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80036 LEGO City of Lanterns. Embark on an epic journey with LEGO Monkie Kid. Based on ancient Chinese legends of The Monkey King and The Journey to the West, Monkie Kid is here to save the day! He battles evil monsters and brings justice with his courageous pals Mei, Tang, Pigsy, Sandy, Mo and the legendary Monkey King. Fighting against ancient demons in a mythical landscape, Monkie Kid brings Chinese legends to life for all ages. Through LEGO sets, an animated mini movie and TV series, Monkie Kid provides entertainment, whilst also inspiring fans with ancient Chinese values such as courage, wisdom and resilience.
Set Details
One of the larger LEGO® Monkie Kid sets, LEGO 80036; The City of Lanterns has 2187 pieces and is aimed at age 9+. Once built, fans can explore the 4 level, bustling City which features a whole host of activities and attractions. Walk into the toy store to get your hands on the latest LEGO sets, then hop over to the Speedy Panda store. Stop by one of the two restaurants for some delicious eats or take in a show at the karaoke booth. For a refreshing treat, swing by the bubble tea café and sip some of their delicious teas. And don’t forget to ride the rapid transit train around the city for a complete 360-degree view!
The Set includes some fun surprises and great mini builds adding to the attraction for some buyers.
| Model Name | The City of Lanterns |
| Model Number | 80036 |
| Theme | Monkey Kid |
| Sub Themes | Season 3 |
| Pieces | 2187 |
| Minifigures | 7 |
| Launch Date | January 2022 |
| Current Status | Current |
| Date Retired | N/A |
| RRP | £120 |
Investment Potential
We had to run the ruler of this newish LEGO theme, while we do not have many retired sets within the theme to date to bulletproof any investment advice, there are plenty of positives for us to look at.
| Launch RRP | £115 |
| Price Per Piece | £0.05 |
| Launch Price per piece | £0.05 |
| 5th Year Value | £166 |
| Percentage Increase | 39% |
| Expected Annual Growth | 8% |
| Theme Growth | – |
| Sub Theme Growth | – |
Theme Analysis
The LEGO Monkie Kid sets seem to have a fairly short shelf life and not masses of supply with plenty of sets losing shelf space for other themes in recent memory. That isn’t to say the theme isn’t popular with western consumers though, with some sets in particular doing well. When we looked at the general theme, we found some decent performance. We looked at LEGO Mei’s Dragon Car, LEGO White Dragon Horse Bike, LEGO Sandy’s Speedboat, LEGO Iron Bull Tank. With an average annualised growth of 75%.
| Set Number | Set Name | Retired Date | RRP | Current Value | Total Growth | Annualised Growth |
| 80031 | Mei’s Dragon Car | December 2022 | £35 | £49 | 40% | 145% |
| 80006 | White Dragon Horse Bike | May 2022 | £25 | £39 | 56% | 59% |
| 80014 | Sandy’s Speedboat | August 2022 | £45 | £57 | 27% | 401% |
| 80007 | Iron Bull Tank | May 2022 | £40 | £58 | 45% | 47% |
Comparable Set Analysis
We dug even deeper and looked at LEGO sets from the Season 2 sub theme, all retired 3 months ago but some big rises all ready. We looked at LEGO Monkie Kids Team Dronecopter, LEGO Spider Queens Arachnoid Base, LEGO The Bone Demon, LEGO Monkie Kid’s Team Secret HQ. These sets are only recently retired so an annualised growth projection of over 70% could be seen as aggressive. What is interesting about these comparable sets is the strong retirement pop and rapid growth in just over 3 months since retirement. In particular LEGO The Bone Demon has done very well with a 21% pop since retirement in January.
| Set Number | Set Name | Retired Date | RRP | Current Value | Total Growth | Annualised Growth |
| 80023 | Monkie Kid’s Team Dronecopter | January 2023 | £120 | £129 | 8% | 30% |
| 80022 | Spider Queen’s Arachnoid Base | January 2023 | £90 | £106 | 18% | 82% |
| 80028 | The Bone Demon | January 2023 | £90 | £109 | 21% | 101% |
| 80013 | Monkie Kid’s Team Secret HQ | January 2023 | £160 | £165 | 3% | 12% |
Conclusion
This is definitely a new theme for me, but all the signs are good for it to be a theme that while offering risk with less data being available it’s when where the potential rewards could be massive.
