LEGO Ironman once again gets an armour extension, but has the idea out-stayed its welcome?
LEGO 76216 – Iron Man Armory
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RRP AUD $149.99 – CA $119.99 – EUR €89.99 – UK £79.99 – USA $89.99
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496 pieces
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Available from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores now.
About This Set
The LEGO Marvel Iron Man Armory is now the 3rd version of Tony Stark’s workshop, once again having a modularised way to display new and previous Iron Man armours. The set contains some new figures, some reused figures, and some that sit in between.
We’re up to the third version of this now. Plain and simple, does it hold up? Read on!
LEGO 76216 – Iron Man Armory – Set Review Brick Banter
Accessories
The inclusion of Tony Stark’s car in this set gives it a bit of disparity between this set and the previous ones, as it references one of the iconic scenes from Iron Man 3; Tony driving his car alongside the coast with the Stark Expo maps sticking up from the back seat.
This is a fun new addition to the line-up, gives us a neat looking car build that isn’t too chunky, and gives us something uniquely Tony Stark rather than Ironman.
The other accessories in the set gives us, what I would call, a proper messy workshop. Parts, tools, random pieces and all sorts just scattered everywhere. This a bit of chaos, but it is good chaos. Amongst it all, we get blueprints, digital and physical, the “Proof Tony Stark has a Heart” arc reactor, a miniature Ironman Figure, and tools that do god-knows-what.
Minifigures
Iron Man Armours
The set introduces us to the Mk 25, and a new updated Endgame armour as well. It’s worth noting that the figures introduce a new Ironman helmet mould for the wave, which is admittedly larger than previous helmets.
If I’m being honest, the new helmets don’t really work for some of the newer figures. The Mk 25 is my favourite armour of this set, as the aesthetic just looks spot-on to me – but for the other figures, the helmets are disproportionate to the sleeker aesthetic that some of the other sets have.
Tony’s Endgame armour doesn’t look right in my mind, and adding the neck accessory to the figure means that he stands significantly taller. The Mk 25 however is supposed to be a larger Ironman suit, and this is an example of where it works.
Tony Stark
Tony Stark is admittedly quite bland here, re-using various elements from previous version of Tony. The shirt comes from his What If? version, which is somewhat rarer to get however.
Pepper Potts
This is the exact same version of Pepper Potts that appeared in the Iron Monger set from the other year. She doesn’t add anything new to the set, unless you don’t already have a Pepper Potts figure.
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of my favourite Ironman villains, and this figure is almost, almost, perfect. The use of the translucent chains in light blue are great for his whips, and his armour looks great here. So what’s wrong? His skin colour does not match the actor. A simple change similar to Wong’s skin colour could of fixed this character to perfection, but yet, here we are.
War Machine
War Machine’s new version is a nice addition to the collection for people who do not have the early instances of his figure, and it’s nice that LEGO made sure to include James Rhodes’ head rather than a translucent one so kids can pretend he is part of the action.
Overall though? Still not liking the new helmet on this figure. The issue this time around comes from how small the faceplate looks on the printed helmet. The helmet looks oversized compared to printing, and the faceplate just needed to be a bit bigger. It also doesn’t line up when you flip open the helmet face.
Nick Fury
Nick Fury once again manages to squeeze into another Marvel set unexpectedly, and for good reason – where else do you put him? This figure feels like it is mainly here to provide an updated version of the character, rather than increase the desire for people to go for this set. He feels a bit generic at this point, and I would have really preferred him to come in his outfit from the Barton’s farm from Age of Ultron.
Final Verdict
Okay, here it goes; I don’t recommend this set.
I understand LEGO are wanting to create more versatility with the Iron Man armours by introducing a new head mould. I understand LEGO are trying to give consumers easier ways to get iconic characters in lower price point sets. I get that.
The problem? Well, that’s just it. This isn’t a lower price point set. Yes, the world is going through inflations due to an ongoing pandemic and everything else that is wrong with the world, but holy heck this is expensive for what you get!
Yes, you are technically getting 8 Minifigures (if you count the disassembled Mk 3 on the table), but more than half of them feel re-used. The Mk 3 (barring the helmet) and Pepper Potts are the exact same from a set released less than a year ago, Tony Stark, the Endgame suit and Nick Fury don’t feel unique enough, and of the three figures that are new, only one of them feels correct.
I like the new Ironman helmet mould – but it’s not right for every single Ironman figure. Some helmets are better than others on certain figures, but a lot of them are really just missing the mark. And Ivan Vanko, Whiplash, suffers the same fate as Chang-Shi sets – being white-washed when he should clearly have a darker flesh tone.
I just can’t justify the price point. And that’s my truth.
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