Friday 20 April 2012

Toybox REVIEW: LEGO DC Universe Super Heroes Batman


It's been a long time since I bought a LEGO kit. Back in the late 90s/early noughties, ranges like the UFOs, Insectoids, Aqua Zone and Star Wars (back when the mini-figures had yellow skin!)were my toys of choice, and as I got older I moved onto the early Bionicle line. But as the prices went up and I found the ranges less and less exciting I moved on and haven't really looked back at the LEGO line since, save for appreciating the movie franchise lines the company has produced over the years. Having missed picking up any of the original Batman line (I sorely regret not getting the mini-figure sets) when LEGO announced they would be revisiting the DC universe (a long with Marvel) I got quite excited, but still only in terms of the mini-figures. However I recently received the Batman (#4526) and Joker (#4527) sets, I've found myself more interested than I originally expected to be.


Made up of 40 pieces, the LEGO Batman stands 8" (20cm) tall and wouldn't look too out of place alongside figures from LEGO's Hero Factory line (which I'm led to believe is the successor to Bionicle, but its all LEGO Technic to me). The figure is mainly comprised of a skeleton frame, which armour is then clipped onto to flesh out the bulk of the character. There's not really any small parts so you don't have to worry about losing anything, but at the same time the step-by-step building is relatively simple.


There are a lot of ball and socket joints making up the frame, so as you can expect the end result is a pretty articulated Batman. He has a full range of motion in his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and feet...pretty much everywhere you could want really.


Instead of a cape, Batman comes with an articulated back piece with four blue spikes hanging down from them. While it doesn't quite have the same effect as a full cape, it suits this more armoured version of Batman and is fully movable so it doesn't get in the way of the arms. Batman comes armed with two swords, which can be wielded separately or combined in a fist to make a dual-blade weapon. Personally I find it a little bit of an odd weapon for the caped crusader and would have like to see a batarang or something along those lines.


Batman isn't an amazing figure, but he's a lot more fun than I would have expected to be. The fact he can combine with the Green Lantern adds even more play value to the kit, and has got me interested in getting him too. Not something I'd recommend rushing to spend £10 on, but if you like the look of him I don't think you'd be disappointed.



2 comments:

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Gordon Bullard & Company said...

It's been a long time since I bought a LEGO kit. Back in the late 90s/early noughties, ranges like the UFOs, Insectoids, Aqua Zone and Star Wars (back when the mini-figures had yellow skin!)were my toys of choice, and as I got older I moved onto the early Bionicle line.

But as the prices went up and I found the ranges less and less exciting I moved on and haven't really looked back at the LEGO line since, save for appreciating the movie franchise lines the company has produced over the years. Having missed picking up any of the original Batman line (I sorely regret not getting the mini-figure sets) when LEGO announced they would be revisiting the DC universe (a long with Marvel) I got quite excited, but still only in terms of the mini-figures.


Gordon Bullard & Company