Review: LEGO Marvel 76187 Venom

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Marvel set 76187 Venom, a box of 565 pieces that allows you to assemble the Venom head with a construction process almost identical to that of the set  76199 Rampage (546  - 59.99 €) that I told you about a few days ago.

The heads of Carnage and Venom in the LEGO version are indeed logically similar in many ways and it cannot be said that the building experience varies significantly between the two products. If we forget the smooth finish of the temples of Carnage, the major difference between the two construction lies mainly in the presence of the tongue for Venom and a large handful of stickers used to texture the face of Carnage.

Even though the two builds share the same techniques and aesthetics, I still come to the conclusion that Venom is more successful than Carnage. Where Carnage's mouth was a bit drowned in the overall model with its black teeth, Venom is doing much better with a nice contrast that really highlights this part of the character.

We almost forget the many striped black pieces that dress the rest of this head whose surface oscillates between visible tenons and smooth surfaces, with an alternation that seems balanced to me. I am less convinced by the pink gums which soften the edgy side of the symbiote a bit and which lack consistency with the red tongue.

I said it above, the assembly process is here similar to that of Carnage with an empty skull on which we come to attach some sub-assemblies. The "motorcycle helmet" effect is a little less present on arrival than on Carnage's red head (my review of the set), the black chin guard finally blending in better with the background and the focus being on the character's mouth.

Like Carnage, Venom has a very advanced lower jaw, and again it's a somewhat haphazard attempt at trompe l'oeil that aims to give volume to the character's mouth from certain angles. In profile, the rendering is a little ridiculous, even if you will inevitably find on Google one or more illustrations that go in the direction of the aesthetics of this product. It will therefore be necessary to find the right angle of exposure and the adequate lighting to obtain the effect imagined by the designer.

The eyebrows seem a little too prominent to me to convince even though I understand the desire to make the character's gaze look aggressive. Here too, the monochrome side of the model, without pad printing or stickers, helps to slightly attenuate the rendering of surfaces that are a little too coarse. The eyes lack volume, the white surface should in principle be larger to really match the image of the creature and we feel the respect of the format imposed in this collection of heads / helmets and the desire not to get lost too much in creative digressions to stay in the assortment and the collection.

Another originality of the model, the presence of a few drops of venom which only drips on the presentation base. It's a good idea, well executed with a discreet detail that gives a little cachet to this model without going too far out of the imposed framework.

A detail that seems important to me: this collection is presented in boxes that are much too large for what they contain and the half-full bags can be walked freely inside. On arrival, there are no more scratched or scratched parts and the black elements bear this degradation very badly. Please do not hesitate to contact customer service if you feel that a high end display product like this deserves a flawless finish. If no one says anything, LEGO won't react.

Everyone will have an opinion about this collection of heads / helmets / masks launched by LEGO and we could discuss for hours on the limitations of the chosen format and the approximations that result from it. Fortunately, these products are marketed at a price that does not require you to think too long before making a decision.

At 60 € the exhibition model, the compromise is allowed without having to regret having paid too much for a box that was a little missed to complete a collection launched in 2020 which already has nine products and which should regularly expand with new references. . Also keep in mind that these boxes very quickly find themselves sold well below their usual retail price at Amazon.

Finally, I think that this Venom face is much more convincing than that of Carnage even if the two models are affected by the same aesthetic compromises. The contrast between the mouth and the rest of the face is much more convincing here and the beige teeth look better than the same mouth with black teeth.

Both sets will be available from April 26, 2021 at 01:00 a.m. on the official online store. It's up to you to decide whether to absolutely align the two on your shelves or if Venom will suffice.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 9th May 2021 next at 23pm. 

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.