Is the LEGO Marvel Carnage (76199) a Good Investment Set?

12th October 2022

The end of 2022 will see a large number of Marvel sets leave shelves for good. One of these is Carnage, meaning time is quickly running out to buy it in stores at retail price. Therefore, in this article we review its investment potential for those looking for an opportunity to turn a profit.

The set

LEGO have been releasing a number of "helmet" style sets in recent years, depicting famous headwear from across the Star Wars, Marvel, and DC universes. While the helmet term cannot accurately be applied to Carnage, his head has been added to this collection of sets and has been made up in the same proportions.

He is not the first such set to come out of the Spider-Man theme, having been released alongside Venom, (76187) in 2021. What's surprising is that LEGO haven't followed them up with a 2022 instalment, despite there being a range of Spider-Man characters that have iconic headgear or masks. The Green Goblin, as seen in Spider-Man 1, and the web-slinger himself are obvious examples. Perhaps this is an indication that Venom and Carnage have not sold as well as their Star Wars counterparts.

The techniques used to build this set are more simplified than those used in the Star Wars helmets, but the shape of Carnage's head is also less angular and complex. The resulting shape is accurate to his on-screen depiction, and his colour scheme has been well achieved through a nice blend of red and black bricks.

However, it should be noted that there is a heavy reliance on stickers to create the finer detail. This is understandable given how many are needed, but it does reduce the overall quality of the set. The mouth section is the most impressive part, with the long angular teeth giving this model the sinister look it needs. Because the teeth are so long, the bottom jaw projects far beyond the top teeth, which makes this set look odd from a side-on view. The height of the mouth also means that Carnage is a little taller than similar sets.

Despite its design drawbacks, this set bears a convincing resemblance to the murderous symbiote, and having such a cool supervillain in a display format is a big win in our opinion.

Carnage retails for £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 and has a piece count of 546. This equates to a price per piece of 10.1p / 11.0c / 11.0c, which is about average for a Marvel set.

Unique Parts

Carnage features four unique pieces, two of which are red sloped parts, with the other two being pink parts used to make up the inside of his mouth. There are also a few more pieces that only appear in one or two other sets. Having a sizable quantity of uncommon and useful parts can make a set attractive to collectors and builders, and thus push up its price after retirement. Although this is the case here, most of the parts have limited application or appeal beyond being used in this set.

Looking to the future

The popularity of a set's theme and subject matter can be big factors influencing its price post-retirement. Marvel and Spider-Man's popularity is off the charts at the moment thanks to the succession of blockbuster movies that have struck the right note with fans, and this shows no sign of slowing down.

Carnage is a more niche Spider-Man character who has only appeared once in recent movies and is not due to show up again soon. Therefore, the appeal of this set is more limited than other "helmet"-style builds. The desirability of this set and Venom (76187) will depend strongly on whether LEGO choose to recreate any more of the visages of Spider-Man and his adversaries, as having a larger range of these sets will increase the collectability of earlier models that later collectors may have missed. However, because this year didn't see a new addition to this line-up, it looks like LEGO have decided against making any more.

Conclusion

Investment opportunity: FAIR

This set is a decent recreation of one of the baddest Marvel supervillians and one that any serious Spider-Man fan will appreciate. However, it does come with some design weaknesses and the set's appeal is more limited for casual Spider-Man fans, some of which might not be aware of who Carnage is or his backstory. Therefore, the set's desirability isn't likely to be particularly high after it retires and it cannot be recommended as a strong investment. However, its value could increase significantly if LEGO brings out more head sets under the Spider-Man theme.

Disclaimer: This article or any others on brickranker.com should not be considered financial advice and investing in LEGO is risky.

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