Review: 80034 Nezha's Fire Ring
Posted by CapnRex101,
Unusual vehicles appear consistently across the Monkie Kid theme. However, absolutely nothing resembles 80034 Nezha's Fire Ring, which looks incredible and displays exceptional construction methods! This creative driving function appears interesting as well.
Additionally, an excellent selection of characters is provided, including two intimidating antagonists alongside the exclusive Nezha minifigure. Appealing models accompany Lady Bone Demon and Evil Macaque too, which should assure impressive play value. Nevertheless, the spectacular Nezha's Fire Ring appears most exciting.
Minifigures
This armoured Monkie Kid minifigure is completely unique, lacking his conventional casual attire and instead resembling Mei's armour. However, this colour combination of red and flame yellowish orange remains intact from other minifigures, with the addition of metallic gold highlights. The arms are also beautifully decorated, although I dislike the teal accents.
Monkey King was imprisoned by Lady Bone Demon last season, so this minifigure remains unchanged from two previous sets. Once again, the bright colours look fantastic and I like the matching flame yellowish orange band across the tail element, ensuring consistency between the torso and the legs. However, an updated head would have been ideal, featuring a worried expression rather than the usual happy and angry faces.
Naturally, the Monkey King lacks any weapons and Monkie Kid is also without his normal staff, having transformed that into a vehicle. The set does contain a Fire Ring though, comprising a pearl gold ring component and a new flame. Despite appearing stylised, this flame has proven surprisingly versatile across the latest Monkie Kid range.
An exclusive Nezha minifigure accompanies the heroes, following his appearance on a television screen in 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter! The unique hair component includes perfect texture and matches that television sticker, while his double-sided head features two unusually similar expressions. Perhaps these reflect Nezha's stoic personality, since the smile and grimace are nearly identical.
The colour scheme of red, teal and gold seems fittingly lavish, although I think the lavender shoulder armour introduces one colour too many. Nevertheless, the torso decoration exhibits exceptional detail and that continues onto the legs, with metallic gold accents. Moreover, I love Nezha's dramatic cape, which somewhat resembles a ribbon.
Nezha is traditionally depicted travelling on the Wind Fire Wheels, represented here by golden rings with trans-orange flames trailing behind. These appear rather bulky, but I think this was probably the most effective available solution. The minifigure also carries a pearl gold spear, again originating from Chinese mythology.
Lady Bone Demon, identified as White Bone Demon on the packaging, previously appeared in 80028 The Bone Demon. I am pleased to see this excellent minifigure in another set, featuring an elaborate hair component with moulded clasps. Unfortunately, the component is made from rubber, but it looks fantastic and accommodates a glow-in-the-dark bone that complements the moulded detailing.
Her clothing displays similar detail, including metallic silver chains and white bone designs. These certainly appear sinister, especially from behind where a spine is clearly visible! The minifigure includes both a printed dress and a dual-moulded spirit base, providing two options for display and reflecting Lady Bone Demon's terrifying abilities.
The double-sided head also conveys that menace, seeming reasonably affable on one side and wildly evil on the other! Lady Bone Demon carries a naginata-like weapon, including a curved blade at one end and a point at the other. That is a welcome addition, although the character displays little requirement for such weapons onscreen!
Evil Macaque also returns from the 2021 range, appearing in 80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain. However, this minifigure represents a substantial improvement upon its predecessor, now including an exclusive dual-moulded hair piece with six ears! These correspond with the original mythology and Evil Macaque's double-sided head has also been updated, now featuring red markings with two cruel expressions.
The dark red cape looks superb, complemented by a matching hood which slots around the character's neck. This avoids interfering with the hair piece and appears surprisingly effective beside the metallic chest armour. A tail and scattered yellow highlights complete this minifigure, which is definitely among my favourite examples from Monkie Kid.
Evil Macaque commands the Shadow Monkeys, among whom is Savage. This character lacks the majesty of his leader, but appears similarly intimidating. The black and red colour scheme looks marvellous and I like the dark armour which decorates the torso, maintaining a suitably murky impression across the whole minifigure.
Given his name suggests savagery, this Shadow Monkey is armed with a heavy mace. The trans-purple highlights look absolutely brilliant and continue onto Evil Macaques' staff, which resembles a corrupted version of Monkey King's familiar accessory. The trans-purple flame and spikes at either end are distinctive though and capture pertinent threat.
The Completed Model
Three completely different vehicles are supplied, beginning with Monkie Kid's golden staff flyer. This model is conspicuously constructed around the character's traditional staff and the colour scheme therefore remains consistent, featuring a red shaft and golden decoration at both ends. I like the cloud situated underneath and the stud shooters on either side provide some welcome functionality.
Evil Macaque's aircraft appears surprisingly industrial, recalling Red Son's vehicles from the original Monkie Kid range. Nevertheless, this model includes brilliant detail and its shape is immediately distinguishable from other vehicles, featuring angled engine pods on each side. Moreover, I appreciate the consistent colour combination of red and black between this vessel and 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech.
Specific details also connect both vehicles, including the flame yellowish orange 1x1 pyramids which decorate their exteriors. Those situated around the engines seem particularly effective, while stickers introduce some metallic details. The updated stud shooters are placed between these engines and the central fuselage, which seems suitably threatening and makes good use of the pantograph element.
There is ample space for Evil Macaque to stand at the controls, storing his majestic staff and other accessories on clips beside the cockpit. Additionally, the trans-purple pieces on the staff complement the trans-purple clouds billowing from the engines, which are exclusively available here. The smaller exhausts towards the rear seem bland by comparison, but I love the gradual tapering of this vehicle.
The titular Nezha's Fire Ring introduces a completely different aesthetic, primarily comprising white and pearl gold pieces which are associated with heroism. Furthermore, this vehicle is relatively substantial, measuring 32cm in length! The propulsion ring achieves a diameter of nearly 22cm, comfortably surpassing renditions of General Grievous' Wheel Bike, which have drawn comparisons with this model.
Armoured sections extend beyond the propulsion ring, housing weapons towards the front and engines at the rear. Their angular bodywork looks fantastic and I like the red decoration on the exterior too, complemented by various stickers. Spring-loaded shooters are positioned behind this armour, flanking the trans-orange windscreen which features the same dramatic angles as the structures on either side.
Despite its considerable size, the vehicle only accommodates one minifigure. While that could prove detrimental for play, such apparent excess feels appropriate in the realm of Monkie Kid, given the precedent of gargantuan mechs with lone occupants. The teal accents surrounding the cockpit look great and the interior is very spacious, which seems important given Nezha's elaborate cape.
Enormous thrusters are situated behind the cockpit, spewing trans-orange flames. This means of propulsion seems less refined than the smooth bodywork would suggest, but looks superb and continues those teal accents. Additionally, I like how the entire engine pods are angled, furthering the angular details which appear throughout this whole vehicle.
The propulsion ring passes underneath wheels hidden inside the vehicle, ensuring the cockpit remains steady as this ring rotates around it. The resultant mechanism is incredibly successful and blue Technic pins prevent the ring from becoming completely detached. The structure is therefore surprisingly tactile and enjoyable for play.
Additionally, the ring looks amazing. The pearl gold roller coaster track components create a rigid shape and feature pleasing texture, especially with the trans-orange highlights between them. These flames are cleverly mounted between the tracks using clips and bricks with studs on the side, achieving absolute strength and visual appeal.
80028 The Bone Demon established an impressive visual style associated with the White Bone Demon, which continues here. The colour scheme of grey, purple and white looks perfect and returns from the beginning of NINJAGO, where Skulkin models featured comparable designs. That repetition does not bother me though, since the colours are so effective.
Purple wedge plates form a jumbled staircase, alternating between the left and right elements. Their steep arrangement also appears impressive and I like the trans-light blue flames beside this staircase, mounted on skulls. Matching trans-light blue accents are present beneath each skull, corresponding with the trans-light blue chains from 80028 The Bone Demon.
The designer has made ingenious use of the space underneath the staircase, accommodating an ancient prison cell. An unfortunate skeleton is incarcerated inside, but there would be space for multiple minifigures behind the door. The masonry bricks look great too, providing some nice texture on a surface which otherwise seems bland when compared with the front.
Lady Bone Demon's throne appears fittingly majestic, incorporating bones of different lengths with decorative spikes on top. The minifigure lacks standard legs, hence a 2x2 jumper plate is instead provided to place Lady Bone Demon in her throne. However, I am disappointed by the absence of glow-in-the-dark pieces, given their prevalence on 80028 The Bone Demon earlier this year.
Bone cages and similar suspended prisons have appeared in numerous sets, hardly varying in design. This example accordingly features the usual building techniques and support structure, but looks excellent. The trans-light blue chain allows you to raise and lower the cage and there is enough room for one minifigure inside, although situating them there is unusually difficult.
Overall
80034 Nezha's Fire Ring contains an outstanding selection of seemingly disparate minifigures and models, which is arguably a strength and a weakness. Such variety is definitely beneficial for play and the individual models are enjoyable, complementing their respective owners. This set lacks proper cohesion though, without knowing how the characters are connected.
However, this minifigure selection is unrivalled within the Monkie Kid theme and I am delighted with Nezha's extravagant Fire Ring vehicle, as anticipated! The rolling function works perfectly and encountering something completely unique is appealing. The value feels somewhat mixed though, since the UK and European prices of £69.99 or €79.99 are reasonable, while $99.99 in the US seems fairly expensive beside other Monkie Kid sets.
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
Damn this theme is so under rated. I wish it had more coverage and more people enjoyed it, and im glad Brickset is helping by posting awesome reviews!
Side note: any chance we could see the fire ring vehicle assembled without the ring? im curries about how it looks.
@Goujon said:
"Damn this theme is so under rated. I wish it had more coverage and more people enjoyed it"
It is one of the top selling themes in Asia, which is the target market. I don't think LEGO has very high sales expectations for this theme in the west, and has made relatively minimal marketing efforts here, outside of their deal with Amazon.
The fire ring looks fantastic! But I don’t really care about the side builds and $99 is way too much if I’m only interested in the main build.
It’s a problem the Ninjago dragons sometimes have too where the side builds inflate the piece count and price it out of my interest.
There's some nice features and parts. The rear of the wheelbike looks like the engine arrangement will be notoriously fiddly with ball joint connections.
Is this version of evil macaque the same to appear in the Evil Macaque Mech set?
Everything in the set looks really good, perhaps it would have suited more buyers to have this as three separate sets though. It's not like TLG needed to combine three small sets into one because there aren't enough MK sets at high price points...
I already have 80028 Bone Demon and intend to buy 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech, so too much of this set seems too samey to me. It's a real shame because if Nezha and the Fire Ring vehicle were on their own for around half the UK price I'd be very interested.
Thanks for showing the details of how the propulsion ring and vehicle combine. The comment about the blue pins preventing it from detatching took me a moment to understand because you didn't show the inside of the removed section. But I could just about see one of the pins through the ring.
That's the sort of construction detail I like to steal for MOCs :-)
@ohrmazd said:
"Is this version of evil macaque the same to appear in the Evil Macaque Mech set?"
I believe so, and when I was referring to the theme being under rated, I was speaking about the western world. I’m well aware this theme is selling great in China but I wish it had that same level over here.
@Goujon said:
" @ohrmazd said:
"Is this version of evil macaque the same to appear in the Evil Macaque Mech set?"
I believe so, and when I was referring to the theme being under rated, I was speaking about the western world. I’m well aware this theme is selling great in China but I wish it had that same level over here. "
It probably would if these sets were available like most other themes, instead of being exclusive to LEGO stores (or not even, haven't seen anything MK at a store here), with no discounts and at pretty meh RRPs.
As for this set, it's the same problem as most, if not all, MK sets I like - great main build with the price bloated by imo unnecessary side builds.
Good review!
Fig-wise, I really like the more Iron Man-esque armor for MK (which closely resembles his Monkey Mech from the first year), and the lotus motifs on Nezha. The new Macaque is great as well—I love his new hairpiece and that combination of the scarf and two-tailed cape. Savage is the same as in the other sets with him and Rumble, which is fine (especially if they are meant to be shadow projections of a sort), and it's cool that the White Bone Demon is available in another set (though it does make me wish even more that her earlier release could have included her young girl "disguise"). Finally, Monkey King is the same as in two previous sets—a slight bummer, though we were of course spoiled this year with four new versions of him in Flower Fruit Mountain.
In terms of the builds, I love MK's staff vehicle (perhaps one of the most effective-looking takes on a staff transformation to date). Macaque's speeder is also nice—I really like the almost "sky-fi" aesthetic, and the trans-purple cloud exhaust is an awesome recolor. The titular Fire Ring vehicle is amazingly clever (one of those things I can't wait to play with in-hand). And Lady Bone Demon's throne also looks great, even though I agree that some additional glow-in-the-dark parts wouldn't hurt. As an aside, it's mildly neat that the throne fits the same modular standard as the City of Lanterns set's buildings, even though like the Demon Bull Clan's roadblock from the first year it might be hard to find a coherent-feeling place for it in a layout.
All in all this is one of the sets I'm very eager to get next year. It's cool to see more good/neutral characters from Journey to the West being introduced to the story and I'm eager to see how they're portrayed in the show.
Big Wheel is my favorite Marvel villain.
Definitely getting some parts from this set for caetpr usage, maybe even some space parts.
NPU on the roller coaster rails, though of course Lego gets to recolor in a way none of us MOCers could. I guess that sets the minimum size of the vehicle, though man these MK builds are LARGE.
I get that making these sets big, premium, and expensive helps with their brand as a status symbol and differentiates Lego from generics and counterfeiters, but the upshot is that they're kind of inaccessible to many folks. That price tag, especially when no third-party IP is involved.
"Lady Bone Demon" looks similar to Salem from RWBY!
@illennium said: "It is one of the top selling themes in Asia, which is the target market. I don't think LEGO has very high sales expectations for this theme in the west, and has made relatively minimal marketing efforts here, outside of their deal with Amazon."
That makes sense. The line's completely failed in Australia. It was only available in one toy franchise (aside from Lego.com), and it did so poorly that the stores recently began clearancing them out at half-price. Which was great, because I picked up a heap of them really cheaply.
Evil Macaque's vehicle is giving me serious SPIII Alien Bad Guy vibes.
Awesome looking set and minifigs!
Would probably buy it at a big discount….. if it can ever even be found in the first place!
So few shops stock Monkey King sets!
If ever Monkie Kid and Ninjago were to cross over, a Lady Bone Demon/Skulkin team up would definitely work. Glad to see this figure in a second set.
@ohrmazd said:
"Is this version of evil macaque the same to appear in the Evil Macaque Mech set?"
It is indeed exactly the same minifig and comes with the exact same accessories.
For the record, MK comes with a staff. You can disassemble his flyer and take the front part and rear part and connect them together with the hilt piece mounted behind the stud shooters.
@Padmewan said:
"NPU on the roller coaster rails, though of course Lego gets to recolor in a way none of us MOCers could. I guess that sets the minimum size of the vehicle, though man these MK builds are LARGE.
I get that making these sets big, premium, and expensive helps with their brand as a status symbol and differentiates Lego from generics and counterfeiters, but the upshot is that they're kind of inaccessible to many folks. That price tag, especially when no third-party IP is involved."
That's my main issue with MK. No matter how fun the show is, classic the characters are and detailed the sets are... The line rarely has anything below 30 euro, and nearly every other set is what would have been a theme's flagship set a few years ago. And all because these SINGLE SEATER vehicles are the size of a plane. Also, there are sooo many vehicles.
As someone who really used to thrive on the 5-15 euro price bracket so that I could get variety out of a theme... that's waaay too inaccessible.
But I guess the theme isn't for that demographic. It's for rich Chinese people, rich people from other countries in the Asia region familiar with the mythos, or people willing to pay extra just to have the line available to them.
Now, if Ninjago would increase their variety in the lower price range again beside gimmick packs and rarely seen polybags, and didn't start multiple lines with 17 euro sets being the cheapest...
@Binnekamp said:
" @Padmewan said:
"NPU on the roller coaster rails, though of course Lego gets to recolor in a way none of us MOCers could. I guess that sets the minimum size of the vehicle, though man these MK builds are LARGE.
I get that making these sets big, premium, and expensive helps with their brand as a status symbol and differentiates Lego from generics and counterfeiters, but the upshot is that they're kind of inaccessible to many folks. That price tag, especially when no third-party IP is involved."
That's my main issue with MK. No matter how fun the show is, classic the characters are and detailed the sets are... The line rarely has anything below 30 euro, and nearly every other set is what would have been a theme's flagship set a few years ago. And all because these SINGLE SEATER vehicles are the size of a plane. Also, there are sooo many vehicles.
As someone who really used to thrive on the 5-15 euro price bracket so that I could get variety out of a theme... that's waaay too inaccessible.
But I guess the theme isn't for that demographic. It's for rich Chinese people, rich people from other countries in the Asia region familiar with the mythos, or people willing to pay extra just to have the line available to them.
Now, if Ninjago would increase their variety in the lower price range again beside gimmick packs and rarely seen polybags, and didn't start multiple lines with 17 euro sets being the cheapest..."
Lego is a premium product, it doesn’t have to be available to everyone.
I don’t really see how having a single cheap set would help matters, the sets they make are fantastic and they should keep doing what they are doing.
It would be nice if you could buy any of them in a physical store though!
Please tell me I'm not the only person whose immediate thought on seeing the minifigure was that Savage looked like a monkey version of Darth Maul...?
Monkie Kid seems so Nexo Knight inspired, in many ways, which isn't a bad thing.
Exclusivity is the main thing keeping me away from most sets unless I really really like them (like I love 80020 : White Dragon Horse Jet)
In case of this set, €80 still feels a bit much next to what the €100 80035 : Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer offers , but the uniqueness and cool figures/design is certain there.
You didn't mention the new part that is used to hold the roller coaster tracks together, which is similar to 6123809: BRICK 1X2X1 2/3 W/4 KNOBS but with 8 knobs/studs, 4 on either side. Also, it's trans orange!