Clocking in at 433 pieces and a price point of $39.99, your mileage with this set either depends on how badly you want Groot and Rocket Raccoon, or how young you are. I can see this set being a lot of fun for a kid, especially with the missile launcher being able to shoot across the room, but as an adult collector, I sadly found myself a little disappointed in the playset and the minifigure I wanted the most: Rocket Raccoon. So read on for more details on this set.
The Minifigures
Groot
While technically not a minifigure, Groot is the standout of this set. With fourteen points of articulation, most of them being the newer ball joints, you can get a lot of movement and pose-ability out of Groot, which is great since most Lego figures only move at the arms, legs, and neck. Now I do wish he moved at the neck, but ultimate it doesn't hurt the overall figure.
As far as the build goes, it's pretty solid. You can definitely get a lot of play time in without worrying about Groot falling apart in your hands. His head and chest consist of one piece that slips over the torso, and it, along with two pieces on his legs, have grass and branches printed on them. The character is a living tree, after all, and the build shows that.
Nebula
I do think the minifigure is done well. The purple of her body really sticks out and the printing on her torso and head is well done, with just a hint of metallic paint to make the character pop. I also really dig the design of her head, which probably implies that her character could be an alien/cyborg hybrid, or she just has some wicked tattoos. I don't know what's right, and I'm too lazy to find out. Guess I'll know come August.
Sakaaran Soldier
So here we have the Sakaaran Soldier, and this guy I do know a bit about. He's supposed to be on Thanos' payroll and is after the silver orb that Rocket's hanging on to. But here's the awesome part: he has greater ties to the overall Marvel Universe. Ready for your geek lesson of the day? Here we go!
The planet Sakaar was the setting for the Planet Hulk storyline, in which Tony Stark, Nick Fury, and Reed Richards determined that Hulk was too dangerous to keep on Earth. So they rocketed him off planet to this peaceful place (read: not so peaceful) where the Hulk was supposed to live out the rest of his days picking flowers and playing with space puppies. Instead Hulk found himself as a gladiator, fighting for his freedom and ultimately the freedom of the entire planet. He also teamed up with some space roaches, impregnated a local, and had his new found happy place blown up by the damaged reactor core of the very spaceship that got him there (Thanks Tony!). Long story short, Hulk found his way back to earth and did what he does best: SMASH.
Anyway, back to the Lego. This guy's pretty neat. I'm a fan of his double-sided head, which looks like a masked/unmasked version of what we'll be seeing in the upcoming movie. The gun also closely matches the movie weapon, so that's cool. The paint and decals are also well done, utilizing more of that metallic paint to accentuate his armor and eyes, giving him an otherworldly feel.
Rocket Raccoon
So here we are, at the final minifigure in this set. I know I said I was underwhelmed by this figure, that shouldn't detract from the overall quality of the actual piece. It is well made, and does look a lot like the character from the movie. Rocket's head is a new piece designed for this set. And he comes with a long, bushy tail that fits between his legs and torso, which is pretty dang cute.
The minifigure utilizes shorter, yet immobile, legs, making him smaller than the other figures. The shoulder pads restrict arm movement to a little above his shoulder line.
Rocket has two accessories, the silver orb the Sakaaran is after, and his weapon. The weapon is pretty cool and fits the character, who's a heavy weapons expert, and trust me, this weapon is heavy. Which leads to my biggest problem with this mini: the gun is big. Too big for Rocket to hold in any way that makes sense. And when coupled with the limited arm range and the solid legs, unless you have a base plate or keep him attached to the set (or Groot), he's spending a lot of time on his face, which probably isn't the best position for the space raccoon to find himself.
The Playset
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Lego playsets. I love the minifigures and vehicles, but being that I'm 29, my imagination's pretty much dried up and having a platform with a trap floor doesn't excite me as much as it used to. Although I still get a kick out of missile launchers that can poke someone's eye out from across the room.
In the comics, Knowhere is a spaceport at the edge of the universe housed inside the decapitated head of a Celestial, so I'm pretty sure this is a terrible representation of that. And this set is called the "Knowhere Escape Mission" but I'm not actually sure what they're escaping from.
The Platform... thing
I have no idea how this fits into the movie, and to be honest I'm probably breaking it down as soon as this review goes live.
BUT if I was a 10 year old this would be pretty cool. The platform itself has a drop away floor (and a flat panel so minis standing on it will actually fall through the hole) and pressing down on the satellite looking thing causes the scaffold to break off from the set. Built in destructibility is always fun. There's also a small catapult attached to it that launches either bombs or toxic waste. I'm not sure.
The Space... ship? Pod?
The spaceship pod thing is... not very big, and probably isn't an attack vessel. My best guess, given the two claw hands, and the sticker decals, is that it's some sort of heavy loader, probably one that moves toxic waste. Or bombs. I'm still not sure.
The actual design is solid but it's on the small side and doesn't look like it would be that enjoyable to play with.
The Missile Launcher
Now this is something I can get behind, mostly because I don't want to stand in front of it.
The launcher itself is rad, and the range is pretty awesome, taking me back to my childhood when most G.I. Joes came with rocket launchers that could seriously put an eye out. But the overall build is less that stellar. I do like that it has good up and down motion, but the handle is useless, being that it's off to the side of the launcher and not actually attached to it.
The Verdict
I'm torn. The value of this set definitely comes from the minifigures. Groot is great, and while I have problems with Rocket, it's not a deal breaker, especially since this is the only set where you can find him, and the figure is still fun to play with. Nebula and the Sakaaran Soldier are nothing special but are solid minifigures overall.
The playset itself is rather underwhelming, but I'm sure most people will be buying this set for Groot and Rocket Racoon. In that regard, I think it's worth the purchase, and if you can get it on sale, even better.
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