Theme: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Nos: 76175; 76198
Release Year: 2021
Cost: AU $129.99; AU $32.99
Pieces: 466 (with 6 minifigures); 305 (with 2 minifigures)
Let’s quickly check out two more sets – 76198 Spider-Man & Doctor Octopus Mech Battle and 76175 Spiderman Lair, two more sets from the seemingly forever growing Marvel theme. First up the smaller of the two – the mechs. Also, apologies for the poorer quality photos – I’m still getting my camera setup fine tuned in the new LEGO room!
76198 Spider-Man & Doctor Octopus Mech Battle
We’ve seen a few super hero and villain mechs lately, and they all seem to have followed the same format. These are no different. There’s of course the details related to the characters – webs and colourings for Spidey and massive robot arms and colourings for Doc Ock.
Firstly, the minifigures – Spider-Man looks good, with loads of printing on the torso and head, but nothing on the legs apart from the dual-moulding. It’s strange that there’s multiple different versions of the minifigure across the different 2021 Spidey releases. Some have just blue legs, some have no prints on the arms. I think this version is the better combination of the lot. He’s also got a couple of white Power Blast elements.
Doctor Octopus is a known fan of a mech, given his extra arms are mechanical. We’ve seen this design before, in 76174 Spider-Man’s Monster Truck and I really like this design. There’s no mech arms included with the minifigure, as they’re on the mech itself, but the printing is very detailed, with some excellent dark green designs, and a double sided goggled head.
The mechs, like I said before, are similar to the previous versions – they’re small and relatively nimble and articulated, but somehow look imposing compared to a minifigure. Which is what you want from a mech. The multiple ball joints mean some excellent articulation and poseability. There’s not a large amount of footprint on Spidey’s mech compared to Doc Ock’s, but it’s enough for the mech to be stable.
I quite like the oversized hands and chest. It’s comical and fun. The best detail of both mechs has to be Doctor Octopus’ mechanical arms. They connect to the back with three-way axle elements, so they can’t be rotated, but there’s still a decent amount of angling in the multiple jointed arms themselves. The big claws on them are particularly menacing.
Overall Spider-Man’s mech is a bit so-so. Doctor Octopus’ is the standout of the set. If you have the others, they’re a good addition, especially if they’re on sale.
76175 Attack on the Spider Lair
Time for the bigger one. Spider-Man hasn’t really been known to have a lair – normally he’s just in his bedroom at Aunt May’s, but it’s kind of cool to think he’s got a lair, and what a teched out lair it is! There’s also a stack of minifigures included.
Here’s another variant of Spidey – printed torso and arms with blue minifigure legs. A few other versions are included too – the home made suit when Peter Parker first realised what he could do, with printed beanie (balaclava) and torso (I particularly like the belt and spider logo on the back); the Iron Spider with gold emblem and extra arms, and my personal favourite – the Stealth Spider suit from the comics. It’s brilliant and pays close attention to detail with the printing. It’s absolutely a standout of the set.
On to the villains – there’s two of them, to keep Spidey busy. Venom is back and as awesome as ever, with big menacing teeth, and the Green Goblin makes an appearance with some amazing printing on his torso and legs. The quality here is stunning – so much detail on the vivid purple.
The build is quite busy, with lots going on. The raised platforms of red are a nice touch, but I think it’s got too much of a reskinned Batcave vibe, with the big SpideyComputer front and centre. It is much bigger than I thought, though, at over 40cm wide. The smaller builds include the Goblin Glider – a great little representation of the Green Goblin’s vehicle of choice with the menacing face at the front; and a basketball launcher. The motorbike at the front is a nice touch, as there needed to be a vehicle for Spidey, and the costume rack to the side is understated but fun.
The computer is good, but it’s so ridiculously close to Batman’s BatComputer it’s almost awkward. The camera and game controller (with the game in the bottom right corner) are a nice touch, but I don’t think it’s enough. Flanking the screen are some tools and drones on webs. with the costumes on the left, and a hidden prison cell and basketball hoop on the right. It’s very disjointed, this model. It feels like the designers thought of all the stuff they wanted in the set, and then just threw it together.
There’s also very few polished details. The costume stands are very basic, and the stand for the Iron Spider’s arms is more basic still. There’s also a skate ramp thrown in for good measure. On the other side there’s a single dumbbell balanced precariously on it’s extremely simple stand. It’s very odd. I would have gotten rid of the basketball hoop and prison cell (do you really want your enemies to know where your base is?) and make more of a gym and chill zone in that area.
If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, get this set for the minifigures and use the parts for something else.
A special thank you to LEGO for sending me copies to review. All thoughts on these sets are my own and are not influenced in any way, shape or form. The provision of sets for review does not guarantee a favourable review.
