Hulkbuster Armour: is it UCS? is it a good reason for last year’s changes in the LEGO Ideas guidelines and house rules? Is it going to occupy valuable display space after March 3? Hopefully these questions will be answered, or at least addressed, in this post.

At the New York Toy Show today, LEGO Unveiled the 76105 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition.  Based on the Mark 44 Iron Man Armour, this armour was designed as a contingency, to be deployed from an orbital platform, codenamed Veronica, in the event of a confrontation with the Hulk.  While the relative success in developing such a strategy, along with the ensuing destruction witnessed at the ‘Battle of Johannesburg’ may be argued either way, there is no doubt that the resultant suit looks pretty cool!

With 1363 pieces, and measuring over 25 centimetres tall, and a descriptive plaque, this is a set that fans have been waiting years for. Celebrating the 10 years of Marvel Studios cinema releases, this set will be available from 3rd March 2018, through shop.lego.com or your local LEGO Brand retail store. It will be priced at AU $199.99  – US $119.99 – CA $149.99 – DE 129.99€ – UK £119.99 – DK 1199DKKThere will be no early availability for VIPs.

Ten years of Marvel Studios

On April 14, it will be ten years since the first Iron Man movie was released, heralding the beginning of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was the first film to be released under the Marvel Studios label, but it was not for another four years that we saw an official LEGO version. The first Iron Man minifigure was a Toy Fair 2012 exclusive, with figures becoming available for the rest of us as part of the sets released in conjunction with The Avengers movie. To date, there have been at least 15 variations on Iron Man mini figures released. And there is a new one included in this set, to say nothing of the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War sets. Iron Man has also been released as a constructible figure (4529), a micro figure (in the Helicarrier 70642), two BrickHeadz (41492 – San Diego Comic Con Exclusive; and 41590 – general release) and as a brick built  version of the Hulkbuster Armour in The Hulk Buster Smash (76031).  It is this final version which is expanded and elaborated on today.

Is this UCS?

The presence of this name plate probably means that the set can be considered an Ultimate Collector’s set, even if the box does not explicitly state that.

The Ultimate Collector Series badge now appears to be reserved for Star Wars sets, and you could argue that it has been progressively misused in recent years, until the re release of the Snowspeeder and Millennium Falcon.  Other than the Ultimate Collector Batmobile (7784) released in 2006, no set in any other theme has carried the UCS label. However, perhaps the Tumbler (76023), released in 2014 might come close, both in part count and scale.  Certainly it would be consistant in scale to be considered a UCS, as most of the Star Wars vehicles have been (I do not think I can include the Assault on Hoth and Death Star as feeling like sets deserving the UCS badge). Like other ‘proper’ UCS sets, this set comes with a plaque listing the specifications of the suit. Given the presence of the plaque, perhaps the Helicarrier could also be considered to be a UCS – being primarily for display rather than play.

Is this just a Good Idea?

If you go over the the LEGO Ideas website, and look for Hulkbuster submissions, you will see that there have been a  significant number of Hulkbuster submissions over  the last four years: some based on the Comic versions, others based on that seen in Avengers:Age of Ultron. One of them ( by raychow)even garnered to 10000 supporters required to move through to the design review stage last year.  However, that is where is stayed. There is typically a long lead time for sets being developed, and it is impossible to say whether or not  a similar set is already in development.

So is this very similar to the set we see here today?  Here are a fraction of such ideas submissions from the past 5 years:

Certainly, all of these sets have a few things in common – in as much as they are red/dark red and gold, stand 35-35 studs high and have lots of SNOT work. At least one of these models predates The Age of Ultron movie by about a year, based primarily on comic book source material.(hint… it doesn’t feature the head used in set 76031).  It is however a remarkable testament to the flexibility of the construction medium, that all of these models have significant differences in their actual design.

In 2017, the LEGO Ideas platform updated their guidelines, to restrict submissions based on currently held third party IPs, including previously successful Ideas submissions.  The current guidelines for Ideas project submissions are provided here. I think this was a great step forward for the platform. Set concepts, based on an external IP, will always occur within a finite space. You can never be certain as to when a concept is already in development within the LEGO Group.   There is no doubt that promoting an Ideas submission so that it reaches 10000 supported takes a lot of time, effort and emotional energy on the part of the designer. It will always be disappointing for those whose projects make it through to the review stage. Especially after receiving great encouragement from the Ideas team as the submission passes various milestones.  However, openly rejecting a submission, because it is similar to a concept already in development and saying so, is as good a way of providing your own leaks on super secret projects as possible. This would not be in the interests of future marketing of the product. I think these changes to the ideas platform are positive, and will reduce the chance for concern about LEGO designers drawing inspiration from the ideas platform specifically, especially within the Licenced Property themes.

With regard to this set, there are a few design cues that I find exciting.  Particularly the incorporation of a light brick into the ARC reactor, and the use of glow-in-the-dark 1×1 round tiles to represent the repulsors. With a new design of printed dome, and around twice as tall (it is over 25cm tall) as the previously released Hulkbuster armour, this is going to be an imposing display piece for fans of Marvel Superheroes.

Hulkbuster heads, the old (left) and the new (right).

The official press release can be found after the images.

76105 LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition

Ages 14+. 1,363 pieces.

US $119.99 – CA $149.99 – DE 129.99€ – UK £119.99 – DK 1199DKK

*Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.

 Create and show off the mighty Hulkbuster!

Build The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition, with a punching jackhammer arm and LEGO® light brick in the chest, and display it on the platform with attachable robotic construction arms. Includes an Iron Man, exclusive minifigure.

Build and display this superhero toy—a highly detailed LEGO® brick version of the Hulkbuster mech, featuring a rotating torso, posable fingers, arms, legs and feet, and glow-in-the-dark elements. Choose from 2 interchangeable left arms, including a jackhammer arm with punching function, and activate the LEGO light brick in the chest. This LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition set also includes a display platform with alternate attachment points for posable robotic construction arms and a desk, plus a new Iron Man Mark 43 exclusive minifigure.

• Hulkbuster features a flip-up head, rotating torso, posable fingers, arms, legs and feet, LEGO® light brick in the chest, 2 interchangeable left arms—a standard arm or jackhammer arm with punching function and 12 glow-in-the-dark elements.

• Activate the chest light by pressing the button on the Hulkbuster’s back.

• Includes Iron Man Mark 43 exclusive minifigure.

• Platform features a flip-up Hulkbuster information plate, plus 8 alternative attachment points for 2 posable robotic construction arms and a desk with 2 attached computer screen elements and space for the buildable hotrod car and buildable Veronica satellite.

• Clip the spare Hulkbuster arm to either of the robotic construction arms for neat display.

• Also includes a fire extinguisher element.

• Hulkbuster measures over 9” (25cm) high, 3” (10cm) long and 8” (22cm) wide.

• Platform (without attachable arms/desk) measures over 7” (19cm) wide, 8” (21cm) deep and under 1” (2cm) high.

So, what do you think of this set? it certainly looks impressive, with a mixture of great articulation, as well as a great workshop display base. For fans of Iron Man, I suspect it is an easy decision to purchase this set. For those with a only a passing interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perhaps a closer call to balance the cost, and display space. I am really impressed by the look of this set, and look forward to seeing it in real life after its release. It will be released on the 3rd of March, 2018