Review: 30522 Batman in the Phantom Zone

[Captain Nemo]

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Set Stats

Name: 30522 Batman in the Phantom Zone
Theme: The Lego Batman Movie
Year: 2017 
Pieces: 59
Price: USD $3.99
Resources: Brickset
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Hello avid bat-reader! This is the first of which is hopefully a number of reviews I'll complete on various Lego Batman Movie sets. Starting off that endeavor is 30522 Batman in the Phantom Zone, a rather specific and potentially spoilery set which includes our titular hero in a particular place with what appears to be some type of particular drone. But, that's for later--first let's dive into the set as a whole:

Bag

30522 comes in the typical polybag bag which is not surprising--however eagle-eyed readers may notice that the drone appears to be brown or nougat in color rather than the actual dark red color it comes in. I'm unsure if this was simply a misprint on my own packaging or rather a misprint everywhere, but it's worth noting as Lego rarely makes these types of mistakes.

 

Contents 

The bag itself contains all of the pieces, the one page instruction slip, and a white box which contains Batman's cape. Additionally, in the photo below I've placed a dark red brick on the bag itself, to prove that my eyes are not that terrible.

 

Being a polybag, the build itself is rather quick, in fact the entire drone is constructed in eleven steps. While the build itself may be a bit repetitive, the parts used within it are anything but boring. Dark red is still a rather uncommon color and this polybag provides a number of pieces in that valuable shade. These include such bricks as eight modified 1x1s with clips, three 1x1 tiles, and two dark red headlight bricks. But the most surprising--and welcome--of all is the inclusion of a 3x3 dish and a 1x4 antenna in transparent clear, which are used as a stand for the drone. This was not shown on the polybag itself, but are nonetheless very useful as they allow the drone to "fly" and display easily (and incidentally photograph well too).      

Build

The majority of the polybag is dedicated to the drone, which looks splendid and appears particularly sharp and deadly. It has a very futuristic space style and the dark red pops nicely against the silver, black, and transparent light blue. Now what is the drone itself? The title of the polybag suggests its something from within the Phantom Zone--which is an often Superman associated Kryptonian prison-dimension that holds the worst of the worst of alien criminals. The Phantom Zone has been used extensively in the comics and film media, from shows and movies such as Superman (1978), Justice League Unlimited, Man of Steel, and most recently CW's Supergirl. What role will this dimension play within the Lego Batman Movie I couldn't say, but this Phantom Drone, which I presume to be some type of security, will most likely play a part.    

The back of the drone is a bit less flashy than the front, but the continued use of jarring angles really sell the danger level on this thing. 

Minifigure

Being a polybag, this set includes only one minifigure--that of the dark knight himself, Batman. This is the typical Batman figure included in practically every LEGO Batman Movie set and as such its not at all special. He does have a duel sided face as well as front and back printing although this excludes belt printing as this figure instead utilizes the new belt accessory piece. The polybag comes with an extra belt piece as well as two Batarangs.     

  

Conclusion 

I'll be honest and say that initially I didn't understand all the praises this polybag was getting in the discussion forums here. It's just hype, just some red bricks; another generic Batman; the other polybags seems more collectible--all of these thoughts passed through my mind at the time. But after picking this up and building it, I rather like it. Sure Batman is indeed boring, at least here. But that drone has character with an edge and it makes one heck of an impression on a shelf. I think its current mystique only adds to that impression actually--wondering what it is only makes it that much more interesting. 

Review Summary 

Design: 5/5 - A very intriguing and deadly design.  

Parts: 5/5 - They're a number of great pieces in this set, especially considering its size. 

Build: 5/5 - Nice build but with no advanced or new techniques.

Minifigures: 2/5 - If there's any fault here, its the inclusion of the generic Batman suit, one which already appears in eleven other sets in this wave.

Price: 5/5 - You'd be hard pressed to find Lego sets cheaper than this. 

Overall: 22/25 (88%) While one most likely won't be buying this to get their first and only Batman minifigure, the drone itself is well worth the affordable price. 

 

 

[fordtruckin]

Great review. I hope I can find this soon. Thanks @Captain Nemo

[WhiteFang]

Thanks Captain Nemo for doing such a fine review. Any polybag from this series, is a good polybag. Time to figure out on how to get these new polybags in the wild. 

[BubbaFit45531]

I'm chasing after it for my 3rd different Batman and some lightsaber parts to use in the two lightsaber handles that came with Clash of Heroes. Haven't decided which of my people I'll grant Jedi status to.

[VaderFan2187]

Eh. The set looks a little too messy to me. 88% is too generous to me :)

[Vorkosigan]

If I bought this it actually would be my first and only batman  but I'd be doing it for the interesting dark red parts. Something to keep an eye out for when it goes to 50% off on Feb 15th. 

[BubbaFit45531]

Still can't find this at my Target, and not in their Valentines section either.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I like the eyes of the drone!

Thanks for the review

[Darkdragon]

Those are some great little parts. I'll definitely be keeping an eye open to find this bag.

[BubbaFit45531]

Found it in Target's Valentine section. Built it then dismantled the bizarre drone for parts.

[Sid Sidious]

While I own 0 Batmans, the constant talk of how common they are now and every time a new wave of DC sets comes out has rubbed off on me and makes me sick of that minifigure. The drone is really cool though, I'll look for it.

[8-Bit Ramen]

Picked mine up last night at the movie theaters! It's nothing great, but I think it's fun enough.

[Lyichir]

Spoilers for the Lego Batman Movie follow...

 

After seeing the movie, it's interesting to see how while the subject of this movie is a decent depiction, the name and context are not. This is a great depiction of the robotic guards that protect the Phantom Zone projector in the Fortress of Solitude, but do not appear in the Phantom Zone itself. On top of that, Batman doesn't interact with this guard at all—only Robin does. I wonder if this set might have been based on an earlier draft of the movie, if the actual context were considered too complex or spoilery, or if they just wanted to include Batman in the set instead of Robin. It could be any one of those or a combination of the three.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Lyichir

[atl yt]

I just bought that small set