Lego Creator "Expert" 10261; Roller Coaster: Would love to see official inverted pieces.

During 2018 and 2019-2020, while I was recovering from a broken foot and broken ankle, respectively, a specific type of video on YouTube caught my interest, Theme Park History videos. Videos detailing the history of (mainly) American and European theme parks, their significant rides, and the trials and tribulations of maintaining said rides. As weird of an interest as it sounds, it was fascinating for me, mainly because I've always been interested in learning how things work. But it did give me an interest in becoming a theme park ride operator? Not really, there isn't a lot of prime real estate for theme parks where I live, and the two that I have gone to would be seen as subpar to someone who's used to places like the Disney parks, Universal Studios and Alton Towers. However, one side effect of that was that it renewed interest for me in the Lego Creator Fairgrounds sets, an unnamed sub-theme of Creator Expert. Thanks to COVID, I explored that interest a little with three of the five sets released so far. The Haunted House, the Ferris Wheel, and today's subject matter, the Roller Coaster. 

 

Regarding the title of this review, "Expert" is a bit of a stretch with this set. There aren't any complicated structures in the build. However, some interesting pieces in sections, particularly with the stand roofs and the internal mechanism to get the coaster going, are intricate. Still, the overall structure of the coaster is very basic. As with the Daily Bugle a few weeks ago, the bulk of the set is repetitive, building columns and cross beams in a way that would be necessary on a real roller coaster, but comes off as excessive on something this small. Unlike the Bugle, though, it doesn't feel as repetitive as it actually is, thanks partly to the differences in the structure of the column pieces. The same, however, cannot be said for one of the last parts of the build, the chain for the lift hill. You're connecting 203 of those chain pieces to pull off the mechanism, which feels as tedious to do as it sounds. However, it is a necessary evil as there was no other way to pull the launch mechanism off. I don't expect Lego to make an electromagnetic launcher any time soon. That would lead to a lot of pain and misery for everyone (in some cases quite literally). 

 

The big selling point of this setback in 2018 was the new track pieces and the new cars to go with them. I love these pieces in concept as it allows for a more streamlined process in creating roller coasters among other motion-based Lego sets. The big problem I have with them, though, is that they feel limited when you consider the possibilities of coaster design. You have six main elements to play with here, a straight track (with a mix of snort and long rail pieces), a flat turn, a gentle incline and two variations of a sharp incline, one straight and one with a curve to level off at the top or bottom. It's a solid variety, but I don't see them being useful if you want to create coasters with more exciting layouts. Inversions with these would be tricky at best (I think designing a loop would require bending the plastic), and getting the cars onto more extreme angles would be impossible. With the way the cars themselves are designed, I also don't think an inverted coaster would be possible. It's a shame, as a Lego Roller Coaster has infinite potential to it, both for creating rides and indulging in real-life Roller Coaster Tycoon and making roller coaster themed death traps for riders. While the lack of elements isn't inherently this set's fault, it was the one to introduce the concept after all; it's a little disappointing that the catalogue hasn't been expanded to include pieces to pull off these kinds of ride elements. Maybe someday we'll be able to make coasters with inversions out of Lego without needing to break the rules.

 

As mentioned before, the Expert branding doesn't make a lot of sense here because for as big of a set as it is, in terms of part count and general footprint. The bark of the coaster is worse than its bite, but the result is impressive to see. Automating it works mostly well; it depends on any minor defects in the pieces due to the reliance on friction. It looks great alongside the other Creator Fairgrounds sets, though with the current selection of track, you're not going to be making a wide array of track designs any time soon. But, like with real theme parks, the best way to hide repetition is with varied theming. That is a task far easier to accomplish with the wide variety of parts at a builder's disposal.

Transformers Generations Selects Transmutate (along with Kingdom Deluxe Class Paleotrex and Netflix Skelivore): "Man, I am tellin' ya, the things coming out of these [repaints] is just getting weirder and weirder."

War for Cybertron; Siege: Vehicles tied to the Titans (and a set of z list repaints) that can be broken down into weapons for other figures in the toyline. Excellent idea, executed mostly well. War for Cybertron; Earthrise: Micromaster buildings that can be broken down and become armour for other figures in the toyline. Cool idea, not as good of execution as Siege, mainly due to the reuse of the same two moulds. War for Cybertron; Kingdom: Dinosaur fossils that become bone weapons for other figures. Well, you have my curiosity, at least, especially when you do repaints for characters like Transmutate. 

While Paleotrex and Skelivore are brand new characters made for the toyline, Transmutate is an... interesting specimen. She was a one-off character in the Beast Wars cartoon. Her stasis pod was damaged in the show's opening, and when she made her debut in and was killed off in the episode, she is the namesake of, she was portrayed as a confused child in the show due to being viewed as incomplete, unfinished due to the pod's damage. Transmutate was terrifying in the show, not just because of her high pitch scream as a defensive measure, but the way she looked and moved in the show combined with the cheap CGI budget the show was known for made her genuinely disturbing to look at. So while the episode itself is excellent, be aware that it comes with some nightmare fuel.

Come on Hasbro, give us a Rampage. You know you want too

 
Transmutate didn't have a transformation back in Beast Wars, but as a part of her being a repaint of Paleotrex, she gets to share his. Paleotrex, Skelivore (a pack-in figure with Megatron in the third Netflix Leader Class Spoiler Box that I will not be reviewing), and Transmutate all transform into Tyrannosaurus fossils. That information, though, comes from TFWiki, and something about that feels wrong to me. While I don't know what these are, I'm almost certain they aren't T-Rex fossils. It's unsettling to see these in a Beast Wars toyline, where all the other Maximals and Predacons are living versions of the animals they transform into. It would be terrifying to see dinosaur fossils running around, let alone turning into giant robots. However, with the sculpting being mostly accurate to actual dinosaur fossils, along with the engineering of the Weaponizers of Siege and Modulators of Earthrise carrying over, these are extremely clean transformations, probably the cleanest out of all the Beast Wars characters. Unfortunately, though, due to the nature of their beast modes, they're not very stable in beast mode. The big heads make them very top-heavy, and while they will stand, I don't know how long the joints will last due to the transformation requiring joints like the hips to be friction plugs and ports. I also wish there was more articulation in the beast modes, things like a neck swivel to let the head turn from left to right, along with some ankle tilts to help get the most out of all the joints in the legs. 

Like the Weaponizers and Modulators, you rip them apart and put them back together into something resembling robot modes to transform these three. Unlike Siege and Earthrise's attempts, though, there's no one way to get to robot mode. The components are more ambiguous, and with some of the later Fossilizers, pieces such as hands aren't defined, relying on any 5mm port or any plug that can take a 5mm port to act as the hands. These give the toys many more playability options, making them the most versatile figures in the toy line, even before getting to the bone weapons gimmick. Below is a picture of three combinations of the toys, each only using the parts you get from one copy of the toy. 

While the playability is excellent, it's hard not to notice how different they look compared to other Beast Wars characters. Due to the bone aesthetic, they feel like zombie robots, which can either be a good or bad thing depending on your personal preference. Regarding the accuracy of Transmutate, due to this being a repaint, it looks nothing like the character does no matter what you do. However, I think this gets the spirit of the character's design, which isn't a guarantee with repaints. I love how they retooled the head, replacing the bone mask Paleotrex and Skelivore have (which in itself is a reference to Optimus Primal's mace, an accessory the original toy had) with the ability to do the scream she's known for in the Beast Wars cartoon. It's a nice touch. I'm not going to go into the bone weapon gimmick as, like the Weaponizers, many combinations can be done with them. The bone weapons do look convincing when they're trying to be melee weapons (like a giant bone axe or bone sword), but less effective when they're trying to be ranged weapons. I think Skelivore pulls off the ranged weapons the best, as the design and colours given to him are meant to represent something like Dark Energon constructs for Megatron. My biggest issue, though, with Skelivore is that the use of transparent plastic makes him far more brittle when compared to Paleotrex and Transmutate. My copy has fragile connections for the Dinosaur feet and shins (which can be but doesn't have to be a wrist swivel in robot mode). 

These three are a lot of fun. It's hard not to be entertained by them, thanks to the parts forming gimmick. Because this mould was built from the ground up for an original character, nothing limits their design. They don't need to look like the titan companions of Siege's weaponized, and they don't need to look like the Micromaster bases of Earthrise so that most pieces can be designed for the gimmick first and the robot/ beast mode second. Though some parts like the crotch are still a bit tedious to find a use for when combining onto other characters, especially when the weapon ports are more limited on Beast Wars characters, there's still enough playability in them to not rely on the ability to become accessories for other characters. Paleotrex and Skelivore are also generic enough to work as great army builders for the Predacons so that you could have a whole army of dinosaur skeletons. Definitely worth the purchase if you can find them. Next week though, it's time to go from some small dinosaurs to big ones and review one toy that's been a long time coming. "Yessss."

Transformers War for Cybertron; Kingdom Leader Class Ultra Magnus: When expectations are still dissapointing.

When rumours began to circulate of a Kingdom Ultra Magnus, my expectations were low. Unlike what felt like most of the community at the time, I was expecting a retool of 2019's War for Cybertron: Siege version. But just because I wasn't expecting a brand new toy doesn't mean that I wasn't disappointed in what I saw. The press shots didn't look good, and the reviews were mediocre at best. I was expecting to skip this one and potentially pick up a repaint as Delta Magnus if Hasbro ever made one for Generations Selects. I was content with my Siege version, especially with the upgrade kit made by DNA Design which fixes his proportion issues. So... why did I get this one? Aside from it looking good alongside other 1986 movie characters, I was able to pick one up in a recent toy sale. A Leader Class toy for under $50 is a hard price to ignore when they usually go from anywhere between $80 and $100 here. So, once more Magnus, this time with feeling!

It should say at the very start of this review that I won't be rehashing flaws with the original release back in Siege. I've already reviewed the Siege version of this mould, and design issues like the short thighs, the robot mode junk inside the car carry bay, the inner robot's backpack were a problem then, and they're a problem now. I'll only bring up design flaws in detail that become more of an issue after all the retooling made to give it an earth car carrier look. Unfortunately, that's where we first start because one of those issues need to be brought up almost immediately. The arms sticking out the back of the truck cab looked terrible on the Siege version, but with how recessed into the trailer, you didn't notice them unless the truck cab was on its own. Because earth trucks require some distance for a potential turning circle (no, there isn't one here, it connects to the trailer the same way the Siege version does), the arms are now a more significant issue. They're almost completely exposed now, shattering the illusion of this being a "robot in disguise" completely. There's also no option to bring the cabin closer to the trailer, thanks to the retooling. Not only can you not get the trailer closer, but now there's a gap in the trailer's lower car bed (I don't know car carriers), creating even more issues with this vehicle's ability to be a functional car carrier. Is it all bad, though? Not exactly. The new truck cab (when ignoring the robot junk behind it) does look good, going for the traditional Ultra Magnus truck cab look of being a white Optimus. They've done some retooling to the front wheel section to cover it up some more, making the area look a bit more cohesive without sacrificing movement for the legs when it goes into the fully armoured mode. It would have been nice if more details on the truck cab were painted, such as painting the lights to help break up the solid white, but it still looks like a truck cab—shame though that the front of the truck is the only thing that looks convincing in this mode.

The core robot for Magnus is pretty much business as usual for the mould, with no changes done to the engineering. Paint applications are slightly different, the head crest for Kingdom Magnus is silver instead of cyan, and the metallic blue paint for the crotch plate is somewhat darker. The new truck cab makes him look both thinner and also fatter at the same time when compared to the Siege one. It's a lot flatter when compared to the Siege version, but the design of Siege's truck cab gave him a leaner, more robust looking torso, whereas Kingdom's looks like a box with arms and legs. You do lose some articulation thanks to the gap filler for the truck mode, as he can't move his thighs back any further than five degrees, compared to Siege being able to do a full split. Once in the fully armoured mode, it's a bit of a mixed bag for me now that I've got it in person. Pros: It's more G1 accurate (for those that demand that at all costs). I also like the brighter white used, and it makes the toy look a lot more vibrant and lively than it did before. The joints feel tighter (though that could be just my copy of the Siege version) and the connection points for the shoulder pads and leg plates feels better, stronger. The head sculpts better, and I love the more prominent eyes, along with the inclusion of light piping. 

Do they make this version objectively better, though? Not really, as when putting them side by side, it feels like the Kingdom version is missing something. There's more paint overall on the Siege version, partly thanks to the battle damage gimmick, but there was also more plastic included in the box as well, as the Siege version has two extra guns that are entirely missing from the Kingdom version. Were they great guns? No, but in terms of general volume, along with the playability they bring, it's hard to ignore their exclusion for no real replacement. One frustrating omission is the lack of Autobot logos, as both Car Carrier mode and Robot mode have places moulded in for them, but they're nowhere to be found, something that feels like a more significant issue than it probably is. I know there are high-quality stickers that can fix that, but I'm not reviewing Reprolabel sets, and Lego stickers already frustrate me when I don't apply them properly; I'm not going through that for my Transformers. Something that I'm surprised wasn't included, especially as it would have been a perfect addition to the toy to tie into the 35th anniversary of the 1986 movie; he doesn't have a Matrix Chamber. There's room for it inside the core robot, especially as they've been able to design tiny Matrix Chambers for both Earthrise Optimus Prime and Kingdom Rodimus Prime. It's a feature that I could have seen as a big selling point for the toy, something to help it stand out more when compared to the Siege version.

Kingdom Ultra Magnus isn't objectively better than Siege Ultra Magnus, but it's also not objectively worse either. The only selling point it has for long time collectors is that it's more Generation 1 accurate, but even that doesn't feel like something it does an excellent job at doing. I think it's a fine Ultra Magnus to get if you don't have the Siege version and want a version of the City Commander, but there's not much of a point in upgrading unless you hate the Siege aesthetic (in which case I question why you even bought Siege Magnus in the first place). The most disappointing thing about Kingdom Magnus, though, is that he feels 90% complete, like they could have done just a little bit more to make him genuinely warrant the "OMG THIS IS TOTALLY BETTER THEN THAT LAST ONE" reaction he's been getting from people. He's nothing more than a repaint, and though he was always going to be a repaint, there could have been more done to make him a fantastic and affordable G1 Ultra Magnus.

G.I. Joe Classified 01; Roadblock: Why was he first?

At least when it comes to the box numbering. To compare the toyline to Transformers, I can understand the leader not being first in the numbering. Throughout War for Cybertron and Studio Series, the numbering has been in the order of size class, smallest class to biggest in wave order. Even then, Core Class Optimus Prime in WFC: Kingdom is WFC-K1. Here though, they're all the same size in terms of packaging; they're all sold at the same price, so why wasn't Duke or Snake Eyes first? Maybe this could be my lack of in-depth knowledge showing that, in reality, Roadblock is the most beloved character in G.I. Joe. It would certainly explain why he's had three toys so far, two of which I will not be covering in this review as one isn't out yet, and the other is a (for me at least to get it brought in) overpriced exclusive repaint. So we're sticking to the original release; here is Classified Roadblock.

Drawing inspiration from (I believe) his 1986 version, just with some more sci-fi touch-ups, the overall sculpting on Roadblock is solid. However, I don't think it's as solid of a representation as something like Duke or Cobra Commander were. "Close, but not quite there" is probably the best way to describe the figure if you're looking for a faithful version of Roadblock, as some of the modernization changes are detrimental to the feel of the character. The biggest one of those? The weapon. I'm of two minds for this. While I agree that something that many prefers to be more current day military-themed like the Joes shouldn't have something like this, I'd be lying if I said the idea of someone lugging around a giant two-handed Railgun wasn't awesome. This is a cool looking weapon, with many excellent paint applications and even sporting accessories like a removable magazine (which I think is undersized for something this big, but it's not a deal-breaker). Does it work as a weapon for Roadblock, though? Not really. It keeps to the theme of his original gun, a two-handed heavy machine gun. Still, I wouldn't say this is a good substitution, as a Rail gun is a sci-fi version of a rocket launcher. Due to the size of this accessory, though, his only other accessory, a knife, looks ridiculously small in his hands. 

Sculpting wise for the figure, he's a solid action figure, but aside from the uniform, there's not much here that says it's Roadblock. At least, not the 80's Roadblock. There's a mix of styles here with things like the facial hair being inspired by the Roadblock from G.I. Joe Renegades, and the tattoo potentially being a nod to Dwayne Johnson, the actor who played Roadblock in G.I. Joe Retaliation, but his tattoos look nothing like the lion head that's on this toy. I'm not a fan of how the designers handled the vest. It's a piece put on over the chest, which does make the vest itself look good. Still, because it's a solid rubber piece, it makes the ab crunch that most figures have useless, something that I've noticed on many other Classified figures that have a similar vest as a part of their design. It's something that I wish was a paint application on the torso rather than a separate piece. The vest, though, is the only real issue I have with the figure as a whole because on its own, it's a nice figure and fits in well with the Classified team. Is it a good Roadblock figure, though? That's more debatable.

 
The more I look at this guy, the more I'm reminded of how Hasbro handles the more "mass market appeal" sides of Transformers, the toylines tied into shows like the Unicron Trilogy, Animated, Prime, and Cyberverse (among others). Character designs for these versions are somewhat amalgamations of different representations of said characters in visual design, personality, and other character design aspects. If you're looking for a faithful recreation of a Roadblock toy from the '80s, this isn't it. Even with the different two versions available, you're going to be looking for a while. This toy does a solid job capturing the character's spirit over the years, combining different versions to make something new. Still, because of all those inspirations, I can't help but ask for something more. I think versions of characters based on the other cartoons and the movies done in this style could be interesting to see if this line does take off to a point where stock can reliably get to stores and not disappear in under a minute. Again, not bad, but I doubt he fits the description to what many collectors of the line are looking for.

Lego Art 31203: World Map: Should we be worried the Arctic Circle isn't here?

Debuting last year, Lego began to release sets under the Lego Art branding, designed like a well-known form of fan-made creation, Mosaics. The fundamentals were pretty straightforward; each set comes with nine 16x16 plates that builders and artists put a collection of 1x1 dots on to form an image. Each set has instructions and pieces for a few different pictures that can be made alongside the box version. I was, and still am cynical of, the ones that encourage multiple purchases to get either a combination build or to complete a whole image (such as The Beatles), primarily due to the price not encouraging multiple purchases. These are $180 each, after all. So it was a surprise to see something as big as a World Map launch in this line almost a year after the theme launched, dwarfing the rest of the theme and having the most pieces of any Lego set so far. Over 11,000 pieces to pull off a customizable map of the world. It became a group project at my house due to its sheer size. While it has one of the best price to part ratio of any set to date, potentially forever, sometimes bigger isn't better. What you see is what you get, after all.

 

What you get is a simple build but a mentally taxing one for those who don't find comfort in these projects. For someone working on this build alone, they would be placing down 10240 1x1 dots. Each of the continents is studded, so you can place markers (of your choice though 40 1x1 cone pieces, along with many spare tiles are provided to help make some) on the rough locations you've travelled to. The ocean is a rough bathymetric representation of the world's oceans by default. However, the designers encourage you to fill in the negative space of the map with whatever you desire. Due to this, along with the ease of rearranging pieces of the world to change what countries are in the centre, the map is one of the most versatile Lego Art sets. Customization is baked in and encouraged compared to other sets (though nothing stops you from giving Darth Maul an evil villain moustache). From a distance, the map is beautiful when finished; the trouble with it comes pre-built into the issue many people have with making mosaics. I consider myself to be a pretty fast but patient builder. When I build, I like to focus on the build, give it my full attention, and because of that, the build process for this one was mentally draining due to the constant reliance on the instructions to make sure I put each of the ten colours of dots in the right place for my map pieces. You can't autopilot your way through the set. While it's possible to form some of the more significant landmasses, the oceans require your attention all the time, making the process of putting said 10240 dots feel a lot more draining. 

 

Part of that comes from the instructions for the build, where each piece of the map is two pages. One page showing where it is on the map and where you put the Technic pins in to connect it, and then the other showing a 1:1 picture of the map piece, with numbers relating to the colours to show where each piece goes. If the instructions were laid out with things like a part list (like other Lego set instructions) and divided the map between more pages, such as how the Lego NES handled the instructions for the TV screen, I think it would help with the process. However, while it might work for the 3x3 pieces, when you're working with a set that has almost five times the number of plates to fill, it's not going to work as well scaled up. 

A representation of all the places in the world that I've been too... I don't do a lot of traveling...

 

While this looks good as a novelty, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend it over a regular map. The scaling of the map means that some locations are outright missing, mainly smaller islands (I wasn't the best at Geography, but last I checked, Hawaii had four islands). But I dread to think of what a version of this map would be if it did have those islands and how much bigger it would be due to that. As a novelty item, it works very well, and the customization baked into the brand leads to this being a very versatile map. Still, if you want something for navigation, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Transformers Studio Series 86-05; Scourge: Bewear the evil space boat!

 Decepticon reviews might become a little dry soon. I'm currently working on a project that will review a lot of them in a marathon of content. I've got one more planned before that point, maybe two depending on how long it takes to obtain it, all keeping to the theme of the Heralds of Unicron (Unicron review not included because I don't own one). So let's start things off with a review of the first herald to arrive on shelves recently: Scourge, the tracker.

 

Starting in the alternate mode and... I wasn't kidding about this being a space boat. Many of the designs made for the 1986 movie leaned very hard into the futuristic aesthetic, tossing away grounded earth vehicles for stuff that looked sci-fi enough to still be cool, but lent themselves to stupid community names. No one knows what Rodimus Prime's alternate mode is supposed to be, and everyone calls it a Space Winnebago as a result. Does Scourge's alternate mode resemble anything? No. Does it look like it could genuinely fly? No. On its own, it's nothing spectacular, but when considering ship designs like the Ark and other Autobot shuttles, it's got a decent "Transformers ish" design to the alt mode. This design isn't something that fits into the "robots in disguise" mentality, and it's very much a "fast travel" mode for Scourge. For the actual toy, though, the design is alright, though there is some undercarriage due to a bit of robot mode junk. However, I don't find it distracting, compared to something like the Combiner Wars Silverbolt mould, due to it being so far removed from anything that resembles a traditional airship. It's only an issue at the very front of the boat, thanks to a gap for the sake of robot mode. Everything else blends in well enough to at least look cohesive from a distance. While it is amusing that you can recreate the "head poking out of the alt mode" scene from the cartoon, this is without a doubt Scourge's worst mode. 

 

Another significant fault of Scourge is the transformation. He is a shell former: a transformer whose alternate mode is a shell around the robot mode, with very few (if any) parts being used between modes. Almost all of Scourge's alternate mode ends up on his back, but in this particular case, that's not a bad thing. Unlike other transformers (such as the aforementioned Combiner Wars Silverbolt mould), the alternate mode parts that would otherwise be junk hanging off his back gives Scourge a strong presence on a shelf. It makes him look a lot more intimidating, and with the parts moulded in a way to make it look as close as possible to the design in the movie, it makes him look a lot more alive in the process. The shell former nature works to the figure's advantage in this case. If you remember, I put Scourge as one of the best figures I bought last year, and that's purely because of the robot mode, the presence he has thanks to the sculpting, how effortless he is to pose in intimidating positions. If it weren't for the rumours of there being a dedicated Sweep release of this mould, I would have bought even more of him to have a complete set of Sweeps in this mould (but the thought of buying at least two more of Scourge is still there). While there are some joints I wish he had, like double joints for the elbows and knees, the minor flaws I have with the robot mode can't bring down how good of a robot mode it is to me. I also love the fact that he comes with a blast effect for his rifle. I hope that trend continues in 2022 because the effect parts are great ways to add more playability and display presence to figures. It's also something I hope carries on into other Hasbro toylines, but that's a story for another day and a story that will require some... external support.

 

The alternate mode isn't great as a toy (though it looks great as a representation of Scourge's alternate mode). The transformation is laughable for a $50 toy. But the robot mode steals the show. I love the sculpting on the robot mode, and I love the proportions of the robot. I love that they painted his pink nails and beard (neither of which I was expecting). He's just a great representation of the character for the price. Perfect? No. Unlike figures like Hot Rod, he's not up to the same quality standard in terms of an overall package. If you're looking for a "mini-masterpiece" version of Scourge, this is not it. He doesn't do everything right, but the one thing he does right, he does so almost flawlessly. I've got another Lego set coming up this Wednesday, and next Sunday will be another 6-inch G.I Joe figure in the form of Roadblock.

Lego Spider-Man 76178; Daily Bugle: A giant skyscraper for your quaint city

With the after-effects of earlier lockdowns still affecting me, work still not entirely returning to normal yet, I was itching for something big to build. At first, I was torn between the Mos Eisley Cantina and the Ninjago City Gardens. The former because I'm a big Star Wars fan, and out of the sets at that size in the Star Wars IP, it's the one that's got the closest chance of having somewhere to go in my room in its current state. The latter because it looks like an exciting build, with a lot of interesting uses of parts. The only thing holding back the Gardens from winning was that it doesn't look good on its own. Its main companion pieces haven't been on shelves in years and have skyrocketed in price as a result. Then, this set gets announced. Though it doesn't quite scratch the complexity as the Gardens would, it's of an IP I'm more interested in, it looks good on its own, and there's a possibility of there being more in the future. So, plans change, and so this set came home. After building it over the weekend, was it worth it?

 

 

Starting with the minifigure selection, and the best way to describe it is "is there a Spider-Man minifigure you've wanted? Chances are it's here.". Out of all the characters that have been in the Spider-Man subtheme of Marvel Superheroes, the minifigures missing are: 

 

• Miles's regular costume (let me explain in just a moment) 
• Vulture
• Spider-Man Noir
• Spider-Girl
• Iron Spider
• Iron Venom
• Ghost Rider 
• Stealth Suit Spider-Man 

Most of them, if not all of them, are still easy to get. The characters included in the set are: 

 

• Spider-Man
• Ghost-Spider
• Mysterio
• Venom
• Miles Morales (using a look drawing inspiration from Into the Spider-verse, along with the recent PS4/PS5 Spider-man game (if only he had his backpack and cat to finish the look)
• Sandman
• Carnage
• Doctor Octopus
• Green Goblin
• Spider-Ham
• Gwen Stacy
• Peter Parker
• Robbie Robertson
• Aunt May
• Ben Urich
• Black Cat
• Blade
• Firestar
• Betty Brant
• The Punisher
• Daredevil
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Amber Grant
• Bernie the Cab Driver
• Ron Barney

That is impressive, with many of those minifigs appearing for the first time in physical Lego. However, some corners were cut to pull it off. The civilians/ alter-egos often reuse parts from other minifigs, and some characters like Green Goblin and Mysterio missing pieces to complete their looks; it's hard not to be impressed by the result of it all. Especially when put on display in and around the building, it's hard to notice the cut corners, and cases like the reused parts are only noticeable if you're very familiar with Minifig pieces. I can only imagine what the minifig list could have been if all of the requests were approved, as according to the set designer, 60 characters were at least being considered at one point.

As for the building itself, there are two big negatives it has in my mind. I am not a fan of stickers, so all the excessive sticker detail, especially on small tiles, is frustrating. If you're not a fan of sticker details, you are going to hate this set. The other issue is that it's a very repetitive set to build, thanks to builds like the windows, a process you're repeating 30 times throughout the build. If you're looking for something intricate, you're not going to be finding it here. While some exciting mini builds, like a vending machine, photocopier, and the Sandman stand, the main build isn't that exciting. Once it's done, though, it's awe-inspiring and worth the slog of a build process to get to. It's one of the tallest builds I've done so far, perfectly fitting for a New York Skyscraper, and the intricate details that reference as many Marvel and Spider-Man comics, shows, movies, and games are a delight for fans of the character. There's lots of space for displaying Minifigs, and with the even balance of heroes, villains and civilians, you can set up very dynamic moments. I could see this set also benefiting from a light kit, thanks to all the windows in the building. That being said, I dread to think of the wiring pain associated with such a task. Though I have one minor nitpick, I wish there were a recording floor considering all the news broadcasts and podcast references in the set. The only major issue I have with the set is accessibility on the ground floor for hands. For the sake of stability of the set, it's tough to get your hands and minifigs inside the lobby of the building, which is a shame when you consider how easily accessible the rest of the floors are, thanks to removable roofs and walls. A necessary evil, but it feels like a glaring issue when compared to the higher floors. 

 

 

While this is an easy recommendation for Marvel fans, I'm torn on if it's a good recommendation for general Lego fans or general consumers. While the end result is excellent, the process of getting to that point I can easily see as an issue for people, as it was an issue for me over the 10-12 hour build time over two days (not counting breaks for food, keeping video rendering going and other house responsibilities). If you're willing to push through the repetitiveness, you'll be left with a great looking display piece. However, the issue comes from if you're ready to place 347 windows, 67 beams, and 231 1x2 rails. If you can push through the repetition, and especially if you enjoy Marvel, I readily recommend this set. But if you're not into Marvel, you're probably better off getting something else. I've got a few other Lego set reviews to come in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for those. But while those will be on Wednesdays, the usual schedule will resume for Sunday, resuming with a set of Horrorcons.