So, if you haven’t guessed yet, I’ve commited myself to the Lego Atlantis line. Or at least I have now that I’ve picked up one of the beefier sets. I tend to prefer the Lego vehicles and buildings, rather than being a big fan of the Lego beasties, so I really wasn’t sure how much I was going to dig this beast-centric set. But the images on the box convinced me to give it a try, so let’s see how it turned out.

And there’s the box. It’s decently sized and contains one instruction book, one sticker sheet, and three unnumbered baggies of bricks. Those bricks include two minifigs, a little Atlantean ruin with a treasure chest, a one man sub, and the Mr. Big and Ugly himself, the Angler Fish. Now keep in mind, while this set does tip out at just over 201 pieces, the majority of the pieces in this set are TINY. Yes, there’s a few sizeable bricks, but for the most part you’re dealing with a lot of really small bits. If nothing else, this was a really interesting build, especially for the size and price point. To the minifigs!!!

You get one diver, Dr. Fisher, and you get the Barracuda Warrior, which is easily the best minifig I’ve seen in a while. I haven’t been all that smitten by the bad guys in this series, but I still gotta give props to the design on this guy. His head is huge and puts his mouth right in the middle of his chest. You also have to put on his teeth, as they are separate pieces. I dig him. I’m actually surprised they through a bad guy minifig in the set at all, as Fisher seems to have his plate full already what with having to deal with the Angler Fish.

The little patch of ruin looks like it would be right at home on the bottom of an aquarium. It’s got a treasure chest that opens and closes, a couple of sprigs of seaweed and a piece of ancient column that sits on an angle. There’s a couple of jewels and a bronzed helmet to put in the chest. It’s a cool little accent piece for the set and it gives our hero something to battle the Barracuda Warrior and the Angler Fish over.

Fisher’s little sub is ok, but nothing special. The Atlantis line features a lot of these little one-man submersables. I’ll at least give kudos that they’ve all been unique so far. This one has a little grabber arm, a clip to hold a harpoon gun, and a spinning propeller on the front. It features the same kind of handlebars as the other subs we’ve seen, so the pilot hangs on, rather than actually sits down. I’m not crazy about the prop being on the front, though, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The Angler Fish is a obviously the real draw of the set. He’s a really cool piece and made for a fun build. There’s some really clever stuff at play here. My favorite thing is the complex joint for the bottom of the jaw. I had no idea why I was building it the way I was, and it’s the first time I’ve used those rubbery pieces in a Lego set, but in the end it lets you pull down the bottom jaw and it’ll snap back. Like I said, it’s really clever. His teeth are awesome, and he’s even got a gold tooth! His bait tendril has a jewel on the end, which is pretty funny as it suggests he’s trying to trap the divers and not other fish. The overall design of this guy still looks more robotic than organic, which is a pretty unavoidable failing of a lot of the Legos beasts, but I still like him a lot. I think the only downside are his little top two fins. They’re the same pieces used for the divers’ flippers so it looks kind of cheesy. They’re also blank on one side, which makes the detail two-dimensional.

Overall, I’m happy with this set. I’m getting a little tired of the diver minifigs, but even if I consider Fisher and his sub as bonuses, the Angler Fish and Barracuda Warrior make this set a worthwhile purchase. I had a lot of fun building it, and there weren’t a lot of redundant steps like in some of the sets I’ve been building. At just under $20, it’s a fair deal, and it’s also one of the few Atlantis sets left on the shelves in my neck of the woods.