Hello Brickset! If you haven't guessed, I just picked this set up from my local Lego store, and if you skipped the numerical evaluation, yes, I bought this set for the minifigures. Not to say there aren't some redeeming features, so without further ado:

Box/Instructions

The box itself fits right in with the Marvel Superheroes theme, and shows a really aggressive looking fight between the two Hulk teams. For anyone that hasn't read one of my reviews before, I am not sentimental enough, or at least not an avid enough collector, to either keep or celebrate the box.

The instructions were easy to follow, bright enough to not confuse the 12 or so colours of the parts. It also had a little comic book, tying this set into what's happening with Iron Man and Captain America for this launch, and was included with both other sets as well. These I do think are sort of cute, and hold onto along with the instruction booklets.

Minifigures

This was my primary motivation for picking this set up, and as with a lot of comic book sets, one of the strengths of the set.

We of course get the Incredible Hulk aka Bruce Banner as the centerpiece of the "good guy" team. What I wasn't expecting, not looking super closely at the figure on the box or on this website when I first looked the set up, is that it is a totally different shade of green on the big guy! We've seen him with the purple pants in his second figure, but the first two were a slightly darker, more standard green, and this is a lighter less natural colour. The second was more MCU friendly and looks more like a golem from mythology then a radioactive freak. This version also changed his hair from the first version, and now it's the same hair cut as the first again, but this Hulk also has dark green hair, so that's kind of a nifty update as well. We've also caught this version with a "screaming" face happening, so even though it's the same mold, they have changed up some of the other details.

She-Hulk, Hulk's cousin and accomplished lawyer Jennifer Walters, makes her first step into the physical Lego world! Her costume is pretty accurate, with the white onsie and boots with purple highlights, and a calm/angry face combination. I like the figure, but the only thing that standing out in a negative is that the printing goes around the front and outside of her legs, but then stop at the back and insides. Not a big deal, but something the perfectionists among us might be upset by this news. Her hair is a green recast of Sharon Carter's hair from last year's Captain America airport set, which works well with the figure here. I guess we know why Bruce dyed his hair the shade he did now...

Red She-Hulk, or Hulk's love interest Betty Ross/Banner. I don't know what happened to Betty and her dad, but Wikipedia says they're now Hulked out too, so I guess it gives more subtext and motivation then "HULK SMASH"! She has Gamora's hair from the GoTG sets, with red highlights, plain black pants and a black tank top that's printed on both sides.

Lastly is Red Hulk, or Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, Hulk's main antagonist, who hates him so much he stole the old black Hulk hair from previous sets. I suppose that's why they're fighting here? Red is gritting his teeth I think, but has a pretty intense stare for a Lego figure, so Hulk must have upset him as well.

Build

The build was very simple. Each beach buggy was broken up into two bags, having one mini/macro figure in each bag. Red team gets their tricycle up first, and green team get theirs second. While watching TV and assembling it with half my attention, I think I hammered it out in 45 minutes. Both bodies of the two vehicles are almost identical, in spite of the difference in wheels of the two. There are a few flourishes aside from the colours to distinguish the two as well, with the darker, more industrialized look to the team red trike, and the wind screen making team green's dune buggy look a little more like a protagonists ride. Also, the greenmobile has, according to the stickers, some toxic waste on the side, which might explain Hulk's new glow.

Given the simplicity of the set, I am guessing that it is, more then other sets in the theme, aimed for the younger generations of Lego fans. I mean there are a lot of very losable studs, but in spite of this, I think this set is targeting those that like the toy more then the build, which isn't a bad thing at all, it's just not my thing.

For any parents out there, I think it is possible that maybe they split it up this way, including having two instruction booklets, so it could be shared between two builders.

Parts

The parts are certainly something that could redeem this set for any MOCers interested in the set as well. There are 4 big purple wheels, 2 big black wheels, 6 stud shooters, one of the "chaingun" style shooters, and lots of red and green, in both earth and normal tones. There are also some long Technic beams, and lots of small connectors. Each car also has a trapdoor piece as part of the main body. There is even an older piece that I knew as the mast of the old school wind boards from the early ninties. It's something of a unique piece in my latest collection, just because I haven't seen any real use for it.

Finished Model

I don't think I'd be alone in saying I don't really see much beauty in this set. I knew what I was getting it, and why, but I am still seeing rough edges and other small imperfections. That aside, the shooters and a neat play feature where if you ram something (say the other car), it cause the Hulk riding in the back of each one to jump towards the obstacle. That's neat, but lost on me I'm afraid.

Overall

You get two vehicles that if sold alone would probably be $20-25 Canadian, for I think 70 bucks. Ouch.

It is very hard for me to be under-whelmed with a set I knew I'd be buying just for the minifigures. As an AFOL, I can scrutinze this set as much as any that I've bought. "How many Batmobiles does this guy need?". "Why does Spider-man need a helicopter". "How does Hulk know how to drive?". But such is the life of a completionist, who deals exclusively in a brand of toy from his youth.

In closing:

If you're needing some of the pieces, or buying for someone younger, young enough to play rather then enjoy the challenge of the build or to collect the set, then take my evaluation with a grain of salt. I can imagine someone interested in playing with it will get a kick out of the set! There are also some harder to find pieces included, even if they are somewhat fewer and further between then the price point makes a case for.

If you're someone looking for a set to proudly mount and display at this price range, I can recommend last year's Spider-Man bridge set.

If you're looking for one set from this launch for some of the new figures, you can get both other sets for the same price first (plus Phil Coulson with the Iron Man set!).

If you're Hulk crazy, or someone that's gotta own it all...well why are you reading this? You've made up you're mind already I'm sure, go ahead!

The last couple of years of Marvel sets have seen an improvement in overall design, with two recent examples, Super Heroes Airport Battle and Spider-Man: Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle being particular standouts of the theme. This has raised the bar for Marvel Super Heroes as a range, and for better or worse, 76078-1 has to be graded on that curve.

Box/Instructions

The box features the generalized Avengers branding (being a set not based, to my knowledge, on any specific Marvel release but inspired by these characters), and features the two She-Hulk-driven vehicles colliding at full speed, studs spraying, with Hulk and Red Hulk leaping at each other prepared to Smash. This appears to take place in a rocky, desert environment, appropriate for the Hulk's history. The back of the box features additional play scenarios acted out, and play features highlighted with the launching mechanism of both vehicles.

Two instruction books are included, one for each vehicle and respective team. A sticker sheet is included with numerous damaged accents, indicating the wear-and-tear these cartoonish vehicles might take being driven and smashed by various Hulks. Several stickers include references to Red Hulk's human alter ego, Thunderbolt Ross. I could not make sense of the other markings included, they may potentially be other Marvel or set designer references. A little overboard on the stickers for this set - I don't usually mind stickers, but with the many loud and colorful parts in these sets I'm not sure that many were necessary.

Parts

I'll admit that the appeal of this set for me was the minifigures, and anytime that's the case I tend to look at the rest of the set on it's merits as a parts pack. Overall, I was happy with many of the parts included, though not at the price point of a shocking $59.99 USD.

The flashiest elements in the set are the gigantic, hard plastic wheels, which appear to make the vehicles look a lot larger than they really are, and which seem unyieldingly popular in LEGO even today. I recall wheels similar to these in the space sets of my youth, and I wish they would venture into making some other rubber tire colors instead of churning out these endless hard plastic versions. Rubber versions may even be a benefit to durability and playability of this set, which is meant to have it's vehicles smashed into each other over and over.

That aside, slopes and tiles in green, grey, red, orange and yellow are welcome inclusions for me, along with the hinged floor pieces and many useful technic elements, as well as some rarities (the 1x1 beam in tan, the shovel).

Minifigures

The easy highlight for this set is the absolutely outstanding minifigures (and bigfigs) included. Three characters have never been in LEGO before, including an iconic Marvel superhero.

Red Hulk, the equalizing alter-ego of Thunderbolt Ross, longtime Hulk villain, is in bigfig form for the very first time. Utilizing what appears to be the same exact mold and black hair as the Hulk included in Age-of-Ultron-related sets, this bigfig is all red, with yellow eyes and a furious grimace. His shredded pants are black. Here he is presented in full villain mode, although I believe the comic-book version did eventually serve some time as an unlikely Avenger.

Another new figure is Red She-Hulk, the Hulked-out form of Bruce Banner's love interest Betty Ross (daughter of Thunderbolt Ross). I do not know much of her origins in this form - she is presented here as an ally of Red Hulk and adversary of the green team, though her comic ties seem to be far more complicated than that. Regardless, the figure seems to be a spot-on representation, with the zippered black leather sleeveless suit, red streaks in her black hair (the hair mold, same as used with Gamora and others, is just right), and two facial expressions included - neutral on one side and angry grimace on the other. The legs are plain black which fits well enough but could have been printed for further detail.

Hulk appears in this set utilizing what appears to be an old mold, from his first LEGO appearances in 2012, but sporting new colors which has made this, in my opinion, the best Hulk bigfig to date. The printed facial expression shows him screaming, which feels just right - oddly it appears no previous version printed him this way. He's in more of a bright yellowish-green skin tone, getting away from the olive green of the recent movie versions, and with bright purple pants and most impressively, dark green hair. It would be hard to top this version of Hulk, though I am curious to see what the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok sets might have in store.

The highlight of this set, however, is the first LEGO version of the legendary She-Hulk. Over the years, lawyer Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, has been a member of various versions of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Defenders, and more. She has held her own in several solo titles over the decades, and it feels a lot more like classic Marvel to have her now part of the LEGO Avengers. Printed with her white and purple jumpsuit, and including purple hands for her gloves, dual-molded legs for her white shoes, and flowing dark-green hair, this minifigure captures She-Hulk perfectly. To borrow a Marvel descriptor - she is Sensational in LEGO.

The Build

The piece count of this set is listed at only 375, and it certainly feels like a quarter of that number is just studs, so this ends up being a quick build. Despite the aesthetically different look of the two vehicles, the frame and internal mechanisms of both are almost identical, with simply different colorings for each "team". So this familiarity on the second vehicle makes for an even faster build.

The mechanism for the launching platforms is pretty simple on the whole, utilizing the small rubber technic dampers, which also act as shock absorbers when smashing the vehicles together. Given the off-road setting and seeming inspiration for the vehicles, it may have been nice to see a more intricate technic build in the frame to allow for the wheels to navigate rocky terrain and absorb shock independently of each other. It would not have been possible in this piece count, however, and the age range targeted for this set may have been a bit too young for a complex technic build.

The Completed Model

What you end up with, frankly, is two loud, ugly, simplistic vehicles with stud shooters tacked on at every available angle and little effort at covering visible functional elements. It's not usually a good sign when it feels like I could have come up with the framework and design of a set - I'm not a very clever MOC designer.

I recognize however, that I am not the target audience of a set like this, and so it will hopefully appeal a lot differently to a 7-year-old who can Smash Hulks together. Why do Hulks need vehicles to Smash? A reasonable question, but in that way, the set is kind of knowingly humorous.

Overall Opinion

Acknowledging the target demographic, I've maintained a decent grade here for playability, as the launching mechanisms work reasonably well (certainly a better alternative than the Super Jumper elements which absolutely damaged several of my minifigures irreparably), and the inclusion of both Hulks and both She-Hulks means you won't have to shell out for multiple sets to have a well-matched battle.

You will have to shell out, though. $59.99 USD is an absurd price, and perhaps realizing this, I've already seen this set on sale at several retailers (this was only released in the US very recently). Even reasonable discounts don't come close to making this set worth it on a per-piece basis, or for the level of design. At first I thought that new bigfig molds drove the price, but these are existing molds, with new colors/printing. How much development cost could have gone into this set?

The minifigures are the highlight of the set by far. Three are brand-new characters in LEGO, and all four designs are spot-on accurate. This is the best we've seen of the Hulk so far, and as personal favorite Avengers go, I am grateful to be able to have She-Hulk join the LEGO Avengers ranks.