Review: 76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO introduced a new kind of buildable action figure last year, primarily consisting of standard elements, instead of pieces intended specifically for large-scale figures. The response was rather mixed overall, but 76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure provides definite potential.
Ant-Man's changing size is vital to the character, of course, so this model could represent Giant-Man for minifigure-scale scenarios, or match the likes of 76206 Iron Man Figure. Moreover, a small version of the Wasp accompanies Ant-Man and these nanofigures are invariably appealing.
Summary
76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure, 289 pieces.
£29.99 / $29.99 / €34.99 | 10.4p/10.4c/12.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Like previous figures, Ant-Man is brilliantly articulated, but looks awkward in places
- Excellent articulation
- Exclusive Wasp nanofigure
- Good use of printed elements
- Unrealistic proportions
- Strange shoulder shape
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Completed Model
The design of these construction figures is now clearly established and 76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure follows the conventions closely. The height of 24cm is consistent with previous figures, while the building techniques are familiar too. This benefits the model in some respects, although the narrow legs are better suited to 76225 Miles Morales Figure and 76226 Spider-Man Figure than Ant-Man.
However, posing the figure can disguise its proportional issues to some degree. Fortunately, the impressive articulation of earlier models also remains intact, comprising ball joints at the neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. In addition, the elbows can move on hinge plates, while the waist helpfully rotates and the fingers are individually articulated.
The heads and masks of these figures have sometimes proven problematic, each relying on a similar angular piece. Ant-Man is unique though, cleverly integrating some smaller decorative elements to form the circular transmitter which the hero uses to communicate with ants. The printing on the pearl silver mask looks superb as well, including reflective lenses.
I like the shaping around the sides of the helmet too, although the bulky transmitter assembly sometimes collides with the shoulders, limiting the head movement. The shoulders themselves are also a weakness, retaining the peculiar design from earlier figures, as the arms are attached too low on the torso. The articulated shoulder panels partially disguise this issue, but the arms' position still looks odd.
Ant-Man's chest looks good though, including a printed 2x2 round tile in the centre, combined nicely with a light bluish grey connector with bar. A few stickers could have captured additional details from the onscreen suit, but I prefer this reliance on brick-built patterns. The printed parts on the arms are welcome though, underneath pearl silver ingots.
Removing the ingot on either arm reveals a stud underneath, where the instructions and official images suggest placing the Wasp. This nanofigure is beautifully printed with metallic gold and purple across the body, while the head is highlighted in silver. Considering the tiny scale, this figure is exceptionally detailed, so I wish Hope van Dyne's yellow-emblazoned iteration of the Wasp had been provided too.
Although certain problems from the other figures remain unchanged, these wrists represent a great improvement on the recent Spider-Man characters. Their articulation is mostly intact, but the gaps between the forearms and the hands on previous sets have been significantly reduced. The articulated fingers and thumb are also effective, although a finger is missing on each hand, as usual.
The back is, unsurprisingly, less detailed than the front. Nevertheless, there are no unsightly colours or bothersome Technic pieces. In fact, the use of inverted curved slopes and a single inverted 2x2 tile on the rear works perfectly. I like how Ant-Man's belt is clearly defined as well, continuing uninterrupted around the front and back.
The lower half is my least favourite section of this model. The articulation continues to impress and the legs' slender shape was ideal for Spider-Man and his agile allies, but they seem much too narrow for Ant-Man. Adding some larger curved slopes would probably have improved the design, particularly on the thighs. The red Technic axles are also obtrusive, on the knees and ankles.
Overall
76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure follows the conventional profile of these large-scale figures very closely. In some regards, this is beneficial, as the articulation remains outstanding and the shaping of the upper body looks good too. However, I think the legs should have been updated for Ant-Man, while the shoulders look decidedly strange in certain poses.
The helmet, arms and torso are well-realised though, without the need for stickers. Additionally, the Wasp is a wonderful addition to the set and pairs nicely with Ant-Man's nanofigure in 76192 Avengers Endgame Final Battle. The price of £29.99, $29.99 or €34.99 is more expensive than I would like, especially relative to 76230 Venom Figure, but Ant-Man could be a worthy purchase once discounted.
67 likes
27 comments on this article
The mask looks weird to me. I get the breathing apparatus build but it looks off. For the price, lego should make exclusive head molds for each character like the buildable figures.
@dRevan said:
"The mask looks weird to me. I get the breathing apparatus build but it looks off. For the price, lego should make exclusive head molds for each character like the buildable figures."
I disagree--I like the built aspect, and think it looks good, all things considered, and several exclusive prints make up for any value lost by not having yet another unique mold that can't be used in anything else.
Dirty confession: I didn't *hate* Quantumania.
Oh, the flaws stuck out. The family dynamic was underdeveloped, Hope was superflous, and I'd have kept the original planned ending where Hope and Scott are stuck in the Quantum Realm. But it wasn't *horrible* and I wish the hate for the movie would dial back some.
Anyway, this set needs a Cassie figure. Sad.
Bought day 1 and no regrets. Ant man is easily my favorite marvel super hero. All he really wants is to be a good dad. What a better hero.
The build was weird, but the end product is a lot of fun. Important to me, as I play with Legos more than display, is that there is very little breaking even when playing roughly with the model.
A lot of drops onto hard tables and few, if any, pieces broke off. I would like more articulation on the feet, but minor issue. I would love a similar scale of the Wasp.
Cannot express how pleased I was building this when I realised there were no stickers, all printed parts. Makes for a much more enjoyable and relaxing building experience.
I'm not a big Ant Man fan, but this looks better than the other Marvel construction figures because the helmet isn't awkward like the other heads and helmets. I know AFOLs aren't the intended target audience of the construction figures but kids really love them. I'm planning on getting 76259 Batman to duel with my 75531 Stormtrooper and 75533 Boba Fett. ;-)
One time in a class I’m in the teacher asked if Quantamania was good and everyone said it wasn’t, one guy claimed it sucked because it only got this set and the set wasn’t good. I still haven’t seen Quantamania so those are my strongest thoughts on the matter.
Given Lego’s recent track record with fun “easter eggs” I was hoping for a hidden Ant-Man nanofigure in addition to the Wasp one. Still cool though.
Looks strange me. The mouth piece so weird
@Trigger_ said:
"One time in a class I’m in the teacher asked if Quantamania was good and everyone said it wasn’t, one guy claimed it sucked because it only got this set and the set wasn’t good. I still haven’t seen Quantamania so those are my strongest thoughts on the matter."
You know for all of Quantamania's flaws, I would probably leave the class more inclined to be more forgiving and favorable to the film if somebody piped up and started trying to critique it based on the type of merchandise it got.
Great set, looking forward to it.
So we’re calling em nanofigs NOT microfigs?
Well, for all the mask wrongs, we can sleep well seeing the click joints form beautifully round buttocks.
@mavndad said:
"So we’re calling em nanofigs NOT microfigs?"
Microfigures were the type used in LEGO Games sets which are now out of use. Nanofigures are smaller than microfigures, hence the name.
@mavndad said:
"So we’re calling em nanofigs NOT microfigs?"
If we wanted to get hypertechnical, they're trophies.
What they should have done was make the giant minifig like the Hairy Potter ones, and put a reg size minifig of Wasp. I would have bought that 100%
Looks like he's wearing a old fashioned gas mask. I'm just waiting for him to ask "Are you my Mummy?"
If you get the above reference, you are a 'Fantastic!' human being. ;-)
If not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empty_Child
@B_Space_Man said:
"Given Lego’s recent track record with fun “easter eggs” I was hoping for a hidden Ant-Man nanofigure in addition to the Wasp one. Still cool though. "
That would’ve helped sell the set therefore they probably wouldn’t have kept it as just an Easter Egg.
The bootleg Marvel figures have a trophy sized Wasp with wings. They also don't do brickbuilt actionfigures which is ironic since this set looks like a bootleg, something Lego wouldn't produce. Lego may have started out without minifigures but without them the brand would have died multiple deaths between the 70s and 2007. Lego wants to establish pure brick-built products in licensed themes as a low production cost alternative to sets that include pre-assembled or double molded parts with multiple print applications, but just as with most of these experiments they will be phased out after a few years because there simply is no market while the market that works will keep being served better by bootlegers and fan custom makers selling their skill through Etsy and Instagram.
We get just one Quantumania set for this year, but they didn't think to include Kang! I'm just hoping against hope he shows up in the CMF later this year, because we can't just leave him out like this!
Meh...ch?
I only want the Wasp nanofig if I’m being honest
@Murdoch17: You get a Jelly Baby for that comment.
@Ridgeheart: The accuracy could be improved by hiding the feet.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Murdoch17: You get a Jelly Baby for that comment.
@Ridgeheart: The accuracy could be improved by hiding the feet."
Big feet, big hands- maybe they should stop calling him Ant Man!
@Ridgeheart said:
"According to my good friend Rob Liefeld, the anatomy on these constraction-figures is one billion per cent accurate."
You know I love ya. But, we all know that AFOLs have no friends, let alone a 'good friend.' ;P
P.S. I'm your friend.
My question is how does it scale to the giant ant (Ant-ony?) from 76039?
@ozbrickcreator said:
"We get just one Quantumania set for this year, but they didn't think to include Kang! I'm just hoping against hope he shows up in the CMF later this year, because we can't just leave him out like this!"
Kang is supposed to make an appearance in the CMF series as rumored by Promobricks.