New Guardians’ Ship (76255) Review

A new Guardians of the Galaxy film is the perfect time to bring us a new hero ship. The first two volumes of the series gave us the Milano, a very fun design with bold colours. For Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, we saw the introduction of a new ship known in-universe as the Benatar. It first released as a smaller system set in 2018 (Thanos Ultimate Battle #76107), followed by an amazing UCS-style release in Summer 2021 with The Guardians’ Ship (76193). In Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3, we get yet another new team ship, the Bowie. And this is one quirky design that’s wholly different than those before. Let’s take a look at what we get.

NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. True North Bricks’ usual rating system applies (click here for more information).

NOTE 2: Please be advised that the colour matching of my photos is completely off. My pics are much more blue compared to the actual teal colour of the set and bricks. I could not adjust my camera and it was already well into building. Apologies for the inaccuracies. Thanks

SET SUMMARY

QUICK REVIEW

• VALUE: 88% (good cost/brick value for this IP and a decent build time overall)
• BUILD: 95% (very unique and fun design making good use of parts, colours and techniques)
• MINIFIGURES: 80% (strong overall selection, even with repeat torsos. should include Gamora)
• ENTERTAINMENT: 84% (decent play set that’s also a unique display item for AFOLs)
• OVERALL SCORE: 86% (recommended set for collectors, MCU fans and MOC makers)

VALUE: 88%

The New Guardians’ Ship retails for $129.99 CAD, translating to a cost/brick of $0.12. For a large (and often pricier) IPs like Marvel, that’s a decent value. Our Marvel sets reviewed to date average just slightly higher at $0.13. Take those cost wins whenever they happen haha. With 1108 pieces and that $0.12 cost/brick, we get a score of 86%. I am still happily surprised with the MSRP on this set. This makes it a really attractive purchase when so many other sets are far too expensive for what you get.

My build time clocks in a very decent 221 minutes, or about 3 and a half hours. This results in a cost/minute of $0.62 and a score of 89%. Once again, very impressed with the basic stats. The build is decently involved without being too complicated so you can get a much better experience for assembly. The average of sets we have on record is approx $0.76 for a score of 80%. So right away we start with a good set of scores that should please the more statistics-concerned AFOLs out there. The final value score is a respectable 88%.

BUILD: 95%

The New Guardians’ Ship (76255) arrives in a fairly standard box. We get a nice image of the ship front and centre, and some digital art of the team to the side. Inside the box are 9 numbered bags, a 187 page instruction book and a small sticker sheet. Right away I have to say that there’s very minimal stickers for a set this size. The bricks do most of the work. And where you do get stickers, they add nicely to the aesthetic and finish the detailing well. Could they be printed pieces? Probably. But with a respectably lower cost, I’m not mad at the presence of some savings.

That Sci-Fi Aesthetic

Check out how original this design is. Especially if you compare it to the rest of the ships in the MCU. Do I prefer it to the Benatar? Definitely not, but it’s certainly eye-catching. In building it, you will create some interesting shapes and utilize clever building techniques. Overall, it’s a really fun build and the end results are very striking. That’s due in no small part to the non-traditional design and the wildly original colour scheme. Let’s just acknowledge that teal and magenta are as out there as it gets for a paint job. In the realm of the Guardians, it fits in wonderfully. Existing LEGO®️ colours work super well here.

First up in the building process are the two small triangular auxiliary craft. They’re small and simple, with just enough room to seat a minifigure. These will eventually connect to the side of the cockpit. Once there, they really finish the shaping and cover up exposed areas of the interior. They are a bit flimsy however. They connect to the body with a simple ratchet piece. And while that’s sturdy, the build itself is easy to break – particularly the wings. Nothing serious mind you but take a bit of care.

Put a ring on it

The New Guardians’ ship is essentially two rings connected to a main cockpit. Each ring is octagonal in shape. Construction-wise, it’s a very effective illusion. Also effective is the use of sloped grilles on the interior of each ring to create an almost perfect circle. Those octagonal angles are created with bent plates. These plate pieces are quite common in the Super Mario sets and in many a Mech build. Building two rings is slightly repetitive, but it’s not at all tedious. Nor does it take away from the overall experience. Both rings are nearly identical save for a slot in the lower ring to place the display stand. Under those teal canopy pieces are clips wherein you can attach the minifig weapons when not in use. It’s a smart way to keep track of accessories.

Take a stand

A positive and a negative with this set is that it comes with a stand. That’s mostly awesome as it gives you a great way to display your new ship. The ever-so-slight downside to that is the ship can’t really ‘sit’ there on it’s own without it. It can lay flat but it looks odd. This also protects any damage you may do. It’s a sturdy construction, but with such a wild shape, you might not move it around properly once or twice and “crash“. Building the stand happens at the 2/3 mark, after the first ring and cockpit are done. This helps tremendously in putting on the second ring and adding some greebling and filler to the body. All the small sub-assemblies look perfect when all in place as they fill in any gaps and add texture.

Speaking of the body, the cockpit has some fairly complex technic assembly. It’s a necessity for holding up those fairly heavy rings at an angle. The engine and rear of the body looks very good. Trans pink pieces are used in all 5 engine pods to nice effect. I quite love the large trans red canopy screen, it compliments the ship nicely. Inside is just enough space for two seated minifigures. A lower panel also opens to place another minifig even though you won’t see it. Think of it more as a cargo hold.

Overall the New Guardians’ Ship is a great build. It’s got some decently advanced techniques. You get to appreciate the trickiness of the design during the construction. And at over 3 hours, it’ll occupy a good chunk of your time. The only way to improve upon things would be to have the rings fold down for landing as they do in the movie. Now that would be some amazing engineering. But thanks to the stand you don’t have to worry about that quite so much. Concurrently, a small plaque would make a nice addition to the stand. But this isn’t a UCS set, so I’ll let it slide. My final build score is 95%.

MINIFIGURES: 80%

MCU minifigures are one of my biggest ongoing collections. So with every new set I need to see what new or redesigned characters I can add. The New Guardians’ ship comes with five all-new minifigures. Of those five, four are exclusive to this set with only Star-Lord being a reuse of a new minifig. He is also found in the smallest Guardians Vol. 3 set, the Guardians of the Galaxy Headquarters (76253). With five minigures and over 1000 pieces, we get a brick/fig value of 222, which translates to a score of 76%. That’s just under the average of 196 bricks/fig for an 80% score. It’s still a decent selection for a set this size.

The New Guardian’s Ship (76255) comes with Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, Nebula and Adam Warlock. So that’s four out of six Guardians available in one set. Groot , or ‘Swole Groot’ as he’s known can be found in the aforementioned Guardians’ Headquarters set. Rocket Racoon is present in the Baby Rocket’s Ship (76254). This curiously leaves Gamora absent, which is really strange. She really should be in this set if no other. It doesn’t seem likely that another set will release for this film, so I guess we’re just not getting any minifigure of her? I call shenanigans.

Cut-And-Paste

Overall this is a pretty good selection of minifigures with impressive detailing. Of the five however, four are essentially the same body with a different head. They are wearing uniforms though, so I can’t be too surprised or upset over it. Positively, they are well designed bodies with nice front-and-back torso, leg and feet printing. No arm printing on anyone however. Only Nebula gets a slightly different look thanks to the one gray arm to show her metallic prosthetic. Each minifig head is nicely detailed, particularly Drax and Nebula. As bald characters, they only get the one expression. We do get alternate expressions on Star-Lord, Mantis and Adam Warlock.

Adam Warlock is easily the best minifigure of the bunch. The printing is wonderful with lots of detail on the torso and legs. Metallic accents look really sharp with the golden colour and dark red. Arm printing would be a nice addition here if no one else, but alas, not to be. A standard cape adds that comic book feel and he gets two trans light blue power blast elements as accessories. Our other heroes (except for Mantis) all come with two weapons each. So, as I said, this is a strong selection of minifigures, but there’s definitely room for improvement. I give the figs themselves a score of 82%. Combining both values together we get a final minifigure score of 80%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 84%

The New Guardians’ Ship decently skirts the line between play set and display set. On the one hand, it’s got nice interactive elements for imaginative play. Those removable side ships are a nice way to enjoy simpler role play without holding the bulkier main ship. And while the primary build isn’t fragile feeling (surprisingly), it is awkward to hold and therefore less ‘swooshable’. And let’s be real, a key component in ship sets for younger builders is swooshability. In this case, it’s not quite there. What is there are plenty of wild colours in very useful bricks for all the MOC makers out there. This set looks like it came out the current Friends wave or even something Sweet Mayhem would drive from The LEGO®️ Movie 2.

I’m also surprised that there are no stud shooters or similar features. That lack of extra features consequently makes me feel this is more a display set than anything else. That stand, while essential for keeping it upright, is a nice feature for collectors and AFOLs. If you grab the other two Guardians sets, you’ll have the whole roster to make believe with. Well, minus Gamora that is. If you have the other Guardian ships or anything else from the MCU (like the new Quinjet), it will all look great on a shelf. Overall this is a fun set that really stands uniquely amongst MCU designs. I’m giving this a final entertainment score of 84%.

OVERALL: 86%

The New Guardians’ Ship (76255) is a pretty great set. There’s good value for money, a fun build experience and the end result is a very unique design great for play or display. I’m happily surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The minifigures are good, but not perfect. With those repeating torsos and the lack of Gamora, it keeps the selection from getting higher marks. Ultimately I think many an MCU fan, collector or MOC maker will enjoy this set quite a bit. My final score is a solid 86%.

What I liked	What I didn’t like as much
– Good value for an MCU set – Nice build time – Very unique design and great colour palette – Decent minifigure selection – Fun, often complex build techniques – Great display piece – Good catalogue of parts for MOC makers – Good use of stickers	– Play value is hindered slightly by the design – Lower brick/fig score – Would definitely benefit from at least 1 or 2 more minifigures. – Repetitive minifigure bodies – Where’s Gamora?

And that’s the New Guardians’ Ship friends. What’re your thoughts on this latest hero ship from the MCU? Did you watch Guardians of the Galaxy 3? Are you keeping up with all the latest Marvel properties? Comment below and in all the usual places. Thanks as always for reading and until next time, keep on brickin’. 🧱

– Frank

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