In which I seek further advice from the game playing teenager around the house for a backstory, try my hand at knolling- only to fail, and then take every Overwatch player’s favorite Omnic out into the garden…

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking over the new line LEGO® sets based on the video game Overwatch. I have not spent a lot of time engaging with the franchise previously, so I have had my son Harry providing some commentary on the back story behind the characters. Hopefully, this will help AFOLs who are unfamiliar with the back story to feel more aware of the underlying backstory, and nature of the characters depicted in the sets.

Today, I am going to look at set 75974 Bastion. This is not the first time that we have encountered this robot, searching for meaning: we previously saw a smaller version, with a different skin late last year – that set – Omnic Crisis Bastion is exclusively available through the Blizzard online store, and can be found here.

A fully reconfigurable LEGO® Overwatch® 75974 Bastion figure for your favorite Overwatch fan! One of the most recognizable Overwatch characters from the internationally acclaimed team-based action game, this buildable toy display model can be configured ifrom recon mode to sentry mode without any rebuilding! Fans will love the realistic detail of this Overwatch toy and will want to display it near their gaming setup—an Overwatch collectible for every fan! 

• Reconfigure the Bastion toy from recon to sentry mode—no rebuilding required!
• Overwatch® character weapons include Bastion’s gun and minigun.
• From Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the legendary World of Warcraft®, Overwatch® has quickly built a global community of passionate followers, spawning animated online series, comics and exciting global esports events.
• LEGO® Overwatch® toy construction sets are the perfect gift and collectible for fans of the blockbuster Overwatch game.
• Bastion building toy in recon mode stands over 10” (26cm) tall and in sentry mode stands over 6” (17cm) tall.

Shop.lego.com/overwatch

This set is unique in the main Overwatch series, in that it doesn’t include any minifigures. Instead, we have a large robot, and a small brick built bird to construct. I asked my son, Harry, to take us through some of the backstory.

Bastion is the only surviving bastion unit from the Omnic Crisis, the global robot conflict that sparked the creation of Overwatch. During a battle somewhere in Germany, Bastion was damaged and lay dormant for years before reawakening without their urge to kill; however, the animated short ‘The Last Bastion’ suggests that they suffer from some form of PTSD. Bastion also managed to befriend a bird named Ganymede, who hung around while they made their way through the forest and helped them stay in non-kill-crazy-mode. Bastion continued wandering the woods until found by locals, who told Torbjörn (one of Overwatch’s former top engineers). Torbjörn hunted Bastion with the intention of destroying them, before realising they had changed and begrudgingly agreeing to help them.

Harry Jones: Advice to my Father 2019

So… A big robot, with concerns about the war it fought against humanity, accompanied by a bird as it explores the world and develops its own self awareness. I can work with that.

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As with the other Overwatch sets I have looked at, the box artwork is magnificent: the front cover depicting Bastion in both his robot and sentry forms, patrolling through a village, accompanied by his companion….

The back of the box shows Bastion standing on an overgrown forecourt, with a city in the background. My knowledge is not strong enough as to be able to place the maps in which these images might be set.

Essentially, this set builds a robot, with articulated arms/elbows and fingers, hips and feet. Bastion’s torso also rotates on top of his hips.

The set has six hundred and two parts, and (in Australia) costs $89.99. (US – $49.99; Germany €59.99; UK £54.99)

Here are the contents of the box:

As you can see, there’re four bags, full of parts in tan, sand green and medium stone grey/ dark blueish grey, along with some orange trim. There is a small sticker sheet, and all stickers are rectangular, and are easy enough to apply.

Instructions Plus

The instruction manual features a QR code on the cover, similar to other manuals this year, but this time, something different happened… After scanning the code in the LEGO Life app, it downloaded interactive instructions: These enhanced instructions – Instructions Plus, allows for each step to be zoomed in , and rotated in every direction. This allows more careful viewing of complicated steps. I have recently had a look at Instructions Plus in greater detail. You can find that post here.

New Parts

As I build the set, I will highlight the newish elements: either rare appearances or relatively recent. I will circle the elements debuting in 2019 in green, older ones in red. There are some elements which appear to have a new design ID this year, including black and light bluish grey round 1×1 tiles; the orange ‘handle’ element, and the tan 4x4x2/3 triple wedge plate ( although that last one hasn’t been seen since 2013, and only in two sets prior to Bastion. The black, vertical click ball hinges have been seen in black over the last few years, but only in a couple of sets.

Bag 1

Bag one seems like a very good place to start. In this bag we build the central torso, as well as the head, which features a light brick to communicate when Bastion is not happy with his lot in life. The double hinges for the legs appear very solid, and the head looks quite good once complete, with two 1×2 sand green tiles on one side, and inverse 2×2 tile on the other. The torso rotates above the hips.

Bag 2

We rapidly build the upper legs. As with Reinhardt and D.Va, articulated knees do not appear to be readily achievable in the LEGO Overwatch Universe. The legs clip firmly on to the hips, and show little signs of slipping, unless you give them a solid push. Ultimately, we have a degree of supported movement at the hips: flexion and abduction. The ankles also pronate and extend.

Bag 3

The third bag sees us reach for a festival of orange: especially Ehrling/headlamp/washing machine bricks: there are sixteen in this set, and their curious geometry is well exploited in conjunction with the inverted 1×2 slope and the 45º roof tile without studs to create the omnic’s upturned toes. The geometry of this special, modified brick is taken advantage of here – possibly some of the neatest usage I have seen in in any set I have put together.

Ready to attach to Bastion’s back is a stack of the 3×3 ‘weapon barrel’ element – stacking up towards building his Gatling gun – when Bastion transforms from recon to sentry mode.

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Bag 4

Some days’ you lose the will to knoll, and at this stage of the build, lining the smaller elements together gets just a little too hard… as did my ability to focus the Camera!

Bag 4 sees us building up the shoulders and arms: the right arm ends in a gun, and the left a gloved have, with a couple of silver ingots providing the look of the fingers. The arms rotate and abduct at the shoulders, and flex as well as supinate at the elbows. The shoulder pauldrons rotate, which will come in extra handy when transforming into sentry mode later. The left wrists rotates around a technic pin, and we have threes articulates digits on the hand.

We also construct Bastion’s Avian companion, Ganymede. Essential to this process is the presence of the pale yellow 1×1 upwards brackets. I have encountered this element in a few sets this year, and am starting to gain an appreciation of its utility: it is possibly my favourite new element in the last couple of years. A 1×1 Pyramid, in tan completes the beak.

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Conversion between forms

The last page of instructions is dedicated to helping Bastion transform from recon mode to sentry mode: it does require removal of his head, but otherwise the procedure is simple and smooth enough

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Compared with the Source material

In the Overwatch Universe, Bastion began to develop sentience after waking in a forest, years after the Omnic Crisis. I took the model outside to see how it compared with the game version, as depicted in other media. The light was a little more friendly, and Bastion seemed, strangely, to be at home.

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I do feel that the LEGO version seems to have a certain chunkiness compared with Bastion in the game. This is to be expectected. The colour matching is reasonable, especially when compared with the reference material from playoverwatch.com

Compared with other sets so far encountered in the Overwatch theme, this set does not come with any minifigures, and as such, does not come with a clear scale, relative to a figure. But Bastion is apparently only about 2.3 metres tall, which might be at best be around 5 plates taller than a typical mini figure. That said, I think we get a far more satisfying build, and a better model than we would if it had been attempted to fit bastion into ‘true minifigure’ scale.

When you consider the appearance compared to the ‘Omnic Crisis’ skin, a much smaller, and less detailed body, I am glad that it was rebuilt at this greater size. In truth, would it have much value as a set, if it was built at ‘true minifigure’ scale, and limited to only five and a half bricks in height? I’d like to put that out as a building challenge for someone out there.

In summary?

So, What do I think of this set? I love the overall model, the posability, and the colour scheme. The details included match the source material well, and the conversion from recon to sentry mode is quite nifty.

I can understand why this scale has been used, even though it is out of keeping with the rest of the Overwatch sets.

The final build feels solid and stable, but I would have like to have seen articulating knees for once in a LEGO robot/mech! Is it worth $AUD90? If you are a fan of Bastion, or invested in Overwatch I suspect so. For me? I’m not sure. It is a pretty neat build, however, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to build it.

I give this set four out of five arbitrary praise units.

What do you think? Do you love Bastion? Or are you frustrated by the lack of a common scale between different sets in the theme? Why not leave your comments below, and until next time…

Play Well.

I would like to thank the LEGO Group’s Adult Engagement Team for providing this set for review.  All opinions however, are my own.