As the LEGO® Marvel theme evolves so have the sets inspired by the iconic superhero universe. Over 10 years since the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes line was introduced the latest set to join the line-up is the biggest yet. In the early Marvel films, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes convened in a futuristic tower in New York. Before becoming the Avengers’ first HQ, the tower was home to Stark Industries and features heavily in the first Avengers film. Since its MCU debut, the Avengers Tower has popped up in other Marvel adventures. Like many aspects of the Marcel Cinematic Universe, the tower is instantly recognisable, making it a great location to build from LEGO bricks. Ahead of its Black Friday release, here’s an early look around the Avengers Tower and the Hulk will be pleased to know there isn’t a flight of stairs in sight.
Product Details
Set Name: Avengers Tower | Set Number: 76269 | Pieces: 5201 | Theme: LEGO Marvel
RRP: £499.99/$499.99/499.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 39 + extra elements | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: Sheets x 2 | Minifigures: Characters x 31 plus Kevin Feige | Insiders QR: Yes
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from November 24th
As with many of the larger LEGO sets, the instruction booklets feature a brief history of the Avengers Tower appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus a couple of pages dedicated to the set designers. As designers go, this set has been created by true LEGO legends in Mark Stafford and Justin Ramsden. Between them, they designed two of the previous Marvel modular sets – Daily Bugle and Sanctum Sanatorium. Along with the instructions, inside the huge box, you’ll find 39 numbered bags along with a few extra plates and a grey baseplate. This standard-sized base gives the tower the same footprint as the popular modular buildings, but obviously, it’s far taller than many other similar sets. There are also two sticker sheets and a plastic sheet featuring pieces which are added to a couple of the minfigures.
The tower is built in sections, which makes the building experience far more enjoyable. Although it’s built in smaller sections, these do not offer the same deconstructional levels as say a Modular Buildings Collection set would offer. Because of this, the sections you build are stacked together and fully connected on top of each other. This can sometimes make sets unstable as you build, but I didn’t find this happened as I constructed the set. You may not be able to take each section apart but instead, the inside of the tower can be accessed by removing the large slanted window panel which sits on the angled incline of the tower. In fact, there are several unique build techniques on show throughout the build, which are needed to achieve its iconic shape. One of my favourites is found at the top of the tower just above the landing platform for the Quinjet. This uses a pair of flexible rods to create a bendy panel. This then sits between two ledges to create a curve section.
Dotted about the tower is a seemingly random collection of cross-axel connector bricks. These are used as points to connect various characters using clear rods and curved beams. These really make the set become an even more spectacular display piece. Especially as they can be used to recreate several moments from various Marvel films, such as Hulk ripping down the side of the tower or Tony Stark jumping from the penthouse at the top of the tower as his latest suit races to his aid during the Battle of New York.
The interior can also be used to recreate key moments from the film. Across its five floors, there are plenty of areas linked to various films. These include the foyer where Loki uses the Tesseract to escape, the lab where Ultron is created and the area where the Avengers try to prove their worthiness with Mjölnir. Although you can access the interior by removing the large window panel, it’s still a little bit of a tight squeeze. But this is more of a display piece than a playset, so once the characters are in place it doesn’t matter if it can be a little tricky to access some of the rooms.
Quinjets have already been featured in several different LEGO sets, each offering different scales of SHIELD’s preferred aircraft. The one featured in this set is quite small but manages to mostly include the features which make the Quinjet a Quinjet. There’s enough room inside the ship for a single minifigure to be placed, even if it needs to be almost lying down. Plus it can be placed on the landing pad near the top of the tower and if you fold the wing tips in, it can also be back into the hanger area. Although it doesn’t suggest it in the instructions, I’m sure you can use some of the connector points around the tower to mount it dynamically.
Although the set is inspired by various MCU films, it is heavily inspired by the original Avengers film and the Battle of New York. So the inclusion of a Chitauri Dragon or a Leviathan seems fitting. This is the first time the creature has been suitably recreated in LEGO form. It is certainly on a smaller scale than they are portrayed in the films but you tell what it’s meant to be and it’s quite detailed considering its size. It even comes on a clear display plinth, adding to the set’s displayable nature.
There are also a couple of smaller builds which are of note. These include the MK VII Iron Man suit, which is dispatched to engulf Tony Stark after he leaps through the window of Stark Tower during his chat with Loki. There are also a pair of Chitauri chariots, including one for Loki to ride on. Both of these minibuilds can be added to the tower with clear beams.
One of the key draws of many Marvel sets has to be the minifigures they include. If you thought the modular Daily Bugle was impressive, this set certainly takes it up a few notches. It features 31 characters which include a mix of minifigures, a BigFig, a microfig and a brick-built character. As the set isn’t based on a single MCU film, some of these characters are doubled up such as Tony Stark in regular clothes and his SHIELD disguise along with past and present Steve Rodgers. Some of the minifigures have appeared elsewhere but equally many of them are unique, with tweaked designs such as Vision, Thor and Hawkeye. Or making their minifigure debut such as Helen Cho, Alexander Pierce and Erik Selvig.
Hulk is featured in BigFig form and the design of these larger figures has been tweaked compared to previous versions. So the body now features four studs on the back, a removable head and a new larger hair element. It’s not vastly different but these slight updates are welcomed. The inclusion of Wong does seem a little odd, but he does have the habit of randomly appearing in MCU projects so I quite like that, that extension to a LEGO set. It’s a shame that Bruce Banner was included especially as he appears in several key scenes that take place in the Avengers Tower.
Overall
It’s a spectacularly imposing set and is rather daunting at first, especially as you open the huge box to be greeted with 39 bags of elements, additional elements, and three chunky instruction books. But the actual build is rather nice, for some reason I expected it to be a stressful endeavour but it’s far from that. I think is largely down to how the set is structured and in turn how its build is set out. But the finished set is pretty impressive, despite some sections merely slotting in place, they are done so in a way that they feel secure. Despite the sheer size of the tower, its footprint is the same as a modular building, so not only would it look great next to the previous Marvel modular sets, but it can also be combined with any of the LEGO Icons Modular Buildings Collection sets. The vast group of characters featured in the set is almost as impressive as the tower. Once added to the building, they bring it to life and that’s thanks to the various clear rods and bars which can be dotted around the set. There is no getting away from the fact this is an expensive set and one which many will be unable to afford in the current climate. But if you do plan on adding it to your collection, I’d certainly try and get it over the Black Friday weekend, purely as you’ll be getting plenty of extras, including the exclusive NYC Taxi.
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The LEGO Group provided this set for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group, Marvel or Disney. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
16th November 2023
That building looks so beautiful. Impressive. And expensive. Imagine it connected to modular buildings !