New LEGO Marvel sets achieve what Star Wars dioramas couldn’t

Two recently revealed LEGO Marvel sets have got us thinking about what could have been with LEGO Star Wars dioramas.

Several new LEGO Marvel sets were just revealed, including two sets that take brick-built snapshots of iconic MCU battle scenes. Although both 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and 76266 Endgame Final Battle can only capture a moment from the lengthy final battles from both Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home, the minifigure casts and dynamic structures in both still offer a lot of depth and action from the stationary builds.

It’s hard not to look at them and compare to the LEGO Star Wars dioramas, particularly the most recent two that were released in honour of Return of the Jedi’s 40th birthday, 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama and 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama. Although it’s worth acknowledging that both Star Wars sets are playing with a smaller piece count and price than the Marvel ones, we’d already highlighted what we thought 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama was missing – and the LEGO Marvel arrivals address every one of those concerns.

Where 75352 and 75353 are restricted to printed bases that eat up the piece count and make it hard to convey a sense of depth or action, 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and 76266 Endgame Final Battle sit on circular bases that don’t limit the action of the set. With several different brick-built structures coming together in 76266, there’s plenty of space for the minifigures to fly around one another and be positioned in multiple different spots throughout the set.

Similarly, the centrepiece of 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle might be the in-construction Captain America shield, but the scaffolding offers more display opportunities – and that’s lucky, or else there wouldn’t be anywhere for its stacked cast of nine minifigures to go.

By comparison, the much smaller LEGO Star Wars dioramas convey none of this sense of action, despite both portraying dynamic scenes themselves. The mighty trees of Endor arguably pack more of a punch than the wreckage of the Endgame battlegrounds or the construction scene on Liberty Island – but you wouldn’t know it to look at them.

Ultimately, the extra few hundred pieces and £20 in price go a long way in both 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and 76266 Endgame Final Battle, creating more dynamic, action-packed scenes in each set. Plus, they’re not the only LEGO Marvel sets on their way this year – see the list below for more incoming.

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Every LEGO Marvel set confirmed for summer 2023

LEGO set	Price	Pieces	Release date
76249 Venomised Groot	£46.99 / $49.99 / €52.99	630	August 1, 2023
76257 Wolverine Construction Figure	£31.99 / $TBC / €37.99	327	June 1, 2023
76258 Captain America Construction Figure	£20.99 / $TBC / €26.99	310	June 1, 2023
76260 Black Widow & Captain America Motorcycles	£12.99 / $TBC / €15.99	281	June 1, 2023
76261 Spider-Man Final Battle	£94.99 / $109.99 / €104.99	900	August 1, 2023
76263 Iron Man Hulkbuster vs. Thanos	£20.99 / $26.99 / €26.99	66	August 1, 2023
76266 Endgame Final Battle	£94.99 / $109.99 / €104.99	794	August 1, 2023

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