The Zurg Battle (76831) is the second of two sets based on Pixar’s Lightyear film that we are reviewing. The film releases on June 17th in theatres and tells the story of Buzz Lightyear, hero of Star Command. Or, at the least, what’s behind everyone’s favourite Space Ranger from the Toy Story films. For this latest film in the franchise, we have three tie-in sets with new characters and vehicles. This fun, smaller set is in the 7+ line with a Mech build as the primary focus. I have already reviewed the amazing XL-15 (76832) which you can read about here. For the speed build and video review, please click on the YouTube link below.
NOTE: This set was provided by The LEGO® Group to True North Bricks for review. This does not guarantee a favourable review and all opinions are my own. For a breakdown of the rating system, please click here.
SET SUMMARY
- NAME: ZURG BATTLE
- SET #: 76831
- THEME: Disney / Pixar’s Lightyear
- COST: $39.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 261
- MINIFIGURES: 2 + Cat & Robot Build
- RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2022
QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 75% (decent-to-average scores on cost-per-brick and cost-per-minute)
- BUILD: 60% (simple build with OK techniques, poseability and design)
- MINIFIGURES: 94% (great minifigs with excellent printing and a good brick-to-fig value)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 65% (fun for young builders, minimal draw for AFOLs)
- OVERALL SCORE: 71% (simple set with a fair value and great minifigures)
VALUE: 75%
Zurg Battle (76831) has an MSRP of $39.99 in Canada. Inside the box we get 261 pieces, which translates to a cost-per-brick of $0.15. We unfortunately don’t have any Disney sets reviewed on the site so we can’t make any comparisons within the theme. At $0.15 per piece however, this is just above the average of $0.14 we have seen for all reviewed sets to date. As such, this cute little Mech gets a score of 77%. Not too bad overall but with less pieces, it’s perceived value comes across a bit low.
I built the set in approximately 40 minutes, for a cost-per-minute of exactly $1.00. This nice, round amount brings us a score of 72%. Averaging the two, Zurg Battle (76831) earns a final value score of 75%. All-in-all a good score for a small set that was never going to take too long to build. Decent price for what you get.
BUILD: 60%
Zurg Battle (76831) comes packaged in a small box with push-tabs and some really nice artwork. The graphics are great and show the contents really nicely. I’m loving that hero shot of Buzz in the corner as well. Inside you will find two numbered bags, a sticker sheet and a 91 page instruction booklet. With only 261 pieces, there’s not much going on inside lol. The small robot is a quick assembly of course, but I find myself loving it. There’s a fun, almost ‘retro’ vibe to it and it reminds me of something you might see on Futurama. The eye is a red horn piece in a hollow black stud, recreating a digital look a la HAL 9000 – simple but clever.
The primary build is of course the Zurg robot/Mech. Zurg comes together with some decent parts usage and build techniques, but nothing crazy. The ball joints work just fine and you get some good maneuverability overall. One spot that I don’t see holding up are the knees, which are done with clips. Way less range of motion and likely spots for breaking or being weak. Time will tell I guess. And you all know I’m not one to be mad at stickers, but this set has quite a lot of ’em – especially with only 261 pieces. A good many of them are finicky to place because of their shape. They do add lots of graphic detail…but ya know, meh.
You know when you build a set and as you’re down to one last bag or pile of bricks and you think: “How is this enough to finish??” That happened to me here. The last few steps build the arms and frankly, they could use a few more pieces. They’re quite simple, too simple really. A little more muscle would help to bulk out this guy and also make for more detail. Finger details work at this scale, but they still seem a little goofy. overall, I’m giving our friend Zurg here a final Build score of 60%.
MINIFIGURES: 94%
The Zurg Destructo-Bot (I assume) comes with 2 minifigures….and a cat. The kitty is clearly comic relief and I can’t wait to see what the story is there. Sadly none of the listings give names to the cat or the other character included in the set. I will just refer to her as the female minifig. She and Buzz both get fantastic designs with leg, front-and-back torso, head and arm printing. Each fig comes with an alternate head with dual-sided expressions and a hair piece. Otherwise you can use a single-expression head with the purple cowl/flight-suit design. All the details and patterns are superb, making these top-notch figs.
Accessories a plenty accompany each fig. Both figs have a newly printed shoulder armor with studs on the back. It’s here you can clip on an updated wing/jetpack piece – which looks amazing. The female minifig gets the new stud shooter weapon, which, by the way, has some firepower. Still can’t find the stud it shot out. oops. Buzz gets an arsenal’s worth of accessories thanks to a trans red antennae for his wrist laser beam, a laser gun, fuel cannister and the aforementioned jetpack. With all this goodness, I’m giving the figs themselves a perfect score of 100%
The brick-to-fig ratio for the Zurg Battle (76831) is pretty great at 130, representing a score of 88%. This is impressive given the very low piece count. Sadly the cat doesn’t count, or it would be higher. By comparison, the reviewed sets to date get have an average score of 170 bricks-per-fig. Combining the two scores, this little set earns a great minifig score of 94%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 70%
This set is a 7+ build, so it’s ideal for younger builders. KFOLs will no doubt enjoy the playability, fun colours and minifigures. AFOLs and collectors will likely be drawn to this set for the minifigs, but not much more. It’s displayability is minimal to be honest. The Mech build is good, but nothing to go wild over. Like many a brick-built robot thingee, mileage varies on how much you’ll enjoy it. Smaller Mechs are what I consider “tide-me-over” sets: just enough fun to scratch a LEGO®️ itch but not much more. At a higher price, this could easily be something on the amazing scale of a Ninjago Mech. But for a small tie-in set, I think this gets the job done well. I give the Zurg Battle (76831) a final score of 70%.
OVERALL: 71%
This is a cute set. There’s not much to it, but it’s a decent design with great colour and some fun playability. The best part is definitely the minifigure selection. There’s only two, but that’s great for a set this size, and the printing on both is fantastic. It’s great to see so much effort put into them. Mechs are not my favourite, but I do appreciate their appeal – especially for younger builders. I do think there’s just a few too many stickers however, and some proportions could use a tweak here or there. Overall, it’s a fun tie-in to a highly anticipated film and it gets a final overall score of 71%.
And that’s one of two sets from Pixar’s Lightyear film friends. I’m excited for the film, and I’m sure the Zurg Battle will be a fun moment. But what do you think? Are you excited for the film? Do you enjoy brick-built Mechs? What’s your favourite Buzz Lightyear moment? Comment in all the usual spots and let us know. And until next time, keep on brickin’. 🧱
-Frank
Want to support True North Bricks?
If you like the content at True North Bricks, please follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or YouTube for regular updates. Additionally, you can support True North Bricks by making your LEGO® (and other) purchases using the links in the main menu. As an affiliate of those retailers, we earn from qualifying purchases. These earnings come at no extra cost to you but help to keep the content at True North Bricks free. Thanks for your support!
Cool set. Really excited to see the new movie.