A cute new set announced yesterday is the #76339 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Fantastic Four H.E.R.B.I.E. The set won’t be available until August, but it can be pre-ordered already at the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes section of the Online LEGO Shop.
According to Wikipedia, when the Fantastic Four property was made into an animated series in 1978, the character of the Human Torch was not available for use in the series due to having been optioned for a motion picture which never materialized. Needing a fourth member to round out the team, Stan Lee pitched the idea for a cute robot sidekick and artist Jack Kirby, who had been hired as a storyboard artist for DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, designed it. This was Kirby’s last work for Marvel.
H.E.R.B.I.E. was created by Mister Fantastic and Master Xar of the Xandarians, who hoped that the robot could aid their search for Galactus, whom they sought for aid in defeating the villain known as the Sphinx. H.E.R.B.I.E. has the ability to connect to any computer system. He also possesses electricity generators and lasers. He also possesses various hidden tools and features.
The LEGO version of H.E.R.B.I.E. features the lovable robot with his familiar tape-recorder eyes, which rotate automatically as his head turns. He has highly articulated arms and fingers, which can be used to hold his favorite drinking mug and screwdriver. When not in use, both accessories can be stored neatly behind an opening panel in the robot’s torso.
The #76339 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Fantastic Four H.E.R.B.I.E. set comes with 747 pieces and retails for 74.99 USD / 69.99 EUR / 59.99 GBP. You can pre-order it now at the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO version of the robot sidekick? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!
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They released a smaller creator robot a few years ago that was sort if a combination of Herbie and Wall-E that I really liked.
Fun fact. I made a screwdriver almost identical to that. I like it because the head can be changed out for other tools. I use it to remove tiles, get into small spaces to move minifigs, etc.
Jack Kirby who is mentioned in the post is the original co-creator of the Fantastic Four. Although Stan Lee took all the main writing credits during Kirby’s run, in practice, it seems to have been mostly Kirby’s work as well.
And well, personally, I would have preferred a Herbie in minifig scale, but it might be too much to hope for outside of Star Wars…
Yeah, a minifig Herbie would be great! Maybe they will do it if this set sells well. 🙂