I have had this set for some time. It has been sitting, sealed, in the original box for months now. I got this set on sale, and in all honesty, I bought it for the parts. It has lots of grey, and lots of windows, which are both always in need for the construction of my LEGO city. I am not a huge Marvel Comics fan, so since I have to draw the line somewhere financially, it is also one of the LEGO themes that I don’t collect. But, I do like the movies. For that reason, part of me also wants to have the Avengers Minifigures. So, when I saw this set on sale, I snatched it up. Let’s see if it is more than just the sum of its parts! Keep in mind as you look at the photos that I have left off a large number of the decals on the windows since I plan to repurpose them in my city.
Set Summary
Name: Attack on Avengers Tower
Set #: 76038
Cost: $74.99 CDN
Brick Count: 515
Minifigure Count: 5
Manuals: 2
Release Date: March 1, 2015
Summary Review: 82%
Value: 80% (at full price, you are paying $0.15 per brick.)
Build: 85% (The building looks nice, but it has no stairs.)
Minifigures: 86% (Good brick-to-Minifig ratio, nice designs.)
Entertainment: 75% (You get about 2 hours of build time, but it’s not a keeper for me.)
Review
Value: 80%
With 515 pieces and a cost of $74.99, each brick is going to set you back $0.15 here in Canada. The current average for the Marvel theme, and LEGO overall, is $0.13 per brick. That means this set has an ok value, earning the set 80%. As I mentioned before, I got this set on sale for 20% off, which brought the overall cost down to about $60. At that price tag, the average cost of one brick is $0.12. That brings the score up to 90%.
Build: 85%
The tower has a nice exterior shape and design. It is a little small when you consider how big the tower is in the movie, but I guess making the set bigger requires more pieces which would also increase the price tag. I also really like the build for the medical bay on the bottom floor, and the computer terminal on the top floor. There is a neat play feature that allows the Iron Legions to launch, and I also like the little lab with the movable arms for repairing robots.
I am not a huge fan of the fact that there is no way to get from floor to floor. I also am not a huge fan of the hinged design, but I suppose it is better than an open rear. It loses half a mark for that, and a full mark for the lack of stairs. Overall, I give it 8.5/10.
Minifigures: 86%
There are five Minifigures in this set, so with 515 pieces, you are getting one Minifig for every 103 bricks. That is a pretty good value, earning 4.5/5 for the brick to Minifigure ratio.
Let’s first take a look at Ultron MK1. He has printing on both the front and back of his head. While this is not a double sided face, it is still nice detailing. He has printing on the front and back of his torso, and on the front of his legs. He comes with rounded bricks and studs to simulate the flames used to fly and stabilize himself. I give him 8/10.
The set also comes with two Iron Legions. They come with transparent orange head pieces that have a splash of paint on them. Each has front and back printing on the torso, and front printing on the legs. The helmets are the same as Iron Man’s, but in a different colour. Each Legion also comes with studs and round bricks to simulate flight. I will give each of them 8/10 as well.
Iron Man comes with a double sided face, and his helmet has more detail than the Iron Legions. He also comes with a hairpiece in the event that you don’t want Tony Stark to wear his Iron Man helmet all the time. He has really nicely detailed printing on the front and back of his torso, and the front of his legs. He also comes with studs and rounded bricks for flight. Iron Man earns 9/10.
Finally, we reach Thor. He also comes with a double sided face. In addition, Thor has a red cape and his hammer. The detailing on the front and back of his torso is really nice. He has no printing on his legs. He also gets 8/10.
Averaging out the scores for each of the Minifigures gives them a collective design score of 82%. When combined with the brick-to-Minfig ratio score, this gives the Minifigures an overall score of 86%.
Entertainment: 75%
The Avengers Tower took me two hours to build. With a price tag of $74.99, this means that each minute cost me $0.62. This is below the average cost per minute of build time that I have calculated based on my last few sets. I have recently updated the way I assign my build time score, so according to that new system, this set gets 4.5/5.
Will I keep this set in my LEGO city? No, and it was actually never my intention to. As I mentioned at the start of the review, I bought this set for the pieces and Minifigs. I do like the design of the set though, so I will keep at least part of the look in my upcoming custom police station. I don’t doubt that this is a fun set for kids to play with, but as an addition to my city, it would need some major tweaking. I give it 3/5 for enjoyment.
With the build-time score and enjoyment score taken into account collectively, the Attack on Avengers Tower earn an overall entertainment rating of 75%.
Overall: 82%
This set has a decent value, even at full price. It also comes with five nicely designed Minifigures. The building has a nice look, and some fun play features for a younger crowd. For older collectors, it is not a stand alone piece that can be easily incorporated into a LEGO City. It lacks realism in terms of size and accessibility. The build itself is enjoyable, and not a bad value as far as LEGO sets in general are concerned. If you are looking for extra windows and parts, this is a great set to acquire.
Until next time,
-T.N.B.
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