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Another year, another Comic Con, and as you probably know, TLG always likes to sell exclusive sets at these cons which are very popular. However, they are not the only exclusives being sold there. Another hugely popular SDCC exclusive are Funko's POP! vinyl figures. They are stylish, adorable representations of characters from various licenses. There are hundreds of them and collectors can't get enough of them. So, for this year's San Diego Comic Con, TLG seems to have decided to appeal to both LEGO and Funko fans by debuting their upcoming Brickheadz, a series of brick-built figures in a similar style to the POP! figs, just blockier. I was able to acquire one of the four sets that were available while I was at the con and it contains the stars of the latest Marvel blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War. So, do Lego bricks and the vinyl figure style go well together or do they clash like the two Marvel heroes did in the movie? Lets find out! Set Number: 41492 Name: Iron Man & Captain America Theme: Brickheadz Subtheme: Marvel Super Heroes Year of Release: 2016 Pieces: 184 Minifigs: 0 Price: $39.99 USD Links: Brickset Bricklink Before we begin, I would like to tell you about my experience at San Diego Comic Con. I have been going to this convention and its sister convention, Wondercon, for the past 3 years. I always enjoy it a lot as it is great to get together with other nerds and just geek out about the things you love. You can see everyone's cosplays, meet artists and celebrities, get sneak peeks for upcoming media, watch world premiere cartoons, and get neat stuff! However, with every passing year I have been noticing how increasingly crowded it has gotten, and the more crowded it got, the less enjoyable it has become. The first time I went to SDCC, I had no problem walking around, getting exclusives, and getting into the panels I wanted to see (except for the Marvel/DC ones in Hall H - those have always had a notoriously long line). But within just three years it has gotten to the point where navigating the exhibit hall is virtually impossible without pushing your way through masses of warm, sweaty people and you have to get in line for exclusives and panels multiple hours in advance to even stand a chance to enter them. I spent most of my time just standing in line in the hot summer sun and most of the time the exclusives were sold out or the panel was already over by the time I got halfway through the line, so I walked away with nothing but a bad sunburn and had to try my luck at the next line. The line for the exclusive minifigs stretched from one end of the convention center to the other and the worst thing is that most of the people were scalpers who were only there so they could sell them for ridiculous prices later. So while the panels and booths that I did get to see were great, I definitely think that TLG and the whole Comic Con team need to organize this event better somehow. Needless to say, I will think twice before I attempt to get an exclusive next time, if I even go at all. That said, after getting in line at 4 in the morning, getting lucky in the raffle, and standing in another line at the Lego booth to buy it for forty bucks, I did manage to get this set as a souvenir, so lets open this bad boy! The Box The set comes in a thick, shiny box which is much more sturdy than your average Lego box. The background transitions from a yellow/orange gradient on Iron Man's side to a black/red gradient on Captain America's side via a dot pattern which gives it that comic book feel. At the top of the front there is a big LEGO BRICKHEADZ logo and a little circle letting you know that this is a SDCC 2016 exclusive. Thanks yellow circle! I never would have guessed! The Brickheadz logo is a bit bland and the Z instead of an S seems a bit corny, but it's cute how they stylized the H to look like a Brickhead. On the bottom, there is the Marvel logo and labels for the two Brickheadz included in the set accompanied by a little icon for each of them which is a nice touch. The backside has a similar layout with the same logos, but what's fun is that the Brickheadz are shown from their backside here. It also features a picture that assures you that the figures are indeed removable from their base, and instead of the labels there is a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. The sides of the box continue the theme of showing the Brickheadz as if the box was see-through by showing Iron Man's right-hand side on the left side of the box and Cap's left-hand side on the right. Even on top of the box you see the top of the "headz" of the Brickheadz. However, on the bottom you don't see the bottom of the figs. It's just black and there is a fancy tape stretching across it with the Brickheadz logo and a shadowy impression of the eyes of a Brickhead printed on it. Now I'm going to do something that is probably unthinkable for all those scalpers at SDCC: I'm actually going to open and build this Lego set! The way you open the box is you cut the tape at the bottom and slide the cover off. Contents The box contains one instructions booket and one parts bag for each Brickhead. Much like the box, the bags are not the usual kind. You don't need to rip them open as they have an easy to open flap on the back. They also each have a sticker with some mysterious numbers on it. This is the first page of both of the instruction booklets. It shows both of the SDCC exclusive Marvel Brickheadz sets together on the left side and a teaser image for the upcoming Brickheadz line on the right which confirms the release date of the theme to be March 1st, 2017. The instructions are presented on a solid black background which provides a nice contrast and gives you the sophisticated feeling that you are putting together a collectible display item rather than a kids toy. The callouts are clear and the build is very simple as it only involves some basic SNOT. Good news! There are no stickers in this set! All the decals are printed, giving us a nice assortment of exclusive parts. The most notable printed piece is the black 2x4 tile with the Lego logo and the hashtag "LEGOSDCC" which there are two of in the set. It bugs me a little that they put a hashtag onto the set itself as it seems like a blatant attempt to get social media exposure for the event, but at least it marks it as an SDCC exclusive. Aside from Cap and Tony's torso and helmet pieces, there is also the new Brickheadz eye tile and Iron Man's eye tiles which are trans-light-blue 1x1 tiles with a simple white square printed on it. As always, the light printing on dark parts is not very strong, so things like the "LEGO" and "A" fonts are not as white as they could be. There are also some new recolors in this set such as the 1x2 plate with clip in red and the 1x1 round tile with small tube in white. The trans-clear stud with handle from the latest Spider-Man sets is included as well. Now we know where Spidey got that new web-shooter tech from. Assembling the Avengers You can start the build with either one of the Brickheadz. I'd like to build these in alphabetical order, so let's start with the guy who has a big "A" on his forehead. The parts contained in the bag for Captain America are the following. You start the build from the waste up and add the legs later on as you've seen on the sample instructions page earlier. Two round bricks serve as a center support for the torso. All of the SNOT is achieved by using the double brick with four studs on the side which was introduced earlier this year. The inner walls of the head are entirely comprised of them. What's funny is that in the center of the head they included a 2x2 brick in pink so that it looks like there is a brick-shaped brain inside of the brick-headz. Well played, designers. Here is the finished Captain. He looks quite adorable with that big head and glissening eyes. It's interesting that they made the highlights in his eyes square to stick with the brick theme of these figures. Next up is Iron Man. He has a few more parts as you can see in the lineup below. Iron Man's torso is similar to Cap's, but it's more intricate as it uses a lot of headlight bricks to attach his armor plating (or should I say tiling?). The inner structure is the same, including the brain brick which is the same size as that of any other Brickhead. I guess Tony is not so smart after all. After you add the plates around the head and add the legs, you're finished! Iron Man looks quite good with his armor tiles and repulsor beams, and the trans-light-blue showing around the eyes gives them that blue glow that they have in the movies which is an effect that the minifig version has yet to achieve. My only gripe is that the red strip on his forehead is interrupted by a yellow line, but that's excusable. The Completed Set Don't they look adorable together? It's hard to imagine these little guys starting a civil war. Both of them are based on their comic counterparts, so their costumes look very colorful, especially when standing next to each other. As you can see looking at them from the front, the boost from Iron Man's jet boots makes him stand one plate taller than Cap and all the other Brickheadz. Also, the use of tiles on his chest and slopes on his shoulders give the impression that he is wearing armor. The printing on both of their faces and torsos is very minimalist, but works with the simplified look that they're going for. For comparison, here is a picture of Funko's POP! versions of these characters. They look quite similar, don't they? TLG is not even trying to hide the fact that they are copying Funko's style. Captain America looks almost the same and the only difference on Iron Man is the use of standard black eyes (although they did use white eyes in the later movie versions of the character). I like how they used that white claw piece to represent the little wings on Cap's helmet. I can see them using the same technique for the Flash. I also like the way Iron Man holds his repulsor beams. This trans-clear stud with handle is a very useful part and I hope they use the same technique for the Iron Man minifig in future sets. Like in the comics, the printing on Cap's costume is exactly the same on the back as it is in the front. It's a bit lazy, but it's nice to see that he does have printing here, unlike Iron Man who is completely blank. They already printed so many parts in this set, so it would have been nice if they would have just printed these two tiles too. Cap's shield-holding hand is different from his left hand as it uses the 1x2 plate variant with the clip on the short side rather than the long side. This is supposed to give the arm an angled look which sort of works, although it does look a bit awkward. I should also mention that they are obviously top-heavy, especially Iron Man, so they tend to fall over backwards when they are not standing on a flat surface. However, this can be fixed by mounting them onto the center of their base. When I first saw these, I was hoping that their heads and arms were mounted on turntables so that you could pose them a little bit like you can with the Funko POPs, but alas this is not the case. They have zero points of articulation, making them decidedly more display items than toys. Here they are compared to their minifig counterparts. As you can see, they are about twice the size of a minifigure. Ratings Design: 5/5 - I think both of these figures look great. The designers managed to replicate the cute vinyl figure look fairly well while putting their own blocky spin on it, and the pink "brain" brick is a nice touch. Build: 2/5 - A very quick and easy build with nothing special aside from some basic SNOT. Nothing challenging. Playability: 1/5 - The Brickheadz don't have any articulation or play features, so they are clearly meant to be displayed rather than played with. Although the fact that the set includes two characters who have quite a history in both the comics and movies does allow for some role play. Parts: 4/5 - Most of the bricks included here are fairly common, but they're useful nonetheless. Some of the parts are exclusive to the set and all decals are printed which is always nice to see, although the lack of printing on Iron Man's back armor is disappointing. Price: 1/5 - I know I don't really have a right to complain since most people have to pay extortion prices on ebay to get these, but $40 for just 184 pieces is way too high already for me. When these are officially released, I hope that they cost only half as much or less. Overall: 3/5 - I have never bought a vinyl figure since I try to limit myself to collecting only one type of toy (#Lego4Life ), but I do see the charm that people see in them, so when it was announced that Lego will be making their own Funko-style figures, I was quite excited. While I don't think that Lego will become a serious competitor to Funko and other real vinyl figures, I do think that these Brickheadz are pretty cool on their own. Kids might not be interested in them due to their lack of playability, but some adult collectors like myself might find them charming. That said, I do not recommend getting this set, especially at aftermarket prices. It's just too much money for two little figures that might get released for a much more reasonable price in about half a year. The only special thing about it is the packaging and the hashtag-tiles. The only reason I got it was that I didn't want to leave the con empty-handed. In conclusion, while the process of acquiring these wasn't much fun and I payed more for them than I would've liked, I don't regret getting them as they do look rather nice and I look forward to see what TLG will do with this theme. I really like the Brickheadz style and might even build some of my own! I hope you enjoyed this review, and since it's the trendy thing to do this year, I added a poll above where you can vote for your favorite superhero, so go and vote! It's sure to be an easier choice than the presidential election this year. To end this review, there are so many jokes that could be made with these, but I'll settle for this one:
