Review: 76190 Iron Man: Iron Monger Mayhem
Posted by CapnRex101,
76190 Iron Man: Iron Monger Mayhem appears remarkably interesting, returning to the original Iron Man movie that preceded the whole Marvel Super Heroes range. These impressive Iron Man Mark III and fiendish Obadiah Stane minifigures seem accordingly appealing.
Furthermore, the enormous Iron Monger model features considerable detail, as one might envisage given the scale. Unfortunately, that scale is probably the most disappointing aspect of Iron Monger, given its notably disproportionate height beside minifigures. Hopefully such compromises will improve the function and design.
Minifigures
Following previous appearances from the Mark I and Mark II armours, Iron Man Mark III now completes the collection of armours from the original Iron Man movie. This minifigure includes exceptional detail, particularly across the torso where intricate armour panels are present. The dark red accents are superb too, alongside metallic gold decoration on the faceplate and each leg.
76007 Iron Man: Malibu Mansion Attack introduced the first Pepper Potts minifigure and this version improves upon the 2013 design, although I dislike the dark orange hair element. The double-sided head seems appropriate for Pepper though and her new torso works fairly well when compared with the onscreen character.
Pepper carries no accessories but several trans-light blue energy blast elements accompany Iron Man. These are helpful for displaying the minifigure and an alternative hair component is also provided, replacing the helmet and complementing Tony Stark's double-sided head.
Obadiah Stane opposed Iron Man during the hero's original movie, becoming the first Marvel Cinematic Universe villain! His availability in minifigure form is accordingly appreciated and he seems suitably threatening here, particularly because the bearded head closely resembles the original character. The combination of light and dark bluish grey in this beard is brilliant.
Additionally, the dark blue suit, which appeared in 71044 Disney Train and Station, seems fitting for Obadiah Stane. The villain wears dark overalls when piloting his Iron Monger suit during the film, but is more commonly shown sporting business attire. This design should therefore prove versatile, representing Obadiah throughout the movie.
The Completed Model
Obadiah Stane's intimidating Iron Monger armour is considerably larger than Tony Stark's suit onscreen, although not to the extent portrayed by this design! Iron Monger measures 18cm in height and towers above minifigures which feels disappointing when displaying them together. However, this enlarged scale enables extensive detail, broadly corresponding with the original character.
Reasonable articulation is also included, enhanced by the notable scale which accommodates hinged fingers and a rotating waist joint. Comprehensive articulation is important here because Iron Monger's stance should certainly appear heavy, as though the legs are straining to support the rounded torso. Unfortunately, the knees are fixed but their angled position looks good.
The static head, which cannot move sideways, is more limiting. Nevertheless, the decoration compares favourably with the onscreen character and I love the pearl dark grey colour here, continuing across the upper body. Neither the 3x6x1 windscreen nor the 3x4 bonnet element have appeared in this shade before and complementary accents adorn the arms and legs too.
Obadiah Stane controls his armour from a cockpit inside the torso. Raising the head reveals space for the minifigure inside, alongside a printed control panel. The integration of tiles and curved slopes looks perfect, although the cockpit should be more enclosed around the sides. Moreover, I would have liked the chest to open when accessing Obadiah Stane, for complete film accuracy.
Tony Stark's refined Arc Reactor powers the Iron Monger armour and its circular housing is represented by a glow-in-the-dark 3x3 round tile, decorated with a clear-backed sticker. The design looks magnificent and definitely stands out against the dark armour. Furthermore, the 3x3 round tile has never appeared in this glow-in-the-dark colour previously.
Stickers are rarely applied on glow-in-the-dark elements and I was concerned this would spoil the glowing effect. Fortunately, the glow functions beautifully and reminds me of Iron Monger's sudden appearance during Iron Man, when this armour surprises Pepper Potts upon emerging from the darkness. Ideally, the printed eyes would also glow.
Among the Iron Monger armour's various distinctive features, the perforated shoulder plates appear particularly unusual. These plates are recreated here and their texture looks fantastic, featuring appropriate stickers. The shoulder armour is connected using pearl silver droid arms, thereby ensuring that neither curved panel interferes with the shoulder movement.
Powerful pistons that support the shoulders are another distinguishing feature of Iron Monger. Two such rams are accordingly positioned here and they look absolutely superb. Furthermore, these are securely attached using ball joints and clips which can rotate in numerous directions. Once again, the shoulder motion therefore remains free from obstruction, despite the accurate pistons being included.
Heavy weapons are mounted on both arms, reflecting Obadiah Stane's focus upon absolute firepower rather than speed and manoeuvrability. The left arm therefore features a simple tile launcher, shooting three trans-orange 1x1 round tiles as the plunger is pressed. This exposed plunger seems somewhat awkward, although I appreciate that the launcher is adjustable.
The rotary stud shooter mounted on the right arm appears more realistic than its tile-shooting counterpart. The onscreen armour features a heavy Gatling gun here, hence the stud shooter looks brilliant. Additionally, the hands include articulated fingers around trans-light blue dishes, portraying repulsors which are not deployed during the movie but are briefly visible.
While the proportions between the torso and arms correspond with the onscreen armour, the obvious gap between the legs appears odd. The broad stance is definitely effective but I think the thighs should have been enlarged, reducing the space between them. Nevertheless, great mechanical detail is present, particularly around the knees where the texture looks perfect.
Pistons are attached to each leg, matching the film and those above the shoulders. However, these are not functional because the knees are fixed in position. They look marvellous though and the ankles are articulated, providing welcome support to the whole model. Even so, I think sufficiently sturdy knee joints could have been included, as proven by 71738 Zane's Titan Mech Battle.
Additional ammunition is provided for both the stud shooter and tile launcher. These elements are stored in a black crate which is splendid, albeit perhaps unnecessary. This addition seems particularly remarkable as this crate component has not appeared in black since 7264 Imperial Inspection was released during 2005! Presumably it has returned for another purpose, outside 76190 Iron Man: Iron Monger Mayhem.
Overall
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have expressed consistent desire for LEGO to return to early movies from the series, including those which precede the Marvel Super Heroes range. 76190 Iron Man: Iron Monger Mayhem satisfies this requirement and the exclusive minifigures appear impressive. Obadiah Stane and Iron Man Mark III should prove particularly appealing.
The associated Iron Monger model seems more difficult to assess. While increasing the scale has undoubtedly enhanced the detailing, proportional problems around the legs are frustrating. The articulation is relatively limited too, although I am delighted with the functional pistons. The price of £34.99 or $39.99 also represents fair value, given Iron Monger's scale. Even so, I think the size could have been reduced, without requiring dramatic compromises.
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44 comments on this article
This is a must buy for me, I have been hoping to see sets based on the older MCU films for a while now and its great to go back to the beginning. Also excited to finally add Mark III to the Hall of Armor collection!
Wonderful set! The minifigures are great and I’m glad that the core is glow in the dark. I hope that the Infinity Saga branding of sets stick around for years, because it’s a perfect idea much like Ninjago Legacy.
It’s a good parts pack, but it doesn’t really interest me. On the other hand, do we know if brickset have any of the new Ninjago sets for this summer? I’d love to see the hydro bounty or the water dragon and there have been strangely no official reviews anywhere. The only reviews have been from people who found the set early in independent toy shops, primarily in the UK
How does Iron Monger compare to the Hulk Buster (76104) and War Machine Buster (76124)? In terms of size or scale?
I love the idea of this set, but I can’t get over the scale. In the movie iron monger is maybe twice the size of starks suit. Wish they could have found a way to drop the price to $20-30 and reduce the size.
Must buy for me, need it to go alongside my various Hulkbusters and Hall of Armor, as I'm guessing alot of other people do too.
Love the glow in the dark reactor detail, but yes, they should have printed the eyes in glow in the dark paint too.
I wish they'd not given the Pepper figure such a feminine torso, that would have been very useful to make a Little Alex Horne...
The minifigs are fantastic and I’m loving that glow in the dark disc. I didn't know that crate piece came in black! I want that. Yes, the Iron Monger is too big compared to the minifigs, but really looks intimidating.
I’m impressed by the level of detail that continues onto the back of the model. Looks great.
With models such as the AT-RT, the oversized proportions really bother me because you only get a little bit more mechanical detail, but you loose the scale, lightness and pose-ability of what the in-universe thing should have.
But here, it seems like a very reasonable compromise. The use of the parts, particularly that CCBS shoulder pad as the face plate, is impressive and the detail is great, so I don't envisage this looking any better at any other scale.
First day buy for me!
Thanks for the review =)
@CapnRex101 , Thanks for yet another great review and set of pictures.
The scale doesn’t bother me and I like the greebling, but I’m not a fan of stickers on LEGO in general and here in particular.
With so many great sets coming out at the moment, Iron Monger will have to join an increasingly long wants list and, realistically, may never be a set I buy.
It doesn't look right, despite the appreciable effort on elements like the shoulder pistons. A big culprit is the head, it's massive while the movie had it be proportionally small, not much bigger than Stane's own head.
I think the shoulders could do with being brought in a stud and I don't think that the torso captures the sperical shape of the design either, but those just compound the main problem here.
Something like Reinhart from the overwatch line would have been better. A more appropriate overall size, and that's a style where they have just used a specialised minifigure helmet as the mech's head.
Another Super Hero set I buy just for the figures...
The model is fine, but always could be improved (maybe). I don't build mechs in my free time, so I don't know what I would change on it. But the coloring works well.
Awesome - buying it.
Given the size Lego made Iron Monger, we can honestly say that Iron Man is, in fact screwed.
I don't like this technique of printing faces on CCBS armor plates, it doesn't look right from any angles other than straight on and here it's frankly much too big... though this is a big improvement from the last couple of times they've done it, both in terms of art style and integration into the rest of the model. I am also very pleased to see the glow-in-the-dark 3x3 round tile just because that color is extremely rare in the current range.
With that massive scale do you think they solved the icing problem?
@Goujon said:
"It’s a good parts pack, but it doesn’t really interest me. On the other hand, do we know if brickset have any of the new Ninjago sets for this summer? I’d love to see the hydro bounty or the water dragon and there have been strangely no official reviews anywhere. The only reviews have been from people who found the set early in independent toy shops, primarily in the UK"
We are intending to purchase some NINJAGO sets and publish reviews after the 1st of June. Under usual circumstances, I would be searching those independent toy shops already but we have several items from other themes awaiting review.
@david_m77 said:
"With that massive scale do you think they solved the icing problem?"
I cannot say for sure but they might want to look into it!
The Iron Monger looks good but is obviously way too big compared to the minifigures. It's not a deal breaker though.
Love that Lego is doing glow-in-the-dark pieces again. It feels like it's been a long time.
Sorry but I hated the new head for Pepper Potts. The 2013 version actually looks like Gwyneth Paltrow, whereas the new one looks like Tony Stark's teenage daughter.
Imo, this is one of the best looking mechs that LEGO ever did (although I can't compare it with the on-screen mech since I don't care about Super Hero stuff and licenses in general).
Thanks for the nice review!
This sets reuses a lot of design from the most recent Hulkbuster set
Why won’t they give Iron Man shoulder armor? He always looks goofy to me with just that giant helmet piece, and this early suit would have been the perfect opportunity for some dark red pauldrons or something since it was less form-fitting in the film.
Wonderful parts pack, but nothing I can't buy in BrickLink or in the Extra Parts department.
Glad it's actually a glow-in-the-dark 3x3 tile and not just photoshopped on the official images
@Lordmoral I think you missed the part about unique parts.
@Zander said:
" With so many great sets coming out at the moment, Iron Monger will have to join an increasingly long wants list and, realistically, may never be a set I buy."
Basically this. I like a lot of the super hero sets but they inevitably get put at the bottom. Great minifigs and poor to average builds.
My two nephews love them as they are all about the figs. And my favorite line (3-in-1) are sets they really don't like.
@CapnRex101 Obadiah uses the same blue suit as Chip from 71044 opposed to the coatless vested version with white sleeves and fully exposed gold waist chain that Dale wears.
Is this using the hinged version of Iron Man's helm?
@darkstonegrey said:
"Is this using the hinged version of Iron Man's helm?"
Yes
I haven’t seen something so horribly scaled since my uncle Herbert’s nose!
Looks great but I'm not seeing a near-500-piece value. At most, it looks like it has 350 pieces.
On the one hand, I love that GITD reactor. On the other hand, I hate putting stickers on circular pieces. I'll probably get it, if only to have a Jeff Bridges minifigure.
You'd think by now someone would have figured out how to make a functioning knee joint.
@TomKazutara said:
"Red axles and blue pins, Lego why?
You have them in black and grey ."
They actually don’t have those pins in grey anymore. Agree on the Black 2L axles though
Scaling doesn’t bother me, it looks rad and I really kind of want it to join my other giant Marvel mech suits
@Maxximus said:
"You'd think by now someone would have figured out how to make a functioning knee joint."
As mentioned in the review, the (excellent) mech from 71738 Zane's Titan Mech Battle has functioning knee joints, and I am also surprised that the design has not been incorporated into more sets. I'd imagine that in a year or two, it will become standard. I, for one, am using the overall design of that mech, including its knees, as a template for my own MOCs.
@TomKazutara said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"Red axles and blue pins, Lego why?
You have them in black and grey ."
They actually don’t have those pins in grey anymore. Agree on the Black 2L axles though
"
they are the 42121 Heavy Duty Excavator from this year."
Then it’s likely because this is a set targeted mostly at kids, and LEGO usually prizes ease of building over utmost aesthetic accuracy in such cases.
@Aidypie said:
"Why won’t they give Iron Man shoulder armor? He always looks goofy to me with just that giant helmet piece, and this early suit would have been the perfect opportunity for some dark red pauldrons or something since it was less form-fitting in the film. "
5002946
Oh, the reason Tony is bruised is because this is based more on the original comic book Armor Wars story arc, in which Tony is injured battling Firepower, another armored govt agent.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"This is a must buy for me, I have been hoping to see sets based on the older MCU films for a while now and its great to go back to the beginning. Also excited to finally add Mark III to the Hall of Armor collection! "
Ditto that.
Pretty cool mech, maybe I'll pick HOLD EVERYTHING, OFFICIAL JEFF BRIDGES MINIFIG? I'm in!
I'll get it because I'm a sucker for mech-types of sets, but it just feels like it should be bulkier for some reason. Even the Hulk Buster set looks a little beefier.
@Goujon said:
"It’s a good parts pack, but it doesn’t really interest me. On the other hand, do we know if brickset have any of the new Ninjago sets for this summer? I’d love to see the hydro bounty or the water dragon and there have been strangely no official reviews anywhere. The only reviews have been from people who found the set early in independent toy shops, primarily in the UK"
Those two sets mentioned have been officially released, you can find them here on this site by searching under [2021] Ninjago
Finally a marvel mech set I want