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Category: The LEGO Movie

  • Review: 70903 The Riddler Riddle Racer

    Review: 70903 The Riddler Riddle Racer

    It was pretty clear with the very first LEGO Batman movie trailer exactly what direction they were going to go with the movie… that delightful mix of reverence and absurdity that made the The LEGO Movie work so well. The early sets gave us a taste of that, the Collectible Minifigure Line turned it up to 11… but I think seeing this set was when I knew the CMF was only just starting to scratch the surface.

    The craziness of the Eraser and the Calculator are matched by Calendar Man and Kite Man, and we get one of the classic villains in Riddler and one of the more contemporary ones to see some love (in Beware the Batman) in Magpie. I’ve built all but four of the LEGO Batman movie sets at this point, and the thing that seems to differentiate between good sets and bad sets is the amount of style and flavor that goes into the build. In reviewing 70903 The Riddler Riddle Racer, I think it’s safe to say that it has style in spades.

    The base vehicles have had a great amount of style, like the Lowrider and Batmobile, and when you take and mix a bunch of interesting characters, you tuck in a whole lot of value. This is one of two $29.99 sets, along with 70911 The Penguin Arctic Roller, and comes in a seemingly low 254 parts, which is offset by the four figures I mentioned above. I built both sets at the same time, and, spoiler alert… this might just be my favorite of all of the vehicles I’ve built so far.

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  • New Polybags Showing Up at TRU and Target in US

    New Polybags Showing Up at TRU and Target in US

    It’s (finally) almost 2017, and that means that new sets and the like are starting to show up. While we’re going to get a sales roundup going for some of the new sets popping up January 1st, there are a few things out there that you need to visit a store to pick up.

    First up, a LEGO Batman Movie polybag that I grabbed at Target week-ish back while on the prowl for new LEGO Batman sets.

    batman-polybag-front

    It’s an easy way to get the new Batman with the utility belt and some lightsaber bars. There are a bunch of Batman figures hopping around thanks to all the sets, but at $3.99 and 59 parts, there’s a bunch of value here regardless.

    batman-polybag-back

    If you want to look for it, here’s the Item # and UPC. I’ve seen it in multiple Targets around Dallas, so it should be relatively easy to find.

    krypto-polybag-front

    The more exciting one for me, honestly, is this polybag that I ran across at TRU. While hiding my shame at being in the store (which was mitigated when I made them price-match to S@H prices for 70900 The Joker Balloon Escape set and negate the TRU tax), I was surprised to see this fantastic little Krypto polybag, also coming in at $3.99.

    krypto-polybag-back

    I doubt if you have a soul if you do not fall in love with that little dog. The rest is gravy. Interesting side-note… all of the logo parts in the polybag, including the Superman logo and the series logo on the tail, are printed.

  • Review: 70901 Mr. Freeze Ice Attack

    Review: 70901 Mr. Freeze Ice Attack

    The last of the reviews, 70901 Mr. Freeze Ice Attack, of the initial release of the Batman sets is coming with the least fanfare. Unlike the other three, this one wasn’t sent to us by LEGO, but purchased from one of my local LEGO Stores (along with the latest Holiday Train, for all none of you who are curious). It stands out from the rest in a few ways… it’s the one that’s obviously not intended to be a set by itself (previews have shown that the various small sets coming out this year and next year fit together to make a larger build), it includes Yet Another Mech™ for us to build and forget, and it also includes Mr. Freeze.

    Mr. Freeze is a major villain in the Batman lexicon, but has only shown up once in the resurrected Super Heroes line set (the ’66 classic one was a polybag and should have been in that Batcave set). In terms of the LEGO movie, we know nothing at all about his role in the movie; the only villain we’ve heard talk is the Joker. Head-canon wise, I’m going to hope they go full McBain in making and make give him a brand new weakness in only being able to speak in cold-related puns. It’s the villain we need right now.

    This set is the cheapest in the line thus far, at just $19.99 USD, and comes with three minifigures and 201 parts. Also, pipes, so there is that. I’m curious about the choice of a generic security guard in the set, since none of the other sets featured an unnamed character, and one of the things that’s been made clear is that there are a plethora of possible figures for them to release. Another villain that matches Mr. Freeze here (Poison Ivy, perhaps) might make this set look a bit more attractive from the outset, but let’s dig into the set itself and see how it builds.

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  • Review: 70909 Batcave Break-in

    Review: 70909 Batcave Break-in

    I’ve owned all of the versions of the Batcave save the ’66 one, probably in some vain attempt to build a proper Batcave someday. The reason behind skipping the Classic TV version is that I honestly don’t think it looks nice enough to drop that kind of money on. Once I get over a certain price point on a set, I expect it to be displayed all of the time. If it won’t be (looking at you, Hoth Waste of Money), it’s probably not worth the investment. I’d rather just pick off any minifigures or the like and be done with it than have a giant set that doesn’t look good on a shelf.

    At $99.99 and 1047, this isn’t an insignificant investment… $30 more than the last version but with a whole bunch more parts (and less giant panels everywhere), but still a whole lot easier to accept than the $270 for that big tan monster. LEGO was kind enough to send us 70909 Batcave Break-In along with the Lowrider and Batmobile sets for review, but if history is any indication, I’ll likely end up buying more than one of this set to try and build something bigger (I’ve actually had three each of the previous two Batcave sets). It’s kind of hard to watch the LEGO Batman movie trailer without wanting to build what you see in there.

    If you’ve watched the trailer (or, if you’ve like me and have watched the trailer a couple of dozen times), the thing that stands out about this set compared to the other two we’ve reviewed is that it’s clearly inspired by the movie, but not really based on it. While there are little elements of the movie in everything we see here, it doesn’t really look like any of that stuff. If anything, at first glance, this looks a lot like a new skin on the previous version of the Batcave. That being said… putting Batman in a gold cape is probably worth an extra point or two in any review score.

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  • Review: 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider

    Review: 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider

    Fact: it’s impossible to build this and not keep singing War’s Low Rider to yourself. FACT. Beyond that, if you’ve seen suicide squad, it’s impossible to see exactly how deep the cut is with this set. In $49.99 and 433 pieces we get a better Joker and car than that movie could ever provide. It also seems to have more purple than every other set I’ve ever purchased… I think only the Harry Potter double-decker bus could potentially come close.

    Of all the LEGO Movie sets, this one wasn’t on my radar at all. I’m sure I saw it in the previews, but I had all the figures in some form, and the Batgirl figure wasn’t close enough to the costume I like the most (post-35 N52 that was dark purple and absurdly practical)… it was good, but not enough over the version that was in Joker Steamroller set. More than that, it did smack of the whole Suicide Squad look, and Joker was by far the worst part of that film (Harley was the best, but not enough to cancel it out).

    After building it, though, I’ll admit that I was wrong to ignore it, and connect it to suicide squad over just sticking to the weird spirit of old school Batman. Touches like the horn, the chicken, and the stereo system you can’t see have more character than I was expecting… and the most recent LEGO Batman trailer made it very clear what sort of Joker they were going for in the movie. By the time I was building 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider, I was excited to review it, and along with the Batmobile… may be my favorite of the stuff I’ve built thus far. And I have to thank LEGO for sending it over, because I probably would have ignored it otherwise.

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  • Review: 70905 The Batmobile

    Review: 70905 The Batmobile

     

    It’s been awhile since I felt excited about a Batman movie. My opinions on Batman v Superman are well-covered on this site, Killing Joke showed that even the normally amazing animation arm of DC could lay an absolute stinker, and we haven’t had a solid cartoon with just Batman in years. Then, the trailer for The LEGO Batman movie launched, and saying that I was excited would be an understatement. While the entirety of the LEGO Movie was pretty awesome, Batman was a highlight throughout. Let’s watch the trailer again just to get pumped…

    I actually missed that this trailer came out a few weeks back, and it has a few new mixes. The whole thing is worth it just for the bit between the Joker and Batman, and talking about Superman. I was going to see this movie anyway, but now I’ll have to see it more than once just for that. Anyway, LEGO was kind enough to send us three of the LEGO Batman movie sets for review: 70905 That Batmobile, 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider, and 70909 Batcave Break-In. I reviewed the last version of the Batmobile, from Batman v Superman (which I liked 400% more than the movie itself), but let’s just say that this thing is a whole different beast.

    The LEGO Batman Movie looks like a bottomless pit of potential sets, I mean, how can you watch that trailer and not want a Bat-Kayak, and they’re starting off strong by throwing the most iconic vehicle in… well, honestly, probably all comics (and you could argue, all movies and TV, I think). This beast weighs in at $59.99 in the US, and 581 pieces… and looks like an unholy fusion of Batman ’66, Batman ’89, and all of the snark of LEGO Batman rolled into one glorious package.

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  • Upcoming LEGO Batman Movie Sets

    Upcoming LEGO Batman Movie Sets

    This sort of slipped through the cracks while life got in the way for a couple of this month, but now that we’re focusing on getting our reviews for The LEGO Batman Movie and DC Friends sets, we’re running across a whole mess of sets that we have been announced or can now be found in the instruction books for the current preview wave of sets.

    The current lineup of sets includes 70901 Mr. Freeze Ice Attack, 70905 The Batmobile, 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider, and 70909 Batcave Break-In… obviously there are a few numbers between each of those. We know one of them will probably be taken up by the Collectible Minifigure line, and Arkham Asylum has already been revealed (as a Toys ‘R Us exclusive). Turns out several other sets have been revealed… hop below the fold to check them out!

    Thanks to Brickset and BrickToyNews for descriptions of some of the sets!

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  • LEGO Movie Batman CMF Revealed

    LEGO Movie Batman CMF Revealed

     

    LEGO decided that everyone needed a bit of a pick-me-up going in to the Thanksgiving Holiday, and posted the upcoming CMF lineup for LEGO Batman. I think we can all agree that this is the most “shut up and take my money” CMF line yet.

    cmf-lego-batman-stands

    You can check out some detail shots of them below the fold, including that amazing Fairy Batman or the “Batman With Claws that’s totally not an Homage to another company’s character.”

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  • [SDCC] LEGO Life-Sized Models, Minifigure Giveaway Details

    [SDCC] LEGO Life-Sized Models, Minifigure Giveaway Details

    One of the big bonuses any time you’re around LEGO stores, booths, displays, or parks, is the incredible life-sized models that they put up. For years now, LEGO has been bringing the latest and greatest life-sized models for display around SDCC, and this year is no different. Featured models this year include:

    • Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman (celebrating the 75th anniversary and the 2017 solo film)
    • LEGO Movie Batman will be featured at the WB booth (#4545). Additionally, on Thursday, attendees can help build a full size version with master builders, and on Saturday some of the cast will be on hand at the LEGO Booth
    • Celebrating the 6th season of Ninjago, a large scale Jay Walker will be on hand at the LEGO Booth
    • An MCU version of Captain America will be on display at the LEGO booth

    For those who are interested in one of the two exclusive figure giveaways, LEGO provided details for that, as well as how those of us willing to use Twitter, but not willing (or able) to attend SDCC can have a chance too:

    To secure an opportunity to receive a LEGO minifigure giveaway, show attendees should visit the Pavilion Terrace at 12:30 pm each day to enter an instant drawing giveaway, to be fulfilled on the spot while supplies last. One drawing per person per day.

    Thursday, July 21, and Saturday, July 22: “Ray” Palmer as The Atom minifigure
    Friday, July 22, and Sunday, July 24: Steve Rogers as Captain America minifigure

    Fans who are not attending SDCC have a chance to win the exclusive LEGO minifigure giveaways and Exclusive Retail Sets via Twitter by following @LEGO_Group and the hashtag #LEGOSDCC.

    You can also watch a pretty awesome video of the making of the LEGO Movie Batman figure below the fold… though honestly, I want that mini (but still huge) version on the table behind the builders). There are also several pictures of the life-sized and large sized models as well.

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  • ABR: Second LEGO Batman Teaser

    ABR: Second LEGO Batman Teaser

    Need something fantastic to wash the stain that is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice out of your brain? You’re in luck, and LEGO has you covered, by dropping another fantastic bit for The LEGO Batman Movie. Also, I want both that Batman in a robe minifig and that fantastic utility belt part.