Lego Marvel Venomized Groot review

Lego Marvel Venomized Groot is an incredibly fun set — and it's for that reason we've called it one of the best Lego Marvel sets currently available. Half Groot, half Spider-man villain Venom, it's mixing up two different areas of the MCU and, somehow, it works. Whether you're a Guardians of the Galaxy fan or you love Venom, you're going to get a kick out of this funky little hybrid.

It's not perfect, though. Some fiddly parts of the build — and some very unstable parts that fall off with the slightest touch — give us some pause. Despite being aimed at ages 10 and above, we wouldn't recommend using Venomized Groot as a playset, because it's not going to last long. There's still a lot to love, though, and you can read more details below in our full Lego Marvel Venomized Groot review.

Lego Marvel Venomized Groot review: Build

• At 630 pieces, this is a fairly quick build
• Some very fiddly sections
• Not all that sturdy

Being made up of 630 pieces, putting Venomized Groot together isn't going to take you a massive amount of time. We managed to construct it in around 90 minutes (perfect length for watching a movie in the background), but your mileage may vary depending on how experienced you are.

Despite Groot being rated age 10 and above, if younger kids are new to Lego, they may struggle with some of the sections here. The instructions are pretty clear, but there are a few tough sections that took us a few attempts to figure out, particularly around Groot's head.

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The building process is pretty linear and straightforward, at least. You'll find five bags in the box, and if you're building the default model — half Groot, half Venom — you'll only need four of them. The fifth bag has the pieces necessary to transform Groot into his fully-Venomized form. While it looks really neat, it involves taking off some pieces you've already placed. You'll also need to use the Lego app to get the remaining instructions as they're not included in the printed booklet, which is a little annoying.

Bag one has you first building Groot's body, and bag two will see you add arms and legs. His arms are fully poseable, even down to the fingers, which is pretty cool. His legs have hinges at the hips, but we wouldn't recommend modeling them too much: due to the size of Groot's head, he's pretty top-heavy, so if the model isn't positioned correctly it's liable to topple over.

Bag three has you building the head, which is a fiddly but rewarding part of the building process. His head is constructed in small 'plates' that fit around a cylinder in order to add detail. It's effective, but getting those plates correctly in position can be a little tricky — it's this area we think kids might need a bit of a helping hand with.

Finally, bag four has you adding some final detail and attaching everything together. Here, you'll add the extra Venom mouths sprouting off Groot's back. As much as we love how they look, these are the least stable parts of the entire build and simply touching them is enough to have them fall off. 

Lego Marvel Venomized Groot review: Design

• We particularly love the half-and-half design of Groot's face
• Looks great at the side of the existing Lego I Am Groot

Lego's Venomized Groot is all about its aesthetic, and boy, this set looks absolutely fantastic. It's clear a lot of work has gone into this set's design: its Groot-versus-Venom elements have been carefully selected to ensure the balance is just right. 

We particularly love Groot's face, with its one Venom eye and one regular Groot eye. The Venomized mouth really finishes things off, and we're so glad the teeth brick is printed (there are, unfortunately, some other stickers here, mostly on the 'Groot' elements). 

It really just is a shame that those Venomized tentacles aren't better secured. The method of attaching them to Groot's back feels rather unorthodox — the top of a 'plant stalk' piece is stuck into a stud hole — and it doesn't offer the best fastening. One nudge, and those tentacles are coming off. It's not a deal breaker, but if you have younger builders who were hoping to use this as a playset, it might not last long. We'd recommend it being a display set, placed safely on a shelf and not moved.

It really does make a fantastic display piece, too. We love how it looks, and we particularly love how neat it looks at the side of Lego's older Groot model, I Am Groot. They're built to the same scale, and so pair together well. In fact, buy two of these sets, and you can have a full transition from regular Groot to fully Venomized Groot.

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Should you buy Lego Marvel Venomized Groot?

We think you should buy Venomized Groot, especially if you are a fan of Marvel. While there are a few issues, including the stability of some parts of the set, it doesn't ruin the overall aesthetic. Undeniably, it's a fantastic-looking set, and it's going to look great on a Marvel-themed display shelf, whether it's on its own or next to another Lego Groot.

We just wouldn't recommend buying it solely as a playset: it'll likely fall to piece very quickly, leading to lots of disappointment.

Other Lego sets to consider

Groot is pretty popular in the Legosphere at the moment. You can get a Potted Groot BrickHeadz set for just $9.99, and of course there's regular, non-Venomized I am Groot, who comes with a fantastic brick-built cassette tape. It's also worth keeping an eye on the Dancing Groot, coming on 1st August, who's sprouting out of a plant pot and donning headphones.

Elsewhere in Marvel, we absolutely adore the Amazing Spider-Man art set that looks like Spidey is climbing out of the wall. Finally, if you've got the budget to spend, the Avengers Tower is the biggest (and best) Marvel set you can currently get your hands on.