LEGO® Speed Champions 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 comes with several recolours, exclusive prints and two builds that couldn't be more different from each other – aside from the fact they're both cars, of course!
Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
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- Price: US$44.99/ £44.99/ 49.99€/ AU$74.99
- Pieces: 808
- Release date: 1 June 2024
76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & SL 63 on LEGO.com
The parts
There are no new moulds in the set, so it's straight into the recolours with an exclusive selection in 316 Titanium Metallic (TLG)/ Pearl Titanium (BL). It's great to finally see standard parts like 1M wide plates in this colour at last:
- 1 x Brick Round 4 x 4 with Centre Hole (6489989 | 87081)
- 2 x Plate 1 x 2 (6075611 | 3023)
- 6 x Plate 1 x 3 (6501652 | 3623)
- 4 x Plate 1 x 4 (6489984 | 3710)
- 6 x Equipment Cup / Teacup Saucer with Recessed Stud on Top (6489986 | 38799)
- 3 x Slope Curved 2 x 1 (6501653 | 11477)
- 8 x Tile Round 1 x 1 Half Circle (6489985 | 24246)
A few common windscreen shapes appear in transparent-black for the first time:
- 1 x Windscreen 2 x 6 x 2 (6510177 | 35336) - In 2 other sets
- 1 x Windscreen 2 x 4 x 2 (6510232 | 3823) - Exclusive
- 1 x Windscreen 3 x 6 x 1 Curved (6504030 | 35299) - Exclusive
- 4 x Glass For Frame 1 x 3 x 3 in (6489992 | 51266) - Exclusive
- 2 x Plate 1 x 2 (6471727 | 3023) - 2 Other sets
- 2 x Tile Round 1 x 1 Half Circle (6489991 | 24246) - Exclusive
- 4 x Wheel Arch, Mudguard 4 x 2 x 2 (6488000) - 1 other set
- 2 x Plate Round Corner 3 x 3 with 2 x 2 Round Cut-out (6308390 | 68568) - 4 other sets
- 2 x Brick Round 1 x 1 x 1 1/3 Quarter Dome (6510231 | 1871) - Exclusive
- 1 x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Left & Right (6510138 & 6510151 | 5091 & 5092) - Exclusive
- 1 x Tile Special 2 x 3 with 2 Clips without Tab between Clips (6360127 | 65886) - 2 other sets
The same could be said for these black recolours, all of which are used on the SUV:
- 2 x Slope 18° 2 x 1 x 2/3 in Black (6513918 | 5404) - 1 other set 76919 McLaren Formula 1 Car
- 1 x Wedge Sloped 2 x 5 Left and Right (6475203 & 6475202 | 3504 & 3505) - Exclusive unprinted; seen with prints in 76919 McLaren Formula 1 Car
- 1 x Slope Curved 2 x 2 with Stud Notch - Left and Right (6477759 & 6507846 | 5095 & 5093) - 4 other sets
- 3 x Plate 2 x 3 with 1 x 1 Cut-out (6493691 | 73831) - 1 other set, 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT Super Car
- 4 x 62701 Wheel Cover 9 Spoke - 24mm D. (6296106 | 62701) - 1 other set, 76899 Lamborghini Urus ST-X & Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO
Zooming in, we find 4 x Bar Holders with Hole and Bar Handle in Cool Silver Drum Lacquered / Metallic Silver (6501699 | 23443) for the first time - a great recolour for intricate mechanical details.
The 4 x Wheel Rim 24 x 12 with Black Tyre in Silver Metallic/ Flat Silver (6438086 | 72206) are fairly rare, having only appeared in 2 other sets so far.
Lastly, let's address the unnerving number of 1x5 plates (78329) - 15 x in black and 10 x in light bluish grey. Comparable quantities are only found in big sets like 10333 Barad-dûr which comes with 17 in black or 75313 UCS AT-AT with 19. A whole bunch are used in quick succession during the build, so the high number here is even more apparent.
Decorations
Including spares, there are 19 printed parts - all of which are on yellow or black elements:
Yellow
- 1 x Plate 1 x 4 with Black Stripe print (6472285)
- 1 x Slope 30° 1 x 1 x 2/3 with Black Triangle Left & Right print (6507768 & 6472288)
- 1 x Slope Curved 3 x 2 with Stud Notch Left & Right with Headlight print (6472292 | 6472291)
- 1 x Brick Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 with Tail Light & 'AMG' print (6472290)
- 1 x Brick Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 with Tail Light & 'SL 63' print (6472289)
Black
- 1 x Tile 1 x 1 with Console print (6472286)
- 1 x Tile Round 1 x 1 with Mercedes Logo Light & Dark print (6472287 & 6472293)
- 2 x Slope Curved 2 x 2 x 2/3 with White/Light Bluish Grey Headlight print (6530696)
- 2 x Plate 1 x 2 with 'AMG' print (6472294)
The two colours of Mercedes logo were a surprise. Either one could have easily been shared between the vehicles so the fact each got a dedicated print is appreciated.
Stickers
If you seek the added realism stickers provide, there aren't many to apply if compared to other sets in the theme. Otherwise they're are mostly optional, with the exception of the SUV's tail lights which are noticeably absent if not applied.
Minifigures
The builds
Mercedes-AMG G 63
The convertible is fairly light on wacky techniques. Most of the action takes place in the nose:
Here we find an intricate bar, clip and neck-bracket combo atop some upside-down construction.
The stacks of 1x1 bricks are a little perplexing as there exists an element that could occupy the same space. Presumably a yellow 1x1x3 brick (14716) was deemed a recolour too many?
Looking at the completed Mercedes-AMG G 63, the lack of a more accurate windscreen mould in the LEGO parts library is keenly felt. Aside from the stubby windscreen, the convertible looks the part, if a tad plain compared to other cars in the LEGO Speed Champions garage.
One feature that sets it apart from the crowd is the opening bonnet. It proudly reveals the clever neck-bracket construction we saw earlier, as well as a hybrid 'engine' (represented with a sticker).
Another point of difference to other cars is the extra rear seat made possible by the simulated retracted soft-top. Also note the car's swooping curves which are less apparent at ground level.
Mercedes-AMG SL 63
As the larger of the two cars, the Mercedes-AMG G 63 has more to offer build-wise. The start point is a chunky brick-built chassis that feels similar to the Bronco R in set 76905.
Some nice parts usage early on are the tan corner 1x1 arch bricks (38585) nestling among the Technic elements; the purpose of which becomes clear later in the build. Here also marks the start of the 1x5 plate onslaught, with a 7-strong huddle lining the base already.
The height accumulated over subsequent steps is astonishing - and we've not even got to the seats yet! Adding the exhausts and mudguards are welcome breaks from layering up plates. Especially the latter, which uses hinges and 2x4 tiles to great effect.
At the front end, a variety of bar connections secure the different sub-assemblies in place. Chief among them is a yellow 1x4 bar that slides into the exposed cross axle hole on the 1x2 Technic lift-arms that are all but buried at this point.
The completed Mercedes-AMG G 63 nails the mean-looking aesthetic of the real thing. It's not devoid of subtlety though: Only the tips of the once-prominent 2x4 tiles are visible to form the angled wheel arches. The prints and titanium metallic parts sprinkled throughout bring a little extra to the monochromatic colour scheme, too.
A look at the rear highlights the nice taper of the side windows. These feel on the cusp of illegality but must get a pass as the angles are so slight. Also note how vital those tail-light stickers are; the rear is a bit featureless without them.
If the extra seat on the convertible was impressive, take a look at this: ample space for four minifigures, plus a sizeable trunk to boot! (Pun intended.)
Alternate builds
No spaceships this time. Instead, I rebuilt each car into a robot:
I was keen to disguise their automobile heritage, for them to not look like Transformers. Omitting the wheels helped, as did placing the head- and tail-light prints in unusual configurations.
I foolishly settled on using the two printed 3x3 quarter circle slopes for the head long before finding a way to connect them. Luckily the set comes with a couple of D-snot bricks, which provide the correct spacing when paired with brackets.
Hinge elements are even more scarce in the SUV's inventory, so the variety of poses that the black one can strike is much more limited.
What dynamism I did manage to include is thanks to the techniques above. Each is a fixed joint, so changing poses a lengthy task, but they do have the benefit of decent stability.
Closing thoughts
With the SUV chunkier than a typical LEGO Speed Champions car, and the convertible leaner, the double pack format suits them well as it allows for an uneven distribution of parts. Things work out price-wise too: at US$44.99/ £44.99/ 49.99€/ AU$74.99, it's roughly twice that of a single pack.
Supercars remain the heart and soul of the theme, but it's refreshing to see deviations from the formula like this every now and then. The SUV's sheer size means it'll stand out in a line-up. However, it still feels at home alongside the convertible thanks to the shared logo and grill construction.
76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & SL 63 available now on LEGO.com
READ MORE: Eero completes a MOC using parts from 43247 Young Simba
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Sad spaceship :(
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss out on that new colour?! Had to look it up and put that 1x2 plate on my wantlist for my colourstack. It's called Pearl Dark Grey in BL (although Titanium sounds way cooler)
ReplyDeleteTitanium Metallic originally came out in 2010 (replacing a similar but slightly dingier-looking color called Metallic Dark Grey), but for a long time it was largely limited to armor, weapon, and droid/robot pieces. It did start to get more System building elements beginning around 2017, but until now we didn't have any basic plates or tiles in that color aside from 1x1 round plates! Hoping we'll see even more variety of parts in this color in the years to come.
DeleteAnd may I add that those robots are awesome! Thanks for the inspiration, I should challenge myself to create some robot B-models from regular sets.. or Speedracer ones! They'd make a fun family! Time to disassemble the Lambo Countach!
ReplyDeleteNot Speedracer but Speed Champion of course
ReplyDeleteFun to read. But what happened to those tan corner arches? Filler bricks for 1.5 stud gap? Keep the red Technic liftarm upright?
ReplyDeleteI think this is the same confusion I had with the wording; after another read i think the aspect that "becomes clear later" is the inclusion of the technic pieces themselves, not the tan arches. The arches just seem to be a clever filler piece in the end, though i did end up hoping that they would have some secret mechanical or functional purpose lol
DeleteGreat review! The most exciting new elements to me are the Titanium Metallic recolors (love that color), but the Bright Yellow, Black, and Transparent Black recolors will also be very useful I'm sure. And that printed tile for the digital console screen is a fun surprise that I failed to notice in the official pics of this set.
ReplyDeleteThat offset chassis construction and bumper construction on the SUV are also wild to me — the Speed Champions designers always catch me by surprise with clever building techniques like these. And even if the convertible is simple by comparison, it looks very streamlined and sporty, with a nice cozy interior. That sort of aesthetic is certainly much closer to my personal preferences for road vehicles than the rugged, almost militaristic look of the SUV.
I also appreciate the amount of seating for minifigures in these sets — this was often a bit of a point of frustration for me with City/Town vehicles, since I grew up with a twin and so there were usually at least two other people in the car with me when I was growing up!
Is it possible that the "drum lacquered" holder is actually not lacquered?
ReplyDeleteI've met quite a lot of shiny "metallic" parts in Chinese sets recently, and they looked like coated, but I'm pretty sure they are not. I don't even know if that's something new, and Lego has done that for some parts, but it felt new to me. If that's true that they're not coated, gone are the days of using them only for surface stuff. Those sets were using them everywhere and they were fitting like other parts.
So perhaps we're gonna see something like what happened to clear parts, that now don't require specific moulds, and way more parts now being in clear?
Those Chinese sets had pretty convincing bright lacquered and gun metal parts, not sure that works with chrome though.