This month, thanks to LEGO and Brickcentral, I had the chance to build and shoot a mythical creature. It’s set number 80066 from the Monkie Kid theme, featuring several elements including 6 minifigures, a flying cloud, a roaming caravan, and the star of the show: a fully articulated Qilin.
According to Wikipedia, the Qilin—also known as the “yellow unicorn”—symbolizes the fifth element: Earth. The Qilin rules over fur-covered animals, the phoenix over feathered ones, the dragon over scaled creatures, and the turtle over those with shells. In the Mencius, it reigns over land animals while the phoenix rules the skies. A quick culture moment for you.
First, a quick note: I only knew about the Monkie Kid range by name. I’m aware there’s an animated series the sets are based on, but since I haven’t seen it, I had zero expectations going in. I’m sure the characters and elements all have specific backstories, but I chose to approach this shoot without knowing them, so I could let my imagination run wild without being influenced by the storyline or character relationships… Let’s see how it turned out!
The Build Experience
The build is fairly quick for experienced hands (about an hour), starting with a kind of cloud-shaped spaceship (!) followed by a mobile vendor’s stall that hides a cannon and a small ship that attaches to the Qilin, each with its own quirky character: a ninja, a pig chef, and a blue dude lifting weights with his equally blue cat. I love when LEGO designers go all-in on wild concepts like this—Dreamzzz vibes for sure. Then comes the main event: building the Dragon.
That part includes a bit of repetition due to symmetry, but that’s to be expected. As usual, there are stickers to apply, which is a big downside for me—especially since I tend to rough up my sets during shoots, sometimes involving dust and water. Printed elements are way more durable than stickers! Other brands have already embraced the no-sticker approach—come on LEGO, we want the same! That said, there are lots of golden pieces and a beautifully chosen color scheme that instantly gives the build an Asian aesthetic.
Photographer’s Perspective
As a photographer, I appreciate the abundance of minifigures in this set—especially because they’re so unique, with great accessories and sharp printing. They’ve got personality and originality, and they make it easy to create fun little scenes with or without the main builds.
The three small builds are nice, but the Qilin is definitely the main draw for photographers.
Unfortunately, while it is articulated, it’s not flexible enough for truly dynamic poses. It lacks joints at the elbows and knees, and the wrists and ankles have limited motion. Finding the right balance can also be tricky. But hey, photographers are resourceful—we can always cheat a bit! (I popped off a few parts for certain shots and used support rigs to help it stand.)
If I had to choose, I would’ve sacrificed the cloud and stall to get a more complete and posable Dragon build. But that’s just the photographer in me talking—kids will definitely enjoy the play features of the other elements.
All in all, it’s a pretty complete set that allows for a lot of creative staging. I deliberately chose different environments to explore what could be done with it. I did one or two indoor studio shoots, but since spring brought back nice weather, I finally got to shoot outside again —mostly in the woods or near water. All the elements work well in photos; I especially enjoyed the ship for dynamic shots and some of the Qilin’s movable parts for expressive poses. But fair warning: supports are highly recommended (I used a giraffe rig with fishing line or transparent LEGO rods for the minifigs).
So, what does this mythical creature inspire in you?
