trans-orange version is far more common than trans-bright green or trans-blue. Nevertheless, the rings look nice and presumably confer energy powers upon the wearer, since Mei wields two trans-bright green crystals.
80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain introduced Evil Macaque, who features more elaborate clothing during 2022 and commands the Shadow Monkeys. This minifigure therefore looks spectacular, wearing a dark red cape and hood component, along with dark armour. The most impressive addition is definitely his hair piece though, which includes superb texture and six ears to reflect the mythological inspiration.
The double-sided head displays two expressions that appear fittingly evil. Unfortunately, the accompanying Rumble minifigure includes a single face. This design is otherwise appealing though, with a striking red and black colour scheme and metallic accents. Rumble's pearl dark grey shoulder armour is particularly effective, integrating menacing spikes.
The same character appears in 80031 Mei's Dragon Car, although his weapon here is unique. Three pearl dark grey blades are mounted around a central hilt, presenting danger from every angle! Evil Macaque's staff appears even more majestic, including spikes and a beautiful trans-purple flame. The same weapon is available in 80034 Nezha's Fire Ring and the minifigure is almost identical too, but includes a different tail.
The Completed Model
Monkie Kid's staff can transform into various vehicles and structures, taking inspiration from the weapon's adaptive size during the original mythology. This turret therefore includes familiar red and pearl gold colours, with the staff forming a cylindrical barrel. The base provides adequate support to the emplacement, which can rotate or be raised and lowered. Monkie Kid can sit inside the turret, with a stud shooter situated beside the minifigure.
80033 Evil Macaque's Mech varies surprisingly from the Monkie King equivalent, particularly because the body shape is completely different. The narrow waist is unusual, but I appreciate such distinction and the slender limbs seem suitable for a macaque mech. These asymmetrical colours are unique and effective too, avoiding the possible gimmickry which sometimes follows such designs.
Comparing this model directly with 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech reveals their enormous difference in size. Including their horns, Evil Macaque's mech measures 34cm in height, while the earlier design reaches 44cm tall. The difference can make displaying them together difficult, although the smaller mech might possess greater agility and therefore still present a threat.
Unfortunately, the limited articulation from the previous model remains an issue here. The absence of knee joints is extremely restrictive and the ankles offer limited movement as well. However, the shoulders, elbows, wrists and fingers each include useful joints, so the arms can achieve some interesting poses for display. Introducing knee joints should be a priority though, when developing future mechs.
The head looks absolutely excellent, integrating curved slopes and tiles to create a rounded shape. I love the distinction between the medium nougat face and the surrounding black hair, which corresponds with the Evil Macaque minifigure. Moreover, the printed eyes appear superb and these have appeared twice before. Adjusting their angle can produce a wonderfully cruel expression!
An impressive crest is situated above the eyes, while two pairs of horns are connected using light bluish grey minifigure stands and ball joints. The larger and more articulated horns are particularly striking, again resembling those on 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech. The nose shape remains the same as well, but this model includes 2x3 rock plates which represent Evil Macaque's three ears on each side.
The torso and arms are divided between black and red, which is surprisingly successful. The darker side of the mech appears more rugged and animalistic, displaying rough texture, while the red arm includes shoulder armour and smoother shapes. I am particularly pleased with the black 2x2 dishes and flame yellowish orange 1x1 pyramid elements on the shoulder and wrist.
While the arms vary in texture and colour, the torso is only divided between black and red. I think some difference in structure would have been welcome too, although the current design looks good. However, there is nowhere to accommodate Evil Macaque, suggesting this vehicle might be controlled by remote or magic. Maybe the trans-purple 2x2 slider at the centre of the chest is required for that purpose.
Trans-purple elements appear more prominently on the accompanying staff, which matches the accessory carried by the Evil Macaque minifigure. This weapon connects neatly on a Technic pin, situated above two additional trans-purple highlights. I believe the staff looks best when angled, but it can become dislodged relatively easily so might require occasional adjustment.
Technic axles with ball joints are mounted in each hand, neatly accommodating the staff. This connection is relatively loose, but wrapping the fingers around the weapon ensures a tighter fit. Three attachment points are available along the staff, so you can secure it in one or both hands. The spikes at each end look perfect, corresponding with those on Evil Macaque's smaller staff.
The dramatic narrowing of the torso is interesting, but creates a somewhat awkward transition around the hips. Nevertheless, I appreciate the presence of various wedge slopes across the legs, beside stickered armour. The legs therefore appear powerful and feel completely stable, especially since the feet are angled to remain planted on the ground.
Despite lacking knee joints, both knees are angled to create the impression of strength. That seems reasonably successful, although straight legs would be ideal for certain poses. Further trans-purple details are present here, while the tail comprises six sections connected using ball joints, so features ample articulation.
Overall
80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech is probably among the best LEGO mechs and designing an evil equivalent therefore presents difficulties, especially one containing far fewer pieces. Taking this into consideration, I am impressed with 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech. Their size difference is obvious, but the balance between familiar and distinguishing features is absolutely perfect.
The absence of knee articulation is disappointing though, while including a fabric cape would have improved the physical presence of Evil Macaque's mech alongside its counterpart. Nevertheless, this is an excellent addition to the Monkie Kid range and I think the price of £54.99, $79.99 or €59.99 represents fair value, particularly in Europe. 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech definitely remains the champion though!
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group, but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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24 comments on this article
Woah another barrely moving mech....
Great review of a pretty darn solid set - although the life preserver rings new in golden here do make me wonder why the Ideas Sonic set uses yellow ones instead!
The 2-tone color scheme and no knees remind me of 71720 : Fire Stone Mech (which does look cool but has leg articulation issues as well)
Not factoring discounts, this also is €15 cheaper then the Fire Stone Mech was.
The fact those eye tiles on those mechs (both this and monkey king mech eyes) are also from a vending machine in 80020 : White Dragon Horse Jet is funny.
Evil Mechaque. Lol
@Ayliffe said:
"Great review of a pretty darn solid set - although the life preserver rings new in golden here do make me wonder why the Ideas Sonic set uses yellow ones instead!"
I assume that the designers felt that the yellow rings matched the cartoon aesthetic of the game and set more closely- neither color is an exact match, but I think that the classic Sonic ring in-game looks closer to yellow than gold- gold is t vibrant enough IMO.
80033: you
80012: the guy she told you not to worry about
no mention of the new shoulder joints?
Ah, LEGO and their love of mechs. Looking forward to "Harry's Mech vs. Voldemort's Mech" sometime in the near future. Or the ironic "Darth Vader Mech".
Since I don’t watch the show, I’m curious what this model represents. Because the name “mech” throws me off a bit. A mech ( short for mecha ) is a robot that is piloted. But there seems no space to put the macaque inside. So is it supposed to be a standalone robot or just an enlarged version of the macaque itself? The set itself looks fine, but the theme hasn’t caught my interest. love the monkey kid fig itself!
I am personally not a fan of mechs, but I understand their popularity. I do have have a few, including 80012 , which find to be visually striking. What I like most about 80033 is the face of the mech (robot?). It is brilliantly executed and, even though they are quite similar, it seems to scale better than that on 80012.
No poop-flinging feature?!?
0/10
Bought this last night because Honey was offering 15% cash back and I wanted to use my $5 Cyber Monday vouchers and redeem my second vintage camera gift. My first set of 2022!
I think the reason LEGO makes so many mechs is that... kids like mechs.
Can someone explain the story significance of the Fire Rings? I have seen them in a couple of sets, but I have no idea what purpose they play.
@chaosderek said:
"Since I don’t watch the show, I’m curious what this model represents. Because the name “mech” throws me off a bit. A mech ( short for mecha ) is a robot that is piloted. But there seems no space to put the macaque inside. So is it supposed to be a standalone robot or just an enlarged version of the macaque itself? The set itself looks fine, but the theme hasn’t caught my interest. love the monkey kid fig itself!"
We haven’t had the episodes released yet, however judging from the poster macaque plays a pretty prominent role. If I had to guess, this mech actually is macaque in a giant form, or something he controls as a puppet. @Johleth As for the significance of the fire rings, I believe the team are looking for the rings and once united they bring nezah and his flaming unicycle of gold to come and beat the lady bone demon, who the team fled from in the finale of season 2.
@lordofdragonss said: "Woah another barrely moving mech...."
I think people should be careful what they wish for.
Lego ball joints aren't what they used to be. The bigger the mech, the heavier it is. Using too many ball joints here, on the ankles and knees, would remove most of the stability of the legs and cause the whole thing to collapse under its own weight. It would be functionally useless.
That's why Lego makes the legs solid.
As an owner of the Monkey King Warrior Mech, I personally feel the former set was an eye-catching proof of concept that, like a runway dress, wasn't very practical as a toy. Its enormous size made it hard to play with and certainly contributed to the lack of poseability. And I didn't love the price. It's too bad shrinking the scale a little didn't solve those problems, though.
@illennium said:
"I think the reason LEGO makes so many mechs is that... kids like mechs. "
It's actually a good fit (pun intended) for building something around a minifig.
I tried my hand at a "mech" that isn't a mech -- specifically, a walking tree. Take a look if you're interested: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWCETW8pnRB/
This set didn’t grab me, but that is the best looking mech head I’ve seen on a Lego set!
Nice review!
I'm really excited for the new joints used for the shoulders and knees. For several years now, the biggest Lego mechs have used a somewhat jury-rigged solution of using a combination of Knight's Kingdom-style click hinges and the Technic hinges introduced for AT-AT sets. That's sturdy (much moreso than a single joint piece would be), but it's not particularly attractive, and because the AT-AT joints extend in two directions from the hinge, the range of articulation is limited. And because the Knight's Kingdom joints have a 2x2 brick at the base, the section the AT-AT joint connects to must be at least four studs wide.
Lego's designers must have noticed these drawbacks and designed these new joints accordingly. These new versions combine the two styles of joints in a way that not only allows full rotation, but also allows the hips to be mounted to a narrower assembly. It's a positive advancement for the kinds of mech sets that have become more and more common in recent years.
@blidablat: A Vader mech? He's more mech now than man, twisted and evil.
@TheOtherMike: I suppose we did already have a set that features BB-8 piloting an incomplete AT-ST, so a droid mech? All mech, no man, and all adorable.
Guys can you review 800121 and 800131 for me please. Would like to see your opinions.
That color asymmetry between right and left arm is killing me! ¨-)
@Ayliffe said:
"Great review of a pretty darn solid set - although the life preserver rings new in golden here do make me wonder why the Ideas Sonic set uses yellow ones instead!"
In the classic Sonic games the rings look closer to yellow than gold.
The 2022 Monkie Kid sets are based on season 3 of the cartoon, which doesn't come out until later this year. Nobody knows the story details of these sets yet.