We were hoping that our first LEGO set review of 2015 was
going to be a good one, and boy are we happy. With the forthcoming release of
Avengers: Age of Ultron, LEGO are unleashing a slew of new sets, the most anticipated
being this little baby. It's The Hulk Buster Smash!
This set, which in the UK will weigh in around the £30 mark, contains 248 pieces and four minifigures (sort of). As the name suggests the set is all about building The Hulk Buster, a mechanised suit of armour created by Tony Stark to battle the big man himself, The Hulk. But aside from the main part of the set, the box suggests you also get a bit more to play around with; all of which teases plots points of the as yet unreleased movie. Lets crack it open, shall we?
First up, we're surprised at the number of minifigures in
the set, expecting just Iron Man and the new larger version of The Hulk. But
here we also get Scarlet Witch and Ultron Prime, both being very welcome and
adding a lot of justification to your thirty quid.
The first part of the build focuses on what we can only
assume is some sort of trap for The Hulk. Consisting of just a couple dozen
parts, it features the set's only stickers and flaps which close to keep The
Hulk figure contained. On the back is a transparent rod piece which sits on a
very loose hinge. On the top of this, so details the instruction manual,
Scarlet Witch can be attached, making the character hover over the trapped Hulk
with her lightning power thingies.
This section of the build is clearly just to add a bit more
playability (and a few more bricks), but it works well to give The Hulk figure
a base. Speaking of which, we're really impressed with The Hulk minifigure (if
indeed it can be called that), and we were happy to see that he wasn't made of
just a single moulded piece. In fact you have to actually build him, as the
arms require small blue Technic pins, and the hand are also moulded with the
same Technic pins.
There is no articulation on the hips and legs unfortunately,
but his feet do fit onto normal LEGO studs. Oh, and those hands can accommodate
a regular-sized minifigure's legs, allowing dear Dr Banner to pick someone up
and give them a vicious shake.
Next up is the main event; The Hulk Buster itself. This is
where the majority of your 248 parts are going, many of which are very small
two-studded bricks and moulded pieces. Constructing it is very much like
putting together one of LEGO's Bioncle characters, albeit with more conventional
parts. Although the thing itself is pretty much symmetrical, with the builder
required to assemble nearly everything twice, we really enjoyed the experience
and never felt it was a chore. Nor was it a tricky build, and as everything is
fairly small and detailed, the instruction book consists mainly of close-up
diagrams.
We love the helmet piece, with some great Iron Man printing,
and the whole thing is made up of deep crimson and gold parts - fans of Gryffindor
take note. There are two blasters on the right hand which are made up of a part
we've never before seen - like one of the new flick-fire pistols has been
moulded onto a brick. The front section of the chest also drops forward to accommodate
a minifigure, in this case Iron Man himself. The figure fits in well, and once sealed
in is completely contained thanks to some clever use of plate pieces. Once
complete The Hulk Buster is extremely well articulated and can be set in a
number of dramatic (or funny) poses.
The Iron Man MK43 figure is very nice; the first one we've
ever seen. As is Ultron Prime, with both featuring transparent studs on the
feet and hands to simulate their rocket boots and gauntlet blasters. We
absolutely adore the fact that Iron Man's helmet mask can lift up, revealing a
minifigure face that looks uncanningly like Robert Downey Jr.
Also included
with the super hero is one of the new LEGO Super Jumpers, a curved transparent
plastic piece that allows you to flick a minifigure into the air. Why? Well,
apparently in the Age of Ultron film there must be lots of jumping around, as
the last few pages of the instructions told us that we had to try and flick
Iron Man at Scarlet Witch on the end of her weird pole thing. Fair enough, and
it does add a bit more playability - although it took us about an hour to get
right. Still, it's for the kids.
We really do love
this set and are very glad to have had a look at it. Fans of both the Avengers
franchise and of LEGO Mecha will get a lot out of this, and there are some greats
parts in there for your own robotic creations. Check it out.
Around £30
Visit www.shop.lego.com/en-GB
