Set Review ➟ 80055 LEGO® Monkie Kid’s Team Power Truck
I was excited to see that there was another big truck in the Monkie Kid line. I absolutely loved the Monkie Kid’s Team Van set 80038 and had my hopes up for another really great set. And I have to say this…this is not that. The Power Truck seems more like a baby version of the Team Van.
Team Van on the left (without clubhouse on top), Power Truck on the right.
The Power Truck does a great job in emulating the general aesthetics of the Team Van. The color, size, and general shape of the Power Truck is similar to that of the van, the set’s character selection is similar, and some of the accessory choices are similar. For minifigure entertainment, the Power Truck set has a pinball machine where the Team Van has an arcade racing cabinet, basketball, and table tennis. The Power Truck’s back end detaches and is effectively a single room Pigsy diner where the Team Van carries a multi-room detachable hideout on the top of the van. Both sets have a flyer for Mia. The Power Truck comes with a mini loader vehicle while Team Van has a separate go-cart. The Power Truck has an externally mounted and visible six-stud-shooter where the Team Van has a hidden dual long projectile launcher and a Pigsy-manned single stud shooter. The Power Truck set also comes with a villain figure, a creature, and a MacGuffin, where the Team Van has two villain figures and a tuktuk. There are a lot of complementary notes between the two sets.
Mini Loader and Mei’s Flyer
Pinball Machine and Green Crystal MacGuffin
Then there are the differences. First is the recommended age for the Power Truck is seven while for the Van it is nine. That is evident in both the build complexity and the elaborateness of the design. The Power Truck tends to be big, simple, and empty where the Team Van is tighter and packed.
One notable exception to the design density comes in the cabs. There was really no problem in getting figures in and out of the seats in the Team Van, but with the Power Truck the cab interior is very tight. Very. Tight. Both vehicles require the removal of the roof to insert minifigures. The Team Van had opening doors which helped as one could put fingers…and even figures, to some degree…through the openings. The Power Truck does not offer side doors, instead it has a tilt-out windshield. Unfortunately the tilt is minimal and helps but a little.
The windshield tilted closed.
The windshield tilted open.
It is suggested that Sandy drive the truck, but his mohawk hair does not allow the figure to sit back completely in the chair. The cab of the truck is, simply put, cramped. If you are a seven-year-old with seven-year-old size hands perhaps getting a figure set into a seat is less of an issue, but I end up with Sandy’s hair having to be turned sideways to get him seated the cab. For some reason the back wall of the cab has a large arch hole behind the seats and an open window behind the flyer mount. I imagine if this layout was essentially reversed Sandy’s hair might fit, but I am really perplexed by the design decisions on this entire back wall.
The Power Truck is reminiscent of a dump truck in design. The dumper bed is held in place on the truck with a single technic pin-and-hole connector and does not raise, but instead slides off the back of the truck to become a diner. The tail gate opens to serve as a ramp once the bed is offloaded.
While the bed can be filled with all the various elements like the pinball machine and the mini loader, once those elements are out the space is barren with the exception of a small grill. The grill is a flip panel that turns into a communications console, a concept that has been previously seen in Pigsy’s Food Truck.
The set has five minifigures: Pigsy, Sandy, Mei, Monkie Kid, and the 100-eyed Demon, plus a tiny Mo the Cat figure. Pigsy and Sandy are the same figures from the Megapolis City set and Monkie Kid appeared in Mei’s Dragon Mech set. Mei has a new torso print. The 100-Eyed-Demon has 29 eyes by my count—when you include the two on the alternate face—and is a new figure.
Accompanying the 100-Eyed-Demon is a bug creature that the demon uses as a trusty or maybe untrusty steed.
Demon rides the bug by holding onto the bug’s handlebar antennae. And that alone. Which means 100-Eyed-Demon’s forearms give Popeye’s a run for their money. Unfortunately with or without the demon as a rider, the bug is top heavy and prefers to face plant as opposed to standing upright. Getting the bug to stand up at all is pretty darned fussy.
The Randolph T. Fielding Absolutely Administriva Section
Nya’s head piece is part number 3626 while the others use part number 3274.
Here is a look at this set’s stickers, one sheet printed on white and one printed on clear carrier.
A comparison of tiny and not-so-tiny Mo the Cat figures.
A comparison of parts 31498 and 64450 roll cages. This set contains the 31498 part. Note the difference in the top center where 31498 has a dimple and 64450 does not.
New parts include a new “bug eye” print for the 1x1 round tile and part 105311 dual molded in transparent green and pearl gold.
Heavy bike frame part 36934 appears in yellow for the first time.
Summary
As long as your expectations are not that this is going to be another Monkie Kid Team Van, taken on its own merits the set is okay. If you are a minifigure collector all the figures in this set can be found in other sets. While there is a reasonable amount of play value here, there are usability whiffs on the bug and the truck cab.
Disclaimer
Thanks to LEGO for kindly providing the set for review.
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