Average fans of the webbed wonder may be confused by the various LEGO® sets which furnish Spider-Man with various vehicles and crafts. In most of Spider-Man’s comic book and big-screen adventures, the Brooklyn teen leads an ordinary life when not taking down the bad guys. But Spider-Man is also the star of a series of extremely popular animated adventures on Disney XD and now Disney+. It’s these cartoons which have influenced many of the eclectic LEGO Spider-Man sets, including the upcoming Spider-Man’s Lair. After reviewing all the new 2021 Marvel sets before Christmas, the reviews continue with a closer look at this new set.
Product Description
The stunning LEGO® Marvel Spider-Man Attack on the Spider Lair (76175) is the first LEGO version of the superhero’s awesome HQ – part high-tech headquarters and part super-cool teenager’s room!
Everything a young superhero needs
Even superheroes need to chill-out in their room sometimes. But only Spider-Man could have a room like this! With a computer, PlayStation, basketball hoop with ball shooter, skateboard with ramp, and a drinks area, it’s the ultimate teenage den. But it’s much more than that. It’s also the ultimate superhero headquarters, with Peter Parker´s camera, training equipment, motorbike, Iron Spider Suit, weapons and even its own jail – all of which come in very handy when the evil super villains Green Goblin and Venom force their way inside.
- Set Name: Attack on the Spider Lair
- Set Number: 76175
- Pieces: 466
- RRP: £66.99/$69.99/€69.99
- Measurements: measure over 5 in. (14 cm) high, 16 in. (41 cm) long and 6 in. (17 cm) wide
- Minifigures: Spider-Man, Peter Parker, Iron Spider, Ultimate Spider-Man, Venom & Green Goblin
- Availability: LEGO.com, LEGO Stores & LEGO Retailers from March 1st
The Build
Unlike many of the previous non-movie based Spider-Man sets, this one isn’t focused on a vehicle. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t include one, which takes the form of a fairly standard by comparison, motorbike. This uses the chunkier motorbike frame which is the perfect surface for sticker decals, to tie the two-wheeler to Spidey. Not to be outdone and certainly more relevant to the character is the Green Goblins hoverboard. Norman Osborne’s grinning alter ego has appeared in numerous other LEGO sets and many have featured his unique mode of transportation. This one is the most elaborate and the NEXO shield gives it a menacing profile, although the sticker looks a little more like the Grinch than the Green Goblin.
The actual lair is created from a trio of semi-circular platforms, each connected via a short walkway of plates. The central platform acts as a hub, with Spider-Man’s Spidey computer displayed across a series of stickered transparent screens. Despite them being stickers, these feature some fun details, such as readout on the various Spider-gadgets, a curt message from J. Johan Jameson, a nod to the Fantastic Four-themed Bombastic Bag-Man Spidey suit and a screen showing a familiar-looking video game. Although not obviously based on the excellent PlayStation Spider-Man games, the product description does clearly namedrop the PlayStation brand. The central section also leads to a connected platform upon which Peter can park his motorbike.
As clearly shown by the PlayStation screen, it is not all work and no play for our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, so much of the Lair is devoted to fun. So much so the Lair naming seems a little off-brand. Anyhoo, Peter can dunk some hoops with his own in-door basketball ‘court’ complete with a working ball catapult. Over on the opposite side is a small pipe for brushing up on the skateboarding skills. It’s a shame there is only a generic orange skateboard included, even if it was simply jazzed up with a sticker, it would have been a little more unique.
The rest of the Lair features an Iron Man Armoury-style bay of Spider-Man suits. This is similar to the scene in Into The Spider-verse, where the late Peter Parker stored his multiple Spidey suits. Across the opposite side is a lone jail cell, which is perfectly placed, should one or even two villains locate your hidden base and you need somewhere to place them, once they have been taken down. There’s even a very tiny gym, with a dumbbell weight.
It’s certainly a fun-looking set, I like how the familiar Spider-Man colour scheme has been used in much of the set, especially the larger curved sections used for the main platforms. Much of the detail is actually achieved via the numerous stickers or the addition of the alternate suits.
It’s not a set which will appeal to older builders but kids will love it. If I cast my mind back to my childhood, I would have definitely wanted a playset like this. You don’t really associate lairs, hide-outs or secret bases with the Spider-Man character but as mentioned above its not unheard of as Into The Spider-verse features one. In all honesty, I would have loved to have seen more aspects of that sort of lair acts as inspiration for the set. It may appear as a mere blend of the Batcave and Stark’s Armoury, but at least it offers something unusual for the Spider-Man theme. The actual set may not appeal to older folk, but the Minifigures sure will.
The Minifigures
The set features 6 Minifigures characters, most of which are focused around our Friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Of course the garden variety Spidey is included, which uses the new 2021 design. This includes printed arms, I like the attempt to include more detail but the print suffers a little from the base surface causing a little colour alteration between the arms and torso. The next suit has been portrayed in a number of different ways. Before Peter gets to grips with his iconic Spidey suit, he’d often wear a crudely designed outfit. The version of that in this set is hard to place. It looks to be very much inspired by the ‘PJ’ look Peter wore in Spider-Man Homecoming, yet is very similar to the Scarlet Spider suit. I like the use of a beanie hat element to represent a ‘rolled-up’ mask.
MCU fans will be familiar with an alternate form of the Iron Spider Armour. Notes for its armoured skin and robotic arms. But the version featured here is based on the original comic book appearance. The body of the suit is predominantly red and gold, with the tentacle-like attached via a neck-mounted element. Both the Iron Spider and homemade Suits have appeared in slightly different forms in other sets but this next suit is a first. For some reason it’s dubbed Ultimate Spider-Man on the box, now I’m no Spider-Man expert but Googling that name brings up nothing connected to this particular looking suit. It’s actually a variant of the Stealth Suit, with the green detailing often associated with special tech created to deflate Hobgoblin’s sonic attacks. It’s the first time this style suit has appeared in Minifigure form and it’s always nice to have a variant of classic character.
With all these different suits, Spider-Man has plenty of options to take on the two bad guys who have infiltrated his lair. These include classic foe, the Green Goblin. Most commonly associated with Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin has appeared in many other sets. He even pre-dates the Marvel Super Heroes theme, after appearing in a Spider-Man LEGO Studios set. This version isn’t much different to most others. Although he’s not wearing shorts, like in most other versions and his yellow eyes are less prominent. Finally, Venom has shown his face in another set. There is very little to say about the character as his muted appearance is very basic and similar across his various LEGO outings. This version is the same as the one included in the Ghost Rider set from earlier in the year. I can understand the character’s appeal especially with a new movie on the way at some point, but it would have been nice if we got a unique or rarely used villain instead. Hobgoblin would have been a nice touch, considering the inclusion of the ‘Big Time’ Stealth Suit Spider-Man.
One nice thing about the homemade suit is it can be combined with the Spider-Man suit and the unmasked Peter Parker head to great variants of the character. The pulled-up ‘beanie hat’ can be used on the Spider-Man suit or you can place the head and hair on either the Spidey suit or the homemade costume.
Overall
I like that we have a Spider-Man set that offers something a little different to other sets. I can understand the appeal of all these random vehicles, but there don’t seem to fit the character of Spider-Man. Why would the webbed wonder, who can do whatever a spider can need a bike, car, plane, helicopter or monster truck when he can swing around on webs? The answer is fun, Spider-Man sets would be pretty boring with just a Spider-Man Minifigure and some web elements. For the average Spider-Man fan, a lair and vehicles, do seem a little disconnected to Spider-Man, but as I’ve mentioned before, the various animated series seems to be a big influence of the LEGO Spider-Man sets. Overall, this set looks fun, which is a cool reflection of the character. The Minifigure line-up could have been better. The Iron Spider has been overdone and could have been swapped out for something a little more unique, same goes for Venom. I like the Ultimate Spider Suit, despite the confusing naming. Apart from that, it’s an interesting build and mostly offers something a little new for the theme.
Coming March 1st: UKIrelandUSCanadaGermanyDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
