LEGO Spider-Man Brand New Day Sets Review
Today I’m taking a look at the two minifigure scale LEGO sets for the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Spider-Man vs. Hulk Epic Clash and Spider-Man Prison Transport Chase. LEGO Spider-Man movie sets have a pretty rough history, they tend to be based on very early concept art and often either don’t match or miss really key things, like the lack of the red and black suit in the Far From Home set or when one of the No Way Home sets was a big black and gold drone because Marvel Studios wouldn’t admit what was in the movie at all, except Wong would be there in a big puffy coat. So having already seen one, if not both of these sets in the trailer already in some form, we’re already off to a strong start.
Starting with 76350 Spider-Man vs. Hulk Epic Clash, the build itself isn’t much to write home about. It’s a big grey building with fairly minimal detail because it’s designed to fall apart very easily. The falling apart mechanic works great, and is definitely one of the best play features LEGO have included in a set for a while and really lets you have fun with the Hulk. The bottom floor, the only one Hulk doesn’t smash, is one of the only ones with any real decoration with a nice little reception area. Nothing special, but a cute little desk that would be better if it wasn’t slightly hanging out of the side. The set is designed to connect with the rest of the recent “mini-modulars” Spider-man sets, which is neat but really just highlights how ugly this building is when contrasted with the great detail of the others. It comes with 2 little side builds too, a small sitting area that feels like a waste, and a hot-dog cart that should feel like a waste as well if it wasn’t oddly really fun to build and just absolutely delightful to look at. It’s hard not to think you couldn’t have scrapped those and improved the main building a bit, just adding a little asymmetry and extra detailing to make it blend into its “street” better.
As with any superhero set, the real highlight is the minifigures. This set has 5 figures and one big-figure, all of which are new to this wave but not all unique to this set. First up, Spider-man. Complete with webbed arm-printing, this figure is a pretty good representation, with the blue printing on the dark blue parts of the suit to show the shinier material of the suit. I do wonder if dark blue print on blue would’ve worked a little better looking at the actual suit from the trailer, but I’d assume it’s a step to differentiate the comic designed figures from the movie ones and not the biggest deal. The head is actually a reuse from recent MCU Spider-Men, but it remains pretty accurate and while leg printing would be nice, the dual-molding does the job.
The other hero of the set (or not, who knows) is the Hulk, using the newer “bigfig” mold with the nice removable and swivelable head and hair. Mine was actually missing that hair, but LEGO are pretty good at fixing that. All Hulks are pretty similar, so it’s hard to judge this too much. He’s nice and angry, with brown pants because Marvel remains too scared to give Mark Ruffalo purple trousers. As well as the 3 villains, this set also comes with a random civilian that seems to be a reference to Hailey Cooper from the PS Spider-Man games, which is neat but a strange choice. If they wanted an extra civilian the choice not to include a generic DODC agent, or Trammel Tillman, or Stewie from Succession (Arian Moayed), in a generic suit who are actually relevant to the movie seems a little strange.
On to the villains, we’ve got 3 great new figures here, 2 of which are entirely new characters. Scorpion has a great Michael Mando likeness and armoured body, with a smart reuse of a Star Wars jetpack as a way to attach the brick-built scorpion tail. Compared to the piece LEGO created specifically for the comic Scorpion, this option provides a lot more movement and I honestly prefer it. Tarantula is a great likeness to the movie design, although it’s a little basic as a design. It would’ve been nice to have a face on the head underneath the mask, or the legs could’ve been dual molded, but those are nitpicks. The main issue with him is the spikes he holds, which are a pain to get in the hands. Last of all, the Superior Foe himself and the main reason I wanted this set, Boomerang. From what we’ve seen of the design from the movie it’s a pretty perfect figure and the design is a great comic likeness too. LEGO has finally got pretty good at printing flesh on darker heads so the face part actually looks good, and despite the minimal detail on them he has printed legs.
On to 76349 Spider-Man Prison Transport Chase, you may recognise this build from being driven through the streets of Glasgow for a few weeks. In classic LEGO fashion they’ve toned down the military style and made it more blue. It’s a pretty fun build, and very solid, although for the size of it you’d expect a lot more interior space. Play features are limited to the stud shooters on top and a few basic hatches to put a driver and prisoner inside.
With 4 figures included, two of which, Spider-Man and Tarantula, are repeats from the other set and the other 2 are new. The generic DODC agent has a nice new uniform print but is overall pretty unremarkable with plain legs and a reused head. Tombstone, who has yet to appear in any footage, is the real selling point of the set, although it’s hard to gauge how accurate the figure is. It’s nice though, new prints, and definitely looks how you’d expect Tombstone to look. With there being a pretty clear boycott on Punisher appearing and Marvel not admitting who Sadie Sink is playing, there really isn’t anyone to replace the duplicate Tarantula.
Coming in at 534 pieces for £79.99/$89.99 and 367 pieces for £44.99/$49.99, the issue with both sets is clear, although using the far more accurate “price per stuff” system, not as bad as it initially seems. The truck is a good size and even if only one is a real unique character, 4 figures is a good selection. And while the detail on the DODC building is pretty bare, it’s got a great minifigure selection and some nice side builds. I paid 20% off for both the sets on release, and that feels like a pretty good price. With two fun builds, it’s nice to have a Spider-Man wave that, pending any big surprises, actually gives us all the villains of the movie and it’s a great line-up too!
