Buckle your seatbelts. This review might be a little rough. The LEGO® Group recently offered me the chance to review all the January 2021 Marvel Superheroes sets. Considering the sets have not been released, I was thrilled to accept. In fact, I have enjoyed the builds so far. However, I recently built Spider-Man’s Monster Truck VS Mysterio. One word repeatedly comes to mind after completion: “why?” Sadly, the monster truck fell flat in terms of my expectations. Read on to find out why.
NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. I will use my usual rating system (click here to learn more) and provide my honest opinion.
SPIDER-MAN’S MONSTER TRUCK SUMMARY
- NAME: Spider-Man’s Monster Truck VS. Mysterio
- SET #: 76174
- THEME: Marvel Superheroes
- COST: $49.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 439
- MINIFIGURES: 4
- RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2021
SPIDER-MAN’S MONSTER TRUCK QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 91% (Great cost-per-brick and you get a lot of build time for the price.)
- BUILD: 50% (There is too much that I do not like to list here, side builds are nice though.)
- MINIFIGURES: 94% (Awesome character selection and load of accessories.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 50% (I have a hard time finding anything I like about this truck.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 71%
SPIDER-MAN’S MONSTER TRUCK REVIEW
VALUE: 91%
Spider-Man’s Monster Truck is not a bad value set. The kit costs $49.99 in Canada. Additionally, it comes with 439 pieces. Consequently, the cost-per-brick is $0.113. For comparison, my average cost-per-brick is $0.14. I rate that value at 89%. On top of that, the set provides a lot of build time for the price. I assembled the Monster Truck in 84 minutes. At full price, the cost-per-minute of build time is $0.60. Comparatively, my average currently sits at $0.83/minute. I rate the build time value at 92%. Averaging these two scores gives an overall value grade of 91%. There is no question, the set comes at a great value.
BUILD: 50%
The small side-builds in this set consist of Mysterio’s two drones and Doctor Octopus’ arms. The drone designs are particularly nice. I really like them. They have a sci-fi police drone feel to them and each features multiple guns. Conversely, Doc Oc’s arms are neat, but not as impressive. The claws at the ends appear disproportionately large in my opinion. However, I did pick up a new build technique from the hands. You can see it below. I will let you imagine MOC ideas for this design, but I see a lot of potential.
Sadly, that is where my enjoyment of this build ends. You know a set has issues when the side-builds are the highlight of the set. The Monster Truck is completely unimpressive. From the outside, it looks flat and boxy from every angle. On the inside, the build contains no interesting details. In fact, you can even see through the floor in the cab. One play feature involved a web canon that rises from the back. It works well enough, but the cannon takes up the whole rear of the truck. Nothing else fits back there. The other play feature is a shock-absorption system. Again, it works. However, it makes the car very wobbly.
In terms of other contentious issues, there are a lot of stickers. On top of that, the car is only six studs wide (not counting the tires). Two Minifigures cannot sit side-by-side in the cab. In truth, it only fits one Minifigure due to the canon. The build is just ugly. I rate the design for this set at 50%.
MINIFIGURES: 94%
In addition to the value, Spider-Man’s Monster Truck shines when it comes to Minifigures. The character selection is great. Each character comes with hair or a headpiece except for Spider-Man. Mysterio’s head is the only one without printing. Additionally, Spider-Gwen has no rear printing on her head. However, Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus have front and back head printing. Meanwhile all characters have dual-sided torso prints. Sadly, none have leg printing. In terms of accessories, you get nine assorted web pieces, a net, a “smoke” extension for Mysterio’s legs, a skateboard, two money tiles, a cape, two hand-launched blasts, four guns, a sac, and two diamonds. I rate the design and accessories at 100%.
Four Minifigures in a set containing 439 pieces is great. The brick-to-fig ratio is 110:1. Comparatively, my average ratio is 144:1. Therefore, for a kit this size, you get a better than average number of characters. I rate the ratio score at 87%. Averaging this with the design score gives an overall Minifigure rating of 94%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 50%
Unfortunately, Spider-Man’s Monster Truck does little for me. Truthfully, I dislike it quite a bit. When I think of Spider-Man, “monster truck” never comes to mind. The Superheroes theme comes with far too many vehicles to begin with. Spider-Man swings around town using webs for transportation. This sub-theme offers a wonderful opportunity to provide more buildings to string webs between. While I am far from a Spider-Man aficionado, I do not think I have ever heard of Spider-Man driving a monster truck. With such amazing characters, the build feels like a missed opportunity. I cannot imagine this set making the top of my wish list as a kid either. The brick selection is not even that good for repurposing. I am at a loss to find something entertaining about this set other than the Minifigures and actual time spent building. I rate the entertainment score at 50%.
OVERALL SCORE: 71%
Spider-Man’s Monster Truck is one of my least favorite sets. The main build has no relevance to Spider-Man. It needs Spider-Man stickers to have any relation what-so-ever. The set’s saving grace is a good overall value and a wonderful Minifigure selection. However, even the Minifigures would not be enough to make me buy this kit. It irks me that such great characters were not part of a more Spider-Man relevant scene. Doctor Octopus is clearly robbing something, so why not make this a bank set? Sadly, I do not recommend Spider-Man’s Monster Truck. It almost hurts to say that about a LEGO® set. What do you think? Feel free to comment below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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