Scarilian

After some time, the only parts where I feel it failed are the Torso and Head. Every other aspect is done fairly well in terms of design, it's just a matter of some of the angles and small aspects like the shoulder pads not being orientated. If it was a more realistic price, say £400 for 4049 pieces + three light bricks + exclusive figure + Stand. Thinking it could be anything drastically lower is probably unrealistic given comparisons such as Bowser.

Welp... it tried I guess? If this was £400 then maybe, but £500-£550'ish depending on inflation and currency aspects? Nah. A lot of the problems seem to be because they based it on this die-cast design (left) which had a lot of innacurate aspects primarily concerning the shoulders. I'll give more thoughts later when I've had time to process whatever this is... at the moment I'm disappointed.

We have a lot of the 2023 set list and it appears all the film tie-in stuff is 1HY meaning we won't get any in 2HY with Blade now shifting. Seemingly nothing new film related between July 2023 and potentially May 2024. "it's more a hope that Lego had something planned" for that period that will have the mass appeal needed to keep people invested in the theme for a gap of over 10 months where we won't get a new MCU film for them to base sets on - e.g. legacy sets

Spider-man 4 is currently rumored to be July 2024, so if we are getting NWH sets they'd probably have to be between 2HY 2023 and 2HY 2024 otherwise they probably won't bother. Lego sets are generally based around accessibility to concept art. I'd guess that the concept art would probably be carried over to whoever the new director is that they find. Similarly, some action scenes will have already been planned out as Marvel normally have a seperate team direct the action for films - especially if they are CGI intensive. I think it'll probably wind up being mostly accurate in terms of locations, but figures have the largest chance of being varied - other than Blade as his design and outfit has probably been selected already so they can do CGI models of him for fights. True, I can't see them say pushing a 2024 set into 2023, but it's more a hope that Lego had something planned. Yep, typo. Fixed it. End of next week would be my earliest guess of an official reveal. If it leaks prior, that's cool I guess, but I think they'd want to capitalize on it with a reveal before November.

@Moon_Knight@Legocentrico Thanks, glad I could help :) I'd generally expect we'll see the Hulkbuster between the 21st October (2 weeks prior to VIP release on the 4th) and the 1st November (Store Calendar Release Day). If we get any leaks prior to that, it would be nice, but I think considering the mixed opinions on pricing perhaps seeing it officially revealed will help re-assure people interested in the set. Yeah, trying to think of what the appeal would be and that's the only thing I could come up with - the idea of the molded Rocket Raccoon being used to justify the pricing more-so than the standard Lego figure hence the decreased piece count compared to other mechs? 2023: Ant-Man 3, Guardians 3, Captain Marvel 2 2024: Captain America 4, Thunderbolts, Blade, Deadpool 3 2025: Fantastic Four, Avengers 5, Unknown Film, Unknown Film 2026: Unknown Film, Avengers 6 I really hope we wind up getting accurate sets for the future films without having to wait ages. As such our 2023 Calendar has opened up a bit, February, May and July have films but that's it. Our film-based sets will be very front year heavy - so I hope Lego have some legacy sets planned to keep us on our toes from July 2023 to May 2024. This would be a perfect time for Legacy sets to release... if Lego is hopefully giving us more of those.

Yep, price increased seemingly. I'd lean to the Rocket Raccoon probably being originally worth the $9.99 value despite the low piece count given the nature of the Rocket Raccoon figure, given it's not a normal Lego Minifigure and normally includes a head/shoulder molded piece and a molded tail piece. Price increase means that unless the Rocket Raccoon figure is unique then it's probably not worth it unless it goes on discount. I'd also expect this wave of mechs to potentially introduce a new joint piece for the hips as a lot of the delays seemed to be because of attempts to replicate the function of a potential '2x1 Mixel plate joint piece with a ball joint on either end' which would effectively be a 2x1 Mixel plate version of this piece:

Yee, it's a little tricky keeping track as sometimes the reports of things comes from a variety of places, but this is a list of all we know so far. I'm gonna try and keep this tradition going but we're only expecting a singular set (D2C Hulkbuster) remaining this year.

Lego though... Yeah, it's a matter of whatever the $550 set is needs to justify the pricing either via its design or its adaptation and it needs to be something the audience is familiar with.

Yeah, in terms of things that'd make logical sense at that point it's solely the Helicarrier. Avengers/Stark Tower and X-Men Mansion are the only others I'd lean to including at that price point depending on level of detail and/or figure selections.

I'd buy a $550 Hulkbuster... the only issue I have with this one is that it's not priced relative to the piece count. If this was 5,000 or 6,000 pieces for $550 then that'd be something. Instead its $550 for 4049 pieces which makes the pricing seem unfortunate. You can justify large prices based on a mixture of how they appeal to people and what the set actually features. I think the concept alone of a 60cm tall mech is going to be something people will flock to Lego stores to see displayed, even if they don't buy it. This could be something that people will want to see even if they cannot justify the purchase. It simply appeals to aspects I've always been invested in such as Iron Man, Technology, Mechs, etc... so I can make this purchase a lot easier in the same way your example of a Star Wars fan would view the UCS Star Destroyer, whereas to me it's just a large gray triangle with greebling. I will concede, that the Hulkbuster is not normally a concept that I'd think would require a $550 set however I'm certain it could be handled well and interest people if done correctly. I'm still leaning towards the idea that this Hulkbuster will be in-scale with (And potentially fit) the Iron Man buildable figure we got from earlier this year, which would be some level of justification for the size and to an extent the pricing. It'd also fit with remarks that this set may have been delayed, in which case releasing this sooner alongside the buildable Iron Man figure may have convinced people more to pick up both. Sentinel, Celestials and Galactus are less well known and did not feature in a popular movie and associated with a popular character; Iron Man/Tony Stark. It'd be worse for them to make a set based on those without prior confirmation of consumer interest. The Hulkbuster we had from 2015 presumably sold extremely well despite people having critiques and presumably the larger scale and piece count will be to address a lot of these critiques.

I think this may be partially a factor as to why they've not adapted from anything other than 'What If...?' and only briefly touched on Loki, TF&TWS and WandaVision in the CMF series. A lot of these shows don't have a basis to judge how succesful they would be and how much they'd sell, it's a massive risk for Lego to cover Marvel media that may get less exposure. You also need to factor in the amount of new figures that would be needed to cover all these new characters, potential branding and licensing, shifting release dates of the Disney+ shows and the question of how much material they would get from each show in the form of concept art. It makes the most sense for them to focus on the movies and maybe branch into the occasional figure from the shows if that character is pre-established or popular. A lot of these characters will show up in the movies or in larger roles later on, so it makes no sense for Lego to take the risk now as opposed to waiting.

The original D2C Hulkbuster I believe still sold well and a lot of feedback was given as to what the community wanted and many of those remarks could likely only be fixed by increasing the size/scale to allow for improved detailing. To me an updated version makes a lot of sense in that context. I'd buy it, probably still will if I can time it with discounts and things - the only problem I have at the moment is the price per piece ratio. 4049 pieces for $550 is too much, even if these are indeed massive pieces. $450 would have been ideal given the licensing. A 60cm tall Lego modifiable potentially posable mech sounds pretty awesome to me - even if I don't keep it as the Hulkbuster. Especially if it could be modified.

It's too late, you've activated the monkey paw and now we are gonna get a $550 Infinity War Hulkbuster MK2 next year now instead of Avengers Tower :p

I think the D2C's and big sets were probably meant as a celebration - though it seems we may have legacy sets in early 2023 with the Quinjet & Hulkbuster Battle For Wakanda presumably along with others.

Well, about that... Promobricks have posted in their story claiming it is the Hulkbuster MK1 with an image of the AoU Hulkbuster. I think this matches with some remarks I've heard that it may blend aspects of both designs and the 'MK2' in the title may just refer to it being the second attempt at the Hulkbuster MK1 design.

@Mattallica You don't need to apologize and I was not trying to imply you were specifically addressing a user. I just find it unfortunate that thanks to false aspects and confusion a lot of faith and trust has been lost to the point where people are doubting everything. I'd expect this also honestly, given they were the very first place to report on it all the way back in November 2021. Either way, it'll probably be a little while between when they tease something and when they deliver. Alternatively, Brick_Clicker recently remarked on 'one more thing' from the Lego vault implying the return of another classic theme and the Thanos gif from Promobricks is him opening a vault...

It'll probably a box with the visuals of the canister for nostalgia purposes. The days of canisters are probably behind us due to display on shelves and cost to manufacture unique containers. If that leak is real, it appears to be based heavily on the original 2001 Tahu. No hand for the flame sword, large clawed other hand, large feet for stability, etc... I could see the implied combo model on the back also hinting towards being able to combine it, potentially into Tahu Nuva which would bulk the chests to make the feet seem more in-scale. The image is still available online. Searching 'Bionicle Leak 2023' will probably allow you to find what people are referring to.

I'd guess original intent was just to have Bionicle represented in some form in the 90th anniversary The method of judging interest this time would presumably be slightly different such as if sales fluctuate during the GWP time? Does the GWP sell out? How is the community reacting to brick-built Bionicle? If it's accepted as a Bionicle set by the community similar to how people ended up gravitating towards the small Tahu from the 90th anniversary classic set then Lego may be more willing to give it a full brick-built revival. Though I'd still lean to that not happening until late 2025 which would also be the 25th anniversary year for Bionicle and the best time to attempt a full revival. Same, If I end up getting the Hulkbuster MKII, then I may end up waiting till the Bionicle GWP is released. If we are lucky the Bionicle GWP will release February alongside the Marvel Polybag - though I believe it's more likely we see it in January instead. It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility, so we should'nt rule it out completely. It's possible it was planned to be released sooner alongside the 90th anniversary celebration stuff and pushed back. If it is that version from a few months ago it may have suffered similar design problems to the Lego Marvel Mechs which resulted in them getting delayed as it seems to use a similar connection method for the legs to connect to the body.

Shall need to see it I suppose. I don't mind it being a little overpriced and cutting it down with VIP points and trying to time it with some promotions I'm interested in, but I'd rather not have a $550 Hulkbuster that looks and feels like it's $300 worth. I hope this viewpoint won't be reflected in the set itself. Edit: I'd lean to the $300 price just being from the Black Panther Bust and getting mixed up. Original price was probably going to be around $450-$500. $450 for 4049 pieces and an exclusive figure, I guess I could see that happen. Marvel license makes me doubt we'd get a $300 set with 4049 pieces, especially when that set is the Hulkbuster. $450 would be more likely but it's went through two price rises since. Updated List: It may be best holding off till later honestly if you intend to buy it, save you spending on other things to get a promotional aspect and/or timing it around VIP points or sales. November has a Black Friday event from the 25th to the 28th and Cyber Monday event on the 28th December usually has something VIP point related January (?) has a Bionicle GWP - 40580: Buildable Tahu (?) February has a Marvel Polybag - 30652: (Polybag?, 44 pcs)

I understand the general sentiment of questioning some sources and leakers which is a healthy mindset to have, don't get me wrong on that, but in this case we are less than a month from release and the timing should be taken into account. It makes no sense for any credible leaker such as Brick_Clicker to make a false statement and risk their reputation on something that they could wait for. If they wanted to do as you said, they could have simply stated the name of the set and the set number (we already knew about) and relayed nothing else and people would have praised them later if it was accurate, this would have been a way to do an opinion or guess and still take credit. Instead Brick_Clicker has given us a new release date, piece count, pricing, description of content and the scale of the set itself. It makes no sense for them to lie while providing all that information at this stage because it'd just destroy their reputation later in less than 32 days, potentially even within the next two or three weeks as we'd probably see a leak or something mid/late month. The D2C was an anomaly, everything we had was correct information, the trouble was it all got attributed together rather than viewed seperately: We had the name, size and figure count of the Hulkbuster MK2 We had the pricing, piece count and set number of the Black Panther Bust We had the nature of the Black Panther 'War On The Water' set as a vehicle The trouble is when it was relayed varying pieces were compiled together such as promobricks where we had the correct pricing, numbering and piece count of the Black Panther Bust set since November 2021 YET this was labelled along with the correct information for the Hulkbuster MK2, its figure count and scale as the Hulkbuster MK2 information. With each new bit of information we tried to latch it together with existing guidelines rather than realizing the original guidelines were incorrect. We never considered that the remarks about a Black Panther Vehicle could have been directed at the missing Black Panther WF wave set because we'd latched that to being one of the D2C's already.

Pretty hyped, I'd guess this is just a promotional thing as an acknowledgement of Bionicle as part of the 90th anniversary celebrations but it could give us a clue to a potential G3 revival of how it'd be handled. If people respond well to this and show interest in this GWP then hopefully it'll send a message to Lego for them to give a brick-built Bionicle series a go (As CCBS/Technic focus is unlikely). It also allows them to source from a range of pre-existing pieces while also potentially giving us new moulded pieces that are compatable with multiple themes. Probably going to wind up being with a purchase of $100 or something. If so, that version included Takua, it'd be neat getting two characters and potentially some combo mode? Printed masks would be nice also.

We are definitely getting the Hulkbuster and Brick_Clicker is a credible leaker. It's a bit depressing that people are questioning leakers so much at this stage. The set will be revealed officially in less than a month and likely will leak before that. People won't have long to wait and we've had Avengers Tower ruled out for months.

Black Panther WF Trailer 2 dropped while typing this: The previous Hulkbuster was 1,363 pieces with approximately 1,000 pieces used on the primary build and was about 25cm tall. This one is 4,049 pieces and it's seemingly entirely on the Hulkbuster. If the generalized remarks were accurate in the past referring to it being 'double the size' then this could be close to 50-60cm tall. For a sense of potential scale based on such remarks, we could be looking at something the same size as the Hulkbuster MK2 Power Pose which is 50cm tall. Hopefully this helps put into perspective why it may still potentially be worth your money even if the piece count/price seems daunting. Given the scale the Brick-Built Iron Man we got earlier this year might be in-scale with this Personally, I'm probably one of the few people who would really like to get an iconic large scale Hulkbuster for display and sheer size of a massive Lego mech and even I'm a little disappointed with it if it winds up being the Infinity War MK2 version after all. That version was barely used and generally has a less iconic design in my view. I've heard some remarks that it may be more of a blend between the MK1 and MK2 design elements that's simply labelled as the MK2 so more of its own thing but I'm not sure that's a positive if it decreases the accuracy of the set. The piece count is definitely the main problem with this set and the rise in costs makes it an almost impossible sell for people. Some information may have been crossed with other sets/rumours at the time. The original description of 'double the size' presumably led to them linking the piece count of the Black Panther Bust set (2,961 pieces) to the Hulkbuster info - given the previous Hulkbuster was 1,363 pieces including all the random other things. The Bruce Banner stuff may have been either speculation or crossed wires with the smaller scale Hulkbuster MK2 that's releasing in January. Likely Bruce Banner is included in that set potentially along with other figures.

TLDR: $550 (Inflation is a pain, originally intended to be $500) 4049 pieces, many of these are big pieces. Is big/tall Tony Stark figure, the one we've seen 4049 pieces for $550 is kinda crazy and that's before price fluctuations based on locations. I think $550 is a very difficult sell, $500 would be a much easier sell judging via just the price to parts ratio but even that would have been a little over what the cost should be which would be more logical at around $450. HOWEVER I'm aware the pieces for this set are big. This is going to be a big Hulkbuster. I think the scale could help convince people once they see it. I've saved up £50 on VIP points and hopefully it's going to wind up being part of a double/triple VIP points or maybe associated with some November promotions that can be sold to recoup some of the cost. I'd encourage everyone not to dismiss it just yet. Let us see images first, especially ones that help to demonstrate the scale of the set. It may be the AoU Hulkbuster Mark 2 (E.g. a re-do of the MK48) as opposed to a Hulkbuster Mark 2 judging from comments that have been relayed it sounds like it's combining elements of both so it's not a direct adaptation of one version or the other despite the title. In terms of the Price Per Piece the pieces are big. The set is big. The inflation is a massive pain and it will negatively impact sales, but I do think from what I've heard that it would have been something I could see people dropping $500 on. In terms of the figure, as per the first point I would not write it off entirely. It's intentionally a variation of a figure most people already have because Lego are trying to stray away from the complaint of really important figures being locked behind high priced sets - which is why it's from a very short scene in AoU and barely of any focus. Great for collectors but not a massive miss for fans and casual fans have alternatives. Hopefully we get official images soon. Makes sense, globally most places are in a bad financial position and an expensive set is going to be difficult even ignoring other factors.

According to a survey by Falconfan1414 on Instagram, the Black Panther Bust is apparently not selling too well so far. We've already talked about the bust a lot, but is anyone here buying it? The scale is a lot bigger given the Dragon Flyers are in scale so its much more likely to be a futuristic aircaft carrier taking inspiration from the luxury yacht. The trouble is at its core its another black and gray build, they were probably working on concept art and the final design is probably black and gray, but it's not visually engaging. The design may look better in the movie, but Lego charging a ridiculous amount for it certainly won't help with the sales. If this was cheaper, then maybe, but the original design inspiration does not save the set itself from looking bland. While the article is from October 2nd 2022, the transcript it and you are referencing is a Brick Fanatics article from December 23rd 2021 back when we had the rumours of us getting some legacy sets inspired by the Raimi Series. That rumour turned out to be false. Our next chance to get Spider-man: No Way Home sets is 2HY 2023. It's already been remarked on that we won't get any in 1HY 2023. Personally, considering how many new characters would be required I doubt we'll end up seeing No Way Home legacy sets at all, as you'd need Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Lizard, Electro, Sandman, Tobey Spider-man and Andrew Spider-man - that's quite a few figures and we are starting to reach the point of four/five films a year.