Review: 76104 The Hulkbuster Smash-Up

The other Hulkbuster of the moment is the one of the set 76104 The Hulkbuster Smash-up (375 pieces - 34.99 €) accompanied by four minifigs and a barrel which allow, as indicated by the official description of the set of "... recreate the thrilling scenes inspired by the Marvel superhero movie Avengers: Infinity War ..."We take LEGO at their word, the film from which this set is" inspired "has not yet been released in theaters.

Even if the comparison is irrelevant, difficult to assemble this mini-Hulkbuster right after the version of the set 76105 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition without sketching a smile. the 76104 set is a playset for young LEGO fans and the main objective here is obviously to offer a minimum of playability at an attractive price.

The balance of power is rather balanced in this box, with on one side Bruce Banner who in principle "... exterminate Proxima Midnight and the Outrider ..."using the Hulkbuster and Falcon who give him a hand with his"removable Redwing drone"and on the other Proxima Midnight assisted by an Outrider who knock the Hulkbuster out with large shots of balls fired from the barrel inside which the Infinity Gem is hidden.

Two against two, it's playable right out of the box, that's a good point. The set is self-sufficient.

Too bad for collectors, Bruce Banner is not new: the minifigure is identical to the one seen in the set 76084 The Ultimate Battle for Asgard released in 2017 to accompany the film Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam "Falcon" Wilson is an exclusive revenge to this set, with a nice pad printing on the chest. I'm not a fan of parts-based wings, I find them disproportionate and too fragile to be convincing, not to mention the four stickers to stick on the parts ...
The young fan will be able to detach the huge drone fixed in the back of Falcon, it is always that price for the playability. You will have to dig into your inventory to equip Falcon with its two usual submachine guns, LEGO does not provide any here. Petty.

The Falcon version of the set 76050 Crossbones Hazard Heist marketed in 2016 around the film Captain America: Civil War remains my favorite even if the pad printing of the torso of this new version of the character is more accomplished.

Proxima Midnight and the generic Outrider provided are of little interest to me. These minifigs certainly have the merit of existing but they might as well come out of another range that features wicked aliens.
As for Banner and Falcon, you have to be content with plain and neutral legs for these two characters which spoils the overall appearance of the minifigs a bit. I might change my mind after seeing the film, although we can already regret that the left arm of Proxima Midnight does not have a shoulder pad and a pad printing detailing the different layers of the golden armor.

The spear of the character would have deserved to be worked a little more. On the different visuals available, it has three branches on one side.

The cannon provided seems to me to be well in the spirit of the very organically rendered weapons and ships made in Wakanda, but it's more of an alibi for the gameplay than anything else. The turret is not rotating, it is necessary to press the two parts of the barrel to eject the ball. It's ... minimalist. He still offers enough to knock down the Hulkbuster, we do not ask him more.
As it stands, one wonders what the Infinity Gem is doing in the barrel body, the film will (or not) provide the answer. LEGO having distributed the different gems over all the sets in the range, it was probably necessary to find a place for it.

You can lose three of them before you start to worry, LEGO provides replacement copies.

The Hulkbuster does the job: it's consistent, strong, easy to handle, and Bruce Banner easily fits into the armor. Too bad for the growth in the back which allows the right arm of the figurine to move vaguely.
It is unsightly and the size / function offered is not good. By removing a part, we can block the arm in a fixed position, but the protuberance is still there. It is also paradoxical, here LEGO offers the possibility of reducing (a little) the playability of the product ...

From the visuals, you will understand that the torso of the figurine must remain in the axis of the legs, there is no rotation mechanism at the waist.
If the front of the Hulkbuster is rather detailed for a figure of this scale, the back is a little more sketchy. This is undoubtedly the price to pay to stay in the nails in terms of parts and public price.

Those who missed the set 76031 The Hulkbuster Smash marketed in 2015 and since become overpriced on the secondary market may stop having regrets.
This new version of the armor is significantly more detailed and more consistent than the 2015 model. It looks less like the Buildable Figures made from Bionicle / Hero Factory parts that LEGO sold us in 2012.

In the end, it is probably not the set of the year, but the Hulkbuster has been Avengers: Age of Ultron became the king of derivatives.
You must have one in your collection and this will do the trick for anyone who has chosen to skip the large format version of the set. 76015 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition.

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included in the game. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before April 22 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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.