53 replies to this topic

[starstreak]

This review will be on the 6869 Quinjet Aerial Battle

Quote direct from Lego.com said:

Defeat Loki and his forces with the super fast Quinjet!

Loki is up to no good and is planning to destroy the earth! As he flies into battle on board his chariot, help the Avenger's defeat their nemesis using the supersonic Quinjet! Fire the missiles, release the mini-jet and imprison Loki in the prison pod! With the high-tech Quinjet, the Avengers can't fail! Includes Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Loki and foot soldier minifigures. • Includes 5 minifigures: Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Loki and foot soldier
• Vehicles include Quinjet and Loki's chariot
• Quinjet features adjustable wing tips, 2 opening cockpits with space for 2 minifigures, detachable mini-jet, 4 missiles, prison pod and rear door
• Chariot features dual flick missiles and control platform that raises or lowers
• Weapons include Loki's staff, Thor's hammer and Iron Man's thruster flame
• Launch the mini-jet!
• Fire the missiles!
• Rotate the Quinjet wingtips 360 degrees!
• Open the cockpits!
• Load the captured bad guys into the Quinjet's prison pod!
• Quinjet measures over 5" (15cm) high, 15" (39cm) long
• Chariot measures over 2" (6cm) high and 5"(13cm) long

Set Name: 6869 Quinjet Aerial Battle

Theme: Marvel Super Heroes

Released: 2012

Pieces: 735

Price: $69.99/$79.99 EUR/69.99 GBP It was $74.99 here in Hawaii at the Lego Store.

Here are some quick links: Lego.com, Brickset, Bricklink


Wanna see some pictures? Let's start with the normal box arts and manuals!


Box Front

I love the box art. It screams at you to fly in the sky with the good guys.


Box Rear

The back of the box pretty much shows you everything that the ship can do. The cockpit can open and bend downwards like how the Concorde jet nose would bend down. Missiles swivel down and be flick-fired. And while not exactly as pictured, the mini-jet is launched by that little button on the top. There is space in the rear and the top hatch opens to the rear cargo area. The swivel wing tips I take it is from the real jet.


Parts Bags


Lego kept it simple by labeling all the bags so there wouldn't be a big pile of Legos to shift through.


Polybag Bag

I hope Lego continues to do this for more sets. It really does a good job at keeping the stickers and instruction booklets all neat and tidy till you open it.


Sticker Sheet

All the stickers are put to good use. *WARNING* Where you see a blue outline in that photo is how big each sticker is. Be careful when placing the stickers. Being most are "clear" stickers, if you make an error and place it crooked, if you peel it off, it'll get messy in the clear areas. Take your time.


Instruction Books

Yes. Book one is small. I wish they kept them all the same size as it would be easier to file it away after you're done. All covers are the same as the front of the box.


Comic Book Cover

I have not read the comics yet. This is book 4.


Parts Lists



All three pages. I see some interesting parts. See below.


Interesting parts

I don't see these parts in Lego sets. Golden buttons and that unusual half height SNOT helper. Although I did notice that piece in the Wolverine Helicopter Set.


Extra Parts

Lego is getting kind in their old age. You get an extra staff AND Lego removal tool. I must have like 4 of these now. Lego must've heard the outcry of Lego Kids everywhere needing help to take apart pieces. Even Technic sets come with it.


Iron Man Minifig

Wow. I see Lego went the extra mile for that flip helmet. Not only does Mr. Stark get two faces, the helmet flips up so you can see his face. It's a tight fit when closed. I'm happy. I just wish I couldn't see his neck.


Black Widow and Thor

Both Black Widow and Thor get dual faces. No weapon for Black Widow, but Thor has his trusty Mjolnir.


Loki and foot soldier

Loki gets his staff and his compensating-for-the-lack-of something horn helm. The foot soldier has both front and back printing. Looks nice!


On to the build! First up is:

Loki's Chariot


Since there was only 7 shots, I thought I would just give you a contact sheet on the build. I haven't seen any Avenger movie preview with the chariot in it, so I don't know how true to the movie it is. It's a very simple build. Very bling. Lots of gold. But what else would a God be riding?


Quinjet build
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ig2YBubuE"http://www.youtube.c...h?v=x-ig2YBubuE[/url]
I hope you like the video! I tried my best (hand held) to get the parts to line up nicely for this. I just love how this ship looks. It's very hefty. I'll explain more in the final shots of the Quinjet.

Quinjet Rotation
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v3JqPt-Cbo&hd=1"http://www.youtube.c...v3JqPt-Cbo&hd=1[/url]
Here is a rotation of the Quinjet. I hope you like it. I have the rockets swung down from the wings so you can see them. Click on the video to goto youtube to view full screen at 1080.

Quinjet Features
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDQo91i6Hw8&hd=1"http://www.youtube.c...DQo91i6Hw8&hd=1[/url]
Here is a video showing the different parts of the Quinjet that move.

Quinjet Mini-jet ejection
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t128EFZUv34&hd=1"http://www.youtube.c...128EFZUv34&hd=1[/url]
And last video is showing how the Mini-Jet would eject. A bit hard to hold and video at the same time, but I think you get the idea. :)


Finished Shots of the Quinjet

Front view with the nose straight and front of the wings straight and wing tips angled. I love this view. Doesn't look chunky in this view. Here you can see the missile launchers retracted.


Front view with nose and front of wings angled down and wing tips angled down and lastly missile launchers in launch position. This view looks good for a "parked" view. Gives it a battle ready stance.


Top view with nose angled down and front of wings angled. Lego did a fine job in giving details to all parts of the Quinjet.


Front quarter view with nose down and front wing angled and wing tips angled forward. While interesting idea for the wing tips (I'm sure the movie does this) it doesn't hold well while playing with the Quinjet. It's very loose and tends to wiggle.


Side view with with nose up and front of wings raised and wing tips lowered. This view isn't flattering. It shows how "tall" it looks. I saw some comic book drawings of the Quinjet and it was like this. I guess so it has room to walk in. You can't think of it as a fighter jet.


Side view with the nose down and front of wing wip lowered. Somehow with the nose lowered it looks worse. Can't be helped. Its the only way Lego could make the front be raised and lowered without adding more Lego to the cost.


Rear view . Here you can see the rear bay door raised. You'll also notice that the jets have a red/orange insert to give it the look of the engines being on. Also, now you can see that the engines are actually rotated at an angle. I like that look.


Here is a rear view of both the top and bay doors being opened. Both doors open to the same area on the ship. Not much room in there. With the mini-jet launcher in there, it does give it a look of pipes and electronics inside. I'm not a fan of that red cross bar. I think it would've looked better in black or grey.


Top rear angled view. Not bad view. You can't really tell how chunky the Quinjet is from this angle. It almost seems like it's holding a cargo container in the rear.


Top view of the rear canopy taken off. Here you can see two seats. There is a computer console in thefront that you cannot see from this view. I guess Stark doesn't like being on fire much. There's a fire extinguisher included. You also get a good view of the shield stickers on the wings. Again, be careful on how you put them on.


Comments: I think out of all the Avengers sets that have come out, this is my favorite. The Quinjet is sturdy enough to play with and has many features. And this set actually came with 5 minifigures, including Iron Man with the flip-up face plate. I think the only part lacking was the Loki's chariot. It seemed like a last minute thought. If you angle the chariot they way it's supposed to be, you can't stand it up on its own very well.

My rating
Playability: 5/5 Very swooshable. My son is dying for me to finish taking all these photos so he can play with it. Since this set gives you 2 bad guys with the good guys, you can actually have a vs match.
Build experience: 2/5 Easy build. Nothing is too hard to put together. Except the stickers. As I have stated above, I like how the stickers (as squares) are easier to center, but take your time, if you mess up, clear part of the tape is very unforgiving in peeling off without it getting gummy.
Overall: 4/5 I didn't give this set a 5 out of 5 because I factored in the price. This was an expensive set. It's on par with Star Wars sets. Also, I didn't think the chariot was as thought out as the Quinjet.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
All photos are viewable in full size on my flickr site. Here is a direct like to my: 6869 Quinjet Ariel Battle

[Iron-Man]

Nice review! I just bought the Loki's chariot portion off E-Bay over the weekend for a cool $4, and after seeing it up close in the review I would say that is a pretty solid purchase considering it will be purely used for building my evil forces!    I really like the videos you added to! That adds a lot to the viewing experience! Overall great job  

Edited by Iron-Man, 24 April 2012 - 01:56 AM.

[starstreak]

Glad you liked them.  Took me a while to figure out how to do that build video.  I do it once and don't do another for a LONG time and I forgot what program I used. lol.

Iron-Man, on 24 April 2012 - 01:53 AM, said:

Nice review! I just bought the Loki's chariot portion off E-Bay over the weekend for a cool $4, and after seeing it up close in the review I would say that is a pretty solid purchase considering it will be purely used for building my evil forces!    I really like the videos you added to! That adds a lot to the viewing experience! Overall great job  

[The Blue Brick]

Great review. I'll definitely pick this set up during the hulk promotion.  

The videos are a nice touch also.  

[just2good]

Nice review, 'starstreak'!
I really like this set, but I think I'll hold off on getting it until the end of this year. It's great and all, but I don't have the money to buy it right away.

[marcosbessa]

Hi Starstreck!

Thanks for your review! So far this is my favorite LEGO set that I have in the market. I've been to London last week for the movie premiere and I was really happy to see that the Quinjet besides being featured a lot, is quite close to my model! The movie producers did a great job!! (irony!! eheh)

I'm glad you liked it!

And besides you gave me a 2 out of 5 stars on the Build, I actually take that as the best compliment of it all! Cause it was definitely the hardest challenge of the whole model to build something as cool and close to reference and still being suitable to 8 year old kids to build! :)

Take care

[Alldarker]

marcosbessa, on 26 April 2012 - 09:54 AM, said:

Hi Starstreck!

Thanks for your review! So far this is my favorite LEGO set that I have in the market. I've been to London last week for the movie premiere and I was really happy to see that the Quinjet besides being featured a lot, is quite close to my model! The movie producers did a great job!! (irony!! eheh)

I'm glad you liked it!

And besides you gave me a 2 out of 5 stars on the Build, I actually take that as the best compliment of it all! Cause it was definitely the hardest challenge of the whole model to build something as cool and close to reference and still being suitable to 8 year old kids to build! :)

Take care

I saw the movie yesterday, and of all the Avengers Lego sets the Lego Quinjet is definitely the best and most accurate movie representation. Very accurate in almost all aspects, but surprisingly inaccurate in one plot-centric aspect... You'll know what I mean, marcosbessa.

I'm guessing that as usual (Prince of Persia, Pirates of the Caribbean) Lego only gets a couple of sneak views at movie models and plotpoints to base their models on. Not a problem for simple character and vehicle-based actionfigures and toys, but Lego sets are usually more 'plot-centered'. I'm sure this will probably explain some of the 'inaccuracies' between movie and Lego sets. Great job anyways on that Quinjet design, though, marcosbessa (I'll be honest, I have yet to build mine   )!

Edited by Alldarker, 26 April 2012 - 11:56 AM.

[marcosbessa]

Alldarker, on 26 April 2012 - 11:54 AM, said:

I saw the movie yesterday, and of all the Avengers Lego sets the Lego Quinjet is definitely the best and most accurate movie representation. Very accurate in almost all aspects, but surprisingly inaccurate in one plot-centric aspect... You'll know what I mean, marcosbessa.
(...)

Well... now I'm curious to find out what exactly you're referring to... because, of course not everything is 100% tied to the movie, sometimes we have to make a compromise, either because of design choices, play offer, or even inadequation to the LEGO spirit and values...

I have my guesses of what it could be, but just send me a PM! ;)

[Alldarker]

marcosbessa, on 26 April 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

Well... now I'm curious to find out what exactly you're referring to... because, of course not everything is 100% tied to the movie, sometimes we have to make a compromise, either because of design choices, play offer, or even inadequation to the LEGO spirit and values...

I have my guesses of what it could be, but just send me a PM! ;)

PM sent  
You're absolutely right of course; although especially movie licensed Lego sets often seem very much based on a certain scene in a movie, it would be very contrary to the spirit of Lego to only allow recreation of that one scene with what you get. For example, I know that my 6866 Wolverine minifig WILL in fact be allowed in the 6869 Quinjet, even though he's not featured in the set   . That said, Batman will most certainly NOT be allowed (clash of the licenses would probably cause a rift in the space-time continuum).

[starstreak]

You guys are so funny.  You do know if Batman would be allowed to see the Qinjet, he would just have have to make his own in all black. Hehe.

Alldarker, on 26 April 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

PM sent  
You're absolutely right of course; although especially movie licensed Lego sets often seem very much based on a certain scene in a movie, it would be very contrary to the spirit of Lego to only allow recreation of that one scene with what you get. For example, I know that my 6866 Wolverine minifig WILL in fact be allowed in the 6869 Quinjet, even though he's not featured in the set   . That said, Batman will most certainly NOT be allowed (clash of the licenses would probably cause a rift in the space-time continuum).

[Takua Nui]

Great review! This is probably the best designed Avengers sets (except for Loki's chariot). I think from the outside it looks 100% complete, and sleek like a real jet plane, but as usual the inside is kind of underwhelming. The price seems to be the big problem. I stopped buying Star Wars sets a few years ago because of those ridiculous prices. If I had the $$, I think I'd pick up this set. Instead, I'll stick with Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape.

[mrklaw]

Does it have the rotors/fans on the undersides of the wings? Couldn't see from the parts list or your photos. Seems like a large detail if they've left that off. Otherwise looks great and it's gone in at number 2 on my wanted list (after the town hall)

[starstreak]

No blades. I think that would've been to hard to do unless it was added by stickers or increasing the cost for more parts.

mrklaw, on 26 April 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

Does it have the rotors/fans on the undersides of the wings? Couldn't see from the parts list or your photos. Seems like a large detail if they've left that off. Otherwise looks great and it's gone in at number 2 on my wanted list (after the town hall)

[Mr_Malfoy]

marcosbessa, on 26 April 2012 - 09:54 AM, said:

Hi Starstreck!

Thanks for your review! So far this is my favorite LEGO set that I have in the market. I've been to London last week for the movie premiere and I was really happy to see that the Quinjet besides being featured a lot, is quite close to my model! The movie producers did a great job!! (irony!! eheh)

I'm glad you liked it!

And besides you gave me a 2 out of 5 stars on the Build, I actually take that as the best compliment of it all! Cause it was definitely the hardest challenge of the whole model to build something as cool and close to reference and still being suitable to 8 year old kids to build! :)

Take care

Great review, starstreak!
And marcobessa, great job on designing the Quinjet   ! However, did you design the minfigures along with the set, or does someone else design them? Because Black Widow's cheekbones ruin her whole design, but she's very nice anyhow.

[marcosbessa]

Mr_Malfoy, on 28 April 2012 - 12:16 AM, said:

(...) However, did you design the minfigures along with the set, or does someone else design them? Because Black Widow's cheekbones ruin her whole design, but she's very nice anyhow.

No, usually the minifigures are responsability of the Graphic Design Team, along with the stickers. I did the model itself. Nevertheless, I think my colleagues did an amazing job with the figures! :)

[mrklaw]

marcosbessa, on 28 April 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

No, usually the minifigures are responsability of the Graphic Design Team, along with the stickers. I did the model itself. Nevertheless, I think my colleagues did an amazing job with the figures! :)

Do you mind if I ask whether there was a reason the fans/rotors were left off the bottom? Seems a fairly important part of the plane.

[marcosbessa]

mrklaw, on 28 April 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Do you mind if I ask whether there was a reason the fans/rotors were left off the bottom? Seems a fairly important part of the plane.

It was my decision to leave them out of the model simply because including then besides increasing the price, would highly compromise the stability of the model on the wings and increase considerably the complexity of the building. In the end it's always a matter of compromising between all the things we have to bare in mind when we build a LEGO set... ;)

[Arsenalfan98]

Great review starstreak   .I was going to pick this up soon,but after seeing that a lot of people (including myself) have had problems with the figures being bad quality, so I'll wait for the second batch of sets to come in   .

[Im a brickmaster.]

Very nice review! When I first saw this set I thought, I have
to have that! Plus it comes with anouther Iron Man !

[starstreak]

I love it too.  Best avenger set so far.

Im a brickmaster., on 02 May 2012 - 07:49 PM, said:

Very nice review! When I first saw this set I thought, I have
to have that! Plus it comes with anouther Iron Man !

[Tony Almeida]

Regarding clear stickers - you can actually re-do them without making it look messy. Instead of peeling it off, hold a small bit of the edge and quickly yank it upwards at a diagonal angle - so you're sort of 'pulling' it off. This will remove the sticker cleanly and won't mess up the adhesive either.

[Faefrost]

One thing I notcied last night, while trying to find shelf space for this new beast. The Avengers stuuf, in particular the Shield stuff (So this, the Helicarrier set and the Truck from Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape) all use a similar styling and color pattern as the Agents vehicles. Which just happen to be sitting there with big A markings all over the place, just waiting to be commandeered from the lemonheads for use by the newly formed completely overbearing dept of homeland... err Shield. (Dear Agent Charge, due to Federal Budget cuts your division has been restructured. Please hand over the keys to all vehicles to the man in the shiny metal suit and report to Division H for reactor testing and development. Thank you for your continued service.)

[Faefrost]

marcosbessa, on 28 April 2012 - 11:47 PM, said:

It was my decision to leave them out of the model simply because including then besides increasing the price, would highly compromise the stability of the model on the wings and increase considerably the complexity of the building. In the end it's always a matter of compromising between all the things we have to bare in mind when we build a LEGO set... ;)

Wow! Thank you for sharing with us how you design these wonderful sets, and what it is that you have to factor in. And in particular thank you for such a great ship. I originally didn't think I would like this one. The pictures just didn't pull me in. But my wife convinced me to get it, and wow! I fell in love with this thing. Beautiful lines. I love the dynamic tilting and rotating of the wingtips. The cockpit and passenger area are just wonderfully detailed, and easy to access. Thank you so much for designing this thing.

My only unbelievably minor bit of feedback or criticism. The thing is so beautifully color matched and color designed... except for that one Bright Red plate that holds the nose gear on the bottom. It seems a little off? Was that intentional or some limitation of the parts?

Other than that I want to particularly thank you for the truly spectacular way you managed to make it so the m odel looks good from any angle. Even from below. This is not that common a thing in the larger Lego sets, many of which look like suspension bridges from underneath (I'm looking at YOU Sith Infiltrator!). But the Quinjet maintains it lines and flow all the way around. Marvelous!

I am still undecided on the whole drone launching mechanism. My adult brain keeps complaining that it is stupid and that I should probably just pull it out and fill in the hole in the belly. However since I built the plane I can't seem to stop playing with the drone launcher. Over and Over and Over. So there is something compelling going on there. I have to cede to your greater wisdom on this subject. My inner child seems to love the feature.

[marcosbessa]

Well... regarding the technic plate underneath, i was limited to the colors available of the element. And that was mainly the reason.

About the drone, I've seen the kids playing with it and it was awesome see their enthusiasm about that feature, so I can only say I'm proud of it! :)

And thank YOU for all the feedback! ;)

[Sah]

Awesome review! :)

This set looks brilliant and the minifigs are all amazing. Love Thor's design!

But in the UK, 69.99 is a bit too much for this! Should be around £40-£50 at most! I'll wait until price lessens a little. :)