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Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Marvel set 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion, a large box of 3093 pieces which will be available as an Insiders preview from November 1, 2024 at the public price of €329,99.
Once again, the possibility of getting a substantial set on the X-Men theme had on paper excited a good number of fans but the various leaks followed by the official announcement of the product cooled a good part of them. I am one of those who believed from the first rumors mentioning the school for mutants that we would be entitled to something in the vein of LEGO Marvel sets 76178 Daily Bugle (349.99 €) and 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum (€249) and I hadn't necessarily considered the possibility of such a compact product with a relatively ordinary design.
Because that's where the dilemma lies around this product of more than 3000 pieces: it's a relatively generic construction that could embody a standard American capitol, a building in the city of Springfield in the Simpsons or even, with a few details, the Hill Valley city hall.
It is only thanks to a few of the many stickers imposed in this box as well as the presence of the provided cast of minifigs that the product finds its identity, unless you have been a regular viewer of the animated series X-Men '97 whose school serves as inspiration for this derivative product and you have immediately identified the places.
Over the years, comics and films, the school has embraced several architectural choices, and this version is indeed far from resembling the X-Mansion seen on screen in several films of the franchise. It is therefore understandable that some fans stay away from this product whose architecture is not inspired by the content they remember the most.
We can also mention the format of the product, with the usual double scale that presents a very correct exterior appearance but interior spaces that are far too cramped to really enjoy them. However, this product positions itself as a playset for adults by offering a modularity that allows maximum accessibility to the rooms of the mansion and which even allows itself the luxury of offering a certain playability. We can be satisfied with the fact that it is not a half-dollhouse like LEGO knows how to make, we get here a real building closed on all its sides.
The mansion is made up of modules that can be separated and divided into subsections in a matter of seconds to enjoy the interior fittings that obviously refer to the X-Men universe. The references to the franchise are numerous, and many of them obviously come through the plethora of stickers imposed.
Trying to have a little fun in the corridors of the mansion will however be a feat for adults with big fingers, we quickly understand that the construction is filled with furniture and other accessories only to serve the references to the comics or the different audiovisual content existing around the franchise and that the apparent playability of the thing is not so obvious.
The exterior of the building, 27 cm high, 40 cm wide and 25 cm deep, is ready to accommodate the cast of figurines provided and to stage the confrontation proposed on the packaging by freezing the scene according to your desires, the possibilities are numerous.
A few bricks torn off a wall, a falling lamppost, a fire hydrant torn from the ground, numerous fixing points that can accommodate the transparent rods used to support the minifigs, visible studs on the sidewalk, a dome that "explodes" when manipulating a lever placed on the back of the building, removable partitions on the training room, everything is planned to create a dynamic setting. Because that is the vocation of this product which nevertheless hesitates between two concepts: to end up displayed on a shelf of an adult fan who can afford this homage to the franchise, and in particular to the animated series X-Men '97 even if the references to other content are present.
If the walls are all the same shade on the facade, this is not the case on the back of the building with a section that houses the "Danger Room" of the school which could not be satisfied with the shade used on the rest of the building. The designer therefore chose not to double or cover the gray walls that remain visible from the outside. The back of the school is logically less detailed than the facade, but the whole remains observable on all its sides without suffering too much from the difference in care between the different areas. From behind, however, we imagine more a dark alley in New York than the back of a wealthy house located in the middle of nature.
No stairs to move between floors, the designer installed fake elevators that solve the problem and nip in the bud the eternal debate about the absence of stairs in some buildings. There was no room to add stairs here anyway.
The Sentinel provided seems uninspired to me even if the 18 cm high articulated figurine brings opposition to the product and allows for a coherent staging. It is a little crude in places for a model sold for €330 and presented as a product for adult collectors, but the figurine brings the opposition necessary for the confrontation imagined by the designers.
As for the stickers provided, more than fifty, a good number are printed on a transparent background which does not fail to complicate their installation with the inevitable traces of glue which will remain visible under the stickers.
I won't give you an inventory of the various references scattered throughout the interior spaces of the manor, we have to leave something to quench the thirst of all those who make the effort to spend €330 on this box as soon as it is launched, even if the two sheets of stickers that I scanned for you reveal their share ofeaster eggs. As usual, everything that is not on the sticker sheets is therefore pad printed.
The minifigure offering also leaves many fans wanting more. Many consider that LEGO is doing the bare minimum with only ten characters in this box at a high retail price. I agree with this observation knowing that the X-Men universe offers a significant number of first- and second-tier characters that fans would like to see one day go down in history in minifig format. We will therefore be content here with Charles Xavier (Professor X), Magneto, Jean Grey, Gambit, Iceman (Iceberg), Bishop, Wolverine, Storm (Tornado), Cyclops (Cyclops) and Rogue (Malicia).
The Charles Xavier minifigure with his very common LEGO face placed on Michael Scott's costume is so generic that it almost becomes banal, but the context here allows us to identify the character. The Wolverine, Rogue and Cyclops minifigs are those already available identically in the set 76281 X-Men X-Jet (€84,99), LEGO making the effort to provide us with pad-printed legs for Cyclops. The yellow of Wolverine's legs does not match the color of the torso, we are used to it but it is still as disappointing on a technical level.
The Storm minifigure features the torso already seen on the same character in the LEGO Marvel Studios collectible minifig series. 71039 Collectible Minifigures Series 2, Iceman is successful even if the subject imposes a certain sobriety, the Bishop figurine is really very successful with a superb pad printing on the torso and legs and Jean Grey as well as Gambit could have been the stars of the set if their respective faces were not of a pallor that spoils everything. Worse, Gambit's face, printed on a black background reveals some very disappointing dark areas.
The minifig that finally stands out remains Magneto with his very successful plastic cape, his helmet and his additional hair. The pad printing is simple, the legs are neutral but everything works rather well and I see with a very good eye the arrival of a new plastic cape after those of Batman and Doctor Strange.
So in my opinion, we can't say that it's the casting that saves the day here, both in terms of content and form. A large handful of characters are missing and those provided are not all of the best technically when they are not figurines already seen in other boxes.
Thinking back, I have the impression that all the contents of this box have been subject to a budget limit imposed by a marketing department that did not care about the subject matter with a building that seems to have shrunk to stay within the limits and a cast that was probably more substantial at the start but was cut by a few figurines to fit into the budget. Even if I could be wrong, I see this set as a compromise to the economy that allows it not to be sold for €500 or €600 by offering both a little more internal space and a much more complete cast.
However, I am one of those who are happy to finally see the X-Men make a comeback with a bang at LEGO and I imagine that this box filled with sometimes obvious but often very subtle fan service is only the starting point of a range that will allow us to obtain the characters absent here. On the other hand, I do not have much hope for the possibility of another version of the school in the short or medium term, I think we will have to wait a few years to hope to perhaps obtain a version closer to the one seen on screen in several films.
I will be patient and I will not spend the 330 € requested by LEGO from November 1st, the version of Cerebro offered for the occasion in the promotional set 5009015 Cerebro looking more like a somewhat crude fan creation to me than a real official promotional product. This box will eventually be available one day at a much lower price elsewhere than at LEGO and the savings made will then justify looking away from the few flaws of the product. In a nutshell, I really like this product because it finally brings some freshness to a range that too often just wrings out the universe of the Avengers and that of Spider-Man but it has a taste of compromise that leaves me a little hungry.
Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 29th October, 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.
- banjo loop : Very very beautiful figurines, very very beautiful addition... very...
- allosyd : The price is huge, just like red hulck... But then in fact...
- PadaOne : This is a nice little set with some nice figures, but the p...
- bobosse : Waaah 55 bucks is completely outrageous... On the other hand it is...
- brick fan : Stylish minifigs...
- Azltan : I don't like this range....
- florentivorra : It's very pretty and there are lots of very nice details...
- florentivorra : not bad for a promo set...
- florentivorra : Too bad the exterior appearance is so dull because it's p...
- florentivorra : The price is huge, the box much less...
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