LEGO Marvel 76232 The Hoopty [Review]
Nowadays, with box office and sales numbers being such a huge part of how media gets reported on, it can be hard to be a fan of something without having to engage in a little bit of business discussion. For example, Marvel’s 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel took in more than a billion dollars at the box office. But the follow-up movie is titled simply The Marvels and is bringing Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers together with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) for an ensemble adventure. Naturally, movie websites and user forums across the internet are littered with opinion pieces as to whether this shift in the franchise is a smart business move or not. But the truth is, not a one of us knows right now how that decision will play out. And we shouldn’t care. All that should matter is “Do we like the movie?” Similarly, when The Marvels sole LEGO tie-in set was officially revealed, there was plenty of opining as to the business decision to sell the set at a cost of more than 20 cents a brick. (10 cents per brick is the usual average.) So, the question is, “Is the price of the set worth it to us?” We got our hands on an early copy and are here to help you make an informed decision before you buy. 76232 The Hoopty comes with 420 pieces and will be available on October 1st for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the parts, instructions, and stickers
The Hoopty is packaged in a rectangular box that’s a bit larger than it needs to be. But that’s understandable. For the price point, you want some visibility on the shelf. The main image is of the Hoopty flying through space with Carol (Captain Marvel) and Monica (Photon) flying alongside. Kamala (Ms. Marvel) is piloting the ship with a trio of Flerkins around her. The film’s human cast takes up most of the right-hand side of the image, while the minifigures are featured in insets at the bottom, labeled under their superhero monikers.
The back of the box is another shot of the ship, this time holding the whole team, and the usual inset images demonstrating functionality, like the opening cockpit and firing cannons.
Inside the box are just four numbered bags of bricks, an instruction booklet, a decal sheet, and a multipack bag of 10 power bursts in trans-orange.
The build
The build is an enjoyable, but straightforward affair. You start by crafting the bottom of the hull and laying down a lot of using 4 1×16 bricks, and then progressively build up and up until the full ship comes together. There are a lot of useful Studs Not On Top pieces and lots of slopes, curved slopes, and wedge pieces to help the ship take shape. Unfortunately, with the exception of the canopy piece making its first appearance in trans-orange, there are no new or notable pieces.
The final model
The final model is actually one of my favorite spaceship sets I’ve built in quite some time. Its numerous curves and slopes give it a unique look that feels like the halfway average between a Star Wars fighter and a Star Trek shuttle.
I appreciate the way the angled thrusters at the back are kept in place via some clever use of teeth plates.
The fact that nearly the full top section of the ship hinges up provides plenty of room to place the various Marvels and their Flerkin friends. With this section elevated, it’s easy to access the cockpit with room for three, as well as the lab/living section with a bed and plenty of gear.
The only downside to the final model is the way the hinged roof creates a gap near the rear. That’s a dangerous way to travel through space.
The minifigures
As mentioned, the ship comes with the titular trio of Marvels, all sporting new torsos with front and back printing, but very little else new.
This latest addition of Captain Marvel is, I think Carol Danvers’ 7th minifigure, and certainly her most monocolor look. While the torso is molded in red plastic, there’s so much dark blue ink on it that you’d be forgiven for thinking that was the base color. Her legs and arms are all solid dark blue with no printing. I’d have loved to see some dual-molded arms here, to help capture the “pushed-up sleeve” look that Carol so often sports.
Photon is appearing here in only her second minifigure form, and it’s a bit of a letdown. This costume, as depicted in what we’ve seen in the movie so far, should include black shoulders and some white lines running down the legs. Still, the contrast between black and white gives the minifigure more visual pop when compared to Captain Marvel.
Finally, the MCU version of Kamala Khan is making her debut as a minifigure and it, like Iman Vellani, is a true scene stealer. With plenty of red, blue, and gold printing across the torso and the legs, this figure has got plenty of visual interest. I wish that one side of her head had come printed with her trademark domino mask, but I suppose I’m not 100% certain that would be accurate to the movie. And I can always borrow the domino masked face from her comic counterpart’s 2017 minifigure.
And we shouldn’t forget about Goose and his two Flerkin friends. (They’re just some cat molds available in plenty of other sets, but it’s fun to pretend they’re secretly tentacled monsters.)
Conclusion and recommendation
This is a frustratingly good set. It looks great and it’s got a lot of play value. Despite the fact that the minifigures leave a little something to be desired, I really want to recommend it. But, at a whopping $89.99, I just can’t. And there’s not much more to say than that. If you run across it deeply discounted, or if you happen to be the Vice President of the Iman Vellani fan club, you should definitely pick it up. But otherwise…
76232 The Hoopty comes with 420 pieces and will be available on October 1st for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99 It may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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