So, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice has been and gone, some fans loved it, many did not. Now the world of comic book geekdom turns its collective head towards another superhero mash-up, one that has been in the making for more than eight years, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War.
Pieces: 179
Set Number: 76050
Minifigures: Falcon, Black Widow, Crossbones
RRP: £19.99/$19.99
As this is a movie set to spark the imaginations for youngsters across the globe, featuring a plethora of superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is no surprise that the mechanising kings, Disney, have joined forces with a number of big toy brands to push Captains America’s latest adventure to every corner of your local toy store. One of those big names is, of course, LEGO, and with years of collaboration experience with Marvel, it is no surprise that they have released three movie tie-in sets to get brick fans excited.
With both the mid-range Black Panther Pursuit and the high-end Airport Battle sets pitting superhero against superhero, the cheapest set in the range takes a very different approach, ignoring the #TeamCap vs. #TeamIronMan and instead focusing on one of the ‘real’ bad guys from the movie, Crossbones. With two well established Avengers on his tail, is Crossbones’ Hazard Heist going to be a super success or a Hydra-infused failure?
Minifigures
At just under £20, it is surprising to see that the set includes three named characters from the movie and not just the bit part cast, two fully fledged Avengers are included in the pack along with the key villain of the movie. Falcon and Black Widow make up the good-guy team, out to stop the titular Crossbones. What is interesting is that from what footage has been shown of the movie, the two Avengers are actually fighting on different sides of the civil war. Does this hint at a change of sides for one of them? Or could Crossbones be a very early addition to the movie? In a few more weeks we’ll be able to answer that question, but for now, let’s take a look at their LEGO counterparts.
While the comic book version of Falcon has seen bricked form in a previous set, this is the first time that the movie version of the character has been released as a minifigure. Unlike his print doppelganger, this winger Avenger has been given a much more serious look, no bright red anywhere to be seen on this character’s suit. Modelled on a new variation of the Falcon suit we’ve already seen in both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Ant-Man, the colour scheme is gray and maroon.
Though the legs piece doesn’t offer much, it’s just dark gray with no printing, the main torso piece is incredibly detailed, both back and front. Surprisingly, in this case, the back of the minifigure’s main body piece is actually the most aesthetically pleasing as it features a superbly detailed image representing the Falcon wings which they are collapsed. Sadly this brilliant design is unlikely to see much viewing as the entire print is covered by the attachable wings. The front of the torso, while slightly less desirable, still looks fantastic. The design features some incredible detail which accurately portrays the abdomen of the character.
The wings are made up of a unique piece created specifically for the character and hook on over the neck. As I’ve already said, sadly this piece does completely cover over some brilliant detail from the main body piece, but the expanded wings really complete the character and warrant the design decision. What is interesting is that there is more which connects to the wings and really bulks out the back of the character, given that we’re yet to see Civil War, I’d be interested to see what exactly the back piece is trying to represent, but it looks like an additional booster for the characters flight.
The head piece has the customary dual printed face, and with the detail including his red tinted goggles and facial hair, you know this is unique to this particular character. The same cannot be said about the hair piece which seems fairly generic compared to the rest of the minifigure. That said, it completes the look perfectly and with his two hand-pistols as accessories, this is a fantastic and unique minifigure.
Sadly, Black Widow hasn’t had quite as much attention for this new range, as the minifigure included is actually the same design used in last year’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron sets. While one could argue that the character is unlikely to change that much, when you look at her transition from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, to Avenger, to Civil War’s Stark skivvy, there are a number of elements that have changed, it would have been nice to see that reflected in the LEGO minifigures. Not only that but this version of the character is already the second outing for the character, having had the redesign treatment last year.
Despite the lack of a new design, I still love the minifigure that LEGO came up with for AoU, so there is still plenty of appeal there for anyone that sadly missed those sets. Both the legs and the torso pieces are full of detail and make up the full design of the characters suit. The key to the design is the electrified suit that she first wore in the last Avengers movie and this is achieved by a light blue outline around the suit design, as well as additional blue highlights on the legs.
Like many of the female LEGO minifigures, the print includes the expected curves on the waistline, though, given the standard square torso piece shape, I’m not sure I see the point. The torso design is complete with an impressively detailed belt and zipper, as well as additional highlight lines on both the front and back.
As it the norm now, the face piece is dual printed, offering an angry facial expression as well as a slightly more friend one, though the detail on the face itself is fairly generic for a female character. The hair piece, on the other hand, was a unique creation at the time of the redesign in 2015, originally used digitally for the Joker nurse variant in the LEGO Batman 3 DLC, Black Widow was the first to sport the piece in physical LEGO. Accessory-wise, the character is given two translucent blue rods, the same used for lightsabers, to represent the electrified weapons she uses in the movies.
While Crossbones may have already made his LEGO debut virtually in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, this is the first time we actually get to own a physical version of the character. With the exception of the legs piece, which matches that used by the Falcon minifigure, everything else that makes up this figure is entirely unique and exclusive to this set – LEGO Marvel collectors take note. The torso piece is wonderfully detailed, with the crossbones design on the chest being the main focal point. The design, both front and back, does a wonderful job of bringing the paneled suit we’ve already seen briefly in the trailers to life. The body armour plating is presented well and there is a distinct military look about the character as a result.
The minfiigure in this set also includes a breathing apparatus, the same used for figures in the LEGO City fireman collection. Whether this will be a key piece of his kit for his movie counterpart is yet to be seen. The head piece is simple and yet superb. A new addition to LEGO, the printing on the piece includes a very impressively detailed skull design with yellow eyes, it is actually quite sinister-looking for a child’s toy. There is also some subtle detail lines on the back of the head, just to complete to look and show that this is a helmet rather than his actual head.
Black Widow’s Motorcycle
Carrying over from Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Black Widow’s choice of transport is her motorcycle and the version included in the Crossbones’ Hazard Heist is superb. The powerful two-wheeler is brilliantly created here is black with red wheel rims. While I’ve never been the biggest fan of LEGO using stickers with sets, the additional detail they bring to this particular model complete the look perfectly, the Avengers branding really makes this bike stand out against similar builds.
The motorcycle also includes a few additional details, including red studs under the main shell piece which add subtle, yet effective additional detail when viewing the vehicle head on. Also included is a simple one-stud hook piece of the back for one of Black Widow’s electrified rods to be clipped on. All in all, a brilliant addition to any LEGO Marvel fans collection.
Crossbones’ SUV
The big wheeled, heavy land-based vehicles seem to be a big part of the Civil War range, with Cap driving one in the Black Panther Pursuit set. Crossbones’ vehicle is substantially more stylised for the character than the generic military look of the super-soldiers. One warning I will put here for LEGO sticker haters is that this villain detail comes at a hefty price as there are a number of very annoying transparent stickers used on this build.
The vehicle is where the majority of your build time is going to come from with this set and yet it is a surprisingly easy build which won’t require much in the way of adult supervision for younger LEGO fans. The interesting use of different of black, light brown and gray pieces really help give the vehicle the look that says this has been customised by the villain himself for maximum protection and destructive capability, much like the characters suit.
While the vehicle isn’t mind-blowingly different from a number of similar vehicles from the over the years, it does have a few hidden gems, including a decent amount of space available inside which, while only really fitting one minifigure sitting down allows for plenty of space to put his weapon and any additional accessories Crossbones might need. The roof of the vehicle is a big highlight in this build, featuring a detachable weapons platform which comes with two static guns, which don’t actually fire, and two fully-functional studs launchers which do.
The back of the vehicle seats two hazardous substance contains, hence the sets name, which look brilliant and feature transparent dome elements and a steering wheel piece to simulate the gas canister look. There is also a quick launch piece on the back of the vehicle for extra play interaction, one flick of this and the hazardous material comes flying off the SUV.
The aforementioned stickers are dotted about the entire vehicles, most used to add battle damage to the exterior, two for “Danger” signs and one of the hood with the Crossbones branding logo, well everyone’s got to advertise these days.
The Set Overall
Overall, the Crossbones’ Hazard Heist set is fantastic value for money, even if the main build piece, Crossbones’ vehicle, doesn’t have the wow factor. The inclusion of three of the main cast, including two set exclusive minifigures is going to be a massive selling point for collectors and that alone will justice the £20 price tag.
Younger Marvel fans will love this set, it has two recognisable superheroes and a major bad guy, as well as an awesome Avengers motorcycle and big wheeled car, what is not to like? And again, this isn’t going to break the bank as the lowest priced set in the range.
I’m not a huge fan of the amount of stickers used in the set, but that is more than forgivable when you see just how great they make the otherwise plain designs look. Highly recommended for both collectors and parents of young LEGO Marvel fans.
This set was provided for review purposes. However, all reviews reflect the authors own personal views and are not influenced in any way.
THE GOOD
- Three main characters from the movie, including two set exclusives
- Black Widow’s motorcycle looks fantastic with the Avengers branding
- A number of great additional interactive play features
THE BAD
- Two many stickers
- Crossbones’ vehicle as the main build is a little underwhelming
A minifigure gold mine
Summary
A £20 set which includes three main characters from one of the biggest superhero movies ever made? That should be the selling point for both play or display purposes. Crossbones’ vehicle lets down the set a little as the main build, but with so much going on for such a cheap set, this is going to be hard to resist.
