LEGO® Marvel is taking us back to school in the next 18+ set 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion. This highly anticipated set contains 3093 pieces and a host of new mutant minifigures. Read on to see if this LEGO version of Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters makes the grade...
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76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion
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- Price: Free with set 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion by LEGO Insiders only, membership required, all stores and online.
- Pieces: 153
- Age mark: 10+
- Release date: 1 to 7 November 2024, while supplies last
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Recolours
X-Mansion contains many new elements, most of which are new prints for the minifigures which we'll look at later.
As for recolours, the set contains just 4 new recoloured bricks: a relatively small number for such a large set:
- 1x Ghost Effect with Bar in Trans-Dark Pink (6501313 | 5500)
- 16x Slope 33° 3 x 3 Double Concave in Dark Blue (6495216 | 99301)
- 65x Brick Special 1 x 1 x 1 2/3 with Studs on 1 Side in Dark Orange (6500280 | 32952)
- 4x Panel 1 x 6 x 5 in Dark Orange (6495217 | 59349)
While the dark blue and dark orange elements (the SNOT brick in particular) will be useful for other architecture builds, the most interesting element for me is the trans-dark pink ghost effect. It was released earlier this year for LEGO® NINJAGO® and has only appeared in trans-red until now.
Here's how it looks in-situ. It's the perfect element to represent Gambit's abilities.
We also get 4 new minifigure elements:
- 1x Minifig Neckwear Cape Smooth in Dark Purple (6509065 | 5725)
- 1x Hair Mid-length with Side Part, Wavy in White (6508740 | 23187)
- 1x Hair Ponytail Long with Side Bangs in Reddish Orange (6510956 | 62696)
- 1x Neckwear Cape, Curved with One Center Hole and Two Hand Holes in White (6504274)
Dark purple is the plastic cape element's third colour. I wonder if it'll stay exclusive to the LEGO Marvel line or start appearing in other sets in the future?
Storm's cloth element seems to be a printed version of the one that came with the 2023 collectible minifigure version from LEGO® Minifigures 71039 Marvel Series 2.
New prints
All the new prints are minifigure elements, with one notable exception:
- 1x Brick Round 3 x 3 x 2 with Recessed Center with 2 x 2 Studs and Axle Hole with print in Dark Pink (6488025 | 73111pr)
I think the graphic designers have done a great job with this print and I think it'll inspire a number of Sentinel MOCs in the future.
Minifigures
To me, my X-men! X-Mansion includes 10 figures. Five of them are never-before-seen in LEGO form but only 4 contain new elements:
First up is Gambit, a beloved X-men character who will likely be a much coveted figure after he appeared in the recent Deadpool vs Wolverine movie.
- 1x Head with print in Black (6488016 | 28621pr)
- 1x Legs with print in Dark Tan (6488018 | 970pr)
- 1x Torso with print in Dark Tan (6508754 | 973pr)
It's a nice looking figure but dual moulded legs might have been nice to provide a little contrast from all that Dark Tan.
As well as a recoloured hairpiece, Jean Gray receives two new printed elements:
- 1x Head with print in Dark Blue (6488013 | 28621pr)
- 1x Torso with print in Bright Light Orange (6508695 | 973pr)
Jean Grey has appeared before, in her Phoenix costume, but only as a San Diego Comic Con exclusive. X-Men-themed LEGO first appeared more than a decade ago, yet there are surprisingly few X-Men minifigures, only around a dozen. It's great to see the roster fill up with more big names from the series.
LEGO have never quite been able to nail light-coloured prints on dark elements but both Gambit and Jean Gray's faces look pretty good. In the unintentionally creepy comparison above with the light nougat head of Professor Xavier, the light nougat ink on the dark ABS isn't super-saturated. Even so, it's a marked improvement over previous attempts at printing light skin tones on dark elements.
Bishop is another character who receives a new head, torso, and leg print:
- 1x Head with print in Medium Brown (6488019 | 28621pr)
- 1x Torso with print in Dark Blue (6508839 | 973pr)
- 1x Legs with print in Dark Blue (6488012 | 970pr)
- Hair Long Dreadlocks in Black (6405548 | 2123)
The last brand-new figure, Iceman also includes three new printed elements:
- 1x Head with print in White (6488021 | 28621pr)
- 1x Legs with print in White (6488023 | 970pr)
- 1x Torso with print in White (6508848 | 973pr)
I think many X-Men fans will lament the fact that this minifigure isn't made in a trans-blue shade. I think it's a good interpretation of the character but a bit more colour on those speedos would have made this figure pop.
The remaining 6 figures have already appeared in previous sets in some form, but a few have been upgraded with new elements:
We've already looked at Storm's recoloured wig and new printed cloth, but this version of the character also features a head in the
new umber brown colour. Actually, it's the first time for a standard minifigure head to appear in this new shade of brown. Prior to this set, it has only been used in the Aveline mini-doll from 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket (which is
retiring soon and on sale in many countries at time of writing – check out Eero's
set review of 42605). Her torso appeared earlier in the collectible minifigure version of the character.
- 1x Head with print in Umber (6488015 | 28621pr)
The head is double sided with a power-activated appearance and a more placid expression.
Magneto's helmet hasn't appeared in a set since 2017.
- 1x Helmet with Front Prongs and Print in Red (6508979 | 10305pr)
Ironically Professor X, who might be the most important of the X-Men, is the fifth all-new figure, but he is made from completely recycled parts. At least his torso is a rare element, having only been featured in one set, 21336 The Office.
- 1 x Torso, Jacket, White/Light Bluish Grey Striped Shirt, Black Dotted Tie print, Dark Blue Arms, Light Nougat Hands in Earth Blue/ Dark Blue (6413562 | 76382)
It's a little disappointing that the founder of the X-Men makes his minifigure debut with such little fanfare, but perhaps there's some difficulty in creating a unique figure of a bald man in a suit.
The prolific paraplegic professor is granted mobility with a brick-built mobility device. It's a clever little build that represents the classic yellow design very well.
If you think you may have seen this particular line-up of minifigures before, you'd be right: this trio appeared in
76281 X-Jet at the beginning of the year. However, there is one notable difference: Cyclops has a new printed pair of legs.
- 1x Legs with print in Blue (6488011 | 970pr)
Overall, it's a good selection of figures, including many of the core X-Men team members. Wolverine and Rogue are obligatory for an X-Mansion set but it's a shame that their identical figures were available in such a recent set, and one that is generally considered as overpriced – even by LEGO Marvel standards. I think an alternate costume for Wolverine
However, 10 minifigures seems too few for such an expensive set, especially compared to other LEGO Marvel 18+ sets like 76269 Avengers Tower and 76178 Daily Bugle, which provided a much more generous offering. There's an extensive X-Men roster to draw characters from and this would have been a great opportunity to squeeze in a few more or provide us with some alternate costumes for re-issued figures to justify the set's considerable price tag.
Double LEGO Insiders points on all purchases until end Sunday 20 October 2024
Sticker sheets
Two large sticker sheets provide plenty of Easter eggs, jokes, and references for X-Men and LEGO Marvel fans to pore over.
An opaque white sticker sheet provides stickers 1–29. The interior of the build relies heavily on these two sticker sheets so without the decals you will be left with a lot of blank and bare areas inside. I'm getting nervous at the thought of applying those big stickers to this 300+ dollar set...
The second sheet with stickers 30–46 is printed on a trans-clear background. The '+' symbol denotes extra stickers that look like they could be applied as battle damage to the accompanying Sentinel model but the instruction booklets don't actually suggest how to use these. If you choose not to apply them to your finished model, I think the claw marks, exposed wires and blast marks might be useful in a variety of MOC building situations.
Rare elements
X-Mansion also introduces a few more rare elements into circulation.
At time of release, the following elements appear in just one other set:
- 1 x Glass for Window 1 x 4 x 3 [Opening] in Black (6476096 | 35318)
- 1 x Windscreen 3 x 4 x 4 Inverted, Rounded Top Inside Edges, Cut-Out Bottom Inside Edges in Trans-Black (6507942 | 35306)
- 4 x Brick Curved 1 x 2 x 1 No Studs in Medium Lavender (6447620 | 37352, 98030)
- 4 x Plate Special 1 x 3 with 2 Studs with Groove and Inside Stud Holder (Jumper) in Sand Blue (6498753 | 34103)
And this nicely colour co-ordinated selection of elements appear in just 2 other sets:
- 2 x Tool Circular Saw in Silver Metallic/ Flat Silver (6430210 | 30194)
- 4 x Plate Round Corner 2 x 2 with 1 x 1 Cutout in Bright Reddish Violet/ Magenta (6468531 | 79491)
- 1 x Fairing, Motorcycle Frame, Vintage no Front Mudguard in Earth Blue/ Dark Blue (6489304 | 65521)
- 1 x Animal, Frog in Olive Green (6472547 | 28841)
- 1 x Plate Special, Wave / Power Burst / Flame, with Two Studs in Transparent Medium Reddish Violet/ Trans-Dark Pink (6334267 | 73304)
- 4 x Food Hot Dog / Sausage in Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray (6436423 | 25994)
- 2 x Brick Curved 1 x 4 x 1, Curved Sides in Medium Lilac/ Dark Purple (6469924 | 4045)
Building the X-Mansion
The build is split over three instructions booklets: one for each third of the model. There's a certain degree of repetition here as you repeat a similar build process from the foundations to the roof three times, but theres a good amount of detail that fills up each of the different rooms of the building which keep things interesting.
Sentinel
Along with the first section of the building in instruction manual 1 is the Sentinel.
If you've built any of the LEGO Marvel or LEGO® Star Wars™ mechs, the build process will probably seem quite familiar: Mixels joints provide articulation at the joints and the build is overall pretty solid thanks to lots of brackets clamping everything together.
I like this model a lot: the proportions are chunky, the colours pop, and it can strike a fair variety of poses. It's a great, exciting addition to the set as the building by itself looks a little plain.
Entrance and Lab
The build process for the X-Mansion itself follows the typical modular building formula: simple brick stacking to build the walls, embellished with a little SNOT for some visual interest.
The entrance hall is the first room to be built and features a rug emblazoned with a big X. The new notched 1x2 tiles come in handy for this. Those long LEGO® Technic axles will slot into the base of the right and left wings of the mansion and keep the entire building together.
On the floor above is a laboratory with some fun details like what appears to be an MRI scanner and Professor Xavier's Cerebro machine (which is purely cosmetic as the inside of the dome has a stud, not an anti-stud!). I think this room has deliberately been left quite empty with plenty of floor space to accommodate Professor X's bulky wheelchair.
The roof uses lots of large dark blue slopes, so comes together pretty quickly. Some clever brick-built triangles finish this area off nicely: they match the angle of the slope bricks very well. An X-Men logo sticker will eventually be placed on that white 3x3 round tile. Luckily it's attached on a single central stud so I won't have to stress to much about aligning the sticker perfectly: if it's off centre, I can just rotate the tile!
The roof hides a lever that when pushed dislodges the dome subassemblies and brings it crashing down. It's a simple mechanism but fun play feature.
Danger Room
Instruction manual 2 covers the left wing of the building, which is devoted entirely to the Danger Room, the X-Men training facility. This portion of the build was the least interesting for me as it was mostly a large hollow space without much of an interior to assemble. But I can't fault the designers for this, I'm not sure how else this are could be represented.
The Danger Room is full of sharp and pointy objects; this really is the school of hard knocks! They are held on four interchangeable rectangular sections of the walls which can be removed to view inside.
I think the axle holes are intended for use with the trans-clear minifigure posing elements but with so many bits and bobs attached to the walls, there's barely enough room to squeeze in a minifigure.
The outside features a battle-damaged wall which uses minifigure posing stands to simulate bricks being blown off of it. I noticed that the parts to rebuild this section into a pristine wall are included amongst the wreckage.
On the back of this section of the mansion, the basketball hoop is a neat touch that uses brackets to achieve the red square on the backboard.
Classroom and Dorm
Onto the last manual which covers the classroom on the first floor and a dormitory above. For me, this was he the most interesting part of the building to assemble as it is the best-furnished of the three sections.
The classroom is furnished with a couple of desks and a blackboard. There's also a simple bookcase in the adjacent corridor.
There's just enough room to squeeze a couple of chairs into the classroom. It really is a tight squeeze for the students!
The dormitory features 2 brick-built beds. I wonder who shares this bedroom... Perhaps the bubblegum on the bedside table is a clue? And who could have spilt that coffee? There are plenty of Easter eggs across the build for X-fans to uncover.
I love when designers insert a bit of humour into their sets: that purple bed is straight out of that 'sad Wolverine' meme.
Finished model
When the three parts come together, the set can be displayed as a large diorama. It's a great looking set but doesn't quite have the wow factor of Avengers Tower or Daily Bugle, Marvel's previous 18+ offerings.
Speaking of other 18+ Marvel sets, like the others in the series the X-mansion features the usual Technic hole/pins on each side to connect to other modular buildings.
And just like last year's Avengers Tower, the X-Mansion is dotted with plenty of strategically placed axle holes and includes lots transparent posing elements to pose the minifigures around the model in a variety of situations. I had a lot of fun tinkering with the model and finding fun combinations to display all the characters.
The building can be separated into thirds and all the second floors and roofs can be removed individually to access the interior. A pair of long Technic axles on each side of the central building section help keep each wing connected so the model can be picked up and still remain intact.
These shots of the finished model show that the model really comes to life with the stickers applied:
The interior of the model is well-furnished with all the important features any X-Mansion should include, and the designers have made the most of the space available to them. It is a bit cramped when populated with figures but that's not necessarily a problem as I imagine most builders and collectors will display their figures around the outside of the finished model rather than hiding them inside.
Closing thoughts
There isn't a huge number of useful new elements included in the X-Mansion, but that's not usually the appeal of these large expensive sets; it's the finished model and the figures!
It's a good-looking set that provides lots of fun thanks to the myriad ways the figures can be displayed both in and around it. The build itself was mostly quite simple without too many crazy techniques but each third of the model comes together quickly and there were enough interesting details on the interior to make this a satisfying building experience.
You may have noticed that the footprint of the building is rather small as the designers have devoted a significant portion of the baseplate to represent the school grounds, but they've still managed to fit in all the details and features that could make an X-Mansion.
As for what is probably the main draw of this set, the minifigures; the set includes 4 (currently) exclusive figures and most of the remaining 6 are re-issues but they do receive an upgrade of some kind. The selection of characters isn't necessarily bad but I don't think it's quite enough to justify the set's high price, especially as the set's overall piece count is comparatively low compared to others in the same price range.
It's hard not to draw comparisons to another 18+ LEGO Marvel set which is still available, 76178 Daily Bugle, which provides over 700 more pieces and 15 more figures for just US$20 more and presents much better value for money.
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READ MORE: See the Cerebro Gift with Purchase that will come with this set for LEGO Insiders
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Cyclops should have had yellow hips instead of blue hips with printing.
ReplyDeleteThey are using printed yellow hips in the Rogue figure AND they are already having to assemble a separate pair of legs for Cyclops so there is no reason they couldn't have gone that way (might even have been cheaper due to not needing to print on the hips).
And unprinted yellow legs are a thing these days so the old rumor that LEGO doesn't make yellow hips because "naked people" clearly isn't a thing (if it ever was) so that argument doesn't fly.
Maybe they chose to go with blue hips with printing was to ensure that the colors matched? The yellow-on-blue printing is noticeably darker than the yellow plastic used elsewhere—using yellow hips with blue legs would further accentuate that issue, especially with the "briefs" printing on the legs.
DeleteI also don't think it would've been any cheaper to have unprinted hips since I'm pretty sure leg and hip assemblies are printed as a unit (once assembled), rather than before assembly. Otherwise you'd almost certainly have lots of errors where pre-printed hips got attached backwards.
"I think an alternate costume for Wolverine " the sentence is leaving me hanging! I can only imagine it would be ""I think an alternate costume for Wolverine such as a pink tutu would have been more appropriate to include."
ReplyDeleteIt'd have been good to get a comparison of the skintone-printed-on-dark-heads with the old ones Lego has done, which were so naff sometimes it looked like knockoff Lego printing. It's really hard to tell if it is a marked improvement over that Mercy head for instance.
I will never recover from Mercy in Watchpoint Gibraltar https://www.newelementary.com/2019/04/lego-overwatch-review-75975-watchpoint-gibraltar.html
DeleteTo be fair, Iceman has rarely had any color-popping appearances in the original media, in the 90's series and X-Men '97 throwbacks, this monochrome fashion statement was very much how he looked. Arguably, some fans would have preferred something more trans-light blue, akin to the polybag movie Electro, but this look also matched up with his Amazing Friends appearance, for the purchasers of the Daily Bugle who wanted to complete their AF trio.
ReplyDelete