LEGO Monkie Kid 80024: The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain tells the story behind the legend [Review]

When you think of Monkie Kid sets, bright-colored vehicles, colorful characters, and goofy villains come to mind. But since the theme is inspired by the traditional stories of Journey to the West, there are a lot of things you might not know about the legend behind the theme. With more Monkie Kid sets for 2022 on the way, we wanted to catch up on this set from earlier this year. LEGO 80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain tells the story of the Monkey King through 6 connected scenes set on a mountain top high among the clouds. The set includes 1,949 pieces and is available now for US $169.99 | CAN $249.99 | UK £159.99


The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Unboxing the parts, instructions, and sticker sheet

The box is quite large, and the front shows the finished model against a background in a similar style to the animated series, featuring a broader setting of jagged mountain peaks, clouds, and sparse trees. In the lower-left corner, there is an inset image showing the scene from the back. The lower right corner features the line-up of 8 Minifigures, including MK, a variety of monkeys, four versions of the Monkey King, and Evil Macaque.

On the back of the box, there is a full-size photo of the model from the back, and six insets depicting the six separate scenes telling the legend of the birth and journey of the Monkey King. In the lower right corner, there is an inset showing how the three main sections of the model fit together.

Inside the box, the set comes with 18 numbered bags with an extra bag for some numbers (1, 9, and 18). Many of the larger bags include smaller unnumbered bags for smaller parts. There is also a medium-sized sticker sheet for many waterfall and landscape details, as well as six plaques that mark each section of the Monkey King legend. There is also a cardboard sleeve to protect the three instruction booklets.

The three instruction booklets cover different sections of the model, and there are a few interesting additions to the first booklet. Aside from the usual introduction content included in many of larger LEGO sets, this one includes a bit of background from the set designer, as well as some really cool sketches where the designer planned out the six sections along with sketches of several small details showing the design process in a really neat way.


The build

Before we start on the build itself, let’s review some of the parts of interest. Just from looking at the box it is clear that rocks and landscaping are major aspects of this set, and so in addition to light gray and dark gray slopes and curves, there are rounded plates in several shades of green, including many heart-shaped 3×3 rounded plates. The waterfall sections are made with several parts in transparent pearl blue.

As I already mentioned, the set is designed to show six scenes that each contain part of the legend of the Monkey King, and looking at the set from the front, they are arranged right to left in the same reading order as many east-Asian languages. The whole mountain scene is set high among the clouds, so each section features various cloud formations.

While there are six distinct scenes, they are collected in three main sections. The first section is made up of two scenes, the middle section has a single scene, and the last section has three scenes. The first scene of the first section covers the Monkey King’s humble beginnings born from a rock. It starts out simply enough, with a small interior section mixing vegetation and rockwork atop a small cloud formation.

Next, we get a rock egg made from two identical sides connected to a simple mechanism that opens and closes the rock egg to reveal the baby Monkey King. Another fun part is the first of several scraggly trees with five-prong plant stems for the thin pine needles.

The next scene introduces us to Brother and Sister Monkey, and another rock + plant structure with a wisp of a cloud attached to the base. There is an arched area and the start of a long stair connecting the lower and upper levels.

The long stair is constructed using ladders and set at an angle. This design is repeated in an upper stair, and more scattered vegetation. The scene finishes with a pair of scraggly trees and connects to the first scene with a pair of technic pins. The stylized look of the wispy flat clouds made with a variety of curved and sloped parts goes very well with the gray rockwork.

With the relatively simple design, you might think that the build would quickly get tedious, but there are so many little nooks and crannies to explore from all sides, that continue to keep you interested as you go.

The next section is the largest single scene of the entire set, consisting of the main waterfall with lots of rock levels on each side. We start with a wide base topped with green plates with a bit of rockwork. We also get several 1×2 transparent slopes that I remember building simple cars with back in the early days of the LEGO system.

As we proceed with the main section, we start building a large tree on one side. The first level of the waterfall, which includes a simple lever that moves both halves of the waterfall aside to allow Monkey King to pass through to the legendary peach tree that only blooms once every three thousand years, can grant eternal life.

A spiral staircase accesses the middle level. The main section continues with rocky structures topped with green plates and scattered flowers and the upper portion of the waterfall which is fixed in place. We also continue the vegetation topped rock formations, along with multiple points for more scraggly trees to be attached later.

The upper rock sections create some large open spaces, and more nooks and crannies as well as some distinct spear-like peaks. Finally, we attach the two sides of the waterfall.

The waterfall opens simply by pressing down on the sloped rock at the center, parting the water to reveal the peach tree growing behind the waterfall.

Before moving on to the third section, there is one more amazing detail I want to cover. Besides the many great scraggly trees found in this set, there is this heron (or maybe it’s a crane) that perches atop this tree at the pinnacle of the mountain. At a mere 16 pieces, it is easily one of my favorite details.

There are other details I wanted to include as well. The set is filled with variations of leaf +
flowers in lots of colors to give the impression of wildflowers growing in the harsh conditions of a mountain top, and these sparse vegetation clusters add a great deal of visual interest in an otherwise gray scene.

With the middle section complete, we are more than halfway through, and already, the combined build is quite impressive. The multiple layers and varied rock-building techniques provide plenty of interest during the build, and plenty of play areas to look forward to when we’re done.

The fourth scene shows a young Monkey King as an apprentice, chopping wood and traveling around on a small wooden raft. The upper level includes a wooden rope bridge connecting this section to the previous one.

Moving on to the fifth scene, there is a small temple next to the water, with a small waterfall topped with a bit of vegetation and some smooth rock details.

The scene ends with the Monkey King’s throne nestled among the legendary peach trees.

The sixth and final scene centers around a duel with the evil Macaque with some gears hidden in the base that provides the duel with some action. The gears are well hidden under plates, and the scene also includes a tall rock formation using black curved and sloped elements. The base features another cloud formation.

The fifth and sixth scenes combine and attach to the back of the fourth scene, connecting at the top with the other end of the wooden bridge.

With the three sections completed, we are ready to attach them all together. The sections connect at the bases with technic pins, and the wooden bridge also connects via the two strings.

With the sections connected, the finished set is quite wide, but not too deep. Looking at the scene from the back, you can see so many nooks and crannies for the Minifigures to explore, filled with hidden details and fun play features.


The Minifigs

The set comes with 8 Minifigs, including several monkeys that include a tail component that attaches at the waist. Monkie Kid comes with a teal hoodie accessory, a jacket with the Monkie Kid logo, and a printed chain detail on his red pants. The Evil Macaque has a scarf and both figures feature two expressions. A normal expression and one that includes red face paint.

The Monkey King has four versions portraying him at the stages of his life from newborn, to apprentice, to warrior, to his final form as the legendary Monkey King. All four have a casual face and a fierce fighting face.

Finally, Brother and Sister monkeys, who have double-sided expressions that are a bit more playful.


The finished model

The completed build is substantial in size, but with so many large open spaces, it is not particularly heavy, and with the three sections easily detachable, it can be arranged for play in many ways. Each of the three sections is full of thoughtful details and fun combinations of rock and vegetation.


Conclusions and recommendations

Compared with other sets from the Monkie Kid theme, this set is quite a change of pace from the bold colors and multiple overpowered vehicles, as well as the diverse cast of characters, both heroes and villains that usually populate sets from the theme. That said, this set was a lot of fun to build, and to play with, and the attached sections would make a wonderful display scene. There are some great building techniques that can easily be adapted to building custom creations, and the wide variety of sloped and curved parts in shades of gray, black, and white, along with so many shades and shapes of green plates make it an excellent part set as well.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.