Captain Nemo

Marvel Superheroes 2022 - Rumors & Discussion

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3 hours ago, Lyichir said:

You can say that again. I think we're very lucky to get the amount of designer interaction we do, considering how little respect many AFOLs seem to show for the actual hard-working people behind the products. And that gets worse with large expensive sets.

I've noticed that people will shower huge, expensive MOCs with praise but once they're confronted with the price it might cost to own something a fraction of the size and price, they quickly seem to become embittered.

On the other hand, it's a useful feedback mechanism to see what people like and what they respond to. But I suspect most don't appreciate all the pressures and responsibilities and restrictions that the designers are under. Hope it's not taken personally.

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7 hours ago, LegendaryArticuno said:

So it looks like the leakers dont have a clue, and were just trying to drive clicks. NWH sets are back on the menu LOL

They were never on the menu for this year. Lego has this kind of stuff designed year(s) out and none of the toy companies were able to get started on more spoilery No Way Home merch until after the film came out. Funko has only just started to reveal some of their POPs and Hasbro’s Tobey/Andrew/Tom action figure pack won’t come out until August 2023, which is probably about the earliest we cane expect Lego to do more NWH sets at this point.

That being said, I’ve got the feeling that a lot of the leakers are almost as much in the dark as we are when it comes to these Marvel D2C leaks. And I think that’s partially because a lot of these have been shifted around so much with film delays and COVID. I think the Sanctum has been designed for a while and the designer said that work on this set started during the pandemic. The Hulkbuster rumors have been swirling for over a year at this point. That’s probably caused a lot of confusion.

12 hours ago, Whovastron said:

Oh my that is…something.

look, this may be a morbid take on it, but this, Hasbro’s ‘Legacy’ line, and Hot toys redoing Black Panther figures does kinda feel like profiteering off of his death to me. Like yeah it is honouring his impact, but at the same time, these are all big companies looking to make money…

I dunno, weird move in my opinion

Ngl, that thought’s crossed my mind too. However, I might be playing devil’s advocate here, but I honestly think it’s a similar situation to NWH last year where they’re doing new toys based off the previous film to have new products out without spoiling plot points for the upcoming film. They’re clearly wanting to keep the identity of the new Black Panther a secret and they have to get new Black Panther toys out somehow. Black Panther’s also just a very iconic Marvel character now, and companies are going to want to keep making merchandise for the character even though the actor tragically passed away.

Still, it’d make me feel a little better if they announced a portion of their profits from these new Black Panther toys are going to help treat cancer patients or something philanthropic like that. That would at least make the price of this Lego set far more reasonable imo.

 

Speaking of this Lego set, I’ve got some thoughts. The set itself looks okay. No disrespect to the designer or anything (I’m sure they’re already dealing with a lot of negative comments that go past constructive criticism), but I don’t think it looks super impressive or innovative or anything. It’s another one of these 18+ sets where I question if it really needs to exist as a Lego set. I know they probably sell, but I feel that Lego is overflooding the market with 18+ sets in general, let alone these big, buildable and, in my opinion, boring objects or busts. I just did a quick Google search earlier and there’s a Black Panther bust on Amazon for $90 that’s doing the same pose and it looks a lot better in my opinion. Granted, it was probably a lot smaller and doesn’t have the novelty of being Lego, but you get my point.

I just do not see where the $350 is in this set. I’m biased, as the set doesn’t interest me to begin with, but I could maybe see myself paying $209 max with the size and piece count here. With so many awesome sets at the $300-350 mark right now (like the Daily Bugle, Cantina or soon-to-be-retired Disney Castle), I just don’t see why anyone would choose this set over those ones, unless they’re just a super big Black Panther fan I guess. At risk of sounding like an armchair sales analyst, I simply do not think this set is going to sell well. Like at all. It’s just super niche and expensive. Most of the comments I’ve read here and on social media are either just negative or something along the lines of “it looks cool but it’s way too overpriced to even consider”. Brickset’s poll had like 80-90% of people saying no to getting this set last time I checked. Even the casual adult fans will probably scratch their heads and wonder why Lego didn’t just do a helmet like the Iron Man or Venom ones?

Trying to restrain myself from going on a rant, but this is something I’ve had on my chest for a while. I’m sure I’m not along in feeling like Lego has been quickly losing a lot of their wholesomeness and charm the last few years. Sure, it’s always been an expensive toy and they’ve always made cash grab moves, but recently, those precedents have been far more frequent and things have just felt… different. A lot of the company’s recent moves have just felt like very cynical and corporate-style moves. Now more than ever. Some examples I can personally think of are: over-catering to the casual crowd with their bland 18+ sets, several egregiously overpriced sets across the board, the recent price increases, the Vidiyo debacle, relying too much on licenses (and this is coming from someone who has primarily liked collecting licensed themes in recent years), the upcoming change to boxes for CMFs, the way they treated Kevin Hinkle, etc. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still been a ton of fantastic sets, but they’ve just been releasing way too much way too fast. And I feel like sets like this one are examples of the general ideas that I’m talking about. It’s yet another one of these “18+” sets (that don’t really feel like Lego sets to me) that aren’t really targeted at us but the new casual adult crowd. I guess I can’t completely fault Lego for going after the $, but it still just kinda sucks, you know?

Edited by The Stud

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The Black Panther set is pretty cool and very well done but how many people do they really expect to spend $350 on it!? It's definitely overpriced for one thing but it's also such a niche item. The smaller helmet busts are one thing, they're smaller and more affordable even if they are overpriced as well but this is on a whole other level. I just don't see it selling that well especially when it is in direct competition with the likes of the UCS Republic Gunship at that price point.

Edited by ToaDraco

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Alright, I genuinely refuse to believe a Hulkbuster D2C exists now.

The rumour came from Promobricks, nearly a year ago. The set numbers and piece count assigned to it turned out to be for another set, while a normal Hulkbuster set is coming in January.

I'm so intrigued by the 500€ D2C too, because whatever they choose, it will be another huge disappointed. Another Black Panther D2C? Bruh. A 500€ Hulkbuster? Please no.

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2 hours ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

Another Black Panther D2C? Bruh.

In light of the bust, I still don‘t get where that rumour came from. The leakers seemed so convinced and provided so many hints, and yet were completely off the mark here :wacko:

Unless there actually is a second BP D2C set, which would be sheer madness. No movie has ever had two D2C sets dedicated to it in that quick of a succession

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The only way I can see that BP vehicle rumor being true and having any chance at selling is if it’s a  part of a large Battle of Earth display. And even then it’s really not very visually appealing scenery and would need to rely heavily on minifigures to sell

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That Black Panther bust introduces certain elements for the first time in BLACK! :sweet:

Now it's possible to build the following models in that colour as follows:


10269 Harley Davidson Fat Boy

10298 Vespa 125
10295 Porsche 911 (Targa)

21327 Typewriter
10290 Pickup Truck

And this set should honour Chadwick Boseman who passed away two years ago.
Just imagine if he was still alive today...:cry_sad:

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1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

In light of the bust, I still don‘t get where that rumour came from. The leakers seemed so convinced and provided so many hints, and yet were completely off the mark here :wacko:

Unless there actually is a second BP D2C set, which would be sheer madness. No movie has ever had two D2C sets dedicated to it in that quick of a succession

That's why I'm so intrigued.

This forum would EXPLODE if it turned out that the second D2C, the biggest LEGO Marvel set ever, is another Black Panther D2C, this time a vehicle.

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1 hour ago, Nabii said:

It is not. :)

I think you did a phenomenal job with the set :thumbup: Can‘t wait to add it to my collection!

Expensive, yes, but people probably don‘t realise how enormous that model is. I‘ve seen some mockups on IG and it towers over the helmet sets!

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12 minutes ago, Jaromir said:

Is Hulkbuster MK2 still happening though?

Nobody knows at this point. Could be the $500 set, one that got cancelled, or there was some sort of mix-up (BP bust D2C + minifig-scale Hulkbuster in 2023 = Hulkbuster D2C :laugh_hard:)

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14 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Nobody knows at this point. Could be the $500 set, one that got cancelled, or there was some sort of mix-up (BP bust D2C + minifig-scale Hulkbuster in 2023 = Hulkbuster D2C :laugh_hard:)

The mix up theory strengthened by the fact the Hulkbuster was rumoured as being the IW version. Which we now know is the version the January set is going to be

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The Black Panther bust reminds me of the UCS Landspeeder from earlier this year. They both look like nice sets, just not sets that Star Wars and Marvel fans really wanted.

5 hours ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

 I'm so intrigued by the 500€ D2C too, because whatever they choose, it will be another huge disappointed. Another Black Panther D2C? Bruh. A 500€ Hulkbuster? Please no.

I think at that price the only thing that people would be happy with is a large modular style Avengers tower, or maybe a Helicarrier remake.

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3 hours ago, Nabii said:

It is not. :)

Good, you did a great job with the design of the set.

 

But now I'm just completely spun around. Clearly the leakers were misled about the hulkbuster (or just making stuff up, but there were some pretty reliable guys claiming it was coming), but this would also imply that the $500 D2C is unknown.

(Unless it's also a black panther vehicle, in which case I'd go nuts. For two of the three most expensive marvel sets to be based on a character who, while popular, isn't even in the top 5? That's wild.

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1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

For two of the three most expensive marvel sets to be based on a character who, while popular, isn't even in the top 5? That's wild.

I don't think Black Panther should have gotten a life-sized bust over more popular characters, but how are people claiming he isn't top 5 most popular? He's top 5 based on box office alone. I don't think that's a good enough reason to give him a $350 set, but Black Panther is undeniably popular and has had a massive impact on popular culture in a short period of time. I understand LEGO's reasoning in that regard, I just don't buy that Black Panther is a more popular character than Iron Man or Spider-Man, especially when it comes to toy sales.

I really don't like how much hate Mark Stafford (and LEGO designers in general) are getting. They don't set prices. The Sanctum was designed to a $200 price point - it's not the designer's fault that LEGO jacked the set up to $250, which made everything about it look worse (in my opinion). The same thing happened with this set - as @Falconfan1414 said, it's possible that the original price was $250, although I personally think it was originally more like $300. I think this set is a lot bigger than everyone is expecting and I really want to see it in person to get a sense of its scale. 

All that being said, I don't think this set should exist. I love it, but I'm gonna have to tap out if this becomes a new line of products from LEGO. I can't afford to buy life-size Marvel busts every year, more so in terms of space than money, and I've bought every Marvel set for the last several years. With how oversized and overpriced LEGO D2Cs are becoming, I'm not going to be able to get every one I want, and I really can't see a ton of people buying this bust. I know LEGO is going after non-AFOL markets, but how many people want a life size bust of a superhero? How many want one of Black Panther? How many want one of Black Panther, made out of LEGO, that's not good value for money compared to a set like the Daily Bugle at the exact same price? 

I think this set is a wonderful tribute to Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa, but I also think it's a blatant attempt to profit from his untimely death. LEGO can say whatever they want, but if Black Panther was a big enough seller to warrant a $350 life-sized bust, I would've expected more Black Panther-centered sets in the years since the first movie, or even just good minifigures of him. Iron Man and Spider-Man are Marvel's big sellers - that's reflected in LEGO's own products, where those minifigures get the best printing and the most sets dedicated to them. Making a Black Panther bust before characters like that or even someone like Batman sends a very clear message, IMO. If it was about popularity or even who has a movie coming out, we would have seen Spider-Man and Batman before Black Panther. 

Not to mention, if this set would have existed either way because the first Black Panther movie made so much money, are we going to be getting one of these for Captain Marvel next summer? I'd put money on that not happening. Captain Marvel also made a ton of money for an initial solo superhero movie (although obviously Black Panther's cultural impact was much bigger), yet there's no helmet, mech, or even any retail set centered on Carol Danvers apart from the one for her movie. So yeah, I don't really buy the excuse that we got a Black Panther bust because the first movie was successful. I like this set but I don't think LEGO should have made it, and honestly they should be donating a portion of the profits to colon cancer research or doing something similar because I don't think this set paints them in a positive light. 

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10 minutes ago, GoldenNinja3000 said:

I don't think Black Panther should have gotten a life-sized bust over more popular characters, but how are people claiming he isn't top 5 most popular? He's top 5 based on box office alone. I don't think that's a good enough reason to give him a $350 set, but Black Panther is undeniably popular and has had a massive impact on popular culture in a short period of time. I understand LEGO's reasoning in that regard, I just don't buy that Black Panther is a more popular character than Iron Man or Spider-Man, especially when it comes to toy sales.

Box office isn't the only metric of popularity. Personally I'd guess the top 5 goes Spidey (at the top no matter what), then in no particular order, iron man, hulk, wolverine, and captain America. He's popular, sure, but I wouldn't say he's THAT popular.

I'd compare his popularity to harley quinn. Around for decades (though of course he was around much longer than harley), but has a sudden spike in popularity in the 2010s due to a movie. And while people can agree harley's popular, I don't think anyone would put her above, like, Batman/superman/wonder woman/flash/joker or whoever the 5 most popular DC characters are. (of course, I think black panther's cool and that being a more mainstream avenger now is good, whereas harley's newfound popularity makes me uneasy for some reason)

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4 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Nobody knows at this point. Could be the $500 set, one that got cancelled, or there was some sort of mix-up (BP bust D2C + minifig-scale Hulkbuster in 2023 = Hulkbuster D2C :laugh_hard:)

4 hours ago, 1340cc said:

I think at that price the only thing that people would be happy with is a large modular style Avengers tower, or maybe a Helicarrier remake.

At this stage, I don't think an Avengers Tower or Helicarrier $500 set would be enough to quell the frustration of the poor allocation of budget of this year. At least if it's the Hulkbuster MKII I've mentally accepted that because we've had a year of being told it was happening and it's a logical progression that if they made a Hulkbuster MKI they would eventually get around to the Hulkbuster MKII.

If we get an Avengers Tower or Helicarrier I'd be finding myself questioning why the other sets are such a mismash of random nonsense, whereas I can more easily justify the set if its based on the Infinity War Hulkbuster. That way we'd at least have the duality of a Black Panther set and an Infinity War set, both films releasing the same year - presumably Ragnarok would have been represented by Thor's Hammer which was destroyed in that film. The Sanctum also fitting due to that being where Bruce Banner crashes and the resulting conflict.

I worry immensely for the knock-on effect this year's sales will have on future years. Last year's sets were based on movies that underperformed so I expect the merchandise would reflect that. This year they are spending a lot on expensive sets that may not pay off for the theme. I really hope the poor sales of the Black Panther Bust set (Judging by less than 10% considering buying it according to Brickset survey out of 2046 responses at time of writing) don't prevent them taking risks and adapting other things on a large scale.

56 minutes ago, GoldenNinja3000 said:

I don't think Black Panther should have gotten a life-sized bust over more popular characters, but how are people claiming he isn't top 5 most popular?

He would'nt be in my top 5 honestly, even if we are only picking characters from the MCU.

If I had to pick MCU characters that should have been chosen instead it'd be Iron Man (With Arc Reactor/Nano Gaunlet), Captain America (With Shield), Loki (With Sceptre), Thanos (With Infinity Gauntlet) or Spider-man (With Web Shooter)

Edited by Scarilian

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I can see why they would do a Black Panther bust now ahead of any other superheroes. The release of Black Panther 2 will be the last time the character is culturally relevant enough to have this kind of set work. Compare that to Iron Man where they could release the bust in literally any year.

 

Having said that I don't really like the direction is going by catering to non lego audiences but I understand. The average person can happily display a set or two in their home so making sets that appeal to lots of different demographics makes sense when their core demographic runs out of shelf space. I just don't know if that is how it will work out in practise 

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In respect to speculation about the other rumored D2C, my two cents are that if it was also something Black Panther I'd be much more interested in a location-based set based on the gorgeous Afrofuturistic scenery and architecture of Wakanda than in a mere vehicle.

Granted, this probably doesn't count for much since I don't really buy Marvel sets. But if I were a designer that's what I'd prefer to be working on, especially at a high price point like the rumored one.

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Seeing Falcon's Instagram asking for users to remark on if they would get the Black Panther Bust or Bowser really emphasised how much of a mistep this set actually is.

• Over-sized version of pre-existing Lego set styles (Helmet/Gaunlets)
• Looks good only from the front
• Primarily black so will be a dust magnet (Could have easily adapted the purple power-up to vary it more)
• No play features
• Is not poseable
• It has no figures
• Scales with nothing
• UK pricing is ridiculous at £299.99

Comparing this to Bowser... yikes. Bowser is a unique concept, looks awesome from every angle, has a wide range of colours, several play features including shooting fire, can pose, while it lacks a figure the set is a figure, it scales well with the Mario brickfig and it's priced at £229.99.

Why on earth would anyone buy the Black Panther Bust instead of Bowser given both are releasing October 1st? Like I've barely any connection with Mario and brought none of the other Lego Mario sets, but that set looks awesome compared to this.

Edit:

  • Added the updated list.
  • Also, for anyone wondering, I guess this potentially could mean the information about the $500 set we have is not accurate due to confusing contradictory information. This could imply the $500 set is unknown completely which might put options back on the table or the $500 set could include or feature the Hulkbuster MKII... I guess we'll have to wait till around mid October or later to discover the truth if the $500 set does indeed release in November.

Updated List:

  Hide contents

OCTOBER:

  • 76211: Shuri's Sunbird
  • 76212: Shuri's Lab
  • 76213: King Namor's Throne Room
  • 76214: (Wakanda Forever; 80€, 545 pcs)
  • 76215: Black Panther

NOVEMBER:

2022 SETS WITH UNKNOWN RELEASE DATES:

HULKBUSTER MKII:

Originally reported as being 76215 by Promobricks in Winter 2021 with more details relayed later, this set number has been taken by the Black Panther Bust and it's unclear if the Hulkbuster MKII is actually going to be a set in 2022 or early 2023. Falcon speculated this is the $500 D2C that is releasing in November, however conflicting reports have implied that set might be a Wakandan vehicle. For the moment the nature of the Hulkbuster MKII rumors and information regarding it is unknown.

JANUARY 2023:

  • 76232: (Revealed on Lego Instruction page listed as a Marvel 2023 set)
  • 76241: Hulk Mech $14.99
  • 76242: Thanos Mech $14.99 (Revealed on Lego Instruction page listed as a Marvel 2023 set)
  • 76243: Rocket Mech $14.99
  • 76244: Miles Morales Vs. Morbius $24.99 (Revealed on Lego Instruction page listed as a Marvel 2023 set)
  • 76245: Ghost Rider with Mech & Bike $34.99
  • 76247: Hulkbuster: The Battle of Wakanda $49.99
  • 76248: The Avengers Quinjet $99.99

MARCH 2023:

  • 10789 (Spider-man & His Amazing Friends themed) $9.99
  • 10790 (Spider-man & His Amazing Friends themed) $34.99
  • 10791 (Spider-man & His Amazing Friends themed) $49.99

APRIL 2023:

  • 76253: (GotG themed) $9.99
  • 76254: (GotG themed) $34.99
  • 76255: (GotG themed) $99.99

Rumored sets:

  • Additional NWH set/Movie-inspired Spider-man sets - nothing confirming the existence of the sets, but heavily desired by the community

Notes:

  • Unidentified sets may wind up being from DC, please be aware
  • Currency listings are taken from a variety of sources and may vary, in most cases these are rounded
Edited by Scarilian

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25 minutes ago, Scarilian said:

Worse still you have to factor in that the Black Panther Bust is priced the same as actual 1:1 lifesizes busts of Black Panther that were released in 2020... and this set is not even 1:1 scale (That bust also had features)

Just a quick fact check, the non-Lego bust you linked is priced at $760, not $300. Customers had the option to pay it off in two installments of $300 and $460, or one installment of $760. It also had a limited run of just 600 units. So the Lego version is, in fact, much less expensive and much more accessible than the highly naturalistic non-Lego version.

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50 minutes ago, icm said:

Just a quick fact check, the non-Lego bust you linked is priced at $760, not $300. Customers had the option to pay it off in two installments of $300 and $460, or one installment of $760. It also had a limited run of just 600 units. So the Lego version is, in fact, much less expensive and much more accessible than the highly naturalistic non-Lego version.

My mistake, have removed that comparison.

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