[REVIEW] 76157 - Wonder Woman vs Cheetah

[MKJoshA]

Lego has a long history of making sets based on Superhero movies. Some of the movies, like Avengers, Justice League, and Spiderman: Far From Home got multiple Lego sets. But there is an even longer list of movies that have received only one set based on them. Movies like Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Ant-man, Doctor Strange, and even the first Wonder Woman movie have a singular set to represent the film. Wonder Woman: 1984 seems to follows this trend and delivers one set to satisfy our Lego Wonder Woman cravings.

Set Information
Name:  76157 - Wonder Woman vs Cheetah
Theme: Wonder Woman 1984
Year: 2020
Pieces: 371
Minifigures: 3
Price: £34.99 / $39.99 / 39.99€
Resources: Brickset and Bricklink

The front of the box is a bold move on Lego's part, but I think it works. Traditionally the front of a Lego box displays the set and minifigures against some backdrop that is supposed to highlight the Lego bricks. This box, as you can see, has more of a movie poster feel. It looked very stunning on the Target Lego shelf and automatically stood out. I wonder if Lego is trying to create one more collectors item. I usually throw my Lego boxes away. But if they created a box like this for some of my favorite themes I'd be hard pressed to part with it.

The "back" of the box is more what we would expect a Lego set box to look like. The bright light at the top of the mountain really messed with my camera. But the surreal lighting on the box is actually present in real life. The designers did a very good job capturing an atmospheric feel.

Inside you'll find just two numbered bags, a small sticker sheet, a loose 8x16 baseplate, and the instructions. I'll be honest, the main reason I wanted this set were all those solar panels. When I dumped the contents out on my floor and saw how small the sticker sheet was I let out an audible "Yes!" I thought the solar panels would be stickered and I wasn't looking forward to applying all of those 2x2 stickers perfectly. Instead, they are all printed pieces!

The instructions show what to expect at the end of building each bag.

Part of the first bag is adding foliage to the building. The stalk on the right came in the set. The stalk on the right is from an older set. You can see that the older piece is shinier while the newer piece has a more matte look. My guess is this is due to Lego making some plant pieces out of plant based material now. Apart from the slight difference in shine, I couldn't see anything else to differentiate the two.

I know there are instances of this in other sets, but this was the first time I could remember putting stickers on both sides of a Lego element. It's a nice attention to detail on the part of the designers.

There are a few cool building techniques in this set. The bunker window (or whatever it is) is created by using the 1x1 stud with hold attached to the 1x1 modified tile with nipple. I've used this technique a few times myself in MOCs. But this is the first time I've seen it used in a set.

The end of the first bag leaves us with 5 spare parts and an imposing looking door. On to bag 2!

The contents of the second bag really got the builder in me excited. There are mass quantities of key elements and I can't wait to incorporate them into other builds!

Most of the second bag is used to build the radar dish on top of the building. The radar is turned using the 4 tooth technic element as you can see here.

Step 87 tells you to use 12 of the 6L bars. But if you think that's a lot of 1 piece in a building step, just wait till...

Step 88 where you need 32 of the pearl gold 1x1 studs with holes! These are combined with the modified bars to create the shaping of the radar dish.

The set designers did a great job of making it easy to apply all the panels at just the right angles to make the shape of the dish work. The "extra" 6L bars provide guides for the panels to make sure they rest at the correct angles.

The center of the radar is created using 4 tranquilizer guns and is a great use of the piece!

Finishing bag 2 leaves us with a small assortment of extras.

The last page of instructions shows the moving radar play feature. The previous page shows a suggested posing for the characters, but everything else is left to the imagination of the builder. I really expected there to be more suggested play. So much so that I had to check the online version of the instructions to make sure I hadn't been given a faulty instruction book! It's not a bad thing, Lego is about using your imagination anyway. It just seemed surprising.

Here's the complete set!

And an action shot I feel they should have included in the instructions.

The 3 minifigures have detailed printing. The gentleman is named Maxwell Lord if Bricklink is correct. I've gotten the impression that he is a known DC character. So that just shows my ignorance when it comes to DC! And he is the only figure to lack leg printing. But his detailed suit coat more than makes up for it in my opinion.

They all have back-printing as well.

And all 3 have double sided expressions.

Wonder Woman's helmet/hair combo sticks really far out from her back. This is to accommodate the wings, but seems to greatly limit its use.

The wings have been used before for Falcon from the Marvel Comic sets and for Vulture from the Spiderman sets. But this is the first time it's been produced in pearl-gold.

Final Thoughts:

So is this set for you?

Playability: 8/10 - There are some built in play features with the moving radar and the trans-clear bar for posing figures in mid flight or jump. There are also plenty of spots to attach the minifigures both inside and outside the bunker allowing for re-creation of the movie scenes. Assuming of course Lego had enough source material to make the scene accurate We'll have to wait and see if that was the case until after the movie comes out.

Building Experience: 10/10 - I really enjoyed this build. It was not repetitive except for parts of the radar. And even those didn't feel boring. It had creative parts usage and cool techniques. Probably my favorite building process since The Upside Down.

Design: 9/10 - Having not seen the movie, I can't compare this to the scene it was designed on. But as an overall design it's pretty good. It looks like a WW2 bunker with a fancy radar built on top. I'll assume that was the look they were going for. And if so, they captured it really well.

Aesthetic: 8/10 - The color scheme works pretty well. It's a little bland with all the tans and golds. But the colors work to create the right atmosphere. The bunker is designed well and there is just enough foliage that it doesn't feel like a plain old rock face.

Minifigures: 9/10 - All 3 minifgures are exclusive to this set and will probably be highly sought after. The printing is excellent. I'm giving it 9 instead of 10 since there is no leg printing for Lord and no arm printing for any of them.

Price: 8/10 - For a licensed set I think this is priced pretty fairly. It's almost at the $.10/piece mark, and it has a bunch of printed parts with all the solar panels. I bought it at full price and don't regret it!

Verdict: 9/10 - This is a solid set and definitely one you should pick up! Even if you're not a DC Comics fan there's plenty in this set to draw you to it. You may be one of those who waits for sets to go on sale.  But even without a promo I would suggest getting it.

[n1majneb]

Nice review, i'm holding off opening this until the movies out

[Fenghuang0296]

I’ve ordered this from Target already and am looking forward to getting it at the end of the week. Great review!

[Johnny1360]

Thanks for the review, enjoyed the read. 

Picked this set up some time ago and was actually pleasantly surprised. I rather enjoyed the build and got some good parts to boot. Also not overly expensive as sets seem to be getting here recently. 

[hvader]

What a cool set! I'm probably gonna get this set after I see the movie (I hope it's not delayed again).

[blackdeathgr]

First of all, great review. From a mocing perspective, this set has great parts but since it's licensed and I am totally uninterested in the minifigs (you can find golden armor torsos and legs, a random suit guy and a cat lady elsewhere I think), it is far too expensive to my liking. If I were to buy this set, I would keep the pieces and would sell those minifigs to keep the price of acquiring those awesome parts, at a more logical level.

[romulan]

Thanks for this! I'm thinking of picking it up now as a parts pack :) 

[jimmynick]

Someone a while ago (I can't remember who) pointed out that one of the weaknesses of the Hidden Side line was that the box art didn't make clear exactly what the product was. While those sets have artistic renditions of the model, this box art is lacks any kind of precision and I had to find the in-store display to find out what the set actually was (since in these days of COVID, they don't want you to touch anything you won't actually buy). Poor marketing, OK set.

[RedHoodPug]

11 hours ago, jimmynick said:

Someone a while ago (I can't remember who) pointed out that one of the weaknesses of the Hidden Side line was that the box art didn't make clear exactly what the product was. While those sets have artistic renditions of the model, this box art is lacks any kind of precision and I had to find the in-store display to find out what the set actually was (since in these days of COVID, they don't want you to touch anything you won't actually buy). Poor marketing, OK set.

I’m pretty sure that when the box art was being conceptualised, the looming issue of customers not being able to handle products prior to purchasing for a while, was not on the table. Claiming that the box art doesn’t represent the contents unless you turn it around is very much a first world problem. Making the customer think isn’t poor marketing.