Review: 76278 Rocket's Warbird vs. Ronan

I passed. I initially heard that this was going to be a straight rerelease of COMCON034 and then wasn't impressed when it turned out to not be. (Look, I'm a sucker for chibis.)

@jkb said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @person_that_uses_brickset said:
"I think the marvel theme is slowly dying. The only things keeping it afloat to me are the modulars."

If MARVEL is slowly dying, DC is on life support with only a slim chance of survival through the night."

Time to let them go?"

Marvel needs to sadly go, or greatly downscaled. Batman/DC needs more Love. Batman interest seems to stay even if the movies turn out to be good or bad.

@ao_ka said:
"Until 2021 the Marvel theme used to have some of the best priced sets every year. Nowadays it is the complete opposite, getting overpriced more and more every year. Fine set, but no way I'm paying nearly R$400 for it."

That good 'ol "House of Mouse" tax.
Would be curious if there's a point in which LEGO says it's no longer worthwhile to maintain a licensee to to potential languishing sales. Suspect there's a license period they are obligated to. Also is there some obligation to produce X many sets per year? Or could they stick to the larger collector pieces/modulars?

The brick quality of dark blue seems to be quite bad with these highly visible mould injection marks. Lego really has a growing problem here. I am currenlty building the tree house 21318 and the mould injection points are also very visible but in addition also recessed so you can feel them haptically. The brick quality for that set is even worse than my previous quality low-end set, the BB borg cube.

This and the X-jet are my favourites from the January wave!

Looks like a fun set but I can't get over how they designed the front. On such a small scale a crisp angle is crucial, IMHO. Even with the plates moved forward.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @ao_ka said:
"Until 2021 the Marvel theme used to have some of the best priced sets every year. Nowadays it is the complete opposite, getting overpriced more and more every year. Fine set, but no way I'm paying nearly R$400 for it."

Sadly, I haven't been back to Brazil since WC14. How much does a beer go for these days?

I have the old Ronan, and this one in comparison looks like a sports ball player with a sad loser towel over his head. Rocket looks like a dorky teen with too much neck.

Yet, I will probably end up with this once it reaches 50% off."

Around R$2.50 the beer can, that's like 50 cents in US dollars.

Lego prices here follow the logic: US price x 10. That set will probably cost R$379.99 here, which is roughly $76.

@WemWem said:
" @JDawg5 said:
" @person_that_uses_brickset said:
"I think the marvel theme is slowly dying. The only things keeping it afloat to me are the modulars."

It's interesting how my interest in Lego Marvel seems to have a direct relationship with my interest in the MCU itself. Both pretty much fell of a cliff in 2023. "

2023 was a year when a lot of people seemed to say “OK, do better” with regards to the MCU. I guess that’s what happens when TV shows become seen as required viewing for anyone to understand what happens in a movie.

I saw this article and thought “Oof, we’re already in reruns for MCU sets.” Seems like a bad sign that we’re going back to the well of a movie franchise that nominally concluded last year."
The only MCU film this year is rated R and can’t get sets, to be fair.

@ao_ka said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @ao_ka said:
"Until 2021 the Marvel theme used to have some of the best priced sets every year. Nowadays it is the complete opposite, getting overpriced more and more every year. Fine set, but no way I'm paying nearly R$400 for it."

Sadly, I haven't been back to Brazil since WC14. How much does a beer go for these days?

I have the old Ronan, and this one in comparison looks like a sports ball player with a sad loser towel over his head. Rocket looks like a dorky teen with too much neck.

Yet, I will probably end up with this once it reaches 50% off."

Around R$2.50 the beer can, that's like 50 cents in US dollars.

Lego prices here follow the logic: US price x 10. That set will probably cost R$379.99 here, which is roughly $76."

That's muita cerveja!

Don't know why Lego switched Rocket's head and tail from grey to brown, but he looks inaccurate, too friendly and simplified. No dual molded legs either. Just look at how great the first generation Rocket looked like. The SDCC Warbird had an excellent Rocket in flight suit. Luckily I got him from the polybag at a reasonable price. Ronan is also clearly downgraded and I still regret not buying the first Milano as the prices are now ridiculous even for second hand sets.
The Warbird should have been released in a larger scale matching the previous GotG ships, instead of this juniorized stud-shooter thingy.

Okay. In the overhead photo of the open cockpit, what element is visible on the left side of the control panel? Nothing is jumping out at me in any inventories, I'm racking my brain and getting nothing, and I'm starting to feel like the answer will be comically obvious.

The cockpit is framed by a 6x8 trapdoor frame plate.

@iwybs said:
"The cockpit is framed by a 6x8 trapdoor frame plate."

Oh! Of course, that's one of the hinge connections. I feel silly now, but thank you so much.

@IgelCampus said:
"The brick quality of dark blue seems to be quite bad with these highly visible mould injection marks. Lego really has a growing problem here. I am currenlty building the tree house 21318 and the mould injection points are also very visible but in addition also recessed so you can feel them haptically. The brick quality for that set is even worse than my previous quality low-end set, the BB borg cube.

"

I have notice that too in recent sets, those nub marks are more and more visible, which was not the case before. I totally agree with the main quality and questionable issue here.

I don't understand why LEGO has started using reddish brown for Rocket. Light blueish grey not only looks more accurate to the color of the character's fur in the films and on most merchandise, but it's also more accurate to the culturally "standard" colors of a racoon.

@jjr_2009 said:
"I don't understand why LEGO has started using reddish brown for Rocket. Light blueish grey not only looks more accurate to the color of the character's fur in the films and on most merchandise, but it's also more accurate to the culturally "standard" colors of a racoon."

Nah, they need to bring back "old" Dark Grey... Just for Rocket!
:)

I don't mind this set, probably won't buy it but I don't mind it. Maybe I'll get it on discount.

@person_that_uses_brickset said:
"I think the marvel theme is slowly dying. The only things keeping it afloat to me are the modulars."

IMO, the problem is simply pricing. The sets are still good. I like that they are getting away from MCU only sets. The major problem is pricing. I would have gotten more marvel sets if the prices were more in line with non marvel sets. The Xjet is $84 for 349 pieces. The upcoming Invisible Hand is 557 pieces for $49.99. The Star Wars tax is better than the Marvel tax. It makes no sense. If these sets were priced reasonably, they would have been received a lot better.

I do think LEGO is pricing sets not to sell. I think LEGO want to reduce demand and scale back their overall global production. In other words, they'd prefer to produce and sell fewer sets. Why would they want fewer sales? It could be that they have Billions in cash and don't really need much more. Or that more sales leads to more complaints. It could be about factories in foreign countries that are susceptible to IP theft and quality issues. Or the increasing challenge procuring the raw materials to make their parts while trying to be eco-friendly.
I imagine they wouldn't mind getting to a sales level where they can keep all production in Denmark.

Sorry.....canopy too bulbous - looks silly

Now all of The Guardians Of The Galaxy vehicles are completed!

@beatnik said:
"Sorry.....canopy too bulbous - looks silly"

Agreed, they botched the Canopy. It seemed like it was done to accommodate Rocket Racoon having to stand, but there's a ton of space above his head so it was not necessary for it to be so high.

This is one expensive Ronan polybag.

I do think this is a really lovely set, but the price is laughably absurd. It's 3 times as expensive as other sets in the same-size box. I get that the branded sets are always a little more expensive, but c'mon now Lego, you're just being silly now.

@jkb said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @person_that_uses_brickset said:
"I think the marvel theme is slowly dying. The only things keeping it afloat to me are the modulars."

If MARVEL is slowly dying, DC is on life support with only a slim chance of survival through the night."

Time to let them go?"

Invest more in Lego LOTR!

@tkatt said:
"I do think LEGO is pricing sets not to sell. I think LEGO want to reduce demand and scale back their overall global production. In other words, they'd prefer to produce and sell fewer sets. Why would they want fewer sales? It could be that they have Billions in cash and don't really need much more. Or that more sales leads to more complaints. It could be about factories in foreign countries that are susceptible to IP theft and quality issues. Or the increasing challenge procuring the raw materials to make their parts while trying to be eco-friendly.
I imagine they wouldn't mind getting to a sales level where they can keep all production in Denmark.
"

It's an interesting idea. However, their billions in expenditures on new factories (Vietnam) and emphasis on catering to the expanding Chinese market belie that notion. Their marketing and sales statements also repeat an expansionist mantra.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @tkatt said:
"I do think LEGO is pricing sets not to sell. I think LEGO want to reduce demand and scale back their overall global production. In other words, they'd prefer to produce and sell fewer sets. Why would they want fewer sales? It could be that they have Billions in cash and don't really need much more. Or that more sales leads to more complaints. It could be about factories in foreign countries that are susceptible to IP theft and quality issues. Or the increasing challenge procuring the raw materials to make their parts while trying to be eco-friendly.
I imagine they wouldn't mind getting to a sales level where they can keep all production in Denmark.
"

It's an interesting idea. However, their billions in expenditures on new factories (Vietnam) and emphasis on catering to the expanding Chinese market belie that notion. Their marketing and sales statements also repeat an expansionist mantra. "

Well I am just a random person on the internet with no actual knowledge of the inner workings of the company, but I say they are making a huge mistake.

@tkatt said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @tkatt said:
"I do think LEGO is pricing sets not to sell. I think LEGO want to reduce demand and scale back their overall global production. In other words, they'd prefer to produce and sell fewer sets. Why would they want fewer sales? It could be that they have Billions in cash and don't really need much more. Or that more sales leads to more complaints. It could be about factories in foreign countries that are susceptible to IP theft and quality issues. Or the increasing challenge procuring the raw materials to make their parts while trying to be eco-friendly.
I imagine they wouldn't mind getting to a sales level where they can keep all production in Denmark.
"

It's an interesting idea. However, their billions in expenditures on new factories (Vietnam) and emphasis on catering to the expanding Chinese market belie that notion. Their marketing and sales statements also repeat an expansionist mantra. "

Well I am just a random person on the internet with no actual knowledge of the inner workings of the company, but I say they are making a huge mistake."

I totally agree with your sentiment.

There was a very interesting Zoom discussion a week or so ago by one the Lego Marketing executives to a Michigan State business class that a Brickset AFOL invited us to watch.

Lego is very excited about expanding into China and new gaming areas, and making huge investments in those areas. I think a lot of that gaming emphasis is a big mistake and a major reason we are paying such high prices for sets.

The 25th anniversary of the JLA/Avengers (issues 1 & 3 ) Avengers/JLA (issues 2 and 4 ) will be in 2028. If LEGO begins hammering out a deal now, they should have time to produce some insane sets, containing period-correct characters, which would fly off the shelves.

Possible sets?
Avengers vs Starro.
JLA vs Terminus.
Batman, Captain America, and the Atom in the Grandmaster’s lair.
Both teams in the Savage Land with buildable Krona, Grandmaster, and Galactus and all 12 artifacts (or spread them across sets)
Both teams in the JLA Watchtower, modifying Aquaman’s Imperial Atlantean Warcraft, and a buildable Watcher.

There are so many cool sets they could make just from those four issues, and so many characters not yet represented in LEGO.

Besides, I want a Superman in a battle-damaged costume with red heat-vision eyes and a war-cry look on his face carrying Cap’s shield and Thor’s hammer.

They could do an entire year devoted to the theme, and I would pick up every single set with borderline-insane glee.

Raccoons range in color from a brownish-grey to a greyish-brown. Rocket, in the films, is about halfway between. If people weren’t complaining that they shouldn’t have made him brown because he’s grey in the films, they would have been complaining that they shouldn’t have made him grey because he’s brown in the films. But his print depiction is typically brown as can be, so in that sense it seems more appropriate to pick brown over grey.

@MutoidMan:
I actually wouldn’t mind sets based on the Amalgam Comics run (um…30th in 2027?), but I’m happy with my Starro and doubt they could pull off a releasable set that tops it. Five-armed space starfish isn’t an easy shape to pull off with a system based around squares and rectangles.

@PurpleDave:

Amalgam Comics characters would make a great CMF wave, for sure.

To make a good Starro (without the need for the clever techniques I’m guessing you developed or employed in your Starro) I think LEGO would need to create a ten-sided parabolic ring and some 72 degree curved pieces for Starro’s center. Maybe they’d need to do something Technic-level to get the strength needed for the weight of the arms if they make him really big.

@MutoidMan:
I ended up just figuring out that you can wrap five click-hinge bricks around a 2x2 round brick core, and 8x8 radar dishes on both sides cover up the mess. Now, I think there's an actual five-sided part they could use instead. That's not the real problem, though. Getting the thing to support itself was the biggest challenge. I've got two flight sticks that run down the backs of the two lowest legs (which also support some of the weight), and three more that stick out from the two side legs and the center of the torso, and they flex very noticeably under the weight.

There's no weight to animation, so stuff like The Suicide Squad can get away with having Starro stand on two legs, but a physical model is a different matter. It's just not a shape that's designed to work as a LEGO model. If they make one that's the same size as his original appearance (or larger), it would probably end up having to be a static display piece. But what would be really cool is if they made something to represent the face-hugging spores. A printed head would be nice, but a molded element would be nicer.

Lego Marvel vs. DC just isn't going to happen. For one, Warner/DC and Marvel/Disney no longer have that kind of relationship. The publication of JLA/Avengers was a rare, final intercompany crossover between the two (there were a bunch in the mid-to-late 90s, and then they stopped until 2003, when JLA/Avengers came along), but they're pretty much dead after that. DC has at least been a lot more open to crossovers, as it's done a ton of work with Dark Horse, IDW, Image (at least via Spawn) and I think a few others. Marvel has been relatively closed to crossovers for a very long time.

Intercompany toy crossovers can happen--Todd just released a Batman/Spawn two-pack last year--but one of this specific scale is extremely unlikely unless things change at both companies.

@Ridgeheart said:
"https://brickset.com/parts/6362556/propeller-beam-5-blades-w-cutout"

That would do the trick!

@ResIpsaLoquitur :

Not to presume to speak for @PurpleDave , but I’m pretty sure we both understand that we’re engaging in a wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky discussion.

This isn’t a DC and Marvel question, it’s a Warner Brothers and Disney question, and those corporate meatheads may never have the sort of friendly competition-type of relationship that once existed between Marvel and DC. The only thing on which they’ve collaborated is the 2022 reprinting of JLA/Avengers for Hero Initiative in honor of George Pérez.

Hmmm…

I wonder if they could be persuaded to agree upon a JLA/Avengers set for Hero Initiative; it is a charity, after all. Could easily be the first set to break $1000 USD. If it were awesome enough, and featured at least 100 characters, I’d absolutely buy it.

@Ridgeheart said:
"https://brickset.com/parts/6362556/propeller-beam-5-blades-w-cutout"

Yup, that's the one.

@MutoidMan said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur :

Not to presume to speak for @PurpleDave , but I’m pretty sure we both understand that we’re engaging in a wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky discussion.

This isn’t a DC and Marvel question, it’s a Warner Brothers and Disney question, and those corporate meatheads may never have the sort of friendly competition-type of relationship that once existed between Marvel and DC. The only thing on which they’ve collaborated is the 2022 reprinting of JLA/Avengers for Hero Initiative in honor of George Pérez.

Hmmm…

I wonder if they could be persuaded to agree upon a JLA/Avengers set for Hero Initiative; it is a charity, after all. Could easily be the first set to break $1000 USD. If it were awesome enough, and featured at least 100 characters, I’d absolutely buy it.

"

Well, I've got Purple Dave on mute ever since he severely distorted something I was arguing about price-per-piece as a useful metric of the overall value you get from a Lego purchase. I don't mind seasoned debates, but he lied about my position and accused me of only wanting "chonky bricks" in sets (whereas I was actually arguing that PPP becomes a difficult metric in a lot of cases, with the extreme example being baseplates sold by themselves, which is why fans are getting increasingly dissatisfied with sets like the Hoopty and we're told "but the PPP is great!").

But anyway, I seriously have no idea what Dave is saying because I found him to be a combative individual and I don't want to engage him anymore.

@MutoidMan:
Right, I guess I should address this. @ResIpsaLoquitur was incessantly and aggressively railing on against new sets because he was hooked on Jangbricks' undefinable "price per stuff" metric, even though he could never actually explain how this metric supposedly worked (it seemed to boil down to, "if I don't like it, it must be too expensive for what you get). I got sick of calling him out on this, and hit him with what was clearly a satirical response. He didn't appreciate it. On the plus side, it did shut down the tiresome "price per stuff" rhetoric. On a guess, a lot of people muted him, because it was several months before I noticed anyone responding to one of his posts.

@ResIpsaLoquitur & @PurpleDave:

Whatever disagreement you guys have is none of my business, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

@MutoidMan:
Fair enough. I'm okay with that. And because you didn't quote my comment, if it drives him buggy that he doesn't know what I said, I'm okay with that, too. Nobody forced him to bring the matter up in the first place.

@PurpleDave :

Hehehe…

So let’s see… I was not-so-subtly hinting to LEGO to lighten my wallet to the tune of a grand for a serious JLA/Avengers set with 100 characters and all the trimmings, with a Super Heroes wave to support it.

Also, the idea of a CMF wave of Amalgam Comics characters is growing on me; it just never really occurred to me before, but drawing from Amalgam would be very cool.

Again, I know these things will likely never come to pass, but a guy can dream.

@MutoidMan:
I’d be more partial to Amalgam for two reasons. The first is that I think I collected the entire run as it released. I’d stopped collecting around 1997, so missed the other run you mentioned. I do remember a Vs storyline where people could vote on lesser matches, but the five main events were based on making sure each company’s most popular characters won (I remember Cap just surrendered to Batman without a fight, and I think Spiderman defeated Superman).

The other reason is that you can compile a bunch of DC and Marvel minifigs and essentially do the other story for yourself. You really can’t do that with Amalgam. All of those characters were truly unique. Of course, they might confuse the heck out of any young kids who see them on a public display. Then again, I put Eliot on a flying bike with ET peeking out of a basket, and that’s gets misidentified as Spiderman all the time, so maybe they wouldn’t even bat an eye.

@PurpleDave:

Let’s be gentlemanly and leave it at both choices are good, and we each have our favorites.

@HJB2810 said:
" @jkb said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @person_that_uses_brickset said:
"I think the marvel theme is slowly dying. The only things keeping it afloat to me are the modulars."

If MARVEL is slowly dying, DC is on life support with only a slim chance of survival through the night."

Time to let them go?"

Invest more in Lego LOTR!"

Uh no!