TheBatstan

I remember a few people talking about wanting to see a UCS '66 Batmobile for the past year or so, I didn't think it would actually end up happening. Though to be honest, with that piece count and price point, it feels more like a "midi-scale" version that's a middle ground between a minifigure scale vehicle and something more like the UCS 1989 Batmobile/Tumbler that both had over 3000 pieces. I'd even say it's closer to the Technic Battinson Batmobile than its larger counterparts. But regardless, getting this set this year just feels like that "the party ended an hour ago and he's still here" meme video. Lego seemed like they were focused on the 1966 TV series back in 2021 with both the minifig scale Batmobile and the Adam West cowl helmet, this set would've been one way to continue that Batman '66 flow instead of suddenly going back to it 3 years later. The biggest bone I have to pick with this set though...where the hell is ROBIN?! It's not even funny at this point, him and Batman were the two main characters of the TV show and they appeared in every single episode together, yet once again Lego pretends that he doesn't exist. Robin being excluded from the 2021 set is one thing since Joker was in it and having a third minifigure would've bumped up the price, but this UCS set is only going to have ONE minifigure in it when it's usually always been the bare minimum to include at least two. The Icons BTTF DeLorean set had both Doc Brown and Marty no problem, but Lego can't let this version of Batman be partnered up with his own sidekick from the show that popularized the concept of the 'Dynamic DUO'? The prices of the Robin minifigure from the 2016 '66 Batcave on the aftermarket just keep going up and up, this would've been the perfect opportunity to finally put an end to that, but I guess not.

I appreciate the compliment, but I was only 7-9 when the original theme was out. A little past the eating bricks stage, but still way too young to be on online forums (hell, I only joined Eurobricks in 2013 when I was 14). I only managed to find these old forums out of curiosity and pure boredom, but it was fascinating to see what things were like back then. Now if I was the age I am now back when the 2006-2008 sets were warming shelves, I would've grabbed as many of them as I could for some very lucrative investment opportunities. Plus actually having an entire sealed collection that wouldn't cost me an arm, leg, and a kidney to get wouldn't have been so bad either.

If we take the nostalgia goggles off for the original Batman theme/the first Lego Batman game for a second (heresy I know, especially coming from me), I think one of the biggest reasons for Lego canning it after 2008 was that it wasn't a great seller. I remember seeing forum posts of people finding the 2006 sets for crazy clearance prices, and distinctly recall coming across an eBay listing a few years ago for a sealed 2006 Batcave that still had the original discount sticker on it...for 30 dollars. Thirty. Dollars. And keep in mind that the original retail price of the '06 Batcave was 90 USD so it was more than half off at one point in time, which probably wasn't a good sign. Now as we all know, this changed in 2008 with the one-two punch of The Dark Knight and Lego Batman 1 making Batman's popularity skyrocket again and starting the craze of the 2006-2008 sets quadrupling in value, which still persists to this day. But Lego had already pulled the plug on the theme by the time they saw this resurgence in 2009, so I'm guessing they spent the next 2 years trying to renegotiate with WB to get the license back and incorporate the entire DC Universe this time around before officially announcing the Super Heroes theme in July 2011. Speaking of, stumbling across this topic a few months ago felt like knowing a car accident was about to happen but you couldn't do anything to stop it. The hope these guys had for sets in 2009 and the ideas that were discussed before they all eventually realized the theme was done were both beautiful and sad to read all these years later.

The X-Jet is finally starting to hit the deep discount prices. For any fellow Canadians here, Indigo has it on sale for $77 compared to the regular $110 price. I'm very tempted, but I'm not sure if it'll go any lower or if this is the best it'll get.

Man-Bat's right next to Mad Hatter actually, and you can add the Ventriloquist and Scarface to the list.

If anything, Lego has a greater incentive to do it now more than ever. The set possibilities by using the cartoon are endless compared to only having 3 villains from the Burton movies and stretching themselves thin to make that work. Make a Batwing set with Robin and one of the highly requested villains like Two-Face, maybe a set with Batgirl that has that new version of Poison Ivy teased from the sticker, or finally ending the teasing by making a Mad Hatter minifigure.

...When I was hoping for updates about Part II, this isn't what I meant. The first movie was delayed by COVID, now the sequel is delayed by the strikes. What's the third one going to be hit by at this rate, WWIII? At least the one (?) upside to this is that maybe Lego will substitute their Batman fix next year by making another BTAS wave like how they made a Burton wave last year to pretend The Flash set didn't exist.

Not to derail the (already) derailed discussion, but Brick Fanatics put out this article that described the June 2024 sets in a little more detail, with their source being a Polish website called Fanklockow. No idea if they're reliable or not, but they must be if these big sites are running with it. The biggest news for me is the BTAS Batmobile set description. It's great to see that Lego seems to be continuing the Batmobile display stand streak (besides the minifig scale Tumbler breaking it), but that bit about Batman coming with a "rubber cape" has me wondering if this was a mistranslation or if he's getting the Doctor Strange cape/the molded Keaton cape and cowl treatment. Either way, Batman's not going to be able to fit in the Batmobile if it's either of those things.

Well that was fast. And even though this set goes for $390 Canadian for me/borderline 400, I think I might get this on day 1. I have no idea where I'll put it considering how big it is, but the attention to detail that's been put into the entire design is absolutely beautiful. Nearly every major building from the series is represented in some form, and even though this thing is riddled with stickers, they spared no expense with the little character silhouettes. The minifigs are really great as well. I can't believe it's taken this long to FINALLY get a Batman with a black/blue cape, plus the new cowl piece fits this version of Batman way more than on Keaton's (though I think I'm going to use the 2006 Type 1 cowl instead as the ears on that one are more accurate to the show with how they're curved). Joker is nearly perfect as well, but I would've personally have used the 2006 Joker hairpiece again, it fits BTAS Joker a lot more than that overused widow's peak hairpiece that just refuses to go away. It's a shame he didn't get a new hairpiece like his appearance in DC Super Villains, or at the very least, the new Beast hairpiece minus the pointed ears. And after over a decade since it last appeared at the very start of the DC theme/was reused for a Dimensions pack, Harley's jester outfit is back in minifigure form. I know the Rebirth minifigure with the blue/pink pigtails is based on Harley's modern look where she became her own person and broke away from Joker's influence...but the jester costume will always be the first thing I think of when I think of Harley Quinn. Man does this figure look amazing, it's like the 2008 minifigure but modernized with all the correct details this time (though I would've kept the blue eyes, it really made '08 Harley stand out). If there's one big thing that bothers me about this set though, it's definitely the sticker silhouettes because my god, why can't ANY of these be actual physical minifigures?! It's like teases for figures that'll never happen. It's bad enough that they threw in a sticker for Robin when he's not even coming in the summer BTAS sets, but the other stickers featuring new versions of Alfred, Gordon, a black and white suit Two-Face (using the exact same hairpiece as the original 2006 version so this one really hurts), Scarecrow, Riddler, Ra's al Ghul, Bane, Killer Croc, Ivy, etc. alongside brand new characters like Bullock and Montoya...and don't even get me started on the unmade villain stickers. The Ventriloquist and Scarface, a minifig version of Clayface, THE MAD HATTER (the last villain needed to complete the main villain roster from the first Lego Batman game after all these years!). Hell, they even went so far as to include stickers for Baby Doll and LOCK-UP. It's insane that Lego would do all these villain designs as stickers, yet the only one that's planning on showing up soon as a minifig is Mr. Freeze. Rant aside, I really can't wait to see the regular minifigure scale sets, especially the Batmobile. Here's hoping we get a second BTAS wave and this isn't just a one and done like the '66 Batmobile or Tumbler.

So in terms of some actual DC set news for once, greekbricks_ (one of the pretty reliable leakers) was doing a 10K follower celebration Q&A on IG and said that the BTAS Gotham skyline set "should be revealed next week or a week after alongside D&D/Dungeons & Dragons". Now we wait.

The Goblin figure being based on the original, unmodified 2002 suit with the mask and not the final battle version almost makes this a compulsory purchase. The first time in over 20 years that Lego has made the OG Raimi Green Goblin design again in some form, whether it be a minifig or buildable fig, it's nearly impossible to pass up for me. Including a minifigure of it in the same set would've been icing on the cake, but if Lego can make an entire buildable figure of a suit that only appeared on screen for 10 seconds at best, maybe getting some modernized Raimi trilogy sets in the near future isn't too far-fetched.

Then Stardust Benny will be my new savior instead of Oswald. But I'm pretty confident that if/when Lego decides to make comic F4 minifigures, they'll use the blue and black color scheme first since that's been around for a lot longer than the blue and white versions (plus I'm pretty sure it's the more iconic look).

Yup, HERBIE looks like he came straight out of an issue of the comics from the Silver Age. So if he's any indication of what the tech will be like, we might just be in good hands. Swapping out the black for the white caught me by surprise too, but I suppose they thought it would help differentiate this F4 from Krasinski's Reed from Earth-838 where his team uniform was the classic blue and black combo (and many, many needless lines). As for the minifigs, I would only need the (presumably bigfig) Ben from the MCU FF minifig roster, he looks like he could easily double for a comic Thing no problem. Though I guess the one issue would be if the printing for the shorts would have a white waistband instead of black, that would throw a wrench in things.

Yeah, I'm already preparing myself for the monkey's paw wish of getting a D2C Baxter Building but it's based on the MCU instead of the comics. But with how that first look pic of the MCU FF looks like they're leaning heavily into the classic 60s Stan Lee/Jack Kirby comics with their appearances (besides Pedro looking less like Reed Richards and more like he'll be playing himself wearing an F4 sweater) and even including aspects like H.E.R.B.I.E, maybe the Baxter Building can work for a comic version too if it ever does happen. I'm not too worried about the inevitable downgrade. The Fantastic Four suits are probably some of the most simplistic superhero costumes ever. All Lego needs to do is literally print the 4 logo, black belt, and add muscle detailing for Reed and Johnny, with a female version for Sue, on some blue torsos. The biggest hurdle to get around would be whether or not they get blue legs with dual molded black boots. Thankfully, we already have a solution with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from the Disney 100th anniversary CMF series from last year if Lego really does go the cheap route and just uses regular blue legs. Speaking of which, I'd better stock up on three pairs of those legs sooner rather than later.

The best part about the MCU Fantastic Four cast being locked in for me is that Lego will FINALLY remember that they can make F4 sets now (let's face it, the MCU sets are all they really care about these days unless your name is Spider-Man), so the chances of getting comic versions of the Four just went up by 1000%. It only took Lego over a decade since they first got the Marvel license to start caring for the FF, but something's better than nothing. Just give me a D2C comic Baxter Building with the Fantasticar, a new Dr. Doom, or even some new villains like Mole Man/Annihilus/possibly Galactus and the Silver Surfer, and the designs from the first Lego Marvel game (except with a different hair piece for Reed, the widow's peak hair doesn't work at all) and I'll be there day 1.