LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask review

Web-slinging into view for 2024 is 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask, a must-have addition to the LEGO Marvel headgear collection.

With only four LEGO Marvel Helmet Collection (borrowing the nomenclature from Star Wars perhaps isn’t right here – Bust Collection? Headgear Collection?) sets released to date, what’s most surprising about 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask is that it’s taken so long for the iconic comic book character’s headgear to be immortalised in brick-built form.

Launched on January 1, 2024 as part of this year’s first LEGO Marvel wave, 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask recreates an essential part of Peter Parker’s superhero costume, complete with distinctive white eyes, a primarily red and black colour scheme, and both printed and stickered web elements.

The LEGO Marvel set attempts to replicate the smooth lines and organic rounded shape of its original source material as closely as possible, but does 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask ultimately manage to deliver what fans of the wall-crawler will have been waiting for?

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask set details —

Theme: Marvel Set name: 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask Release: January 1, 2024

Price: £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 Pieces: 487

LEGO: Order now

— Where to buy LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask —

76285 Spider-Man’s Mask is available to buy from LEGO.com, LEGO Stores and through select third-party retailers.

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask build —

Anyone who’s ever built a LEGO helmet or headgear set will already know the drill when it comes to constructing 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask. Work always begins on the solid black base for the model, layering up elements in order to provide a sturdy display stand for the finished build. There are no surprises this time around either and by the time you move on to the mask section, you’ll already have completed a full third of the set.

However, it’s when you get to the third bag of pieces included with 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask that the LEGO Marvel build really starts to get interesting. As we’ve seen with similar sets such as 75349 Captain Rex Helmet and 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet, recreating smooth and rounded shapes can be a bit of a challenge when using notoriously angled LEGO elements. Spider-Man’s head is also a lot taller than other LEGO Helmet Collection sets, presenting the model with a double building challenge to tackle.

For a set that has to closely follow the shape of a human head, it would seem at first glance that 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask has a bit of a tough hill to climb. The LEGO Marvel model therefore tackles each facial area of the build in separate stages, with a series of smaller sections attached to each side of the model, rounding out the potentially blocky form as much as possible.

A combination of smooth, curved pieces help create the illusion of roundness here and there, as do a number of larger elements such as two repurposed and printed windscreens at the front of the LEGO Marvel build.

The overall effect should allay any fears you may have when it comes to 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask managing to achieve the desired look of the character’s iconic headwear. Sure, it doesn’t work that well from all angles, but when glimpsed from a certain distance and the right viewpoint (especially when facing forward), the results are extremely satisfying.

The brick-built sections representing Spidey’s large black and white eyes are particularly impressive, with the two mini-builds slotting neatly into the main mask thanks to the inclusion of ball and socket pieces. Fortunately, the completed build has no particularly wobbly or loose sections and 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask presents itself as a solid and sturdy model just waiting to be added to your LEGO Marvel collection.

A printed Spider-Man nameplate at the front of the base is the icing on the cake of the build, one that has very few negatives. 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask‘s only real downsides would be the frustrating decision to make some of the mask’s web patterns printed pieces and some stickers, plus it can often be a little tricky to get those lines to connect up accurately.

However, the finished results speak for themselves and there’s no denying that 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask is something of a surprising triumph. Some LEGO Helmet Collection sets tend to bite off more than they can chew, selecting a certain character that doesn’t work all that well in brick-built form. The good news with this LEGO Marvel set is that it ticks plenty of the right boxes, proving itself to be both amazing and spectacular.

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask characters —

As with every other LEGO helmet model released to date, there’s sadly no minifigure included with 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask. The one that’s shown in the images for this review is merely there to provide an appropriate sense of superheroic scale.

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask price —

Compared to the unnecessarily pricier 76251 Star-Lord’s Helmet, this is one LEGO Marvel build that provides much more value for money. 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask retails for £59.99 in the UK, $69.99 in the US and €69.99 in Europe, with that figure getting you the 487 pieces and multiple stickers required to complete the model.

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask pictures —

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask pros and cons —

Despite some initial scepticism regarding the LEGO Marvel build, 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask is something of a surprising triumph. The latest addition to the line-up of superhero busts, helmets, cowls and headgear proves to be an accurate and satisfying model to construct, and one that also manages to stay as true to its original source material as its brick-built nature will allow.

There are some minor niggles though, as certain viewing angles aren’t all that flattering and the blocky form of 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask does tend to break up the head’s web patterns a little too often. Likewise, it feels as if the set’s designers should have gone all in with printed pieces, but the inclusion of some stickered elements was undoubtedly to be expected.

76285 Spider-Man’s Mask pros	76285 Spider-Man’s Mask cons
Successfully captures the look of the web-slinger’s iconic headwear	The mask’s web patterns often don’t line up all that well
Finished model looks very accurate from some viewing angles	Stickered pieces should have been printed elements
Solid and sturdy build with little wobble	Model can look a little blocky from some angles

76285 Spider-Man’s Mask was provided by the LEGO Group for review.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask —

When it comes to alternative LEGO Marvel headgear models, you really only have a limited selection from which to choose. 76165 Iron Man Helmet, 76187 Venom and 76199 Carnage are all long since retired, leaving just 76251 Star-Lord’s Helmet as the only currently-available option. Although not technically part of that line-up, 76215 Black Panther can still be picked up and is regularly discounted by a number of retailers. 

— LEGO Marvel 76285 Spider-Man’s Mask FAQs —