Review: 40535 Iron Man
Posted by Huw,
Brick Sketches were launched during 2020 and the first batch are a rare example of sets that have had their price reduced, presumably as a result of low sales and poor perception of value for money.
Two more followed last year and two more will be released on April 1st, so the adjustment must have had the desired effect and for now they live on.
40535 Iron Man and 40536 Miles Morales introduce a new franchise to the theme and are both far more substantial than previous ones.
Summary
40535 Iron Man, 200 pieces.
£14.99 / $16.99 / €16.99 | 7.5p/8.5c/8.5c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A vast improvement on earlier Brick Sketches
- Extra depth has allowed for better accuracy and more details
- Contains a lot of trangular tiles
- Nothing worth mentioning
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The portraits are the same size as before, 12x16 studs, but more layers of pieces have been used to create the fine details and shape of the heads
A combination of plates, tiles and curved slopes on their sides are used to form the distinctive shape of the Tony Stark's helmet and the end result looks spectacular.
I'm told by our resident Marvel expert that the design is generic, and not based on any particular version of the helmet, and that the yellow colour is inspired by the superhero's comics appearances rather than the films.
Viewing it from the side shows that it's much thicker than previous the sketches, and in total there are six layers of plates above the coloured background.
It's designed to be hung on the wall or propped up like a photo frame.
40535 Iron Man takes Brick Sketches to another level and makes previous ones look crude in comparison. The lower RRP of $17.99, £14.99, 17.99€ has been applied to the two new sets and that feels about right for something that is much more substantial than the first batch.
It'll be available at LEGO.com on 1st April, and we'll take a brief look at 40536 Miles Morales tomorrow.
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12 comments on this article
I'm looking forward to displaying this one next to that other billionaire crimefighter Brick Sketch. Then I can imagine their conversations: "I am Iron Man." "I'm Batman." Repeat ad infinitum.
they make decent parts packs but I don't have much interest, especially when speed champions gives us so much more. still hoping for a single black car set or a black and red car... I guess miles Morales would fit the bill but 15 is expensive for the amount of parts.....
IDK, it still seems kinda dull, and a poor value proposition. When a Speed Champions set is nearly the same price...
So, they made them have more pieces, and dropped the price? I may buy one just to support that decision! I adore this line, but I haven’t had one that I was really interested in before these.
@WemWem said:
"IDK, it still seems kinda dull, and a poor value proposition. When a Speed Champions set is nearly the same price..."
I suppose when you put it like that, I agree: Speed Champions every time!
Whilst the piece count is a bit higher they look like a £6-10 set, so I can understand why they are attracting little interest.
Overall this sketch in particular looks neat. But $2 cheaper isn't really doing it for me. I thought the one batch went down to $14.99 instead of $19.99?
I think his MOC sketches (that inspired this line) were the bee's knees. But they haven't been able to capture that again since they are official and have more restrictions.
@CCC said:
"Or maybe LEGO didn't want to make the required parts in metallic gold."
Since this Iron Man is appearing alongside Miles Morales, it makes sense that they focused on a comics-inspired look. I actually prefer that look anyway! I like this design, but it is giving me serious Ultron vibes . . . .
I believe the US price is $16.99, not $17.99.
As for the set itself, I agree that they look quite nice. A shame they haven’t been as popular as Brickheadz, as I prefer these due to their display ability...
I don't know why the previous sketches weren't more popular - the Stormtrooper and Batman ones are brilliant. These new ones are definitely a step up though and although £14.99 isn't great value for money I'll still be getting them. Why they haven't done Darth Vader, R2-D2 and C3-PO will remain a mystery to me though...
I did finally get the stormtrooper recently, and it was nicer than I was expecting. Character selection was what stopped me from trying these earlier, as did their exclusivity to the Lego store. Unfortunately, I think brickheads having to be scaled back narrowed how big Lego were willing to go with these, even though these are a stronger product in my opinion.
This wave solves one of my problems with the theme- I like both selections a lot more in this release, so Iron Man and Spiderman will be higher priorities for me. I'll bear them in mind the next time I'm making a S&H order, or am passing a brand store.
@bricksquirrel0637 : I can understand why they haven't done R2: he doesn't have a conventional head, and going full-body like BB-8 probably wouldn't allow them to capture enough detail.