Review: 76275 Motorcycle Chase: Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock
Posted by CapnRex101,
Doctor Octopus has usually appeared in larger Marvel sets, so Octavius' availability in 76275 Motorcycle Chase: Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock is welcome. However, this version is Venomised and therefore unique, which is both a strength and a weakness.
After all, new minifigures are always nice, but I think some would prefer Doc Ock's standard design in such an inexpensive set. Regardless, this is an interesting prospect for the price of only £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99.
Summary
76275 Motorcycle Chase: Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock, 77 pieces.
£8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 | 11.7p/13.0c/13.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
This is a wonderful set for play, despite areas for improvement with the minifigures
- Good motorcycle design
- Effective use for scenery
- Unique version of Doc Ock
- Doc Ock's arms could have been Venomised
- Spider-Man lacks dual-moulded legs
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
A new version of Spider-Man was introduced in 2021 and has now appeared in ten sets, so I would like to see another design soon. Nonetheless, the current costume is quite detailed and benefits from printed arms, even though the shade of red on the arms is noticeably darker than the head, torso and hands.
However, the web pattern looks excellent and matches well across the minifigure. The spider symbols on both sides of the torso are attractive too. The lack of dual-moulded legs is slightly disappointing though because they evidently can be used in small sets, such as 76198 Spider-Man & Doctor Octopus Mech Battle a couple of years ago.
Moreover, there is a difference in the shade of blue on the legs, most visible in the above image from the front. This is obviously not ideal, but the studio lighting emphasises the difference. The minifigure is armed with two web blasts, which can be launched by pressing their tails, as usual.
Venomised characters have been a trend over the last few months of LEGO Marvel and the Symbiote has now latched onto Doctor Octopus. I love how sections of his usual minifigure remain visible across one side, wearing the dark green and dark bluish grey suit introduced in 76275 Spider-Man's Monster Truck vs. Mysterio from 2021.
On this occasion, the Symbiote has grown to envelope Octavius' left arm, as well as half of his torso and face. The tendrils at the edge of the Symbiote look great and detail continues on the back, starting to wrap around Doc Ock's famous robotic arms. The black backpack connecting the arms therefore blends in better than normal.
Perhaps the arms had been partially constructed in black to represent Venom taking control, including more monstrous claws on those arms. On the other hand, this arm structure is new and works nicely, with multiple points of articulation for easy posing. A bundle of dynamite and three jewels are included and Doc Ock's second face is also worth noting, where Venom has completely taken over!
The Completed Model
Spider-Man makes surprisingly frequent use of motorcycles in LEGO sets, despite his inherent agility. These vehicles are often criticised for their needless size, so this smaller motorcycle is a welcome change. While compact, this model features all the essential details and I like its colour scheme, with blue wheel hubs to complement the predominant red.
The printed spider symbol and webbing on the front looks splendid too, between a pair of silver headlights. Stud shooters are mounted underneath and launch white 1x1 round plates as web blasts, but the curvature of the bodywork behind the stud shooters could be improved. Spider-Man looks reasonable when seated, although he cannot really grip the handlebars.
A lamppost and a bin are also provided, which seem like a strange addition to the set initially. However, scenery is a useful presence in smaller sets and I like the 6x6 round plate keeping everything together. The accessories inside the bin are fun too, particularly in the case of the banana skin, which is a new piece and is only available in three sets at the moment, between Marvel and Friends.
The lamppost incorporates a 1x1 round plate with bar, revealing why the scenery is here, as Doctor Octopus can cling to the lamppost. This is an interesting way to display the minifigure and the circular base is comfortably big enough to support the villain's weight without toppling over, no matter the pose.
Overall
The exclusive Doctor Octopus minifigure is the highlight of 76275 Motorcycle Chase: Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock, as expected. While some might have preferred to see his standard design here, this Venomised version is appealing and I think the Symbiote's infection of Doc Ock has been executed well, even though it should have extended to his robotic arms.
Spider-Man's minifigure could also have been improved with dual-moulded legs, or simply an alternative costume. The web-slinger's motorcycle is great though, while the scenery serves a useful purpose by giving some options to display Doc Ock. In addition, the price of £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99 feels reasonable to me, so this is an appealing set on the whole, for its size.
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19 comments on this article
I dunno, the Doc Ock fig just seems lazy to me. Like, there were options to make his symbiote face more closely resemble his own goggles, have his tentacles be symbiote ones like the review points out, to have the symbol in his chest look more like an octopus (which looks like they were half going for). The slapping on of Venom’s attributes just seems very half-hearted, done purely because Venom related stuff seems to really shift merch (I assume, given how much of it Lego seems to do)
I can’t help but feel like Doc Ock’s arms have been put on the wrong way round.
Idk about you but I don't see the color difference with spider man
Sometimes I feel like I'm trapped in the 1990s with how every other Spider-man set every year is Venom, Venom, Venom.
Spider-man's Trike vs. Venomized Aunt May
Spider-man's Hoverboard vs. Venomized Venom
Spider-man's Unicycle vs. Venomized Spider-man (Miles Morales)
Spider-man and Venom Organize Their Taxes
Something about this character speaks to kids, I guess. And here I've always kinda seen him as a slightly Poochy-esque figure - "He's just like the hero but DARK and EXTREEEEEME."
Another Spider-Verse vehicle that seems better suited to a colour swap for Batman, same as 76244
Symbiote stuff is cool and all but this Lego trend of stuffing symbiotes into characters that have no business being "venomized" (yes there probably is comic precedent for this stuff, I know they love to overuse symbiotes there for events and miniseries) is kinda lame. Honestly I think a Marvel toy should either have a redundant vehicle or a redundant goo alien, one or the other is okay, both is too much.
It's a weird situation where a venomized Otto as an exclusive variant is an okay idea and having him not cost a premium is great but having one in lieu of a plain Otto doesn't feel right. Honestly there's enough Spider-Men/Women and spider-villains to give variety to core retail sets without having to push out reprints of Otto and Norman with black ink spilled on them opposite plain Peters.
I'd love if the new banana skin piece was to herald a Mario Kart set later down the road.
I personally love the Cates/Stegman Venom run, but I can’t stand the Venomized versions of every character who have no reason to have symbiotes. I’m glad they’re in cheap, accessible sets like this for people who like them though.
This looks like a pretty decent set for the price. Does the banana skin have any connections underneath? Can it fit on a minifigure head?
@CCC said:
"This looks like a pretty decent set for the price. Does the banana skin have any connections underneath? Can it fit on a minifigure head?"
There's no anti-stud, but there is a (square-shaped) hole that you can put a bar into.
If you’re after a non-venomised Doc Ock, you can get one with better robot arms in the current issue of the LEGO Marvel magazine. It’s under a fiver.
I just figure, Venom is so overused and over-exposed in the comic books, that it makes sense he pops up in every second Marvel Lego set.
Just wait until they're releasing 20 figures of Wolverine annually...
The only thing that apeels to me is the banana peel.
LEGO is getting to be so lazy …. How many “motorcycle w/ street corner” sets do we really need ?
A lot of people are focusing on how dumb they think vernomized Doc Ock is, and that's totally valid, but I think this is a great set for the price point and it's nice to see another unique way to do Ock's arms - even if it wasn't a 'Venom-ized' set and just a regular Ock with unique arms I'd think it was a fun set.
Spider-Man hasn’t always had arm printing? (runs off to check all of his older Spidersmen).
I quite like these quirky Venomised minifigures. They're a nice alternative to the norm. If anything, I'm not too keen on the robotic arms, and would have preferred the usual articulated arms, but ideally have had two of them substituted for Venom's tendrils - I think that would have completed the figure nicely! Spidey with no leg printing is unforgivable these days, especially as we know LEGO have included leg printing in smaller sets before. I definitely agree that a new Spidey print is needed after so long - I buy a lot of Spuder-Man sets, so it's getting boring having so many of the same variant.
@Zander said:
"If you’re after a non-venomised Doc Ock, you can get one with better robot arms in the current issue of the LEGO Marvel magazine. It’s under a fiver."
...which you can't get in the USA. (not sure about Canada, but I think they don't have them either)
I've got those pieces in black plus an extra black leg. I shouldn't have to, but I'm going to make this cooler.
Hail banana peel!