LEGO MARVEL: The Milano Spaceship Rescue 76021 REVIEW

LEGO Marvel: The Milano Spaceship Rescue 76021 REVIEW

LEGO MARVEL: The Milano Spaceship Rescue 76021
Set number 76021, $120 from Toy World which works out to roughly .18 cents a brick.

Items included:
665 pieces
5 mini figures
2 instruction booklets
6 numbered bags
1 page of stickers
1 comic book

Like all others, I’ll begin this review by mentioning the above list. Not everyone cares, but for those that do, it can make a very big difference.

I’m hooked on a feeling…

Mini Figures

I’m pretty sure my love for this LEGO set will be known from this first paragraph. Yup, lets begin. 5 total mini figures are included here and already ready, LEGO has won me over because they’ve been generous enough to include 3 members of the Guardians in this expensive set. Normally LEGO are good at spreading the collection amongst all the different sets, all including a large chunk of the group members into an extremely expensive set, I’m looking at you Arkham Asylum Breakout. And don’t get me wrong, this is an expensive set at $120, but its worth it.

Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Ronan and the Sakaaran

Beginning from the left we have Star-Lord. As you can see from the picture, he comes fully printed up in his dark red uniform. I’ve chosen to model him with his mask on, frankly because it sounds out amongst this set of mini figures. He comes with back printing on his body piece and legs piece also. With a choice of either the mask of normal face, you simply remove the mask and place a hair piece on. It’s an easy change, but make sure you don’t lose mask. From straight out of the movie, Star-Lord comes with his elemental guns, two of them, and even has his rockets here in LEGO form as the clear yellow bricks under his feet. A great mini figure.

Next up is Drax. This guy is mean looking. Tattoos cover his front and back body piece, and even his arms. Both sides. He comes with a two knives to complete the movie look and printing on the reddish pants. Drax stands out a lot as you can see from the picture. Gamora looks good, but very dull. Her body printing is well done here, and the sword is a nice touch, but for some reason the hair piece, with a bit of purple, feels very generic.

For the bad guys, we have Ronan first. He actually looks very menacing in mini figure form and comes with a double sided head piece. the cowl adds detail to the overall figure and the large hammer looks imposing. I don’t normally like cape pieces on mini figures, but since Ronan won’t be sitting down, I don’t have an issue. My major issue is with the final mini figure. The Sakaaran looks pretty cool, and has a double sided head piece which both look completely different from each other. It has reasonable printing on the body, nothing on the arms or legs, and the cowl is okay. However its just a little too boring for my liking here especially when compared with Ronan. At least the blaster he gets is pretty cool.

Still, its a really good effort from LEGO here. As I said before, 3 out of 5 Guardians in one set is a smart choice.

The Milano Spaceship

Main Build
And here is where the fun really begins. When I saw images of the Milano set popping up online many months back, even before I knew the price or which mini figures would be included, I knew it was going to be a purchase. I was sold on the unique arrow tip design of the ship, and the colour scheme reminded me greatly of the LEGO Chima eagle set which sits proud on my top shelf…yes even LEGO collectors have a top shelf.

So when Guardians of the Galaxy neared release, I intentionally stalked the toy shelves waiting for this LEGO release. And I’m telling you right now, I’m hooked on this build. LEGO has really outdone themselves when it comes to The Milano Spaceship Rescue. You get two spaceships here, but easily 90% of the bricks included go into building the Milano.

After watching he Guardians of the Galaxy movie just recently, I was dying to see how the ship design in the film would translate to the LEGO build. It has changed greatly, and I’m sure if LEGO if release an UCS version it’ll be perfectly, but in the form we get, I’m not upset. Actually I really love this design. No wait, I’m serious here, I will elevate the Milano as one of the best recently designed ships LEGO has released.

With a total of 6 bags, the Milano doesn’t begin until bag 2, so we’ll begin there. The underbelly of the Milano is made up of very strong and curved brick pieces. At first I thought it was a very strange decision on LEGO’s behalf, but once the build was complete, it all made sense. The whole underbelly of the Milano is design so that it is extremely comfortable to hold. At least for me it was. Thanks to the curves, you can pick it up and fly it around the room without fear of the ship falling apart.

Curved underbelly of the Milano, perfect for holding.

Thanks to many interlocking bricks, the interior feels like you’re holding a solid single piece. Nothing moves unless it is built that was, and the attention to detail is fantastic. The cockpit has a chair with back and head moving pieces so you can have the pilot sitting in any position you want. The control panel is a printed brick, so don’t worry about those pesky stickers for now. Beside the pilot’s chair, you have two clips to hold weapons which is a smart choice. Now you won’t have to worry about losing bits and pieces if you decide to have Star-Lord sitting inside.

Designed with the other Guardians in mind, the Milano interior even has three extra seats so you can have Gamora and Drax sitting down when Ronan attacks. Plus if you’re lucky enough to buy the other LEGO sets, you can add Rocket to the inside occupying the final chair. Sadly nothing for Groot…but onto that in another review.

I mentioned the attention to detail, and along with the red fire extinguisher the interior even stores Star-Lord’s 80’s style tape recorder. Yes, you read that right. Even has I was piecing the tape recorder together I was laughing because I couldn’t believe LEGO would include it, but they do, and it is an added touch of brilliance.

Finishing off bag 2 at the weapons that sit behind the nose of the Milano. They can be adjusted up and down and actually sport LEGO’s new blaster fire action. Press the button down the brick stud flies. Pretty darn far too, so avoid the eyes.

By the time bag 3 is done, the Milano begins to take form. Literally. The design uses a lots of pieces to give that pointed beak form the Milano will be famous for. It also fleshes out the rear of the ship by adding a thruster with some cleaver use of a window piece, and two circle bricks on the rear allow for some movement. Don’t know what they’re meant to be, but when the fins are added later on, and the fact you can spin them around, it lets you change the look ever so slightly. A fun little bit to make you get even more hooked on this set.

Rear of the Milano with thrusters at the ready.

Bags 4 and 5 are devoted to the left and right wings of the Milano. They are complex, to the point where I was double checking myself just to make sure I wasn’t stuff anything up. The wings themselves are bulky and very cumbersome, yet it doesn’t displace the weight in anyway at all. It all seems to just, work perfectly together.

By the time you attach it all together, and the Milano has almost fully taken form, you realise there are so many different moveable parts on the wings. Each wing has 5 different flaps or fins to play around with. All of them are large dark grey brick pieces with stickers on a few of them. You can move them in most directions depending on how you want the ship to look, but I think from the pictures, I’ve found my perfect way.

Above the interior, there are two flaps there which are helicopter blade pieces. They can be moved up and down but give the entire Milano are very sleek almost sweeping design. Add the nose beak to the front and the Milano could be mistaken for something out of the LEGO Chima line. It sen has the similar colours of yellow and blue, yet here the yellow is a bumblebee type.

Everything about the Milano is top notch from LEGO and the top of the ship is just as detailed as the underside which has thrusters, fins and rounded pieces to land on. Flick missiles are included here, and sadly I find that a down side. I would’ve preferred the newer spring loaded firing type the Star Wars sets have been using lately and it upsets me even more when the spring firing missiles are given to the other spaceship in this set. GRRRRR

Now onto my questionable worry about this build. The roof of the Milano comes off as one piece. It is designed that way so you can get to every part of the interior in one go. I understand that, and love it, but I was it was held down better. One tiny stud locks it down, and although I haven’t had any issues when inverting the building, I still feel it’s a little flimsy. Still I absolutely love the large open window of the cockpit and the roof even has its own flap to play around with. Did I mention the build has plenty of playable pieces?!?

All in all, I’m very pleased with the Milano Spaceship. Everything from the colour to the design, the interior to the underbelly. The wings and even the nose beak of the ship. Everything fits perfectly and nothings feels like it will break on continued use. An aggressive look and very good build.

Necrocraft, simple and deadly.

Finally we have the Necrocraft. In other words, the bad guy ship. This is all of Bag 1 and the simple design could be mistaken for a water craft at first. The cockpit is only for one, with stickers going on the window of the cockpit. A printed brick control panel is the only detail on the interior, a little bull, but fits the looks. What I do like is that even on such a small ship, the Necrocraft has two, count that, TWO spring firing missiles. I’m sure people out there will be working these onto the Milano, but I’m a purist.

My favourite feature of the Necrocraft goes to the wings. Two helicopter blades sit on a hinge allow for full 360 spin, and up and down movement. So expect to be having plenty of fun here. This ship may be tiny, but it has some good play features. I even really like the back of the craft where the blue thrusters are. So basic, but the way its doubled up, it just looks cool.

Final Thoughts

Really? You’ve read to this point and still don’t know my thoughts? Go now and buy this LEGO set. I love it. It’s been the most fun I’ve had building a LEGO set in a while. The Milano has a fairly large wing span, so expect to clear some room, and you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For $120 it falls on the more expensive side, but for the 5 mini figures, playability contained with and the fact you get two spaceships, it’s just about the best set LEGO this year. Top of my list anyway.

The entire LEGO set