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    Discuss This Story
    Set Review: 76017 Captain America vs. Hydra
    ReviewWednesday, December 31st, 2014 at 9:38am by Benjamin, BZPower Reporter

    Two reviews become one as ChocolateFrogs and xccj both take a look at the Red Skull set.

    The super soldier placed out of time gets a flashback to his earlier days as Captain America faces off against the evil Hydra organization led by the Red Skull! A complete set with villainous villains and a heroic hero, Cap must save the day lest the Red Skull puts his diabolical plans into action with the Tesseract cube. Today's set review will take a look at The Marvel Super Heroes set Captain America vs Hydra, with videos by xccj and ChocolateFrogs, along with a text review by them. Will Cap swing his shield around in time? Read, and watch, the dual reviews to find out!

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    Box front Box back

    ChocolateFrogs: The box catches your eye with an exciting action scene between Red Skull's tank-like-vehicle and Captain America on his motorcycle. This is bordered by the usual logos and set information, including LEGO-ized cartoonish Cap, Thor, and Hulk. The set has 172 pieces, which is not too impressive for a $20 set (USD), but with three minifigures, two of which are new characters, and the olive green parts, that may be a forgivable piece count.

    The back shows off more action features, including the mobility of the truck's wheel chassis and the action features of the Hydra agent's cockpit, including flick-fire missiles and a turntable to aim. Of course, Red Skull has the Cosmic Cube and is a force to be reckoned with!

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    Base Floor Armor Windshield Menacing seat Tank

    CF: What is especially cool about building the set is that while it seems simple enough, it quickly goes from being a small stack of pieces to a larger, imposing vehicle in just a matter of snaps. The large wheels help with that a little, but the overall body of the truck quickly rises up to form something more impressive than your standard all-terrain vehicle.

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    Pieces

    CF: The pieces are the first thing you see when opening the set, and although it may not be much, getting some more olive green pieces in this variety of slopes is an easy way to add a bit more of the color to your collection. A motorcycle also comes with the set, which is a vehicle I always liked since childhood.

    Cap and Cycle Shield on Cycle

    xccj: Captain America gets to ride around on his dark red motorcycle. I know that he came with a motorcycle last time, but that was big and bulky, and this one seems to better fit in with the one he's riding in the comics, movies, and cartoons. The design isn't new, and it's mostly built out of a few specialized pieces, although it does include a clip on the back to hold the shield. Not super exciting, but it's a good enough highlight for this set.

    Minifigs front Minifigs back

    xccj:You get three pretty good minifigures in this set. First off is Captain America, who is clearly the protagonist. This is the second time we've seen Cap in a set, as he appeared in 6865: Captain America's Avenging Cycle during the run of the Avengers sets. This version is very similar, but it has some subtle differences that seem to focus more on the cartoon than the movies. First off, instead of dark red and dark blue, he's in a brighter variety of classic red and blue. He's also smiling this time, to show that he likes to fight crime! His shield is also the same design as last time, only again it's printed on a classic red piece.

    Appearing for the first time is Captain America's nemesis, Red Skull. Red Skull has a great, sneering face printed on a red head, so it stands out. His torso has a nice design, printed front and back, but it's also generic enough that it could stand it for many other custom figs. The exception is the Hydra logo on his belt, but that's still a cool design. Red Skull also carries a 1x1 clear brick, to stand in for the Tesseract, which is the same trick they used in the Avengers sets.

    Finally we come to the Hydra Henchman. He doesn't appear to be anybody specifically, but stands in as a generic minion to fill in Hydra's ranks, and that makes him great for army building. He has dark green legs and arms, a green head and torso, complete with yellow highlights. He's also sneering; Hydra members are always upset about something. His jumpsuit has some nice detail, although the bright colors won't necessarily work for a more realistic setting, but it fits right in with the comic book lore. He also has an H on his belt and the back of his head, which I presume stands for Hydra. No cool logo for him. Unless the H is an unique identifier, and he's really supposed to be Harold the Hilarious Hydra Henchman. But probably not.

    CF: I'm going to call him Bob.

    Tank front Tank back Tank side

    xccj: The real star of this set is the Hydra Truck. It is definitely an imposing vehicle; when standing up to it, Captain America only comes up to the front grilles. The design, while bulky, is a bit basic. It relies mostly on a studs-up build, with only a few SNOT (studs not on top) techniques used, such as with the exhaust pipes and front and back grills. The tire suspension is the main highlight of the vehicle, and it merely uses technic lift-arms to rotate the wheels around. I was expecting something a little more complex, but there's a certain elegance in its simplicity, so I'm mildly impressed with that.

    The color scheme is nice, with lots of olive green showing up. Granted, it could have used more parts in that color, but the ones included still do a good job. I do like the yellow stripes on the front that continue onto the back, even if the back portion is made using a sticker.

    Inside the main cockpit is plenty of room for Red Skull to relax as he drives this around. Strangely, he has a control panel and a steering wheel, which I think is redundant since most LEGO vehicles either have one or the other. In the upper compartment sits the Henchman, where he's in control of the flick-fire missiles, some lights, and what I presume to be communication equipment. He's got some levers under his control!

    Overall, it pulls off being a big, hefty vehicle, and can easily mow Captain America down. It's a tough truck for a tough crew like Hydra.

    CF: I really like how imposing and menacing the Hydra truck is. Like a personal tank for Red Skull, it is ready to plow through anything in its way. The two large exhaust ports on the sides give it a look of power behind the motor, and the big wheels add to that impression. Adding more height and weapons up top with the Hydra Agent seat, and giving him some firepower with his swiveling position, complete the power ensemble.

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with.

    Fight Everything Pivot Suspension

    xccj: The main feature of this set is role-play. You have two factions, Captain America and Hydra, and they each have a set of wheels to ride around on. Captain America seems a little outclassed by the Hydra truck, but I'm sure he can use his integrity to get the best of Red Skull and Hydra. How he does that is up to your imagination, although I'd think it would involve throwing his shield around a bit.

    The Hydra truck does have some functions. The main feature is the aforementioned wheel suspension. When the wheels run over something, like Captain America's broken bike, they rotate up and down to pass over it with ease. Like I said, the design is quite simple, but it still works fairly well.

    The Hydra Henchman also has some features in his compartment. It's on a turntable, so he can rotate around freely to aim at Cap. And when he has him in his sights, he can fire his two flick-fire missiles! They're still not the best design, especially compared to the launchers that came in the next wave of Marvel sets, but I've seen worse designs. At least there's room for you to get a decent flick.

    Better yet, you get two wheeled vehicles, and that just calls for a car chase! Captain America's motorcycle is more maneuverable, but the Hydra truck has so much sheer power! Who will win? That's up to you to decide!

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • New and unique minifigs
    • Olive green parts
    • Rugged, versatile vehicle
    • Motorcycle

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Low parts-to-price ratio
    • Not many olive green parts
    • Only flick-fire missiles as weapons

    LEGO Staff toying around

    CF: Despite the obvious reason to get this set is for Red Skull (and a Hydra agent to give Deadpool a buddy), the pieces in the box come together to assemble a decent, menacing tank for the baddies. Captain America's motorcycle gives him a cool piece of equipment, too, all things considered. Although the price-to-piece ratio is lower than ideal, the olive green slopes and minifigs that compose this cool vehicle make up for that.

    xccj: This set gives you three great minifigures and two vehicles to have them chase each other with. Captain America is great with his motorcycle, but the main focus of the set is really on Red Skull and his Hydra Henchman. The Hydra truck is not exactly the most amazing model ever, but it gets across the idea of a hefty vehicle to show off Hydra's might, and has a simple-but-effective suspension system. It's a good value for a set of this price.

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