From Voltron to Fortnite: Modding LEGO’s Mecha Team Leader
/Today’s guest article is written by Okay Yaramanoglu, a prolific MOC builder and LEGO reviewer from the Eurobricks Reviewers Academy days. You can find his work on Flickr, Rebrickable, YouTube, and on Eurobricks.
Meet Mecha Team Leader
I have a confession to make. I have never played Fortnite, not even the LEGO version. However, when the pictures of this Care Bear-Voltron-looking thing were released, I was intrigued because I do love giant robots.
So, when BrickNerd reached out to me to potentially take a look at 77078 Mecha Team Leader, I happily accepted! LEGO boasts that this is one of the best mechs they’ve ever made. Is this true? To assess this statement, we need to look back at LEGO’s history of mechs first.
A Brief Look at LEGO Mechs
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine a time when LEGO didn't make any mechs, but they used to be pretty uncommon. LEGO’s first foray into sci-fi was the introduction of Classic Space, and it opened up the possibilities for sets based on the type of piloted robots, which we now call mechs or mecha. One of the first mechs they ever made (as far as I can tell) was the 6951 Robot Command Centre from 1984… and it is quite an odd one. It doesn’t really look like anything and has hardly any moving limbs aside from the noodle arms on its legs.
Throughout the 80s, LEGO would continue to experiment with mechs with sets like the 6882 Walking Astro Grappler, 6940 Alien Moon Stalker, 6848 Strategic Pursuer, and 6876 Alienator. While better than 6951, they were still a bit clunky. In the 90s, LEGO created their first mech-centric subtheme called RoboForce (although it was only available in the US).
The only mechs that the rest of the world received that decade were Blacktron 2’s 6878 Sub Orbital Guardian, Spyrius’ 6949 Robo-Guardian (the iconic highlight of that Space subtheme), 6889 Recon Robot (the budget version of the Robo-Guardian) and Rock Raiders’ 4940 Granite Grinder (a quintessential part of this fan favorite theme).
In the 2000s, LEGO continued to sprinkle mechs throughout their Space sets and in some action themes such as Alpha Team and Agents. Even Creator got in on the action with sets like 4508 Titan XP, although they couldn’t fit minifig pilots.
However, it wasn’t until 2006 that LEGO went all-in on mechs with an entire theme dedicated to them: Exo-Force! This manga-style theme ran for three years and was pure awesome. The only problem was that the joints and building techniques available at the time meant that the mechs weren’t as stable as the ones we have today. I think LEGO learned a lot from this theme. Exo-Force crawled so that today’s mechs could stomp!
Enter Ninjago. In the 2010s, LEGO introduced the theme that would change the brand forever. The popularity of Ninjago, with its main focus on mechs and dragons, not only meant that we would see ninja mechs with increasing quality for the next 15+ years, but also that LEGO would keep putting mechs into other themes to recapture Ninjago’s success with similarly mech-heavy themes such as Legends of Chima, Nexo Knights, and Monkie Kid. Nowadays, mechs are everywhere, even in themes that they have no business being in, such as Star Wars. It’s mech madness out there!
Mecha in the Community
LEGO mecha is a highly popular MOC category in the AFOL community. Go to any LEGO convention and you’ll see at least a few tables featuring some brick-built mechs. You can find a surprisingly wide variety of mecha thanks to the boundless creativity of all the talented builders out there. There are microscale ones, transforming ones, ones based on old LEGO themes, ones inspired by pop culture, and even ones large enough to be piloted by plushies or even humans (yes, you read that right)!
Hundreds of great new mechs are built every year, so here are just a few of my favorites (thanks to the BrickNerd brain trust and Beyond the Brick for some of the images (and I sadly don’t know every builder to credit them). I encourage you to go out and find your own favorite mech builders!
Hands-on With Mecha Team Leader
With each new mech they make, it seems LEGO set designers keep topping themselves. So is 77078 Mecha Team Leader the next step in the evolution of LEGO mechs? Let’s find out!
Packaging
Unlike other Fortnite sets, the box doesn’t feature any game scenery since it has the 18+ branding, so Mecha Team Leader is just displayed standing in a dark void, pointing off into the distance. I guess it’s supposed to look classy, but I personally hate this kind of box art as it’s boring and depressing. I guess adults are not allowed to have fun when looking at their plastic toy.
The back of the box features an alternate pose and some close-ups of the cockpit and the jetpack. It also advertises the fact that you can unlock Mecha Team Leader skins in the game with the purchase of this set, which is cool. Strangely, though, it doesn’t mention anywhere that the set comes with a display plaque.
The top of the box features an image of Mecha giving you a thumbs up and a picture of the minifig for scale while the bottom has the usual fine print.
The box is opened by lifting up the front, and to my surprise, it contained the new paper style bags. This is the first set that I have received these ecofriendly bags in a set and I don’t mind them. The fact that they’re opaque adds a layer of mystery to what you’re about to build next.
However, this along with their stiffness also makes it easier for parts to get left behind in the bag when pouring them out. I recommend holding the bag up to a light after pouring to ensure it’s empty each time. But if they help to save the planet, I’m all for it. Also, is it weird to say I like how they smell? Opening this set gave me the same fresh paper smell as opening a new book.
There are 19 numbered bags of slightly varying sizes and one bag containing the instructions and stickers as indicated by the pattern.
And yes, while there are some printed elements in this set, there are also several stickers (sorry, sticker haters). Personally, I much prefer stickers since they allow you to reuse parts without the design on them. For some reason, two of the ten stickers are printed on a separate sheet. More thoughts on this later.
Nerd-Worthy Parts
Here are some noteworthy parts I noticed that are worth getting nerdy about. As mentioned before, there are four printed parts in this set: the plaque, the wedge with the Cuddle Team Leader logo, the Durr Burger eye (of which there are four) and a 1x2 control panel tile (of which there are two) which is a pretty common tile, but always a nice inclusion.
There are also a few new recolors such as some wedge plates and curved slopes in dark pink or the small aircraft tail in orange which was only ever found in a board game back in 2003. There are also some new-for-2025 molds in new colors in this set, and this is the first time I’m seeing these parts firsthand. One is the XL Joint, which debuted in the T. Rex Fossil set earlier this year, where the gears have now been cast in dark bluish gray. The other is a 1x1 dome piece in red that is used as missile heads throughout the build.
The Instructions
The first few pages of the instructions give you a bit of information about how to redeem your outfits in the game, what LEGO Fortnite is, what the lore and significance of Mecha Team Leader is, as well as a few words from the set designers (which was very welcome for someone as uninitiated as me).
There are also little purple callouts on some pages of the instructions that give you tidbits of extra lore info about what you’re building, usually pertaining to sticker designs. Again, as someone who knows nothing about Fortnite, I appreciated that, but I wonder how useful this information is to Fortnite fans who are the target audience for this set. Seems like stuff they’d already know.
The instructions are pretty easy to follow, and there is a progress bar along the bottom with a Mecha Team Leader minifig indicating your build progress. However, I found an error where you are asked to add two orange 1x4 tiles in one step, but they disappear in the next step, only to reappear for all future steps. Durr, indeed.
The Build
Bag 1 contains the parts for the minifig, the display plaque, and the Sword of Singularity. From what I read about the sword’s lore, it’s essentially a statue of a person with the blade hidden underground. I like how they used a minifig head with Pixal’s hair on it, but I wish they could’ve done more to make it look more like a statue rather than a head on a stick.
Bags 2 - 4 build up the torso. Bags 5 - 7 contain parts for the right leg which is themed after Tomatohead, while Bags 8 - 10 are for the left leg which is themed after Beef Boss/Durr Burger (it’s nice to see these two put their differences aside and give this mech something to stand on).
I will say, though, that it is a bit annoying to have to apply the stickers for Tomatohead’s eyes. I’m almost inclined to agree with the sticker haters that this should have been a print since there is no way for a sticker to properly stick to a concave curve like this, but I’m just glad I can reuse those parts someday without giant tomato eyes on them. Perhaps having them be prints was originally the plan, but something went wrong, so they switched to stickers last minute, hence the separate sticker sheet, but that’s just my speculation.
Moving on, Bag 11 contains some waist armor. Bags 12 and 13 comprise the right arm which is themed to Rex while Bags 14 and 15 have the left arm which represents Drift. Next are the shoulder pads in Bag 16 and various other pieces of armor in Bag 17.
Finally, you add the jetpack in Bag 18 and the Cuddle Team Leader themed head in Bag 19. The head has some of the most interesting shaping in the set, so the build ends on a high note, although all the different studs-not-on-top (SNOT) techniques that are used create a bunch of little gaps between pieces that bother me a little.
The Minifig
Unlike last year’s 18+ Fortnite set, 77072 Peely Bone, this set comes with a minifigure… and what a minifigure it is! It’s a minifig version of Mecha Team Leader which is also one of the skins that you unlock LEGO Fortnite with this set—and it looks fantastic. It comes with a new head mold and is fully decked out with highly detailed prints on its front and back torso, legs, and even arms! Most Marvel and Star Wars minifigs don’t even get this kind of treatment. It looks adorable and matches its video game and brick-built counterparts perfectly.
The minifig also comes with an accessory. You’d think it would be a small version of Mecha’s sword, but no, it’s a stickered sign that says “I Heart Team Mech” so you can recreate the in-game “TEAM MECH” emote according to the set designers. Maybe this is a super popular emote in the game (I don’t know), but I would have much preferred the sword. Anyway, there is space to display the minifig along with its sign on the plaque stand, which matches the look of the Peely Bone plaque from last year.
The Completed Model
Did somebody order a Big Mac? No? How about a big mech? Here is Mecha Team Leader in all its glory. It’s quite a massive model as you can tell by its size in relation to the minifig. I have to applaud the designers for creating such a big mech that still feels sturdy. I love the colorful and playful look, as if a child just mashed a few of their favorite toys and fast food items together.
Mecha Team Leader looks pretty good from the back, too. It carries two halves of a jetpack, each of which is attached via a hinge (although there isn’t much room for them to move). I like the design on the back that they achieved with various dark gray and blue wedges, plates, and tiles.
There are a few issues with the sword, one of which is that Mecha can’t actually grip its fingers around it, so it holds it kinda awkwardly. The other problems are that it spins freely on its hilt and that the blade isn’t centered—it will always spin so that the back of the sword is facing the ground. You can kinda stop it from spinning by pushing the thumb against it, but it’s not an ideal solution. However, one thing that Mecha Team Leader does have a good grip on is the ground. There are little rubber pieces on the feet in addition to locked wheels underneath them, which aren’t in the source material, but they give the LEGO version a firm grip on the surface it’s standing on.
The new XL joints do a great job at giving this thing poseability while keeping it sturdy. You can have Mecha Team Leader lean over a fair bit without the joints buckling under the mech’s daunting weight.
Of course, this also means that they are a bit hard to move, and when you do, you tend to break off parts of the armor in the process (especially those knee dishes and the triangular tiles surrounding them as well as some exhausts on the mech’s back). These pieces are particularly prone to popping off, and not in a good way, so I recommend being very careful when posing the mech.
Speaking of the knees, they sadly don’t have any articulation. The legs are all one piece and anything that looks like a joint is just for show which is disappointing. I’m sure the designers must have considered adding knee joints, but probably decided it was too unstable. Still, in spite of all this, you can still get some pretty cool poses out of this guy.
Super Mecha Team Force Go! Here is Mecha Team Leader in comparison to 21311 Voltron, LEGO’s previous record holder for largest mech (although it doesn’t fit a minifig), and Nerdtron, my winning entry for Nerdvember 2017 (and the reason I suspect BrickNerd thought of me for this review!). I was surprised to find that Mecha Team Leader actually isn’t that much larger than Voltron. In fact, if you count Voltron’s wings, they’re about the same height. This new set is just a lot girthier. I think they make a pretty good team!
Play Features
The stomach hatch can be opened up so that you can seat the minifig in the cockpit. From what I have read on the Fortnite Wiki, Mecha Team Leader was actually piloted by someone called The Paradigm, not a tiny version of itself, so I’m not sure why we didn’t get her as a minifig instead, but I’m not complaining. It’s a nicely detailed room with Easter eggs for Fortnite fans, such as a brick-built version of the Devourer (not to be confused with the Great Devourer from Ninjago) on the screen in front of the pilot. Perhaps a hint at a future set? Probably not.
And that’s it! None of the 24 missiles can actually fire and there’s not much else you can do with this set. It’s clearly meant mostly for display. Even though it looks like a mech that was combined out of different things, it can’t actually separate or transform into anything like Voltron or Nerdtron can. I can’t really fault LEGO on this since it can’t do that in Fortnite either to my knowledge, but it’s a little disappointing all the same.
Modding Mecha Team Leader
But that got me thinking… what if it could transform? What would those separate vehicles look like? How would they come together to form Mecha Team Leader? And so, I started modding! The first step was to disconnect the differently themed sections of the mech. Fortunately, the way it is built makes it very easy, as all the limbs are only attached by two Technic axles.
Next, I started turning the individual sections into their own vehicles. For the torso, my first thought was to turn it into a full robot teddy bear, but that seemed too difficult, especially with my limited amount of pink parts. So, I turned it into a tank instead! I repurposed the jets as laser cannon arms and added treads that can be flipped up from behind. It’s like the Hunter Killer tanks from Terminator, except cuddlier!
What do you do with the dinosaur-themed arm of a combiner mech? Turn it into a full Dinozord, of course! I transformed the arm into a complete T Rex mech. It has a bit of a chibi look as I wanted to keep the legs small enough to not get in the way when in combined mode, but I think it works.
The other arm was a bit less obvious, but since it is themed to Drift, who is known to wear a kitsune mask, I decided to turn it into a Kitsune Mech with a head that resembles his mask. In this mode, the hand serves as the Kitsune’s multiple tails, although there aren’t as many as there usually are. I’m quite happy with how this one came out.
The legs were perhaps the most challenging segments to modify because what do you even do with a big burger or tomato with a big tube attached!? In the end, I decided to turn them into battle rigs! I switched out the rubber pieces for wheels and modified the heels so that the legs can be attached like a trailer. I also added clips on the back of the “trailer” to store the hip armor. I quite like how they look. I like to think that these used to be food delivery trucks for their respective restaurants and were converted into battle vehicles to help save the world.
Here is the mech all assembled again after the modifications. I tried to keep the same look by keeping the mods minimal, and I think I succeeded for the most part. The most noticeable changes are on the back where there are several tires and treads sticking out and where the Kitsune mask serves as an elbow guard. Some of the mods limit the poseability, but it’s not too bad.
And just for fun, I also built a Nerdly with the few pink bricks I had to turn this into a Fortnite Nerdtron!
Power Down, Royale Up
While this is a very impressive-looking display set, bigger isn’t always better. It is sturdy and has some poseability, but lacks knee joints and tends to fall apart during posing. And the lack of ability to transform/separate into other vehicles/mechs as one might expect is disappointing. Therefore in complete honesty, I personally prefer Voltron or the Ninjago Titan Mechs over this one.
Still, if you’re a Fortnite fan or mecha fan, it’s a solid set with some good parts and an excellent minifig. Also, 2,503 pieces for around $250 is a fair price. I can’t wait to see what set designers and MOC builders will learn from this set and how they’ll apply it to LEGO mechs in the future!
Thank you all for reading and thank you to BrickNerd and LEGO for the opportunity!
How would you modify a giant mech? Let us know in the comments below.
Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.
