Review: LEGO 76216 Iron Man Armoury

May 24, 2022 | 10

Ahead of the Summer 2022 1 June releases, I am happy to bring you an early review of 76216 Iron Man Armoury, an upcoming LEGO Marvel Super Heroes set that takes us back to the beleaguered Iron Man 2 (kinda).

It’s LEGO Marvel’s 10th Anniversary this year as well, and a decade in, LEGO have also sought to introduce a brand new LEGO Iron Man helmet design, which may or may not be good news to LEGO Iron Man fans.

I’m not sure if this set is really necessary, as  76125 Iron Man Hall of Armour has only just retired, but Iron Man minifigures and new armours always seem to make good business sense for LEGO, and we also have a slightly updated Hall of Armour design, again, which may or may not be good news for LEGO Iron Man fans.

76216 Iron Man Armoury will be releases worldwide on 1 June 2022, so unlike some of the other Summer 2022 themes that will arrive later in North America and Australia, there’ll at least be some new Marvel sets to tide fans over.

See below for regional pricing and links.

• 76216 Iron Man Armoury [US] – US$89.99
• 76216 Iron Man Armoury [AUS] – AU$149.99
• 76216 Iron Man Armoury [UK] – £79.99
• 76216 Iron Man Armoury [EU] – €89.99
• 76216 Iron Man Armoury [CA] – CAD$119.99

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review

76216 Iron Man Armoury – Set Details

Name: Iron Man Armoury
Set Number: 76216
Pieces: 490
Price: AU$149.99 | US$89.99 | £TBD- Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: N/A
Theme: Marvel Super Heroes
LEGO Designer: TBD
Release Date: 1 June 2022

First thing’s first, here is the new look 2022 standardised LEGO manual, with the white borders, and awful, unfinished CG-render of the set out the front. I do not like this design, and I think I’ve found my new pet peeve, after the 18+ bleak black box design, so apologies because I will complain every time I encounter one of these unfinished looking designs, which really don’t do the set justice.

Here’s a look at the sticker sheet, which I actually quite like. You get these transparent display panels. filled with schematics as well as minifigure-sized diagrams of Iron Man armours, which I think add a lot to the set.

Props to the graphic design team for these.

76216 Iron Man Armoury is packed with minifigures, and teeming with new Iron Man armour, as well as the debut of the Whiplash minifigure.

From left to right, we have Pepper Potts, Nick Fury, Iron Man Mark 3, War Machine (new), Whiplash (new), Iron Man Mark 85 (new-ish), Tony Stark, and Iron Man Mark 25 (Striker armour).

Great line-up, even if there are a few recycled minifigures like Nick Fury.

Here’s a closer look at Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and Nick Fury. Tony is the same version as the one 76194 Tony Stark’s Saakarian Iron Man, as is Nick Fury which is identical to the one from Spider-Man Far From Home sets.

Oh, and Pepper Potts is also recycled from 76190 Iron Monger Mayhem..

Here’s a look at their alternate faces, and back printing. Good news if you don’t have those sets mentioned, but bad news if you do, as you’ll double up on these.

More excitingly, the set features the antagonist of Iron Man 2, Ivan Vanko, better known as his alias Whiplash which finally gets a LEGO minifigure version.

He comes in a bootleg Iron Man armour, which does look quite cool, thanks to the shoulderpads that add some bulk to it, as well as the one-piece helmet.

The printing on Whiplash’s armour, legs and even feet is fantastic, although I would’ve loved some arm and side leg printing.

You also have the option to unmask him, and give Ivan his ponytail wig. He has a dual-sided face, and great back printing as well.

This is an Iron Man Armoury set, so the main drawcards are the Iron Man armours, and this set comes with four, along with one new never-before-seen-in-LEGO ones – Iron Man Mark 25 (with the punchy gloves), as well as Mark 85 (in this configuration), his most advanced armour, powered by advanced nanotechnology and seen in Avengers-Endgame.

It’s a little out of place as this was nowhere near Iron Man 2.

War Machine has James Rhodes’ face beneath it, and the other armours have blank trans-or black heads, so you can swap Tony’s face in and out if you like.

Here’s a look at their back printing.

Technically, these are all new variants because they come with the brand new 2022 LEGO Iron Man helmets… which will be extremely divisive among fans.

The new helmets are a slight refresh over the iconic LEGO Iron Man helmet, and they function the same, with the mask able to be popped open and raised, revealing the minifigure face beneath it.

I’m a big fan of War Machine, and it’s always great to get more armour variants, and here’s a comparison with some of my older War Machine minifigures.

Here’s a series of comparison photos of the new 2022 Iron Man helmets, vs the original, and Mark 51 (Invincible Iron Man) which appeared in 76077 Iron Man Detroit Steel Strikes, from way back in 2017.

As you can see, the new Iron Man helmet is slightly larger, and noticably taller compared to the older one. It looks so much bigger, and has a strange (I need to get used to it) profile, because I’m so used to the original helmet, which has mostly been unchanged for 10 years.

The new helmet also introduces a new Iron Man mask, which has a slightly different profile, and opts for a more realistic Iron Man look, instead of a LEGO Iron Man one.

See what I mean, when I compare it against the older mask?

I’m a traditionalist, and I think the original Iron Man helmet is such an iconic LEGO element, and made such a huge impact when it debuted in 2012. That said, I get the change – we’re 10 years into LEGO Marvel, and the designers clearly want a more movie-accurate option, hence the change.

The printing is sharper, and it looks much more realistic, but it’ll take awhile for me to get used to it, but this definitely ushers in a new era for LEGO Iron Man fans.

On to the builds, the build experience was very lacklustre, and at times, felt very much like building a 4+/Juniors set. It was quite boring, because of the repetitive nature of the armoury, where you essentially build 8x chambers for the armours, and some furniture.

The highlight for me is this very tidy version of Tony’s Audi R8 Spyder. It’s a 6-wide vehicle, and really reminded me of old school Speed Champions, and is a simple, yet great take.

The profile of the car is fairly accurate, and at the back, you can also see the stickered Stark 11 licence plate. Sadly, no Audi branding, which would’ve made this perfect.

There is a platform for the middle of the armoury, which is great to display models on.

Tony’s design desk, with cool LEGO schematics of the MK3 armour, as well as a brick-built DUM.

The desk does have some nice Easter Eggs, such as the blueprints and designs for Captain America’s Vibranium shield.

Oh, and there are also parts of the MK3 armour scattered around.

There’s Tony’s workbench, and tools, which kinda look like the ones from the movie, mostly because they’re red. The Arc Reactor on the tool bench is quite nice.

Here’s a look at the Armoury, which has 8 modules, spread across 2 levels. Trans-blue elements are dominant here, which represents the biggest departure from the design of the previous Hall of Amor set. I don’t have the old Hall of Armor set, but here’s the official photo to compare.

The new models are quite basic, but much taller and utilise large door-sized panes of glass, as well as trans-blue Garage Door Roller Doors.

They’re quite easy to replicate infinitely, and I think these are a big improvement over the predominantly greyer older versions.

The new Hall of Armour modules are taller to accommodate these great stickered panels, with blueprints and diagrams of other armours. The Nano Tech Mark 85 armour is present, as is the Silver Centurion (Mark 33), and the original Mark 1 armour, that Tony seems to be reconstructing.

Personally, my favourite is the Silver Centurion one – which is one of my favourite LEGO Iron Man armours of all time.

And last but not least, a really cool Easter Egg in the form of a 3-panel stickered tile, featuring the map of Stark Expo. In the scene from Iron Man 2, Tony Stark discovers a new element, hidden by his father Howard Stark.

The map can also be stacked in the car, replicating the scene where Tony rushes home with it in his Audi.

What I liked:

• Plenty of minifigures
• Armoury modules are an upgrade
• Whiplash minifigure finally
• Great Iron Man 2 Easter Eggs and references
• Nice stickers

What I didn’t like: 

• Recycled minifigures
• Simplistic build
• New Iron Man helmet
• Set is way overpriced
• No Cockatoo for Whiplash

Final Thoughts:

There’s a famous saying that goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Outside of finally giving us Whiplash, and a long overdue homage to Iron Man 2, which never got LEGO sets based on it, I’m not sure 76216 Iron Man Armoury was entirely necessary, especially since 76125 Iron Man Hall of Armour has only just retired.

I do like the new Armoury models, which are a big upgrade, and I felt like the stickers and references hidden within were a lot of fun. It was also nice to get Tony’s 6-wide Audi R8, but outside of that, there isn’t a lot of redeeming qualities for a set that’s priced at such a premium.

The new Iron Man armours introduced are great, especially the Mark 25 Striker Armour, which is long overdue, but when you’re given recycled Iron Man armours, albeit with a new helmet, are you really bringing newness to the table?

I don’t think the new Iron Man helmets are necessary. I understand why they were introduced, to make for a more “realistic” Iron Man mask and helmet profile, but the older one is so iconic and has much better proportions for blocky minifigures.

I might warm to the new Iron Man helmets, and for many LEGO Iron Man fans, they probably won’t have a choice, especially if LEGO opt to use this as the default moving forward, but 10 years after its introduction, it feels like saying goodbye to an old friend.

Because of all of this, and not much newness introduced (War Machine and Mark 25 nonwithstanding), I feel like the asking price is way too high, and this set does not deliver sufficient value, especially if you are a hardcore LEGO Marvel fan who is dying to expand your Iron Man armour collection.

For most fans, if you must have this set, maybe wait till it goes on sale, or just buy the minifigures you want (Whiplash, Mark 25 and War Machine) off Bricklink, as there’s nothing else in this set that screams US$90/AU$150.

Also, no Cockatoo? Especially when “I want my burrdd” is one of the highlights of Iron Man 2 is a huge miss.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Rating and score: 2/5 ★★✰✰✰

Build [2] – Very simple and boring build, with the Audi R8 at least being a little fun
Real Value [2] – Recycled minifigures are disappointing for a set already commanding a high premium
Innovation [2] – Doesn’t really introduce anything new outside of the new Hall of Armour module
Coolness [2] – Plenty of Iron Man 2 moments and characters. Nice to see Whiplash finally, but where is the burrrrd.
Keepability [4] – This might be the only Iron Man 2 set we’ll ever get, so I think when this has retired, it will be worth something.

Thanks for reading my review of 76216 Iron Man Armoury, ahead of its launch on 1 June 2022, where it will be available from LEGO.com, your local LEGO Store, or toy store.

What do you think of this set, especially the new Iron Man helmets?

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Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review