LEGO Marvel fans react to 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot: ‘Nightmare fuel’

The LEGO fan community has reacted strongly to the reveal of 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot, referring to the Marvel set as ‘scary’ and ‘cursed’.

Eight new LEGO Marvel sets for 2024 were revealed yesterday, including multiple mechs, vehicles and even an expansion for 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle. However, there’s one model in particular from the line-up that seems to have ruffled the feathers of more than one LEGO fan, with the online community very vocal in its thoughts regarding 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot.

The 566-piece build launches January 1, 2024, alongside the rest of the first wave of LEGO Marvel sets arriving early next year. 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot features a brick-built version of the fan-favourite Guardians of the Galaxy character, complete with spring shooter, blaster and new Baby Groot minifigure.

However, despite fan affection for the big screen iteration of Rocket, the reaction to the buildable version has been less than positive so far. On an Instagram thread posted by greekbricks, users referred to the LEGO Marvel model as ‘nightmare fuel’, saying it ‘looks cursed’ and ‘looks like a rat’.

Things get worse in an Instagram thread by exabrickslegogo, with comments such as ‘he might have rabies’ and ‘it’s the eyes that really throw this set off for me’.

Not all of the feedback on 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot has been negative though, with some fans looking forward to adding the LEGO Marvel set to their collections. One Instagram user stated, ‘Am I the only one that thinks this actually looks pretty good?’ and another said: ‘I love this set – well designed and don’t know why people find it terrifying (nothing compared to [75255 Yoda] and [75371 Chewbacca]).’

Speaking of Wookiees, a clear line is already being drawn between 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot and another controversial LEGO set, 75371 Chewbacca. The latter model was initially described as ‘a sleep paralysis demon’, while one fan wryly said: ‘I can’t help but wonder if they greenlit it for the memes.’

I’m not sure what photos the designers were looking at, but they were not photos of Rocket ? I’m not a fan of the Chewbacca figure either, looks wrong too ?? Don’t get me wrong, I doubt I could design anything near this but I’m disappointed

— Jason Ingham? (@inghamjj55) December 12, 2023

Fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy character will be able to make their own minds up about 76282 Rocket & Baby Groot – and whether it’s better or worse than Chewbacca – when the LEGO Marvel set arrives on January 1, 2024 priced at £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99.

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