With such a vast, connected universe to draw inspiration from, it’s no surprise that several moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have inspired more than one LEGO® set. That’s especially true of the Avengers Tower. The iconic building, which formerly served as the HQ for Stark Industries, has dominated the MCU’s New York skyline. The first LEGO version of the building was released in 2015. The next play-scale version arrived five years later, and now, another six years on, a new version of the Avengers Tower has just been released. Inspired by Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, the latest set has all the hallmarks of the Avengers Tower, but it’s now home to a new team of super folks, and it looks like it’s been redecorated. The set also includes a collection of interesting Minifigures, including some making their debut. Here’s a look at the LEGO Marvel Avengers: Doomsday New Avengers Tower set.
Product Details
Set Name: Avengers: Doomsday New Avengers Tower | Set Number: 76352 | Pieces: 954 | Theme: Marvel
Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Sticker: sheet x 1 | Minifigures: Doctor Doom, Yelena, Red Guardian, Bucky Barnes, Human Torch & Sentry
RRP: £99.99 / 109.99€ / $109.99 / 179.99AUD / 154.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & LEGO retailers
The Build
Previous play scale versions of the Avengers Tower have opted for creating an entire building on a much smaller scale, which could be split open to reveal and access the interior. This time, an open-backed building. This does offer a better-shaped building, but the interior parts are rather small and difficult to access.
Despite the small rooms within the tower, they do feature some neat details. The foyer is home to an advertisement for Avengers breakfast cereal. The next floor up features a small control room, whose stickered panels feature a computer screen and the Avengers logo. Above this appears to be some sort of lounge area, with a screen highlighting a new Quinjet and a couch for Bob to chill out. At the very top of the tower is a laboratory; this includes a series of colourful bottles and an oddly coloured detention cell.
The biggest difference with this take on the Avengers Tower is the two large panels fixed to the sides of the building. These completely change the iconic silhouette of the building. This matches the appearance of the building in Thunderbolts closing moments. They seem like an unnecessary addition, but I guess it’s all part of the New Avengers rebranding. At least it offers something a little different in terms of the build experience. Other familiar details with a fresh coat of paint include the tiny landing pad near the roof and an updated take on the Avengers logo. One nice Easter Egg is a trashcan filled with some familiar-looking weapons. It seems the new residents have discarded Thor’s Mjölnir and Stormbreaker, plus Black Panther’s claw.
Play or Display
As a building, the set has the usual features such as doors and access to the small interior rooms. These offer minimal play features. The top room appears to feature a jail of sorts; however, it’s extremely difficult to access. As a Marvel building, it also includes connection points on either side of the base so you can add some of the other small Marvel buildings. I would say the set leans more towards being yet another display piece. Dotted around the exterior of the building are points upon which clear bars and pegs can be placed. These can be used to display the set’s minifigures in dynamic ways. It’s a feature which has been used in several Marvel sets.
The Minifigures
Doomsday is set to include plenty of iconic Marvel characters from across the MCU and beyond. For this set, there are six of them included, and most are members of the New Avengers, aka the Thunderbolts*.
The Red Guardian has appeared in a few different projects, including Black Widow and Thunderbolts*, but has never appeared in a widely available retail set. He was included in an SDCC exclusive set which was then sold throughout LEGO.com and Amazon in the US. This version reuses the helmet and shield elements created for Captain America but decorated to reflect his red uniform. It’s a shame he only has a single face, but it’s not to finally have this fan favourite character easily available. He’s joined by Yelena Belova, another character who has appeared in many different MCU stories but only one LEGO set. This version may not be an exciting minifigure, but it’s a far better take on the character than the one found in the Black Widow set. Sentry is the powerful entity introduced in Thunderbolts*, but to his friends he’s known as Bob. I like the dual expressions; one shows Sentry powered up, and the other is just goofy.
Doctor Doom appears in all of the Doomsday sets, and he’s the same in each one. It’s a good take on the character, but it would have been nice to have a different take on the character, especially as he’s rumoured to wear two variants of his armoured suit. The set’s most disappointing minifigures is Bucky Barnes. Even when not rampaging as the brainwashed Winter Soldier, Bucky is a plain character, although I do like the attempt to make his mostly black suit a little more detailed. I do not like this choice of head; it does not suit the character at all. Thankfully, this last minifigure more than makes up for it. Another member of the MCU’s Fantastic 4 appears in the form of Johnny Storm. But unlike the version found in last year’s First Steps set, Johnny is powered up in his Human Torch form, and the result is an amazing minifigure. Despite being completely orange, the flame effect detail on the body of the minifigure is great and elevated with the use of a transparent orange flamed hairpiece, flame stacks connected to the feet and hands, plus transparent flame ‘gloves’. It’s
The Verdict
It’s fair to say that any new version of the Avengers Tower will pale in comparison to the massive 2023 set. But as a play-scale set and a slightly cheaper one at that, it does a fairly successful job of offering something new but familiar. As we’ve seen from the trailers, the tower will play a role in the film, but I’m sure there are other moments from Doomsday which could have offered something a little more unique. The same can be said for the Quinjet set. But I guess these familiar elements of the MCU sell well enough for them to keep inspiring sets. The highlight is definitely the minifigures. Sure, they are not all great, but the Human Torch is outstanding. Sentry, Red Guardian and Yelena are also pretty good.
The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group, Disney or Marvel Studios. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of it
