First images of 76210 Hulkbuster!

For quite a few years, I bought every marvel set that came with an Iron Man figure. I've got multiple versions of the hulkbuster as a result. I've gotta say though, I'm not a huge fan of this one. The legs look great, and I do like the shoulders as well, but the torso and arms feel too flat to me. That price tag is also making it a very big no for me.

Tired of $35 LEGO mechs? Well this $550 LEGO mech is definitely what fans want!

Biggest no thank you of the year and there have been quite few recently.

What's the betting the light bricks will light up orange like the one in 76206??

That's more than $10.00 per cm in height!

Hulk: HULK SMASH!!!
Everyone else: meh

I also wonder how many shades of red it will be: red, dark red, semi-dark red, demi-semi-dark red, hemi-demi-semi-dark red, quasi dark red, pseudo dark red…

Well this is something new

I'm not really a Super Heroes collector, but as a fan of Lego mechs I'm kind of in awe. Wouldn't have the budget or a place for something like this but seeing things like the shoulder and elbow articulation at a scale like this previously only seen in MOCs is pretty astounding.

Also, partswise it looks pretty luscious as well. Is that a trans-light blue version of the Fresnel lens from this year's Lighthouse Ideas set for the arc reactor?

Or one could buy a 76164 instead and have money left over for five 10497 Galaxy Explorers...

I think LEGO is becoming addicted to making bigger and bigger sets. The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition, seemed more than suitable, it’s not like the Hulkbuster is like a Gundam or a Jaeger or something. I’d much rather see LEGO spread that $550 over a more diverse range, or something new and unique, like a larger version of Thanos’ flagship, or something from a new license, like Godzilla or Gundam. I was happy to see Transformers and Horizon get their LEGO debut, I’d love to see more unique licensed sets.

Hulk-who..?

Oooh another over priced ornament, Lego you've done it again

I suppose it's just me, and the fact that my income is only Social Security, but Lego, in my opinion, is getting ridiculous in its pricing. What was once a fantastic building toy for children is now an exercise in getting money.
While I understand that any company needs to be profitable to stay in business, I believe this is going too far. And consider the size of these newer sets. Where do you display them? How do you clean them?
Lego is quickly alienating me, and it saddens me to no end. Lego sets are beautifully made, but they shouldn't require a second mortgage.

Is it just me, or those images, or did LEGO try to make the Dark Red look metallic?

Also the gold will probably look a bit less yellow then what's shown here.

Just looks extremely shiny dark red and oversaturated yellow gold on this, while in reality will end up being a HulkDuster that's not shiny at all after a while :)

Glow -in-the-dark knees, just for fun!

The set that only Tony Stark could afford.

another mediocre $500+ set to add to the pile. is it bad that I want these big sets to fail now?

What a joke. I see the appeal of another UCS-style Hulkbuster display set, but it didn't need to be this big or this poorly designed.

I love the arm and leg builds, but the torso is wildly inaccurate and out of proportion to the rest of the build. The orange light bricks are still poor excuses for lighting up the arc reactors - why won't LEGO just make white or blue light bricks at this point? They could've used them in several sets by now. The exclusive minifigure here is mediocre, the price is $150-200 too high, and in a set this big we should be getting a brick-built helmet instead of a single printed dome piece.

I have no idea what market LEGO is trying to capture here. As someone who buys every Marvel set within their first month of release, this is gonna be my first skip in a long time because it looks so bad and it's too expensive. If LEGO is trying to capture non-AFOL Marvel merchandise collectors, why would they pay over $500 for a Hulkbuster model so inaccurate and out of proportion when they could buy a replica from Hot Toys with proper lights and articulation instead?

This isn't even a bad idea for a $500 D2C but it's been executed terribly. It's incredibly disappointing that this is the biggest Marvel set ever, releasing in the 10th year of the theme, and it doesn't even have a good exclusive minifigure let alone a good build.

$550 for 4k pieces. Is LEGO OK?

@kipper147 said:
"For quite a few years, I bought every marvel set that came with an Iron Man figure. I've got multiple versions of the hulkbuster as a result. I've gotta say though, I'm not a huge fan of this one. The legs look great, and I do like the shoulders as well, but the torso and arms feel too flat to me. That price tag is also making it a very big no for me."
Agreed sometimes Lego don’t do themselves any favours including a screenshot from the movie the torso and abdomen are not close enough for £500

Feeling increasingly puzzled by the ways they have been targeting adult collectors recently. Lots of good sets are still being made but items like this, the Black Panther bust, the Hogwarts Express, and the Table Football are just ridiculous - are people even buying (or going to buy, for the upcoming ones) these things?

The UCS falcon has put lego on a very strange path these last couple of years.

Wait until ya'll get the $700 brick-built Hulk to go with it!

@PicnicBasketSam said:
"Feeling increasingly puzzled by the ways they have been targeting adult collectors recently. Lots of good sets are still being made but items like this, the Black Panther bust, the Hogwarts Express, and the Table Football are just ridiculous - are people even buying (or going to buy, for the upcoming ones) these things?"

Rest assured... if none bought them, none would be produced!

That said, the more expensive sets that are produced, the less expensive the cheaper sets appear.

Compare with 76105 which, while large, was still sufficient levels of detail and scale for most people, at $390 less than this set (you can even get it aftermarket new for around $150 still). Sure this is massive and detailed, but the proportions seem very off to me. I don't think the scale actually help the model at all, they just make it look wonky.

I really don’t think anyone is interested in another Hulkbuster, especially when it doesn’t seem to improve all that much, just makes it better. Plus, the price of course. No thank you.

@monkyby87 said:
"I really don’t think anyone is interested in another Hulkbuster, especially when it doesn’t seem to improve all that much, just makes it better. Plus, the price of course. No thank you. "

I'm not a big Marvel person, but wasn't the Hulkbuster in Age of Ultron, like one of the least favorite movies according to a lot of fans?

Let’s try to be fair with the good and the bad. This looks awesome. Not for me, too expensive and I’m not the demographic for display sets. But kudos to the designers.

I'm one to defend lego on some of their decisions but I cannot explain the marvel wave this year. The black panther bust now this? Do they ever think about who's actually willing to buy this stuff?

Sigh…

…again.

For that kind of money I’d find some additional cash and try and get something more accurate in 1/6 scale. LEGO sets should not be so consistently expensive. Just my opinion. It was cooler when there were a few a year.

Another set too big for no reason, I'm starting to see a theme here, and one that will bite LEGO in the rear sooner than later.

Not sure of the need for a second UCS scaled Hulkbuster either, I mean the first one didn't seem to do too well in stores from what I could recall.

All of the little detail looks great, but the proportions seem off. And I wonder: is there any posability beyond the arms? Considering this thing must be pretty darn heavy, I would assume the legs are fixed?

And that price, well, I guess some people are actually buying that stuff...

Boooring...

While I love the idea of a huge Hulkbuster like this, the torso looks completely inaccurate which is enough for me not to get it. If it looked like the pictures I’d be all over it. How does this pass any kind of design review?

I'll reserve judgement until I see some reviews, I think the designer has done a very good job, but this set is just too big. It's 52cm tall! How do you even get shelf space for something like this? And what if you have any of the other giant Lego sets released in the last couple of years?

As to the design, I think it's interesting that the arms are mounted on large turntables with gears connected, presumably there are control knobs on the back to adjust the pose slightly.

People complaining about the poor proportions of the torso should try and search for the leaked images of the side of the box. It shows that this Hulkbuster can open up, and is largely hollow in the chest. Given the similar style of display plaque included with 76206, I would bet good money that the two are designed to work together, so Iron Man can be placed inside the Hulkbuster.

Personally I think this looks great. I'm not into the Marvel series so maybe if detail is not accurate to the film AND I was a huge Marvel fan then I might not like it so much. But as a big set I like it!

I also have to say I like a lot of the big sets Lego produce. I have no problem with how big or complex it is, there will be people who want it and can afford it. And many of us can't, that's life.

I won't be buying it though as I have a tonne of other sets I already want (and can't afford ha ha) - but that's a reality with any collection. If we all could afford all of what Lego produce then Lego would be doing something wrong selling it so cheap.

Finally, a large set that has absolutely no appeal for me. (Heaves a huge sigh of relief)

For Marvel/mech fans, this does seem very nice--but when did $500+ become the default price for theme flagship sets?

What's this big tendency to characters out of films, from games, and other media stuff. Once upon a time Lego could rely on real life subjects and self-invented themes.
My fault, shouldn't have bought so many Star Wars things back when that started the whole avalanche.
icey speaks a big truth above, but I'd personally like more stuff aimed at grumpy 60 year-olds who haven't watched a new movie/ film in 25 years. Surely we're one of the main target audiences, no?
Selfish? me?

I’m sure it’ll look incredible in person, like a lot of sets. I’m a sucker for mechs (if Lego made Battletech mechs I’d be broke) but is the Hulkbuster iconic enough for enough punters to want to spend £500+ on the set? I can only remember it briefly in two Marvel films, and I’m pretty sure that post Endgame, the MCU isn’t as popular as it once was. Surely there’s got to be a wide enough market to justify such a large set. I don’t know, I suppose Lego knows what it’s doing, but I’ll be very interested to see whether it’s profits for this year come anywhere near last year.

LEGO started going after the adult market, making some bigger, more detailed sets, and was successful - that practice was reinforced so they not only kept doing it, so they went bigger, more detailed, and of course, more expensive - I imagine they'll eventually hit a point where the sets get so expensive they under deliver profits-wise, and they will correct by dialing it back. I wonder where that sweet spot will fall. I'm afraid it will be at a point where I am priced out of this hobby.

I could literally buy every other hulkbuster for that much.

"It's ugly (to me personally), too expensive (to me personally), and a pointless paperweight (to me personally), so NOBODY wants or is going to buy this garbage (a certified, universal truth)."

Maybe if I copy/paste this when the next set comes out, I can save some comment reading. :L

Not anti-critique for the record, just tired of the repetitive complaints, projecting opinions onto the masses, and occasional entitlement. Granted, that's on me for reading them in the first place!

Just because particular criticisms are happening with frequency, their frequency does not automatically invalidate them.

One could argue that the frequency of the criticisms could indicate that there is at least some validity to those criticisms.

I know licensed stuff tends to do well, and I’m just in the void of the Brickset echo chamber, but I am very tired of seeing the resources used for these large licensed sets.

I’d love to see the energy go to more affordable original ideas. Or even rebooting old themes like Space Police or dare I say, Exo-Force?

They hit it out of the park on a lot of Monkie Kid sets, but the cost is still problematic. Friends and City have plenty of hits as well, but still priced outside of reason.

Idk, maybe I’m just yelling at clouds at this point, but Lego is really starting to become less appealing with every over the top $300+ release.

Ok let’s be fair here and give constructive comments. The set is fine, it’s just absolutely ridiculously overpriced like most of the other large sets released this year.

A set adults and kids both don't want!

$550 for a child's plaything.

I've figured out Lego's master plan. They're making all these large expensive sets to corner the plastic market in an effort to keep plastic out of the oceans.

What about a 1000 $ set? We are not far away. Maybe a gas or oil rig, labeled Octan or even better Gazprom ... Including a mega watt hour of real gas for a nice and cosy building experience on a long cold, blackout winter weekend ...

Looks pretty good, but not incredible. Incredible part is the scale. Something like Bowser is spot on and significantly cheaper.

That other big Hulkbuster was already fine, why didn't they do something different? I feel like even a standard Iron Man suit would have been better.

Oh, right I almost forgot. It has almost been a week without a new set reveal of one worth hundreds of euros! I can't wait for the 4 or more articles on it that will flood the homepage for a few days!

They're all starting to blend together. This is like getting that special kind of icecream every day. It's so common now! And each and every time the prices are like those of a new computer, washing machine or the latest phone or something.
I'm not saying I feel entitled to those sets or that I don't want people to buy them. Because I don't feel that way, and I'm glad for them if people like things I don't care about.
But at this point it feels like seeing a catalog of yachts over here. Not only is it not for me, but it feels so alien. And we're now constantly bombarded with these XXXXL sets. I'm not even buying any (still haven't bought anything from 2022) and I'm still exhausted.

As for the set. It's probably fine. We've had another more economical one only five years ago or something, but this is probably good too. I just can't find myself caring about it anymore.

@christopher94 said:
"I know licensed stuff tends to do well, and I’m just in the void of the Brickset echo chamber, but I am very tired of seeing the resources used for these large licensed sets.

I’d love to see the energy go to more affordable original ideas. Or even rebooting old themes like Space Police or dare I say, Exo-Force?

They hit it out of the park on a lot of Monkie Kid sets, but the cost is still problematic. Friends and City have plenty of hits as well, but still priced outside of reason.

Idk, maybe I’m just yelling at clouds at this point, but Lego is really starting to become less appealing with every over the top $300+ release. "

I would love if the galaxy explorer became a line of classic lego spaceships remade with one 100$ set every year, you could the space police flagships, mars mission ship, the many designs from classic space, the renegade, any of them could make fantastic modern sets that aren't $400+.

I think this looks extremely well done. I'm just really glad I have no interest in Marvel or mechs in general.
I do think it will sell very well though. There will be plenty for whom the price will be perfectly acceptable. However there seems to be a growing expectation that everybody should be able to afford every set. Well tough luck. So long as Lego also produce sets across all price ranges I couldn't care less if the next release is diamond encrusted brick separator.

Are you a Millennial with a decent income and no kids?

Got some spare cash but the price of housing continues to accelerate and will forever escape your meagre grasp?

Do you like collecting memorabilia to show off your geeky tastes, and have enough junk that it takes up half the lounge room in your dilapidated rental unit?

Well you’re the perfect target market for this!

@TheBrickshipyard said:
"Well I suggest you buckle up then, because these comment sections will continue to be an opinionated place on new Lego releases, good or bad. Or, you know, don't read them at all. The comments are not always negative, especially on a few smart, beautiful, and well priced sets this year. Also, could you be any more hypocritical about those who post, when your own comment is a projected opinion onto the masses? "

Right, I did say it was on me for reading comments. You are correct that not all comments are negative. By "opinion projected onto the masses" I didn't mean "sharing an opinion", rather "claiming that one's opinion must be the opinion of all others".

My comment came from a place of fatigue, not hostility. Apologies for making that unclear, I only meant to vent a little.

@Binnekamp said:
"Oh, right I almost forgot. It has almost been a week without a new set reveal of one worth hundreds of euros! I can't wait for the 4 or more articles on it that will flood the homepage for a few days!

They're all starting to blend together. This is like getting that special kind of icecream every day. It's so common now! And each and every time the prices are like those of a new computer, washing machine or the latest phone or something.
I'm not saying I feel entitled to those sets or that I don't want people to buy them. Because I don't feel that way, and I'm glad for them if people like things I don't care about.
But at this point it feels like seeing a catalog of yachts over here. Not only is it not for me, but it feels so alien. And we're now constantly bombarded with these XXXXL sets. I'm not even buying any (still haven't bought anything from 2022) and I'm still exhausted.

As for the set. It's probably fine. We've had another more economical one only five years ago or something, but this is probably good too. I just can't find myself caring about it anymore."

This observation is as perfectly described as it is depressing. I remember years ago seeing few and scattered announcements regarding THE big new Lego set. There was excitement, because you knew that whatever the set was gonna be, it had hours upon hours of creativity, talent, and ambition poured into it.

And now we've come to the point where quantity is overtaking (if it hasn't already) quality, and we all repeat the same cycle - see the leaks, see the set, see the announcement, see the comments, see the damage control, see the bad sales, see the word about the next leak down the line. This Hulkbuster is another one of many, for me, and even as a big Iron Man fan, I see no reason to buy this thing.

It's saddening, the fun is now a matter of diminishing returns.

I'm sorry, who's paying $550 for this? You'd be better off paying scalper prices for the older one.

This set is ridiculous.

Also, the comment by @Binnekamp about "a catalog of yachts" made me laugh. It's so on point.

Not even if was a rich businessman with a salary of $100k per month I would get this set. It just screams pointless, POINTLESS. I don't know how to explain, but it feels like one of the most POINTLESS sets to date. And we also had the oversized Black Panther bust, Thor's boring Mjonir, the geek-bait UCS Razor Crest and the "incompatible with regular train tracks" Hogwarts Express recently to compete with this set for the title.

I would rather spend the money on some classic sets, Monkie Kid and/or Ninjago sets, more Galaxy Explorers or even some parts in Brickset to build MOCs. By this point, I beg Lego to focus on some remakes of Castle sets or even some decent Bionicle tribute instead of shoving a pointless $500~800 licensed set every month.

Like so many have mentioned, the proportions just seem off. The chest is too big for the legs or the legs are too small for the body…something. I am interested in this set, but will wait for some official photos and a good review before I even consider it. Right now, I am leaning heavily on “skip”, especially as I already have the previous “big” Hulkbuster 76105.

the frequency of these absolutely massive sets just hammers home the fact that the production of Lego itself is dirt cheap and the profit margin is what is increasing more and more. I'd really love to know the exact numbers - how much of a set's price can be attributed to the following main factors: material & production costs // design costs // instructions & packaging // licensing fees // advertising // profit

@saturncoupe1999 said:
" I suppose it's just me, and the fact that my income is only Social Security, but Lego, in my opinion, is getting ridiculous in its pricing. What was once a fantastic building toy for children is now an exercise in getting money.
While I understand that any company needs to be profitable to stay in business, I believe this is going too far. And consider the size of these newer sets. Where do you display them? How do you clean them?
Lego is quickly alienating me, and it saddens me to no end. Lego sets are beautifully made, but they shouldn't require a second mortgage."

No one NEEDS to own every Lego set. I think it is fine that Lego makes plenty of sets smaller sets for kids and smaller spaces. The sets that are this big and cost this much are still in the vast majority of Leo's offerings.

So. Another one of these things.

I agree that the proportions are odd. The head seems tiny compared to the body (and the feet are gigantic and strange).

This is going to be eye-wateringly expensive in Australia, so, it's a definite pass for me. Even if I was interested, which I'm just not.

It's another gigantic (and expensive) display piece. Normal Lego sets, I can build and display (and then dust for a while, and then put into storage), you know? I don't need to spend a thousand dollars for that, when I can spend thirty or forty.

If people want to buy this, more power to them. Lego chose to make this, so there's obviously a market for it, and if that's what floats your boat, I'm happy.

But this non-stop conveyor belt of gigantic collector sets (who has room in their house for all these things? I barely have enough space for my Ninjago dragons), it just starts to feel too cash-grabby, after a while.

At least it’s better than that atrocious Black Panther one last week (the poll result had 89% No I will not buy the set! Has to be a record high). My god is Lego shoving crazy expensive uninspired toys at us.

The poll for this one I’m guessing will be 80% No.

Looks like our mistake was not starting a Lego blog 5 years ago so Lego would just give us all these for free….

Well played to anyone that did! Well played!

@sir_vasco said:
" @TheBrickshipyard said:
"Well I suggest you buckle up then, because these comment sections will continue to be an opinionated place on new Lego releases, good or bad. Or, you know, don't read them at all. The comments are not always negative, especially on a few smart, beautiful, and well priced sets this year. Also, could you be any more hypocritical about those who post, when your own comment is a projected opinion onto the masses? "

Right, I did say it was on me for reading comments. You are correct that not all comments are negative. By "opinion projected onto the masses" I didn't mean "sharing an opinion", rather "claiming that one's opinion must be the opinion of all others".

My comment came from a place of fatigue, not hostility. Apologies for making that unclear, I only meant to vent a little."

I find it refreshing after years of almost every set gets an automatic comments section full of "Amazing! A must own for all collectors".

@Zander said:
"Hulk: HULK SMASH!!!
Everyone else: meh

I also wonder how many shades of red it will be: red, dark red, semi-dark red, demi-semi-dark red, hemi-demi-semi-dark red, quasi dark red, pseudo dark red…"

no kidding

@PicnicBasketSam said:
"Feeling increasingly puzzled by the ways they have been targeting adult collectors recently. Lots of good sets are still being made but items like this, the Black Panther bust, the Hogwarts Express, and the Table Football are just ridiculous - are people even buying (or going to buy, for the upcoming ones) these things?"

I've always been of the opinion that these are "press release" sets meant only to get attention, especially from new customers.

TLG isn't that concerned with how well they sell. They exist to get bodies into stores and eyeballs on the website. People come to gawk at the showstopper and walk away with something else. Few people will spend $$$ but many more will spend $$.

At that price you're getting into the territory of some of the upper end Die Cast figures. An SH Figuarts or HotToys or similar Hulkbuster. I'm not sure that's a market point that Lego can compete well in?

Breaking news: Lego to redo previously done sets.

someFOL: Really?! Can you redo 6399?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 4558-1?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 8880?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 6276?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 10185?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 5986?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: can you redo 'insert number here'?
Lego: definitely not.
someFOL: how about a Hulk Buster?
Lego: Well, we only did 3 Hulk Busters in the last 4 years. We certainly could do another one. That's it, let's do that!

@nny said:
"LEGO started going after the adult market, making some bigger, more detailed sets, and was successful - that practice was reinforced so they not only kept doing it, so they went bigger, more detailed, and of course, more expensive - I imagine they'll eventually hit a point where the sets get so expensive they under deliver profits-wise, and they will correct by dialing it back. I wonder where that sweet spot will fall. I'm afraid it will be at a point where I am priced out of this hobby."

I’m betting it will start soon. Looking at the Black Panther bust here, only 62 people own it & 411 want it. Both of those numbers are extremely poor for a D2C set. I’m with you though, there’s a fair bit of worry that TLG is going to price me out. My main focus is the Modulars. Despite them only coming out once a year, I’m getting concerned about the price. And since I won’t likely skip Modulars until they really become unreasonable, other sets will have to take the hit throughout the year.

The head looks hilarious to me

I remember buying 75054 with a heavy discount in a Carrefour supermarket. The cashier give me a look like "Spending almost 100€ in a child's toy. Are you crazy?" I could only wonder her expression at a 500€ set.
Lego has been always very expensive for normal people, but this is getting out of hand.

All these people upset that Lego is making a large set of something other people will enjoy. Do you all buy every set or something and these sets are a personal affront to your Lego buying collections?

Personally, I think this looks awesome. Will I buy it, no, I have two marvel sets, they are not in a theme I collect. But I'm not angry that this is available for those who would love it (same as I hate all the sit com sets with a passion, but I don't go on the comment section each time to rant about how they shouldn't make the sets because I personally despise them). These types of large detailed official sets have only ever really been in the realm of Star Wars previously, so other themes getting that treatment is very cool.

Also, these silly comments, "Lego will price me out", how many sets do you need? Why can't you just purchase the one's you want, why must every single set be for you, to your taste, to fit your house, to fit your theme? The entitlement is astounding.

There are numerous smaller cheaper sets in every single theme (most of which are not featured on this blog, which does lead to a perception of Lego focusing on these larger sets), but that is far from the reality. Check the number of releases for smaller and playset sizes for this year alone.

If you want the smaller sets, then buy them. If you like the middle of the road playset, then buy those (which will be the majority that frequent this site). If you want large detailed sets them buy them. If you don't like any sets, don't purchase them. But stop gatekeeping because it isn't exactly what you personally want or that Lego has finally decided to target the adult audience that isn't a Star Wars fan (and I say that as a Star Wars fan).

Critique of the set itself and comparative prices aren't what I'm talking about, just the fact, that so many people seem to think if something isn't for them, then it shouldn't exist. It's exhausting and unfortunately, it goes beyond Lego.

@PixelTheDragon said:
"Wait until ya'll get the $700 brick-built Hulk to go with it!"

A larger-scale brick-built Hulk has been needed for a while!

Hmm... maybe one could mod 3450...

The manufacturer of my car also makes one that's way, way more expensive than I can afford. Nobody could possibly want a car more expensive than mine. It's an outrage that personally offends me, and I want it stopped immediately.

@sjr60 said:
"The manufacturer of my car also makes one that's way, way more expensive than I can afford. Nobody could possibly want a car more expensive than mine. It's an outrage that personally offends me, and I want it stopped immediately. "

How many people here actually want Lego to stop making these? I think that in most cases it's more like a supermarket catalog with over half of the pages dedicated to expensive wines and caviar. I think it would be less grating to people if we didn't get so much attention drawn to Every. Single. New. Release.
Instead of a mass-market manufacturer that provides three Rolls Royce type models a year, at this point it feels more like shopping at a mass-market manufacturer that now calls itself Rolls Royce. And you can afford their one affordable model (which they provide for the younger crowd to get hooked on Rolls Royce to). It makes you think why you're even there anymore? It's Rolls Royce now.

@Montyh7
Personally I'm fine with there being stuff for folks that I'm not interested in or can't afford. All power to them!
It's the sheer frequency those are announced. I can't possibly ever hope to afford any, ever. Even 50 euro sets and the 100 euro Galaxy Explorer are difficult for me to acquire. It's more that this site's newsfeed seems to be for 50% or more about the latest giant set. To me it's like looking at a catalog of actual ferraris now. And they don't stop coming from the conveyor belt and aren't as high quality as they were years ago.

Also, the small price points are wonky now. Most themes immediately start at 30 euro. 30 euro is a lot of money for a set that's still small. The polybags are almost never in stores here, especially the good ones.

To some extent it's inflation, but at this point Lego's offering is just plain lopsided. In yesteryear there used to be multiple smaller sets around the same price points per theme, with larger sets getting more space between each other. Now it's the opposite, and the diversity only starts above 50 euro.
It used to be like 5, 10, 10, 20, 30, 50, 60, 100.
Now it's 18, 35, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 150, 300. Or something, it depends on the theme.

This constant bombardment with XXXXL sets just constantly underlines the feeling that sets are now targeted to rich people more than ever before. As someone who prefers sets from under 30 euro, I feel alienated now. Like I'm just not the target audience for anything anymore, and adults are supposed to spend massive amounts and the small sets are just there for kids to ask for bigger sets afterwards.

I know this discussion has been had many times. Each time we'll hear someone retort that there are small sets too. But how much value do we get out of those? The builds have shrunk in the last few years, and with small sets it shows. Often small sets aren't even an extension of the main theme anymore but gimmick sets or small mecha. And again, sets now seem to often start at 30 or 20 euro at the least. Not exactly pocket money.

At this point I haven't bought a single 2022 set because it's just so much more economical to buy second-hand sets from yesteryear. 10 euro can actually net you decent proper playsets, not supersized polybags. With 35 euro I've managed to find large sets. And I've found myself just much more interested in in-house playset-type themes, which right now are only City, Ninjago and Friends. You know, ones that have been doing the same thing for 17, 11 and 10 years already but with revolving subject matter. And there's Monkey Kid, which isn't available here and has no small sets at all, it seems.
So yeah... I'm not gatekeeping, personally. But I'm still exhausted about seeing my hobby becoming more and more about huge things and less about affordable things and sometimes want to voice my concerns.

I don't speak for anyone here. And again, it's great that sets this big are made. But it's just not for me. Again.

I'm getting a very strange feeling with all these mega-sets these days - indifference.

In the past, when a huge set was announced, I got extremely excited about it. Even if it was a subject matter I didn't care about.
I vividly remember reading about 10030 when it was announced. My God, a Star Destroyer, thousands of pieces, and at what, 300 Euros? What an absurd price for a LEGO set. What a crazy huge thing. My mind was blown on every level.
And no, I wasn't a kid anymore back then, not by a long shot. It was simply so many orders of magnitude above everything else in the lineup then.

Fast forward to today. 3000 odd pieces is nothing special anymore, and 300 Euro isn't anything out of the ordinary either these days. Sets of such a size are becoming a dime a dozen it seems.

I would love LEGO to concentrate on awesome sets around the 100 Euro mark. Stuff like 10497, which I am building right now. Sets like that one, great value for money, lots of attention to detail, no corners cut, are becoming a rarety, which is very unfortunate imho.

I wouldn't mind these constant mega-sets if TLG would focus more on quality and affordability in the rest of their lineup. Sure there are quite a few sub 50 and sub 20 Euro sets, but most of them are either for kids or so many corners have been cut in order to get them to those price points that the quality of the end results is pitiful.

Two very expensive UCS models from LEGO / Marvel this year that nobody asked for. (Black Panther bust, and this Hulk-buster) Meanwhile, DC has had practically nothing except for a 4 Juniors set and The Batman trio of sets, which technically released last year anyway!

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark...

@Montyh7 said:
"It's exhausting and unfortunately, it goes beyond Lego."

Hear hear. Seems like a lot of folks are going (a little) crazy with everything that's happening in the world. Entitlement often being an issue in any case indeed.

It's very unlikely I'll buy this set but I genuinely wish everyone who does a lot of fun with it and that they may enjoy it for many years to come. Good on them.

This isn't specific to the Lego fandom, but I think a lot of fans would be happier if they learned the difference between "this isn't for me" versus "this proves the company hates me." There is no shortage of kids' sets, cheaper sets, other themes, sets for play and not display, whatever.

I've only spent this kind of money on a handful of toys, like Hasbro's Unicron and a couple of the UCS mega-sets. They appeal to brand collectors, but they're not just another set in the theme. This should be a centerpiece in an Iron Man superfan's collection. If that doesn't sound like you, well then they probably didn't make it for you.

They'll stop making $500+ sets when people stop buying them, and between inflation and a likely coming global recession, that will probably happen sooner than later.

@MainBricker said:
" @ao_ka said:
"I would rather spend the money on some classic sets, Monkie Kid and/or Ninjago sets, more Galaxy Explorers or even some parts in Brickset to build MOCs. By this point, I beg Lego to focus on some remakes of Castle sets or even some decent Bionicle tribute instead of shoving a pointless $500~800 licensed set every month."

Ah, the old "More castles" comment.

You mean like the 10305 set that Lego had to put on promotion last month to drum up sales?

AFOLs can't seem to understand that Lego castles are not as popular as what they think they are."

Set 76215 ($350) owned by a whopping 62 persons; desired by 411.
Set 10305 ($400) owned by 3105 persons; desired by 4571.
(I'll give you that the castle has been available for roughly 6 more weeks than the bust).

Imagine if Lego had made an 'anniversary castle' of roughly $250. At $400 it is as if they decided to price everybody out and then have an excuse to say:"we made a castle and nobody bought it". Yet this won't work, they made an outrageously expensive castle and people bought it en masse because that is what they wanted, what they want now and what they will still want in the future (same is true for Classic Space and Pirates). Eventually Lego might get it but as of now Lego is like an oil tanker and it is turning excruciatingly slowly.

Personally, the only reason I like sets like these: new parts and parts recolour.

@Binnekamp

You raise some interesting points and I get what you're saying and I'm not going to argue against the issue that prices have increased. They have. I do think you can get some great small/medium sets, but that's me and maybe only in the themes I like.

I disagree with your comments around smaller sets though. If you look at the random sets that Huwbot posts, most of them are quite awful. They look half-finished and something a kid threw together before going outside to play. Sure, the nostalgic rose-tinted glasses of youth made them look cool then, but objectively, many are just plain bad. However, today's models seem far more polished to me (there are a few exceptions of some bad sets) but in general I think with more elements and a higher expectation from consumers, the sets have vastly improved; the designers continually building on skills and previous designs.

I suppose it depends where you place value. Do you place it with a sturdy well designed aesthetically pleasing build or with the number of parts? I personally prefer the former, but that's just a preference on my part.

Voicing your concerns is fine and something to be encouraged, and I do agree the news feed on this site does focus quite a bit on the new flashy large builds and if they aren't your thing, or if you’re not seeing people excited and sharing that excitement with other fans for the smaller/medium sets its harder to appreciate those sets. I also agree, it would be nice to see a larger variety of sets on the news feed, smaller and medium sets from all themes, but that also may depend on the contributors/reviewers to the site as there is always a lot of effort that goes into each review.

My issue is that is with those who think these sets shouldn't exist because it's not for them, a sentiment I have never understood, that's gatekeeping.

Just because I was curious, I removed minifigures, Duplo, Dots, and non Lego items (eg soft toys, key rings, magazines etc) and based on Brickset’s current data (given I’m half asleep so some of my numbers my be wrong, but the following are sets so far this year (not including those to be released as no prices are available yet).

The number over 200 Euro is interesting, however, I actually find myself only wanting two of the larger sets, which I’ll get sometime down the track (hopefully they come to retail and I can get a discount!) The sets themselves above 200 Euro are also quite electric with a different appeal to different people. The one's under 10 would include polybags which you said you can't get, and it's the same here.

Number of sets - cost in Euro
17 >200
10 - 150 to 200
20 -100 to 150
80 -50 to 100
104 -20 to 50
37 -15 to 20
26 -10 to 15
43 -under 10

@Binnekamp said:
"How many people here actually want Lego to stop making these?"
Well, in a non-exhaustive scan through the comments above, I found at least 10. Sadly the 'I don't want it, so it shouldn't exist' club is growing.

@morvit said:
"Ok let’s be fair here and give constructive comments. The set is fine, it’s just absolutely ridiculously overpriced like most of the other large sets released this year."

Yep. It should be $350. I can't wait to get this... 2 years from now when it will be on sale for $350.

EDIT: It does seem funny that the model is so different than the movie image placed beside it on the box. But, I actually like the model better than the movie version.

@MainBricker said:
" @gylman said:
" @MainBricker said:
" @ao_ka said:
[Ah, the old "More castles" comment.

You mean like the 10305 set that Lego had to put on promotion last month to drum up sales?

AFOLs can't seem to understand that Lego castles are not as popular as what they think they are."

What Promo? Did I miss that?
"

Well clearly you did. Lego did an exchange of a small amount VIP points for a discount on it. They also did the same for the Transformer set and a Robotics set. Obviously trying to shift some of the less popular sets (or stuff they over produced because expectation of sales was too high)."

The promo wasn't available in the U.S./Can.

@Murdoch17 said:
"Two very expensive UCS models from LEGO / Marvel this year that nobody asked for. (Black Panther bust, and this Hulk-buster) Meanwhile, DC has had practically nothing except for a 4 Juniors set and The Batman trio of sets, which technically released last year anyway!

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark..."

I really feel like it's a mistake to blame the lack of DC sets on Lego (and not on the dysfunction and mismanagement of the DC film slate by Warner Bros). Say what you want about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (there are certainly many aspects of it I'm dissatisfied with), but they've managed to put out multiple buzzworthy movies and TV series in the past year, while the DC film slate is practically on life support. And I worry that with the recent WB/Discovery merger (which has already resulted in a completed Batgirl film being memory-holed), that's unlikely to be improving in the near future.

At this rate we'll have a life-sized Hulkbuster LEGO model for sale in 2035.

@Zander said:
"Hulk: HULK SMASH!!!
Everyone else: meh

I also wonder how many shades of red it will be: red, dark red, semi-dark red, demi-semi-dark red, hemi-demi-semi-dark red, quasi dark red, pseudo dark red…"

No doubt TLG won't be able to completely color-match absolutely every piece of dark red included in this set. Absolutely no doubt that even one poor match (even between sticker and plastic) will raise a howl of complaint that quality has been abandoned by TLG in the pursuit of raw profit.

Likewise, every time a newly announced set doesn't blow everyone's doors off, the howl will rise up that TLG has lost its way, with multiple citations of previous low points in the company's history.

Actually, neither issue bothers me very much. I have never seen anything in the physical world perfectly color-matched from head to toe, and a discreet variation in colors makes it easier to build more naturally-shaded MOCs. I've also never expected every Lego set to excite me to the bone--or to find every theme equally attractive. I'm just looking for pleasure and relaxation in a difficult world. Is that so terrible?

My problem with TLG's recent conduct is that I'm not getting that pleasure and relaxation as much as I used to, because most of the set announcements that once would have interested me are now too big, too expensive, and above all too common to be enjoyable. It used to be that even when I knew I'd never get a particular set I still had fun readiing about it and admiring the skill of the designer. I think the tipping point for me may have been the Titanic set, which I first greeted with astonished delight and ready willingness to spend the huge purchase price, but later had to admit was too large to fit in my house and probably not as much fun to build or display as I had first assumed. That was a painful and stressful admission. Now I go through the same process for almost every new set whose release is given much attention on Brickset--that whiplash between "Oh, I must have it!" and "I really can't justify this." Not much pleasure or relaxation to be found there, eh?

So I'm pulling back in my collecting--so much so that I didn't make an order during the most recent double points event, probably for the first time ever. I'm suffering from "Massive Set Fatigue," I think. And so, I suspect, are a fair number of other AFOLs, judging from the comments on Brickset.

@Montyh7 said:
"All these people upset that Lego is making a large set of something other people will enjoy. Do you all buy every set or something and these sets are a personal affront to your Lego buying collections?"

I'm not "upset" about this specific set, but more about the trend leading to it. If you follow the "adults oriented" sets, you'll see they are getting massive in size, larger in bricks count and much more expensive for no apparent reason other than having it so. It's not JUST this one, it's the Blank Panther bust as well, and even the HP train and many more.

The direction that TLG is taking is, in my opinion, not the right on. I'm "upset" about the missed opportunity of having a nicer, more affordable set that many old and new fans could enjoy.

Think about the problematic scenario of liking both the HP train, the new roller coaster and this one and trying to find a way to display them. The promotional materials are always misleading with very empty houses, which in real life these people won't own these Lego sets anyway.

If we normalize it now, it'll only grow. This 4K bricks sets will quickly become the small ones, and on a personal level I can enjoy a detailed set, but I appreciate more the work of a designer who didn't use 5,000 bricks to achieve that.

Haven't read all up but guys, the photos are distorted. The proportions in the pictures are off.
These are pics off of instagram with the box being cropped to fit into this photo you see in the article.
The photos have a distorted perspective on them in the original photos.
I'm sure when this comes out and you see it in person, it's got a huge wow factor, and will look stunning on display.
I still have my 76105 Hulkbuster on display and it still looks great, and is sturdy and very playable large action figure. My nephews played recently with it and it held up.

@elangab said:
"I'm not "upset" about this specific set, but more about the trend leading to it. If you follow the "adults oriented" sets, you'll see they are getting massive in size, larger in bricks count and much more expensive for no apparent reason other than having it so. It's not JUST this one, it's the Blank Panther bust as well, and even the HP train and many more. "

There is still an assumption you want every one of those larger sets and the trend doesn't suit your personal interests. I've noted the numbers above, out of the approx 337 sets, 17 were over 200 euro. I only want two of those sets, which means that the other 15 may appeal to others who are not me and that's more than fine, that's great.

They haven't stopped producing the medium sized or smaller sets, they are just producing a wider range (again see numbers above) which will appeal to a wider audience. Personally, I wish all the sit com sets didn't exist, I've hated all those, but that would mean a lot of people would miss out on something they really like. That's not ok.

Moreover, these sets generally take 2 years or so to design so Lego can only ever react to the public and sales figures, not a blog, slowly. Understanding that means there are more in the design phase right now, so you will continue to see the trend, which will only cease as a result of sales figures (because it's a business). So if these sets are not popular or do not sell as expected, you will see evidence based change in around 2 years.

Personally, I'm hoping the sales indicate their continuation, so I can nitpick the ones I want (we've had some outstanding sets) and admire those I don't, which is by far the majority.

If Lego fans want very, extremely accurate models, it's best to go with traditional model kits where you cut parts off of sprues, file edges to smooth, primer/paint parts before glueing, wire lights, water slide decals, etc.
Or purchase Sideshow/Hot Toy type figures.
I for one love the abstract nature of Lego models. They don't have to be perfect accurate models to the source material for me.

@MainBricker said: "You mean like the 10305 set that Lego had to put on promotion last month to drum up sales?

AFOLs can't seem to understand that Lego castles are not as popular as what they think they are."

And 10135 not selling well wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you need to take out a bank loan to afford it?

People want these sets. They just don't want to mortgage their house to be able to afford them.

If this were Avengers Compound or Avengers Tower with a ton of minifigs and bigfigs - like The Daily Bugle or The Sanctum Sanctorum, even at this price it would be a much more justifiable purchase for more people, leading to more sales and less negativity.

@elangab

Completely agree that bigger is not always better, but by the same token, neither is smaller, and of course you should raise your concerns. I just don't agree that these sets shouldn't exist. I want 2 from the 17, so I'm really glad they do. I'm also glad that the two I want are detailed and stunning and not just another playset (although I do like my playsets as well).

I also find that there is a range, Vespa 125, Holiday Main Street, Galaxy Explorer, Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck, Succulents, Orchid, Jazz Quartet, Sonic the Hedgehog all under 100 Euro, all aimed at adults.

I understand and agree it seems like it is a trend, and perhaps it is. The adult sets sat pretty much on Lego's peripherals for a long time and I think they are experimenting to see what sort of sets people want and their buying patterns (and it's the latter that will determine the future of these types of sets).

I take on board what you've said, and noting the comments and trepidation people seem to have over these larger sets, I now agree that the feedback to Lego should be to disperse the number of larger sets with medium and smaller sets aimed at adults, to remove sensation of saturation that people seem to be having.

Although I don't understand why anyone would want to buy all 17 of the large sets , surely that must be mainly Youtubers, as no-ones taste can be that eclectic, it's quite the mish-mash of themes. However, what I don't want to see is some of these gorgeous detailed sets ceasing to exist, even if many of them are not something that appeals to me personally.

Lego churns out more and more expensive sets I have absolutely no interest in buying.

"In the past, when a huge set was announced, I got extremely excited about it. Even if it was a subject matter I didn't care about."

I completely agree. I even got all three big Ninjago sets, even though I had no interest in Ninjago before. But most of the recent big and expensive builds were just meh.

I love Iron man, he has been my favorite character since the 80's when i got into comics.. and i have absolutely no interest in this. No one cares about hulkbuster! Stop making hulk busters! Please make sets with new characters at a price point for my kid to play with.

lets get back to lego being a toy first

Looking at pricing back in the day.
- Death Star II, at 3400 pieces it went for $270usd in 2005. Today it'd be $410usd.
- Another is the 10030: Imperial Star Destroyer in 2002 went for $270usd and it was about 3000 pieces. Today it'd be $445usd.
- 10188: Death Star at 3800 pieces went for $400 in 2008. Today it'd be $550.
- 10179: Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon at 5100+ pieces went for $500 in 2007, today it'd be a whopping $715usd.
So this kit, is roughly inline with pricing and inflation through the years. It's not over the top.
It's just the frequency of large highly detailed kits lately.
There's still plenty in the $20 to $200 range.