Be ye worthy to wield Mjölnir, the mighty hammer of Thor? Harken, good warriors, for I bring thee a review of LEGO Thor’s Hammer!
The latest LEGO Marvel display set released March 1 is Thor’s Hammer. This hefty and wieldable weapon is human-scaled, intended for adult fans and collectors of all things Marvel. Unlike most BrickCentral reviews which are centered on the toy photographer, this one will be more for those who like to collect Marvel memorabilia. If you’re a toy photographer who mainly photographs minifigure scenes, feel free to skip this one, as this set is not suited for minifigure-scale photography.
Thor’s Hammer was provided for review by LEGO on BrickCentral, but the opinions are my own.
The Set
The Thor’s Hammer set is 18.1 in. tall and 11.6 in wide when fully assembled. It has 979 pieces with a human-sized build of Mjölnir, a base to sit the hammer on, a Thor minifigure, mini-builds of the Tesseract, Odin’s Fire, and the Infinity Gauntlet. Minifigure Thor comes with a small Mjölnir and a cape.
The Build
The hammer is very sturdy, with staggered connecting long pieces that run through the shaft of the entire weapon. The build itself was not difficult. There were many repeating sections, which were a bit tedious. (Is this the 7th repeat? 8th? I lost count!)
There are 96 brackets (L-shaped pieces that allow you to have studs on top and on the sides) as well as 59 bricks and plates with studs on the side that appear throughout for the S.N.O.T. (stud not on top) technique. All of these smaller pieces add up quickly, which explains the high cost of the set. It seems like a very complicated technique to build a rectangular box with a long cylinder sticking out of it.
The bevel on the edges of the hammer is accomplished with slope pieces commonly used for roofs.
None of the pieces to build Mjölnir is uncommon, and you may already have many of them. The pieces that stand out are the 18 6×6 light grey tiles, the printed Mjölnir name tag on the base, the Gauntlet, and the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube that has no stud on top.
While the hammer was sturdy, the stand that supports it is not. There are multiple plate pieces that are connected together with a few studs on a second layer. This causes the base to fall to pieces as you’re attempting to build it. Even after it is finished, the base has to be handled carefully or it will separate. I would suggest building a sturdy platform for the base, to save yourself aggravation.
Behind the Scenes
For the behind-the-scenes for Mjölnir, I came up with this admittedly silly idea of a gigantic LEGO Thor. It involves using a previously shot photo as the screen background. Antman fits any scale so I recruited him to help the story make sense, and Wasp will keep him from going splat.
The first shot was of Thor throwing Mjölnir, which I lit blue underneath and gold light from the left. The light positioning is important to replicate, or the two images won’t combine seamlessly.
For the second shot, I then projected a giant image of Thor onto my wall and set up the big Mjölnir. Making sure the lights are the same colors and position, I then added a flash with a softbox overhead to make Antman and Wasp stand out. Antman and Wasp were stuck to Mjölnir with poster putty.
Is it Worthy?
The main reason you’d want this set is because of the very sturdy structure of the hammer, and the well-done bevels that give the weapon shape. The value of this set sits mostly in the understructure of the hammer… which is not visible when it is displayed.
It’s too bad the same amount of care wasn’t taken for the stand, for any attempts to move it will risk it coming apart.
Now I’ll bring up a few nit-picky points about the cosmetic appeal of Mjölnir. LEGO Mjölnir is plain light grey, with no inscription or decorative engraving. The Infinity Gauntlet that was previously released was gold, this one should be silver.
For a $99 set, there should be something about it that makes it collectible, with rare parts or printing. A printed tile or even a sticker stating, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” would make this stand out as a collectible. Or perhaps printed tiles for the three-sided triquetra, runes, decorative knotwork? Any decoration at all that indicates that it is no ordinary hammer would make this special, instead of something that you could build on your own.
Would these cons be deal breakers for you? Have you already preordered it and don’t care that it’s not perfect? How many of you would like this better with silver, or an inscription?
This set is not for me. I have a Marvel display, but this doesn’t fit in it. I prefer minifigure scale, and it’s also plain and grey, so it doesn’t look like a collectible. No, I don’t think this set is worth the retail price. I would rate this set 3/10, giving points for the hammer’s sturdiness, accurate shaping, and nice minifigure.
This set was listed on the LEGO website for preorder on February 1, 2022 for $99 USD, it is available for purchase March 1, 2022.