LEGO 6866 - Wolverine's Chopper Showdown

Nice score, bub!

This particular set has evaded my grasp once too often over the years.. Multiple times I went to buy it when it was at retail and hesitated, then after it retired the price went insane mainly because of the minifigs included here, this is the only official Deadpool minifig that LEGO ever produced. (So far)

So I was very excited to score this along with another Marvel set for £15 each this week, from local Facebook marketplace.

Both of these sets came boxed with instructions and were listed as having been used for display only.. the Red Skull minifig is missing from the Avengers set, but everything else is here. These really are in great condition, and a great find.

I'll be taking a closer look at set 76048 in a future update, but for today we are looking at 6866 Wolverine's Chopper Attack.

This 2012 set has a listed piece count of 201 and is one of only 2 X-Men themed sets ever produced by LEGO. (Though I suspect that will soon change now the movie rights for these characters are back at Marvel)

The set consists of an attack Helicopter (piloted by Deadpool on the box art), a motorbike for Wolverine. And the X-Men's longest running foe (And sometime ally) Magneto. All 3 are fantastic minifigs and I'm so Happy to have them in my collection. So let's take a look at those first...

First up is Wolverine himself, the Former Weapon X comes in his 90's era Yellow and Blue costume, his Silver belt print has a red 'X' logo on the buckle, he has his trademark pointed hairstyle and sideburns (which are part of his face print) He has bared arms and blue gloves. His accessories are his 'claws' which he actually just holds in his hands.

His alternate face is less angry (but still grumpy!) and he has the nice touch of his cowl hanging down his back like he has just removed it. This version of Wolverine is exclusive to this set and I've owned a direct clone of this minifig before from Decool, but it's nice to have the real thing.

Next up is Deadpool, the 'Merc with a mouth' is exclusive to this set, which was released long before the 2016 movie bought the character to mainstream prominence. I know this particular minifig is highly sought after among collectors with a current list price higher than I paid for this complete set. 

Deadpool comes with his iconic red and black costume, with some nice print details including his belt buckle logo and various pouches (very 90's!) he has a brown scabbard which attaches at the neck and has space for his 2 black katana style swords. He also brandishes a grey blaster.

There are countless Deadpool minifig variants from every knock off company there is, this design has been fine tuned and improved to the point where this interpretation of the character now seems a little basic. Nonetheless, he is still a very nice minifig of one of my favourite Marvel characters.

Finally, the antagonist in this set is the master of magnetism himself. Magneto may be the greatest X-Men villain of all time, he certainly has the highest profile after his portrayal in the Fox movie series. So he is an obvious pick for inclusion here. Again, we get the comic accurate costume in red and purple. The iconic helmet in particular is very nicely done with the purple printed trim.

Magneto has a 2 sided head print with alternate angry and neutral expressions, both featuring bushy grey eyebrows. We get a red, soft cape and for his accessory, we get a round 2x2 piece in light grey to represent a piece of Metal for Erik to fly on.

The Full crew!

Apart from the awesome selection of minifigs, this set includes 2 vehicles. First up we get a standard motorbike in light grey for Wolverine. The only additional piece here is a trans clear headlight stud.

The assault copter is the biggest part of this set and is the vehicle flown by Deadpool. This set came to me partially built, so I don't have any construction pics, but I will likely break it down and rebuilt it at some point. 

This slightly stubby looking helicopter comes in mostly dark red, with some black and grey thrown in, and the colour scheme seems designed to evoke the costume of it's pilot. Both the cockpit roof and the main propeller section are removable to allow easy access to the interior.

There is a control panel tile in the cockpit and space for a single minifig, the rear compartment is open on both sides and there is space to fit a couple of passengers.

We get dual, flick mounted launchers on either side of the vehicle, and inexplicably, clips to hold Deadpool's swords on the outer edge. You can also pitch these launchers up or down for better range of fire.

And that's it! You can tell this is a much earlier set in the Super Heroes line by its basic construction but it's still a nice little set that was originally sold mainly on the inclusion of some very desirable and exclusive minifigs, and that's what has helped it maintain it's aftermarket value. I never expected to own this set and as longtime X-Men fan, I'm really glad to have dropped on it.

Check back soon where I will be taking a look at the other set I picked up 76048 Iron Skull Attack once I receive a replacement from ebay for the missing minifig.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to like the facebook page  where I post additional pics of minifig pick ups etc.