Review: 76029 Iron Man vs. Ultron
Posted by CapnRex101,
It is now less than two months until The Avengers: Age of Ultron is released, but LEGO have released their range of six sets to accompany the film on the 1st of March. We have the entire wave here at Brickset so will be bringing you reviews of them all over the next week.
The smallest of the six sets is 76029 Iron Man vs. Ultron, which is priced at £11.99 or $12.99 and contains 90-pieces. Sets of this size rarely resemble anything from the film and instead act as minifigure packs, so finding three Ultron Drones and Iron Man in his exclusive Mark 45 armour is a treat for army builders and Super Heroes minifigure collectors.
Box and Contents
The box for this set is very small, about the same size as Star Wars battle packs from 2013. The artwork shows Iron Man in battle with a group of Ultron Sentinels, and four of the Avengers appear in the top corner in minifigure form. On the back we see that the vehicle has landed and the three drones have disembarked. The super jumper feature is demonstrated and a graphic illustrates how the figures can be fitted to the ship.
Inside is a single instruction manual and two bags of parts. Most of the larger sets include a short comic book, but this one and 76041 The Hydra Fortress Smash do not.
Minifigures
Four minifigures are included, the first of which is Iron Man MK 45. This figure is highly detailed all over and features contrasting red and dark red printing, which give an impression of sheen on the armour.
The helmet opens as usual to reveal Tony's face and includes a splash of silver on each cheek, which we have not seen on previous versions of Iron Man. The head is the same as ever, with a confident smirk on one side and a grimace on the other, while his torso and legs are entirely new.
The intricate combination of silver, gold, bright red and dark red looks excellent. In fact I would go so far as to say this is my favourite Iron Man armour yet, along perhaps with the Heart Breaker from 76008 Iron Man vs. The Mandarin: Ultimate Showdown. It is a delight to get another Iron Man armour for the collection, and I look forward to seeing what this one can do in the film!
The three Ultron Sentries are identical, but for the addition of some extra gear to one of them, so in that regard they are perfect for building an army. The detail of the printing is superb from top to bottom and the pearl dark grey components look excellent, conveying their metallic exoskeletons very nicely. The light blue and grey works well together and I think the armour looks suitably layered, just like it appears to be in the film. My only criticism of these figures is that some artistic license appears to have been taken regarding the head, as the Ultron Drones have pointed 'ears' in the trailer. However, we have several other brand new pieces created for The Avengers: Age of Ultron minifigures, so I think it is reasonable to compromise here.
All three are armed with light bluish grey stud-shooters, but only one wears a helmet and backpack. This figure is designated as the Ultron Sentry Officer, but personally I will be removing this equipment to keep him the same as the other two villains included. I would be surprised to see any characters like this one in the film, but we will have to wait and see.
The Completed Model
As I mentioned earlier, Super Heroes sets of this size are typically intended as minifigure packs. This set is no different, so the model itself is a bit lacklustre in my opinion. It is clearly a flying vehicle of some kind to which the three sentry minifigures attach forming thrusters and weaponry. I do not recall ever seeing a vehicle with which the minifigures integrate so closely before, but personally I think it relies a little too heavily on the minifigures being attached to improve its appearance. It looks very plain without them as you can see.
It seems unlikely that we will see this vehicle in the movie, but perhaps the Ultron Drones can combine to form flying vehicles - a bit like ants do to form structures in nature. However, based on previous experience, LEGO tend to make things up for Super Heroes sets at this price point.
For such a small model I think the playability is quite high. Obviously the flyer is very swooshable, and the wings can be adjusted for landing or flight which is useful. The main feature makes use of the Super Jumper component included, with which you can knock down the central Ultron Drone. I dislike the Super Jumpers, but can somewhat see the appeal as it does take a bit of skill to hit the target. It has often been suggested that these pieces can cause damage to minifigure legs as they attach so tightly to them, in which case it is probably best to avoid using them altogether.
Overall
I am having a tough time making a judgement about this set. The minifigures are outstanding and it is excellent to be able to so easily assemble an army for Ultron to command. The model itself on the other hand is pretty awful in my opinion, particularly if you do not wish to attach the minifigures to it.
Despite this, I still think this set is worth picking up simply as a result of the fantastic minifigure selection. They are highly detailed and it is great to get another exclusive Iron Man suit, as well as those Ultron Drones of course which will probably be integral to any Age of Ultron collection.
The £11.99 price is really paying for the four minifigures, and from that point of view I think it is only just about worth buying. I wish the model was more interesting, but it has some decent play value and will provide a few useful grey curved slopes if you want to add the parts to your collection.
You will be pleased to hear that the best of this wave is yet to come.
3 likes
18 comments on this article
Great review, and a neat little set.
I am not sure about getting this one - £12 seems a little overpriced for 90 parts, even if there are four Minifigures.
(And, yes, I am pleased to hear that the best of the wave is yet to come!)
Your pictures came out a bit darker than you probably intended, which makes it difficult to tell what colour the bricks are. Is that vehicle just your bog standard dark and light blueish gray?
^ Sorry about that. It's black, dark bluish grey and light bluish grey.
Very good review, though I do have to agree that the photographs are a little dark, and the blue background makes judging the colours somewhat difficult- I think you'd be better off with a white backdrop. It's still a very comprehensive look at the set though, and I look forward to the rest of the reviews this week.
As for the set, I imagine I'll pick it up purely for the minifigures at some point, but the other AoU sets are more appealing right now. Though the build is basically rubbish, there are some good parts in it so it's not a complete waste.
Yah, I did kinda feel the same way about this set. Good figs-- crappy build.
Yeah, I think I'll be skipping this one. Ultron is available in a couple of other sets (including the unskippable Hulkbuster set), and I'm not in a hurry to collect all the different variations of the Iron Man armour, so this is an easy skip. I like the idea of an army of Ultrons, though ...
is it white and golden ? ;)
I think it's REALLY disappointing that LEGO isn't using the headpiece on that Sentry Officer for Captain America. It could easily be painted to look like Captain America's helmet.
Great review! I'm definitely getting this set for the figures. Would be nice to pick up a few of these for a nice little Ultron army.
I enjoyed the review and look forward to the rest, but it's almost like you don't need to review that Hulkbuster set as that's a definite buy for any fan. I agree that for the of minifigs this set is a really good deal. Just saw the latest trailer - it's looks like we'll need a LOT of those Ultron Drones. I mean, a LOT.
Agreed, TLG needs to do a blue version of the sentry helmet for Cap.
I got this set the other day and the iron man is probely my new favorite fig! As I built the model I decided I would fit the drones on there like it shows but I couldn't do it! XD So I MODed it slightly and it looks semi functional now
@dylanzhang - my thoughts exactly!
@CapnRex101 - I think you need to change the white balance on your camera to warm things up. And add a bit of exposure compensation to brighten things up, perhaps.
The photo quality is decent enough, well composed, in focus and so on, but the white balance and low exposure don't do them any favours.
The minifigs are great! This set is definitely on my list.
When you compare the first Iron Man minifigs to these versions and all hte detailing on the Ultron drones it is amazing how much more detailed that Lego has gotten with their minifigs. And I concur also with the helmet piece for Cap. I was saying that about the Flash minifig mask when it came out.
I suggested the Captain America helmet weeks ago on Eurobricks. All I heard was crickets..yet multiple people on this review suggested it. Very interesting.
Either way, the set itself was okay. I only buy them for the figures, so it accomplished that.
The rest of the line, I'll just figure out what is the cheapest way to get the main group and call it good.
great review! when are the others coming?
So... Where are the other reviews?