I bought this set on release day for $500, the model has 5201 pieces and 32 minifigures

(please keep in mind, I have strong opinions, and I'm not a Lego designer so everything I recommend was probably thought of and excluded for a reason!)

Build

• As the title stated, the model is extremely repetitive, over 260 frame and window pieces are used across the build. More than half of the build time was taken up by pushing window frames into windows. I wouldn't say it was an enjoyable part of the build, but a necessary one at that. The only other extremely repetitive part of the build is the slanted wall. Again, a repetitive but necessary part of the process. The finished product for both of those is stellar and worth the repetitive build. the arch parting the blue section of the windows against the dark bluish-gray portion. The curved part at the top of the tower using flexibles to achieve the 90-degree curve, and a whole side of the tower being slanted, all go into creating the perfect curvy and luxury model.

Minifigures

• The minifigures are okay, I owned most of them but had a couple of new ones.
• standouts: Vision, Hulk, Hawkeye, and damaged Mark 6.
  • AMAZING 10’s across the board for all of these.
• Weak points: Kevin Feigie, Wong, and the Wasp.
  • unnecessary inclusions that ? have new prints that definitely could have been diverted to/other Minifigures.

Stickers

• I am one of maybe 5 people who despise stickers. they're a functional and vital part of how Lego works, and here it's no different. The stickers are detailed and only add to what the model already brings. The references to other Marvel movies, (and in some cases, references to Lego's own ip’s) are fun to look for. As detailed as the stickers are, I wish that they were broken up more throughout the build. I was halted for upwards of 30 minutes, just applying stickers. I understand that it was necessary for how the interiors of the tower are built. moving a couple of tiles to bags where you're actively building the walls would be a nice balance between brick building and applying stickers.

Play

• The play value in this set is, surprisingly, mid. The designers did try to strike a balance between display and play, but I don't think it worked here. The only exception is the mini-scale Quinjet. I don't see any young kids playing with this, the rooms are cramped and don't offer any play features. The model isn't built for play and I think that's okay. Not everything is going to cater to every audience.

Display

• This set is THE display set, second only to maybe Rivendell. The tower looks flawless on its own, but pair that with the inclusion of static models. The tower comes alive. The intricate pieces like the Leviathan and Loki's chariot, elevate the set to another level and breathe life into a pretty (albeit plain) building.

Price

• The hefty $500 price tag on the set is a lot but warranted. A build of this style could have only been done with that price tag. Yes, I would have loved for it to have been $50-$100 cheaper, but I don't think the result would have been even on par with this. The value for your money is there, the intricate builds and splendid Minifigures come together to create an almost perfect set, with perfect value.

Conclusion

• This set is almost perfect, too almost perfect that throughout this whole review, I couldn't help but think about ways that I would have improved the minifigures, but I'm not a Lego designer so I digress. The model is the magnum opus of the entire superhero team at Lego. Its sleek curves and colossal size make this worth the hefty price tag on its own, even without minifigures, (I think I've talked about them enough that you understand my opinion. The repetitive build only brings this down so far. I appreciate people whose biggest consideration is the building experience, but with this model that just goes out the window. I do miss the simpler days of just brick building, where SNOT techniques weren't the only flashy thing to look at, and this set is a perfect return to form. If you're debating buying this set, I promise you you won't be disappointed.

extra stuff that isn't too relevant to the review or I couldn't find space for.

• (Over the course of this review I've continuously mentioned Rivendell (10316). Both sets are amazing, and I wouldn't fault you for choosing one over the other. The constant comparison is due to them being so close in size, and cost. Both are heavily desired sets from their respective themes. They're the only things that can be compared against each other. They are both amazing sets and deserve their flowers

18+ branding rant

• The 18+ branding is flawed, it leaves too big of a gap between the normal retail-sized sets, and these huge towering monstrosities. The difference in, audience, and in most cases the price. There needs to be some middle ground, mid to large-size sets that aren't branded under 18+ that can have the duality and price range to appeal to both younger kids, and adults, and to the people somewhere in the middle. there's a YouTuber by the name of Penplays who made a descriptive video on why sets in such a large price range, with so many minifigures that already exist in the world of Lego and a video on what i talked about earlier in this passage. he's amazing and his content is extremely informative.

bugle vs tower

• The Daily Bugle revolutionized the idea of what a model that's aimed towards adults can do, it had desirable minifigures that adults were craving and had a colorful and lively build. That is what the tower wants to be, but it falls too short. Semi-desirable minifigures, and a good build, that would have been perfect with better minifigures. The bugle figures were extremely memorable. These fall short. It wasn't until halfway through writing this review that I remembered that Dr. Helen Cho and Kevin Fergie were even included. Instead of putting the set Minifigure budget towards forgettable side characters, it would have been a better idea to either bring back mini figures that only came in one set or introduce desirable figures that wouldn't be able to come in retail sets (ie deadpool or Stand lee) but again I'm not a lego designer so I digress

This is the best set ever for any marvel fan!

It is a massive modern building which is an awesome addition to any lego city.The building technique is clever and exciting.a huge selection of minifigs and tons of little references to the MCU.

I just love this set and I will brotherly make mine bigger and wider with some additional pieces.

As I share this review - let me state first that I love the Modular LEGO buildings and also am a fan of Marvel and the Avengers, etc. I was pretty excited about acquiring this set after first learning about it. I knew it would be an amazing addition to my family's LEGO city in our basement, and it really is a sight to behold. It will get a bit lengthy as I have many photos to share. (AT = Avengers Tower for future shorthand)

There are definite pro-cons that come along with a set this massive and expensive and I'll try to discuss some of those as well as provide photos to illustrate some of these things. I apologize in advance for my photography skills, as I don't have a fancy studio and lighting to provide ultra clear pictures. But honestly, not many of us do - so you get to see the ongoing mess of trying to contain a LEGO hobby in your house.

This took me about 3 weeks to build, over multiple weekends and evenings. It was a fun project, but I was happy to finally finish it off. Being a very large building - you can get bogged down in repletion and this set is definitely not immune from that. Especially considering all of the windows this set has. 269 times you need to snap a pane into a frame. I would liken it to when the Hulk is walking down AT in Avengers 4 and is complaining about "SO MANY STAIRS!!!!!" My same thought.... "SO MANY WINDOWS!!" At least you don't have to snap together the endless amount of blue curved windows too. Aside from that, the structure itself is genuinely massive, but extremely sturdy. The top platform that has the Quinjet launch pad, is secured with a technic base that connects all the way back to the other side of the tower. This creates immense strength and actually allows anybody to transport AT with relative ease. Simply sliding off the curved facade allows you to put your hand under it there and your other hand under the baseplate for easy transportation. 2/3 of the way done in this photo will give you a sense of where you can put your hand in the structure to move it.

There are 2 sticker sheets included and I assume another sheet of some sort that has the Vision cape and Wasp wings (my set did NOT have this and hopefully my request for replacement parts will be able to be fulfilled). Many of the clear stickers are placed over translucent blue parts and are hard to see. I'm not a big fan of that design in this set or any set, for that matter. Plus, applying over 50 stickers is a pain.

There are oodles of references hidden and in plain sight, throughout the build of AT. Some are to various scenes in Marvel movies or nods to certain designers calling cards, if you will. Including ones that didn't necessarily happen on site at AT. I'm looking right at you Heli-carrier HULK containment unit.

But then you get scenes such as the dual Captain America and "America's Ass" comment, with the broken walkway from which they battled.

Plus, the bottom floor, where part of the time heist mess up happened, with Loki, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Hydra/Alexander Pierce can be set up. (Pepper/ant-man shown in photo).

One of Tony's endless workshops building a suit

And the lounge/bar area where the Avengers discussed who could lift Thor's hammer and ultimately, where Ultron famously introduced himself. One note on this mix of scenes and placement.... it also serves as the back end of the room where the Quinjet is stored. So, physics aside, if that thing takes off from that room, all of the furniture is definitely going to get blown around! (just saying).

Speaking of the Quinjet - what an outstanding mini-version build of that plane. It looks very sharp and I appreciate how its able to tuck into the tower as well, by folding up the end of the wings. The top above the Quinjet hangar is built like a garage door and has multiple roof parts that can be removed.

Along with that outstanding "mini-build" I also need to mention how well the Leviathan turned out and the Chitari machines, including the one that pulls around Loki. All 3 of these smaller builds are expertly done and really portray the source material very well and one of my favorite parts of this set.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't do some compare/contrast along with some "what's this look like next to...." information.

The obvious comparison for this set has to be the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man themed set. Both are gigantic buildings. The DB ran (originally for $300, now $350), while the AT checks in at $500. Piece wise, you are getting over 1400 more pieces with AT (5200 vs 3770). Minifigure selection is also a key comparable point. While AT technically has more (27 vs 25), I would say DB hands down has the far better selection and desirable figures. Most of the DB figures are unique and not re-runs, like in AT. Plus the unique figures in AT are so-so. The new Vision and Hulk figures are fine and there are updates to others as well. Erik Selvig appeared in several movies and finally gets a figure - that is ok with me. But then we get Wong and Wasp which seem out of place. Kevin Feige, Alexander Pierce and Dr Helen Cho also are honored with their first appearances, but honestly... meh. They aren't the reason i'm buying this set. Unlike DB which had some outstanding unique figures like Firestar, Black Cat, Punisher and Daredevil! They really should have tried harder to get a Agent Coulson figure and also Stan Lee. We're already paying a zillion in licensing for this build - what's another $10?

Another comparison between the 2 is obviously physical presence. AT dominates that as far as sheer size goes, but at some cost. With the DB, you are still able to take the roof and the floors off of it, to be able to play with the interior. With AT - you can remove the front curved facade, but unless you have very small hand with long fingers - its really, really tough to reach certain parts of the inside of that building. Plus, you cannot simply set AT next to other modular buildings. I had to re-arrange my city in order to fit it in. It's too big and has too much overhang or not enough room to place characters on the outside of it. I had to move Ninjago City Gardens because both sets are a bit wider than a standard baseplate, due to pieces overhanging in various spots.

Here's a before/after of where I had the previous version of AT (so much smaller, like 1/4 the size?)

Here are some more scale pictures - next to DB, next to the Eiffel Tower and just general photos of it sitting in a LEGO city. Sorry some of the photos are so busy - but that's how we build in our house! As you can see, it's really tight to fit it next to other modulars. You really need to give it room "to breathe" in order to access it and your other buildings. I absolutely would NOT connect it to DB or other tall buildings.

One thing I will say - you get a lot of extra clear pieces, in order to attach to various points of the building, for different play value. The new curved clear piece as well as several hooks or what have you. I appreciate that and its quite clever how they built in those connections right into the building, so you can create a scene like the one below.

My overall thoughts about this set - WOW, what a building! It looks amazing and has some great functions to it. There's a lot going on throughout the building. But, when you factor in size, cost, minifigures, stickers... it comes out well, but not without its flaws. I feel like the DB is a much better value, all things considered. If you are a huge Avengers/Marvel fan, you won't be disappointed in this set, but you probably will feel that you are paying too much for it. $500 is a tough pill to swallow when there are obviously other, cheaper options that give you more bang for your buck.