Review: LEGO 75975 Watchpoint Gibraltar

January 27, 2019 | 1

Continuing my series of LEGO Overwatch reviews is the largest set from the theme – 75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar, named after the Escort map of the same name.

The set’s cornerstone is the Overwatch rocket, placed amidst the launch complex, and launch tower.

Naturally, there’s a lot of expectation placed on the largest set of the theme, which is why I went into this set with much heavier expectations.

Name: Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Set Number: 75975
Pieces: 730
Price: AU$139.99 | US$89.99 | £79.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK] [Amazon]
Exclusive to: Amazon [Australia]
Theme: Overwatch
Release Date: 1 January 2019

Watchpoint: Gibraltar includes 4 minifigures, 3 of which are exclusive to this set. Reaper has a slightly different look (compared to the one in Dorado Showdown), which technically makes him “exclusive” to the set, but I’m not considering him an exclusive character.

This set has arguably the strongest lineup of minifigures in the theme, with heavy fan favourites Pharah and Mercy (colloquially known as PhaMercy), as well as Winston, the hyper-intelligent gorilla who has been an Overwatch mainstay since day one.

In a theme that primarily uses minifigures to sell sets, this set already seems like a winner, but everything isn’t as great as it seems. It’ll become apparent when we dive into the minifigures in more detail.

First up we have Winston, who rightly makes an appearance as a bigfig.

Winston is a genetically-engineered gorilla, raised on the moon and has a bit of an obsession with bananas and peanut butter.

He’s been a perennial favourite in Overwatch games, and he was the subject of another fantastic animated short titled Recall which you can watch on Youtube.

The Winston bigfig is fantastically designed, with a lot of care and attention placed on the moulding on his head, limbs and body.

His face in particular is great and I really like the texture of his hair, and the printing on his face, such as his glasses on his face.

Here’s Winston from the side – I really like the segments on his arm. On his back is a jump-pack, which gives him the ability to clear distances, making him a very mobile hero in the game.

In his arms is his signature weapon, a Tesla Cannon, which has stickers applied on it for detail.

Winston’s back has studs, which allows you to affix the jump-pack to it. 

Winston is slightly smaller compared to other bigfigs – here’s how he stacks up against the Hulk and Maui.

I do love that they didn’t just re-use the traditional bigfig mould – as you can see, Winston is hunched over instead of being more upright which makes him look more Gorilla-esque.

Another fantastic bit of attention to detail are his feet, which have prehensile toes, like those found in most species of monkeys!

The LEGO designers absolutely nailed Winston, and his fans/mains will be delighted by just how well-designed the entire bigfig is, with seemingly no expense spared to get tiny bits of details just right.

Here’s Reaper, which has previously made an appearance in the Dorado Showdown set – he’s the only Overwatch character that has shown up in two sets.

He’s mostly unchanged from the Dorado version, except that in this set he comes in his Wraith form, where he turns into a spooky ghost for a short period of time granting him temporary invulnerability.

His legs make use of the ghost/spectre legs, and have that great marbled translucent look which makes him look adequately wispy.

He comes with his signature set of twin shotguns which he uses in-game to inflict massive damage on his foes.

Here’s a look at Reaper’s regular form, where he just has simple old black legs. The print on his torso is still great with some shotgun shells strapped to his chest and a black jacket.

I do like his skull-like face printing, which looks suitably menacing. It has a cool futuristic vibe to it, that reminds me of the designs from Bungie’s Destiny and I feel like it has lots of strong applications beyond Overwatch.

Here’s a look at his back printing.

Reaper’s pretty nice, but it is a little disappointing to double up on him, even if this version is slightly different with his Wraith form legs.

I feel like there was meant to be another character meant to be included in Reaper’s place – maybe Lucio who would’ve been a great fit for this map. Hopefully we’ll see him in the next wave of LEGO Overwatch sets.

Next, we have the Pharah minifigure, which is nothing short of magnificent. I daresay that she’s one of the best-looking LEGO minifigures not just in the Overwatch theme, but possibly that we’ve seen so far in 2019.

Pharah is an Egyptian hero, decked out in bad-ass combat armour that allows her to zip around the air. Her character design draws inspiration from a falcon, and Falcon-god Horus, which ties in with her Egyptian heritage.

Her helmet is sublime, with a huge metallic golden visor extending out from it, that contrasts beautifully against her electric blue armour.

Attached to her armour are her pair of wings which allow her to zip around the skies. Also check out the great level of detail on the side of her helmet.

Unfortunately, like most minifigs in the theme, Pharah lacks any arm or side leg printing, which is a bit of a shame as she would’ve benefited from extra detailing on her arms, to match the complex armour printing on her torso.

Here’s Pharah without her helmet and a better look at her combat armour, which borrows some design cues from Nexo Knights armours.

The armour takes it up a notch in the design department, as it boasts slices of transparent blue sections, just above the shoulderpads. They’re a little hard to make out in the photos, but look really brilliant in person.

For weaponry, she has her trusty rocket launcher, which is built out of a typical stud shooter. In the game, Pharah’s rocket barrage is exceedingly deadly especially if you cop a few in your face!

Here’s a look at Pharah’s alternate face, where she has a bit of an angry snarl. She has an Eye of Horus tattoo just under her right eye, which is another nod to her Egyptian heritage.

Pharah’s futuristic, flying combat armour and rocket launcher is the stuff of dreams for any sci-fi fan and the designers responsible for her design have done an amazing job bringing her to life as a LEGO minifigure.

I never really played with Pharah in Overwatch, and she was always pretty pesky due to all the damage that she was able to dish from the air. That said, her fantastic design has made her my favourite Overwatch minifigure that isn’t D.Va so far.

Next up we have Mercy, arguably one of the most popular (and notorious) Overwatch characters. Mercy is a renowned doctor from Switzerland, thus playing the role of Support/Healer in game.

She’s outfitted in her Valkyrie Suit, which gives her that iconic angel look – the Valkyrie Suit is a piece of hi-tech equipment that grants her the ability to fly, to get close to people that require medical attention.

She also wields a Caduceus Staff, which allows her to channel healing energies to restore the health of her allies, or buff them by increasing the damage that they deal.

In games, during a period when Mercy was pretty much overpowered/broken, it’s not uncommon for teammates to yell “Kill Mercy first!”, which tells you just how much of an impact she can play with her healing, and ability to resurrect teammates from death.

The printing on her torso and legs are superb, accurately capturing all the details and colours of her Valkyrie Suit.

From behind, you can see her trademark angel wings. These aren’t new elements, so they look a little feathery instead of the sharp spokes from Mercy’s in-game model, and there’s also a distinct lack of yellow tips.

One of the neat things about Mercy is her hairpiece, which is tied up in a ponytail and has a golden halo fused into her hair.

Here’s a look at Mercy’s back printing and alternate face, which has  bit of a worried expression to it.

So, have you noticed something devastatingly off about Mercy? Maybe this side by side photo next to a computer-generated model of her minifigure will help you.

Mercy’s face, instead of being flesh coloured is a sickly shade of grey, and is hands down the biggest disappointment of the set.

LEGO have absolutely botched the printing of her face, which sometimes happens when you print light colours onto a black face, but it’s absolutely shocking at how bad it turned out.

Instead of looking like an angel, radiating with compassion and grace, as she is often depicted in Overwatch media, she ends up looking like a sickly zombie.

You instantly know that this is a catastrophic mistake when you look at all the renders, even the set images on the product page which don’t depict Mercy’s face with a dull greyish shade.

I‘m actually shocked that someone at LEGO would’ve signed off on what is absolutely a Quality Control issue, and allowed this to leave the factory floor.

Mercy fans are absolutely going to be disappointed by how LEGO did their favourite character dirty with the shoddy printing job.

Oh well, here’s the duo of Pharah and Mercy, commonly known as “PhaMercy”. Together, they make up one of the most irritating combos to play against, especially at the lower skill levels where players don’t know how to counter them.

Mercy’s been nerfed slightly since then, but that hasn’t really dampened the presence of PhaMercy in online games.

The lineup of minifigures is a mixed bag – there are some stunning entries such as Pharah and Winston, but the entire experience is marred by how badly Mercy’s minifigure appears.

On to the build – for a large set, it was really quite an enjoyable build. There aren’t a lot of repetitive sections, and it’s quite rewarding putting it all together.

Here’s a look at the Watchpoint:Gibraltar launch complex, which features a bright red launch tower, and a launchpad for the payload.

When I put it together, I was surprised by how tall the set was – the launch tower stands at 37cm tall, which I didn’t really expect from the box art.

The launch tower has some really neat industrial details – I really like the piping and valves across the base of the launchpad. Those two dark red circles are where the Rocket snugly docks itself to the structure.

Here’s the secondary launchpad, where the payload goes. If you own the Tracer vs Widowmaker set, it contains a small drone payload that should rest itself comfortably here.

Here’s a look at the tower, which again, has more cool industrial features – I really like the red oxygen tanks that clip to the beams.

Here’s a look at the top of the tower, where there’s an extendable ladder that connects to the rocket, allowing passengers to walk into it.

Last but not least is the Overwatch rocket itself. When building it, I was really surprised by the construction and building techniques.

There are no technic parts in this – this employs an old school, stack-the-bricks-on-each-other style which was honestly fun.

The rocket is quite long, measuring 37 cm from tip to tip.

The design of the rocket is pretty neat, it gives off this futuristic take on NASA’s Space Shuttle with sharp hints of blue adorning it.

The rocket is actually made of two separate ships, hence the presence of double cockpits.

Here’s the secondary cockpit, which also opens up.

The Rocket has minimal details on it, which is quite nice. No large obnoxious stickers that run across the hull, which is actually pretty nice as it then relies on the contours of the bricks to give it its distinct look.

There’s just a few Overwatch logo stickers strewn across the rocket, which aren’t that prominent to begin with.

At the back is a hatch that opens up to reveal a small interior section of the rocket. It’s large enough to accommodate Winston in a lying down position, so it’s actually pretty roomy!

The interiors are pretty bare, although there are some nice nods towards Winston’s favourite food items – a banana and a jar of peanut butter with the orange lid, that are a major fixture in any media depicting Winston.

Here’s a look at the back engine thrusters of the rocket. Fairly stock standard, and a little small, in comparison with the size of the rocket.

The rocket splits into two separate ships relatively easily, using a simple pin mechanism, so they just pop out without much effort.

Here are the two rockets side by side – the front of the ship has a sleeker design, and the back has a bulkier, transport shuttle look.

In all honestly, both rockets don’t look great on their own, so I prefer them fused into one larger rocket.

This play feature is great for kids, as it effectively gives them two ships to play with, and I’m sure they’ll enjoy transforming the rockets and breaking it up into smaller ships.

Here’s the Rocket docked on the launchpad – the mechanism is quite simple – the rocket’s thrusters fall into place in the two circles at the base.

It’s quite stable on its own, so you won’t have to worry about it losing balance and tipping over.

The umbilical pipe that extends from the tower to the rocket, presumably for refuelling doesn’t actually fasten to the rocket to hold it in place, to further demonstrate how stable it is being held upright on its own.

Here’s how it looks from the side. This is quite a substantially-sized model, and given the set’s relatively high price, I think the overall size and heft of the completed model justifies itself reasonably well.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar aces the accuracy test, as you can see from the in-game image above. The designers have clearly put in a lot of effort to capture all the signature elements in the design, and it has translated especially well into LEGO form, which will undoubtedly delight Overwatch fans.

Unlike most expensive licensed sets, where it seems like you’re paying up to 40% of the set’s price for minifigures, the sheer size and how well this structure looks on display makes this set actually feel quite fairly priced as you’re getting a pretty substantial overall package.

What I liked:

• Winston is a solidly designed bigfig with great attention to detail
• Pharah’s outstanding design translates well into LEGO
• The build was fun, and varied enough
• Overwatch Rocket is satisfyingly large and the overall launch complex looks great as a display piece

What I didn’t like: 

• Mercy’s disappointing Zombie-coloured face
• A double up on Reaper if you own Dorado Showdown
• No arm printing across all minifigs

Final thoughts: Taken as a whole, Watchpoint: Gibraltar has a lot going for it, and feels like tremendous value.

Despite being the most expensive set in the theme, it feels like it earns its pricetag by providing a solid Overwatch Rocket, combined with the launchpad – creating a well-rounded package where you feel like you get what you pay for.

The Overwatch Rocket was fun to build, and has that old-school appeal that eschews large, specialised pieces in favour of using smaller elements to achieve its sleek shape and distinct look.

Like most sets in the theme, the minifigures are intended to be the main selling point, and fans of Pharah and Winston will be more than happy to know that their favourite heroes are translated into LEGO minifigure-form exceptionally well.

Pharah in particular, with her armour and all the little moulded details of her helmet make her one of the best-designed Overwatch minifigures in the entire theme.

Winston also packs a punch, with his uniquely-moulded bigfig that incorporates amazing attention to detail, and tiny design flourishes such as moulded armour sections on his body, arms and legs.

Sadly, Mercy manages to drag this set down pretty harshly purely because of the awful printing mistake on her greyish, lifeless face.

It’s hard to imagine that LEGO’s philosophy of “only the best is good enough” was applied to the Mercy minifigure as this is clearly a production issue that was somehow approved and allowed to be inserted into retail sets.

Overwatch as a LEGO theme was conceived to appeal to Overwatch players, luring them in with the premise of owning their favourite heroes in the iconic minifigure form, so to think that LEGO absolutely stuffed up Mercy, one of the most popular and important (in the meta) heroes in the game this badly is simply inconceivable.

Which is really disappointing, as I think Watchpoint: Gibraltar is quite a substantial set that boasts great value for its price point. 

Unfortunately, Mercy’s status as one of THE faces of Overwatch and how badly the minifigure looks drags the entire set down, and honestly makes it really hard to recommend this set.

A lot of Overwatch fans will be eyeing this set, mostly to own the PhaMercy minifigure duo, but with one of them being quite poorly executed, I can’t help but not recommend the set.

I really hope LEGO realises how badly the Quality Control was on the Mercy minifigure. This isn’t simply a patch of skin that’s miscoloured, but the minifig’s face which is one of her defining features.

I also really hope they make it right somehow, and fix this printing mistake, and allow those who have purchased this set to be able to request a Mercy head with the printing fixed, as advertised in all the official renders and images of the set. Fat chance of this happening, but a man can dream.

Unfortunately, this is a classic case of one rotten apple spoiling the entire barrel, as it just ruins the set’s overall experience for me. In an alternate universe where Mercy’s minifigure had no issues, this set would’ve been an easy 4/5 but sadly, I have to relegate the score of this set to 2/5.

Rating: 2/5

LEGO Overwatch is now available worldwide from LEGO.com and most major toy stores. In Australia, the sets will be available for purchase from the Legoland Discovery Centre, Dreamworld LEGO Store and Amazon Australia in February.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set for early reviews. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the review! I’d love to hear about your thoughts on the set, especially if you own it in the comments section.

What do you think of Mercy’s face printing, and how well the other characters were translated into LEGO?

Don’t forget, you can find many more reviews in the Jay’s Brick Blog Review Hub and also check out some of my other LEGO Overwatch reviews.

To stay up to date on the latest posts, you can follow the Jay’s Brick Blog Facebook page or subscribe to receive email alerts for new posts! I also post behind the scenes content, and teasers on my Instagram page @jayong28, so give me a follow if you’d like to see more!

Until next time!