In which I see Avengers: Infinity War, build a related set and have the dog eat my homework…

Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War has been one of the most anticipated comic book related films of recent years: Drawing together threads established over the past decade, the movie is an exciting, emotional roller coaster.  Especially if you have been following the long setup that has been put in play. However, as it has only recently been released, I wish to minimises actual spoilage of major plot points.  There will some mild spoilers merely in the form of describing the actual builds. I will not actively give away any plot points, if i can help it.

Avengers: Infinity War – A personal reflection

I saw the film the day that it opened, and I was amazed by the part where ******** and ******** did that ******** to ********. I wasn’t expecting ******** to ******** ********. And I loved the way that ******** kept addressing ******** as ********! The final ******** where ******** ******** came as a ********. Make sure you catch the after credit scene where ******** manages to ******** ********* before ********.  Of course there was the inevitable cameo by **** ***, just not where I expected it to be.

With such a stellar range of characters, and so much action, there are not many opportunities for them to develop within the context of this film.  As such, this might not be the best film for newcomer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  However, if you have had some prior investment in the characters and their stories, it pays off big time.

The Aftermath

I came home from the film feeling inspired and in a mood to build a related LEGO® set. So I broke open 76102: Thor’s Weapon Quest. This is the second smallest of the sets related to Avengers Infinity War, and yet it is full of character, colour and interesting build techniques. With 288 pieces, and three mini figures, this set works well in the context of the film.

The Figures

We have Thor, Teenage Groot and Rocket Racoon minifigures, and  they are fantastic.  We finally have a minifigure sized Groot, who will be great to take around the garden to photograph.  He comes with a specially folded head piece and an additional tendril to attach/attack with in times of need.  Rocket has a rubber tail, which attaches between the torso and legs, and appears to be the same as seen in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol2 sets 76079: Ravager Attack, but with a different set of weapons.  Thor’s hair has become a little darker since the original Thor minifigure seen with the first Avengers Movie sets, years ago.  He also has angry Norse god eye’s on one side of his head and a regular face on the other.  This version of Thor has no cape.  To understand just why Thor is travelling through space, embarking on a Weapon Quest, I will refer you to Thor 3: Rangnarok, a fantastically entertaining film. Each of these figures had great detail, front and back, printed on their torsos, but there is no printing on the arms or legs.

The Parts

The set comes with 2 bags of parts, and a small sticker sheet.  There are a couple of relatively uncommon elements in this set, including the sand blue wedge plates, and the spoilers.  The 2×2 tile appears for the first time in sand blue since 2005. The Axe head, in metallic silver has only appeared in a collectable minifigure in 2011, and one Justice league Set last year. It appears to have had a subsequent lucky escape, for such a rare element.  The new cockpit canopy appears for the first time this year, and this is the first appearance in transparent clear. We also see the power bursts in transparent light blue.

The Build

There are two main aspects to the build. First there is the pod from the Benatar – the Spaceship flown by the Guardian’s of the Galaxy.  To understand why they need a new spaceship, after the Milano served them so well, I will refer you to Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Also entertaining. The ship can be built in set 76107 Thanos Ultimate Battle. There are a number of interesting pieces, including a good number in sand blue, a colour tragically under-represented in recent years, as well as some transparent clear cockpit canopies. Some grey and orange trim, as well as some trans pure completes the effect. Remarkably, it houses all three mini figures.

The second part of the build is the weapon forge: in the movie powered by a ******* ********  and requires ******** to ******** the ******** in order for it to work.  It makes great use of the Power Burst elements discussed a few weeks ago and features some neat techniques, turning a doorframe into a drawer that smoothly slides, to reveal the new weapon, named ******* in place.

When I first saw images of the set online, and the box on the shelves, I thought Great: I can get Rocket and Groot for less than $AU40, but what is that build? It looks a little dodgy.  and makes no sense.  It looks like half a spaceship and a broken Batsignal! Then I saw the film, and it all makes sense. While the forge here is only a small fraction of the scene, it fits perfectly to convey the message of the scene. The set contains a purple infinity stone (gotta catch them all!), on a sprue of 4 – some to share with your friends. I will allow you to speculate as to whether or not the infinity stone is actually relevant to the scene in question.

Certainly, not all movie related sets seem to fit in well with the activities of the file: case in point, Iron Man 3… Some sets such as this, capture the essence of a specific scene, while others such as the Benatar serve as a link between story points, and give us some great swooshing. This set, however sets the scene nicely.

And then there is Mabel.  Technically not part of the build.  Mabel is an eight month old cavoodle puppy, and possibly a natural predator of the LEGO Brick! While extraordinarily cute, she also indulges in occasional mischief around the family home.  While I built the set soon after seeing the film, it was going to be another day or two before I had the chance to photograph it.

So, there it was, sitting on the living room table. I in my office, and Mabel ran by, carrying something in her mouth that looked, from a distance, like a harmonica! Now Mabel is not a stupid animal.  She knows exactly when she has done something wrong.  There is a certain spring in her step.  The spring of the terminally mischievous.  Perhaps we should have named her Loki.  I looked again on the table: there was the Pod, Rocket and Groot.  But where were Thor and the Forge?

Then it clicked.  Mabel had successfully selected the one chair not pushed in on the table, climbed up and grabbed the forge in her mouth and taken it for a run around the house.  And the garden. I don’t quite understand how Thor came to be on her mat, however he was relatively unscathed.  She didn’t seem to chew him too hard.  She held onto the forge until breakfast was served, but it didn’t seem to be complete: having been thoroughly quested for, Thor’s new weapon was missing, and remained so for a while.  Then I heard a crunch, followed by another crunch. Cunningly deceiving her with a treat, Mabel finally allowed access to her mouth, and four out of five elements were located.  I do fear however that at some time we may see the 1×1 plate come to pass. Perhaps she will be literally  ****** bricks? I hope to dissuade her of this habit, and leave her only wishing to consume any clone bricks lying around the house.

While this set is small, and was a little confusing for me when taken out of the context of the film, ultimately it makes perfect sense.  Thor, Rocket and Groot are a group of characters who share some of my favourite moments in the film, and it is great to see them all in this set.  I give the set four out of five arbitrary praise units.

Which set are you most looking forward to with Avengers Infinity War? Have you had any pet related LEGO disasters? I’d love to hear about them and commiserate with you! Why not leave your comments below.

Until Next time,

Play Well!