Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was one of the biggest films of 2022 and the film starring the blue underwater warriors that grossed the second highest box office last year.
The film is also now available to stream on Disney+, and to celebrate the wider launch allowing more fans to see or rewatch the film, we have a guest review of the biggest set, 76214 Black Panther: Duel on the Water.
As the flagship set of the wave (which contained 3 sets), this set depicts the final battle between the Wakandan and Talokan forces and includes a scaled down version of the large Wakandan warship.
Initial reactions to the set's reveal have been mixed at best, and today we'll see if having the set in hand can improve those impressions.
In Australia, the set is currently available for AU$69 (RRP AU$130) at Kmart, which is a pretty good deal!
76214 BLACK PANTHER: Duel on the Water Set Details
Set name: Black Panther: Duel on Water
Set number: 76214
Parts: 545
Minifigures: 5
Price: US$89.99 / £79.99 / CAD$119.99 / AU$129.99
topic: Marvel superheroes
Release date: October 2, 2022
76214 BLACK PANTHER: Duel on the Water unboxing
The front of the box does an impressive job of making the set look as exciting as possible, with minifigures jumping all over the place in battle and the two Wakandan drones flying over the ship.
The back of the box features a rather sick shot of the Wakandan ship in stormy seas, as well as panels showing the game's features.
Inside the box there are 5 numbered bags, white instructions and a small sticker sheet.
76214 BLACK PANTHER: Duel on the Water MINIFIGURES
The first minifigure in this set is the exclusive Black Panther. The design is beautifully done on the head and upper body, with gold and silver accents.
I actually think some gold accents on the leg prints would make the figure look much better.
The back of the figure has more gold and silver accents.
The Black Panther figure also comes with an alternate head and hair for Shuri when she is unmasked! It's the same head and hair as 76211 Shuri's Sunbird, but it's still a welcome addition.
The next minifigure is a new and updated Okoye figure. Her torso is now a more accurate red color and she has a new headprint with her facial markings.
There are more facial tattoos printed on the back of Okoye's head in a dark red, which looks beautiful up close but is difficult to see from most angles.
Okoye is armed with a silver spear. Overall a nice figure, but the leg print would have been better here too.
Next up is our first minifigure version of M'Baku, and unfortunately he continues the trend of Wakandan minifigures with no leg up.
However, I would have liked him to come with Kraven the Hunter's fur coat attachment as it is an important part of his costume design and the minifigure doesn't look as intimidating without it.
M'Baku has a brick-built version of his pommel weapon that only has 4 parts, but is a pretty good replica of the original model.
The next minifigure is Namor himself, who is one of my favorite Marvel characters this year. The figure has a really detailed torso and leg print to show all the Aztec details. Unfortunately, his facial cast does not have facial hair like the MCU version of the character, which is likely due to concept art changes.
Here he is seen from behind, with a continuation of the torso print.
Most impressive is the side leg print on Namor's legs, which looks amazing. He continues the printed design of his underpants and even has the wings on his legs that he uses to fly around!
His hairpiece also has printed pointed ears, and overall the figure looks superbly detailed. He comes with a simple silver spear - I would have preferred something more complex, like the brick golden spear in 76213.
The final figure is Riri Williams in her full Ironheart armor. This figure looks great - I love the combination of red, black and silver. The helmet is the Invincible Iron Man mold, first introduced in 2016, with a new black faceplate and light blue "eyes" that look fantastic.
Ironheart has a brick assembly attached to her neck to give her wings. They look good, but they destabilize the figure, meaning it will definitely fall over if it's not secured to a studded surface.
Riri Williams also comes with her hairpiece and a new double-sided face under the helmet that features a smiling and an angry expression.
Overall, the selection of minifigures will definitely be a big attraction with the exclusive M'Baku, Black Panther and Ironheart figures.
However, I think there is still room for improvement, especially in terms of leg pressure for the Wakandans.
The buildings
The most important structure in the set is the Wakandan warship. It measures about 33cm (13″) in length, so it’s not exactly huge for a $90 set.
The construction was also one of the more boring sets I've built recently, being essentially bricks and large Plates consists of building a hollow, elevated design that ends up with a few Plates added to the side.
It does have interesting curves at the back and angles at the front, but ultimately it's pretty flat top and bottom and definitely not a design that stands out. The shape of the black, angled ones Plates on the sides is quite nice, although simple.
The nose of the model is quite interesting as it develops into a 1-Brick-wide tapered tip. Some trans-yellow ones Bricks are used here to represent the cockpit and provide a nice contrast to the black and gray bodywork.
However, this nose part is only connected via a few Technic axles and is quite high, so it can be a little wobbly/unstable.
There are two blue engine nozzles on the back of the model. The deck is also open at the back.
The ship has a nice open deck, with plenty of open, dimpled surface to place minifigures.
At the front of the ship is the driver's area with two stick-on control panels and a purple head-up display with stickers.
This area looks nice and you can put a minifigure in the seat to control the ship. It looks a little squished because the front of the ship is so narrow.
This panel serves as a handle to open a trapdoor, revealing a prison cell below. You can throw a minifigure or two into the prison cell, but there's not much to see down there other than a few bars.
The prison cell is quite deep, and if the minifigure falls into a flat position, it can be a bit difficult to get your fingers in to get it out. Unfortunately, this is all the usable space below the deck - there is more unused space in the rest of the ship, so it really feels like a missed opportunity to give the model more interior space.
The ship receives a pair of bolt gunners that fire trans-blue ammunition and are mounted on ball joints. They can be set up at different angles, but unfortunately they can't be aimed downwards, so you can't aim at characters trying to climb onto the ship from below.
However, the rest of the deck has plenty of space to display minifigures! There is also a tool rack with some silver repair tools and a pair of red fire extinguishers. The latter are a must in every LEGO Marvel Super Heroes set.
In the back of the ship there are some storage spaces for additional bolt gunner ammunition. Since this area isn't completely enclosed on the sides, you can recreate a battle where Namor's troops try to climb through the stern onto the ship!
The reason for the huge deck area is that the ship is designed to carry two Wakandan drones. These are on jumperPlates mounted in an inverted arrangement and take up most of the deck when installed.
They have a pretty simple design and use a few stickers for the armor and camera on the front. There are two bolt gunners at the front for additional firepower.
The wings under the tail can be fanned out, and this drone is clearly designed to resemble the Dragon Flyer jets used by the Wakandan army!
However, they are far too small to be used as jet aircraft, especially when placed next to a minifigure. Still, it's fun to drive around with them.
Conclusion:
What I liked:
- Exclusive Ironheart, M'Baku and Black Panther minifigures
- Plenty of space on the deck to set up the figures
- The Namor figure is really detailed, even though he appears in smaller sets
What I didn't like:
- Overall the ship looks pretty uninteresting
- Unused space under the deck, wasted potential for more detail inside
- The minifigures could use more leg prints
- Expensive
In summary, 76214 Black Panther: War on the Water is an overall disappointment: the setup is simplistic and has a fairly uninteresting design, the interior space below decks goes unused or becomes an under-detailed prison cell, and the $90 price tag is a steep ask for a set with less than 600 pieces.
The minifigures are a bit of an attraction, especially the really nice Ironheart figure, but the lack of detail on Black Panther, M'Baku and even Okoye is another minor disappointment.
It's not the worst playset, and the ample deck space allows you to recreate minifigure battles on the boat, but for $90 I don't see a way to justify the entire package.
Building experience [2] – Pretty uninteresting design, with a somewhat boring construction process due to the use of lots of large ones Plates.
Minifigures [4] – Some nice minifigures are included, especially the exclusive Black Panther and Ironheart, but there is still room for improvement.
Price [2] – $90 USD is a high price considering the final product.
Innovation [1] – Nothing really innovative here, the boat relies on very simple techniques and wastes a whole lot of space under the deck. A removable deck with an interesting interior would have significantly increased the innovation rating.
Usability[2] – Despite being the flagship set of the Wakanda Forever wave, I doubt this set will be remembered in the long term.
Rating and Score: 2/5 ★★✰✰✰
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