:-( i wanted the Wolverine and Black Panther one

If the parts themselves haven't changed for 2022 or anything, I would like to see this assembly built with existing parts to see what happens. It doesn't look especially sturdy but these Marvel mechs never really looked sturdy to me to begin with ... some of them have 1x5 technic plates for feet! How's that allowed?

Didn't notice the hip joints were different when these were first shown, but that will be the issue with them I'm assuming. I mean, who the heck approved that as a solid build choice? Hopefully its just a redesign as scrapping them entirely seems stupid.

Interestingly, the Monkie Kid mech in The Bone Demon (https://brickset.com/sets/80028-1/The-Bone-Demon) looks very similar to these mechs except for the leg connection it uses the "Steering Arm with 3 Tow Ball" https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=15460&idColor=85T=C&C=85). Instructions are here (https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions/80028).

I wonder if this might lead to a new element in the mixels joints ecosystem to fix it?

Those 1x1 plate with ring, combined with those ball joint with pin seem like a bad design for heavy play , not only can the bar get very stuck in the ring, but the ring could also could snap when legs are twisted too hard too often, especially as the parts age.

Maybe LEGO will make a new plate with 2 ball joints and then 2 stud inbetween, kind of how there's a plate with bar ends on both sides.

i think it might be that when the ball on a stick part is pushed all the way in (if one were to do so while building) the legs likely wouldn't be able to attach

@Zordboy said:
" [...] I noticed that, this year, with a lot of the ball-joint connections on things like mecha and animals (the big Ninjago dragons). Sometimes they built their way out of trouble (like with the Hydra Stomper), but it's still noticeable. "

The large ball joint pieces (at least the sockets) are visibly different across the 2022 range. Maybe that was in response to this issue?

@PicnicBasketSam said: "The large ball joint pieces (at least the sockets) are visibly different across the 2022 range. Maybe that was in response to this issue?"

I certainly hope so. You know, when 50% of their output is mecha, these days, they found a way to completely mess that up?

nah, it's specifically an issue with the 1x1s. I had a similar problem in my 71738 last year (the fingers' connection to the hands use this piece, and are noticeably looser than earlier years

I’ve built two marvel mech’s. Thor and Cap.
They are sturdy and hold up to play very well.
Great action figures for the kids.
Why did they bother to change that hip joint?
I’m thinking they’re using some factory somewhere where their quality control is lackluster.

@legoDad42 said:
"I’ve built two marvel mech’s. Thor and Cap.
They are sturdy and hold up to play very well.
Great action figures for the kids.
Why did they bother to change that hip joint?
I’m thinking they’re using some factory somewhere where their quality control is lackluster. "

This surprises me as I have all the existing ones and we have found the torsos fall apart at the drop of a hat

Perhaps the previous Nexo Knight part that was used on the hips has been retired to make way for other new parts in their inventory? I guess that with Covid having the builders working outside of the office and the likely case of not having been able to have children potentially focus group play with the sets prior to production has lead to this slipping through. It's a shame it has gotten this far before being found but hopefully they are able to redesign and release mid year. This just adds to the mounting number of set issues that are coming to light over the last year or sets that just show poor or weird design. Hopefully with designers being back in the office together these things will start to stop as such over this year.

@Dodge said:
"Surprised they changed up something like that from the previous designs (if it ain't broke...). I suppose they wanted to continue to 'innovate' the designs, but how an issue wasn't discovered until now is mind boggling..."

Especially since it involved pieces that have a historical record of being fragile.

Oh, how many of those 'lamp holder' pieces used in classic space sets broke because they had an antenna or 'space pistol' grip shoved into them.

Even with the revised modern version of the piece, making that a key part for a hip connection seems a great way to break them.

I'm not normally a mecha fan but this series appealed to me for some reason--I hope they manage to fix the problem and release them later on. I particularly liked the Wolverine one!

I hope they fix the issues and soon produce them for sale. I’ve been looking forward to picking up these suits of power armor and the minifigures that pilot them.

Don’t worry, guys! I’m sure these minifigs won’t be recycled through SDCC!

@Dodge:
Why? They try to innovate all the time. Even with the X-Wing and Snowspeeder designs that got rehashed for years, of a new part came out, they might tweak the design to incorporate it. What’s the point of designing sets if all you’re going to do is slap some new colors and deco on old set designs?

@gabri_ves:
I believe they used one for Mr. Freeze in TLBM.

@8BrickMario:
10213 got a patch kit for the external tank, and then got redesigned again to make 10312. 79104 was designed so badly that my copy exploded in my hands as I was building it. They changed it so much for the redesign that Bricklink tracks them as different sets.

@eMouse said:
"Especially since it involved pieces that have a historical record of being fragile.

Oh, how many of those 'lamp holder' pieces used in classic space sets broke because they had an antenna or 'space pistol' grip shoved into them.

Even with the revised modern version of the piece, making that a key part for a hip connection seems a great way to break them."

And then the fact that with bar/bar hole, parts can still vary in outcome, in my 31081 : Modular Skate House set there's the little red scooter build and the grey bar with clip pretty much is stuck into the hole in that particular part, I tried to remove it even with tools but probably will break if I used more force.

So they're being cancelled due to some kind of design flaw? If so, than that's just wrong. That should be ILLEGAL.

I hadn't gotten any of the Marvel Mechs, but was actually eyeing that Black Panther one

I have the Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Spider-Man / Doc Ock pack and they are great! I have them on display on my desk at work and they stand and pose just fine. I don’t know why they wanted to change that section if it works fine already. Just go back to that and they can release these no problem. Disappointing.

@MugenLazlo:
I’m sure the offending technique is on that list, now.

@MeisterDad:
Complicating the math are sets and parts that wouldn’t have been released given current info, but made it out the door at the time.

We’ve gotten all of these crappy mechs but then they cancel it when we get Wolverine, lovely…

@Huw to clarify, has Lego asked you not to publish reviews or canceled the review copies? Or are you simply choosing not to write a review because they've been canceled? If it's the latter, I think a look at the actual set would be very interesting to get a better idea of what the problem is.

Huh... I use that exact same technique in my steam tender MOC except with a 3L bar just to keep the two plates from going askew for aesthetic purposes (there are no moving parts there). I can't imagine using it for something like this.

I heard that LEGO has asked reviewers not to review or talk about the sets which makes sense.

And I agree with those who say that the piece used on previous mechs with the 3 ball joints (which worked just fine on the 2021 mechs I bought and which is being used in a number of sets that are unlikely to be discontinued anytime soon including the new VW van and the dark red pickup truck) should have been retained instead of changing the design of the legs.

Sticking anything into those ring-plates is a bad idea. Those old enough to own 6929 and 6980 may have have had a traumatic experience (yes, I know it was the older weaker variant)

Post release corrections is nothing new for TLG. Happened all the way back with 851 and 6987

@legoDad42 said:
"I’ve built two marvel mech’s. Thor and Cap.
They are sturdy and hold up to play very well.
Great action figures for the kids.
Why did they bother to change that hip joint?
I’m thinking they’re using some factory somewhere where their quality control is lackluster. "

The old technic piece with 3 balls is atrocious aesthetically and technically. The torso turns constantly on the legs base, it is way too flimsy.

How the bar in bar hole can be a stability issue, I wonder. The part is always very firm in the ring but not so firm as if it would break, there are no transparent pieces here. Really the only thing that could have happened is that the clutch between ring and bar is not as tight but in my experience that always only happened when I tried combining parts that have been produced years apart, when they come from the same set it has never been an issue to connect what's inside.
I can wager an issue is also that these sets are designed for children who we treat as less and less intelligent each passing year, so maybe it is only that the bars have to be placed symmetrically but that they probably always change position during play because the bar is longer than the bar hole.

What could possibly be wrong with them? They're exactly the same design as previous mechs like Iron Man and Thor from last year.
I'm sad for the great Wolverine though. :(

They wanted to avoid little penises from previous iterations - too bad it didn't work. :(

The old groin design had waist articulation. Even if these had shipped, they would have been inferior anyway. Let's hope they are just re-released with the old design. It would be a shame if even less small-sized sets would be available because of this.

I can understand why they attempted a redesign, even if they didn't discontinue the mold for the Nexo chest piece. The three-ball piece made for a terrible hip, as there was barely any friction and it wasn't great for balancing

@MeisterDad said:
"According to Brickset’s listings for 2021, LEGO has released 922 products this year. That a handful get axed or a few have some design issues — however severe — they represent a small percentage of the total available product offering. Is this error rate growing year over year? Perhaps, and only a data analysis would tell. Is there a precedent? Most assuredly not, as LEGO has continued output in spite of global fluctuations and demands.

From my perspective, this occurrence is within acceptable QC margins if one considers an error rate of 5% or less. It wouldn’t meet a 99% target, no, but it seems a few commenters here expect a 100% perfect score. All the time. Is that realistic? I struggle to think of anyone, myself included, that gets the job done right every time whether working independently or in a team. Errors occur, and i propose that how we choose to deal with them is what matters.

LEGO does plenty of things I don’t like, but when I weigh those things against the things I do like, the ayes have it. As long as that is the case for me, I will remain a buyer. Thank you to Brickset as one of the fundamental resources to assist in making informed decisions."

This is my perspective as well, I'd be lying if I said that I was entirely comfortable with the mechs, postcards, and Santa GWP all being shuttered for similar reasons so close together, but with such a massive production it's inevitable that not everything will be up to snuff. Having these things get caught before release, even at the last second, shows that there *is* attention in the process.

Also anyone referencing "only the best is good enough" clearly doesn't know what they're talking about, because these sets were *withdrawn* because they *weren't good enough*. Bring that up with released failures all you want but that's a silly perspective when we're talking about things that get pulled.

@lORDoFtHEbOARD said:
"What could possibly be wrong with them? They're exactly the same design as previous mechs like Iron Man and Thor from last year.
I'm sad for the great Wolverine though. :("

As the article explains, they are not the same designs

@Zander said:
" @gabri_ves said:
"why are these issues coming up just at this stage, and not earlier?"
I asked the very same question on Eurobricks and someone there suggested it was the LAN that discovered the flaw after assembling its review copies and tipped off LEGO that there was an issue. I don’t know if that’s true.
"

I wonder to what degree the pandemic had an impact on Lego's processes. Were people suddenly working from home and using virtual rather than, um, brick-and-mortar models? Was it suddenly harder to run QA?

I don't know how long the Lego design to QA to release cycle is, but I could imagine this series kicking off design just before the pandemic shut things down.

@CapnRex101 said:
" @rishi_eel said:
" @Huw to clarify,... "

We have been asked not to publish reviews of the mechs, but have received them."

I think that all of those "cancelled" sets are not cancelled just postponed in delivery, delayed. As are many thing in last few months. As was stated on news, among other things, that there is missing about 400.000 truck drivers just in Europe.

@gsom7 said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
" @rishi_eel said:
" @Huw to clarify,... "

We have been asked not to publish reviews of the mechs, but have received them."

I think that all of those "cancelled" sets are not cancelled just postponed in delivery, delayed. As are many thing in last few months. As was stated on news, among other things, that there is missing about 400.000 truck drivers just in Europe.

"

That might stack up for the vague cancellations like the postcards, but Claus was a gwp, which Lego would already have 'in-hand,' and these mechs were delayed due to specific construction issues. If they were just late in shipping, they wouldn't be recalled at all and Lego definitely wouldn't be pointing out shortcomings in the design

@Romans122 said:
"I really hope LEGO improves their review process after this. We had the same thing last year with the Osprey, and these last minute cancellations are just really frustrating for fans."

The Osprey got cancelled for a whole different reason. Stop making up stuff.