Lego - The Avengers: Captain America's Avenging Cycle!

While The Avengers action figures are so far proving a little disappointing, there's no doubt that Lego getting the license for the franchise is good news.  It's great news indeed that they've finally been released in our favourite brick form--and here's their smallest offering in retail so far!

Though I grabbed the Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape and Hulk Helicarrier Breakout set first, this was soon to follow following its release about a week later.  I guess it was also the quickest to put together and that it had one of the figures we've all been waiting for--Captain America!  Sure, I was also dying for Hulk, Thor and Iron Man, but hey, Cap really grows on you!

From his slightly more edgy Ultimates self, to his stance (and death) in Civil War, to his awesome on-screen incarnation, it's no wonder the kids are all seeing stars and stripes.  Well, at least mine is.  He never fails to point out the Cap shield when he spots it--and he's just over 13 months old!

So enough talk and more review action--here we go! ;)

Like: Lego minifig tampographed details are always awesome, and Captain America is no different.  From the standard, must have details like A on his forehead, to the star on his chest, to the minute ones like the utility belt, silver clips and the seams of his uniform, this guy is a delight to look at.

There's even a zip along the side of his centre red stripe.  That's crazy detail, yo!

His head is also done really well, with the eyes and mouth sharp and clear behind the face mask.  I also like that they've bothered to tampo the seams at the side and upper back of his head. :)

Like: Cap's shield.  It's round and flat on the back, but slightly convex on the front, meaning it's a brand new shield sculpt--very nice!  Again, the tampoed star and stripes are super sharp and well done--you also know that it'll not scratch or come off if you drop it a few times.  This is the sort of quality you get from Legos that other brands can't beat.  Yay!

Like: The Avenging Cycle!  I love the new bike skeleton and the bodies they've developed for it, allowing you to build a dirt bike or a hero-style cycle like this.  The bike bodies also require minifigs to straddle a divider to "ride" them.  These dividers are a perfect fit, so cap never has to worry about falling off! I'm glad that they gave a bike to Cap for this set.  It's homage to the 80s TV series where he rode one as his main form of badassery!

Also, the stickers for the bike are awesome too.  There's the SHIELD symbol that goes on the front and the mini circle and stars for the sides.  I dunno about you, but I just love sticking stuff!  I guess it gets me involved in the creative process of finishing the toy.  Also, if I don't like the sticker, I don't stick it--customization by choice--I can save it for something else later. :)

Pilot back

Like: That this set comes with two different Chitauri figures, one a darker grey with a sky sled and a lighter greys one with a ground cannon. At first I'd thought them to be exactly the same and it wasn't till I went back to shoot Cap throwing his shield and a couple more bike shots that I realized they were completely different!  Yeah, it's not just the colour but also the designs of their face plates, body and leg armor.

Soldier back

Like: Being that this is the cheapest Avengers Lego set out there, can anyone say "army builder?"

Pilot front

Dislike: That there's a little bit of movie inaccuracy in the minifigs.  The ground cannon is not in the movies, and the sled on the big screen actually fits something like 2-4 Chitauri: one pilot and others that shoot random stuff.

Like: That the ground cannon and the sled at least have neat flick missiles.  event thought there's instructions to how to do it, it's quite wonderful when you have a toy where you actually build the play feature!

Dislike: That the Chitauri seem to look nothing like they look in the movies.  Then again, it's kinda hard to see what they did look like.  But credit to Lego, who probably had only pre-production art to work with.  One thing that I did like about the lil' aliens, though: that the minifigs have two heads--one masked and one unmasked.  The trouble is that both heads are always exposed because they have no hair or anything to cover the rear facing face up.

Like: That you can build your own unmasked Steve Rogers!  Here I used Superman's head and the standard combed, blonde hair.  Works like magic!

Also, you can add all sorts of guns, backpacks, and other accessories to pimp out Stevie R here.  The items from the Lego Toy Story Green Army Men are perfect, if only they weren't green!

Like: That they didn't go with some sort of head accessory to give Cap his wings or "flesh out" the detail of his mask.  At first he looked a little odd to me with his head stud bared for all the world to see.  But in hand he looks great.  And he can wear a soldier's helmet to us his level of kick assery! (Again, if it wasn't green...)

"Look Ma!, just like 3.75" Battlefield cap!"

RATINGS

Aesthetics:

Cap 9/10 - The torso is awesome, the shield is perfect and the cycle is just gravy!  Only thing missing are his red boots and rest of the details that are missing on his legs.  He would have been a perfect 10 if those were there.  But let's face it, Lego used to do full details on the front of figures (torso and legs)  and leave the back blank.  Now they tend to do the front and back of the torsos and leave legs blank.  I'd much rather have the latter. :)  I do also like that Cap's a darker blue than in the movies because I don't think the lighter blue would work for him in minifig form--it might just have been a tad garish for my taste.

Both Chitauri 7/10 - Still nice, but instead of the standard minifig body with tampos, I wonder if they could've use the parts from the sub-brands to create them.  The "alien" figs from the Exoforce line come to mind.  At the very least, I think different, slimmer/longer heads would've been closer to the Chitauri in the movie. Nevertheless, I'm really happy that there are two different aliens in this one set.  Kudos to Lego for giving us some variety and on such a level that the figures are similar in design but yet completely different!

Poseability: 9/10 - Lego minifigs have their standard seven PoAs, so there's nothing there to scrutinize.  In this case, accessories are a bonus, and Cap has the one thing that makes his Cap--his shield, of course! (Yup, it ain't because he's all heart.  Don't believe everything you see on the big screen :P)  Cap also have his bike, which adds to the pose value.

But all of these would be rather moot if he didn't have a couple of baddies to bet up on, and a couple of Chitauri do just fine.  throw in their sled and a missile launcher and you have the makings of a Lego stop-motion movie right out of the box.

Fun: 10/10 - It's lego!  I already am tempted to improve the sled.  Yes, grand plans!  And those always fun, evne if they never come to be. ;)  Maskless Cap has also already got me thinking of hair for a helmet-less Iron Man and a custom Bruce Banner.  As far as the Chitauri go, flick missile features are always a blast! :)

Lego: Bringing a whole new meaning to "Avengers Assemble!"

Value: 9/10 - Great quality, three minifigs, two vehicles, one small lump of cannon, all win.

Overall: 9.25/10 - What can I say?  Captain America does it once again! ;)  He's the main reason everyone will grab this set.  But the two different Chitauri are a great touch, so that you don't get doubles of figures if you don't want to just by buying a single set.  But if you want to army-build, then it'll just make you want to grab a second box just so you can have four Chitauri for the Avengers to pummel.

This set is close to being perfect, except that the Chitauri are hard to identify visually as a minifig.  Still they grow on you and I'll prob pick up more to recreate a certain battle scene that's only probably the most epic superhero one ever on the silver screen. ;)