Gary Collinson reviews The Hulk Buster Smash and Attack on Avengers Tower LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Avengers: Age of Ultron sets…
With a little under two months to go before the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, LEGO has taken the opportunity to expand its LEGO Marvel Super Heroes line with the release of six tie-in sets to the hotly-anticipated sequel in the form of ‘Iron Man vs. Ultron’, ‘Avengers Hydra Showdown’, ‘The Hulk Buster Smash’, ‘The Avengers Quinjet Chase’, ‘The Hydra Fortress Smash’ and ‘Attack on Avengers Tower’.
Of the Age of Ultron sets, the two that particularly caught my eye were ‘The Hulk Buster Smash’ and ‘Attack on Avengers Tower’ – both for their selection of minifigs, and downright coolness. After all, who wouldn’t want a miniature brick version of the Hulkbuster and Avengers Tower? And so, having spent a little time with both sets, here’s my verdict…
We’ll start things off with ‘The Hulk Buster Smash’, which consists of 248 pieces and comes with three minifigs – Iron Man Mk. 43, Scarlet Witch and Ultron Prime (the latter two are exclusive to this set, while the Mk. 43 is also included in both ‘The Avengers Quinjet Chase’ and ‘Attack on Avengers Tower’) – as well as a rather superb Avengers-branded Hulk bigfig (which you can also pick up in ‘The Hydra Fortress Smash’ set).
‘The Hulk Buster Smash’ offers up a great selection of figures (my only real minor complaint is that Scarlet Witch comes with blue lightning pieces, when red would have made much more sense), but the real attraction here is of course the main build, Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor, which we’ve seen going toe-to-toe with The Hulk in the Age of Ultron trailers. And it doesn’t disappoint in brick form, offering up some great articulation for posing purposes, along with stud-shooters, and an opening chest area allowing Iron Man to don the suit.
Next up is the 515-piece ‘Attack on Avengers Tower’, which offers up three floors of the Avengers Tower, a host of playability features, and five minifigs: the aforementioned Iron Man Mk. 43, an updated Thor complete with new fabric cape (also available in ‘Avengers Hydra Showdown’), and three which are exclusive to this set in Ultron Mk. 1 and two Iron Legion drones (remote controlled Iron Man suits, which serve as Tony Stark’s combat team).
Despite being a little smaller than anticipated at around a foot in height, Avengers Tower looks great when closed in its skyscraper mode, and it opens up to reveal numerous play features across its three floors. There is of course Tony Stark’s workshop and the rooftop balcony / living area, as well as a medical lab, Ultron’s assembly area, a computer room analysing Loki’s Chitauri Scepter, several secret compartments, including one that houses a Stark Industries drone, and a few firing projectiles.
Overall, ‘The Hulk Buster Smash’ is the stronger of these two sets in my opinion, but both are certainly worth picking up. The back of the Hulkbuster is a little bare, and the Stark Industries Hulk containment cage thing that comes with it seems pretty pointless (although we haven’t seen the movie yet, so who knows?), but those gripes aside you do get a bad-ass LEGO Hulkbuster and two exclusive minifigs, which makes it great value for money. Still, ‘Attack on Avengers Tower’ is a solid set too, and while it could have been a little larger, it’s still a decent size and makes for a great display piece.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Avengers: Age of Ultron sets are available now, while Avengers: Age of Ultron is out in the UK on April 23rd and in the States on May 1st.
BUY THE HULK BUSTER SMASH LEGO FROM AMAZON UK HERE AND AMAZON US HERE
BUY ATTACK ON AVENGERS TOWER LEGO FROM AMAZON UK HERE AND AMAZON US HERE
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc
