Lego Review: Starblaster Showdown

For today's Lego Review, I'll be focusing on Set 76019, the Starblaster Showdown from the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Superhero line.

Off the bat this is already a step up from the last set I reviewed, the Knowhere Escape Mission. At 195 pieces, allowing for two vehicles and three minifigures, you're getting a pretty good deal for the $19.99 USD price point. This set does follow the classic Lego model of featuring one larger vehicle for the hero and a much smaller vehicle for the villain, but you'll definitely get a lot more play time out of this set.

The Minifigures

The three Minifigures in this set are great, with Star-Lord being the standout. 

Star-Lord

Here we have Peter Quill, or as he likes to call himself, the Legendary Star-Lord. As his comic book origin has been tweaked since the character first debuted in 1976, I'll focus on his most recent comic incarnation. This might venture into spoiler territory for the upcoming movie, so tread lightly. You've been warned. 

Peter Quill is an alien/human hybrid and leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. While I don't know exactly how the group forms in the movie, the comic book incarnation of the GotG comes together to prevent yet another interstellar war that threatens the Marvel Cosmic Universe, and they stay together to guard the galaxy. Quill has also helped in bringing down Thanos twice in the past six years, so I'm looking forward to see how this impacts the movie universe.

As for the minifigure, I absolutely love it. You get a pretty good amount of accessories with the figure: a mask, hair piece, his Elemental Gun, the silver orb I'm sure the Sakaraan is after, and two 1x1 round bricks that act as flames of rocket boots. The amount of printed detail that comes out is fantastic. You can almost feel the Indiana Jones/Han Solo/Captain Kirk vibe that I'm sure Marvel is looking for.  I particularly appreciate the backpack printed on the back of the figure. It looks clean and doesn't add any bulk in the form of an accessory. The mask is also well done, although I wish the hair color better matched that of the hair piece, but at this point I'm just nitpicking because it's not that big a problem.

Nova Corps Officer

Here we have the nameless Nova Corps Officer, or at least I think he's nameless. As far as I know this figure isn't based on anyone in particular so I'm tossing him into universe building territory (which stinks because the only way to get more officers is to buy this set several times). 

The comic book Nova Corps is essentially a space militia, only slightly differentiating themselves from the space cops of DC's Green Lantern Corps. They are powered by the Nova Force, have helped the Guardians take down Thanos, and once had their base inside Ego the Living Planet. The Corps has also been destroyed by Nebula at least once, so we'll see if that factors into the movie at all.

This minifigure is solid. The printing on the front and back is well done and the helmet looks great. I was surprised to see a double printed head with this figure, which seems unnecessary without a hairpiece to cover the back when unmasked. The accessory is a less-than stellar pair of handcuffs, although I guess you don't really need a gun when you're rocking a spaceship.

The Sakaaran

Here we have yet another Sakaaran. There's not much to say that hasn't been said before. It's still a well done figure and helps to pad out my stable of villains.

The Vehicles

The Starblaster

The Starblaster is the primary vehicle in this set; you can tell based on it's size. 

This ship is well done and looks like something you'd find in the deep recesses of space, as it has a very aquatic vibe and seems designed to move in a three dimensional environment. I really like the eight wing flaps. They have a great range of motion and really enhance the playability of the vehicle. 

It's also solidly built. The rear, which has the most moving parts, is put together in a way that prevents it from falling apart with lots use. The inside of the cockpit is spacious, allowing someone to easily position a minifigure inside. There's also lots of space to house the corpsman's many handcuffs. The bottom of the ship also has two flick missiles, which are neat but lack any real distance when fired.

The Necrocraft

The Necrocraft is an interesting build. First off, it's a very small build, which isn't strange considering it's the villain's vehicle. It also has two flaps towards the front of the build that don't seem like wings. Even the way they're portrayed on the box art doesn't clarify what they actually are. But I suppose with a little imagination they can be anything you want.

The build is solid, the flaps are on a swivel and hinge, giving them a large range of motion. I also like the rock-like piece used for the tail end, giving the ship an otherworldly feel.

The Verdict

This is a fantastic set. The minifigures are well done and serve to enhance the other sets in this line (world building!). You'll also be able to get a fair amount of play out of the vehicles. You really can't go wrong with this purchase and it more than justifies the $19.99 price tag.

Go buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Lego Review: Knowhere Escape Mission

Today I'll be reviewing Lego set 76020: Knowhere Escape Mission from the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Superhero line. 

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

Surprisingly, I don't know a lot about this character, either because I've never seen her in a comic, or because I've read about so many comics my brain can't handle any more information. All I know is she has two swords and is a badass, probably because she has two swords.

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.