Well, I’ve had my fair share of complaints about this theme. I mean, I wrote a whole article, where I state how fed up I am with LEGO Marvel. I give valid points about the product, so I do recommend you check that out before reading this. So we have spent months analysing each year of the theme, which ultimately culminated with my articles on the best Marvel sets and minifigures of all time. Today, I’m here to take that one step further. I will be analysing the worst LEGO Marvel sets of all time, and why they are so terrible.
However, before I do get into this article, I must state a few disclaimers. I 100% respect each member of the LEGO Marvel theme and what they do. They are constrained by budgets and requirements to fulfill, which is why the majority of Marvel sets aren’t as detailed as the UCS ones. I also want to state that I’m not a fake fan. I have collected sets from this theme since 2015 – almost 5 years. So I am well-informed on my criticisms.
LEGO is a product. Yes, there are more pressing issues in the world. But LEGO is a well-known product with high expectations. Therefore, as a consumer of their product, I have the right to criticise it – within reason. I’ve voted with my money – for the most part. If I don’t like a set, I don’t buy it. That’s why I don’t own a single 2020 Marvel set to date, even though I’m considering the Avengers Tower and the Hulkbuster. Finally, this is my option. As an adult, my view on a LEGO set is different from that of its target audience – a child. But if themes like Harry Potter can appeal to children and adults alike, so can LEGO Marvel. So with that out of the way, let’s get into this.
5: Avengers Compound Battle (76131)
And so the ranting begins: In my opinion, this set was fundamentally wrong on all fronts. First of all, the minifigure selection was severely lacking. They were all lazy. Lazy. Captain Marvel was an understandable re-release in this set, since she wore the same outfit as in her solo movie, with minor changes. However, she should’ve come with dual-moulded boos (red and blue). Spider-Man got that treatment. So should’ve she. Same with Nebula. Since LEGO decided to go the route with giving her the Quantum Realm suit to save money, we should’ve at least gotten arm printing with the A logo, to compromise for that.
The Ant-Man micro-figure is literal perfection and was the only good thing about this set. The Outrider was also just lazy. I mean, LEGO should’ve given it leg printing, considering that it was very visible on them during the movie. That would have elevated the coolness of the figure. But yet again, LEGO decided that they’d rather save costs than give us leg printing.
Now for the biggest offenders (no pun intended): Iron Man’s final MCU suit was just bad. Although the torso and leg printing were good, the arms were notably what drag the figure down. Based on the Mark 85 armour, the top half of the arms should’ve been gold, and the bottom half, red. This should have called for dual-moulded arms. But LEGO cheapened out and gave us fully pearl gold arms instead, with red hands. It was so cheap of them to do this – considering this was the final MCU Iron Man we will get for a while.
Hulk was also just lazy. They took the 2015 mould, re-coloured it, and slapped a new facial expression. For most of the first act of Avengers: End Game, Hulk wore a jumpsuit. There was concept art of Hulk in a jumpsuit since the beginning. And I do not doubt that LEGO had this art. It was one of the first pieces of anything to come out of this movie. So why was this Hulk shirtless? LEGO could’ve made a new mould to accompany for his jumpsuit. However, more likely, they could’ve made Hulk into a minifigure and could’ve slapped on the jumpsuit printing onto his torso and legs. In the concept art, we could see that Hulk was definitely smaller – and could’ve feasibly been translated into a minifigure.
Get the Latest LEGO Sales & Deals
And finally – the big bad of the MCU. Thanos himself. Surely LEGO learned from their mistake in 2018, and made the ultimate LEGO Thanos? Well… I’ll let you guess. Why was the predominant colour of Thanos grey? Why? WE CAN SEE THAT HE WAS WEARING FULL GOLDEN ARMOUR IN CONCEPT ART AND IN THE MOVIE. So why? Well, it’s simple. LEGO was just lazy. I don’t expect a new mould to be created to show the armour indents. I mean, LEGO kind of did this with an Overwatch figure, so why am I not surprised that Marvel didn’t get that treatment? All we needed was Thanos in printed, gold armour. That’s it. But LEGO decided to be lazy and gave us this mess.
So I’ve spent two-thirds of this article talking about how disappointing the minifigures were. But what about the build? Well, overall, it was pretty average. It wasn’t mind-blowing but also wasn’t garbage. But that wasn’t good enough. A company where the motto is “Only the Best is Good Enough” was not displayed here at all. In the previous year, we had received one of the best LEGO sets of all time, which was the Sanctum Sanctorum from the Infinity War line. The build was detailed perfectly, with so many easter eggs. The number of play functions was just amazing – and that too, they were well hidden. This set… looked like a basic police station that you’d find in the city theme.
Again, this is probably what I’d come up with if I were to make a MOC since my building skills are not advanced. I mean, there was no clever techniques at all. It was just regular bricks and plates. The top-level was a bit better, but not by much. Then, they also decided to sacrifice the build for a trillion play features – namely the crappy looking helicopter and car. We paid USD 90 for this. Again, Harry Potter is a theme for both adults and kids go enjoy since we get amazing looking buildings, filled with play features. And for Marvel, we got this hodge-podge. Just disappointing. This set would get a 5/10 in my books.
4: Buildable Characters (4529, 4530, 4597)
I decided to pile these together because let’s be honest, they’d take up 3/5 spaces on this list. But long story short, these just looked ugly. All three of them have this ugly shoulder pad piece for no reason. They just looked clunky and ugly. There was not much to it.
And that’s it for Part 1 of the worst LEGO Marvel sets of all time. Do you agree with my statements? Again, please read my disclaimer before you send an angry message on Instagram, cursing at me forever. There’s just no point. However, I do hope a LEGO Marvel designer reads this and takes in this criticism because I want this theme to prosper. LEGO Marvel got me into LEGO as a serious hobby, so I want this theme to thrive. Anyways, I’ll catch you guys in Part 2. Peace!
Images from Brickset
Get the Latest LEGO Sales & Deals
