Monkie Kid

Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer

A big swooshable rocket in colors LEGO almost never touches, and it works.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 80035 · 2022

Pieces1,356

Minifigs6

Year2022

Set number80035

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The verdict

The dark turquoise is what got me.

LEGO barely uses that color, and here it's the whole personality of the ship. This is a large, chunky, genuinely swooshable rocket with a spinning cargo bay, six figures plus little Robot Mo, and a launchpad to park it on. It leans playset over display piece, so if you want moving mechanisms and posed detail, know that going in.

Best for: Monkie Kid fans and kids who want a big spaceship they can actually fly around the room

The full review

What it is

Let's talk about the color first, because it's the whole reason this LEGO® set stops you in your tracks. Dark turquoise is a shade LEGO almost never commits to, and here the entire rocket is built around it, with hits of metallic gold, red and yellow layered on top. The result looks like nothing else on a shelf. It's Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer, a big chunky spaceship from the 2022 wave, and the thing you notice holding it is how solid it feels. This is a rocket built to be flown around a living room. It has two spring-loaded shooters, a cockpit for the pilot, a cabin for the crew, and clever internal storage for the green Fire Ring, a jetpack and a little moon rover. There's also a buildable launchpad so the ship has somewhere to sit when it lands. At 1,356 pieces it's a proper afternoon.

The catch

Now the parts that gave me pause. The stickers. There are a lot of them, and while they do dress the ship up nicely, plenty feel like they're there to fill space rather than because the model needed them. If you're someone who sighs at a sticker sheet, this one will test you. The other honest note is that once the cargo bay spins, the play features mostly stop. The rocket is beautifully sturdy, even those delicate looking whiskers up top take a beating fine, but it's more of a static swoosher than a set stuffed with mechanisms. And the theme itself is the real gatekeeper. Monkie Kid is a lovely show rooted in Journey to the West, but it's niche, so this is an easier yes if the characters already mean something to you. On the aftermarket it retired in March 2024 and still trades near or below its old retail, so buy it to enjoy, not to flip.

Who it's for

So who should grab this one? Kids who want a large, throwable spaceship they won't snap in half, and Monkie Kid fans who want the space versions of Monkie Kid, Mei, Sandy and Mr. Tang in one box. The value is genuinely good, and the figure count carries a lot of the appeal. Who should skip it? Anyone chasing intricate moving functions or a pure display model, and anyone allergic to sticker sheets. But if that turquoise rocket has been sitting in the back of your mind, I think it'll win you over. It's playful, it's sturdy, and it's a color combination you simply won't find anywhere else.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build breaks into the launchpad and the rocket, and the rocket is where the time goes. You work up from a sturdy core, and the whole way through you're laying in that dark turquoise, which honestly keeps things fun because you rarely get to build in this color. The cabin and cargo section come together with some satisfying enclosed storage for the accessories, and the spinning bay is the one moment of real mechanism. It's not a technique masterclass, it's more steady and comfortable than clever, but the scale keeps it engaging and the finished shape actually reads as a rocket rather than a brick with fins. The main gripe from builders is the sticker application, which asks for patience.

On pieces, this set is a small treasure chest of rare colors. New Elementary singled out the dark turquoise Vehicle Tipper End Flat pieces as a real find, and there's a fresh crop of energy effect elements, trans-purple for the Shadow Monkey baddies and trans-bright-green for the good guys. The printed legs and dual-molded helmets are unique to this set, so figure collectors have a reason beyond the characters. Add the metallic gold accents and you've got a parts pile that MOC builders quietly love. At 1,356 pieces for 129.99 dollars you're paying under ten cents a part, and given how many of those parts are unusual colors, the value story holds up well.

Fun facts

01Dark turquoise is one of LEGO's rarest production colors, which is a big part of why this ship looks unlike anything else, and it made the set a quiet favorite for parts hunters.
02The Monkie Kid theme is loosely based on the classic 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, so the green Fire Ring and the monkey heroes trace back to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
03The energy effect elements come in two tuned colors on purpose, trans-purple for the Shadow Monkeys Rumble and Savage, and trans-bright-green for Monkie Kid's side.
04The set retired in March 2024 and sealed copies have mostly traded near or below the original 129.99 dollar retail, so it never became a money maker on the secondary market.