EDIT (13/5/18, 10:30): Turns out this isn't the Milano, but a ship called the Benatar
Set number 3 of six, and we have another version of the Milano, Star-Lord's ship from Guardians of the Galaxy. The second largest set in the line, and the set coming with the item that plays a huge role in the movie, the Infinity Gauntlet itself, Let's see how it fairs in a review setting, shall we?
I'll start with the three minifigs first, Iron Man, Star-Lord, and Gamora. Star-Lord is reused from a set from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, 76080: Ayesha's Revenge, just without his jetpack. The prints work well for Star-Lord, with a nice variety of face prints depending on what you want to use. I do like the fact though that he has custom guns that look like his guns from the movies. These are far nicer than a standard sci-fi gun piece that Lego uses or worse, a stud launcher. Gamora, while reusing the head and hair, does use new body and leg printing to replicate her outfit in Infinity War, and they did a nice job at replicating it. One problem people could have with her hair though is that it does go past her shoulders, meaning it can only go on two ways, there's no way to move it. I have no issue with it, it'll just mean you have to be precise when putting the head on. I do wish they'd give her more futuristic swords rather then the standard Katana, but at the same time I like the Katana mold and like getting those pieces. Pick your poison. With the exception of the repaint of the helmet, something almost every Iron Man figure has used so far, this new Iron Man minifig is all new. Behold, the Mark L Armour (for those who don't know roman numerals, L=50). The print on the base minifig's amazing, really well detailed to the point that one of the two faces under the helmet has a HUD overlay, trying to replicate what you see in the films when the camera goes to an in-helmet look. I really hope they replicate this for when they do a new War Machine minifig. Using the back piece from the Outriders, this version of Iron Man has four extra boosters on his back, which use some of the new effects pieces. The remaining pieces you get with it you can use to replicate the repulsor beams from the hands of the minifig. I'll be honest, I don't particularly care for these pieces, they just feel like pieces thrown in to inflate the cost. It's good that you have options at least, but it's not something I'm interested in. The pieces might be good for fan creations though.
This Lego set was my first introduction to the "big figs". Larger figures used to better replicate larger characters. In this case, Thanos himself. I was both impressed and disappointed with the experience. To go over standard articulation for the big figs, the arms can swivel 180 degrees along with the hands... and that's it. Yes, these things have less articulation then minifigs. Nothing in the head, nothing in the legs. This is really disappointing because it means that there are fewer customization options for the big figs, especially when they have specialized sculpting on them. In the case of Mr. Angry mc purple face here, the shoulder pads that represent his armor limit the arm articulation drastically. There's no way to remove the pads without cutting off plastic due to the feet, legs, torso, head and the shoulder pads all being one piece. What doesn't help with the molding is that it always keeps him in a squatting, tackle pose which doesn't work for Thanos. Why do the big figs not have knees or bending legs in any capacity? Again, I know its a fault point, but these big figs are nowhere near heavy enough that knees would buckle. I've seen Transformers with friction knees that are heavier than these big figs. I stand by the belief that knees hurt someone at Lego so much that they will never make knees again. On the plus side, Thanos has his golden rocket fist.
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| On a side note, lego, you can stop reminding me not to shoot at people's heads every time you have a page with some sort of launcher. I got the message! |
The Infinity Gauntlet. The one weapon that can use the power of all six Infinity Stones. While there are some sacrifices made to it in order to make it work, the piece itself still looks really good. The piece is only compatible with Big figs, it's just too big for minifigs. I have no issue with this as so far the only character we've seen use the gauntlet is Thanos. A common fault I've seen people have with the piece is how the put the Power Stone on the side of the knuckle. Is it accurate? No. But its either you make the stones smaller, or you make the gauntlet bigger, neither being an ideal option all things considered. The way it connects to big figs is with a technic pin, so you too can turn the Infinity Gauntlet into a rocket fist (look, I can't help it, ever since I got the piece in hand, all I can see it as is a rocket fist).
To look at the ship itself, and the Milano looks like its seen better days. The colours are a lot more diluted now compared to previous sets. It gives the idea of the ship being an old ship, that its seen better days. While the orange is the same orange as on other versions of the ship, with there being a lot more grey and sand blue pieces/ sticker details, it looks more diluted, a nice little trick of the eye. I'll admit that I was a little annoyed at first that this version doesn't have the three wing tips that we've seen previously, but from what I've seen so far, that looks to be movie accurate, so I can't complain there. Will admit though that I like the three tips more, just makes it look more interesting. The wing engineering is really interesting as well, though it was really interesting to build the entire set (just that the wings were a standout feature. Unfortunately for the Guardians, the ship's not really equipped to be fighting Thanos, as all it has in terms of weaponry are two mounted stud launchers, which on a set this size make them look like pea shooters. In fact, in terms of gimmicks, this set is pretty tame for something its size. There is one large feature that I won't get to in this post (you'll see why next week). The wing tip pieces can move up and down independent of each other, using a small ratchet joint to hold the position, the cockpit section can open up to give access to a little hoverbike, with weapon storage for Star Lord's guns and Gamora's swords (the bike itself is nicely done for a simple build, but I don't know how long the connection point to the Milano's going to last, as it uses a piece that doesn't normally connect to Lego's small ball joints. Many would argue that it could be an illegal connection). A roof panel can open up to give access to two extra seats, however, due to their placement, its awkward to put minifigs in as they won't be able to properly sit on the seats. The final function of the base model is that it has a cargo section for a stand that you can put the Infinity Gauntlet on when you're not giving it to Thanos. Alternatively, you can put Thanos's spare left hand there if you're into that kind of thing, I won't judge (publicly).
A big problem a lot of people will have is that the set does look unfinished, that there's something that should be on the back of the ship. And you're right, there is something that should be there. Unlike the Thresher attack though, the back part was made into its own set, and I'll be looking at that next week where I'll also finish off the review of the ship itself. Between now and then though, the next movie of MAYvel is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (how fitting), and there might be another game review on the way for another Guardian of the Galaxy. This one though... is smaller, pudgier has more pink and isn't a Marvel character: Kirby Star Allies.
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