Review: 76012 The Riddler Chase -and MOD

[Digivolution]

Greetings,

I stopped by the local Target and picked up the 76012 "The Riddle Chase" set.

It's actually a rather nice set with a descent price point. The Set includes:

A batmobile, based on the one seen in the animated series, "Beware the Batman"

A Riddle dragster.

And 3 minfigs; The Riddler, the Flash, and of coarse, Batman.

So lets start with the minifigs:

Batman is based on his appearance in the animated "Beware the Batman" but uses the same helmet, batarang, double sided 'tennis player' head, and cape as all the other Lego Batman figs. The torso printing is very nice and includes detailed black and gold print for the utility belt on both sides.

Flash is the figure that most minifig collectors will buy this set for. He is rather nicely done with a double sided head and vinyl helmet instead of PVC like Batman's. While many reviews online have frowned on this, I think it actually works. In fact, I wish they had done a similar design helmet for the Captain America figure with wings on the sides of the head. The torso also enjoys very nice double sided printing.

Lastly the Riddler was the figure that surprised me. I wasn't expecting much. But the figure has VERY nice 2 tone green, purple, and silver print on the torso. And uses 2 tone plastic for the legs and arms. The bowler hat is a nice touch for the character. And comes with a crowbar in place of a cane, I suppose one could trim the bottom off...

Over all the minifigs are very nice, but I feel that Batman and Flash should have leg printing for their black and yellow boots. Lego did it for Wonder Woman in set 6862, so it's not without precedent. And Batman's hands should be black. I recommend swapping them for black hands if you have them.

Onto the vehicles!

The Riddler's Dragster looks ...OK. Construction wise it's more than a bit basic. And there isn't really much to it. It does come with a snap off bomb that will fly pretty far. Four 1x2 money plates, a banana, and 2 'back sacks' that could be used on minifigs are also included.

Next up: the Batmobile. This is the part, aside from the minifigs that made the set for me. It has an interesting, solid construction. It stays together very well. And it rolls rather nicely. It has pop up flick missiles and a non-opening cockpit. It feels good in your hands.And fitting in a minfig is not a problem. If you build it stock, per the instructions, You might even squeeze in a 2nd.

As a matter of fact, I enjoyed it SO much after building it. I started rearranging parts and modding it to have an opening cockpit.

MOD: Open Cockpit.

Parts you need to add:

Four 1x2 plates (grey or black)

Four 1x4 plates (grey or black)

Black 1x2 cheese wedge

Pop off the clear canopy and use two 1x2 and four 1x4's to add height to the side outer walls on the left and right sides of the cockpit.

Remove the dark grey round studs from the bottom rear and stack them on the clear red 1x2 under the missle launcher.

Pop off the 4 stud 'A' shaped black part the canopy mounts too. And remove and discard the tan 2x2 underneath.

Pop the center nose part off and remove the center black 'Z' shaped plate. Remove the 2x2 smooth black plate. Leaving these 2 parts off, reassemble the nose. Mount the 1x2 black cheese wedge on the back center 2 studs of the now exposed yellow plate with the thick side of the slope facing forward. This will act as a stop for the canopy.

Remove the steering wheel. Swap the 1x2 hinge stud plate with one of the rear 2x2 hinge stud plates under the movable tail flaps. Mount the 2x2 hinge plate into the bottom of the front clear canopy, hinge bar forward.

Stack two 1x2 plates, two studs forward of where the steering wheel was. Rotate the 2 side 4 stud 'A' shaped parts that are just inside the front tires 180 degrees and remount. Remount the canopy by sliding the hinge into the hole between the 1x2 stack and the 1x2 black cheese wedge. Remount the 4 stud 'A' shaped piece infront of the closed canopy, centered.

At this point you can feel free to customize the cockpit area. By default you get two 1x6 smooth plates for either side and a steering wheel. As long as you leave 2x6 studs clear in the seating area for Batman, you can customize to your hearts content.

I customized a lot....

But you now have a hinged/opening canopy:

Plus any cockpit customization:

Ratings:

Design: 4/5 the Batmobile is solid, but the Riddler dragster may end up as spare parts...

Build: 4/5 The Riddle dragster is very basic. The Batmobile is great, fun, and solid. But if it only took 10 extra parts to get an opening cockpit, Lego should have done it. I have to admit, the concept of using Technique rails to widen the standard 4 stud car frame makes for an interesting, yet solid build.

Minifigs: 4/5 Solid torso and head detailing. The Flash helmet is very nice. But these minifigs would have been rock stars with just a little leg printing for boots.

Playability: 5/5 Everything works that you would expect in a 2 vehicle set. The snap off bomb, money bags, and flick missiles in this set will hold there play value. And the cars really roll rather well.

Parts: 4/5: You get a lot of parts seen in previous Batman sets. And those Batmobile tires are excellent.The Riddler dragster seemed almost an after thought compared to the rest of the set.

Price: 5/5 304 parts for $29.99 puts it right at the 10 cent mark per piece. It seldom gets better.

Overall: 4/5 Unique minifigs, the premier of the Flash figure, and an interesting build on the batmobile with homage to the recently cancelled animated series makes this a must have for any DC fan. Leg printing on the minifigs and a bland vehicle for the Riddler is the only thing that held this back from getting 5 /5.

The set is well worth it's $29.99 US price point.

I hope you found this useful. Please share your thoughts below.

Cheers,

D.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Digivolution

[Athos]

Its nice to see a review of a set I'm on the fence about. You've pretty much convinced me that I'm not wanting it. Though I do like the Riddler...

I'd suggest cleaning up your backgrounds. Its really distracting from the review. I'm also not sure what the actual set looks like and what you customized. You also said something about a banana in the Riddler's vehicle, where/what is it?

Steve

[Digivolution]

I'd suggest cleaning up your backgrounds. Its really distracting from the review. I'm also not sure what the actual set looks like and what you customized. You also said something about a banana in the Riddler's vehicle, where/what is it?

Steve

Hi Steve,

Yeah sorry about not having a proper background. I wasn't really planning on doing a review. But I was popping the bits together and the camera was on the table. SO it was kind of spontaneous. As for your question on the banana, it doesn't appear in any of the photos. it's just a plastic banana for the minifig to hold.

Cheers,

D.

[Rinzler]

Very nice, I like your idea. Mind if i copy it?

[Digivolution]

Very nice, I like your idea. Mind if i copy it?

Thank you. By all means, feel free. :D

[Sir Brickalot]

Great review and MOD! The Batmobile is solid and looks way better than the one in the Two Face set, I'll definitely be picking this up, thanks!

Also, 200th post! w00t!

[Rinzler]

Thank you. By all means, feel free. :D

Thanks, still on the lookout for this set

[Dayton]

With all of the Batman vehicles that i own, i modify then by taking out all the yellow and removing the wings. With this one i think i might replace the orange screen with the cockpit piece from the T-6 Jedi Shuttle set and replace the pearl gold wheels with black wheels.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Dayton

[Lyichir]

I don't mind the crowbar instead of a cane. The Riddler isn't enough of an A-list villain to deserve a new mold that won't ever be able to be used for anyone else. But I DO think they should have done it in gold since his return in 2012. The gold helps to subvert the initial mental association with a crowbar, and if they had never given him the red one more fans would probably be thinking "NPU!" instead of criticizing it for not being the right shape.

[legolegoandlego]

It would look a lot better if flashe,s head would be pvc and if batman had a new suit. Anyway, how much it costs in usa??

[LibraryBoy]

Nice review, and good work on the modding. I really enjoyed putting this set together. The dragster was a little weak, but that Batmobile design is far and away the best one that Lego has put out yet, and the three minifigures all look great, particularly the new Riddler design and the Flash, who I think may be my favorite Lego Superheroes minifigure yet for either Marvel or DC. At first I thought it was a little weird that the mask/helmet was vinyl, but it has grown on me. I'm just happy he didn't have all those extraneous New 52 costume lines that he's been saddled with in the comics!

[parksroad]

Thanks. Yeah, the Riddler's vehicle is a little lame, but the Batmobile!

[naf]

Thanks for the review. I found a good deal on this set and built it last night. I really enjoyed the build on the batmobile, and it's a nice solid vehicle once finished. I'm not sure why they used gray brackets on the SNOT used for the side panels instead of black. I think it makes the finished model look messy, so my first mod is to change this.

I'm glad they used a majority of the bricks on the batmobile and made the dragster simple.

Minifigs are great. I'm not a comic geek, do the Flash and Batman ever work together? I love the Flash minifig, but it seems strange that he's included in this set.

[Hrafnblod]

Thanks for the review. I found a good deal on this set and built it last night. I really enjoyed the build on the batmobile, and it's a nice solid vehicle once finished. I'm not sure why they used gray brackets on the SNOT used for the side panels instead of black. I think it makes the finished model look messy, so my first mod is to change this.

I'm glad they used a majority of the bricks on the batmobile and made the dragster simple.

Minifigs are great. I'm not a comic geek, do the Flash and Batman ever work together? I love the Flash minifig, but it seems strange that he's included in this set.

Well they're both in the Justice League. I haven't read many actual Flash/Batman centric pairup stories, but they do work together some.