Review: 76205 Gargantos Showdown
Posted by CapnRex101,
Doctor Strange regularly encounters outlandish creatures, memorably including the threatening Shuma-Gorath! The appealing 76205 Gargantos Showdown instead provides another impressive monster, whose poseable tentacles appear very reminiscent of Shuma-Gorath.
This model features impressive detail and those tentacles appear excellent for display, given their extensive articulation. Furthermore, three exclusive minifigures are provided, including the newly-introduced America Chavez! This set therefore seems superb in every regard, especially given its price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99.
Minifigures
Four different Doctor Strange minifigures have been produced and the latest is definitely my favourite. The moulded cape introduced with 76185 Spider-Man at the Sanctum Workshop returns and looks fantastic, including lovely texture and wrapping neatly around the shoulders, while the torso decoration has also been improved. The pale blue accents are appealing and I love the updated Eye of Agamotto too.
Wong displays comparable detail, most notably around his waist where various patterns are combined to beautiful effect. The metallic gold accents look splendid, in particular. The colour scheme of purple and dark red is attractive too. However, I dislike the head which returns from 76185 Spider-Man at the Sanctum Workshop because this design hardly resembles the onscreen character and lacks an alternative expression.
Stephen's double-sided head looks perfect though, including cheerful and determined faces. Both minifigures wield energy shields, known as Tao Mandalas, which are represented using 2x2 dishes. Their differing colours are interesting, but I am disappointed that the printed pieces from 76060 Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum have remained exclusive to the 2016 set.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will introduce America Chavez, sometimes known as Miss America. This teenage minifigure includes medium legs and her sand blue jacket looks brilliant, featuring a pin shaped like a minifigure head on the front and a decorative star on the reverse. This star is shared with comic depictions of Miss America, recalling Captain America's traditional symbol.
Intricate detail continues on the shirt underneath the jacket, presumably taking inspiration from the heroine's Marvel Cinematic Universe attire. This dark brown hair component suits America Chavez and I also love her double-sided head, which includes two confident smiles and could prove useful for various characters.
America Chavez is portrayed as a lesbian throughout her comic appearances, so carries an exclusive rainbow pin here. This element is not shown anywhere on the packaging or official images, so was a nice surprise! Whether the accessory appears onscreen or not, I welcome its inclusion and wonder whether this tile will appear in DOTS sets during 2022.
The Completed Model
Gargantos was originally developed as a minor antagonist for Namor the Sub-Mariner and has rarely appeared during comics, so his film introduction during Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is surprising! This model looks absolutely perfect when compared with Gargantos' brief trailer appearance and integrates eight large tentacles, stretching 31cm across when fully extended.
The spherical body at the centre of these tentacles is considerably smaller, but offers wonderful detail. The blending of smooth and studded surfaces forms a scaly texture and olive green was certainly an effective colour choice, with occasional dark green and dark tan accents. The few light bluish grey elements therefore appear somewhat conspicuous, but they were unavoidable.
Black tendrils are situated above Gargantos' single eye, again corresponding with the film and appearing fittingly menacing. The eye looks magnificent as well, comprising a trans-yellow 4x4 rounded brick with a white 4x4 round plate underneath. The colours appear accordingly vibrant, especially with a decorated 2x2 slider at the centre! The wheel arches situated around the eye look outstanding too, but lack motion which is slightly disappointing.
However, looking closely underneath the eye, you might notice narrow gaps between certain elements. They result from a questionable building technique as 1x2 plates with ball cups are connected to a 1x6 wheel arch element. The flange on the wheel arch conflicts with those ball cups, creating the described gaps. Huw has already discussed this issue in more detail.
While the eye remains static, the surrounding tentacles offer tremendous articulation. Each of the longest tentacles features three joints, while the smaller appendages include two poseable joints. An exceptional range of positions for display are therefore possible, benefiting particularly from the ball joints which encircle Gargantos' round body.
The aforementioned scaly design becomes especially apparent when viewing this model from behind, where various slopes and wedge plates are employed to splendid effect. The resulting shape looks great and avoids interfering with the articulated tentacles because those ball joints remain relatively exposed.
Overall
76205 Gargantos Showdown represents an interesting addition to the Marvel theme and is therefore extremely enjoyable! The eponymous monster looks fantastic and offers incredible display value, taking advantage of those versatile tentacles. Gargantos' eye includes splendid detail as well, although the absence of additional functionality is perhaps disappointing.
The minifigure selection is impressive too, since all three are exclusive and achieve excellent accuracy. Moreover, I think the price of £24.99, $29.99 or €29.99 represents fair value, so can wholeheartedly recommend this unusual set. The subtle design flaw is frustrating, but does not detract from the completed model and I feel confident that will be quickly resolved.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group, but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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48 comments on this article
Pleasantly surprised by the rainbow pin – such unsubtle representation is pretty cool to see in a licensed set! But also can't help but expect the unavoidable wave of hand-wringing and clickbaiting from certain media and creators.
I love this set, definitely picking it up. Strange always gets the fun stuff. Only thing I would add is Wanda but I understand not including her
There's no fluff here. Three excellent minifigs and 100% of the remaining parts go to a great monster build, a definite rarity in Lego. And all of that for $30!
Build problems aside, this set is an easy 'A' grade. It far exceeds most Marvel sets.
Really a fantastic set in a great price range.
Love how this Gargantos fits both fantasy and sci-fi.
The rainbow tile seems a little odd though.
Why is it not on the packaging? Will they not add the tile in regions where LGBTQ+ are less accepted?
And if it's supposed to be a pin, why is it not on her jacket?
Might sound a hit conspiratorial, but maybe instead of printing a pin onto her jacket they chose to include the tile which is easier to disregard for bigots and the likes.
An alternative explanation could just be that printing that many different colours simply exeeds the limit of their current printers. And the tile is just a nice way of including it the pin anyways.
Does this set remind anyone else of Hermaeus Mora from Elder Scrolls?
SHUMA GORATH! (Fight music)
Together with the Bro Thor set 76200 I’m becoming impressed with the MCU sets in the $30 range - hope they keep up this mix of good price with imaginative concept (while also addressing such design issues...).
I’m confident my Starro the Conqueror MOC could take him. He may have less total tentacles, but he’s larger, heavier, has a much higher piece count, and it took a Namor-clone plus six other superheroes to defeat him the first time. That was before he figured out how to create mind-control spores. Plus he’s purple! He wins on style alone. But I do like the eye on this one. I’m just wondering if there’s a way to tweak the design so the design flaw isn’t an issue.
Despite the design flaw (which I’ll rectify with a scalpel), this is a great set for a reasonable price. I’ll definitely be picking this one up.
The 1x1 rainbow flag tile is a nice touch. I’m not LGBT but I’m glad the option is there. I hope though that it doesn’t become the centre of attention of this set. LGBT-ness has been part of human existence since year dot. It’s high time we got used to the idea (or got used to it again as it has been historically such as in Ancient Greece). It should be no more of an issue than left-handedness or being blonde.
@MainBricker said:
"With that design flaw it don't think the set should be recommended as it is essentially broken The set should get a re-review coming once the issue has been resolved.
I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
This entire comment is so insanely wrong it must be parody ??
@MainBricker said:
"With that design flaw it don't think the set should be recommended as it is essentially broken The set should get a re-review coming once the issue has been resolved.
I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
It is absolutely not broken. The design flaw is questionable but makes no difference in stability and rigidity of assembled model. I suggest you look at brothersbrick review where they go more in detail about this.
With the design flaw in that one area, it shouldn't be recommended.
Cool design and great looking monster but with those ill fitting parts, it should be cancelled, then fixed.
Come up with another solution for placement of the tentacles.
How about just dropping the sockets down one plate. So it keeps that nice shaping for the eye. It'll just be those front two tentacles dropped down one.
@MainBricker said:
"With that design flaw it don't think the set should be recommended as it is essentially broken The set should get a re-review coming once the issue has been resolved.
I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
I'm not sure if you've ever read any America Chavez stuff, but... It's very much in keeping with her as a character.
I agree that it's gorgeous model, visually. They've done a really good job at creating a monstrous Lego tentacle beast.
But knowing about the design flaw? Honestly, there's no way that I'd buy it.
@MainBricker said:
"With that design flaw it don't think the set should be recommended as it is essentially broken The set should get a re-review coming once the issue has been resolved.
I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
Dude it's probably a badge or something in the movie, calm down.
I don't like this set as much as I want to. The build looks great, but it's got that illegal technique that I'm surprised LEGO actually approved. Figures are decent, but America's hairpiece doesn't fit her movie hairstyle and I'm really just sick of how overused it is in general. I'd of course love a Wanda minifigure here, but she doesn't seem to be in the movie scene and we already have three exclusive figures in a $30 set so I understand why she was excluded. I'll wait till I have it in hand but I think $30 seems a bit expensive. I'd rather see this at $25, and I really hope there's a second spoilery set coming later next year.
Well, that's three Lego lesbians, from three different fictional universes. (Tracer, Batwoman, and now America Chavez.) Wonder when they'll get around to the other letters because they've got the L covered. Although I guess 40516 could count...
If they fix the design flaw, I'll have to pick this one up. It's likely to be the closest thing to a Beholder Lego ever does.
I'll get it at discount for the parts.
I can’t be the only one that didn’t know what America Chavez’s powers were and assumed her rainbow tile was some form of spectrum power blast like Polka-Dot Man from DC? It’s a good thing you pointed out that it was in fact a pin for LGBTQ+ representation and not a rainbow frisbee!
Gargantos looks great so might consider this one as I already have the original Sanctum Sanctorum with the ‘other’ tentacle monster that seemed to resemble the one that appears in What If?
$30 for 3 great minifigs and a substantial build . . . wow, great price point.
And representation matters . . . good for Lego for continuing to be inclusive.
I like the build for the large amount of tentacle/horn/tree pieces in the same color and a useful color at that.
@MainBricker: Considering that Lego didn't feel the need to point out the orientations of Batwoman or Tracer, I don't think that's the reason for that tile. I figure it's quite possibly a representation of something that physically appears in the movie.
@TheOtherMike:
Did you forget Harley Quinn?
@Zander said:
"It’s high time we got used to the idea (or got used to it again as it has been historically such as in Ancient Greece)."
What idea was that, again? That women were barely human and thus it was fine for grown men to fall in love with boys (Ancient Greeks' words, not mine)?
I'm a fan of big tentacle-y monsters but as for that new tentacle piece, the hollow section ruins it. Lego has older tentacle parts that are solid all the way through and as such look much better.
Still hoping there will somehow be a Shuma Gorath set
@CapnRex101 and all, here's a deep cut into the back story of this character. For all intents and purposes this is shuma gorath. Marvel had to rename it because the name shuma gorath is actually from conan the barbarian and it was a copyright thing.
@PurpleDave: Admittedly, I didn't think of her,probably because when I think of her sexuality, I think of her "Mistah J" first and Ivy second, if I even remember they're a thing sometimes..
I really like the accuracy of this set (according to the trailer, anyway) and there's no extra silly bits and pieces or action features. Just some great figs and a really cool looking monster.
Excellent minifigs and oh boy, however beautiful this monster is going to look on a shelf, those tendrils are about to get the "mangrove forest" treatment as they are ideal for such scenery!
@Orange_Jooze said:
"Pleasantly surprised by the rainbow pin – such unsubtle representation is pretty cool to see in a licensed set! But also can't help but expect the unavoidable wave of hand-wringing and clickbaiting from certain media and creators."
The fake awe from online reporters at Disney including queer characters for the billionth time never ceases to exist. Now it’s gonna extend to their licensed LEGO products, too?
I’m digging that gay pride pin but doing one for the lesbian flag would make more sense imo, at least if they’re not gonna reuse it for more generic purposes. Two days ago I made a decal for the flag for one of my Mecabricks custom minifigs and you can get close with existing LEGO colors— although Nougat, the closest hue to the light orange section, does blend with the Bright Orange above it a bit too much. Cool set and I can confirm from a source I won’t spoil that yes, Gargantos is gonna be in the movie, certainly just as a secondary villain but regardless he’s not made up for this. I’d appreciate a slightly lower price tag but hopefully it’ll go on discount someday.
(See here for my try at a lesbian flag print: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/lego-dimensions-customs/images/d/db/Persephone_Morgana.png/revision/latest?cb=20211225173457. Not just self-advertising, I swear)
@MainBricker said:
"I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
Fellas, is it homophobic to be gay?
@TheOtherMike:
I’ve been a Harley fan since catching her debut broadcast back in 1992 (and actually thought she was an established character at the time). So just with the DCAU, I’ve seen the Joker days, and the earliest hint at the Ivy days (B:TAS ep Girls’ Night Out). The current HBO series overtly plays into the latter, plus there’s been years of debate over whether anything actually happened between them in the DCAU. There were similar debates over a scene in Babylon 5, which was broadcast around the same time. This was before Ellen outed herself and her character on her sitcom, so there was probably a lot of signaling going on without clearly defining anything on TV.
When Harley was first created, there was certainly no plan to go in that direction, as she was a throwaway character on B:TAS who was only created because Joker couldn’t wheel a cake into the room and then jump out of it. Arlene Sorkin, who originally voiced her, was a close friend of, I think, Paul Dini, so the character was based on a similar throwaway role that she’d played in a soap opera. But Harley caught on with the production team, and quickly became a regular on the series before making the jump to print. At some point, her creators became uncomfortable with the specific relationship they’d put her in with Joker, split them up, and paired her with Ivy in an undefined relationship. Other people read meaning into it and ran with it, though she is still regularly paired with Joker. Most of the portrayals where I’ve seen a pairing with Ivy, it has followed a break with Joker.
@LegoSonicBoy:
In an ironic twist, yes, it can be. It has happened a lot in the US.
@Swamp said:
" @Zander said:
"It’s high time we got used to the idea (or got used to it again as it has been historically such as in Ancient Greece)."
What idea was that, again? That women were barely human and thus it was fine for grown men to fall in love with boys (Ancient Greeks' words, not mine)?"
Lumping homosexuality with either paedophilia or gender-related status differences is a great fallacy. Each of those has existed separately at various times and places throughout history. In proposing that we should emulate the Ancient Greek acceptance of homosexuality, I was not suggesting we should adopt every aspect of their culture as I suspect you know perfectly well. The difference between homosexuality, paedophilia and status differences liked to gender is that the first of those is a victimless expression of love.
*linked to gender
You say Gargantos, I say beholder—just slap some Mixel eyes onto the ends of those tentacles and you’re good to go.
@Trigger_ said:
" lCool set and I can confirm from a source I won’t spoil that yes, Gargantos is gonna be in the movie, certainly just as a secondary villain but regardless he’s not made up for this. "
Is that source the trailer of the movie where he’s shown albeit briefly XD
@bricksaber said:
" @CapnRex101 and all, here's a deep cut into the back story of this character. For all intents and purposes this is shuma gorath. Marvel had to rename it because the name shuma gorath is actually from conan the barbarian and it was a copyright thing."
Interesting. I did wonder whether there might be an issue like that, or perhaps another studio holding the rights to Shuma-Gorath. After all, why use the name of a little-known tentacled villain if they could have included the more famous character?
@Brickalili said:
" @Trigger_ said:
" lCool set and I can confirm from a source I won’t spoil that yes, Gargantos is gonna be in the movie, certainly just as a secondary villain but regardless he’s not made up for this."
Is that source the trailer of the movie where he’s shown albeit briefly XD"
Yep. If not a rights issue than the reason why he’s now Gargantos is because this version isn’t the size of the entire universe.
Good review! Gargantos is yet another demonstration of the LEGO design team's skill at designing brick built creatures, which has only increased as elements like Mixel joints and curved slopes have become more widespread.
The imperfect connection between the 1x2 plates with ball cup and the 1x6 wheel arch is surprising to see in an official set, but judging from the detailed coverage of the build in TBB's review (https://www.brothers-brick.com/2021/12/23/lego-marvel-superheroes-doctor-strange-76205-gargantos-showdown-review), it seems that it was probably considered "legal" as long as the plates and wheel arch weren't forced to press tightly against each other.
Had the collision been accidental, with the expectation that the parts would sit flush with one another, the designer probably would not have left such a large "buffer zone" between the reversed plates and the tiled surface beneath them. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if an earlier sketch model had used 2x2 jumper plates to fill that space, which were removed once the usual quality assurance tests made it clear that this would stress the parts beyond their natural tolerances.
@TheOtherMike said:
"Well, that's three Lego lesbians, from three different fictional universes. (Tracer, Batwoman, and now America Chavez.) Wonder when they'll get around to the other letters because they've got the L covered. Although I guess 40516 could count..."
Quite a few other LGBTQ+ fictional characters and/or real people have appeared in sets over the years. I've been maintaining a list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZnlICkoUU66QIwy-F90HNATiY2sPh8DyXkN3X3x4n-o/edit?usp=sharing
It seems likely to me that the tile either represents a specific movie prop separate from the character's costume (as you suggested in another comment), or was designed for another set we haven't seen yet and was included here as a sort of a bonus detail/"Easter egg"— sort of like the LEGO Dots rainbow prints that made an early appearance in the Trafalgar Square set. But the designers certainly have managed to include plenty of LGBTQ+ characters in past sets without any sort of obligation to call it out in the sets themselves.
@CapnRex101 said:
"Interesting. I did wonder whether there might be an issue like that, or perhaps another studio holding the rights to Shuma-Gorath. After all, why use the name of a little-known tentacled villain if they could have included the more famous character?"
It could potentially be a rights issue, although I can envision a few other possibilities.
For one, it may be a plot point in the movie that the tentacle-beast is mistaken for a more ordinary monster, but then is discovered to be a far more powerful eldritch entity? If that's the case, its "true name" could be considered a spoiler within the context of the MCU, albeit one that people familiar with the comics characters would be able to figure out in a heartbeat (as is often the case with many plot twists in comic book movies).
Alternately, the movie version of the character may be a composite character of sorts, kind of like how the MCU version of Ego is sort of a composite of the comics characters J'Son (Peter Quill's father in the comics continuity) and Ego the Living Planet, or how Sylvie Laufeyson is a composite of the comics characters Lady Loki and Sylvie Lushton (the Enchantress).
Sticking with the name "Gargantos" would give the filmmakers free rein to disregard elements of Shuma-Gorath's comics lore involving characters Marvel Studios COULDN'T get exclusive film/merchandising rights to, like Crom (a god from the Conan the Barbarian brand, which Marvel has the comics rights to but not the film or merchandising rights) or various H.P. Lovecraft characters (which are in the public domain, outside Disney/Marvel's exclusive control).
@Aanchir said:
"Good review! Gargantos is yet another demonstration of the LEGO design team's skill at designing brick built creatures, which has only increased as elements like Mixel joints and curved slopes have become more widespread.
The imperfect connection between the 1x2 plates with ball cup and the 1x6 wheel arch is surprising to see in an official set, but judging from the detailed coverage of the build in TBB's review ( https://www.brothers-brick.com/2021/12/23/lego-marvel-superheroes-doctor-strange-76205-gargantos-showdown-review ), it seems that it was probably considered "legal" as long as the plates and wheel arch weren't forced to press tightly against each other.
Had the collision been accidental, with the expectation that the parts would sit flush with one another, the designer probably would not have left such a large "buffer zone" between the reversed plates and the tiled surface beneath them. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if an earlier sketch model had used 2x2 jumper plates to fill that space, which were removed once the usual quality assurance tests made it clear that this would stress the parts beyond their natural tolerances."
Huw's article discusses this issue in detail and I find it extremely unlikely that LEGO considers the technique 'legal'. If the flange on the wheel arch was just pushing the ball cups outwards slightly, I might agree. However, a 1x6 plate is then attached beneath those ball cups, forcing them to detach partially from the wheel arch and creating the gaps. Unless design rules have changed recently, elements are definitely required to be pressed down firmly and completely on the stud(s) underneath.
The tiled surface below the lower eyelid structure requires that space because the tentacles fitted underneath protrude very slightly, so you could not close the gap completely.
I am confident this was a simple error during development, presumably resulting from the unusual circumstances of its design.
I used to main Shuma in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and while this version of the character is a different scale it's still really neat.
@SpaceCadet said:
"You say Gargantos, I say beholder—just slap some Mixel eyes onto the ends of those tentacles and you’re good to go."
ohgodohno
Might get it, I like big (for minifigures) weird creatures
Not sure if I need this set for my Marvel collection yet, but the monster would be an awesome addition to my Halloween display
@MainBricker said:
"With that design flaw it don't think the set should be recommended as it is essentially broken The set should get a re-review coming once the issue has been resolved.
I'm not particularly keen on the rainbow element and hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, ie gay people now have to come with a rainbow identifier to signify their sexuality. They're more than just a rainbow symbol! Whilst I'm sure that they think they're being inclusive it really is a bit like a pink triangle being painted on people, it's almost like something a homophobe would do."
As a gay person, I can promise you that the use of rainbows is QUITE common. We choose to use these to represent ourselves, it is in no way something that's forced on us. Please don't make generalizations like this for a community you do not belong to and clearly know very little about.
Denied! I found a few copies of this set at Meijer, so I figured I’d grab some one before they could initiate a recall. It rang up street-dated, and instructed the cashier to confiscate it. Stopped at Target next, and they had two copies out. Grabbed them both, with the same results. I’d also found the Classic Spaceman puzzle maybe a month ago, and _that_ was also street-dated. Who puts a street date on a puzzle made of cardboard?
So, I stopped at Wal-Mart next, and they did not have any copies out, so I bought seven pints of Häagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark ice cream to drown my sorrows, which is totally inappropriate. Instead, I should have been able to buy seven pints of Häagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark ice cream to celebrate actually finding seven pints of Häagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark ice cream for the first time since early November.
Success! Went out looking for something else, and stopped at a different Wal-Mart. They had three copies that I could find. I bought them all, and they weren’t flagged for a street date.