Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing, Iron Man was a lesser-known Marvel hero. Thanks to Tony Stark’s big screen trilogy and also playing a key role in other MCU films, Iron Man has become the face of Marvel. The character’s newfound popularity has seen Iron Man appear in quite a few LEGO® sets since 2012 and thanks to Tony’s tinkering, there are many different Iron Man suits to choose from. One of the best ways to showcase them has been the various Hall of Armor sets. The first was released in 2019 and was followed by an expansion in 2020. The concept was revisited in 2022, and now, three years on, there’s another attempt at showcasing Stark’s workshop and suit display in the upcoming Iron Man’s Laboratory: Hall of Armor set.
Product Details
Set Name: Iron Man’s Laboratory: Hall of Armor | Set Number: 76315 | Pieces: 384 | Theme: Marvel
Number of Bags: Bags x 3 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: sheet x 1 | Characters: Iron Patriot, MK43, MK6, Pepper Potts & Aldrich Killian minifigures + Dum-E & Igor Iron Man MK3
RRP: £49.99/$54.99/54.99€/89.99AUD/69.99CAD/499,95DDK
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & LEGO retailers
Tony Stark may be a playboy billionaire, but much of his work is achieved in his modest but technologically advanced workshop. Not only does Tony tinker on new suits there, but he also uses the space to store and display his collection of Iron Man suits. Different versions of the space have appeared in the Iron Man films, which is why it keeps being revised in LEGO form. This particular set has ties to the third Iron Man film.
As the fourth set to be inspired by Tony Stark’s workspace, it shares similar features with previous sets. The first are the suit bays, which are the individual containers used to store the various suits. The design may differ, but they all share a transparent blue panel and sticker detail to denote the positioning of Tony’s collection. A little tip when applying the stickers, make sure you place them closer to the edge where the connector bar is. If not, the suit name becomes hidden by the top of the suit bay’s outer cabinet. There are three bays, two of which match the suits included in the set, the MK6 and MK43. The other is MK46, which recently appeared in the Airport Battle set. The bay clips together, and multiple sets can be combined.
The Maintenance Platform is another element featured in previous sets. This is where Tony can be fitted for his suits with the help of two robotic arms. This version doesn’t offer much more than past ones, but I like that it’s a little more compact compared to its predecessors.
A new section for a Hall of Armor set is the Nano Scanner. This small machine features a stickered panel with a smaller panel mounted on rods in front of it. The small panels can then be moved up and down. It is a fun play feature and expands the set’s scenery offering.
Although this isn’t a 1:1 remake of the first Hall of Armor set, it does share similarities, and along with the suit bays and maintenance platform, the ‘Igor’ suit makes a return. Igor is a heavy-lifting suit created to be part of the Iron Legion. It’s a brick-built character with room to slot a minifigure into it. The design is a lot sleeker than the original, however, the head section could have been better. Firstly, it feels as if it’s set too low, so it looks as if it’s drooping, and the face section is easily dislodged, which rapidly becomes an annoyance.
Unlike Igor, Dum-E is listed as a character, despite being brick-built. The updated version of the robot uses a Star Wars Battle Droid torso, which results in the best version of the robot assistant. Plus, it’s always nice to see an element used in a new way.
Pepper Potts has been featured in several previous Marvel sets, and this version is almost exactly the same as all of them. It uses the same torso and head of past versions, but Miss Pott’s hair is a brighter red than other versions. Aldrich Killian is a fair rarer character, having only appeared in one past set. This new version fares far better than his counterpart in set 76006. It may lack the glow-in-the-dark head, but it actually looks like the character. It’s based on the character’s appearance towards the end of Iron Man 3, when Killian is shirtless and glowing from Extremis.
The MK43 suits us one of the most prolific when it comes to minifigures and the design of it has been tweaked several times. The latest version was introduced in 2024 and has been featured in two sets. The MK43 also uses the updated Iron Man helmet elements, which feature the flip-up faceplate. The same piece is also used for the MK6 suit. This Iron Man armour has previously appeared in a couple of sets, including one of the first Marvel sets. But the current version has only appeared in the decisive Marvel Logo set. Although Tony Stark’s head is replaced with a transparent blue head. The real draw of the set is the Iron Patriot. This early variant of War Machine has only appeared in a single set and it was only available by purchasing the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes videogame. The new version is unique and also features a different style mounted blaster, which is less cumbersome.
As mentioned, this set isn’t the first time Stark’s workshop and his vast array of suits have been featured in a LEGO Marvel set. The first two sets featured a similar design and were considered companion pieces which could be combined. That’s not the case with this new set and the one released in 2022. Although all of the sets feature a similar concept, there are slight tweaks in their designs, which means they could be combined but would look a little odd. Still, these sorts of popular sets continue to be popular with both kids and adults. It offers a fun playset inspired by the Iron Man films, but is also a good way to add new Marvel minifigures to your collection. It would have been nice if this was an expansion of the 2022, but hopefully, it means future sets could take on this mantle. The LEGO Marvel Iron Man’s Laboratory: Hall of Armor set will be released on April 1st and can be pre-ordered now.
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The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts expressed in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Marvel. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion.
