Review: LEGO 75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch

September 14, 2022 | 4

It’s not every day that we get a new licensed theme, but with the upcoming theatrical release of Avatar 2: The Way of Water (and many more sequels), LEGO have acquired the license for a brand new Avatar theme (not the Airbender), which will be released globally from 1 October 2022.

The initial wave contains 4 playsets, and 1 Brickheadz set, and features an introduction to Pandora, with scenes, characters and settings from the first Avatar movie, which has grossed over US$2.84 billion at the box office, and is one of the biggest theatrical releases ever.

I’ll be reviewing all the new sets from the LEGO Avatar theme, and to kick off this fresh round of reviews, I’ve decided to start with 75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch, the smallest (non-Brickheadz) set to give you a taste of the theme.

At US$44.99, it’s the most accessible set, and it has an awesome new US-military inspired mech as well, so this is really the ideal introduction to LEGO Avatar.

“You’re not in Kansas any more, you’re on Pandora! Respect that fact!” Colonel Miles Quaritch

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set for an early review!

75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch Set Details

Name: Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch
Set Number: 75571
Pieces: 560
Price: AU$69.99 | US$44.99 | £39.99- Buy from LEGO.com [USA] [AUS] [UK]
Exclusive to: N/A
Theme: Avatar
LEGO Designers: TBD
Release Date: 1 October 2022

Here’s a look at the instruction manuals, which are split into 3 books. The set is advertised as a “build together” set, which is great as you can then be a shared building experience.

The first Avatar movie graced cinemas way back in 2009, so it’s safe to say that many young adults or teenagers who were enthralled by James Cameron’s Avatar may now have kids (or older kids) ready to play, so this is a nice way to relive some Avatar nostalgia and share it with your kids, if you do have any.

One of the new features introduced in the Avatar manuals, are these reference images, featuring stills and shots from the movie. They appear at the end of builds, and serve as really effective ways to connect what you just built to specific shots from the movie.

I think these are brilliant, and I’d love to see more of this in other license sets. It’s simple, but enhances the build experience.

Here’s the sticker sheet, which are mostly used as decorations for Colonel Quaritch’s AMP Suit mech.

The set comes with 2 minifigures, Colonel Miles Quaritch, and Neytiri, the lead heroine from Avatar.

Here’s a better look at the new Avatar minifigure, which as you can see, has really long legs. To properly get the Na’vi’s look right, LEGO have brought back the taller legs, giving them incredible height.

If the legs look familiar, you might recognise these long legs from the LEGO Toy Story Woody minifigure (early version with moulded head).

Here’s how the legs differ.

At first, I thought the legs were re-used from Woody, but after chatting with the LEGO Designers last night, we managed to confirm that this is a brand new mould. There’s one subtle difference, as you can see above – the new Avatar leg holes are completely hollow.

It took me awhile to get used to these new Avatar minifigures, as they look quite odd, and I’m not sure if I’ll fully get used to them. You can tell they share some DNA with LEGO minifigures, but their height, and new moulded heads, which has a chin, longer face and ears sticking out do look pretty alien.

The printing on Neytiri’s body, head and legs are sharp and vibrant, and there is printing on the back of the torso, but it’s a shame the legs and arms are unprinted – I think they could’ve really benefited from more printing.

They also have little tails, and a new hairpiece which has room for the ears, as well as a “queue” which is part of the hairpiece – the neural whip/link that allows them to connect with the creatures of Pandora.

Here’s what Neytiri looks like in the movies.

Because of the ears, not all hairpieces are compatible, but hats do work with the new Avatar minifigures!

Here’s a look at Colonel Miles Quaritch, the antagonist of the first Avatar movie. He has some digital camo, and a sand-green uniform, with some nice printed scarring on his face, as well as an angry expression.

The army-camo printing is nice, but sadly, the skin-tone inconsistencies on his chest is disappointing.

Here’s a look at the back printing.

Here’s a look at the Thanator, a six-legged fearsome cat-like creature that roams the jungles of Pandora. It’s a mostly brick-built animal, which was a lot of fun to build, and features a brand new moulded head which is done incredibly well.

Here’s a look at the moulded head, which has large ears, orange eyes, and spiky fins at the back. It feels like a dinosaur-head from LEGO Jurassic World, and the mould is a great nod of how much LEGO is investing in the Avatar theme.

It’s really neat, and I appreciate how well the Thanator is designed. If you love building animals, this is a fun one to build, and it feels a lot more LEGO-like, than say the moulded Jurassic World dinosaurs.

The moulded head, and brick-built body feels like the optimal combo for the best LEGO experience.

Here’s the Thanator from the side, where you can see its six legs. The legs are a little fiddly, and the hind and front legs are a little tricky to pose, which gets annoying until you get the hang of it.

The Thanator has 2 studs where Neytiri can affix herself to, and the queue can connect to Neytiri’s own queue, completing the neural link.

This was a really important design facet that Disney and LEGO wanted to get right and it works well here.

Here’s a look at the new rubber whip element that the queue uses.

Here’s a look at the AMP Suit mech, piloted by Colonel Quaritch. It’s a tidy little compact mech, and if you enjoy building mechs, you’ll have an absolute blast with it.

Despite its diminutive size, the design team have done a marvellous job with the design of the AMP Suit- It has reallty satisfying greebling and details, and looks nice and sturdy, although the feet isn’t as stable as I would like them.

Here’s a look at the cockpit, which opens up. I’m not sure if this is intentional, but I love the exposed gaps from the plates on the side, which are layered really nicely.

Here’s a look at the back, where you can appreciate more of the greebling.

Unfortunately, the AMP Suit doesn’t come with a cool-looking saw-gun, and instead just has this loud and very bright saw on his right arm.

On his other arm is a machette, which looks comically small.

Here’s how it compares against the 76031 Hulkbuster and Overwatch’s D.va’s Mech. The size, posture and just how well its designed reminded me so much of D.va’s mech, which is one of my favourite LEGO mechs.

Not bad for a sub-US$50 set.

But wait, that’s not all.

True to bringing Pandora to life in LEGO form, we get this remarkably large section of rainforest, filled with a burst of colour. I haven’t seen such a wide variety of colours in a non-Friends/Elves set, and this section is just oozing with alien flora and fauna.

If you love building plants and vegetation, you’ll really like this section of the build, and personally, I just love how colourful and vibrant it looks.

Capturing Pandora’s alien vegetation and fauna was the one thing I was looking forward to with the LEGO Avatar sets, and this rather large section does a really impressive job of it.

Oh, and of course, it wouldn’t be Pandora with glow in the dark elements. We get these Angry Birds crowns that glow in the dark, and they look really appropriate here with their organic shapes, much-like alien fungi.

And just for fun, here’s what happens when you hit it with a black light.

What I liked:

• The AMP Suit is lowkey one of the best compact mechs of 2022
• So many great colours, and fun elements
• Packs a ton of value for a sub-US$50 set
• Thanator is a sizable build

What I didn’t like: 

• Expected more glow in the dark pieces

FINAL THOUGHTS:

75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch is a superb entrée to the LEGO Avatar theme, and I was really impressed with how much LEGO was able to jam into this set.

At US$44.99, there’s unprecedented value here as you get a neat brick-built Thanator, a small but plucky AMP Suit Mech, AND a large slice of Pandora rainforest.

With licensed sets from the likes of Marvel, it can sometimes feel like the builds are almost secondary to the minifigures, but that’s not the case here as the Thanator, AMP Suit and Pandora builds are extremely enjoyable.

They’re all really well designed, with really advanced yet uncomplicated techniques that is a lot of fun for a small build.

With a brick-built creature, mech and landscape, the playability is really strong here, as you have everything you need to set a Pandora scene up.

The Avatar minifigs will take some getting used to, but I think they’re okay. I wouldn’t say that they’re the stars of the set (or theme!), but they’re servicable, and recognisable enough for me.

This is a really great set, and despite the other Avatar sets being really expensive, if there’s one set you get for a taste of Pandora, make it this one, especially if you like landscaping/plants and mechs.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★✰

Build [4] – Lots of great variety here, an animal, mech and landscape packed in one set
Real Value [5] – So much value for a sub-US$50 set that it’s almost unbelievable in 2022.
Innovation [4] – Great to see plenty of new moulds, like the queue pieces, glow in the dark elements and moulded Thanator head
Coolness [4] – I really liked how well this set captured all of Pandora
Keepability [4] – A really cool set to display, thanks to the Pandora rainforest section

Thanks so much for reading this quick review of 75571 Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch! I’ll have more LEGO Avatar reviews, and plenty of upcoming October sets like The Office, Bowser, and Black Panther on the way, so be sure to stay tuned for plenty of reviews this week and the next!

What do you think of this set, and the new Avatar minifigures?

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