In their quest to satisfy the huge demand right now for adult-targeted sets, LEGO recently announced a series of Marvel superhero busts, kicking off with fan-favorites Iron Man and Spider-Man this summer. We got our hands on an early copy of the former, LEGO Marvel 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust, and are about to send it through the rigors of a TBB review. Let’s see how this 436 piece set, now available for purchase, fares when it carries a price tag of US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99.
Last year, our editor-in-chief Andrew Becraft got some first-hand information from LEGO designers Petra Persson and Mark Stafford on this new superhero set. This was Petra’s first LEGO set as a designer. There will be plenty of tidbits from that interview throughout the review below. And a special thank you to Jeansversion for tag-teaming the interview with TBB, and recording it for us.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
New LEGO designer Petra Persson
Before we get into the model, introductions are in order for this set’s new designer. Unlike many of the recent LEGO designer hires, Petra Persson doesn’t come from a brick slinging background. Instead, her desire to apply her design background toward products for kids led her to LEGO. She draws much inspiration from Corita Kent, an American graphic designer and nun who promoted messages of peace and love with her silkscreened artwork during the 1960’s.
With little experience with the toy itself, this specific project was less a work of applying the bust of Tony Stark to a grid of LEGO studs, and instead focusing on what shapes she could create and interesting parts she could use to form specific sections of the helmet and armor. As Mark said in the interview, she brought “a pure designer’s eye without any brick prejudice” to the process, to the model’s benefit. With plenty of ideas from Petra, Mark, and other designers, this bust went through 10 iterations before landing on the final one that can be found in-box. Andrew got to see some of those working designs up close during the interview.
The box and its contents
With a band of dark red bricks at the bottom, 76327 comes in packaging that’s standard for the Marvel 18+ offerings. To the left of the helmet (and from the title), we can see that this is the Mark IV version of Tony’s suit. To put that into context in the MCU, this is the same armor Stark wears at the beginning of Iron Man 2 (initial appearance at the Stark Expo and during the birthday party scene). Flipping the box around, we see a 3/4 view of the bust, along with an inset showing off the “play features” of this model: shoulder rockets and rear stabilizing flaps. There’s also an image of a wire-frame model of the set, and an Iron Man shot plucked out of the movies.
The instruction book is standard for an 18+ set of this size. There’s a few introductory pages dedicated to Iron Man and the lore of the suit, but I found these pages to be lacking compared to past instructions intros. Some words from Petra and Mark would’ve gone a long way here, maybe even comparing their iterative method of bust design to the toils of Tony Stark and his desire for the best armor.
The other objects contained within the box are five numbered paper bags of varying sizes.
The build
For those familiar with the LEGO Star Wars helmet series, this bust build is going to follow a similar trajectory. We begin almost in the middle of the set where base and bust meet. We can see here the black of the base sits underneath a growing layer of dark red.
As we progress, clips and brackets are attached, while the dark red shoulders continue to rise. At one point during design, there was a question of whether the finished model should be red and yellow or dark red and gold. But in the battle between the comic and movie-accurate models, the zeitgeist favors RDJ.
Our next step adds on a quartet of tow balls – attachment points for plates of armor coming in future steps. At this stage, the shoulders are rounded out by some great quarter domes in dark red.
Atop those quarter domes sit multiples of a new piece – a quarter round curved slope, now available in dark red. This set includes a whopping 8 of them, and we were pleased to see them highlighted during the interview.
The last step in Bag 1 is assembling the shoulder-mounted rockets. We’ll look at the play feature toward the end, but for now they remain hidden under a pair of wedge plates.
Cracking open Bag 2, we’re immediately met with a decision. There’s two ways to assemble the base – either a standard square pillar with title card attachment, or a 45-degree rotation of that pillar with room for the title card tile and the included minifigure. You can take your pick, and we’ll have shots at the end of both versions on the finished model. But I’ll be utilizing the “diamond” version for the rest of the build. This bag also adds a pair of chest panels to the model, clicking onto two of the tow ball joints from earlier.
Bag 3 begins work on the collarbone area and upper back. This begins by forming a new base for the head and collar to sit on, utilizing bricks with studs on their sides. The piece connects onto the remaining tow ball joints, and even includes some droid arm and ice skate design bits that will be exposed in the final model.
The collar and back stabilizing thrusters are added at the end of Bag 3. These affix using those exposed studs on the new base for the collar, and rear-facing clips for the back panel. These pieces fit together quite well, almost like completing a puzzle. The design prowess of the “Petra and Mark” team is clearly on display at this stage.
Bags 4 and 5 each assemble distinct halves of the helmet. The lower half comes together in the first of the duo, a cacophony of studs facing every-which-way to get the perfect look. Bag 5 utilizes similar techniques to form the eyes and cranium in the upper half of the helmet. As it doesn’t open, design of the Tony Stark head that can fit inside this very compact design will have to fall to us fans. Mark’s set forth the challenge for anyone intereted.
Using a pair of 2×2 round tiles, the whole noggin is sealed together into the spitting image of our favorite Marvel superhero. The exposed tow ball connects the helmet to the rest of the bust.
I will say that the tow ball connection between the head and shoulders has surprisingly little friction. This is likely because the helmet is so heavy and brick-dense. As a final step, the arc reactor slides into place.
The minifigure
Of course, a set dedicated to Mr. Tony Stark has to feature the man himself. And this fig, clad in MK 4 armor, is unique to this set. Tony’s face features front-and-back printing, as does the torso. The legs are also printed, and are a single mold.
The finished model
Fully assembled, this is an instantly-recognizable icon of the MCU. The model can be posed with shoulder rockets deployed or disabled, and with either iteration of the base. It’s a very well-thought-out design overall, though I question the need for the minor play features that do little to satisfy my desire for pose-ability. After the year plus of seeing LEGO Marvel 76215 Black Panther on the clearance shelves of LEGO.com, this feels like a much better scale for Marvel collectors.
Conclusions and recommendations
I don’t think I’ve been shy about my thoughts thus far on the design aspects of LEGO Marvel 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust. It’s an excellent example of what a set aimed at adults should be. The accuracy to source material is astounding, the techniques are complex but presented in an approachable manner, the color scheme and part selection are great. But then those dollar signs come into view, and it’s a complete letdown. As a miniature bust at this scale, it looks more like a $40 set than something costing $60. I’m sure there are those willing to spend that $60 on the unique Iron Man minifig alone, but that’s not me. And maybe it’ll be on clearance in a year (just like the Black Panther bust of yore), but I don’t like giving set recommendations entirely dependent on a sale price. As such, in spite of it being a very well-designed model, I can’t recommend it to anyone – Marvel fans, LEGO fans, or fans of sculpture centered around the glenohumeral joint.
Available now from LEGO.com, LEGO Marvel 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust consists of 436 pieces and retails for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
