Is the LEGO Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain (80024) a Good Investment Set?

4th November 2022

There are several Monkie Kid sets that are reaching the end of their shelf life this year, which means there's only a couple of months left to buy them at retail price. In this article, we consider whether one of these, The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain, is a set worth buying if you're looking for a good investment.

The set

The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain was released in early 2021 as part of the second wave of sets from the theme. It's currently the fourth biggest Monkie Kid set, coming in at 1,949 pieces and retailing for £149.99 / $169.99 / €169.99, giving it a price per piece of 7.7p / 8.7c. This represents decent value for money in our opinion, and more so it you are in the US or Europe. Being a non-licensed theme, you certainly get more for your dollar than Star Wars and Marvel etc.

The set depicts a key location in Journey to the West, the classic Chinese novel on which Monkie Kid is based. Having a set with significance, rather than one based on a made-up place, is certainly a plus for its long-term desirability. There are also many references to the source material dotted throughout the set.

The completed build is substantial, measuring 70cm across and 35cm tall. Its footprint is purposely long and thin, to allow it to be easily displayed on a shelf. The chosen colours give a lush and idyllic appearance to the Mountain, and it looks rather beautiful. There are also lovely splashes of yellow, pink, and purple that add further to the visual appeal. We rarely get something as interesting as this set, with all its different sections, levels, walkways, and details. It really invites you in to play with it. Building the set is also a joy as there are lots of unusual building techniques.

Overall, it's a set that's very hard to criticise and one of my favourites from the last couple of years.

The Minifigures

The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain comes with eight minifigures, seven of which are unique. Four in fact depict the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, but at different stages of his life. The details on all of them are superb and I love the headpieces and tails. The best of the bunch are the Battle Monkey King and Evil Macaque, which both have nice robes and some very ornate printing. If you don't want to splash out on the full set, buying these two minifigures separately might be a good move, as I expect them to do pretty well on the aftermarket.

Unique Parts

This set contains a few unique pieces and a whole load more that have only appeared in a handful of other sets. The beautiful translucent light blue opal pieces that make up the central waterfall are one such example, with these only being used elsewhere in a few Friends sets. The extensive use of unusual parts could well add to this sets value after it retires.

Looking to the future

The appeal of the Monkie Kid theme is certainly much larger in Asia, because the legend of Monkey King is not part of western culture. In fact, the theme was designed to boost LEGO's prominence in China, which it sees as a key market for growth. This is reflected by Monkie Kid sets only being available to buy at LEGO.com in Europe and North America, and at least in the UK, you won't find them in physical LEGO stores. Therefore, these sets have gone under the radar, which is no bad thing, as it means their supply will be more limited on the aftermarket in the years to come.

The popularity of a theme can have a large bearing on future set prices, but I think the quality and uniqueness of The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain will make up for this. As the number of LEGO collectors in Asia grows, which it's likely to do, the demand for Monkie Kid will increase.

Conclusion

Investment opportunity: GREAT

In my opinion, this is one of the best sets LEGO have made in the past couple of years. It's brilliant to look at and full of playability. It's much more original than the endless franchise sets we get nowadays. I feel that Monkie Kid is currently under-appreciated, because of its limited visibility in retail channels and focus on the Asian market. However, the theme has produced some fantastic sets that can appeal to everyone.

I think all the Monkie Kid sets will perform well in the years to come, but this one may just fair the best of them all, because of its significance regarding the original novel. In short, this is one of my best investment picks for 2022.

Disclaimer: This article or any others on brickranker.com should not be considered financial advice and investing in LEGO is risky.

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