Monkie Kid

Nezha's Fire Ring

A car that genuinely runs on its own spinning ring, and yes, it actually works.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 80034 · 2022

Pieces929

Minifigs6

Year2022

Set number80034

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The verdict

The fire ring is the whole reason to own this, and I mean that as high praise.

LEGO built a monowheel where the cockpit stays dead level while a big pearl gold ring rotates all the way around it, and the first time I rolled it across the floor I grinned like a kid. It is clever, it looks fierce, and the minifigure lineup is one of the strongest Monkie Kid gave us. The catch is the US price and a ring that only really spins on the right surface, so temper expectations before you commit.

Best for: Monkie Kid fans and anyone who loves a working LEGO mechanism they can actually roll around

The full review

What it is

This is the set built around one big idea, and the idea is a good one. Nezha's Fire Ring is a monowheel vehicle where the whole outer ring rotates while the cockpit in the middle stays perfectly upright, driven by hidden wheels that run along the inside of the track. I had read about it and still wasn't ready for how satisfying it is in person. You give it a push, the pearl gold ring goes spinning around the pilot, and it holds its balance the entire way. LEGO had never really done a car that runs on its own track like this, and getting it to actually work in a 929 piece set is the part that impressed me most. Alongside the ring you also build Evil Macaque's stud shooting flyer, the White Bone Demon's bone cage throne, and a little golden staff surfboard flyer for Monkie Kid.

The catch

I do have to be honest about the rough edges. The headline gimmick has a real limitation: on a slick surface like a dining table or a kitchen counter, the ring just skids and slides instead of rotating. It wants friction, so carpet, a sheet of paper, or bare wood is where it comes alive. That is a bit of a letdown when the whole point is watching it spin. Price is the other sticking point. At 99.99 dollars in the US it asked more than a lot of Monkie Kid sets, and reviewers in the UK and Europe got a noticeably kinder deal at their local prices. Add in a ring assembly that repeats the same steps for a good while, and you have a set that is brilliant in concept but not flawless in the doing.

Who it's for

If you follow Monkie Kid or you are the kind of builder who lights up at a working mechanism, this one belongs on your list, and since it retired in December 2023 the choice has partly been made for you anyway. The character selection alone carries a lot of weight for fans, and the finished vehicle displays beautifully. I would steer past it only if you build purely for the display shelf and have no interest in the play feature, because so much of the price and the parts are tied up in that spinning ring. Want the mechanism and the figures? You will be glad you got it. Want a static showpiece? Your money stretches further elsewhere.

The parts story

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

The build splits into a few distinct chunks, and they vary a lot in feel. The smaller models (the flyer, the surfboard, the throne) come together quickly and give you a nice rhythm. Then you hit the ring, which is the heart of the whole thing and also the most repetitive stretch, because you circle around placing the same connector brick again and again to close the loop. It tries your patience for a bit, but the payoff is a ring that ends up genuinely sturdy and holds its shape while it spins, which matters when the mechanism depends on it staying true.

The star part is a new SNOT brick, the 1x2x1 2/3 with studs on two opposite sides, which does the structural heavy lifting to hold the ring together, and it shows up here in transparent bright orange for that fiery glow. There is a new flame element and a big pearl gold ring section giving the vehicle its look, and the exclusive Nezha figure trades his usual casual clothes for armor closer to Mei's style. For 929 pieces you are paying partly for engineering rather than raw brick count, so judge the value on the mechanism, not the bag weight.

Fun facts

01The fire ring is essentially a working monowheel: hidden wheels inside run along a track so the outer ring spins while the pilot's cockpit stays level.
02The main vehicle stretches about 32cm long, making it one of the larger builds in the Monkie Kid 2022 wave.
03LEGO leaned into the mythology by sculpting Nezha as a youthful child, matching how he appears in most classic tellings.
04The set retired in December 2023 and has climbed in value on the aftermarket since, rising roughly 22 percent past its 99.99 dollar RRP.