Review: 75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch
Posted by CapnRex101,75771 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch attracted significant interest when these Avatar sets were announced, focused especially on the imposing AMP suit. Mechs are common among contemporary LEGO sets, although few portray specific licensed subjects.
The design accordingly prioritises accuracy and looks good, considering its modest size. Moreover, the fearsome Thanator appears relatively faithful to the onscreen creature, despite the inconsistent quality of other brick-built animals.
Summary
75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch, 560 pieces.
£39.99 / $44.99 / €44.99 | 7.1p/8.0c/8.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
While neither are perfect, the Thanator and Quaritch's AMP suit are well-executed
- AMP suit includes exceptional detail
- Highly-articulated Thanator
- Attractive scenery
- Limited AMP suit leg articulation
- Disappointing hand design
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
LEGO introduced elongated limb elements when Toy Story was introduced, twelve years ago. Fans have regularly discussed their return and the Na'vi present the perfect opportunity, given their remarkable height beside humans! Neytiri therefore features long arms and legs, which closely resemble the parts released in 2010, although minor changes to the moulds have been made.
The resulting proportions of this minifigure look superb, although I hope these larger elements will remain limited to exceptionally tall characters, rather than merely tall humans. Furthermore, the Na'vi incorporate a new head and two different hair components, with excellent texture. The head is peculiar, as specialised designs often differ completely from standard minifigure heads, whereas Neytiri's head only features a pronounced chin and ears.
I was unconvinced by this head element when the Avatar range was announced, but it looks reasonable in person, particularly in combination with the impressive hair. The intricate detail across the face is also important and continues across the torso and legs. While a completely accurate mould may have been effective, this element works nicely. Naturally, this minifigure wields her bow.
Colonel Quaritch commands the human security forces on Pandora and is recognisable from his angry expression alone! The scarring and narrowed eyes look fantastic, although there is only one expression because Quaritch's hair element would leave the second exposed from behind. Nevertheless, this cropped haircut completely suits the character.
RDA forces wear digital camouflage, featuring a pixelated dark blue and teal design. I like the metallic silver highlights and Quaritch's sleeveless jacket reflects this character onscreen. However, the flesh arms only accentuate the obvious colour matching issue on the torso, repeated from numerous other sets. This example is particularly evident though, unfortunately.
The Completed Model
Given the extraordinary design of the Pandoran environment, including sections of the jungle across the four Avatar sets seems fitting. This structure is remarkably substantial though and looks marvellous, benefiting from an attractive colour scheme. However, the prominent black plates underneath appear much less conspicuous in other sets.
Fortunately, the vibrant flora distracts from those empty spaces. Rock elements form the trans-bright green plants beside the cliff and opening these flowers reveals dark red stamen inside. The magenta leaves underneath look nice and crown pieces, originally developed for Angry Birds, are employed to outstanding effect as distinctive flowers!
The bright green flower with red tendrils at its centre is equally beautiful and I love the reddish brown vines surrounding the rock. Another large flower is placed on the left, although this also serves to display the Thanator as though leaping from the undergrowth. Similar display stands appear throughout the Avatar range and this example is expertly disguised.
Glow-in-the-dark elements are another consistent feature across the Avatar theme, recreating the bioluminescent plants shown onscreen. As usual, the glow looks great and I like the crown-shaped flowers in particular. Additionally, spares of both these crowns and the plant stem piece are provided.
Even the Na'vi consider the Thanator exceptionally dangerous, although one presents itself to Neytiri during the climactic battle. This creature measures 19cm in length, which appears fairly accurate beside minifigures, although its dark blue and black colours are less vibrant than other Pandoran natives. Unfortunately, the yellow elements inside its shoulders are especially visible against such muted colours.
Like many Pandoran animals, Thanators stand on six legs. They provide ample opportunity for interesting poses because each leg includes multiple joints and balancing this creature is very easy, across as few as three legs. Additionally, the head and tail are adjustable, creating even more options for display.
The head comprises two unique parts, so includes jagged teeth and authentic frills that protect its neck. The yellow eyes look excellent and two flexible queues are attached behind the head, connecting to Neytiri's hair element at the other end. The bond between the Na'vi and animals native to Pandora is vitally important and this representation of that feature is successful.
Studs allow Neytiri to lie across the Thanator's back too, as though riding. Otherwise, the model appears completely smooth. Inevitably, some sharp angles are present and these are relatively conspicuous because the Thanator features very few studs, although realistic posing obscures those angles to some degree.
In stark contrast with the Pandoran fauna, RDA security deploys Amplified Mobility Platforms, more commonly known as AMP suits, across the moon. The designer has faithfully replicated the unique proportions of these mechs and I think the sand green colour, with dark bluish grey and dark tan accents, looks splendid.
LEGO mechs are usually enlarged to accommodate extensive detail, relative to their source material. This iteration of the AMP suit is no exception, although its height of 13cm is smaller than many comparable models. The articulation is reasonable though, particularly in the arms, where shoulder, elbow and wrist joints provide an exceptional range of motion.
The chest and cockpit are extraordinarily detailed, reminding me of the Overwatch sets. I love the combination of curved slopes, wedge plates and 2x3 pentagonal tiles on both sides, which include sand green 2x2 curved wedge slopes for the first time. Quaritch's suit is named Beyond Glory and an accurate sticker displaying the name is accordingly applied beside the cockpit.
Colonel Quaritch stands inside, slotting neatly between dark tan pieces representing spartan cushioning. The stickered display in front of the pilot looks marvellous, flanked by two printed consoles, while another is situated under the trans-light blue screen. Intricate detail continues beneath the cockpit, where sand green 1x1 round plates with bars form mechanical systems.
Avatar takes place in 2154 and human technology is advanced, but not completely fantastical. The GAU-90 autocannon associated with AMP suits was thus considered too close to authentic weapons in appearance. Instead, this mech carries a combat knife and an enormous yellow chainsaw, which is an original creation. However, I find the knife more disappointing, as its shape hardly resembles the onscreen weapon.
Furthermore, the hands seem awkward, with or without the weapons connected. The thumbs are omitted and I dislike the bulky fingers. The back of the AMP suit looks outstanding though, continuing the complex mechanical detailing from the front. I am satisfied with the legs as well, even though the knees are static and the hip movement is severely restricted.
Overall
75771 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch divides attention across three models and all three are enjoyable. The famed AMP suit is immediately recognisable and presents wonderful detail, although the leg articulation leaves something to be desired. The Thanator achieves the precise opposite, including comprehensive articulation, but lacking detail in some areas.
The accompanying scenery could also be improved because I dislike the exposed black plates between the plants, although the plants themselves are superb. The minifigures are appealing too, despite disappointing printing on Quaritch's torso. Furthermore, I think the price of £39.99, $44.99 or €44.99 represents fair value, surpassing other Avatar sets in that regard.
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41 comments on this article
This is the most interesting Avatar set to me because of the mech suit, but that knife does look pretty comical. Don't really need a mech to wield a minifig-sized sword.
Interesting that they've given him an Uruk-hai sword...does that mean that piece is no longer a "themed" piece as it is clearly being used beyond its original purpose?
The sword piece 6372267 would have worked better but that could be modified, same goes for the fingers. It should look better without the tips at the end, I think. Anyway, a pretty good play and display set!
It's interesting to see Lego taking on this controversial near future military theme as well as the colonization topic. The only downside might be that as far as Avatar replica models go, these don't do the best job for fans recreating the key moments and character. It's probably the most toy-etic, but it isn't the best for adult fans.
@mstchmshrms said:
"Interesting that they've given him an Uruk-hai sword...does that mean that piece is no longer a "themed" piece as it is clearly being used beyond its original purpose?"
It's been used continuously since the LotR theme retired. The elven sword as well.
10050 and 11156 respectively, if you wanna look them up.
Looks like I'd need to make the machine gun and a new knife if I bought it. And redo the hands. Shame we'll probably never be able to make a good showing of the final battle, considering the human soldiers are just... soldiers.
The thing I wonder most is couldn't they have done a brick built head for the Thanator? While this looks good, it does feel a bit out of place with the rest of the build. I also have a bit of mixed feelings about the scenery, for most part I do quite like what I see, but it also gives me the feeling that it turns what would have been a €30 set into a €45 set. It certainly adds some display value, but this feels more like a play set to me and I doubt kids would care much about it.
But overall still a pretty decent set, and I mostly agree with the reviewer. Those fingers are just weird, and it is a shame that those weird colors inside are visible once again. But most of it is still good, so no big complaints. Could have been better, but als could have easily been much worse.
Wasn’t this gonna be $40? It’s a great deal regardless but the price increases will never be easy to swallow.
--> Makes a theme where a human military is a crucial part of the plot
--> Puts military helicopter in one set, a military general in another
--> Doesn't give the giant killer robot a giant gun because it's too realistic, as if hacking someone to pieces with a blade wasn't as violent.
Look, I get LEGO is against doing military sets, but this is just silly. They picked a movie franchise where a standing human army with relatively grounded tech (by sci-fi standards anyway) is the whole reason the plot even happens. I wonder if they'll take all the guns away from the upcoming Indiana Jones line because they deem it as "too realistic".
Honestly, that looks like he has an orange undershirt on. Not even close color matching.
The scale looks completely wrong to me. The Thanator should be much sleeker being a jungle cat creature, and as such looks way too chunky and bulky. Because of that, it makes the mech suit look really skinny and weedy in comparrison, despite it probably being about the right size mini-figure scale wise.
Also rather then a bunch of flora, they should have really included a section of lab in the scenery as protecting that was entirely the point of this fight scene in the movie. I know theres a separate site 26 set... still just doesn't feel right though.
This set is pretty good even if I have zero interest in the movies or theme.
Good parts pack, too. Sand green, dark blue, all those weirdo plants. Space MOCers should have a field day.
I want to like this set but I can't find enough reasons to do it. For some reason I find the design of both the AMP suit and the Thanator odd and lacking detail, feeling like they could have done a better job, but that's just my opinion. The Neytiri minifigure is to me the best part, will probably get it on Bricklink.
I read the article title and my brain could not make sense of it without scanning down to the images. What a set name.
@B_Space_Man said:
"I read the article title and my brain could not make sense of it without scanning down to the images. What a set name. "
I thought the same, it read like word soup to me!
But that's no criticism of the set, I'm not familiar with the movies so I can't really comment on whether the set is any good or not.
"The GAU-90 autocannon associated with AMP suits was thus considered too close to authentic weapons in appearance."
Is this actual reasoning? I mean, star wars is not that far off with gun designs (after all, actual movie props were often based on WW II era weapons) and there's parts like https://brickset.com/parts/6103643/submachine-gun-%C3%B83-2-shaft available.
Reading only the headline and nothing else, I had absolutely no idea what this set was or what any of the words are.
Am I the only one still in doubt over whether anyone cares about this franchise? The first movie was fine but, I thought, pretty forgettable.
@NissanZ32 said:
""The GAU-90 autocannon associated with AMP suits was thus considered too close to authentic weapons in appearance."
Is this actual reasoning? I mean, star wars is not that far off with gun designs (after all, actual movie props were often based on WW II era weapons) and there's parts like https://brickset.com/parts/6103643/submachine-gun-%C3%B83-2-shaft available."
Yes. I had an opportunity to ask one of the Avatar set designers, Atticus Tsai McCarthy, about that and he confirmed that the nature of the autocannon was considered unsuitable. I think the belt-fed ammunition was probably decisive.
Laser weapons are probably easier because they are based firmly in fiction, even when the actual guns sometimes resemble those in the real world.
@PixelTheDragon said:
"--> Makes a theme where a human military is a crucial part of the plot
--> Puts military helicopter in one set, a military general in another
--> Doesn't give the giant killer robot a giant gun because it's too realistic, as if hacking someone to pieces with a blade wasn't as violent.
Look, I get LEGO is against doing military sets, but this is just silly. They picked a movie franchise where a standing human army with relatively grounded tech (by sci-fi standards anyway) is the whole reason the plot even happens. I wonder if they'll take all the guns away from the upcoming Indiana Jones line because they deem it as "too realistic". "
They’re wildly inconsistent with stuff like this but if Punisher’s real ass assault rifle in The Daily Bugle is anything to go off of, Minifigure guns are considered okay. As CapnRex has confirmed, the belt-fed factor is what differentiates this from those two.
Am I the only one who thinks the Plantimals from TLM2 wouldn't look too out of place in that jungle?
@TheOtherMike said:
"Am I the only one who thinks the Plantimals from TLM2 wouldn't look too out of place in that jungle?"
^ That is an awesome idea, you're a genius!
This set looks kinda bad, IMO, but for such a comically bad scene from the movie, I feel like I need it as a sorta memento of a truly incomprehensible sequence of events.
Maybe the clip is supposed to represent the thumb? It still looks disproportionately small, though.
5 year old me would love this
I like the look of it, but the mech relying on those smaller, weak ball-joints? I see the legs of the mech buckling under their own weight if you so much as breathe on the darn thing.
Hard pass.
A nicely written review. Thank you!
"Thanator", now that I think about it, sounds like a cross between "Thanos" and "Terminator".
Although, that is the second 'lamest' thing of the "Avatar" franchise...still plenty 'ticked' about "Unobtainium"...it's like Cameron just phoned that in...
That's the first mech I've ever seen with its own surfboard.
Hmmm...this also kinda' goes 'hand-in-hand' with that other set the other day: Lego doesn't really know what a chain saw looks like...if TLG would make a new interlinking 'bike-chain' setup with 'studs on top' like they use to...but I'm dreamin' aren't I...
The bow in this set seems to be a new, more fancy mold, I really like that change!
I must say that I look at lego sets first and foremost as lego sets, weather they are faithful to onscreen things is irrelevant. I think this set looks intereting, definitely has a lot of play value, and the colorful foliage looks splendid. Even the price per part ratio seems very good here.
@The_Lard_Of_Fear said:
"That's the first mech I've ever seen with its own surfboard."
Does this count? 8534
I can't shake the feeling, that this looks super cheap. I can't put my finger on it tho. I think it's something with the color palette.
Imo they are also flying a little bit close to the sun with this theme. (Regarding near future military stuff and colonization)
Aah, capnrex is doing the good stuff again. Thanks for the review. Don't forget the other 3 sets ;)
@PjtorXmos said:
"I can't shake the feeling, that this looks super cheap. I can't put my finger on it tho. I think it's something with the color palette.
Imo they are also flying a little bit close to the sun with this theme. (Regarding near future military stuff and colonization)"
To be fair the movie portrayed colonization as an objectively bad thing, there’s definitely a war theme to it all but at the same time I would’ve loved even more realistic military vehicles. I think almost everyone is just tired of LEGO’s appropriateness guidelines because I sure as hell am lol.
@Trigger_ said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"I can't shake the feeling, that this looks super cheap. I can't put my finger on it tho. I think it's something with the color palette.
Imo they are also flying a little bit close to the sun with this theme. (Regarding near future military stuff and colonization)"
To be fair the movie portrayed colonization as an objectively bad thing, there’s definitely a war theme to it all but at the same time I would’ve loved even more realistic military vehicles. I think almost everyone is just tired of LEGO’s appropriateness guidelines because I sure as hell am lol."
Nah honestly I kinda like Lego's stance, even if it's very inconsistent. I sure as hell don't want Lego to go Cobi's route with smiling soldier figures shooting each other with WW2 tanks. It just feels so wrong, especially the historical stuff. It's a kind of weird war glorification, that seems super messed up to me.
Don't get me wrong, I do like military MoCs and I've actually got military scale modelling as another hobby. Scale models and military moc's aren't directly aimed at children tho and most of what I've seen in scale models and MoCs is handled rather tastefully. Cobi definitely isn't doing that tho and there is no way a children's toy brand can achieve that.
Personally I think my main problem with the set is that Lego doesn't have a military green colour since the sand green never looks right to me.
It's the same problem Boba Fett has and trying to make realistic looking grass.
I think I would have preferred the mech to be grey like the recent MacFalan toys version of the mech.
Any explanation as to why they went with the moulded heads rather than a standard minifig head and the ears being part of the hair (like elves etc)? I think it's that part of the elongated minifigure that's throwing me off, if feels like the TLM2 sets that combined two different themes.
Whenever I see an Avatar set it reminds me of an article on this site where there was an interview with some LEGO designer where he explained and defended the decision of not making darth vader taller.
@PjtorXmos said:
" @Trigger_ said:
" @PjtorXmos said:
"I can't shake the feeling, that this looks super cheap. I can't put my finger on it tho. I think it's something with the color palette.
Imo they are also flying a little bit close to the sun with this theme. (Regarding near future military stuff and colonization)"
To be fair the movie portrayed colonization as an objectively bad thing, there’s definitely a war theme to it all but at the same time I would’ve loved even more realistic military vehicles. I think almost everyone is just tired of LEGO’s appropriateness guidelines because I sure as hell am lol."
Nah honestly I kinda like Lego's stance, even if it's very inconsistent. I sure as hell don't want Lego to go Cobi's route with smiling soldier figures shooting each other with WW2 tanks. It just feels so wrong, especially the historical stuff. It's a kind of weird war glorification, that seems super messed up to me.
Don't get me wrong, I do like military MoCs and I've actually got military scale modelling as another hobby. Scale models and military moc's aren't directly aimed at children tho and most of what I've seen in scale models and MoCs is handled rather tastefully. Cobi definitely isn't doing that tho and there is no way a children's toy brand can achieve that. "
I was referring to appropriateness regarding fictional source material (i.e. gore and other R-rated stuff) rather than military theming. My response didn't make that clear enough, again I'd love realistic vehicles but war themes can be a different debate than the appropriateness of content in fiction. As it stands there's really just a mech and a helicopter as far as the military representation in this theme goes and neither model exists in real life so I don't feel like there's an issue to that end; and, again, the film's portrayal of war is far from celebratory. This can be a heated subject so I can't really generate a definitive answer, I'll just end this off by saying I gotta browse through Rebrickable's army MOC library now-- people on there make some amazing stuff.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @NissanZ32 said:
""The GAU-90 autocannon associated with AMP suits was thus considered too close to authentic weapons in appearance."
Is this actual reasoning? I mean, star wars is not that far off with gun designs (after all, actual movie props were often based on WW II era weapons) and there's parts like https://brickset.com/parts/6103643/submachine-gun-%C3%B83-2-shaft available."
Yes. I had an opportunity to ask one of the Avatar set designers, Atticus Tsai McCarthy, about that and he confirmed that the nature of the autocannon was considered unsuitable. I think the belt-fed ammunition was probably decisive."
Huh, I guess they've changed their stance on the matter in the time since 70008 was released...
Haha