LEGO Marvel 30454 Shang-Chi and The Great Protector gift-with-purchase review

30454 Shang-Chi and The Great Protector is a fun and intricate LEGO Marvel polybag available on promotion in the first half of August.

Spends of £40, $40 or presumably €40 on LEGO Marvel sets from August 1 to 15 (or while stocks last) at LEGO.com or in the LEGO Store will net you a free copy of 30454 Shang-Chi and The Great Protector.

Tying in with the August 1 release of a number of LEGO Marvel sets and the (curious) August 2 release of two Shang-Chi sets – 76176 Escape from The Ten Rings and 76177 Battle at the Ancient Village – this gift-with-purchase is perfectly timed. It’s also wonderfully designed for what may otherwise be a throwaway freebie.

Included within the polybag is a Shang-Chi minifigure and a mini-build of The Great Protector. Whilst The Great Protector is also the centre-point of 76177 Battle at the Ancient Village as a huge 400-piece serpent-like dragon build, in mini form here he’s just as interesting to put together, just as colourful and almost just as articulate.

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Putting together The Great Protector is more fun than it should be for a polybag model, with a particular moment that will make you smile. Much like its larger brother from 76177, the dragon in 30454 is supported by a water-blast-effect base. Reflective of location, power or a bit of both (we’ve not yet seen the movie), it also acts as support so you can really play around with the articulate body for any number of poses.

Also included in 30454 Shang-Chi and The Great Protector is Shang-Chi himself, in the same design as we see in both 76176 Escape from The Ten Rings and 76177 Battle at the Ancient Village. It’s a nicely-designed minifigure centred around an intricate torso pattern. The inaccurate skin tone here and across the Shang-Chi sets has been addressed by the LEGO Group, but is still jarring for anyone looking for that feeling of connection between toy and film.

That aside, to receive the title hero in a polybag at a relatively low qualifying spend, alongside a genuinely interesting and fun mini-model of a dragon, ticks a lot of boxes. There’s even an extra piece provided so Shang-Chi can stand on The Great Protector’s back. They may be allies in battle or in the midst of a conflict with each other (again, not seen the movie) but really it just looks cute.

30454 Shang-Chi and The Great Protector is available from August 1 to 15 (or while stocks last), as a free gift for qualifying spends of £40, $40 or presumably €40 on LEGO Marvel sets at LEGO.com or in the LEGO Store.

This polybag was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Author Profile

Rob Paton
As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

Rob Paton

As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

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