Review: Brainiac Attack

Entry posted by xccj February 15, 2015

976 views

And here’s another short review. I ordered 76040 Brainiac Attack at the start of the new year, but then it got backordered and I didn’t receive it until the end of the month. But I’ve put it together and now will speak my mind on this.

Brainiac Attack is $24.99 USD, the second cheapest DC Super Heroes set out this winter and the cheapest one to get Superman in. And you wouldn’t be amiss if you got this strictly for the figs; technically they’re all unique, although that’s slightly misleading. Superman’s head, hair, and torso are all reused from previous versions, although not necessarily all from the same fig. The only main difference is the cape, which is a new softer fabric material, unlike the paper-like capes of old. On one hand, it doesn’t fit around the necks quite as nicely, but it feels much better to touch. The new cape style is seen with the other figs too. Martian Manhunter is also not exactly new, as he showed up in a polybag last year, but he does have some more-obviously updated printing, plus the two part cape. Brainiac is completely new, with a new lime green head and tubes printed on his torso. But, honestly, he’s kind of boring. The real reason to get this set would be the unique Supergirl, who comes with a nice female torso printing, a printed skirt on her legs, and a soft fabric cape. Don’t get me wrong, the other figs are nice and certainly help build out a child’s Justice League. But since I got Sups and MM already, Kara was the one I was after.

Then there’s the actual build, because they need to include bricks with their minifigs nowadays. It appears to be some skull UFO manned by Brainiac. I confess, I’m not that deep into DC lore, so I have no idea how comic-book accurate this is. I guess it’s seen in the latest Batman game, so that makes it worthwhile. The bulk of it is pretty meh; it feels just like another standard UFO from Alien Conquest. The tentacles at the bottom are a neat touch, and I like the use of the technic beams to attach them to the craft. The most interesting design feature, however, is the skull on the front, which has some neat SNOT (studs not on top) usage, especially with the cheese slopes on the nose. Piece wise, there’s not a lot here that’s of interest. The silver tentacles elements are relatively rare, haven’t only appeared in, wouldn’t ya know it, Bionicle playsets. This is also the only set to get the 8x8x3 dome in trans neon green. Oh, and it has that new super jumper thing, which you can attach to a minifig and use to make them leap. I’m not a huge fan of it, so it’s probably not going to get used much. . . ever.

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in this set. All on it’s own, it’s not too bad, because it comes with a good cast of character, a decent build, and all at an affordable price. But it feels too repetitive, from the UFO build to the reused figs and not enough interesting pieces. For a more dedicated fan, I might avoid this one and try for one of the others. (I mean, the Green Lantern set definitely delivers, and it’s even cheaper than this one.) Unless you want Supergirl, like I did. Since she’s currently going for $10 on Bricklink anyway, might as well get the full set with her for just a little bit more.

:music: