LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech review

LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is a gigantic, gorgeous, quite fragile and incredibly familiar LEGO mech…

Piecing together LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is an enjoyable and engrossing experience, with the end result a remarkably beautiful and sizeable monkey mech. However, we can’t help but feel like we’ve built this before, and been left with the same underlying frustration at the end.

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech set details —

Theme: LEGO Monkie Kid Set name: 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech Release: January 1, 2023

Price: £119.99 / $139.99 / €139.99 Pieces: 1,705 Minifigures: 6

LEGO: Available now

— Where to buy LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech —

LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech launched on January 1, 2023 as part of the latest wave of LEGO Monkie Kid sets, and is available at LEGO.com and in select LEGO Stores.

[bdproduct url=’https://brickfanatics.com/brick-deals/search-product?search=80045&embed=true’]

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech build —

LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is the flagship release in the January 2023 wave of Monkie Kid sets, continuing to be loosely based on the 16th-century tale Journey to the West, reimagined somewhat for a modern audience (not sure how many mechs there were some 500 years ago in China).

Having not kept up with the television show, we can’t speak to the accuracy of this LEGO model nor where context might explain particular aspects to its appearance, but from a pure build and LEGO viewpoint, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is an impressive and notably huge mech, covered in extravagant detail and colour. You really feel the entire 1,705 pieces in putting this together and can see where the depth and extra design considerations have been made – from the feet all the way up to the head, there is a 360-degree level of attention that has gone into this model, resulting in something that looks entirely implausible but totally fun from pretty much any angle.

• 

• 

• 

That the model stands is itself an engineering miracle, for just how heavy the final build actually feels. Yet, in stabilising its weight, securing its knees and minimising the mobility of the other joints, this is a giant mech that can’t move all that much. If at all.

What is fascinating to build and then to take in as a final piece is not very playable at all. The quite frustrating feature of some of the smaller pieces wanting to ping off every time you even just breathe too close to it could be overlooked if its range of movement was any greater than a couple of different standing poses. Unfortunately, though, LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech feels restricted out of necessity. To get this thing to stand at all is a real achievement, but the result is a compromise on play, which for this being the flagship set of a theme very much targeted at a younger LEGO audience, feels a little counterintuitive. This set’s strengths speak to an older audience that may not be even looking at this theme in the LEGO store.

And… we’ve already built this before, haven’t we? It’s sold out on LEGO.com and is retiring at the end of this year just before 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech comes out, but 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech is pretty much this set from two-and-a-half years ago. Clearly there are both aesthetic and particular structural differences to the respective mechs (which do slightly improve this more recent version), but at their core this feels like the same main build, particularly for how similar the final models behave in how they look great but are quite restricted in movement and play.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s not a criticism per se, because we will review a new X-wing or Millennium Falcon in LEGO Star Wars with fresh eyes and new interest, even if plenty of each have come before. And indeed as its own supermassive mech, 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech has plenty of merit and quite literally stands apart from much else in the mech world – this is a chunkier beast than any of those skinny NINJAGO mechs; we know who’d win in a fight. Yet, it’s also a little disappointing that beyond a pretty new skin and some subtle improvements in some of the joints (the hands and wrists in particular), 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech hasn’t built much further on what was also so great about 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech. It’s not much more moveable or playable, and that was a huge opportunity area for the new guy to confidently stride in and make it his own.

As it is, we have two giant mechs to sit on the shelves and look menacingly awesome, just so long as they aren’t asked to change stance, or walk. And don’t dust them too heavily because things will ping off, argh!

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech characters —

Another appeal to LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech is the line-up of characters, with the main roster from (presumably) the latest storyline in the show all present. Where you need to purchase all the other sets to put together this six, here they all are in their ultra-detailed designs looking fresh and interesting, particularly so for those characters we’ve otherwise now been following for over two years.

The neck attachments for the Yellow Tusk Elephant and The Golden-Winger Eagle are in particular of interest, even if it is a little disappointing that the elephant’s attachment is the softer rubber that will discolour and damage relatively easily.

• 

• 

• 

• 

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech price —

Coming in at only £5 more than spiritual predecessor 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech, LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech represents fair value for those interested, even when priced as it is at £119.99 / $139.99 / €139.99.

We bought 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech two years ago having been drawn in by its truly unique appearance and impressive size and, whilst disappointed with the lack of mobility, we weren’t wholly displeased with the end result, and it’s the same here.

It’s a hefty investment, but it’s for a hefty LEGO set that will take enough of your time and attention to put together to make it worth it. If it could fully run around and pose like a lot of other LEGO mechs then it would be a sure winner, but for what it is, there’s little to otherwise be disappointed by.

Unless you were after that design upgrade, in which case, the value you are looking for isn’t here.

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech pictures —

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech pros and cons —

Ultimately, if you were hoping for something far improved on 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech, then LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech isn’t for you. This is an upgrade in an aesthetic way, with some techniques improved and other design details changed out. Essentially, though, what will stand before you now will be the same core model that stood before you two years ago. They look sufficiently different to each other should you so wish to have two of them standing next to each other on your shelves, but just know that that’s all they’ll be doing – they can’t move much, and don’t try to make them else they’ll ping various pieces off at you in protest.

Both 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech and 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech are great, somewhat static mechs. If one worked for you, the other definitely will.

LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech pros	LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech cons
Huge and chunky mech	Very similar to 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech
Looks great from every angle	Relatively immobile
Solid minifigure line-up	Smaller parts will ping off if you even think of moving it

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO through one of our affiliate links.

— Alternatives to LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech —

80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech, obviously. At their core these are the same big builds, separated by two years and some aesthetic changes. It is retiring at the end of this year, though, and has already sold out at LEGO.com, so move fast.

— LEGO Monkie Kid 80045 Monkey King Ultra Mech FAQs —