"This is a LEGO version of 'What If...?'"
Fellow toy enthusiasts, today is Black Friday, a day of rampant discounts! Are you already sharpening your blades, ready to rush into stores, LEGO in one hand and soft vinyl in the other, shopping without limits like Hayato Kazami? Today also marks the grand debut of an incredibly powerful LEGO set, launching alongside Black Friday: the MARVEL-themed "Avengers Tower," set number 76269!
"LEGO's most formidable MARVEL set to date," "the most complete lineup of superhero characters," "the MARVEL LEGO with the most pieces and most luxurious specifications" – these are all selling points of the "76269 Avengers Tower." Furthermore, with this one set, not only do you get an Avengers Tower model based on the settings of "Avengers: Age of Ultron," but you can also recreate rich movie scenes from "The Avengers," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Avengers: Endgame," "Ant-Man," and more. It's no wonder designer Mark Stafford described it as a LEGO version of What If...?! It's truly awesome!
▼ The packaging box once again uses black as its base, featuring the assembled Avengers Tower, along with elements like the Quinjet and the Leviathan. The illustration in the upper right corner is also quite charming.
▼ Turning to the back reveals another angle of the building, an interior display, and detailed product specifications. Once assembled, its height reaches an impressive 90 centimeters!
▼ The side features a close-up of the Avengers Tower.
▼ The top provides an overview of the minifigure lineup! This 76269 set includes a total of 31 minifigures (including the micro-scale Ant-Man). If the brick-built Dum-E is also counted, there are 32 characters; this is not only the most complete character lineup in a single MARVEL-themed box but also the LEGO set with the most minifigures in history.
▼ After opening, the inner layer of the top also features illustrations of the characters in LEGO minifigure form.
▼ The contents include 39 numbered parts bags, two unnumbered parts bags, and one 32x32 gray baseplate, with a total of 5201 pieces! That's an incredible amount. As soon as you see the key code "32x32," did something come to mind? That's right, this specification allows it to be combined with other modular buildings, which is absolutely fantastic.
▼ There are a total of 3 instruction manuals, all featuring a white color scheme, contrasting with the packaging box.
▼ The first instruction manual generally introduces the origin of the Avengers Tower and the scenes that can be recreated on each floor. There are two designers responsible for the model: Mark Stafford (pictured left below) and Justin Ramsden (pictured center below), with graphic design handled by Mark Tranter (pictured right below).
▼ The "Builders, Assemble" homage to "Avengers, Assemble" is absolutely adorable!
▼ There are two sticker sheets, and just looking at the sticker designs is enough to admire for a long time!
▼ A special mention for the soft plastic sheet parts packaged together with the instructions in a white paper bag. The editor personally only discovered its existence when assembling the 30th bag, so be careful not to throw it away!
▼ Alright! Let's begin and complete this super-sized project together!
▼ Complete! Let's admire this super skyscraper from all angles. The large areas of aqua-blue transparent pieces forming the glass, combined with the gray window frames and dark glass, create a highly technological visual effect. The overall visual focus is on the "A" logo, and the sleek, tall skyscraper architectural style is very striking.
▼ It's worth noting that there are 269 dark windows and 269 dark gray window frames alone! This makes it the LEGO building with the most windows in history.
▼ A height of 90 centimeters is truly no joke!
Next, let's follow the assembly order and take a look at the details of the Avengers Tower that are not easily visible once completed! First up is the building's foundation. Although it simply uses red bricks, the instruction manual frames it as "Tony Stark says, let's add some fiery red!" This small touch adds a lot of fun to the assembly process, subtly creating a sense of interaction with the design team.
▼ The awesome drink machine located in the first-floor lobby. Once you master this building technique, you can create a whole bunch of machines!
▼ Many of the electronic screens this time are presented using transparent aqua-blue parts combined with stickers, giving them a strong sense of technology!
▼ Even when the official images were first released, the editor had some concerns about structural stability. However, the assembly experience this time was quite good – many situations requiring firm pressing did not result in collapse. Although the building features large windows, the designers still cleverly incorporated offset brickwork in multiple locations, maximizing the building's sturdiness within a 1-stud width.
▼ To achieve accurate shape reproduction, LEGO extensively uses this type of building structure, allowing long flat plates to be attached vertically for reinforcement after multiple sections are assembled.
▼ Curved transparent blue parts are used extensively! The moment they are installed in this space is incredibly satisfying.
▼ The Mind Stone! There are four in total.
▼ A 100-dollar bill is hidden in the elevator. If you want to see this little detail again after assembly, you'd probably have to tear down the entire building.
▼ This section utilizes a large number of Technic pins, ensuring that the building will not tilt or collapse due to forces applied while playing with the Quinjet.
▼ This set features many areas where curved flat plates are used for flooring. Not only does it look great, but assembling them is also incredibly satisfying.
Next, let's examine the interior details of each floor of the Avengers Tower! While you can peek inside by lifting the side glass after assembly, many areas are truly best enjoyed during the building process. Seeing them clearly after completion isn't always easy, which might be the only minor drawback of this set. Let's start by removing the side windows – you can see they are secured using a 1-stud wide groove.
▼ The first-floor lobby allows you to recreate the time-traveling scenes from "Avengers: Endgame." Since the main doors can open, you can admire, photograph, and play with it from multiple angles.
▼ The Tesseract is really too big (laughs)!
▼ The second floor not only allows you to recreate the Captain America vs. Captain America scene, but it also features a transparent connecting bridge on the upper level. You can battle all the way down from above until past Captain America, shaken by the revelation that "Bucky is alive," is defeated on the ground.
▼ Next to it is a display of the Iron Man Mark 7 deployment.
▼ At the rear of the second floor, there are blue and orange LEGO parts on the left and right, representing a three-dimensional rendition of the "Ultron vs. J.A.R.V.I.S." scene from "Age of Ultron." It's incredibly cool how they thought to LEGO-fy it this way.
▼ The third floor is Iron Man's workspace, featuring various projection screens, tools, a fire extinguisher, Dum-E, and a raised maintenance platform.
▼ Moving up to the fourth floor, there's a specially designed transparent detention cell, and the elevator next to it is absolutely adorable! It allows everyone to recall the humorous moment when "everyone wouldn't let Hulk take the elevator."
▼ The detention cell design is quite excellent.
▼ Next to it, there's a "Who is Iron Man?" newspaper, and behind that, a computer screen displaying Zola's consciousness.
▼ Further up is the Quinjet landing pad. On the same floor, inside, is the scene from "Age of Ultron" where the Avengers are sitting on a sofa, attempting to lift Thor's hammer. The ceiling here can be opened to play with the interior.
▼ Ultron, a terrifying assault!
▼ Since there's a scene of Ultron's attack, we can also place Vision by the window, recreating the moment he was just born, floating by the window and gazing at the scenery outside.
▼ The wine cabinet, large potted plant, and floor lamp all make for excellent embellishments.
▼ On the table are Mjolnir and a newspaper from the Battle of New York.
▼ The next floor up is where Hulk famously smashed Loki around.
▼ Probably the most dramatic sticker of them all: the imprint of Loki being smashed, and the Avengers comic is also a fantastic little Easter egg.
▼ Finally, we arrive at the top floor, which houses Ultron's plans and the integration of Loki's scepter. The gray door panel can be easily opened to reveal the intricate details inside.
▼ At the very top is the portal device created by scientist Selvig, capable of opening a channel between Earth and space. Comparing it to the movie, the level of accuracy is truly astounding!
▼ You can even discover "Pym Particles" in the trash can.
▼ Outside, there are numerous spots to insert various transparent parts, allowing you to create dynamic scenes with the minifigures. My personal favorite is recreating Tony's suit-up with the Mark 7 – it's incredibly cool!
▼ Even Hawkeye's audacious move of shooting arrows while falling can be recreated!
▼ Hulk, who could easily smash through glass with one punch, is being quite gentle here!
▼ The Chitauri chariot is also an excellent minifigure-scale vehicle.
▼ There's a small pink dot under the chair – do all you toy enthusiasts know what it is?
▼ The Battle of New York monument features the names of the original six Avengers; it's worth noting that this time, the streetlights are black, contrasting with the usual cityscape.
▼ Tucked away in a corner is Captain Marvel's pager, which Nick Fury couldn't find initially – a truly charming detail.
▼ The "A" symbol, considered one of the soul elements of this set.
▼ Another major highlight of this set is the minifigure lineup! From left to right in the image below are Captain America (2012), Captain America (2023), Black Widow, Thor, Tony, and Hawkeye.
▼ Iron Man Mark 7, Iron Man Mark 6 (Battle Damaged), Ultron (First Appearance), War Machine, Wanda, and Vision. Vision's translucent leg parts are absolutely stunning, perfectly showcasing his ability to phase through matter!
▼ Four Chitauri, Loki, Nick Fury, and Alexander Pierce.
▼ Helen Cho, Wong, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, Falcon, Big Fig Hulk, and Dum-E.
▼ Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Tony disguised as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Pepper Potts, Dr. Selvig, Wasp, and Ant-Man.
▼ This set utilizes many effect pieces to bring the minifigures to life. Simply adding a transparent 1x2 brick creates a floating visual effect, and the lightning effects make Mjolnir look even more formidable!
▼ Capes are for Thor and Loki, while the fabric skirt is an accessory for Wanda.
▼ Fun fact: Falcon's wings have the highest sticker density in the entire set! The small wings alone use 8 stickers.
▼ After checking out the minifigures, let's look at the other accessories! These include the Quinjet, Chitauri chariots, and the Leviathan.
▼ The Quinjet's design charm is evident during assembly, with turning parts giving the wing sides an impressive level of detail.
▼ A look at the single and double Chitauri chariots – the designs are truly fantastic, once again highlighting the designers' ingenious use of parts.
▼ The Leviathan was also a model that greatly exceeded my expectations. Although not large in size, it cleverly uses gold parts to sculpt its skeletal outline, and its multiple points of articulation and transparent stand significantly enhance its playability – a truly excellent element!
LEGO 76269 "Avengers Tower" Unboxing Summary:
Let's start with the most immediate feeling after playing with it – if you have the space, you absolutely must get your hands on this unprecedented MARVEL set! The designers stated that they repeatedly watched Marvel films and series to create this model, and for us, the players, building this LEGO set will make us want to re-experience the Marvel movies, especially "The Avengers." They put in their utmost effort to fully restore the exterior of the Avengers Tower while also imbuing it with excellent playability. Although there might be a slight drawback where the deepest parts of each floor aren't fully visible, it is truly remarkable nonetheless!
Beyond the incredible minifigure lineup, the Quinjet, the Leviathan beast, and the Chitauri chariots are even more fun than expected, especially the Leviathan. Its beautiful design combined with multiple points of articulation is truly fantastic. Furthermore, the abundance of transparent pieces included in this set greatly enhances the playability of the minifigures, making thrilling aerial battles entirely possible! Of course, in addition to the points I've mentioned above, this set also contains many interesting Easter eggs waiting for you to discover. There are truly many aspects whose charm can only be fully appreciated through hands-on experience. So, fellow toy enthusiasts, grit your teeth and get out that magic credit card!
LEGO 76269 Avengers Tower
Suggested Retail Price: NT$14,999, Total Parts: 5201 pieces, Estimated Release Date: November 24, 2023, exclusively available at LEGO Certified Stores.
