Take on Lex Luthor and his kryptonite gun to free Wonder Woman! Superman’s™ arch enemy Lex Luthor has built a kryptonite-powered robot and has captured Wonder Woman. Can Superman™ dodge the strength-sapping power of Luthor’s kryptonite gun and make light work of his evil nemesis! Includes 3 minifigures: Superman™, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. Includes 3 minifigures: Superman™, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor Features kryptonite robot and kryptonite gun Kryptonite robot features movable fingers for grabbing Wonder Woman Dodge Lex Luthor’s kryptonite gun! Kryptonite robot measures over 5” (15cm) tall First impressions of this set were generally undewhelming. It was a mech, kind of lumped in with the construction releases of 4526 Batman, 4527 The Joker, 4528 Green Lantern, 4529 Iron Man, 4530 The Hulk and 4597 Captain America (and in my local stores literally placed in the middle of them on the shelves). Yet upon closer inspection, it is certainly its own set individually with some awesome minifigures.
Could this perhaps be a small diamond in the rough? Without a doubt, these minifigures are the focal point of this set. Superman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor are all exclusive here. This Superman minifigure is only available in this set though it was also given away during the 2011 Comic Con. There are "Man of Steel" variations of the character from the latest cinematic release. This Wonder Woman minifigure is only available in this set, and has no variations or previous releases. This Lex Luthor minifigure is only available in this set, though has a variation in the 30164 polybag. If we look below, we can see the prices these minifigures average on Bricklink: Name Past 6 Month Avg (SOLD) Current Selling (AVG) Wonder Woman $6.25 $8.55 Superman $12.50 $13.35 Lex Luthor $2.99 $4.44 As for unique and rare parts, outside of the minifigs the following parts in this set are rare: Rock crystal - transparent green Transparent 1x2 tile - bright green Front 2x2 - bright green Bow/Angle 4x6 - bright green
The mech is reasonably articulated, giving plenty of room to set it up for battle. There are plenty of poses that can be made, as Lex Luthor battles Superman and Wonder Woman. That being said, outside of this feature the set does not posses a great degree of playability; it all depends on the builder's creativity. The build itself is very simple and shouldn't be challenging for even reasonably young Lego enthusiasts, though they may need a little extra adult help! The retail price on this set is $19.99 US. To see what we get for our purchase, let us first look at the minifigure sales again. Name Past 6 Month Avg (SOLD) Current Selling (AVG) Wonder Woman $6.25 $8.55 Superman $12.50 $13.35 Lex Luthor $2.99 $4.44 Already we can see that the minifigures sell for more collectively than an entire set costs at retail price. Already, purchasers are ahead without having to do anything other than open a set. Now let us look at the price per piece ratio of this and other similar Mech sets: Set Number Set Name Year Retail Price Number of Pieces Price per Piece 6862 Superman vs Power Armor Lex 2012 $19.99 207 9.67c 70707 CLS-89 Eradicator Mech 2013 $39.99 440 9.09c 79105 Baxter Robot Rampage 2013 $39.99 397 10.07c 70500 Kai's Fire Mech 2013 $9.99 102 9.79c 9455 Fangpyre Mech 2012 $24.99 255 9.8c As we can see
, the prices are fairly similar, as mech sets combine multiple figures with larger parts. Between DC and Marvel, Lego has thus far issued 29 sets under the Super Heroes line, polybags excluded. Of this, 15 sets are based on DC characters leaving 14 from the Marvel Universe. Breaking the DC sets down further, there are 10 Batman-centric sets, 4 Superman (3 Man of Steel, 1 Justice League) and 1 set based on the Green Lantern maxi build. Speaking of Superman's popularity, the latest Man of Steel movie has currently grossed just under $650 million worldwide in ticket sales. With 4 Lego sets to his name thus far, it would be fair to say he is a popular character who we will see more of in the future (especially with a sequel involving Batman!) This set was released in December 2011 and is still currently available. It was available in many stores and easily accessible to consumers, especially considering the low price. Front Cover Back Cover The box art is fairly neat with the minifigures prominantly displayed.
I am not a fan of the yellow text on the box front as it makes it a bit difficult to read. The back is well laid out, similar to a comic. The box itself seems very sturdy with the thicker cardboard used on some sets. The issue, as always, is you can feel the hollow sections when squeezing the boxes due to the large amount of space inside. The Brick Picker data is currently a bit off for this set, due to a crossover in listings between this and the 6862 Secret Space Voyager. However, this is the data I believe to be accurate: As we can see the returns thus far aren't too impressive, with a near 15% drop in value. Current bricklink averages for the past 6 months are: Times Sold: 49 Total Qty: 204 Min Price: US $4.50 Avg Price: US $13.05 Qty Avg Price: US $13.42 Max Price: US $34.00 It is obvious here that there can be issues with reporting, as it is unlikely someone will sell thise set at $4.50 sealed. A sale of $34? Due to people selling sets on bricklink listed as "new" though having been opened and minifigures removed, it doesn't really give a truly accurate portrayal.
What can we do with this data? Well we know there has been a high priced sale on bricklink. We know that prices over the last year on eBay are up and down, looking at the returns. Finally, we know the minifigures are worth more separated than the set is sealed. Let's look at the previous sets again, this time with CAGR: Set Number Set Name Year Retail Price Number of Pieces CAGR 6862 Superman vs Power Armor Lex 2012 $19.99 207 -14.96% 70707 CLS-89 Eradicator Mech 2013 $39.99 440 - 79105 Baxter Robot Rampage 2013 $39.99 397 21.28% 70500 Kai's Fire Mech 2013 $9.99 102 14.51% 9455 Fangpyre Mech 2012 $24.99 255 7.60% Mechs certainly do ok though not as well as I would anticipate (The Baxter set is an exclusive).The minifigures will continue to push the sales of this set. More than likely we will see Superman in another set in the future, however, Lego has made a point throughout this entire Super Hero theme (between both Marvel and DC) of not only spreading characters out throgh their sets, but also giving many variation prints making them exclusive to particular sets (see Iron Man, Batman, upcoming Riddler as examples).
The DC Super Heroes line currently has a healthy CAGR of 22.62%, above the standard 11.36% which is incredible considering there hasn't been a raft of retirements. As such, it can be expected this set will appreciate in value after it goes EOL at a reasonable rate of return. This set can be displayed easily, posing the mech in any way you like to make it more appealing. The figures are an interesting conversation piece, as they all are exclusive, however I don't believe the mech itself commans any particular eye catching features. While the mech itself isn't exactly appealing, the vibrant colours and exclusive minifigures make this set a must buy for comic book fans. The minifigures alone sell for more than the cost of a brand new set at full retail price, and will only increase in value as time progresses. With Lego churning out Super Hero sets and changing prints on the characters to keep them exclusive, the collectability of minifigures will only increase. When the Man of Steel sequel is released featuring Batman, it will open up the character even more to mainstream audiences, as Batman is currently the gem in the DC Universe.