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Another LEGO Marvel mech is hiding in plain sight

The LEGO Marvel 2023 announcements have brought a new trio of mech armour sets – but an honorary one can be found in another theme.

As 2022 draws to a close, a large number of new LEGO sets have been revealed by the LEGO Group. The Marvel theme has proven particularly lucrative, with a mix of new sets inspired by comics, movies and TV shows. Some of these more reasonably priced sets include a new trio of mech armour sets – which lend key Marvel characters small mech suits to do battle in.

These sets have been around for some time now, and this year’s selection includes suits for the Hulk, Thanos and Rocket Raccoon – the latter even including a bushy tail element. It’s a solid selection, but if you’re willing to get creative we might have found another one – for one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s less popular characters.

We’re talking about 80040 Monkie Kid’s Combi Mech, an upcoming release in the LEGO Monkie Kid theme. Taking inspiration from the Monkie Kid TV show (which, in turn, takes its cues from China’s Journey to the West story) the set depicts a humanoid mech with Monkie Kid’s familiar red livery. It’s armed with both a sword and the Monkey King’s red staff – the latter being a trademark of the Monkey King across multiple LEGO sets.

With its immersion in Chinese culture, this set is an ideal companion to the LEGO Shang-Chi minifigure we received earlier this year. The Chinese Marvel character appeared in Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021, which earned a trio of LEGO sets inspired by the movie’s events.

Each of these is relatively inexpensive, making Shang-Chi one of the easier Marvel heroes to acquire in LEGO form. Shang-Chi also uses a staff in these sets, meaning the Monkie Kid mech is thematically appropriate on more than one level.

Since the LEGO Marvel mechs tend to focus on Marvel’s most popular characters, the possibility of an official Shang-Chi mech seems remote at this stage. As such – since this mech is similarly scaled to the official LEGO Marvel mech armours – you might consider this a worthy substitute.

Look out for 80040 Monkie Kid’s Combi Mech at LEGO.com from January 1, 2023 – and if you haven’t picked up any of the Shang-Chi sets, be warned they’re retiring at the end of this year. You can find Shang-Chi himself in 76176 Escape from the Ten Rings and 76177 Battle at the Ancient Village. He’s also available in 30454 Shang-Chi and the Great Protector (though, as this is a polybag, it may be a little trickier to find).

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