Review: LEGO Wolverine and Captain America Construction Figures (76257 and 76258)

May 20, 2023 | 1

The LEGO Marvel Construction Figures expands with 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure and 76258 Captain America Construction Figure set to be released in June 2023.

These buildable action figures are now part of LEGO Marvel’s regular release cycle, and Wolverine and Captain America are the latest additions, joining Ant-Man, Spider-Man figures and 76206 Iron Man Figure.

They’re a fairly unique and very niche LEGO product as they’re a cross between building mechs and LEGO’s old Constraction theme, so most people will either love them or not bother with them.

Let’s take a quick look at 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure and 76258 Captain America Construction Figure ahead of their 1 June 2023 release!

Who is this set for? Kids that enjoy LEGO, Marvel and Action figures that are fun to build and playable.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending these sets over for this review.

76257 Wolverine Construction Figure Set Details

Set number: 76257
Set name: Wolverine Construction Figure
Pieces: 327
Retail Price: US$TBD / AU$TBD / £31.99 / €37.99
Theme: Marvel Super Heroes / X-Men 97
Release Date: 1 June 2023

Let’s go bub! One of the most interesting things about the Wolverine Construction Figure is that it’s an X-Men 97 licensed product, which is exciting as LEGO is able to produce sets from the upcoming animated reboot of the beloved X-Men cartoon.

Wolverine has benefited from being the de-facto leader of the X-Men in the Fox cinematic movies, and even his own standalone movies so it makes a lot of sense for LEGO to lead with Wolverine as the X-Men/mutant representative.

The construction figure has all the articulation you can expect, from elbows, to knees, and even a torso that can swivel around, making posing it effortless. Unfortunately, the construction figure doesn’t really translate well to a character like Wolverine, and it ends up looking quite goofy and silly.

The colours are spot-on, though, and something I can really appreciate. Oh, and the stripes on his torso, and X-Men belt are printed too, which is a nice touch.

For one thing, the head is quite odd-looking. For one, it extends out forward, which is a pretty weird orientation, and looks odd from the side. It does give Wolverine a slightly hunched look, which I guess is comic-accurate, but it doesn’t make it look any less uneasy, especially when paired with a big grin and those empty white eyes.

The faces of all these construction figures are all printed on the same head-piece, so his mask ears are brick-built and don’t really work well here, as they just clash with the head. A custom mould would’ve been much more preferable in this case.

One thing the set does get right is the flesh-coloured arms, and blue gloves. They achieve a humanoid/skin appearance quite well, and make it look less like some weird mech.

You can see that the claws are also a bit too long, taking up the length of his entire torso, instead of the shorter Adamantium ones we’re accustomed to seeing. The exaggerated design makes sense because it’s a toy and you want his claws as large as possible for dramatic effect, so it doesn’t really bother me.

Here’s a look at Wolverine from the back.

It’s really funny looking, but the accurate X-Men 97 colour scheme does a lot of heavy lifting here in making sure you know that it’s Wolverine. That and the comically long claws.

I do wish they made him a little shorter and stockier – maybe if they bulked up his knees and arms a little, it would look much better.

76258 Captain America Construction Figure Set Details

Set number: 76258
Set name:76258 Captain America Construction Figure
Pieces: 310
Retail Price:  US$TBD / AU$TBD / £31.99 / €37.99
Theme: Marvel Super Heroes
Release Date: 1 June 2023

Like I said, you either love or hate these figures, and Captain America also looks pretty weird. Like a Steve Roger who put on the Captain America suit, but forgot to take his super-soldier serum, as the entire figure looks way too thin.

The skin-tight mask design does work a little better here, and I also like that the wings on the side of his helmet are printed on.

Oh, and the Captain America star in the middle of his chest is printed which is a nice touch.

I still don’t know how I feel about these claw fingers. The fact that Captain America only has 4 fingers (they managed to give Wolverine 5 fingers) is a little weird, but the shape of this new claw elements work a bit better than the droid arms we’re used to.

Cap does come with a gorgeous printed shield.

He can either hold it or attach itself to Cap’s back.

And of course you can pose around with it. Cap’s design is okay – there are a few pops of red in his joints that are quite distracting, but his large vibranium shield does a really good job of drawing your eye so you notice them less.

He’s still a bit too skinny for my tastes, but that’s just the design template that all these construction figures go through.

Here’s Captain America and Wolverine fighting it out. Pretty sure Adamantium beats Vibranium.

And here’s a look at my collection of Marvel Construction Figures so far. I think Captain America and Wolverine are definitely the oddest of the bunch, and while I liked Ant-Man (mostly because the set serves as a great Giant Man), and Iron Man looks good, the more organic Captain America and Wolverine figures don’t quite work as well in this case.

Here’s a comparison with the Star Wars Constraction figures, of which this Construction Figures are more of a spiritual, system-based successor.

There’s a very specific niche that LEGO are targeting with these sets, so if you enjoy building your action figures based on popular licensed characters, you’re who LEGO has in mind when it comes to these sets.

What I liked:

• Lovely printed elements for Wolverine and Captain America, especially shield
• Build is actually quite fun and fresh
• No stickers
• Can be fun to play and pose

What I didn’t like: 

• Captain America and Wolverine look too skinny
• Should’ve come with a plaque and/or a minifigure
• A little pricey and LEGO has also bumped the price up slightly.

Final Thoughts

Captain America and Wolverine are fresh additions to the Construction Figures lineup, but I don’t think they work as well as previous entrants, with Ant-Man being my clear favourite.

The one thing I really enjoyed about these sets is the build experience. As they’re completely System-built, it feels like building an organic LEGO Mech, and there’s enough variation between both designs that make them feel quite fresh.

Appearance-wise, Wolverine has its colours going for it, and Captain America has his shield, both of which do a great job of identifying the characters. But as figures, I really do think they should’ve bulked both up as they end up looking quite skinny, and when posed dramatically, can end up looking quite goofy.

Playability-wise, these are good fun as action figures, and should appeal to kids who want to get a little rough with their toys, and appreciate these larger-than-minifigure options.

I do think think they are very expensive, and LEGO seems to have snuck in a sneaky price increase, as these are €3 and £2 more expensive than Ant-Man which only came out a month prior. While the printed elements are more than welcome, it does no favours to the overall value proposition, given these are aimed at kids, and have a fairly niche audience themselves. We don’t have US and Australian pricing yet, but I’d fully expect a small price hike too.

I don’t have a strong connection to these Construction Figures, despite now having a small group, so unless you’re a hardcore Marvel completionist, or have kids that are nuts about these sets, you can skip these without missing out on much, as there are far more enjoyable LEGO sets you can buy for this price.

Build [3] – Builds like a LEGO Mech, and quite enjoyable
Real Value [2] – Price hike puts these squarely in the expensive category, especially with the lack of a plaque or minifigure
Innovation [2] – At the rate LEGO are churning these sets out, they’re starting to feel stale
Coolness [2] – Unlike Ant-Man which works as Giant Man, I don’t think LEGO nailed the designs of both
Keepability [2] – Might keep them around as reference pieces, or as action figures for my young son, but I don’t expect to have these stick around for long

Rating and score: 2/5 ★★✰✰✰

Thanks for reading this review of 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure and 76258 Captain America Construction Figure! These will be released on 1 June 2023.

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