[REVIEW] 42127 - The Batman - Batmobile

[Jim]

REVIEW - 42127 - THE BATMAN - BATMOBILE

INTRODUCTION
My last review started with the sentence "Here we are, for most likely the final Technic set review of this year". Yet, here we are again. Apparently, I was mistaken and here's another review. The set number indicates that it was originally planned for this year (2021), but not hearing anything about it fired the rumor that it was postponed till 2022. I have no further information about why the set has been released "all of a sudden".

About the set. Well...yeah...about the set. I am not a huge DC or Marvel fan, but I do like the occasional superhero movie. Batman is actually one of the movies I tend to watch. And to be honest; the Tumbler is one of the coolest movie vehicles ever. I still have the 76023 - Tumbler built on display. Even Kitty (my wife) loves the Tumbler. So, I was anxious to see what a Technic Tumbler would look like. Technic Tumbler?! You probably mean the Technic Batmobile! O wait, it isn't a Tumbler. Not all Batmobiles are Tumblers. I automatically assumed Tumbler, but that obviously isn't the case.This is the Batmobile from next year's The Batman movie. Needless to say I was disappointed for a few seconds, but I understand they can't keep using the Tumbler. Wait, ignore that. Of course they can...and they should hehe!

Okay, enough with the joker...uhmm jokes....let talk about this version of the Batmobile. The version that looks boring and horrible. There you have it, I said it. I am almost reluctant to review this set, because it has very little appeal to me. The back looks okay and kinda cool, but the front-side looks like * beep *. So I wondered; maybe the actual Batmobile from the mobile looks horrible too. Well, it doesn't. It's not as cool as the Tumbler, but it still looks like a proper Batmobile. There's even a cool brick built version on Rebrickable.

  

All things considered, I am not too excited about this set, but the fun part about reviewing a set you don't like beforehand (yes, I am talking about you 42050 - Drag Racer), is that you might be surprised.

PICTURES
Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. My Flickr album contains all the photos taken for this review.

DISCLAIMER
The CEE Team of TLG has provided this set. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG.

SET INFORMATION
Number: 42127
Title: The Batman - Batmobile
Theme: Technic
Released: 2021
Part Count: 1360
Box Dimensions: 47,5 cm x 28,0 x 11,5 cm
Weight: 1,7 kg
Set Price (RRP): £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99
Price per Part: £0.066 / $0.074 / €0.074
Links: Brickset, Bricklink

THE BOX
Batteries not...wait a minute...batteries included is shown on the front of the box. This hardly ever happens with a Technic set. It's because this set features a light brick, often found in City sets and the like. The light brick provides the orange glow you see beneath the hood of the vehicle.

The back of the box shows the rear of the vehicle, which is actually the most appealing part of the vehicle for me. The thumbnails show all the functions, like opening the doors and the hood hehe. The box doesn't indicate steering, but the front wheels are slightly rotated. If you take a close look at the roof, you will see an axle where the HoG (Hand of God) steering will be placed (it is visible in the first thumbnail by the way). This is a technique which TLG used in the Ford Raptor as well. Having a detachable steering knob provides playability and displayability, which is a good thing!

CONTENTS OF THE BOX
The box contains:

• Instruction booklet
• Sticker sheet
• 7 x Numbered bag
• 2 x Unnumbered bag

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET
A regular booklet for a set this size.

STICKER SHEET
Small sticker sheet with three dashboard stickers.

BAGS
The numbered (7) and unnumbered bags (2).

         

 

HIGHLIGHTED PARTS
This sections describes special and/or new parts.

ARCHED 13x2x5 MUDGUARDS WITH ROUNDED TOPS
I hardly ever get this right, because I have mixed up numerous times in the past, but these panels seem to be the ones found in the 42125 - Ferrari 488 GTE in black.

TIRES AND RIMS
The tires and rims are nothing out of the ordinary. The front wheels can be found in the Dodge Charger set and rhe rear ones in the Porsche 911 RSR.

2x3 CURVED PANEL
This panel is relatively new. I has been released in black before, but if you want a larger quantity, this might be the set for your.

LIGHT BRICKS
This is a part you rarely see in a Technic set. And by rarely I mean never.

TRANSPARENT CYLINDERS
We have had transparent cylinders in the past, but this is the first time we get the new mold.

2L AXLE WITH PIN
This part has been found in other non Technic sets already, but it's making his Technic debut in this set. It's the non-friction counterpart of the black one. Funny thing is that, in my opinion, it wasn't necessary in this set at all. Could have easily used the black one, but a white one was used to simply connecting a small subassembly. At least, that's my assumption.

PART LIST
The complete part list for all 1360 parts.

THE BUILD
Let's find out if the build is interesting enough for me to change my mind about this set. It will be a tall order, since I built the CAT recently and that build was incredible. The build consists of seven steps.

STEP 1
The front and rear part of the chassis are connected, but only by a single pin on each side. It's not very sturdy at the moment, but that will probably be fixed later on. I'm guessing mounting the seats will fix the issue.

STEP 2
The transparent motor not only looks cool, but it allows you seeing the pistons move. Since the cylinders have been closed by a 2x2 round tile, you wouldn't see anything happening.

When I attached the "steering wheel assembly", I wasn't sure whether I mounted it correctly. It's not entirely secured to the chassis, so it has some movement. Then I realised that pressing the steering wheel, results in hitting the switch for the light brick. So, when you are driving/steering the model, you can press the steering wheel down and the light comes on. This is a neat solution.

Forgot to add the spare parts. Here they are.

The other light brick is activated by a lever in the "cockpit". I'm assuming this is the throttle for propulsion.

STEP 3
The following steps pretty much boil down to completing the bodywork, starting with the front right fender and door. I do have an issue with the fenders in the front. More on that later.

STEP 4
The front bumper looks aggresive. I do like the design of it. And the hood made up of the small panels is a nice solution as well. The gaps aren't too big, but big enough to clearly see the light brick's effect.

STEP 5
This step is almost identical to step 3, but you build the left front side of the bodywork. I wasn't sure why I took a picture of the rear instead, but you also add the macaroni parts at the back.

STEP 6
The rear of the car is starting to look decent. I like the open engine bay where you can see all the action.

STEP 7
The last step is to mount the seats, wheels and the flames. Are those actually flames, or some sort of exhaust fumes?! Given the color of the flames (also the smaller ones), maybe they are some sort of ice flames (if those even exist hehe). I guess we'll have to wait til the movie comes out. The seats indeed provide stability to the chassis.

Edit: The Jet Engine obviously. I could have figured that out myself. 

Okay, let's talk about the front fenders. I am not a big fan of the curved panel on top of the fender panel. The solution kinda works in the rear, but it's a major no-no for me in the front. And I don't think curved panels are causing the issue, but the fenders. The smaller wheels in front makes this construction look horrible. A better solution would have been to fall back to a flexible axle solution or possibly design a smaller fender panel. I mean, just look at the picture....is that really the best solution?!

COMPLETED MODEL
The completed model does look better in real life than in the pictures, but I is definitely not my favorite set. Is it worth buying? Well, the price is okay and you do get some cool new parts. It's not a bad set to pick-up.

What I also like is that TLG is releasing movie vehicles. I haven't built Dom's Charger, but I noticed that a lot of people (maybe not us, hardcore AFOLs) liked that set for what it is. You get a nice model for a reasonable price. Which seems to apply to this model as well.

The hood and doors can be opened.

The rear is probably the part I like the most. I genuinely breathes Batman.

Same picture without vignetting.

From a slightly different angle.

The chassis feels a bit flimsy (especially before you mount the seats) and this picture shows why.

I'm sorry, but I just can't get past the front fenders. They are so out of place. On the other hand; I haven't seen a clear picture of what the "actual" Batmobile from the movie looks like, so I can't properly judge this model. Maybe the movie version has a terrible looking front fender as well. I do see some curves in one of the pictures, but it's clear how the wheels fit under the fenders. Edit: There is a picture in the booklet and the front fenders aren't like the ones found in this set.

But since I'm not someone who tends to focus on the negative, I will try to address the positive things. One of them is that the model looks better in real life than in pictures. I have seen this numerous times and it happened again. It has a certain coolness and the overall aesthetics are okay-ish.

Regarding the build itself; At first, I didn't particularly enjoy the build. It wasn't engaging in any way and felt a bit fiddly in times, but at the end I started to like the model (and build) better. Usually I prefer building the chassis over the bodywork, but in this case it might be the opposite. When I was done building, it did get a "well, that wasn't so bad" feeling.

I do wonder how the model looks with bigger tires on the front.

I couldn't resist trying. Obviously, this doesn't work out of the box. The front axle needs adjusting. But this is what I call "an artist's impression". The same size in front doesn't look too good. An ideal situation would probably be a wheel size between the small and the big one.

And to wrap it up, the front and rear views, which I think are both quite satisfactory.

 

FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS
Even though this is just a car, it does pack some unexpected features. The two light bricks provide cool special effects. The one connected to the steering wheel is easy to operate, which is well thought of. The rotating exhaust adds to the coolness of the car.

This model doesn't have suspension, but for me that's not an issue. I know my good friend Balasz from Racing Brick will probably disagree and mention this in his review hehe. In my opinion this still is a genuine Technic model, whether it has suspension or not.

Edit: Balasz agrees hehe. Check out his review here.

SUMMARY
The main question that needs answering is; am I surprised by this set? The short answer is "no, not really". Does this mean I don't like this set? Well, that isn't entirely true either. I would easily skip buying this set, but it's not as bad as I initially thought. During the build there isn't a big revelation that made me love this set, but I can imagine that this set will be popular, like Dom's Charger.

PRO

• Detachable Hand of God steering
• It packs some cool features (two light bricks and rotating exhaust)
• Steering wheel activates one of the light bricks
• Looks better in real life than in pictures
• Movie car theme is appealing

CONS

• Front fender ruins the entire look of the car
• Missed opportunity to introduce a smaller fender panel
• No suspension, although I don't really mind myself

SCORE

How do I rate this set?

6 DESIGN

The front fender ruins the overall design.

7 BUILDING EXPERIENCE

Started to like the build at the end.

7 FEATURES

The three added features compensate the lack of suspension

7 PLAYABILITY

The extra features will probably keep kids entertained for a while.

7 PARTS

New transparent cylinders, new fenders and an okay selection of black parts.

7 VALUE FOR MONEY

This model won't break the bank, so it's okay for what you get.

6,8 TO THE BATMOBILE!

Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here.

[Polarlicht]

I could not care less about things like Batman. But i like this model and review

What the reason they used the more advanced diff?

Edited October 29, 2021 by Polarlicht

[Maaboo the Witch]

Because of course it had to have some stickers, right...? 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Maaboo35

[Kostq]

What about the other Batmobile wheels? The 89 ones?
And the Thumbler tires - how do they look on this one?

[Pato Sentado]

Being a big fan of the Tumbler, I do not see this at all. Looks more like a Ken Block hoonigan than a Batmobile.

A a Technic set it does non offer anything the smallest set can.

I got Doms Charger but built it into the pickup alternate fast. 

I understand the !ight thing in City sets aimed at kids, but here?

[GerritvdG]

Thanks for the review Jim, really like to read them and as a newbie I’m still catching up reading the older reviews.

The set is not interesting enough for me, but I think my son (9) would really like to build and play with such a car.

[allanp]

Nice review Jim 

As for the set, it's nice to get some fenders in black, and it's also nice to see the better diff and some extra gearing to increase the speed of the engine. I also like that the bags go up to 7, meaning not many parts to sift through for each step. The set is obviously not aimed at me but I do like those touches 

[kbalage]

Thanks for the great review Jim, enjoyed it as usual! (Big thumbs up for the gray background )

1 hour ago, Jim said:

This model doesn't have suspension, but for me that's not an issue. I know my good friend Balasz from Racing Brick will probably disagree and mention this in his review hehe. In my opinion this still is a genuine Technic model, whether it has suspension or not.

Edit: Balasz agrees hehe.

Lol, I have to say you were right all along :) Next time I'll need to build the set first and then draw any conclusions. This Batmobile definitely offers much more than you expect for the first sight, it's a really great playset.

[Xour]

Thanks for the great review, as always.

My 12 year old me would have loved this! My adult me, not so much. Hard pass for me.

[lnteknik]

Thanks for the review! I love the high quality pictures and the occasional jokes :). I still believe this set is a good parts pack nonetheless. Black panels and connectors are always welcome. However, I do agree its look does start to grow on me. The front and rear views look very menacing. Also agree with you on the wheels’s choice. Those wheels just don’s fit, the side wall is too thin and the front wheels are disproportionally small. Can you try 62.4x20 tires upfront and ‘89 batmobile front tires - 68.7x27 at the back, if possible? Just curious how that would look

[Lyichir]

It only just occurred to me that those fenders in black would be great for a Bionicle MOC I planned way back in the day (previously they mostly appeared in bright colors that wouldn't fit what I had in mind). Between those and parts like the silver macaroni, this feels like it could be a decent parts pack for me even if the actual model isn't terribly exciting.

[Lipko]

It would be good to see some pictures with lights on (and probably in a dark room)

[R0Sch]

Thanks for the review, Jim.
Actually the front tires are only about 12% smaller in diameter than the rear ones, they just aren't so wide and the suspension is lower. I guess the LEGO designers had to choose 56mm ones cause there are no 60mm to match the source material better. That's why the front wheel arch looks so out of place on the LEGO model. New fenders would have been nice, working suspension even better.

[Thirdwigg]

Thanks @Jim for another great review. I agree with your assessment about the fenders and overall look of this set. It's great to get new parts in Black, and I'll certainly find use for some of the parts. It's nice to see the clear cylinder parts again, though if I'm honest, I still won't use them in my builds.

I do think, because of the source material and the non-technic features like the lights and the "decorations," this set may bring some new builders to the Technic line.

[Jurss]

Strang that they didn't used those fat tires at the back on the same rims as on front

[Jim]

1 hour ago, R0Sch said:

 I guess the LEGO designers had to choose 56mm ones cause there are no 60mm to match the source material better. That's why the front wheel arch looks so out of place on the LEGO model. 

Yeah, it's all about compromises.

1 hour ago, Thirdwigg said:

I do think, because of the source material and the non-technic features like the lights and the "decorations," this set may bring some new builders to the Technic line.

Yeah, I do think it's good to have relatively simple Technic sets in the line-up. That's why I do like TLG venturing into movie vehicles.

10 minutes ago, Jurss said:

Strang that they didn't used those fat tires at the back on the same rims as on front

That would have been perfect, but I do think that the set would be somewhat bigger and more expensive. TLG seems to target the $100/100 euro mark.

[Void_S]

3 hours ago, GTS said:

What about the other Batmobile wheels? The 89 ones?

Do you mean the front ones? They may match this design so good, for sure if the size fits... 

[1gor]

As usual great photos integrated in witty description (/story), but there is one small favour to ask. Can you please take photo of steering wheel on some plate in one of next day? I want to know dimensions in studs for that steering wheel.

Thanks 

[MajklSpajkl]

Well,  I like this one waaaaay more than the Dom's Charger. It looks cool. Probably just gonna buy the black mudguards instead of the whole set, but still...it looks cool to me. I like the agresive stance of it.

Thanks for the review.

[R0Sch]

1 hour ago, 1gor said:

As usual great photos integrated in witty description (/story), but there is one small favour to ask. Can you please take photo of steering wheel on some plate in one of next day? I want to know dimensions in studs for that steering wheel.

Thanks 

Had it on hand from the Raptor.

Edited October 29, 2021 by R0Sch

[1gor]

4 minutes ago, R0Sch said:

Had it on hand from the Raptor.
 

Thank you; it seems smaller than part 2741 from 8110 or 42043 set, or is it the same?

[R0Sch]

2 minutes ago, 1gor said:

Thank you; it seems smaller than part 2741 from 8110 or 42043 set, or is it the same?

Yes, that one is 5x5 and this one 4x4 thus bridging the gap that was existing for years.

[KevinMD]

That sticker sheet will be really useful for creator-style MOCs. There aren’t many useful instrument panel / radio / gauges pieces out there!

[Seasider]

Thanks for the review @Jim.

I do think it’s strange TLG have released this way before the film is out. The film got delayed till March 2022 in the U.K. so it seems odd to release this so early.

don’t think I’ll buy the set as I’ve not bought any of the others at this scale and I don’t own any of the other batmobiles … the Burton Batmobile is “my” batmobile, but then it all depends on ages and association I guess. But I am looking forward to seeing “The Batman”.

in terms of parts so is this a new smaller steering wheel? And do those black wheelarches work with the wheel arch extensions from the Raptor? I get confused with all the various arch sizes!

[1gor]

21 hours ago, R0Sch said:

Yes, that one is 5x5 and this one 4x4 thus bridging the gap that was existing for years.

That information helped me a lot.

Thank you