Review: 76041 The Hydra Fortress Smash
Posted by CapnRex101,Following on from our review of the smallest Age of Ultron set we come to one of the larger ones: 76041 The Hydra Fortress Smash. As a Toys R Us exclusive this set was not revealed until relatively recently, after the rest of the selection appeared in a German retailer catalogue.
This set is priced at £49.99 or $49.99, but expect to pay £59.99 or $59.99 when buying it from Toys R Us. At that higher price it is very poor value in my opinion, and although the RRP is just about tolerable even that could do with lowering. Perhaps the £44.99 or $39.99 price point occupied by last year's 76020 Knowhere Escape Mission would have been more appropriate, unfair though that price point is on buyers in the UK.
Anyway, with five great figures, plenty of play features and some hidden secrets around the back, let's take a look at one of the mid-sized Age of Ultron sets.
Box and Contents
The front of the box displays the Hulk doing what he does best: smashing! The four minifigures and Hulk bigfig all appear in the minifigure gallery while the Super Jumper included is shown off on the front and back of the box. It is interesting to note that the European version of the box features the heroes as minifigures in the top corner, while the live action Avengers appear on the North American edition.
Inside are four numbered bags, a very small sticker sheet and two instruction manuals. The build certainly need not have been divided over four bags, with the first and last including comparably few pieces.
Minifigures
I think Quicksilver will be the highlight of the selection for many, and he certainly lives up to my expectations. The white hair piece is new in this colour and his head is printed with some stubble and two expressions, one smiling and the other angry. His legs are plain black but his detailed torso printing more than makes up for this in my opinion. The contrast between the dark blue, dark azure and white looks brilliant, and the silver webbing running across his chest finishes the figure beautifully. This is one of my favourite minifigures of the year so far!
This masked version of Captain America only appears here and in 76032 The Avengers Quinjet City Chase. It is far more detailed than previous versions, particularly on the head and torso which feature his typically patriotic branding and brown straps on the back. My only criticism is for the shield, which is red rather than dark red, which would be more accurate. The Hulk bigfig has received some substantial updates this year, with olive green skin which closely resembles the colour of his skin in the film. His hair has also been improved and the tan shorts from the 2012 Avengers figure have been replaced by a printed purple design.
Baron Von Strucker is a simple minifigure but a good one nevertheless. His head, printed with his trademark monocle, is unique to the character. Although he does have some hair in the film the minifigure is bald. Personally I think this is a good choice as the hair in the movie is very short and no suitable piece exists currently. The sand blue torso is printed with a tidy jacket and the Hydra logo, while his legs are plain. The Baron is armed with a pistol, although the box artwork suggests that he also wields Loki's sceptre when necessary.
Naturally Baron Von Strucker would be lost without troops to command, a role undertaken by the Hydra Henchman. His grey and white attire is fairly detailed with a combination of repurposed Chitauri armour and a combat suit. More Chitauri armour appears on both sides of his head, with goggles on one side and a full mask on the other. An identical Hydra Henchman also appears in 76030 Avengers Hydra Showdown which is useful as this is obviously going to be an appealing figure for building an army.
The Completed Model
The set is made up of two sections, the first of which is a Hydra tank. This is a nice, bulky model with lots of ground clearance for driving over rough terrain and some chunky tyres. Although it is a fairly simple model the angled armour typical of a tank is present and I like the white colour choice. I don't think we have seen this vehicle in any trailers for the film, but it reminds me very much of this tank from Captain America: The First Avenger. I suppose Hydra have been occupied by other matters in the seventy years between the setting for the two films, but I would have expected them to update their technology a little more to be honest!
There is room for one minifigure to sit inside, but unfortunately the Hydra Henchman can't hide in there as the Hulk is able to blow the roof off by slamming down on the front of the vehicle. The rotating turret on top (which comes off with the roof) launches a Zamor sphere and a spare is included. A white 6x8 plate would have been more suitable for the roof than the dark tan one used in my opinion, just to maintain the colour scheme throughout.
The Hydra Fortress itself is perhaps a little disappointing as it is quite small and doesn't have much of an interior. However, I like what little of the model there is as there is some decent detail on the outside in particular, with a 'no entry' sign on the gates and a small black tree which has some dark red leaves on it.
The Hulk can knock the gates down by smashing two hidden levers which works very well. The fortress itself is more of a tower, featuring some masonry bricks on the outside and a turret on top. Two stud launchers are fitted on here and it can be knocked down using the super jumper included, which is a fun play feature.
Inside there is a nice surprise as Loki's sceptre is held in a cylindrical chamber. Some trans blue pieces and a lightning bolt component give this room the feel of a mad scientist's lab to me, which I think is rather nice. You can open the chamber by once again using the super jumper. The mechanism here is not unlike that in 76025 Green Lantern vs. Sinestro.
Overall
There are plenty of superb sets in this Age of Ultron range, but 76041 is not a highlight for me. As a playset it is not bad and I like the tank in particular, but for the price I think the fortress could be larger or include more detail. A single story building at the other end of the gate would probably have been satisfactory, perhaps with an office for Baron Von Strucker or the cells for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch seen at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The minifigure selection is great, but once more I think other sets include better figures, especially if you already have the Hulk from 76031 The Hulk Buster Smash. On sale this is a pretty good set, but at full price there are better models available.
Our next review will be of 76030 Avengers Hydra Showdown, so stay tuned!
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22 comments on this article
Thanks for the review, thorough and useful as always :)
I have to agree on the price, £49.99 for this set is absolutely ridiculous, there's barely anything there to build! This would have to be discounted to at least 33% for me to even consider it. Yes the figures look good, Hulk especially, but that doesn't justify this price.
Yep I agree great review and comments from Lee,It looks garbage in my opinion,the minifigures ar ok.
But the price is again a rip off Toysrus consistently have exclusives that are not worth the money,27.99 max.wont buy this actually even at a 50% discount,which it will eventually as it is just not worth it.
Bought the hulkbuster set last weekend so I would only be getting this for the figs and £50 for 4 figs is shocking - the parts and a 2nd Hulk are not enough to draw me in. Given the exclusive nature of the set it's not likely to have any real discount applied anytime soon either.....
A nice decent model but pricey nonetheless, will be buying next month most likely. And that gate looks to be exactly what I looking for a MOC.
Thank you so much! :-D
I want this set purely for Quicksilver, his likeness is perfect when you compare him to his live-action counterpart, especially the torso. Plus his hair looks awesome. :)
Definite pass for me, thanks for the review Capn!
Good thing you can order these exclusives from shop @home too.
Can we get a picture of the henchman's mask?
Not as good as I thought it would be. I think the minifigs and the tank make the set.
Perhaps it is a little on the small side but I do quite like this set. Breaking things with Hulk is just too much fun :) The little red tree looks great as well but I would probably recommend this more as a playset
I bought the set yesterday from a brick and mortar Toys'R'US store. They price match to Lego.com.
So you can eliminate the "Toys'R'Us Tax".
Haven't built it yet.
Jamie
I quite like this set. Sure, it's a façade rather than an actual building and it's $20 overpriced at TRU, but...
I really like Quicksilver and Baron von Strucker, the façade looks good and is smashable, and the tank actually, you know, works as a tank and you can STILL smash it. $50 from Shop @Home is pretty good for this considering Hulk, and I need Quicksilver for my Avengers collection anyway.
However, except for the exclusive figs, I'm going to end up with two of Cap, Hulk, and the Hydra Henchman. I even already HAVE this Captain America, and I think giving him printed legs in this set would drive up the value considerably.
I guess I don't understand the love for Quicksilver. He's a guy with some stubble and a blue shirt...As far as figures go, yes it is well done compared to the source material. In terms of detail, it is pretty bland. Captain looks much more detailed and impressive (to me). I'll eventually pick up Quicksilver for completion sake, but in terms of wanted figures, I guess I don't understand the hype.
The set looks to be a joke. I do not plan on buying it. I'll bricklink the figures I need and call it good. (Yes I realize Quicksilver will go for way too much in the aftermarket on his own)
Good review. I recently purchased the Hulkbuster set and it will probably be the only AOU set I get. It has everything I want in it, Hulk bigfig, Scarlet Witch, New print Iron Man, an Ultron variant, and of course the Hulkbuster itself! Plus, at only 29.99, it seems to be the only reasonabley priced set in the bunch.
Yeah, I want this set purely for Quicksilver, but it'd be nice to have another Marvel villain (Baron von Strucker) as well.
I too bought the Hulkbuster set yesterday as soon as I saw it, and given you get the Scarlet Witch and Ultron ... plus the actual Hulkbuster armour ... that's pretty much the unskippable set from this line.
Yep, similar to another site I visited, this review showed me that I don't want this set. And I too have got the Hulkbuster set which is much better value. Thanks for reviewing it!
It is a $40 set, Hulk adds $10 to the price of every set he's in.
This set is having a hard to compete with the Hulkbuster. For collectors and completists it surely is nice, but it's not the one set you have to have. This is just my opinion though, and listing my must-sets, I am sure there are many who disagree:
Avengers: Cosmic Cube Escape
SpiderMan: Daily Bugle
Iron Man: Malibu Mansion
Guardians: Milano
Avengers 2: Hulkbuster
More licensed exclusivity making more hobby exclusion.
Nice review as always, with your good knowledge of SH, Cap'n!
I won't be buying this - the price is ridiculous. LEGO probably upped it for the sake of the Hulk, which is no doubt the highlight for younger kids. I like the set overall, but I really won't get this.
Lego, get your hand out of my wallet... Vitruvius says: this set is just the worst....