Review: LEGO Marvel Spider-Man 76163 Venom Crawler

Before moving on to the boxes of the second half of 2020, today we take a quick look at the LEGO Marvel Spider-Man set. 76163 Venom Crawler (413 pieces - 29.99 €), a small set which takes the concept of the mechanical spider, except that it is Iron Venom who this time is at the controls of a machine similar to the one piloted by Spider-Man in the set 76114 Spider-Man's Spider Crawler (2019)

The youngest who will have the chance to own both boxes will also be able to stage a beautiful confrontation of mechanical spiders and if you have already had the opportunity to assemble the Spider Crawler from set 76114, you will be in familiar territory. . This new mechanical spider is, with a few details, identical to the one in Spider-Man's colors and it includes all the technical solutions allowing it to move by moving its legs.

The machine is matched to the pilot with a Stud Shooter at the end of the tail, a pad-printed shoulder pad for the head and a handful of stickers which contribute to "venomizevisually the whole thing. Carnage can embark behind Iron Venom, the designers having planned two places on the back of the mechanical spider.

If you stick to this set because you mostly want the exclusive minifig it provides, you'll have to settle for a clash between the Venom Crawler and the Spider Buggy that Spider-Man drives. Nothing crazy, it's not the level of the vehicle available in the set 76151 Venomosaurus Ambush but we still have two Stud Shooters lateral to balance the balance of power between the two machines.

Most buyers of this box will no doubt consider this small vehicle to be of little interest, but the Spider Buggy is a machine that some Spider-Man fans are familiar with and see it appear here in a format that perfectly matches that of the comics is a nice nod. For once a Spider-vehicle is really linked to a machine already seen in different comics, it was important to point out knowing that this new version is much more successful than that of the set 4+ 76133 Spider-Man Car Chase marketed in 2019.

Unsurprisingly, the Spider-Man minifig delivered in this box is the one present in half a dozen boxes released in 2019 (76113 Spider-Man Bike Rescue, 76114 Spider-Man's Spider Crawler et 76115 Spider Mech vs. Venom) and in 2020 (76148 Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock et 76150 Spiderjet vs. Venom Mech).

The Carnage minifigure is less common but it is not exclusive to this box, it is the one delivered in the set 76113 Spider-Man Bike Rescue, here freed from the tentacles present on the 2019 version of the character.

There remains the minifig of Iron Venom, a new character at LEGO who benefits here from a new torso and a helmet, the double-sided head of Tony Stark already seen in many sets and a pair of legs unfortunately neutral. The "venomization"of the torso is interesting is rather well done but LEGO could have pushed to propose a black leg and a leg in Dark Red.

I am much less convinced by the helmet on which the fusion between the two characters is in my opinion less successful. The use of Tony Stark's usual head under the helmet is also disappointing, the character in question here deserved better with for example a face also with a hybrid look.

In short, I think that for 29.99 €, there is still nothing to complain about with a mechanical spider interesting to assemble, a playability guaranteed by the presence of two machines equipped with Stud Shooters, a nod to comic book fans with the Spider Buggy and three minifigs, one of which is exclusive to this set.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 17th June 2020 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.