Set Review ➟ 80104 Lion Dance
Within the theme that LEGO® is bringing out in which it explores Chinese traditions and festivals, we present to you the set 80104 Lion Dance.
The first impression you get is the great amount of colors you will encounter and exclusive details in the mini-figures such as new prints on the torsos.
In line with the sets for the Chinese New Year of 2020, the Year of the Rat, the box comes in red and with golden decorations, where we see mini-figures with the costume that imitates a mystical Chinese lion, dancers performing acrobatics on stilts and accompanied by music of tanggu, cymbals and gongs.
When opening the box we found 6 little bags and the instructions. Fortunately, we didn't find any sticker sheets.
MINI FIGURES
Eight mini-figures are included and each one of them will represent each of the roles that we find in the traditional lion dance. All of them are accompanied by common elements in traditional Chinese festivals.
In these two figures we see the new prints that accompany the trouser area and in the golden dragon torsos. The female mini-figure comes with black hair, a new color for this element.
They are accompanied by what would be a lettuce, recreating the "green eating" that the lions do in their dance, and the red parchment of good fortune.
The 3 musicians come with 3 red scarves on their heads and red tunics with a golden lion print. One of the mini-figures features glasses. They come with brown 3L bars and two golden cymbals.
The mayor, with glasses, black suit and red scarf, comes with a calligraphy brush, being the one in charge of giving the final touch with his brush and making the lion come to life.
The dancer, with a white shirt and gold dragon print and white legs with red fringes. This mini-figure carries the traditional fireworks rockets.
They come with what would be a lettuce, recreating the last and most peculiar mini-figure is the one that comes with the rat costume to celebrate the Year of the Rat. The head has two facial expressions and it comes accompanied by a red orb.
THE LIONS
A total of 5 lions are built, two in red, two in gold and one in white.
The design of the lions is based on the lions of the southern lion dance, which have a single horn and are associated with the legend of a mythical monster named Nian.
We start the build by assembling the torso. With printed "Slope Curved 2 x 2" we recreate the different coats, finishing with some fringes made with pieces "Plate Modified 1 x 1 Rounded with Handle" and "Plate Round 1 x 1 with 3 Leaves".
For the representation of the dancers inside the lion, two pairs of miniature legs are connected under each lion, which will allow you to place the lion in different poses and thus better recreate the dance of those lions.
For the construction of the head we use such curious pieces as frogs for the ears, "Technic Ball Joint" for those characteristic eyes that move, printed "Tile Round Corner 2 x 2" for the mouth or some bananas to highlight the eyebrows, managing to capture the shape and appearance of the lions' costumes in a quite realistic way.
PERCUSSIONIST PLATFORM
For the percussionists we built a small triangular-shaped stage on which will go the traditional Chinese drum called Tanggu and the golden gong.
For the Tanggu, we will use a piece of wheel, "Wheel Hard Plastic Small" in a new color, Dark Red. For its support, a pearl gold sausage is cleverly used, a new color for this piece.
JONGS PLATFORM
For this structure we will build 8 pillars where the lions will perform their acrobatics and dances.
In the central panel of the stage we will have a hole that will be useful to store elements or pieces.
THE TEMPLE DOOR
It is the largest construction of the whole set with measures approximately 15 cm high, 19 cm wide and 3 cm deep.
One of the things that draws attention to this door is its colouring: red, orange, gold, turquoise.
The construction of the door is symmetrical, so the two sides are the same and it doesn't matter how you place it for display.
The golden frogs used as architectural elements and the decorated plate under the roof of the central structure are worth mentioning. On this plate we can see a golden dragon in a green frame with a scale pattern.
Details such as the trusses made with "Fence 1 x 4 x 1", the "Plate Modified 1 x 1 Rounded with Handle" and "Brick Modified 1 x 1 x 2/3 No Studs, Curved Top" in new turquoise colors to achieve the arch form of the doors, or the orange ingots on the roof, give as a whole a very realistic appearance.
The lion figures stand out in this set. Despite being a very repetitive construction, if you stop to see the details of each one of them as having a single horn, the printed pieces for the coats or the mouth, the details of the bananas and frogs for the head, the eyes that seem to move at any time, you realize that every detail has been taken into account to achieve maximum realism with the real figures.
The set captures the spirit and look of a lion dance celebration, so it's a set that all lovers of Asian culture will want to have in their hands.
The amount of pieces in new colors, no stickers and new exclusive silkscreen prints, the amount of details, the 5 lions and the 8 minifigs, one of them with the Year of the Rat costume, make this set an interesting piece to get your hands on.
We wish to thank LEGO® for providing this set for review. The opinions in this review are not supported or endorsed by LEGO.
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