Review: 76030 Avengers Hydra Showdown
Posted by CapnRex101,Before I get started with the review, allow me to apologise for the delay in getting this article posted. I have been on holiday for the last ten days and was busier than anticipated prior to going away, so this article which was planned for late March is only appearing today.
It is now less than a month until The Avengers: Age of Ultron is released for most of the world. Excitement appears to be growing with every new trailer that is released, but the contents of 76030 Avengers Hydra Showdown have yet to appear in any of them. Super Heroes sets at the £19.99 or $19.99 price point tend to be very popular, but personally I think this one is comparably disappointing.
None of the three minifigures are exclusive which is a shame and although the two models are not bad at all, they aren't as exciting as the slightly more expensive 76031 The Hulk Buster Smash.
However, I appreciate that not everybody will want to buy the larger sets which include these minifigures, so they may appeal in that regard. I also think that this is also a superb set for play as there are some neat functions and obviously plenty of play value to be had with two opposing vehicles included.
Box and Contents
The box is the typical size for a set of around this price. It appears the pursuit is taking place in a snowy and mountainous region, with the Avengers truck chasing down the Hydra buggy and Thor about to slam his hammer down on the roof of the vehicle. On the back of the box we can see the two vehicles from different angles, although there isn't much that you cannot see from the image on the front really as these are fairly simple models.
Inside are two numbered bags, an instruction manual and a single sticker sheet, which is very small and only includes two stickers.
Minifigures
The three minifigures included are perhaps not as exciting as in most of the other sets in this wave. They all appear in one other set, although Hawkeye is only included in this set and 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier, so I'm sure many people will be excited to get this minifigure as they are not intending to purchase the Helicarrier. This is a vast improvement over the 2012 version in my opinion, with a more accurate hair piece and greater detail on the torso and legs. He has dark red goggles on one side and a grimace on the other not unlike the older minifigure, and he carries the same compound bow which is accurately moulded as always.
Thor appears here and in 76038 Attack on Avengers Tower. He too has received an update since the 2012 figure, with some slight changes to the torso design and a cape made from the new softer material. I think the hair piece is too brightly coloured personally and it would look substantially better if it were cast in dark tan. As ever, Thor is armed with Mjolnir which could be improved with a little printing on the handle, although the shape is perfect.
The final minifigure is a Hydra Henchman. This figure also comes in 76041 The Hydra Fortress Smash but is obviously one to build an army of, so this is not a problem at all. His head and torso are both highly detailed, with Chitauri armour printed on both sides of each component. I look forward to seeing how accurate this is to the film as we have not seen any Hydra soldiers wearing Chitauri armour in the trailers released so far, but the gold contrasts nicely with the white of his combat gear anyway.
The Completed Model
The two vehicles are not particularly exciting to look at when construction is complete, but they vary sufficiently from the standard City offering to maintain some interest in my opinion. The Hydra buggy is the more unusual of the two, with larger tyres at the rear and a simple roll cage design. The seat inside features a headrest and a couple of small engine components represent the powerhouse between the back wheels.
A stud-firing cannon is mounted just behind the driver and this can be knocked off using the Super Jumper piece included. Unfortunately it wobbles around a little bit when the vehicle is being driven around but it certainly won't fall out on its own, particularly with the droid arm and lamp raised to fix it in place.
The Avengers' jeep is more typical, with a six stud wide chassis and room for one minifigure to sit inside. The roof and sides are completely open, so it is possible to squeeze a second figure in, although you might struggle to fit them on any exposed studs. A flick-fire missile turret appears on the top which looks reasonable and adds further playability.
It is probably the playability which appeals the most about this set. The two models are undoubtedly simple, but they are very durable for recreating fast paced pursuits. There is also plenty of ground clearance to avoid friction over rough terrain.
Overall
I mentioned at the beginning of the review that this was the Age of Ultron I was least excited for, and to an extent I still feel that way. It pales in comparison with some of the larger sets in the range, but is nevertheless a strong set in its own right with lots of play value and two decent vehicles.
Although none of the minifigures are exclusive, this is the cheapest way to acquire each of them and Hawkeye only appears elsewhere in 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier, which might be out of some people's price range. The set itself is actually significantly better than I had anticipated, particularly considering the price and play value, but it lacks the detail of some of the other models in my opinion.
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9 comments on this article
I got this set, and was a bit disappointed with it. I upgraded the car to look more like the one from 6867-1 and it looks better.
The Hydra Henchman in the minifigure group photo has the wrong side of his head on display. That's the back of the armor showing. His face is on the other side, with the big gold faceplate. Whoops?
What do you mean, "have yet to appear in any of them"? Then what's this: http://speakgeekytome.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Avengers2trailer3.gif ? Pretty sure the vehicle at the start of that gif is the one in this set.
Honestly, this set might be worth getting just because its 220 pieces (including some nice minifigs) for $19.99. Really rare for a licensed theme.
This set is even better when you get it on a discount deal like I did. $16 first day it was out...very odd.
Either way, the set itself is probably okay. I only bought it for the figures. I don't plan on getting Helicarrier (not impressive for the price) and the Stark Avengers tower looks neat (actually it might be one of the few Super Hero sets I'd want to buy FOR the set instead of the figures), but I don't need yet another Iron Man clone and the drones are meh to me. So I'll bricklink Ultron and with this set save some money.
I personally prefer the older Thor printing. This one looks pudgy (the thicker cape doesn't help around the neck either).
Hawkeye looks close to the source material in both versions (except for the original hair, but torso was spot on).
@Zrath - I don't think either side of the head is the front or back. One features a full mask over the face and the other just has goggles with the mouth visible. I chose to display the fully masked side as I showed the other side in the review of 76041.
@BJMdotLEGO - It could be, but the model scarcely resembles the one seen in the trailer so I assume that either there is another 4x4 we have yet to see or, more likely, the designer based it on a mention of a black 4x4 in the script.
Well, there's Hawkeye. He makes this ALMOST worth $16.24 at Walmart. But I just can't bring myself to like Thor, the Jeep, or the Super Jump gimmick. With a bit of modding, this could be great... but as is, it's just blah.
Things to improve upon:
-Remove the Super Jumper and the gimmick. This can be easily fixed by replacing the red pin with a blue one.
-Give Thor leg printing and a silver hammer. He looks too much like the 2012 fig, which disappoints me.
-Add another Hydra Henchman.
-Bulk up the Jeep. Ditch the flick missiles and give it proper walls and a roof.
These improvements would probably jack the price up to $30, but I would definitely pay $30 for a set like that.
^ Are you are suggesting the removal of almost all playability in lego set? The set is aimed at young kids not collectors as it is cheap and contains no exclusive minifigs. Although another hydra henchman and a roof would be a nice addition... @BJMdotlego that does look like the jeep (the turret was probably added for playability). Those do look like the hydra henchmen.
It's very nice Lego is shifting to 19.99€ instead of 27.99 and this is really not bad value, but the cars are much too simple for my taste and the Avengers truck is really disappointing compared to the SHIELD truck from the last Avengers series. That one was a beast! Regarding the minifigs, I sort of prefer the older ones. Only Hulk is significantly better from the new line up, the others are not really an improvement I think.