Review 7780 The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc

[The Penguin]

- Commissioner Gordon to Batman! Do you copy?! Answer me, dammit!

- What’s wrong, Commissioner?

- The whole City is being torn apart! Joker is threatening to blow our Police department HQ in 5 minutes. Where are you???

- I’m in the jungle.

- Where?! What are you doing there?

- Chasing Killer Croc. He’s bound to be up to no good…. I don’t like his smile.

- What the ………!

*END TRANSMISSION*

(The pic is an official box art one.)

Set Number: 7780

Name: The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc

Theme: Batman

Year of Release: 2006

Pieces: 188

Minifigs: 2

Price: $20 USD

Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron parts inventory

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present you my second review of the Batman theme set. The Hunt for Killer Croc is twice as big as the Catwoman one, by piece count and price. (92 pcs vs 188, $10 vs $20). Even the box is somewhat twice as big. Is the set two times better than the smallest one? Let’s find out…..

The Box

The box is somewhat big to my taste, being 28,5 x 28,5 cm, which is good for the Company, because it really catches the eye, but is very inconvenient for me, because I remember having bought five of those back in 2007 and had quite a nasty experience taking them home.

Nevertheless, the box (actually the box art) has the same virtue as all Batman theme boxes - the style. It’s done in black and green color scheme, which kind of symbolizes the Batman vs Croc conflict, which is the main idea of the set.

In the top right corner there is the same 1989 Batman symbol, which, again like in Catwoman set, does not correspond with the one on Batman’s chest.

On the right bottom corner again we see a DC Comics symbol.

The side of the box shows the minifigs in their actual size with Croc holding an Uzi submachine gun (at least I always thought it to be one!) and Batman with his faithful batarang. I have no idea, why Croc would be using guns, since I can’t really recall any story either from animated series or from comic stories where he uses those. Perhaps he just looks more menacing that way.

The back of the box shows Batman and Croc’s boats and their playing features.

Again you can see that the pictures are given in a comic story manner, with pic bubbles one over another, which I find a very interesting and stylish touch.

The pictures show us the mechanism of attaching Croc’s boat to Batman’s, the rotating engines, the opening cockpit and flying missiles. I really long for those good old times when missiles were technic axles!

What really gives me much pain is to see that the third pic suggests that we should put Batman inside with his cape on! Oh, the heresy! It will all get battered! Battered, I tell you!

You can also see a pic showing the weapons and gadgets included, such as 5 batarangs, a pair of batcuffs and a uzi with a Tommy gun. If I recall it correctly it was the first theme to include proper weapons after the Wild West theme. The fact that they mixed quite modern uzi with a Tommy gun is a direct tribute to Batman: The Animated Series, which was undoubtedly a source of inspiration most of the theme’s sets.

We also get a wonderful comic story, showing how Croc managed to sink at least two ships in Gotham harbor. Then a short pursuit and Batman with quite a nasty face gets Croc chained up. Actually, after being captured, Croc looks pretty much like the fantasy troll from Castle!

Oh, wait! What’s that on the last picture!? Why, it’s a periscope! No doubt, it’s my submarine spying on Bats….. I suppose I was out of torpedoes then, or I would have blasted them both for good, ha!

Interesting and unusual parts

Well, apart from the weapons we can find several interesting parts here. Such as the printed (!) Croc’s boat hull piece and Batboat’s pontoons. I suppose they were originally used for City sets, but for me those were new back then. Pearl gold bricks were also rare in 2006.

Sticker sheet

The sticker sheet is quite tolerable in the set and you can easily do without applying any. The set won’t look blank or boring at all. And thanks to the printed pieces even the average Croc’s boat looks great!

Instructions booklet

The booklet is a bit battered, but it’s okay, I never mind such things. And it’s always nice to have a look at the lovely box art, isn’t it?

Here’s a random page of the booklet. The build is pretty interesting, but I can’t say it has any special or extremely fascinating techniques or ideas. Still I was not bored at all.

Yep, like in the smaller Catwoman set, we get an alternative design page which is just great. We get a decent flyer for Batman and some kind of an artillery piece for Croc! Who would've thought!

The Minifigs

As I have already said I get sets mostly for figures nowadays. In this matter that set is one of a kind. Why? Because like in most Batman sets the villain figure is exclusive to the set and can not be found anywhere else.

Batman has a BTASesque outfit as in the Catwoman set, but here he’s at least armed with batarangs (x5). I bet he’ll need all of them to bring down such a vile creature as Killer Croc!

Killer Croc is a nice figure. But one thing has been bugging me for a long time and I really couldn’t put my finger to it. Now, as I’m typing that I understand that it’s the color. Croc has a standard LEGO green color, which is ok, but to my mind dark green would have been better. The only problem is that dark green as far as I remember was introduced in Fantasy Castle theme for the first time, so it was a rare color back then. That is the only explanation I can find.

What really disappoints me about the figure is the wide green grin and red eyes Croc has. The grin looks a bit cartoony to me and red demon eyes a bit out of place. Why would Croc have red eyes, anyway? Hm, perhaps my suspicions about him being related to Castle trolls are indeed true…..

No back printing for him which is quite a disappointment to me, but at least he has nice scales over his muscled body. (Again, isn’t it the first time we got a naked, let green, male torso?)

Killer Croc’s boat

The boat has a simple design on the verge of being boring. What really saves it is the printed hull and a color scheme, which, if we take that brown is actually rust and corrosion, looks quite nice and not out of place.

As I have said before the missiles were much more interesting back then. Though they could fall out easily if used without proper attention and care.

The back shows us the engine and a cross-shaped hole so that Batman can attach his Batboat to the Croc's one. I should quit reading Freud before sleep!

Batboat

The Batboat is a formidable piece of work, pretty compact and still sleek-looking. At first, frankly I was a bit disappointed to see that design, since I got used to a race motorboat style of Batboat, but after having played the game I feel much warmer to it. Or is it because I have to compare it with Robin’s ridiculous vehicles?!

The engines are quite nice and I really like the way the black bat-wings are attached to it. Looks very imposing. Still I wonder if it’s an amphibious boat or not. We have never seen it being onshore, but I guess it’s left for you to imagine.

Now the thing I really hate in the set is the small boat (I like to think of it as a lifeboat for Bats). It looks just ridiculous with it attached there, but even more without it! Though such an unfortunate design flaw can easily be modded, I guess. And, dear colleague-villains, always clean your monocles before attacking Bats. See for yourself what it may end like if you don’t:

General view of the set

Here’s a general view of the set. Well, I wouldn’t like to skip to conclusions now, l’ll better leave it to you to make up your mind about the set.

Spare parts

There are few spare parts in the set, so nothing really special here. Though I was surprised to get only two bricks. I guess it's good, is it not?

Play features

Now from the point of view of play features the set is somewhat really nice. You can imagine tons of interesting stories with it!

Actualy the only “true” play feature is launching the missiles, since rotating engines and opening cockpits can hardly be called ones. It should be quite exciting for kids to be trying to hit Batboat with those, but TFOLs and AFOLs wouldn’t be very much impressed.

They would find much more interesting stories with Croc jumping out of the water, biting the pontoons, etc…..

I won’t stop on engines and cockpit since I don’t consider them to be play features. Still I find it to be pretty neat and cosy-looking.

Ratings

Design: 4/5 I had many doubts about that one, still I’ll give it an above average rating. From 3 it has been saved by the Batboat, but I suppose that Croc's vehicle could’ve been much better.

Build: 3/5 The build is average. No interesting techniques, no repetitive moments. No nothing, so to say.

Minifigs: 3/5 Earlier I showed my doubts about Croc’s figure. And since Batman is also quite standard here, I’ll give it an average mark. For me it’s a set of lost opportunities.

Playability: 4/5 – The set has a great potential for playing through different stories. And mind that, no roof jumping!

Parts: 4/5 – A nice collection of useful and some quite interesting printed parts. Though I doubt that they can be intensively used in other themes.

Price:5/5 – 188 pieces in a licensed set for only $20 is a dream come true. Take that, SW fans!

Overall: 3/5 – As with practically the whole Batman theme, it’s a must buy if you are a fan. It’s a very good set if you’re interested in the topic, but pretty useless if you don’t care.

All images can be found in my brickshelf folder.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

[Vindice]

Thanks for another great review Penguin. Personally I'm more interested in the minifigs for MOCing purposes than the sets. I like the Killer croc figure too but would've preferred a greyish green colouring for him.

Thanks for the great review though.

[buddy]

Another excellent review The Penguin! This sets has great minifigs and the boats are well designed with some nice parts in them.

Extremely well done on the review.

~buddy~

[prateek]

Why did I miss out on this line!

This set is good, and it would look nice with the Hovercraft Hideout City set from a few years back.

[XimenaPaulina]

Surprisingly, I really like the overall design of this Batboat. It's the first time I've seen those rubber bumper pieces, and even if those have somewhat of an un-lego-like feel into them, these provide the batboat an appropriate rubberboat base.

[1eyedjoker]

I'm not crazy about this set. All I'd really like from it is the Killer Croc minifig, the toothy grin and red eyes do well to capture the character's vicious animal nature.

[The Penguin]

Thanks for another great review Penguin. Personally I'm more interested in the minifigs for MOCing purposes than the sets. I like the Killer croc figure too but would've preferred a greyish green colouring for him.

Thanks for the great review though.

Thank you very much! )

Yes, minifigs is something very special about the whole theme. Though I must say that some sets give a nice selection of parts as well. Not like Castle or some other classical themes though! )

Another excellent review The Penguin! This sets has great minifigs and the boats are well designed with some nice parts in them.

Extremely well done on the review.

Thank you very much! You're too kind!

Why did I miss out on this line!

This set is good, and it would look nice with the Hovercraft Hideout City set from a few years back.

Yes, quite. In fact I miss that hideout set! Alas, it ws during my dark age!

Surprisingly, I really like the overall design of this Batboat. It's the first time I've seen those rubber bumper pieces, and even if those have somewhat of an un-lego-like feel into them, these provide the batboat an appropriate rubberboat base.

Really? Well I can say that this is one of those parts which seem unlegoish until you have one in your hand. At least it was like that for me!

I'm not crazy about this set. All I'd really like from it is the Killer Croc minifig, the toothy grin and red eyes do well to capture the character's vicious animal nature.

Yes, well I suppose it depends on how you see the character. For me, frankly, he has always been more human than animal one, though. )

Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

[Jedd the Jedi]

Once again, a great review Penguin. Oh man, these bring back such fantastic memories. I really miss the Batman line, especially the first wave. I wasn't a really big fan of this hovercraft version of the Batboat to be honest, and the use of very large pieces makes it seem a little <insert that tiresome argument>, if you get what I mean. I did like that you could turn both turbines in unison though. The little speeder boat that can be detached from the main thing is a nice touch - but the hovercraft looks really empty when the smaller boat isn't docked to it. You are right when you say that a large part of this line is the minifigs, I really agree. All the looks that they settled on for the villains are very appropriate, and struck a nice balance between the comic books and TV shows. To end off, I've always thought the Batboat should look more like this MOC I did:

Hee.

[1eyedjoker]

Yes, well I suppose it depends on how you see the character. For me, frankly, he has always been more human than animal one, though. )

I've always been a fan of reptiles, so when it comes to Killer Croc I prefer him to be more crocodile-like. That's not to say he hasn't been done very well closer to human form. Bermejo's depiction of him in Joker had him looking pretty human, yet the character lost none of his beastly nature.

[lightningtiger]

Another great review 'The Penguin' - I actually like croc's jet ski - the front of which is just fantastic....looks like a real croc !

The Batboat or to me more like a Bat-hovercraft is just AWESOME - Bat's in old school grey costume !

Now I have to read the Catwoman one......you have been busy in your sub eh Penguin ?

Keep on saying.....same Bat-time, same Bat-channel !