Review: LEGO Marvel 76269 Avengers Tower

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Marvel set 76269 Avengers Tower, a large box of 5201 pieces which will be available at the public price of €499.99 from November 24, 2023 via the official online store and in the LEGO Stores. Fans have long wanted a model of Stark Tower which has become the headquarters of the Avengers, LEGO has heard the call and this box is therefore in principle designed to meet these expectations even if we can consider that the product arrives a little late in the shelves, the Marvel universe in cinema having already moved on.

In the product box, around forty sachets, three instruction booklets and a very large handful of stickers to stick. The construction is not modular or disassembled for transport or storage, all the sub-assemblies which compose it are integral with each other. It's a bit of a shame, we could have hoped to easily separate the tower into three or four modules to be able to store it temporarily or move it more easily.

The finish of this 90 cm high tower is a little uneven depending on the sections and it sometimes feels more like we are assembling a luxury LEGO CITY police station than a high-end model. The fault is undoubtedly the hundreds of panes of glass that simply have to be stacked in a chain to obtain the final result, these large surfaces giving the impression of easily gaining volume without putting too much effort into the assembly techniques.

Part of the tower seen on screen on the LEGO version is also missing, which ultimately only reproduces the upper section of the building. We will have to be content with this aesthetic shortcut, LEGO having clearly wanted to offer a product which hesitates without really choosing its side between luxury playset and pure exhibition model.

You will also have to savor the assembly process according to the arrangement of the different interior spaces which refer to one scene or another from the saga, the progression through the pages of the three booklets is designed to avoid as much as possible the weariness encountered during the inevitable sections that are a little repetitive or uninspired.

The set obviously combines references to the entire Avengers saga with the added bonus of characters and scenes that don't really have a memorable link with the building. The product is a melting pot of diverse and varied references, a sort of global synthesis intended for those who will only buy this box and who usually ignore the rest of the LEGO derivative products under Marvel license.

We can't really talk aboutEaster eggs regarding the numerous references to the Avengers saga scattered throughout the product, it is indeed the object of this type of box to accumulate in an obvious and endless way the more or less strong nods to the universe concerned. Fans will be well served, even if the most dedicated will notice the scenes that never took place in this tower and the characters who don't have much to do there. Others will be content with this playful summary all in the glory of what we callInfinity Saga, with its geographical approximations and its shortcuts, certain references amounting to a drawing on a sticker.

The interior spaces are accessible by removing a few facade elements including the large front bay window, you will still need to have small fingers and pay attention to the furniture and accessories already present to install some characters there. The exterior walls of the tower for their part integrate numerous connection points which allow you to install the numerous transparent extensions provided which will accommodate the staged minifigs, you have the choice of dynamics and this profusion of possibilities will also be very useful depending on the angle chosen to present the construction on your shelves. Note that as for the front of the set 76178 Daily Bugle, that of this tower can be made intact by modifying the damaged bay window using the two windows provided.

The mini Quinjet provided is anecdotal even if it is not unworthy, the construction serves here to furnish the landing zone present at the top of the tower and the machine is on arrival more of a decorative element than a real functionality of the proposed playset even if it is possible to install a minifigure there. The bravest will try to put it in a flying position outside the tower by finding the right combination of connection points, transparent extensions and the necessary balance point of the model. The included Leviathan does not impress, it is much too compact, but it at least has the merit of being relatively detailed and of being able to be presented in flight thanks to the transparent support provided.

As you can imagine, the hundreds of windows are once again simply thrown into the bags with the other parts and many of them are marked or scratched upon unpacking. It is impossible here to defend LEGO by citing the fact that the product will in any case end up in the hands of young children who will destroy the windows a little more, this product is not directly intended for them. If I am usually quite demanding about the condition of the glazing present in the products I buy, I will resign myself here because I already know that it will be of no use to go and request several dozen replacement parts from the customer service.

In the best case scenario, the latter will send them to me also thrown into a bag with the risk of seeing them arrive in the same condition as those delivered in the box. Seen from a certain distance, the tower does not really suffer visually from these visual defects, but up close these numerous scratches are often clearly visible. Too bad.

Once again, LEGO delivers a product presented as high-end but covered with various and varied stickers, with two very large sheets of stickers of which you will find scans below so that you can take full advantage of the distilled references. It's as usual for LEGO, graphically very well executed but the manufacturer could have made an effort by pad printing some of these visuals such as those which take place on Falcon's dorsal gear.

After reflection, I find it a shame that it is not possible to transform this tower into a Stark version with appropriate signage; however, a few handfuls of additional pieces were enough to offer a variant that would undoubtedly have found its audience among certain fans.

The supply of figurines is substantial with 31 characters but, judging by the first reactions during the official announcement of the product, the selection made by the designers is not to everyone's taste: too many characters already seen under the same shape in other boxes, new minifigs without much interest while LEGO ignores prominent characters who would have deserved a place in this box and a few characters whose presence was not necessarily required considering- given the context.

Everyone has an opinion on the subject and as I said above, this product is not only aimed at unconditional fans of the Marvel universe in a LEGO version: it also targets a more occasional clientele who do not buy sets from the Marvel range on a regular basis and who will therefore have a fairly exhaustive selection of characters on hand here.

We will remember that the Hulk figurine now has a removable head and hair, that LEGO once again gives us torsos or heads for Captain America and Scarlet Witch in a flesh color too pale to convince, that Wong is an intruder who is frankly off topic while Bruce Banner would have for example been welcome, that Thor is unfortunately adorned with his face in fashion Love and thunder and that Vision and The Wasp benefit from flexible plastic elements of the most beautiful effect.

I'm not a fan of the presence of Kevin Feige, producer and president of Marvel Studios, while in my opinion Stan Lee definitely had his place here if it was absolutely necessary to associate a significant external contributor to the cast provided. The most diligent collectors will be happy to have on hand second-rate characters who have never had the honors of the LEGO range such as Alexander Pierce, Helen Cho or Erik Selvig, the others would undoubtedly have exchanged these figurines for superheroes or more emblematic characters from the Marvel universe. We will console ourselves with the magnificent figurines of Ultron, Vision, Hawkeye and Iron Man's damaged Mark VI armor.

Whatever the faults of the product, in particular the inevitable problems of scale between the different elements of the set, I will be among the first to treat myself to this long-awaited and hoped-for large tower, with a well-treated subject and a satisfactory supply of figurines. . I will make the effort from November 24th so as not to miss out on the little promotional set 5008076 Marvel Taxi offered for the occasion. I already have a handful of Black Panther in my drawers but this small extension of the set will be enough to make up for the retail price of the product. At least time to validate my order.

I hope that I will be lucky with the windows delivered in the bags and this time I will take the time to assemble the contents of this box as it should be: patiently while trying to make the most of the references included, the interior spaces and all the “experience” promised.

The €500 requested by LEGO will unfortunately not put this box within the reach of all budgets and you will have to seriously save your pocket money to afford this luxury playset. I think the game is worth it, the fun possibilities are numerous, my son who is now 20 years old has also stressed that he would have "really" liked to have had a toy like that when he was younger instead of the boxes less ambitious of the range, and the exhibition potential of the product seems really interesting to me despite its relative aesthetic simplicity for a high-end model.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at November 26, 2023 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.

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