After almost an entire year of waiting, the LEGO Avengers Tower is finally here. I’ve been covering the set since it was just in its infancy as far as rumors go, and now it’s siting right in front of me as an assembled model. Packed with references to the first decade of MCU movies, I’m taking a closer look at how the largest LEGO Marvel set ever made stacks up – and more importantly, if it’s worth $500.
The new LEGO Avengers Tower is finally here. It first hit the scene officially on Black Friday a few weeks ago, and since then I’ve been able to piece together the behemoth. It arrives as LEGO set number 76269, and comes with 5,201 pieces, 31 minifigures, and a few side builds to go with the main skyscraper. Oh, and it’s also $499.99 – which you should definitely keep in mind as you read.
In order to properly review a set of this magnitude, I’ll be breaking up the coverage into a few different stories. Today, I’m taking a specific look at how the building itself stacks up as well as offering some overall thoughts about the set as a whole. And yes, I’ll be answering whether or not I think the LEGO Avengers Tower is worth its eye-watering price tag, too.
What’s included with the new LEGO Avengers Tower
Out of the box, the Avengers Tower comes spread across 39 different bags with three sets of instruction manuals. While other sets of this magnitude can be assembled with multiple builders, this is definitely one you’re going to want to put together by yourself. There are a few bags here and there with self-contained builds, but for the most part, a lot of the kit is just assembling the tower. I do like that there’s quite a few different modules throughout, so you don’t have to keep building the whole thing as one giant model – but it’s not going to be as simple for friends to piece together as other kits out there.
As far as the actual building experience goes, the LEGO Avengers Tower is pretty easy to piece together. This may be one of the adult-oriented 18+ sets on paper, but that’s definitely just because of the size. There’s nothing all too complex about the model, which I was pleasantly surprised about. With how tall it is, I was expecting the building to rely on some intricate internal frame to add structure. But nope! It’s just a tried and true LEGO building with a similar build to the other Modular Buildings out there.
I was able to put the whole model together in under 10 hours, which is far less time than I spent assembling the UCS Venator from earlier in the fall. The whole thing is just very straightforward, with very few aspects that are overtly confusing. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of impressive techniques used to pull off the unique frame of the Avengers headquarters, but it’s nothing that is going to prevent some teenaged builders from getting the whole thing assembled.
It is a little repetitive, however. The build uses hundreds of LEGO window elements in order to pull off the exterior, and so you’re going to be snapping transparent windows into frames a lot for this kit. It’s pretty expected, but does bear an explicit mention. I wouldn’t say it is boring though! There is plenty to keep the building profess fun and engaging, like the tons of different references baked into the interior.
Speaking of the interior, the actual furnishings inside doesn’t feel quite as fleshed out as they could be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that things feel incomplete. It just doesn’t scream the kind of detail that you’d find in other Modular Buildings. The whole set, as far as the interior is concerned, feels a bit like a glorified playset in some ways. And that isn’t a bad thing, it just isn’t quite as display worthy on the inside as it could have been. The LEGO Group does make it easy to access all of the different references throughout the multi-story building, which further drives home the point.
More than just a display set
But like I said, it’s not a bad thing! I actually really love the way the LEGO Group went with the Avengers Tower. Especially when it comes to all the different ways you can display the building. The company included tons of transparent elements so you can pose all of the figures and vehicles around the tower. And even better, there’s all of these little anchor points for connecting in the translucent bars. It doesn’t harm the actual look of the set, but gives you tons of flexibility in displaying the model how you want.
And for a builder who has spent the last few years posing different Spider-Man figures in her Daily Bugle display, I can’t wait to do the same with the Avengers Tower.
The included Quinjet and Leviathan are a nice touch
One of the big questions I had when the LEGO Avengers Tower was revealed was how the side builds would stack up. Normally when the company launches a new set that costs anywhere close to $500, it’s all about just a single model. All of the UCS Star Wars kits have focused almost exclusively on one ship or location, and the same has carried over to other display-worthy models. But with the largest Marvel set ever, LEGO is departing from that focus and giving builders more than just a skyscraper.
Alongside the Avengers HQ, you’re also getting quite a few side builds. I’d say there’s four in total here, with the Quinjet being paired with a Leviathan and two Chitari chariots. The first of these is easily the coolest of the builds, with the signature Avengers vehicle of choice fitting in perfectly with the docking bay at the top of the tower. It may only be able to fit a single figure, but the LEGO Group has packed in so much detail to a build that fits in the palm of your hand.
Then there’s the Chitari builds. The Leviathan is a long time coming from LEGO, and marks the only time we’ve seen this creature in the brick-built form. If there was ever a set to include one, it’s definitely the Avengers Tower, and the LEGO Group delivered with a very fun little model that uses plenty of golden elements to execute on the source material. The chariots are definitely fun inclusions too, but nothing quite like the other builds.
With how much the set focuses on play and displaying the heroes how you want, I don’t mind that a decent amount of bricks go towards these side builds. I don’t realistically see the final model being improved by swapping out the bricks for more detail on the actual tower, so having a few little add-ons that properly sell the scale of the skyscraper is more of a win than a waste of bricks.
An overview on all 31 included minifigures
Then there are the minifigures. I’ll be breaking down the entire cast of heroes and villains in a separate post, because there really is so much to unpack. But as far as an overview goes, the LEGO Group absolutely knocked it out of the pack with the Avengers Tower. There’s really everyone you’d want to see in a set of this size, especially with it being such a play-focused kit. I definitely won’t say that it’s perfect, because there are some characters who unfortunately didn’t get included – I am looking at you Ultron bots.
But as far as who actually does make the cut, it’s not just a matter of quantity. The quality on some of the figures is absolutely amazing. Vision, for instant, has some phenomenal printing with the added perk of transparent legs that really deliver on the character’s early look. The Hulk is getting the same kind of love with an all-new version of the BigFig, while our main cast of heroes like Iron Man and Captain America get some fun new editions spanning more than just a single movie.
Like I said, I’ll be circling back to break down each of the minifigures and offer more insight into the assortment of characters. But as far as the overall set of figures, the LEGO Group did what it needed to do for the biggest Marvel set ever and included the most amount of minifigs ever.
9to5Toys’ Take
The new LEGO Avengers Tower is really everything I wanted it to be. And that really is saying a lot given I’ve been anticipating it since early on in 2023. It’s the perfect tribute set to the MCU in a way that we haven’t really had before. This isn’t a build based around just a single film, but all of them that have anything to do with New York City and the Avengers Tower.
The conversation around the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately hasn’t been great, mainly in the reception and financial results of the recent premies. But everyone can still collectively agree that Disney was really onto something with the first ten years of films in the Infinity Saga, and so the LEGO Group was right to tap into that love for early Marvel movies.
All of the references baked in are a very clear acknowledgment that this is a set build by Marvel fans and for Marvel fans.
But even if you’re not the biggest fan of the MCU, I really do think that this set has something for you. Call it a coincidence, but I think that so much of the set being based around the facade – rather than packing the interior with details – does the set favorites for a more broad appeal. Sure, there’s little easter eggs that range from recreations of scenes to more obscure callbacks, but they can be skipped. Because at the end of the day, this is just an absolutely gorgeous brick-built skyscraper.
That’s the main reason that I can recommend this set. As just a big fan of LEGO, this set is as cool as it gets. I’ll be doing a piece on how it compares to other Modular Building sets as well as the previous Marvel-themed buildings, but there really is just nothing like this around. It dwarfs most other sets, and manages to make the Daily Bugle from a few years ago look small. The size alone makes this worth $500, and all of the other inclusions are just a bonus for me.
But I am a collector who loves to have LEGO sets up on display. For most others, the minifigures and references are going to be an important part of the creation. The idea of spending $500 on a single LEGO set is never going to be an easy decision for most of us, but if there is just one build that you should consider this year – it’s the Avengers Tower. I don’t to spoil anything from my upcoming retrospective on LEGO in 2023, but this very well may be my favorite build of the year.
Stay tuned for other stories about the Avengers Tower, as I’ll be taking a closer look at the minifigures and how the set compares to other buildings from the LEGO Group in the near future.
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