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76051 Super Hero Airport Battle
 Thursday, April 7th, 2016 at 11:56am by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: Ta-metru_defender] Marvel's Captain America: Civil War is less than a month away, and the tie-in LEGO sets have already made their way to store shelves. We've already looked at 76050 Crossbones' Hazard Heist, and now it's time for 76051 Super Hero Airport Battle, one of the bigger sets in the Marvel Super Heroes lineup. BZPower Blog Assistant Ta-metru_defender has decided to take a look at this set and let you know how it stacks up. Does it take off successfully and soar up into the sky? Or will someone open the emergency exit and leave it stranded on the runway? Read on to find out! Presentation
It's a box! There are three Big Things featured on this box: the airport control tower, the quinjet, and Giant Man. There are also six minifigs rushing into battle against each other, which is quite a bunch of minifigs. There's a lot going on.
There's the inset of all the 'figs as usual. The back of the set shows off the play features and all that. C'mon, you know this. It's also a massive box. Like, more than knee high on me.
Anyway. Enough about size and appearances, let's crack this open. Building
Comes with a handful of bags, should be a relatively set to put together.
The first two bags come together quickly as the build Iron Man, Agent 13, Scarlet Witch, mini-Ant Man and the control tower. But then there's Giant Man.
With a lot of stickers.
That have to line up. Oh no. Oh no oh no.
Well, that went better than expected.
Fortunately, the face is printed.
Anyway, when Giant Man (and Cap) is done you move on to the next bags.
There's Winter Soldier, War Machine, and the new quinjet and you're done. It's not the most inspiring of builds, but it's not as dull as some other sets (Crossbones Hazard Heist, I am looking at you). Set Design
So. Minifigs.
With six normal 'figs, a microfig version of Ant Man and a brick built Giant Man, there's quite a bunch of minifigs in this. More minifigs/characters than any other Marvel set except the Helicarrier (which wins due to the sheer number of microfigs).
The Ant-Man microfig is one that really should've been in last year's Ant-Man set. 'Cuz there's really no better way to represent a small Ant-Man. There's an impressive amount of detailing on it, but its size makes it liable to get lost. Fortunately, the set comes with two.
Iron Man is like most other Iron Mans (Iron Men?), new printing, same head. Turns out that, no, the head in the Silver Centurion wasn't for this and is still exclusive to that 'fig. How about it. War Machine gets a hefty upgrade, now mostly black instead of gray. I'm not a huge fan of the stud shooter for a shoulder turret, seems a bit bulky. The random lightsaber blade, though, is a baton thing he has in Civil War (based on the Slideshow toy). Neat figs, and both exclusive to this set.
Agent 13 is, uh, Agent 13. Based on what I can find online she does look like how she does in the movie. So there's that. But hey, I'm all for more female characters in sets (and we get two in this one!) I like this Scarlet Witch more than the one we got in the Hulkbuster set. The cloth skirt is a bit of a hassle to get on, but the end result is worth it. Gives Wanda a very neat look, especially with her new torso.
Captain America is exactly the same as in Age of Ultron. I guess some characters don't feel the need to change their costumes every movie. Winter Soldier gets more detail than his last promotional incarnation, and this also marks him being widely available. Altogether he's a cool and marked improvement, though I do wish he still had his holster. But moving on!
I love the Giant Man fig. Really may be my favorite part of this set. He's entirely brick built and built to minifig proportions. It gives him a lot of character and certainly makes him feel like a big Ant Man. Of note is that his belt has the blue thing in it, which, according to the Ant Man movie, makes the wearer grow. Ooooo, plot. If you want to see Scott's mouth, the suit's mouthpiece flips open. It's these small details that really make it stand out.
Also, we get Ant Man in three sizes now. Now, before we get on to the Control Tower, let us look at the baggage truck:
It is a yellow truck that carries suitcases that can be flipped out. Moving on.
Does the Control Tower look like a Control Tower? Yes. There are a couple things to really like about the building itself; the angled windows on top and the SNOT ledge.
The controls inside are pretty cool too, as is the breakout wall that seems to be a feature in most Superhero buildings (and I suppose one that makes sense). Then there's the jet.
Y'know, most themes have a staple. Pirates has ships. Castle has, er, castles. Space has spaceships. And Marvel Superheroes has Quinjets. They sprung on the scene with Quinjet Aerial Battle, gave us another one with Age of Ultron and an Avenjet (which we all know is really quinjet) earlier this year. And now another one for Civil War. And then there's the X-Men's Blackbird (mutant quinjet) and the Milano (space quinjet). Point is, we get a lot of jets. But one thing that can certainly be said for this one is just how well it flows. The Avenjet that graced us with a Captain Marvel 'fig was cool, but ultimately angular and mildly blocky. This one, though, uses a veritable plethora of curved slopes to create what may be the most aerodynamic-looking Marvel plane yet. It's also one of the smaller ones. There's no second cockpit, bike hold, or crew compartment. And yet, perhaps due to its somewhat chubby design, I really like this one.
It does have a mild version of the cockpit issue that was in Avenjet Space Mission, which is that the pilot has to be reclined in order for the canopy to close all the way. It's not a major gripe (no one needs to lie flat to pilot this jet), but it's still a thing that bugs me.
The back opens with a rope for cool entrances.
And twist the knob at top and you lower a cannon. It's a really simple mechanic that's actually quite a bit of fun. One last thing before we move on:
The details. Wakanda. Sokovia. Billund. Stark Industries. Hammer. AIM. This is the fan service I yearn for. Playability
There's one other play feature in the control tower I didn't mention in the last section.
See that innocent pile of packages?
If you put mini Ant-Man in a hole in the control tower and push...
Okay, so it's a little disappointing. But the Quinjet makes up for it.
Now, this being a superhero set, what it does best is role playing. And the number of minifigs included certainly lend itself to that. Final Thoughts
The Airport Battle's a cool set with a bunch of cool parts. There's always the what-could-have-been angle (an actual airport playset?) but it is what it is. And what it is is not bad. Plus, all those minifigs do give it an edge.
And when you add a couple more... Well. These sets are certainly collectable. Huge thanks go out to Josh for putting together this review of a huge set. Make sure you thank him in the Talkback and ask any questions you might have as well. Is this a set you plan on picking up? Does it make you more excited for the upcoming Civil War movie? How awesome is that Giant Man? We've got more reviews in the pipeline, so keep checking back on BZPower for those and all the latest LEGO news!
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