Review: 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure
Posted by CapnRex101,
X-Men: The Animated Series was introduced in 1992 and remains popular today, featuring an iconic theme and defining incarnations of the many X-Men characters. In fact, the series will return later in 2023, appropriately titled X-Men '97 and continuing the original story.
76257 Wolverine Construction Figure has been produced accordingly and wears the classic yellow and blue costume from both the animated series and the comics. This model may therefore prove popular, although is not without flaws.
Summary
76257 Wolverine Construction Figure, 327 pieces.
£31.99 / $32.99 / €37.99 | 9.8p/10.1c/11.6c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
While his costume looks brilliant, Wolverine's proportions are fundamentally wrong
- Appealing colour scheme
- Good articulation overall
- Wolverine should be bulkier
- Awkward neck design
- Very expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Completed Model
The series of Marvel Construction Figures began with 76206 Iron Man Figure and moved on to characters associated with Spider-Man soon afterwards. Those are ideally suited to the format, as Iron Man's armour provides an opportunity or detail and Spider-Man's lithe proportions work well for these figures. Wolverine is less appropriate in some respects, particularly because he is famously stocky.
Unfortunately, this figure measures 23cm in height, which is very similar to the previous sets. The proportions of Wolverine's limbs are also unchanged from the Spider-Man figures, so he does not look as muscular as Logan really should. Of course, there are benefits to retaining the proportions of other figures, as the articulation is excellent, on the whole.
The hero's iconic mask is constructed around the new face element, which includes a moulded nose. The resulting shape is far from perfect, but does capture the distinctive pointed ears that extend from the mask. Additionally, the printing on this flame yellowish orange piece looks nice and I like the smile, even though an angry expression would be better for action poses.
In an attempt to capture Wolverine's muscular stance, the head is actually connected from the back, rather than beneath. 76230 Venom Figure employed a similar technique and I found that somewhat effective for Venom, but it makes the X-Men character look awkwardly hunched over. Maybe more importantly, the head cannot turn to the sides, which is very restrictive for display.
Despite this significant issue, the back of the figure otherwise looks reasonable and the front of the torso is superb. The classic tiger stripes on the costume are instantly recognisable and are not too reliant on printed elements, while both shoulder pads are raised to recreate their flared shape onscreen. Although this exposes the shoulder joints, these are very neat and I welcome the use of flesh parts for the upper arms, introducing 2x2 sliders and hinge plates in this colour.
Wolverine's claws are his most distinctive feature and they are certainly prominent on this figure, which I consider a strength. However, they are also far too long, not least because they would obviously not retract into his forearms. Proportionally, minifigure-scale katana would be more accurate than these pearl silver blades, but those would be slightly undersized and I think the claws being too big is better than them being too small.
The legs require no such compromises. Bulkier thighs would be appropriate, but the boots are certainly a higher priority and they look fantastic. The colours and pointed collar around the top of each boot are accurate and even the yellow 2x2 sliders look great beside the flame yellowish orange pieces, as shading in the animation does produce different shades of yellow.
Overall
Unsurprisingly, 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure shares the strengths and weaknesses of prior Marvel figures. The articulation remains generally impressive, but the proportions are not terribly realistic and I think that affects Wolverine particularly badly. The character is inherently stocky and extremely muscular, which this figure fails to capture.
On the other hand, the colour scheme is stunning and clever posing can disguise the issues to some degree, although that should not be necessary. My opinion of these Construction Figures has gradually improved since the range began, but examples like this one demonstrate the need for greater variety in their design. For the expensive price of £31.99, $34.99 or €37.99, I expect a higher level of accuracy.
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43 comments on this article
lego needs to make more xmen characters, bub!
X-men the animated series actually started in 1992. 1997 is effectively where the show would have continued had they made another season.
Given this is an official LEGO product, it's utterly awful. It looks like a pretty good MOC rather than an actual product. The proportions are off, and it's like they made little attempt to make a different silhouette for Logan. They could easily have made the upper body look even vaguely better by having the shoulder joints at least 1 stud further out each (i.e. 2 studs wider) with shorter, thicker legs.
And that mask! Oh good gosh it looks ridiculous.
Wolverine needs to go to the chiropractor for that neck.
Another ugly, oddly proportioned construction figure. Who signs off on these designs? They need to take a closer look at the source material.
I have to disagree on the katana thing. They would be roughly equivalent to the length of his forearms, which is where the blades are located when retracted. They can't stick out past either the elbow or wrist, or he'd be unable to move those joints properly without first extending the blades. A katana blade might be _just_ a bit too small, but these look comically oversized.
This is really creepy looking.
I’d be interested to see how a Celestial or Galactus would look with this building system.
At least the x-men mansion is coming in 2024 and 3 x-men are in the cmf series in September...this is not the best mutant related product ever.
Lego Quagmire.
@PurpleDave said:
"I have to disagree on the katana thing. A katana blade might be _just_ a bit too small, but these look comically oversized."
Then again, this is clearly the animated version of Wolverine. "Comically oversized" seems entirely appropriate to me. Can the blade assembly be detached easily if desired?
My biggest problem with this figure is the neck, which does indeed make Wolverine look like a hunchback. I don't remember *that* from the comic books! Also, while I think the arms look pretty well-muscled, the fact that his thighs seem little if any thicker is a real problem. My fingers are itching to try and make them another stud broader, and perhaps a few plates thicker.
But given the state of my wish list, which keeps getting bigger and bigger, I think I'll have to resist the urge, unless the price is under USD 30--which seems pretty unlikely. Maybe I'll get it used....
Again... Lego could have made a Scaled-up Minifig that would have rocked as a Wolverine.
It would have my money hands down. hahahha
The faces on all of these are going to be the top comments on "what is the worst lego piece you've found" threads on various social media. They're like the horrid McDonalds pieces from the 90s or 00s.
Ninjago has given us so many sword elements, would none of them have been more appropriate than these giant cleavers this figure got?
Honestly, just looking at that stance makes my neck hurt.
@Ridgeheart said:
"Honestly, just looking at that stance makes my neck hurt."
same!
Not a single attempt in buildable figure lines/themes after the end of Bionicle Gen 1 worked, exception for a few sets like the General Grievous of the SW figures from years ago. And I don't know why they keep trying. At least this isn't extremely cursed like the Marvel & DC CCBS figures from 2012.
This is one of those models that is disappointing because it does so much right, but doesn't quite nail it.
"[F]eaturing an iconic theme..." I never even watched the series (except for part of one episode with Wolverine, appropriately enough), and I can still hear it in my head. And I don't have a huge problem with the oversized claws. I see it as carrying on the grand tradition of Wolverine action figures with claws longer than their forearms. Am I the only one who thinks it'd be funny to display this guy facing off against 76202, which also had oversized claws?
@sklamb:
The original X:TAS this ultimately draws from was comparable to B:TAS in terms of how realistically they depicted the characters. Wolverine's claws were actually rather short and slender, where the comic book depictions of the time gave them chisel tips that often made them seem wider at the tip than they were at the base. I don't know what the revival series character designs look like, but katanas would absolutely look better in my book. The same goes for the Wolverine mech, which just seems like it'd be leaving a path of destruction behind it on a casual stroll.
As for his posture, Wolverine is commonly depicted as a tensed coil, ready to spring, and he's supposed to be quite short in the comics (vs casting 6'3" Hugh Jackman in the film role). The hunched neck could be meant to depict one of his more common comic book poses, or just to shorten him up a bit.
@TheOtherMike said:
""[F]eaturing an iconic theme..." I never even watched the series (except for part of one episode with Wolverine, appropriately enough), and I can still hear it in my head. And I don't have a huge problem with the oversized claws. I see it as carrying on the grand tradition of Wolverine action figures with claws longer than their forearms. Am I the only one who thinks it'd be funny to display this guy facing off against 76202 , which also had oversized claws?"
A long-running joke in the comic-books is that Wolverine is on so many teams, half the time he doesn't even remember which team(s) he's supposed to be on that week. He has partnered up with time-displaced versions of himself (and if time is a flat circle, he will again).
So yes, I can totally see him partner up with a mech-version. Maybe we can make it a '70s cop-show? I think you'll find that this right here might just be the perfect theme for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myjcUldWHNQ
(Don't be too surprised, it happens all the time, way more often than you'd think)
@sklamb said:
"My biggest problem with this figure is the neck, which does indeed make Wolverine look like a hunchback. I don't remember *that* from the comic books!"
Well, there was that time in the '90s when Magneto ripped the adamantium off of Wolverine's skeleton, and his healing factor went into overdrive and turned him into a devolved hunchbacky sort of guy. At one point, he also lost his nose for a minute. Aaaand I'm going to stop there....
@ForestMenOfEndor:
He was also at least twice his normal size, and most of that was in his shoulders.
Anyway ... it's kinda ugly (which is on brand for comics Wolverine), and it's one of my least favorite of his costumes ... but it's LEGO, and it's Wolverine, so it will be mine. I like the oversized claws. And this is X-Men '97, so shouldn't everything be EXTREME (not X-Treme)?
When somebody goes to Comic-Con in a really bad cosplay outfit and then LEGO make a model of it. That.
This figure is really, really awkward.
But I'm glad they are at least experimenting with these figures a bit, though I agree that it would have been nice for them to try bulking up the frame. We are still in a place where these figures feel pretty cookie-cutter.
I bought the Miles Morales figure last year and think it is pretty solid. I might get Batman. I miss CCBS though. It would be nice to see them play with a CCBS-brick hybrid approach.
No
I have noticed that "Expensive" seems to be a fault of many recent sets reviewed at Brickset.
Quite unfortunate that LEGO seems to be ripping us off so much (exhibit 1: Tenoo Jedi Temple for $65 AUD)
Anyway, I've got the Wolverine mech so I'll pass on this one, casual fan of the X-men only.
This thing looks disproportionately skinny and that hunch is weird.
They should do the Evolution version of Wolverine.
@Ridgeheart: I wasn't talking about a team-up, I was talking about them fighting each other. (Which I'm sure as happened more than once in the comics.
)
It looks so hilarious, I had to get it. It’s like Technic though where if you squint hard enough whilst displaying it as far away as possible, it actually looks quite good.
C'mon Lego. Jeez, Wolverine looks doofy. Oh boy.
The body, arms, legs look fine but that face and the neck.
But, if a kid likes it, plays and has fun with it, so be it.
No
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Ridgeheart: I wasn't talking about a team-up, I was talking about them fighting each other. (Which I'm sure as happened more than once in the comics.
)"
Oh, you know how it goes. Boy meets time-displaced version of himself, boy fights himself, time-displaced boy shouts paragraphs of exposition mid-attack, "Martha?", boys team up to fight [Magneto/Doctor Doom/Darkseid/Mister Sinister/Norman Osborn/Doomsday] instead, drinks at the mansion.
I hope this clears up the confusion. Now, let us combine our powers to fight Paste-Pot Pete and Stiltman, I just know they're behind all of this!
These "build a figure" sets have all been awful, and this one takes it to a whole other level of bad. Shameful design, how did this ever see the light of day?
I actually think it looks pretty good. It's comic-y and silly and fun. I also think it looks okay on the bulk front, and the hunch works for his animalistic fighting style. I'm not going to pick it up, it's not really for me, but I like it.
Dear LEGO,
Please stop letting the intern design sets. …There are plenty of $30+ actual action figures already on shelf that do this better. …Why not reissue some old gems instead? Wolvie vs Deadpool???
Thanks.
@PixelTheDragon said: "I’d be interested to see how a Celestial or Galactus would look with this building system. "
Better.
The designer on this is a pretty good mech designer.
The Iron Monger and 76247 The Hulkbuster: The Battle of Wakanda are some really nice mech suits. Well detailed, shaping, etc.
For this one though, the bosses probably said you gotta use that face element and work of that.
It really needed a brick built head. Go abstract with no printed graphics but I suspect they focused grouped what kids would want from these.
When are we going to get a remake of 7592 with this system?
@Alia_of_AGL said:
"When are we going to get a remake of 7592 with this system?"
...don't forget Evil Emperor Zurg!
Do we need lore-time for this dude? It's Wolverine. I think babies are born into this world already knowing who Wolverine is. But okay, let's see if I can keep this short and sweet:
Wolverine was born as James Howlett in rural Canada, in 1888. James grew up sickly and weak, but still wealthy and happy. This all changed when his mutant powers first emerged, and circumstances forced James to flee the Howlett-mansion with his childhood-sweetheart, Rose, in tow.
Taking up the name "Logan", after the Howletts' groundskeeper, James, with Rose, sought shelter and work in settlements, logging-camps and harbour-towns. This is where "Logan" would grow strong, tough, sullen and solitary.
Even in his early days, Logan would encounter faces that would haunt him for decades to come, including Mister Sinister and particularly, the similarly-powered mutant, Victor Creed, later known as "Sabretooth". During the World Wars, Logan would be conscripted as a tracker and wetworks-operative by a young Nick Fury, and would work alongsides another undercover assassin, James Buchanan Barnes, whose star-spangled partner was oblivious to this.
At some point in his life, Logan was kidnapped and brought to "Weapon Plus", an organisation devoted to developing super-soldiers after the success of Captain America, Weapon I. Wolverine's mutant powers made him uniquely suitable to survive a horrifically invasive procedure where the super-strong metal adamantium was grafted onto his bones. The procedure was so traumatic that it basically friend Logan's brains, destroying his early memories and causing him to regress to a frenzied, feral state. This earned him the nickname "Wolverine" alongside the project's own codename, "Weapon X".
In the years to follow, Wolverine would regain his sanity, but not his memory. Various organisations would place him on various wetworks-teams, where he'd excel at taking out high-value targets. While working for Weapon Plus, he'd often be put on a strike-team with Sabretooth, whose memory was still working fine, and who'd delight in taunting Wolverine with his knowledge over his frenemy's past.
When more mutants and pro-mutant spokespeople arose, it was decided that Wolverine should be placed close to one of their most vocal advocates, one Charles Xavier. In order to put Wolverine in Xavier's crosshairs, Wolverine was deployed in a snazzy yellow badger-outfit to intervene in a battle between the Hulk and folklore-cannibal, the Wendigo. Noticing that he could hold his own against Hulk and Wendigo, and in need of a new strike-team to rescue the old, Xavier recruited Wolverine to help save the original X-Men from a man-eating island.
The mission was succesful, but the events surrounding the rescue created bad blood between the OG X-Men and the new batch. Both teams split up and core-members reassembled into one new team whose formation would change drastically over the years, but Wolverine would become a mainstay through it all, overcoming his original programming of "spy on, possibly execute Xavier if he becomes too troublesome". Fully embracing Xavier's dream of unity between humans and mutants, Wolverine would eventually start a school of his own.
And that's probably enough backstory.
Wolverine's superpowers include super-senses, a powerful healing-factor, retractable bone-claws in his fore-arms ], and enough strength to lug a metal-coated skeleton around (according to Deadpool, his powers also include super-powered popularity and the ability to be on several super-teams at the same time, and according to Loki, another superpower Wolverine possesses is additional lifetime to cram all of his adventures into).
Wolverine is widely considered to be one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Marvel universe, although I can't really see why. He's awful at it. He's great at tanking hits, but with an unbreakable skeleton and the ability to regenerate your entire self from a single molecule of flesh, so would you and I, bub.
@PixelTheDragon said:
"I’d be interested to see how a Celestial or Galactus would look with this building system. "
Give me a Sentinel at that scale and you would definitely have my money.