Sorry This item is currently sold out. Please enter your email address into the box below and press 'notify me' for availability updates. Email Digg Delicious Reddit StumbleUpon Chase down Killian with Iron Man and War Machine!When it comes to sets that are at a lower price point it is often the case that some have features that can only truly be appreciated once they've been built and/or played with personally, while other sets may seem like a good buy but are sorely disappointing once constructed. Thankfully 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown is a solid build and lands safely in the former field of appreciation. Even though it's a small set 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown has enough interesting play features to make it a worthwhile purchase and even though the wide availability of the figures bring down the potential for an above average investment the fact that this is the cheapest set to include both these figures will probably set 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown up for moderately good potential return.
The selected parts for this set, most of which are tans and greys for the rubble and yellow and black for the car, are quite nice with only a few notable parts which is expected in a small set. The largest and most notable pieces are the antenna tower and dark grey car chassis both are pieces that are always nice to have more of. There are also four black 1X4 bow plates and two yellow 2X4 bow plates used to give the vehicle a sleek appearance but could also be put to good use when used to add smoothness and colouration in a custom build. The minifigures included in this set are Superman and General Zod (without his armour, cape or gun) and are as usual for a licensed theme (particularly the Super Heroes theme) very well detailed, even moreso since they're based on characters from a live-action film and they are probably the main draw for purchasing this set, though the rest of the set itself is made well enough to warrant purchasing even if one isn't a fan of the figures.
As can be seen above Superman's Man of Steel suit has very fine detailing. His hair with its classic "S" curl and his main face are the same as all other versions of the minifigure however the alternate face shows an enraged Superman baring his teeth and preparing a heat-vision blast in his eyes. His cape is normal red like the comics version of the figure which is fine though a dark red cape would have made for a better pairing with this version. Supes' front printing shows where his cape attaches on his front shoulders with a bit of his collar showing in betwen them as well as a stylized dark red "S" laid over a gold diamond shaped shield to form his famous emblem, the rest of the printing is of his muscles along with silver and gold highlights near the edges of his earth blue torso and legs. The only thing missing on this superbly detailed figure are his red boots which seems odd to exclude since the legs were already printed along the upper sides and therefore it probably wouldn't take much effort for the figure to have had a bit of extra print near the bottom of said legs.
Unfortunately I accidentally stained the back of my copy of Superman with a bit of red ink hence the weird marks (I'll think twice next time I handle minifigures after using a pen). Otherwise the back detailing of Superman continues to be great with the printing showing more silver and gold highlights along with back muscles. General Zod uses a black combed/greased back hair piece first introduced in the Harry Potter theme in 2010 and while the hairpiece isn't a perfect match for the figure it's understandable since The Lego Company probably doesn't want to make a custom hairpiece for every licensed figure. Zod's double sided head is even more accurate to the movie than Superman's, with his brown goatee, bushy eyebrows and scowling face translated almost perfectly into minifigure form, the only thing missing is a bit of grey on the goatee. His alternate face is also like Superman's with bared teeth and heat-vision eyes. The rest of Zod's printing is very precise and almost identical to Superman's with the only differences being that his emblem looks like a sideways "U" instead of an "S" and the colours are all silver and grey on black.
The only thing "wrong" with General Zod's minifigure when compared to his movie version is that the silver detailing on the figure is much more bold than it was in the movie, of course this is a minor quibble and probably shouldn't be cause for dismay. Again the detailing on Zod's back is identical to Superman's save for the different colours. For a set at the lowest price point available in the Super Heroes theme (CA $15.99/ £11.99 / US $12.99) 76002: Superman: Metroplis Showdown has a remarkably high playability factor especially when compared to a set like 76008: Iron Man vs. The Mandarin: Ultimate Showdown. Even with a small and simple build this set has features which work together with the figures perfectly when they're battling each other. The car has some nice sidebars that allow the figures to pick it up and throw at each other while the the rubble has a little seesaw-like apparatus that can be used to flip said car and the antenna tower has a little setup at the bottom that can be used to pop it out or it can simply be picked up by one of the figures.
The build is very simple with some pretty standard sloped bricks used to form rubble around the antenna tower and there isn't anything special about the car though it is extremely wide. Though it's a small set 76002: Superman: Metroplis Showdown is nonetheless a solid little little set that has pretty good potential to become a worthwhile investment in the future. Figure Last 6 Months Sales (Avg) Current Items for Sale (Avg) Superman CA $5.47 US $5.13 GBP 3.88 CA $6.20 US $6.51 GBP 4.31 General Zod CA $3.92 US $3.28 GBP 2.27 CA $3.86 US $4.58 GBP 3.05 When parted out on average the two figures have sold for a total of CA $9.39, US $8.41, GBP 6.15 with each average equaling about two thirds of the MSRP for the set as a whole. So while not a superb return for your money if you plan on parting this set out you still get quite a bit back and of course it's always a good idea to look for a sale which would greatly boost the return here. Super Heroes is one of the most popular themes currently available and is no doubt aided by the recent and ongoing movies and cartoons.
Even with the polarizing "love it or hate it" opinions among fans regarding Man of Steel it was popular enough for the studios in charge to start filming a sequel. 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown is available for all retailers to sell an therefore isn't an exclusive. The box is pretty standard size and shape for a set at this price point CA $15.99 (£11.99 / US$12.99 / €14.99) and shows some of the play features along with General Zod throwing a car a Superman. By taking a look at the Brickset ratings and Bricklink prices of this along with the other sets of the same price point in the Super Heroes theme one can gain an understanding of how 76002: Superman: Metroplis Showdown may continue to appreciate and also how it's been doing among the other sets like it. Set Number/Name Year of Release Pieces Brickset Rating Avg. Price (BL) 6865: Captain America's Avenging Cycle 2012 72 4.12/5 CA $23.70 6858: Catwoman Catcycle City Chase 2012 89 4.11/5 CA $22.14 76008: Iron Man vs. The Mandarin: Ultimate Showdown 2013 91 3.08/5 CA $15.19 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown 2013 119 3.63/5 CA $12.62 Now even though 76002
: Superman: Metropolis Showdown is the lowest performing set at the CA $15.99 price point in the Super Heroes theme it is important to note that the sets sitting higher on the graph, along with being rated better, all have at least one or more exclusive figures, with the two highest sets have all exclusive figures with the exception of the alien foot soldier in 6865: Captain America's Avenging Cycle. So while it probably won't become insanely popular in the future 76002: Superman: Metropolis Showdown will probably experience moderately good growth. However one last important factor to consider is that if the Man of Steel sequel and the future DC movies are popular this set could also experience a bit of a boost in popularity in a few years but of course that all depends on how those movies are received by audiences and the media. In terms of display and visual appeal this set (aside from the figures) is pretty good with the car and antenna tower giving a chance to set up a fight scene vignette between General Zod and Superman, but other than that there isn't a whole lot to show.