Review:76005 Spider-Man: Daily Bugle Showdown/Berrybrick

Acceptable review

Berrybrick
Country: USA     Age Group: Irrelevant   Gender: Male
Joined: February 27, 2010   № of Reviews: 26   № of Featured reviews: 1
Building Experience: Enough is enough

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• Set: 76005 Spider-Man: Daily Bugle Showdown
• Theme: Super Heroes
• Pieces: 476
• Minifigures: 5
• Price: $49.99 USD
• Brickipedia / Brickset

I bought this set on a whim, since the store wasn't carrying many other sets I didn't have and cared for. One thing that I wish Super Heroes would give us more of are buildings. Even the worst of them, Iron Man's Malibu Dreamlab, is still a pretty good set. This was the first true Marvel building released, but is it worth putting the iconic Daily Planet on hold for?

Box/Instructions

I liked the Marvel boxes last year, but they look even better now with Spider-Man in a more exciting pose and the silhouette of a city skyline behind him. The image on the box is okay and does a good job of placing the Daily Bugle in a more realistic (i.e. not made from LEGO) setting. The art on the box isn't distracting, but it comes off as boring. It's ugly similar to sets such as 76001 or 76004, though not nearly as nice as the likes of 10937.

The back of the box flows much better than in other Super Hero sets. It feels more like a comic page (you know, ignoring story and things like that) than other sets. The red and light blue hasn't been tampered with, and it still looks great, especially in a Spider-Man set.

There are three instruction manuals. Two are roughly the same size, but the second is considerably thicker than the first. The third, smaller one is dedicated to building the Doomjet.

They came slightly bent. It wasn't a big problem, but it is still something I'd like to be remedied.

Parts

At $50 USD, this set is a good source of blue glass and black frames. There are also 13 "brick bricks" in dark tan, which I appreciated. Otherwise, there are few notable parts for me. Green doors, a remolded camera (introduced in last year's Friends sets), a lamppost, Jameson's hair, Doom's hood, Nova's helmet (doesn't appeal to me, but might to some Marvel fans), and a new webbing piece.

It is only worth it for other parts if you are also attracted to the blue glass and/or minifigures. There are better ways to get most of the other bulk parts.

Minifigures

This set includes five minifigures in a rather disjointed cast of Spider-Man, Nova, J. Jonah Jameson, Dr. Doom, and Beetle.

Spider-Man is identical to his last appearance, unfortunately. Since I ranted about this figure already in a prior review, I'll just say that he still has too much blue. I do like the head, however.

LEGO USM Spidey	"Real" USM Spidey	LEGO ASM2 Spidey

Nova is a rather obscure character, I hadn't heard of him before this set. I did look him up for this review, and basically he is a member of a Space Corps. which might have borrowed a little bit more than they should have from Green Lantern, but with clunky helmets and bad colors instead of rings and green. I think that the Ultimate Spider-Man designs (which I have seen, at least) are either hit or miss, and this one is a miss. Traditionally, Nova has had a fairly bad design, but the newest version of the character, Sam Alexander (who appears on USM) has traded the yellow helmet for a blue one in the comics, which makes a huge difference.

Anyway, enough about what could have been. Though it looks enough like the USM version, the minifigure still isn't very good. For the most part, it is the coloring. It seems pretty obvious to me that Nova's "yellow" is really gold in the show, which would have looked better, but LEGO was cheap. Also, as a minor gripe, his skin tone could have been darker.

Okay, just a little bit more about the minifigure. The face is in the same style as Catwoman's and has a pair of white shades over the eyes so that it looks as though he has white eyes through the helmet. This almost works, but on the neutral side the face is printed a little too low so that the black line at the top shows. Honestly, I think that they should have made the visor taller so that it would be compatible with Batman (this face has better expressions). The same problem is not present on the other side, but the shades are not quite long enough and there is just a tiny bit of black showing at the farther ends of the eyes, a problem that is apparent on both sides.

Anyway, enough about Nova. I am happy that Marvel at least is pushing their minor characters into sets, though I would rather have characters like Thing, Human Torch, Black Panther, or more realistically, White Tiger (since she appears on USM), but I'll take what I can get. I just wish what I can get was good....

LEGO Nova	"Real" USM Nova

Now, I will say that I do like the new J. Jonah Jameson figure. The old one, however, was much more accurate to not only the movie, but also the comics and even USM. There isn't much to say about the minifigure, but his parts are useful. His hairpiece is exclusive to this set in dark stone gray.

LEGO JJJ	"Real" USM JJJ	LEGO SM2 JJJ

When I first saw pictures, I didn't like Dr. Doom's minifigure. However, it does look better in person. The difference is that the area behind the eyes isn't such a vivid shade of yellow as pictures showed. I mentioned how USM designs were hit or miss for me, and Doom's is a hit. Now, I don't care for his classic design all that much in the first place, but given what they had to work with I like it very much, and I am thankful that they hadn't gone with a backwards redesign (see Doc Ock, Iron Fist, Nova, Green Goblin, etc.). The minifigure itself is rather good, but I still wouldn't mind if he was changed slightly later on. Something about this one just feels off.

LEGO Dr. Doom	"Real" USM Dr. Doom

Like Nova, I had never heard of Beetle before. He is an odd choice for a minifigure. Spidey's rogues gallery isn't as well developed as Batman's in the sets, yet he already has a C (or maybe D) Lister. He doesn't seem to be that prominent in USM either. Anyway, the minifigure is good. Both he and Dr. Doom have rare, light stone gray hands (forgot to mention that earlier) and exclusive smokey bug wings (an extra pair in included). The minifigure is executed well and though his inclusion makes some sense (he has connections to Doctor Doom in USM and the comics' Ultimates universe) it is a waste of another character's spot, in my opinion.

LEGO Beetle	"Real" USM Beetle

The Build

I think I rambled about the minifigures enough....

To be blunt, the build is uninteresting. I did enjoy it, but other than just a little bit of SNOT to break it up, it is all brick-stacking. I'm not usually bothered by them, but the tan pillars didn't help the experience any either.

Also, there is a fairly large sticker sheet included in the set. Very few of them were easy to apply well. The only ones I am happy with are Jameson's stalker-ish shots of Spidey. The rest are aligned badly or are peeling.

The Completed Model

Aside from the Daily Bugle itself, the set also includes a bit of street scenery and the Doomjet.

The first object built in the set is a streetlamp which is made from a whopping three pieces. Still though, it is a nice inclusion and I wish that more Super Heroes sets included scenery like it.

Next up is a mini-dumpster. It is nothing special, but has a hidden play feature. You can open it up, stand Nova inside (despite my dislike of the figure, I'm not kidding), press a button in the back, and send him flying. Flying of course means that he launches maybe two inches into the air and then falls flat on his face, but at least he is wearing a helmet. Though I want more scenery, this isn't what I had in mind at all. It is small, the function doesn't work, and it just doesn't look very good with the wonky baseplate (done for support, I believe).

To infinity...and beyond!

The DBC (Daily Bugle Communications) building is fairly good. The colorscheme of tan with dark tan and red accents looks nice and it goes well with the bank from 6864. Though not nearly as iconic as the globe on top of The Daily Planet would have been, Jameson's "big-brother" screen helps to give it character. Jameson is different on the screen in a few ways, and I'll just say he doesn't look good in bright green.

The first floor is mostly empty, aside from a potted plant and a side-door that leads outside.

The second room is a studio where Jameson has a collection of shots of Spidey that definitely surpasses the "obsessive teen-fangirl" line. Also in this room is a safe which holds a document showing a minifigure head split between Peter Parker and Spider-Man with a caption which reads "The True Identity of Spider-Man" and a newspaper about an old man rescuing someone from a tree (which debuted in 6868). There is a dark green seat for Jameson, and a door on the side that leads to the fire escape. One of the windows can be blown off my pressing a red button so that Doom and/or Beetle can steal the safe and Spider-Man's identity. It works most of the time, but it doesn't give a satisfying push.

Lastly, the third floor of the building is Jameson's office. There isn't much to do up there, just a seat for him, a computer and lamp on a desk, and another door for the fire escape. Worth mentioning is that this floor can be removed from the second, though I can't think of a good reason to.

The building's top isn't meant to be pretty (or at least I hope not) and there are several buttons. One to knock someone off of the roof (maybe to make Spidey swing on his still-too-long web?), a trapdoor whose victims land in Jameson's office (the horror!) and a button that causes the DBC sign at the top to fall to the ground below.

The fire escape going alongside the building wasn't a bad idea, but it is executed poorly. The platforms are gappy and too small to allow a minifigure to stand on it in too many places. Maybe the pieces used to make the dumpster could have gone here instead? Also, the way that the Bugle is built on the baseplate (with a two stud margin to the right) the fire escape is all overhang, even though there would have been enough room to make it work. It's not a hard fix, but a strange design choice.

Lastly is the Doomjet. It's bad. It is bland and awkward, two of my least favorite things. I won't go into how much I dislike it, because I don't want to write as much about it as I did Nova, but it is a contender for the worst Super Heroes vehicle yet. (Also on the list, the Funhouse Batcycle, Ock's four-wheeler, and Mandarin's bumper car of doom).

Summary

Pros

• Dr. Doom
• Not a bad building at all, even if it could be better
• A little bit of scenery is always nice
• Even if I would rather have others, I am glad that LEGO is willing to make obscure characters like Nova, Beetle, and Iron Fist (though the conspiracy theorist in my suspects that Disney/Marvel is just pushing their lesser-knowns like they are known to do).
• Blue glass, black panels, and brick bricks
• An overall good addition to the Super Heroes theme and Spider-Man's universe.

Cons

• Stickers are especially a pain
• Build wasn't complex at all
• Other than Beetle, the design of every minifigure was at least a little bit off. Doom is forgivable though, since I can't pin what it is about him.
• The Doomjet is just bad. Really bad. Not even laughing bad like Mandarin's bumper car and Ock's four-wheeler.
• Everything about the dumpster but its color

Building Experience: I did enjoy the build, but other than minimal SNOT, it just didn't have much substance.

3½ / 5

Parts: I'm really happy about the blue glass, black frames, and brick bricks. The parts in the set aren't bad at all (except for things like the Doomjet windshield).

4 / 5

Playability: Definitely Marvel's answer to the funhouse, even if it isn't quite as fun.

4 / 5

Minifigures: Spider-Man is worse now that we have been teased with one based on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Nova is sub-par. Jameson is inaccurate, but I like him anyways, and Doom and Beetle are good. Still though, I find the line-up odd.

3½ / 5

Value for Money: the price per piece ratio is good, but something seems to be missing. I don't think it needs any more in the set, but maybe a bit of a better build and something more appealing than Doom's jet.

4 / 5

Design: The DBC, for the most part, is good. However, the fire escape is wonky. The Doomjet is, again, terrible and though it is a small part, I don't care for the dumpster..

3½ / 5

Quality: Just a small error with Nova's head.

4½ / 5

Overall: I don't quite feel like this set was worth putting The Daily Planet on hold for, but it does stand-up well and it isn't fair to judge the set on my DC favoritism (I just needed to ask a hook ). This is a bit of an odd set. The subject makes sense, but it is littered with strange things, especially in the minifigure line-up. Still though, it is great to have Doom and even Nova. I hope that the Fantastic Four (or at least Thing and Human Torch) and the rest of the USM Avengers (White Tiger and Power Man) follow soon.

I gave this set a good rating, but I only feel I can recommend it to Spider-Man fans. I'm a casual one and don't regret purchasing it, but it is missing desirable characters and minifigures for someone like me (outside of Doom (Spidey is available in cheaper sets)) as well as a very satisfying build, and one-fourth of the set (Doomjet) is, you know.

4 / 5