GoldenNinja3000

Yeah... I wasn't ready to put the Black Panther set in that camp when it was revealed but I kinda agree after completing the build. It felt very weird to me and I completely lost steam by the end because of how unfinished and rough around the edges some areas are. I feel like it needed one more pass before it was released. It's definitely not up to the standards of other LEGO D2Cs build quality-wise, although it still looks awesome on display if you can ignore the gaps and colors peeking through the black.

I'm almost done building the Black Panther bust and it's honestly pretty disappointing. I was excited for it because I thought it was a nice display piece, and I still think that. But the design does seem to cut some corners. I understand that LEGO designers have to work with challenging restrictions and Mark Stafford did an incredible job here for the most part. But there are more gaps than I expected and several panels on the helmet are so loose that I had a hard time attaching them and keeping them in place. And while I love that pink and purple pieces make up the interior to represent glowing vibranium, those colors poke through a little bit in too many places. I don't know why some of them weren't done in black instead to prevent that color leaking through. Between this and the Hulkbuster, I think I need to re-evaluate which Marvel sets I buy. I've been a Marvel completionist for several years but these D2Cs have really disappointed me.

The elongated limbs would ruin that plan, though. The Talocans aren't 9 feet tall like the Na'vi. I think the only thing to do is buy a bunch of Attuma figures and leave the helmet off, but that's kinda boring. I wish LEGO had just made a Talocan soldier figure, or even Namora so you could have more of a fight. Namor and Attuma against Shuri's Sunbird and the Royal Sea Leopard isn't much of a fight.

Yeah, I don't expect to see Kang (or any other exclusive minifigure) in a polybag. We haven't gotten a true exclusive minifigure polybag for Marvel since 2017's Giant-Man Hank Pym. I do like that minifigure polybags are still a thing, but unless there's another video game I'm not expecting an exclusive minifigure.

That's exactly what I want for solo MCU movies: one set priced at $20-30 and one at $50-60. I don't like getting one $20-30 set per movie especially now that they're so big. All of Marvel's solo movies (after Shang-Chi) seem to be large-scale spectacles with too many important characters for only one set with 3 or 4 minifigures. That's why I'm excited for the Marvels set though. Since it's $90 I hope we get the main trio, Nick Fury, and the villain.

I thought the Yule Ball advent calendar was a sign of things to come. Basing them around strong themes like @Bugbot20082 suggested is such a perfect idea and that's why the 2020 calendar is (IMO) the best advent calendar LEGO's ever made. I didn't like last year's at all and this year's seems better but I haven't built it yet.

Not getting Kang in the set would suck, but it wouldn't be the end of the world since we know we'll get a minifigure of him in 2025. I hope we get Scott, Hope, and Cassie at least.

Quantumania looks insane. Love Kang's costume so I hope LEGO does it justice in the set. I wish we were getting more than one!

I'm saying that War on the Water is a better comparison to the new Quinjet vs. $80 sets that released in 2015 and 2016 because LEGO has changed a lot since those sets came out. Personally, I'm not using Endgame Final Battle as a comparison point for the new Quinjet in particular because it's got a lot more going for it than most other Marvel sets released in the last two years. It had decent minifigures and a good-sized build for $80, but after the price increases this year I'm not expecting that for sets like the Quinjet. War on the Water does have large pieces, but like you said, it's not worth anywhere near $90. $80 would be overpriced even taking into account the new prints and large pieces. That's what I'm saying - with a piece count as high as 800 for $100, I don't think there's going to be 6 Avengers and Loki in that Quinjet set. Of course it's not impossible, but I don't count a 2015 set as "precedent" for a 2023 set, especially not after War on the Water and Iron Man Armory show what LEGO thinks is worth $90 in 2022. To me, those are the precedent because they're the closest to $100 sets we've seen since LEGO's price increases. We got a low piece count and a bunch of new minifigure prints in those sets. We already know there's not a low piece count for the Quinjet (it could've been better but it's not 16-18 cents per piece like those two) so no, I'm not expecting 8 new minifigure prints. I would absolutely love to be proven wrong and I hope the Quinjet is a set like Endgame Final Battle that's worth the money and gives us a good build and good minifigures. It's just not what I'm expecting after LEGO's track record in 2022 and I don't think we can expect things based on sets that released in 2015. I'm trying to keep my expectations low because War on the Water really disappointed me after the amazing minifigures and detailed builds in the smaller Wakanda Forever sets.

I'm not considering sets before 2021 when thinking about what's coming up next year because LEGO's behavior has changed a lot. The new compound is an outlier to me because it's crazy good value for money compared to a lot of sets in the last two years. War on the Water does have 9 new prints, but it also has under 600 pieces. The Quinjet has almost 800 pieces so I don't expect 9 new prints, especially with a new Hulk bigfig that would drive up the price. We would need new torso prints for all 5 Avengers minifigs, leg and helmet printing for Iron Man, a torso print for Loki, and a brand-new bigfig. There's no way we get all that in a $100 set with 800 pieces in today's landscape. If the set was $120 I could see it happening, but at this price I'm expecting 5-6 minifigures with new torso prints, reused faces, and no leg printing (unless Iron Man is included). As for the rest of the set, I really hope the build is based on the post-AoU Quinjet. I love the sleeker new design and that 2015 set is one of my favorite Marvel sets ever. A remake of the 2012 version would be cool but I'd prefer the 2015 one.

The thing is we'd need so many new prints for the original 6 + Loki that I really can't see LEGO doing that. They're getting so cheap nowadays there's no way we get 7 good minifigures in a $100 set unless the build is absolute trash. Look at how good the figures are in the smaller, decently priced Wakanda Forever sets vs. how half-finished they are in War on the Water, or even at the Iron Man Armory set. That one had great figures but was terrible value for money. We already know the Quinjet has 800 pieces for $100 so I'm expecting a build worth the money instead of 7 good minifigures, since if there were that many new prints I'd expect more like 600 pieces.

I definitely would have preferred a super detailed Mark 43. I don't love the new helmet but they could have used that mold to make a pretty decent new minifigure with arm and side leg printing. I also would've liked a Bruce Banner figure in his lab coat or even a new AoU-based Hulk bigfig.

Wait, I've actually cracked LEGO's new strategy! We all know the concept of the $10 mech sets - one cool minifigure and one little mech build. Now LEGO's taking it one step further: a $25 buildable figure that's designed to go with a $350 mech each year. We got three Marvel D2Cs this year, so in 2023 I bet we'll see giant D2C mechs for the Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and Venom buildable figures.

I'll eventually get this set (even if I have to wait years for it to go on sale) and when I do I'll probably display it open. I like that it can open and since I don't like the dome head on this build I think opening up the chest to show off the Mark 43 would be a good look. But it's still pretty dumb to ruin the design of your entire model to fit another set inside it, no matter how cool that feature is. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if we get a $200 UCS Spider-Man motorcycle to go with the new figures.

This is the perfect summary of everything wrong with Marvel's big sets this year. I forgot about the lack of detail on Mjolnir, but you're totally right. LEGO has messed up the execution of so many sets this year, even outside of Marvel.

Lol, that's my video! This set really annoys me in case you can't tell Thanks for sharing!

The torso elongation is made way worse by the sunken head and broad shoulder pads. If the shoulder pads could be angled to stick up like the in-universe suit and the head was brick-built and raised even a couple bricks' height above the shoulders, the thing would look way better even if the torso was still inaccurate. What's even more baffling is that the exact same head problem was present on the Ultron Edition set from 2018 and they just repeated the same mistake.

Thanks for making this! It provides a great comparison shot. This thing looks even worse with the official images. Totally agree with everyone here - we did not need the entire buildable figure to fit inside this thing at the expense of it being an accurate display model. Imagine how much better this set would be if it actually looked like the Mark 44. The more I look at the torso and shoulders the more disappointed I am. I absolutely would've bought this on day one, warts and all, if it was $400. But for $550 and the caveat of having to pay another $40 for the buildable figure that ruined this set's proportions, what's the point? What collector would buy this when it fails at the pretty basic level of looking like the movie vehicle, and what LEGO Marvel fan would buy this when it's $150 too expensive without even a good exclusive minifigure to entice you? I do want to build this eventually, but I'm not paying LEGO's insane prices anymore.

Even if a brick-built head was too heavy to build at this scale, why didn't LEGO make a new mold? The dome just looks so bad on a build this big especially when compared to that image from the movie on the box.

Damn, that looks terrible. I didn't think it would be a bad build (just bad for the price), but that thing looks deformed. What is wrong with its torso design? I like the legs and the arms are good I guess but the entire torso looks like a pile of junk. The domed head is inexcusable in a $500 set. Brick build a helmet!! There's ways to build it light enough to still open and hold its position. I can't believe that the designer used a single printed piece to represent something like that in the biggest LEGO Marvel set to date. The size of this thing is impressive but not at its ridiculous price point. If this was a $350 set I would buy it immediately despite my reservations over the design. I do love the Ultron Edition Hulkbuster from 2018 despite its inaccuracies, after all! But for $550 the weird design, lame minifigure, and the build being half a foot shorter than the Daily Bugle does not impress me. I also don't see any light bricks advertised, just glow in the dark pieces. For over $500 with only 4,000 pieces and one minifigure LEGO couldn't even add some lights or something more deluxe to this model?

This Hulkbuster has to be one of the most true but incorrect rumors ever! Wrong price, piece count, and now subject matter. I'm not happy it's the Mark 44 - I kinda prefer the Mark 48 since it's so much sleeker. We also already have a UCS-style Mark 44, even if this one is 4x larger, so I would've preferred a Mark 48. That being said, the 44 is more iconic so this does make a bit more sense. I am also convinced now that 76206 Iron Man Figure will be to scale with it and fit inside. For that price, it better!

The idea of a $500+ Hulkbuster is both appealing and dumb to me. I want to see a LEGO mech that big but I doubt it would have any articulation at that scale. Maybe LEGO could use a similar mechanism to the UCS AT-AT to move the legs and arms, but I don't think it'll hold up well over time. My Optimus Prime figure can't even hold its gun up without the arm falling down and that problem started when the set was a month old. At $550 for 4,000 pieces, I expect something really incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if the Iron Man Figure from January was to scale with this build - that would be a major plus, especially if you could put the Mark 43 inside this set. I'm really hoping it's around 3 feet tall. I want this Hulkbuster to light up and be the size of a small child for that price. Articulation would be great but I'd be willing to let it slide depending on the size and detail.

I'll be getting it from the LEGO Store when I go home next weekend. I still think it's overpriced, but it is a huge build and I want to see how it feels in person. If LEGO does several busts like this I'm out, though. I'd love an Iron Man bust that lights up but if they start giving every (helmeted) Marvel hero a bust they're going to be impossible to collect.

I cannot believe the War on the Water set is $90 USD. LEGO's pricing has gone off the deep end. I thought the Iron Man Armoury was overpriced, but War on the Water makes it look like an amazing deal. At least all the Iron Man suits had head to toe printing, while we still can't get leg printing on a Black Panther minifigure 6 years later. I'm skipping this one until I can get it for 20% off. I want the whole wave at once but I can't justify $90 for a set like that, so I guess no Black Panther sets for me today.

This is what I'm expecting: Deadpool-inspired figures in a comic or MCU-based set, or maybe a LEGO-exclusive 18+ set. They released Suicide Squad Harley Quinn in Welcome to Apocalypseburg with the defense of the set being 16+ and targeting an older market, which is all 18+ is. 18+ isn't always an indicator of build difficulty like other age suggestions. If it was, GWPs with 200 pieces wouldn't be 18+. It's just an excuse to release these adult collector-aimed sets. There's no reason why Sesame Street should be 18+ when Diagon Alley and Ninjago City Gardens are 16+ (which I believe was just so they could get nice boxes instead of the all-black designs). So yeah, I think LEGO could make an 18+ Deadpool 3 set, but I don't really expect them to. I just hope we get a new Deadpool minifigure that's not an SDCC exclusive.