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The Avenjet Space Mission is yet another Super Heroes set, where some random vehicle is thrown in to give the LEGO Group something to hang a bunch of minifigures on. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad set, just that it may not be something that fans really care nothing about. I really badly wanted some of the minifigures with this set, so I went ahead and got it. I figured there would be some out there who wondered if this set was worth getting. Let's review. REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 76049 Name: Avenjet Space Mission Theme: Marvel Super Heroes Parts: 523 Price: $59.99 BOX CONTENTS Some people may wind up picking up a set that is open box or, want to verify the box contents before beginning a build. For this set, there are 4 numbered baggies, a sticker sheet, a comic book, a baggie containing pieces for Thanos and an instruction book. BUILD AND EXECUTION: BAG 1: Technically most of Thanos is like bag 0. You pull the pins from Bag 1. Construction of big figs is pretty consistent. Thanos: Captain America, I have a new plan for conquering the universe. Cap: I wonder why you would tell me instead of just doing it. I honestly have a hard time figuring out why we are building something for Thanos to stand on. The end result is kind of goofy looking. It's too small to be useful. Thanos: Behold my new weapon of universal domination! Cap: Is it a hoverboard? You have to be careful with those, they catch fire. Yeah, they look like roller skates. In my opinion, Thanos needed either nothing, or something much more impressive. These are forgettable, except for the fact that they are there and they are ridiculous. Thanos: Quake in fear as I don the Infinity Skates! Forged in times most ancient from the remnants of the first of mighty Galactus skateboards, I can skate the cosmos with power cosmic. Cap: Be sure to wear knee and elbow pads. I grew up with a kid that fell down a lot when trying to roller skate. Thanos: Insignificant insect, I will find someone worthy of my attentions. So, we move onto basic LEGO ship building. It's not exactly the same as every other plane, but it kind of is. Notice the 1X4 pieces in back, the slots are to make this whole smaller build ingrate into the larger one later. Also please note the single pink brick that will be buried in the build. I have no reason to point it out except that it's there. Cap: Tony said this thing was really going to knock my socks off. So far, my socks have stayed on. The interesting thing here is the use of those hinge pieces attached to the tiles. I guess it's supposed to be armrests. Cap: Well, I sure am glad that these very thin tiles are between me and the dangers of space. I'd hate to have a solidly built wall there. Add some slope pieces to give the thing a slightly space-y shape and cover up that pink brick. Hinges for the eventual canopy. Note the hinges from the previous step. I think the slot is a cup holder. Why not? Super Heroes get thirsty. Cap: You know, I think Tony is messing with me. Building space ships is nowhere near as much fun as he kept saying. You build the wings onto a section that you made with tabs on it. Cap: Did you know that LEGO instructions inspired those amazing IKEA instructions? I bet you always sort of assumed it. Oh look, there's one of those awful stud shooters, right on top of the wing. It's a good thing the Avengers use nonlethal laser bolts. Or do the Avengers kill? I forget. Cap: We only kill aliens, because they can't sue us. Make a mirror image wing for the other side and add a canopy, and you're done with the spaceship. Glad we got that out of the way. Let's see what other vehicle they have us build. Cap: I'm not sure that this thing has enough space for me and several friends to go to the other side of space and kill green guys. Here's the end of bag 1, a small plane, a goofy looking Captain America and Roller Derby Thanos. Thanos: Puny Mortal I have returned, because you offer the greatest challenge in the galaxy. Cap: So, no one else would talk to you? Bag 2: Start by making Iron Man. Tony: Hey buddy, I see you finished the smaller spaceship. Didn't think you could handle the big one? Cap: On my army salary, you're lucky I was able to make that one. A part of me likes when we use Technic bricks (not technique by the way.) It makes me hope for some advanced techniques (not technics by the way.) Tony: Look Cap, this stuff is really easy, especially if you've got a super genius brain and a fancy robot suit. The ratcheting hinges in front told me that we'd soon see something to make this a super space plane, not a run of the mill space plane. Tony: Starktech practically builds itself. I don't really know, is this supposed to be a crew compartment or some kind of cargo bay? Definitely some place to clip some wings into. Bag 3: We start on the wings. Wing construction is pretty much the same no matter what theme you buy. Tony: Wings are my things. Ha, I'm a genius at being a poet too. Hey wait, where's Cap? He's supposed to be building this thing. Wings are wings,you've built one, well you've probably built 2 since every plane has 2. Anyway, they're all pretty much the same. I know I said that already, but since I've already built 2 other wings in this set, it bears repeating now. Cap: Did I ever tell you about how I joined the Air Force and flew fighters during the war? Iron Man: No, you didn't. I thought you did all of your fighting on the ground. Cap: That's because I never did. I don't know anything about planes. It's probably not a great idea for me to be building one. Iron Man: Hey, that's nothing. I had a dozen martinis before I started. Now you add a giant rotor to make it look fancy. Cap: Hey Tony, does this big fan help make the Avenjet go in space. Iron Man: Don't be simple. There's no air in space for that thing to push against. Cap: So this is entirely decorative? Iron Man: Stark engineering at its finest. I know I didn't mention him before, but you also build Hyperion in this bag. Hyperion: Hey guys, whatcha doing? Cap: I don't know if you can tell, but this wing is incredibly heavy, and Iron Man's not really lifting. Iron Man: It's called supervising. Make a mirror image of that wing Hyperion: Look what I made super fast. I thought you said this thing is heavy. Cap: Who is this guy? Iron Man: I think he's Hyper-Lame-One or something like that. Now you need to add some decorative paneling with a lot of slopes to give it the air of Aerodynamics. Cap: Hey Tony, don't you have some kind of factory to make these things? I mean I like these little projects, but I'm not sure I'm qualified.\ Hyperion: Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. Iron Man: That dingbat sings show tunes? I hate show tunes. End bag 3, you've added a couple of smaller wings on hinges to the larger wings. Plus, flick missiles. Hyperion: Oooooooooooo-klahoma, where the wind goes sweeping down the . . . hey guys? Where'd you go? Bag 4: Ok, I'm going to admit this now. Captain Marvel is pretty much the biggest reason I bought this set. If She and Thanos had been in bag one, I might not have ever made the Avenjet. Thanos: Child of Earth, I have come with my Infinity Roller Skates to destroy your planet and subjugate your population. Captain Marvel: Yeah, I'm pretty busy here. Do you mind pestering someone else? Look, we're building a cockpit. I feel like we already did that. Thanos: Bow down and tremble at my feet. Behold the might of my Infinity Skates! Marvel: Look, I respect that you rock the purple unitard, but I'm just not interested. Plus, I'm busy. It looks more like a sled at this point. but, I assume it will pull together the rest of the build once it's complete. Plus, here we find our requisite fire extinguisher. No Super Heroes set is complete without one. Marvel: 6 years in the Air Force, I thought I had seen my fill of pushy guys. More tiles to fill out the body of this ship, no arm rests or cup holders this time. Thanos: Cower before me. I am the mightiest being in the cosmos. Marvel: Look bozo. I tried to be nice about it, but no means no. Not interested. And now we're adding a canopy. It's like Deja VU all over again. Thanos: If you become my disciple, I will allow you to conquer beside me. Marvel: When did I become a magnet for jerks like him? Now you just peg the cockpit onto the hinge posts I mentioned earlier. Iron Man: Hey look, Marvel brought the cockpit, We're almost done. Marvel: Yeah. I was getting harassed by some jerk named Thanos. He wouldn't leave me alone. Cap: Yeah that guy was pestering me for a while too. Now, just slide the small jet onto a brand new hinge piece and you can make a really big Avenjet. Many many steps after you initially make Captain America, you make his backpack. I'm not sure if it is a jet pack, some kind of star spangled rockets, or an external air supply, but it doesn't really matter. It looks dumb. Sorry, I love Captain America, I hate this fully loaded Minifigure. Even Captain America can't get his shield to work right in space. Captain Marvel: There we go, looking good. Captain America: Are you sure? I don't want to look ridiculous. Marvel: Nope, completely understated. Below the smaller craft is a pivoting platform that ostensibly you can attach Iron Man to. I don't think I assembled it incorrectly, but Iron Man doesn't really pivot down or up correctly since there's a plate in the way. If I assembled it incorrectly, I apologize, but I can't see where I made the mistake. REACTION: I actually liked the build. It was fun, it doesn't look terrible, the play features aren't intrusive. The ship however is somewhat fragile. Certain parts easily fall off if nudged slightly. 2 ships in one build is good play value for a kid. Especially for kids that might not have a clue who some of the characters are. The white and red might be a subtle visual tag for a parent that collected action figures in the 80's. It kind of reminds me of the Transformer Jetfire, or a Macross/Robotech Valkyrie If you squint a little and tilt your head, you might see a hint of an X-Wing that just gives you a subtle good feeling that you'd like to pass on to your kids. I am not saying that this vehicle is as iconic as those three, far from it. I'm just saying that I think the designer took a little inspiration. I assume that the Avenjet is just a poorly named space Quinjet. They had to call it something different so that consumers would be fooled into picking it up when there's still the Quinjet City chase and the Super Hero Airport battle that both have Quinjets in them on the shelves at the same time. So, let's talk about the minifigures, the main reason anyone would pick up this set. Let's get the duds out of the way. Space Captain America has the body of comic Captain America and a head with goggles and a thing on the back of his head. I don't know what the thing on his head is, I guess it has something to do with his breathing apparatus. You build a backpack/jetpack or whatever. I love Captain America, but I am totally over Space/Scuba/whatever Captain America. Speaking of Space/Scuba/Whatever, let's talk about Space Iron Man. At least it's possible, even likely that Tony Stark would have a spacegoing suit. The best thing about this suit is that you can just throw it into your Hall of Armor display and forget it. Ok, so let's talk about the new characters. I'm going to start with the one that I am least excited for, Hyperion! First thing's first, many people have no idea who Hyperion is. He's a bad guy and member of Squadron Supreme. Squadron Supreme is a reality hopping team that is the analogue of the Justice League. Hyperion is Superman basically. They have the same abilities and to make things even more similar, Hyperion has the same head as the most recent Superman figures. The figure has 2-tone molded arms, but not legs which is weird to me. His cape is an interestingly odd shape. He's an interesting enough figure, but really not an important enough character to move this set. It's a coin toss which of the other 2 characters is a better figure. Maybe it's just my own prejudice, but I'm going with Captain/Ms. Marvel. This figure looks great. I do sort of wish that the colors would pop better on the dark blue parts. I also wish there was a soft goods scarf, but that's just wishful thinking. What we did get was some good detailing and a pair of heads with a spiky hairpiece. I love the fact that you can swap her head so that she has 3 different faces. 3 faces? That's crazy! No, I love the character. So maybe it's just me, but I was lukewarm on the set until I saw that she was included. With Marvel announcing a Captain Marvel MCU casting, we are sure to see the character again. So, maybe the reason most people would want this set is for Thanos. You remember Thanos from that end credit scene in Avengers or those small glimpses in Guardians of the Galaxy. Obviously he's important in the Marvel Universe, but he didn't always used to be. In the 90's there was a weird confluence of events that made Silver Surfer important, and in so doing made Thanos one of the most powerful and evil villains in the Marvel universe. Thanos had to be a bigfig. It seems like he's 2-tone molded legs, and his decoration pops on his dark body. The LEGO styling of the face is hilarious. Is he happy? Is he grimacing? It doesn't matter, he could totally be evil with either expression. I am slightly disappointed that he doesn't come with an extra Infinity Gauntlet fist. This figure is the obvious lynchpin of the set. We're going to get another Thanos. There's no question of that, but if he's not notably different from this figure, Thanos will not rule the Galaxy. FINAL THOUGHTS: I like the 3 new figures for this set. I'm okay with Iron Man. The selling point of this set will always be Thanos. If this is the only comic Thanos, it should do well. If the eventual MCU Thanos is fairly similar, forget this set. The Avengers Space Plane is not really interesting enough to draw eyes to this set. The biggest threat to this set though is the Chinese Bootleggers. Chinese knockoffs are the death knell of pretty much every Super Heroes set. With a Captain Marvel movie on the horizon, we'll be getting an MCU Captain Marvel too. She should be different enough from this version to keep this one relevant. That doesn't mean that they won't reissue this one though at some point. Should we pin future growth hopes on Hyperion, the poor lonely nobody that is unlikely to ever be remade? No. The rest of the Squadron Supreme will see the light of day half past never. I would expect low to moderate gains eventually. There's enough unique stuff in this set that people may not be able to get them another way within a year or two. EXTRA PIECES: 2 extra flag pieces. Initially, I thought that I had made a mistake, but in the following bag when I had another extra, I couldn't believe that I had made the same mistake again. Look, a white lightsaber handle, oxygen mask and an extra star round tile.

When I first got into LEGO as an AFOL I was looking at all of the Star Wars sets that I had missed and how much they cost. It became necessary to figure out a way to get the sets cheaper or make more money. I knew that some people must be making money buying bulk lots and taking out the stuff they wanted and selling the rest. That seemed like 2 birds with one stone. I looked at the bulk lots on Ebay, realizing that most of what I would get from these guys were common pieces. So I started looking at bigger lots, somewhat intimidated by their cost. I figured, however, if an Ebayer was getting $10 for a pound maybe I could make some money just throwing stuff in a box, easy money. I made a purchase of about 50 lbs for about $350 because I saw some Star Wars sets and minifigures in there. Oh boy, easy money and some treasures of my own. Boy, was I wrong. The money is anything but easy. I quickly discovered that out of my 50 lbs of mixed LEGO, at least 5 lbs were easily recognizable as not building bricks at all. Tinker toys, K'Nex, Hot Wheels, plastic army men, broken action figures, Lincoln logs, playing cards, thumb tacks, thorny burrs and even broken glass was mixed into the ABS blocks. On top of all that junk, the real problems started. All of the Mega Blocks, BTR, and assorted knock off blocks knocked another 5+ lbs out of the lot. That's at least 20% of my precious blocks that was basically trash. As you filter through, you discover broken bricks, severely teeth marked ones and yellowed pieces. profits are getting slimmer by the minute. Ok, so I regrouped and focused on the sets that were obviously present. I pulled out the stuff I immediately recognized most of a TIE Interceptor, a little car, Jedi Interceptor with Hyperdrive ring, half an ARC Fighter, etc. All of these I scattered around me like ancient peoples paying homage to their creator. How do I go from lots of partial sets to lots of complete sets that I can flip to make back the money that I sunk into this thing? Well first I needed to figure out what was missing. So, I looked at instruction books to see what steps I needed to take to complete them and what pieces were missing from there. Utter bust. That's an awful way to do it. So I took apart the sets I had figured out and checked the inventory against Bricklink. I discovered what was missing, and that sometimes kids substitute pieces in the middle of a build. Now that I knew what was missing, time to turn back to 20 lbs of assorted bulk. digging through mixed bricks looking for the piece or pieces I need was time consuming and futile. Time to sort them out to make it easier. My wife and I sorted that 20 lbs of pieces by color. We had 10+ bags of pieces separated loosely by color (old and new colors mixing futilely.) That made it easier to look for pieces, but still sometimes wasting a lot of time trying to pick out a small piece in a big bag. After exhausting my patience, I turned to Bricklink to acquire the pieces I needed, dumping more money into this hole. Eventually I sold a bunch of sets I made from this and a few other bulk lots. Between the Bricklink orders I placed to complete them and the fees and shipping, I think I made some money. My book keeping was pretty terrible. But it all taught me some things. Some of these things I learned could help some people just starting out trying to find treasure in Bulk lots. STEP 1: Valuation So, you're looking at a bulk lot that you found on Craigslist, Ebay, a garage sale, another auction or whatever. How should you evaluate it? Weight: The volume of pieces will tell you roughly how much is there. 2 lbs = not a lot. 25 lb = a lot. Since you're not buying the sets one by one, you have to immediately realize that you are going to be getting dead weight in addition to the treasures that you seek. Visible sets: Any visible set that you can place is good. That will give you an immediate idea of what you can make out of the lot. No visible sets or parts of sets means that there may or may not be gold in there. Minifigures: If minifigures are present that's good. If licensed minifigures are present, that's even better. a loose rule I use is to look for flesh colored minifigure heads and hands. Sure there's some dummies in that group, and some good figures that have yellow heads and hands, but it's a good starting point. Instructions and boxes: Both of these are a good gauge to show you what sets may be present, but could be red herrings. Sometimes the instructions stick around long after the main components of a set are lost. Non LEGO stuff: There's always some detritus. The flotsam and jetsam of stuff that parents scoop up into the boxes. The most common stuff is non LEGO bricks. They're not always easy to pick out at first glance, but they're usually there. What you are looking for is how much of the lot is obviously not LEGO. Do you see doll parts, nerf darts, Pokémon cards, buttons, etc.? usually this is a good sign to me. It means no one has searched it. but it is a pain to filter through. Filth: Sometimes you can see how dirty and played with the bricks are. Most bulk will be dusty or dirty. Some will even have paint or marker on them. So with these factors, let's talk about how they factor into the valuation. an average lot is usually in the $4-$6 per lb range. Average lots show some partial sets, some minifigures, maybe a few instructions, relatively clean, with not a lot of obvious non LEGO stuff. Depending on the quality and quantity of the better stuff, you might increase your valuation, but remember you're not paying top dollar for what you see, because there's still a lot of work to come. Plus, you're going to get some amount of stuff you don't want. I have been known to go as low as $2-$3 a pound for stuff that had no obvious sets, mediocre looking or no obvious minifigures and excess junk. Then again, I have gone as high as $10 a lb for lots of minifigures and several mostly complete sets of some value. Some people stick to a hard $5 lb. Some lots of only minifigures I have seen sold for close to $100 lb. Figure out your comfort level and stick to it. Be prepared to have wasted your money on a big group of Mega Blocks. STEP 2: Sorting and figuring out what you have Once you get the lot, now you have to do something with it. Boxes full of bulk sitting in the garage is just hoarding. You're doing this to make your money work for you. So, I start by trying to pull out all the non LEGO, but also anything that gives me a good idea of what is there. Pull out minifigures, instructions, partial sets and set them aside. I bag the partial sets, with the minifigures and instructions wherever possible. I would never again sort by color. Finding a red 1x1 modified tile with clip in a big bag of red parts is much harder than looking through a bag of 1x1 modified tile with clips of assorted colors. Instead I start by throwing all the flats in one box. Slopes go in a second box. Bricks are a third box, etc. It's the most general sorting at first. As I go, I look for unique identifiers of sets like printed pieces or unusual shapes. Once the initial sorting is accomplished, I sort again by element. STEP 3: Completing sets The best way to make back the bulk of your purchase price is to complete the sets that you received. Some people will complete everything that they can, others disdain anything below a certain dollar amount. It's up to you how far down the rabbit hole that you are going to head. Once you get your sets, you need to figure out what is missing. Even if the set looks complete, it is best to verify. Some people will make substitutions in the middle of a set. Your customers may not appreciate substitutions, especially if there are megablocks in the middle of a build. So, it's time to take them apart to verify the inventory. If the sets are partial, you definitely should take them apart to figure out how much is missing. Look through your new bulk to see if you can find the rest. Focus on the expensive sets first. Check through your minifigures, instructions, and interesting pieces to see what sets may have been broken down entirely and see if they are worth reconstituting. You could do another survey of your bulk to see if the seemingly random bulk is hiding some treasure. I look for the part numbers on the interesting pieces. Finding the part number can be difficult, since it's usually inside of the LEGO piece and hard to spot, except with the right light. If the piece appears in multiple sets, I check for context with other pieces in the lot. Again, the interesting pieces generally have a unique shape, sticker or printing. If you can't complete them this way, or even with other bulk you might have, then you have to decide if sinking some more money into them is worthwhile. Does spending $10, $20, or $50 more make sense? Only you know for sure, but you've already dug a hole into your resources and time. It's either keep digging, or see if you can punt it off somewhere. I tend to try to get as many sets working at a time as I can. Hopefully this will help me to get the most missing pieces for the least orders. STEP 4: Dealing with the true bulk You're going to have leftovers after you pull out the stuff that is easiest to sell. You have several options. You could write it off. Put it back in a box and donate it or stick it in the garage, hoping to forget about it. This is generally the least appealing option to me. I've put time and money into this, so I want to recover something more than the tax write off or another box in the garage. Sell it as bulk. You could try to recover something from it by selling it all as a big lot, or even breaking it up into more manageable 1, 2, 5 or 10 lb lots. There's a lot of competition that way, but it's not super hard to do. Save the pieces to help you complete other sets in your next bulk lot. This is appealing because you already have it on hand. There's no guarantee that it will do the job, but at least you have a chance to cut down on further expenses. Sell the pieces individually through Bricklink or Ebay or some other venue. This is the most time consuming way to do it. It's also the way to get the most total value from the pieces, eventually. A lot of pieces may not sell quickly if at all, but you have a higher return on every piece that does sell. So, after all of that. You have to figure out whether it was worth it. If you made some money, or got some stuff that you wanted for less than the going rate, it will give you that rosy glow. It's fun to initially dig through all of that stuff searching for buried treasures. When you find something, it really does feel like it's all worthwhile. In the long hours of sorting, searching for pieces, and waiting for Bricklink orders it may be less fun. Waiting for the stuff to sell to recoup your costs is even less fun than that. I like to do it, but at the end of the day, the monetary returns vs. my time may not be the best. It may be the worst paying job that I have ever had. You really do need to have a plan for evaluating what you are buying and for dealing with it once you do. If you've never done it before, it may be overwhelming. It will take a little while to get more proficient. It's definitely not a quick buck, but money is there to be had. If you are disorganized, if you lose patience, if you don't have the time,you're just throwing money into a hole. May the bricks be ever in your favor. pictures are used to demonstrate example bulk lots from real auctions.