Review: 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping
Posted by FlagsNZ,
The Chinese have a famous idiom, "The carp leaps over the Dragon Gate", which is often used to encourage students or children to achieve success through hard work and perseverance.
In my second review of Chinese Festival Sets, I have a look at 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping.
Read on to see how "The carp leaps over the Dragon Gate" legend is the inspiration for this LEGO set.
Summary
80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping, 736 pieces.
£44.99 / $59.99 / €49.99 | 6.1p, 8.2c, 6.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A very atractive, compact model that showcases a well-known Chinese legend
- Three brick-built carp on an endless swim
- Celebrates one of China's most famous legends
- No stickers - only printed parts
- Exceptional value for money
- No negative points
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Prosperity Carp Leaping
In the front of the instructions to 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping is an explanation of the famous Chinese legend: "The carp leaps over the Dragon Gate."
Legend tells of a mighty waterfall along China's Yellow River, known as the "Dragon's Gate." It is said that any carp strong enough to leap across this torrent would transform into a dragon and soar into the clouds.
Each year, countless carp swim upstream, yet only the most resolute and courageous succeed. This enduring tale carries the meaning of achieving one's aspirations through perseverance and determination, embodying the spirit of resilience. People believe that displaying a "Carp Leaping over the Dragon's Gate" ornament at home can bring good luck in one's studies and career.
The box
The front of the box shows 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping against a stylised background with a torrent of water flowing through the Dragon Gate.
As with 80121 Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn, there are the words Harmony and Prosperity in the top right corner of this box, which surround the traditional Chinese character for East. Harmony and Prosperity is a key Chinese concept envisioned by Confucian scholars.
The rear of the box has the 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping set sitting on a desk. There is some small images that show how the carp can be made to leap over the Dragon Gate by turning a crank handle.
Instructions
The instructions come in a medium-sized 183-page booklet.
Parts
There are 736 parts included in the 80120 Prosperity Carp Leaping set, which are divided into six numbered paper bags.
Appearing for the first time in Trans Light Blue is the 1/4 Circle Gear Rack.11×11 This set uses eight of these elements.
In an article I wrote ten years ago I highlighted the special geometry of this element.
The build
Bag 1
The elements in Bag 1 assemble the foundation base of the Prosperity Carp Leaping.
Bag 2
Bag 2 assembles the Trans Light Blue circular gear rack, one of the leaping carps and covers the studs on the base with smooth black tiles and bricks.
The brick-built orange carp includes some NPU (Nice Parts Usage)
- The pectoral fin is made using a repurposed Bright Orange Minifigure flipper.
- The carp's barbels are made using a repurposed White mudguard.
By turning the crank handle, the Trans Light Blue circular gear rack will rotate.
Bag 3
Bag 3 continues the assembly of the base. The Chinese script on the printed tile translates as "Fish leaping over the Dragon Gate."
Some of the turbulent waters of The Dragon Gate are beginning to be assembled.
Bag 4
Bag 4 assembles the Dragon Gate structure. These structures are known as a Paifang.
Pearl Gold elements decorate the Dragon Gate, notably:
The Dragon Gate is also decorated with a 2x2 printed tile. This element has been seen in four other sets. The print is a qian (Chinese coin).
Bag 5
Bag 5 assembles the second carp, this time in a yellow colour.
The stylised brick-built turbulent waters of The Dragon Gate are completed.
Bag 6
Bag 6 assembles the third carp. The three carp have slightly different colourations:
- Assembled in Bag 2 – A bright red body with orange fins and tail,
- Assembled in Bag 5 – A yellow body with yellow and orange fins and tail, and
- Assembled in Bag 6 – A bright orange body and red fins and tail
The completed model
Turning the crank handle will cause two of the carp to continuously rotate as they swim over the Dragon Gate.
The model is very stable, and the crank turns over the leaping carp ring easily.
It would be quite easy to modify this set so that a Powered Up motor rotated the carp ring. However, in my opinion, this would contradict the through hard work and perseverance component of the Carp leaps over the Dragon Gate legend.
I am undecided whether this crank handle should be available at the front of the model or in its current location at the back:
- People need to reach around the back of the model to gain access to the crank handle to showcase the model's leaping carp function, however
- If this were sitting on someone's desk facing away from the person, then the leaping carp function could easily be demonstrated.
The Yellow River, known as Huang He, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest river system on Earth. The river gets its name from the yellow colour of its water, which is made up of sediment collected as the river flows through the provinces.
The Dragon Gate could either be Hukou Waterfalls or it could be Lóngmén Shan a little further downstream, although there are several waterfalls in China that are described as a Dragon Gate.
There are four major species of carp in China. These species are among the strongest fish. Pound for pound, carp are some of the hardest-fighting fish anywhere. Silver carp are known to leap between 2.5 and 3.0 metres (8–10 ft) into the air.
From all this comes the Chinese folk tale of jumping carp. It is said that if certain carp called Yulong can climb the cataract, they will transform into dragons.
As for what happens to the carp when they turn into a dragon, this could very well be the Huang He river itself. If you look at the map of the Huang He, it looks as if it could be a dragon lurking inside the raging waters.
As a Pisces, I have enjoyed writing this review, which includes a pair of fish leaping.
#/media/File:Pisces_IAU.svg){kind=link}
The Pisces constellation is an Easter Egg included in the 21367 Tintin Moon Rocket set.
87 likes
25 comments on this article
I can’t be the only one who sees Spirograph parts in those transparent pieces.
@ohrmazd said:
"I can’t be the only one who sees Spirograph parts in those transparent pieces. "
Yep, I see it too. I loved drawing with that in my youth.
Also being a pisces, I'm sort of drawn to this set, though I'm not sure why.
Another great Chinese Festival set. Really like it when 1 display set plus 1 location set are released together. Aiming on getting both as soon as soon as a half decent GWP is offered.
@sjr60 said:
"Another great Chinese Festival set. Really like it when 1 display set plus 1 location set are released together. Aiming on getting both as soon as soon as a half decent GWP is offered."
Duck family is back and 2x on Luigi and Blacktron monster.
It's a nice set. No need to carp on about it!
@CliveyB said:
"It's a nice set. No need to carp on about it!"
Agreed, he did go round and round about it. I mean, cmon, move on.
@sjr60 said:
"Another great Chinese Festival set. Really like it when 1 display set plus 1 location set are released together. Aiming on getting both as soon as soon as a half decent GWP is offered."
Already got the Duck Family and the only repeated GWP I'd like is 40762 Mixed Flowerpot which I missed 1st time around.
I can but hope they'd repeat the upscaled spacebaby..
Still - this is beautiful and surprisingly good value. Looking forward to adding it to my office 'Chinese corner'!
Very cool, though I doubt I'll get one. The Moon Gazing Inn is too good, even with stickers. That's going to get my Chinese money this year.
I will say, this having no stickers is the proper way to have no negatives. I know people are polarized about this, and I understand why, but stickers are objectively inferior when it comes to portraying the desired designs. I don't think reviews should have no negatives if stickers are used, as long as the reviews are solely for the set (which they are on Brickset).
A site like New Elementary does more in-depth reviews of new parts and colors, and that's where you can talk about stickers being a plus/not a negative.
@dimc said:
"A site like New Elementary does more in-depth reviews of new parts and colors, and that's where you can talk about stickers being a plus/not a negative."
Huw often links to them to let us delve further into new pieces.
I love seeing Technic parts and functions in other themes, especially when Lego does very rarely kinetic sculptures like this. What's also cool, is that there are 2 pin holes and removing the crank you can easily swap it out with a motor and let it run continuously, something I haven't seen in any of the flapping winged creatures in the Harry Potter sets or even 42179.
The use of 3 different colored pairs of swim fins as actual fish fins is a brilliant part usage.
Lovely set! My first exposure to the legend/saying this is based on was the Pokémon Magikarp and Gyarados—an ordinary fish which, through hard work and effort, can transform into a serpentine dragon.
The model as a whole is very good looking with a neat function and those trans light blue gear racks are a super cool recolor. Might have to pick this one up.
@yellowcastle said:
" @dimc said:
"A site like New Elementary does more in-depth reviews of new parts and colors, and that's where you can talk about stickers being a plus/not a negative."
Huw often links to them to let us delve further into new pieces."
Which is good! There's a place for that discussion, but BS reviews aren't like that. So I'm glad to see the "no negative points" here, which is appropriate. NE reviews are fantastic if a bit beyond what I typically want.
It looks nice and 50 euro seems reasonable for the most part (for a current-year lego set).
Never heard of the saying but admittedly I live under a LURP
Great set.
For sets like this, I wish Lego would still have a wind-up motor.....I do still have my old 890, but that's not quite ideal here.....
Other than that, I do quite like this set! One of those sets to pick up on a whim whenever I see it at a good price.
I agree, motorizing the crank function is the epitome of not working hard and persevering!
@dimc said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @dimc said:
"A site like New Elementary does more in-depth reviews of new parts and colors, and that's where you can talk about stickers being a plus/not a negative."
Huw often links to them to let us delve further into new pieces."
Which is good! There's a place for that discussion, but BS reviews aren't like that. So I'm glad to see the "no negative points" here, which is appropriate. NE reviews are fantastic if a bit beyond what I typically want. "
Reviews are opinions written by individuals, and so we should always expect variation in whether stickers are included as negatives, since not all people who review Lego kits agree on whether they’re a bad thing.
It’s generally easy enough to find out if a set has stickers and how many — I sort unbuilt sets by whether stickers are present, on account of having to beg help with application lest they all have a bad case of the wonkies, and Bricklink is very helpful on that front since they list the sticker sheet complete with photo in the parts inventory — so I don’t think there’s anything lost, practically speaking, in allowing reviewers to make a personal choice about whether it matters to them.
Thanks everyone for your supportive comments.
I didn't want to include this in the review as I thought it was inappropriate to be part of that review, but Carp is an invasive species of fish that has managed to be imported into foreign ecosystems.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/freshwater-pests/koi-carp/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carp
@WizardOfOss said:
"For sets like this, I wish Lego would still have a wind-up motor.....I do still have my old 890, but that's not quite ideal here.....
Other than that, I do quite like this set! One of those sets to pick up on a whim whenever I see it at a good price."
Windup motors are still produced by Lego for pullback technic cars.
@thor96 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"For sets like this, I wish Lego would still have a wind-up motor.....I do still have my old 890 , but that's not quite ideal here.....
Other than that, I do quite like this set! One of those sets to pick up on a whim whenever I see it at a good price."
Windup motors are still produced by Lego for pullback technic cars."
I am aware of those, but when you wind up those up completely and then let go, they release all their energy at once. Which is not what you want for a set like this. That 890 I mentioned you can wind up with a key, and more importantly, releases its energy in a much more controlled manner. Just timed it, it keeps running for over 40 seconds before it starts to stutter.
(it does sound like it can use some lubrication though....but I don't think there's a way to open it without breaking stuff. And from the look of it, it seems like we have tried that before....)
I recently bought 6432430, think I'm gonna try if I can use it to drive that :-)
@WizardOfOss said:
" @thor96 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"For sets like this, I wish Lego would still have a wind-up motor.....I do still have my old 890 , but that's not quite ideal here.....
Other than that, I do quite like this set! One of those sets to pick up on a whim whenever I see it at a good price."
Windup motors are still produced by Lego for pullback technic cars."
I am aware of those, but when you wind up those up completely and then let go, they release all their energy at once. Which is not what you want for a set like this. "
Speak for yourself. That is -exactly- what I want for this set. I want to be able to pull back on this wheel until I can hear it click, and then release it with enough speed and force to saw through solid oak. I want to speed-run evolving these fish into Gyaradoses, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.
@Crux said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @thor96 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"For sets like this, I wish Lego would still have a wind-up motor.....I do still have my old 890 , but that's not quite ideal here.....
Other than that, I do quite like this set! One of those sets to pick up on a whim whenever I see it at a good price."
Windup motors are still produced by Lego for pullback technic cars."
I am aware of those, but when you wind up those up completely and then let go, they release all their energy at once. Which is not what you want for a set like this. "
Speak for yourself. That is -exactly- what I want for this set. I want to be able to pull back on this wheel until I can hear it click, and then release it with enough speed and force to saw through solid oak. I want to speed-run evolving these fish into Gyaradoses, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."
You like flying fish, don't you? ;-)
@yellowcastle said:
" @CliveyB said:
"It's a nice set. No need to carp on about it!"
Agreed, he did go round and round about it. I mean, cmon, move on."
No need for gatekeeping.
@Lyichir said:"Lovely set! My first exposure to the legend/saying this is based on was the Pokémon Magikarp and Gyarados—an ordinary fish which, through hard work and effort, can transform into a serpentine dragon."
I wondered how far into the review into the review or the comments I'd be before Magikarp and Gyarados got a mention. And now this is running through my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3x3-22Gi3g
@TheOtherMike said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @CliveyB said:
"It's a nice set. No need to carp on about it!"
Agreed, he did go round and round about it. I mean, cmon, move on."
No need for gatekeeping.
"
Just say what you feel, no need to be koi about it