[REVIEW] 76009 Superman: Black Zero Escape

[Plissken]

Name: Superman: Black Zero Escape

Setnumber: 76009

Theme: DC Superheroes

Year: 2013

Parts: 168

Minifig: 3

Price: €26,99

Last monday the new Superheroes sets were added at the german Shop@Home site including all three Man of Steel sets. Without hesitation I ordered the middlesized set because of the three main characters and the nice selection of parts it seems to include. Here is my review. Enjoy.

First of all the box. Front with action filled scene of the complete set. The side shows the new Superman figure in all its detailed glory. At the back you get another view of the set with some explanations of the main playfeatures. The sliding door was a little surprise for me.

The content of the box. Two numbered bags, one comicbook, one instruction booklet and a small DSS.

The DSS. I didn't apply the stickers so don't look for them on the complete model.

The comicbook with random page. A lot of action in it and I think it contains a few spoilers for the final film.

The instruction manual. Some picture as the box front. Also a random page.

Contents of bag one without minigfigs. Nice part selection.

The new gun. Cool piece. A great addition to every minifig arsenal.

The two figures from bag one, Superman and Zod. Both figures got backprinting and doublesided faces. Notice the similarities on both bodies. A nice touch to show their same birthplanet.

Zods body armour. Great pieces and usefull for any sci-fi themed figure. Really lovely.

Full suited.

The build of the base? I don't know where this place is located (inside a ship/spacestation?) but I hope the film will give an explanation. Very plain in my opinion with unexciting features.

Spare parts. Nothing special.

Contents of bag two without minifig. Again, very nice selection.

Pieces of interest. SNOT! Nuff said.

Lois Lane. Nice printig on both sides and a doublesided face. The hairpiece is ok, but I think there would be a more accurate piece for the character. More on this later.

Now onto the escape pod. Pretty simple build with some nice snotting. The overall look is ok but there are a few big gaps at the front.

Base

Main body

One of two sidepanels with nice details, but wait...

... its all covered up by two slopes as you can see on the model. Why? Shameless waste of pieces.

The back of the pod with lots of thrusters.

Complete pod with Lois.

Spare parts. Again nothing special except the trans 1x1 round plate.

The complete set with minifigs.

All figures together. Sweet lineup.

Comic and Movie version comparision. Notice the identical face.

Now to a little bonus feature. Both, Superman and Lois, got hairpieces that didn't fit their movie versions well. For example Supes didn't sport the "s" curl in the movie. Here I tried a few alternate looks for both characters.

Supes

Lois, more movie accurate.

Lois, comic version.

Final thoughts

Playability: 5/10

A few playfeatures but nothing exciting. Without the movie there is not much to see and the set feels a little plain. Where is it? What is it? Questions which hurt the score.

Minifig: 9/10

The three main characters with great details and looks. Only the choice of hairpieces could have been better.

Parts: 9/10

Great selection of parts in nice colours and the fantastic body armour and gun makes this set interesting.

Price: 6/10

It is a little bit high for such a mediocre set. There is some shameless part use which could have been used better or cheapen the price.

Total: 31/40 Score is better than imagined but the sellpoint to it are the minifigs, the armour and gun. As a parts pack it is ok, as a set to display it lacks excitment.

[Cammo]

Yeah I think the Cocoon thing and the base are part of the big ship and Lois escapes with the Cocoon/pod/whatever.

I think Superman is more movie accurate when you use Zod's hairpiece. (Although I understand LEGO for using their Superman hairpiece.) Still not sure whether I should buy the cheapest set or this one...

Nice review but I'm still not convinced

Edited April 19, 2013 by Cammo

[Plissken]

I know what you mean.

The funny thing is that the comic uses totally different and more accurate hairpieces for Zod and Superman. I spoiled myself and looked through the comic.

The Black Zero seems to be the big ship of Zod and his soldiers. The dropship in the Smallville set is just a part of it. A scene depicts Lois' escape from the mothership. It makes a little bit more sense now ;)

By the way EB staff, thank you very much for frontpaging my review. It's a honor.

[Clone OPatra]

This review hasn't changed my mind - this is definitely the set to get out of the three. Yeah, the set itself is pretty cruddy, but it has some ok pieces and the minifigures are all you need. Supes, Lois, and Zod with full armor included; it seems like a bad decision on LEGO's part, but being able to get the full Zod armor in this set really makes me turn a blind eye to the bigger one. Superman might not look that much like the movie version (and Lois doesn't either, for that matter), but I didn't get the older Supes set anyway so I welcome him and his iconic Superman hair.

One thing I notice that's a little unusual for the figures - both Zod's and Lois' mouths seem farther from their eyes than normal minifigures. Kind of weird, given that the actor who plays Zod has a somewhat chubby face.

[Drock]

Nice review, Plissken. Thanks! Yeah, you didn't change my mind either. I have planned on just getting the Smallville set and not the other two. I can do without Lois since there isn't anything that special about the figure. Plus, to me, Lois will always have black hair. I much prefer last year's 6862 Superman, but can't fault LEGO for following the movie look.

The pod doesn't look so bad. Not as much of a jumbled mess like I first thought. The command center is meh. How do the flick fires work? Are they fired differently than the usual ones we get? I see they've used the cross-axle like its 2007

Zod's armor is just lovely.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

The characters are lovely but the set is not cheap!

[newwavejunkie]

Great review, Plissken! This is the MOS set I am definitely buying. I'm still debating whether to get the Battle of Smallville. I agree with you that Lois could use a better hairpiece. Her torso his great but her face, like many of TLG's recent licensed female characters in the Super Heroes lines, is absolutely hideous. She's like Black Widow's even uglier twin. TLG really needs to stop doing the weird cheek lines thing. Does anyone have any suggestions on a more appropriate replacement head for Lois (or Black Widow for that matter)? I'm thinking Elizabeth Swann.

[strangely]

The MOS variation of Superman has grown on me, I now prefer it to last years version (Really the shade of blue they used kind of won me over, it just looks better to me). The set in itself isn't too bad, it just lacks anything of real originality (Looks like the Galidor ship to me).

It's also weird how Zod has a brown goatee, but black eyebrows and hair. Also the hairpiece in general just doesn't fit.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a more appropriate replacement head for Lois (or Black Widow for that matter)? I'm thinking Elizabeth Swann.

If you want a comic version of Lois use Wonder Women's head and a black hairpiece. For an Amy Adams version you might try Pepper Potts head or Ginny's head. Leia's head might be a suitable replacement for Black Widows head (Seems to have the attitude of the character).

Edited April 19, 2013 by strangely

[just2good]

Thanks for the fantastic review 'Plissken'!

This set is okay, but probably one of the weaker $20 sets in the past year or so. Can you please post a picture of the side of the box? Does it have realistic artwork of Superman?

[BrickG]

If the movie is good I'll have no choice but to get all the sets despite the fact that the builds kind of suck.

[305Bats]

If the movie is good I'll have no choice but to get all the sets despite the fact that the builds kind of suck.

Why? I loved The Avengers movie.but I didn't get any of the sets.

[Kez]

Thanks for the great review, I'm definitely going to get this set aswell as the other 2 superman ones.

[Catanas]

The new version of Superman has certainly grown on me, even though I really disliked it when we were shown the first image. He looks fine in Lego too and Zod is a great figure. Lois, however, I do not like. The face just doesn't feel right at all, and as others have said, the hair could have been better. The set itself seems fine and is a nice little representation of what I read the set to be based on. It has some nice play features for its primary audience and nice parts and minifigures for the adults! I'll probably pick up Smalliville before this though. Thanks for the great review. :)

[Leo604]

Not sure how much I like this; the ridiculous price plus, as you said, the mediocre features aren't too convincing. I'll probably just pick up the 76002 for the minifigs.

Thanks for the review!

[SteampunkDoc]

Ha! The different hairs in the comic are ironic.

Anyway, thanks for the great review, I was planning on getting this anyway, but large detailed pictures are always helpful.

The movie accurate hair pieces looks great on Superman, and especially Lois. I'm really liking the MoS Superman figure, and just everything about Zod is really cool as well.

(The mouth line on the main face tends to blend in with the beard and make that area look really odd.)

I too am confused about the covered up details on the pod, but that just means I'll be ripping off the covers.

That new gun is fantastic, And while the building is lack-luster, this is a must-buy set.

Thanks again!

[Esurient]

Love those minifigures. Now I really want this set...

[Ceroknight]

Thank you for the early review!

The minifigures are pretty awesome but the rest of the set seem rather dull..

I don't really care for Lois Lane but that armour..

[Only Sinner]

Nice review, but I'm not sure I'm going to get this set. Without having seen the move scene depicted here, It's hard to say how accurate the build is. So far, I don't much care for it. The miniifigures being the set's most redeeming quality, could have been much better with more accurate hairpieces.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the excellent review 'Plissken', the figures are great, the pod nice but the other feature....seems like a corner cut to meet a price point again.

I'll buy it......I'm a sucker for super hero sets now days second to city ones that is.

Brick On Review On 'Plissken' !

[KZB]

I still think last years superman set was better than all 3 new, I'll maybe pick up the smallest one for the movie version of superman and zod

[larsyuipo]

wow thats amazing cant wait till the battle of smalville showcase at youtube or eurobricks

[Captain Nemo]

Thanks for the review!

I personally like this set, as well as the other ones, so I'll be getting this. I like the look of the ship, and while I wish that in some way it could hook up to the larger "mother ship", I think it's good either way. I am interested still however to see what Zod looks like with only the torso armor on without the helmet. Could you take a picture of that?

[larsyuipo]

cant wait to have soe man of steel sets

[Plissken]

Thank you all for the comments. Very appreciated.

I am interested still however to see what Zod looks like with only the torso armor on without the helmet. Could you take a picture of that?

I will take a picture of it tomorrow and post it here. One big letdown for this look is that no hairpiece will fit on the head. The torso armour is to high on the back.

[Captain Nemo]

I will take a picture of it tomorrow and post it here. One big letdown for this look is that no hairpiece will fit on the head. The torso armour is to high on the back.

Ohhh...ok. Well that sucks. Very bad design on Lego's part then.