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Name: Spider-Man Spider-Car Pursuit
Distributor: Lego
Model: 10665
Pcs: 55
So after seeing KAZI's (most likely)unlicensed take on Spider-Man brick sets, I think it's time we got an idea of what Spider-Man brick sets are SUPPOSED to look like with the market leader Lego as the standard to hold them to!
And yes, this is only the FOURTH Lego set I've featured here in nearly two years, after the Star Wars Rogue One Hovertank, the Cars 2 McQueen & Mater sets, and the fidget spinner.
Why don't I feature more Lego sets on a blog dedicated to brick sets? ...Because they're BORING! ...But I mean that in the best possible way. I KNOW that Lego is going to have the highest level of quality and design with their sets, I KNOW they're painstakingly going to craft articulation and little secrets into sections you wouldn't think needed any sort of gimmick, I KNOW the minifigures will be wonderfully detailed and pose without problems, and I KNOW that they had every resource at their disposal to make their sets as accurate, entertaining, and compatible as possible. If I strictly reviewed Lego, half of the categories I grade it on would be 5/5, and the rest would mostly be in the 4/5-5/5 range. There's only so many times you can say "They did great with this set and I highly recommend it" before it gets excruciatingly boring...
That's why I prefer to feature the more obscure and low-quality stuff on this blog. I WANT to be surprised and see how these lesser-known and cheaper companies hold up against Lego, and what tricks and gimmicks they pull to make them stand out. It's why I'm appreciative of sets like the Dr Star Christmas Nanoblocks and the "i L🙂VE FiGZ" brick figures. They had nowhere near the same level of talent and resources Lego has, but they still managed to churn out fun and unique brick sets that I was more than happy to show off and add to my collection.
And even the bad stuff is still worth a laugh...
Still, I guess we have to be reminded of what quality actually is every now and then, so we'll know what a lack of it feels like. Just as we can't have happiness without sadness, so can't we have quality without trash. So let's talk Lego Spider-Man.
Like the Disney/Pixar Cars line, Lego didn't always have the rights to the Spider-Man character or Marvel in general. ...Though here, it's a little more confusing.
Lego actually started out with the Spider-Man license, merging the character and elements from the first Sam Rami movie into its Lego Studios line.
After the Lego Studios line was discontinued, they featured Spider-Man in his own line based on the second Spider-Man movie.
...But then they were either outbid or their license expired or they willingly discontinued using Marvel characters, because with the release of the third Spider-Man movie in 2007, all rights concerning Marvel building brick sets reverted to Mega Bloks.
Which honestly wasn't too bad a deal, since they came up with some pretty creative and complex models during their run. Including some Ultrabuild-like characters I'll have to feature one day.
Then in 2012, when Lego launched its Super Heroes line, they reacquired the rights to Spider-Man, where he's stayed to this day. And it's this incarnation that today's set is a part of.
And before we get to the set itself*, since this is the first set in this range we've had here, let's talk Lego Juniors for a minute.
*And yes, I know you're probably screaming at me at this point to get on with it.
As you can guess by the name, Lego Juniors, which I briefly mentioned in the Cars 2 review, is a line introduced around 2014 that's targeted at younger builders between the ages of 4-7. It's supposed to serve as sort of a "jumping on point", a transition from Duplo to actual Lego sets. To make it easier for younger kids, models that would normally be in several pieces are instead molded as one large piece.
Wikipedia lists this line as the successor to the "Bricks & More" line from 2009
Which in turn succeeded the previous Lego 4+ line from 2004. Which Spider-Man was also a part of!
Honestly, I don't get the point behind these. They're easier-to-put-together sets for young kids, that's fine. ...But in that case, just get the kid a miniset, something with a minifigure and a little car. If you want them to start small, just get a smaller set. And if they want to build something bigger, let them build something bigger with an actual bigger set that incorporates pieces seen in more advanced sets. Molding together previously separate pieces is just unneeded hand-holding, since the point of Lego is to build big things out of small bricks. So just get a smaller brick set with real Lego elements to start with, then gradually work towards that Ultimate Collector's Millenium Falcon. This step is completely unnecessary.
Alright, rant over.
On the front of the box, we get the Lego action scene. Spider-Man is racing towards Venom in his Spider-Car, swinging a large web net above his head in Venom's direction, while Venom is off to the side, brandishing a... Whatever that thing is. Symbiote tentacles?
The perspective on the buildings is a little weird. You can see that the building on the left is facing left, yet the building on the right faces right. And this is all on the same street... Maybe there are streets where the sidewalk continues into a park or something while the buildings change direction, but I'd think that would make pulling up in front of a store or someone's house a little tricky...
On the back, we get a few more action scenes
Such as Spider-Man curling his web strand into an "S" and Spider-Man overwebbing Venom, who's already trapped on the giant web
And some more bullet points about how Lego Juniors is the best thing ever for younger builders. Including "Pre-packed Bags"(which Lego sets already have), "Easy Instructions"(again, already present with Lego sets), and "Quick Start"(which is completely pointless, especially since it's just a car.) Sorry, still not sold on these Juniors sets. I didn't need them as a kid, I don't see why any kid would need them...
Nothing of note on the other sides besides legal information and warnings, especially this part I'm assuming had multiple language versions of text from elsewhere on the box, but was torn off before I bought it. ...This is a relatively pricey set today, so I take what I can get.
And here's the "0-3" warning
But the Age Recommendation of "4-7"
Anyone between 3-4, Spider-Man dangles over a particularly hungry Dewback.
Anyone OVER 7, if they say you're too old to play with this, they can butt out. You gave them your money, what you do with it is YOUR business!
My Hyphen Sense is tingling!
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And the set is complete. ...And despite my dislike for the Juniors line, I think this is a pretty fun, if not small, set.
It's a good sign when you open the instructions to be greeted by this comic panel depiction of what you'll get. I really miss the days when they'd include a short, silent slapstick comic at the end of instruction manuals to certain sets. ...Or do they still do that? As I said, I don't buy much official Lego anymore.
First up, the Spider-Car. A pretty sweet ride. ...But a little flashier than you'd expect Spider-Man to have.
As I've continually pointed out, Spider-Man isn't the richest guy ever, nor is he really into all that glamor. As long as he can eat, sleep, and whine about his pathetic life, he's happy.
In the main Marvel universe(Earth-616), there actually WAS a Spider-Mobile built by the Human Torch and Spider-Man as part of a deal for a car company. ...But it wasn't glitzy or really all that decked out. It was basically a modified dune buggy. And it wasn't put to much use because, get this, Spider-Man never got his driver's license! ...But seeing as how he lives in New York and he can swing around the city if he needs to be somewhere in a hurry, he never really needed one.
So giving Spider-Man a car has never made sense to me. ...But these examples are marketed to younger kids who don't have years of useless comic book knowledge cluttering up their heads and just want to see Spider-Man in a car because cars are cool, so whatcha gonna do?
Anyway, as part of the Juniors line, the car body is all one piece. From the front to the back, front/back studs and all, basically everything red is one mold.
If you look closely, you can see shapes of other pieces, things that you could use to replicate this design if you ever wanted to build your own. I'm guessing that's what they did, then they formed the mold around it, smoothed out all the seams, and produced one large brick.
Though strangely, the tire attachments aren't part of the main body, instead being regular bricks that are pegged onto the bottom. And you can't take them off without breaking them(as I nearly did.) Maybe they're more stable and solid as separate pieces, maybe it was easier to mold, I have no clue. ...Though it kind of bugs me because I DO want to take these off. Just because they give me the illusion I can...
Yeesh, I thought the logo on the Spider-Biplane was a bit egocentric. This one has the more cartoonish spider logo smeared across the entire hood of the car, along with the webbed pattern! Dude, the red and blue is enough of a sign that this is your ride! You don't need the custom paint job that would make Xzibit say you're overcompensating!
And web pattern on the headlights even?! ...You're starting to make the Spider-Bot from last time look subtle...
But if a superhero's going to have a car, then it has to be built for speed! Hence the twin rocket engines on either side of the back of the car. ...Either that, or Spider-Man glued two flames onto some cardboard cones to make people THINK he was driving a fast car and not a modified old Gremlin.
Along with some side fins that will more likely get knocked off driving through New York traffic...
"No, really guys! I have a car now! A really tricked-out, duo turbo, sleek, custom ride! I'm cool! I'M COOL!"
"...Oh, who am I kidding...? I'm going to go find some punk in a back alley and smash his face in until he admits all my problems are his fault..."
And for our next model, we have... A wall. ...Yep, 4 dark gray 2x4 bricks, 1 gray 2x3, an antenna, and a little claw to hold onto the web. ...Mind blown!
Oh, but there's a little platform, so somebody can stand in front of the wall! ...Just your friendly neighborhood Wall Stander! Just... Standing in front of the wall, making sure nobody runs off with a section of wall that might be useful sometime. We all know that sections of wall fetch high prices on the black mar-Ok, this joke was dead on arrival...
And then there's an antenna sticking out of the top. ...Is it an antenna? It is just a metal pole sticking out from a broken section of wall? What is its purpose? To hang laundry on?
I guess Spider-Man just needed somewhere to practice his callanetics.
The web is a slightly tweaked version of the kind found in a good number of Lego sets, as it's molded with a rod instead of claws. ...Gotta say, it's a little weird to be looking at this piece without a spider accessory in the middle.
There! Perfect!
So those are the set models. What about the minifigures?
First, we have Spider-Man. A much more traditional Spider-Man design than what we had last time.
In fact, with the more accurate head mold the KAZI Spider-Man had, I'm almost disappointed to see Spider-Man with a regular Lego head and a stud on the top...
According to the box, these minifigures are based on the Ultimate Spider-Man incarnation.
The TV show Ultimate Spider-Man, not the comics, as the Peter Parker costume had darker colors with much larger eyes, and the Miles Morales outfit was a different design altogether.
But the differences are so slight between that Ultimate version and Classic Spider-Man, there's not much reason to make that distinction. I'm assuming it was originally specified as Ultimate Spider-Man in case Mega Bloks had a fit and insisted their license hadn't been expired for long enough. ...But I'm just guessing.
I really like the pec outlines on this figure, the slight signs of muscle underneath his costume. And since the color is nearly transparent, it does give you the impression they're underneath the fabric and not on top of the design. So they got the layering right for their figures. Unlike the spider logo for the KAZI figure...
Speaking of which, the classic spider logo is on the back of this minifig instead of the more common thinner Movie version or whatever KAZI gave us. I like it, since it gives Spider-Man a more universal design, in that he can be used with any of the Spider-Man or Super Hero sets and fit right in.
Much more staying power than The Amazing Bag Man...
But it's not Spider-Man without his web, and what they gave him is really cool. They could have gone for just a white rod or a string with two studs on either end, but they instead segmented it, giving it the appearance of a relatively solid strand of web, but keeping it flexible enough to attach to other objects or web up the baddies.
Or jump rope. Spidey needs to stay in shape as well, kids.
And then we have Venom as the villain. ...Which is just such a strange choice for a set aimed at 6-year-olds...
Venom is one of the less "cartoony" baddies of Spider-Man's lineup, in that he's not some overdressed thief with a parlor trick or mechanical gimmick that has decided to base him/herself off of an animal or element. Venom is pure destruction. He's a sadist, a destroyer, a complete and utter monster. He's dedicated himself to destroying Spider-Man and he has no qualms about killing anyone in his way, no matter how out of the way they think they are. And his little tongue fetish and the fact he has no problem with cannibalism just makes him such a not kid-friendly villain for Spidey to have...
He's topped only by Carnage, the symbol of anarchy and destruction himself, who ALSO got a Lego version. ...Though disappointingly not in a Juniors set...
Still, for a minifigure version of such a killer, they got the design down quite well, with the unnaturally large grin, the pecs, and the hellish parody of the Spider-Man eyes and logo. ...Though it's always weird when they take what's supposed to be a large character and reduce him in both size and proportion to a regular minifigure.
They did that with the Hulk as well for a promotion for Age of Ultron. ...It just doesn't look right at all...
And what are these? Tendrils? Web? Some sort of weapon? Because the two tentacles are in a large brick, it's hard to get him to hold it, so I'm not even sure if it is supposed to be used as some kind of accessory... If there was a picture somewhere on the box or instructions showing him using it, I might get the gist of its use. But as is, it's just... There.
That's mainly why it was basically a MacGuffin in the accompanying skit. If I can't figure it out, why should he?
And that's the set. Not quite as interesting as the KAZI sets, but when you're going up against a Green Goblin knockoff with Doc Ock arms, that's pretty hard to top.
...But you've probably figured out by now that the boxes are just mock-ups. Yes, these aren't actually separate sets. I just had the boxes forged so I could play the greatest practical joke on everyone. For you see, these are actually all part of the same set, a prototype for the new Marvel movie
Spider-Man vs Spider-Man vs Spider-Man! Revenge of The Clone Saga!
...Or not.
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Quality: Standard Lego quality, which is the standard of this category. No complaints.
Design: Being a smaller set, there's not much to critique. The minifigs are your standard minifigs, and since they don't come with any wearable accessories, I can't really judge how well their inclusion would fit the figures. However, the patterns for the minifigures are really good and they represent their characters well, which is standard for Lego. I guess I could also give some points to how much the car does legitimately look like a superhero car(though not one Spider-Man would necessarily have.) And even though I'm not that fond of it, the big brick that's basically an amalgamation of several different parts does work and you wouldn't be able to tell it's not made of separate parts unless you looked closely. The wall, on the other hand, is a stack of bricks with a web hanging from it. Need I say more? So nothing that really stands out, but nothing horribly flawed either. ...Except maybe Venom's symbiote whatever-it-is.
Creativity: Well, they put Spider-Man in a car. That's pretty creative, I guess. Besides that, it's your basic super hero set. No gimmicks, no electronics, no stupefying design choices, just a hero and a villain duking it out, except the hero has a car. Sorry, but this is pretty par for the course for super hero sets. Especially after the weirdness that was KAZI's take.
Readability: Again, it's the standard I hold this category to, so no complaints. I especially like the comic panel inside of the cover, but I can't give this category more than a 5/5.
Packaging: The packaging is standard, doing its job, but not much else. I do enjoy pictures that put the models in "action scenes" and don't have them just sit around on the front, so seeing Spider-Man speed at Venom while spinning a web over his head is a lot of fun. The back just has two tiny screenshots of the characters in different poses, then the rest is covered with an oversized blurb telling you how fun it is to get fewer blocks and use less imagination... We really needed some sort of out there description text or some comic book onomatopoeia word balloons to make this packaging really stand out. As is, it screams that it'll be good for your kid, but older collectors may way to consider something more advanced.
Compatibility: It's Lego.
Overall:
Yes, the same score as the previous Spider-Man sets, but for different reasons. While the KAZI sets had terrible plastic quality but really out there designs, these have fantastic brick quality but not that interesting an idea. We've seen superheroes paired up with vehicles they're not usually paired up with ever since they started merchandising superheroes, so the idea of Spider-Man with a car is not that unusual(unless you take it out of context like I did, but I'm an obsessive critic, so that's what I do.) Still, it's a colorful set with well designed minifigures and a fun vehicle to play with. If your kids want some Lego, this isn't too bad a set to start them out with. But if you're an older, more experienced collector, go ahead and skip this one. Unless you're obsessed like me.
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