Captain Nemo

I stated this a bit above, but I actually don't own that muesum set. Personally, I think it's too expensive. When I saw it I wanted it--which is rare since I'm almost exclusive to Superheroes and LotR, but then the price tag? No, maybe on discount though. <----Wait a second? What is this? A Batman symbol?! Hell yeah! Thanks Eurobricks!

Thanks everyone! Yeah I was going to give it a more 60's Batman feel, where Catwoman sits around while her henchmen fight Batman, but the addtion of the DKR Batman to increase the level of badass kind of takes away from that image. Yeah I like that set too--though I don't have it. 60 dollars is just a bit too much for me, well when it's not a licensed set or something. Thanks! No, I don't have any more pictures of this . Most of my creations on my Flickr are one picture things, so it's lucky I even have what I have! Although I did take like 30-40 pictures total, I only choose the best. I will be working more to take more pictures of my future creations though.

While these “improvements” above mostly come off as complaints, I can understand why you and many others (In part myself) are disappointed with the newest DC Batman line. To me the biggest changes, or reasons for “improvements”, are because of style and scale—both of which clearly change the ascetic of the lines, which is what is fostering the complaints. So why do we feel the new line needs improvement? Well lets look at the differences between the lines in terms of style and scale. The original Batman line was clearly and heavily based on Batman: The Animated Series; so much so that many of the figures are direct representations of the characters. But is this a good thing? Absolutely. Not only is B:TAS an amazing show (Also my favorite show, so you know bonus points), but it has the perfect tone for Batman which translated well in Lego; ergo dark and gloomy. All of the original line used many dark bricks, and it featured a more rough and tough looking wave than what we have now. Chief in point, the line introduced Tommy Guns and Uzis. (Now did the rough and tough/dark deco style lead to low sales? I’m not sure) In terms of scale, the original Batman line was impressive. At least on the Batman side, as opposed to some of the villains, the scale of his vehicles were enormous (I’m looking at you Batwing!), and in being so they really gave you the feeling you got your money worth—which I feel is a major problem/complaint felt across all lines currently. Everything in the builds had a purpose for being there, and I can’t think of any set where there was just “wasted bricks”. This added to the overall scale of vehicles, and with the edgy tone and great figures formed an amazing but too short lived line. Now compared to the new DC Batman line, the two appear as night and day. First, I don’t think the new line is bad; it’s just different—and so different that it’s really like comparing apples to oranges with the first line. So why is the new line so different in the first place? Style. Rather than being based off some kick-megablocks show from the 90’s, Lego dug deeper into the Batman mythos and came back with representations of classic comics (Ergo: Orange & Purple Two-Face). It appears that this change defiantly brings in a more “kid friendly” aspect most clearly evident in the swap of actual guns to ADU ones, and secondly in the overall color scheme which is far brighter (Bright Blue is the new Black I guess). Rather than just “Black on Black with some gold maybe” from the first line the new line features “Black + Rainbows” and appears much lighter in general. Could the change be because of the lack of sales of the heavy dark first wave, with Lego realizing a more colorful line would sell better? With the style addressed, the other major difference between the lines is scale. Basically, the new sets which are just remakes of the old ones are generally looked upon as failed sets—in large part because they just don’t look as good or as big (Ergo, Style and Scale problems). The Batcave is a prime example of this, where the original was so good and large, the newer “kid friendly” junior version appears like a really, really bad set. While their pricing is only a bit off, it’s surprising on how the style and scale changed the opinions of two sets which depict the same thing. On an important note, I do need to say that I do like both lines. I was only able to get one set of the original line (Two-Face Chase), and I’ve gotten almost all of the sets of the newest one (Plus hunting down minifigures from the first line). They are both great lines but for different reasons, and their differences are almost so great that it’s hard to compare without being biased. With that, I’ll leave you with some questions I thought of. Is the new line successful? Yes. Is the new line successful in the eyes of AFOLs? Eh… Was the old line successful with AFOLs? Yes. Was the old line successful? Eh… Should be we grateful and happy for the return of Batman despite changes? Yes.

Tomorrow marks the birthday of Gotham City War, a great fan made Lego RPG Batman group that I’m a moderator of. This creation was built in honor of its first birthday, as well as a marker for the fifth round of game play which also begins tomorrow. If you don’t know, GCW is an RPG style group based in the DC universe where members play as heroes and villains attempting to gain control of Gotham. Anyways enjoy this Batman Party MOC! ~Captain Nemo

That sucks. After the lackluster Iron Man sets I was looking forward to hopefully something good.

Thanks everyone! I'm happy with how this turned out, as well that you're all happy too!

Love this! Good luck in the contest!

Is it me or do those heads look like they're glowing? Could they be glow in the dark? Either way, both of their heads look lighter than standard flesh tone.

Yeah I'm not the biggest fan of Mandrin--all the others are either ok or good to me, but that beard is just not working for him. How can they make like 10 new/unique beards for the Hobbit line, and not make something new and perfect for Mandrin?

Having just got the newer Two-Face, I was finally able to make this! I like to think that maybe Two-Face's coin is more important that people think. You know, maybe it's like the reason why Batman is one style or another...it all just depends on which way the coin lands! Of course the only constant in all of this is Batman...because you know...he's a badass.

Great idea! I think I'll look into making those guys--that would be fun to do!

Aw! I was expecting James Bond builds... ...Oh well, you tricked me with the title, but welcome to Eurobricks nonetheless!

Looks cool! But alas I don't own and Fabuland figs--so I guess I just watch this month. :(

I've got a couple more figures to show off now: Vandal Savage, Atomic Skull, Deadshot

This looks great! Very nice dig and find here!

I'm in! Now to think of things to build...and find!

Congrats everyone--and Kristel! It might have been a small building drive, but we got some great entries!

Really like the look of that set! And best of all you get the main character/villain for so cheap--it's easily a must buy set.

I don't know what it's for, but I do know that I think it's ugly. That chin thing is too much.

Wow, very nice set of Shield stuff! The truck is very nice, and the reverse doors are a clever building idea. And you've also collected a great set of dark blue agents to help out the A-Lists; great job!

Building Drive: Secret Agents Contest Entry Villain Vehicle: Jaw’s Chomp-er Blofeld wants to get rid of James Bond! So it's time to call in some mucscle to take care of him--Jaws--and his amazing Chomp-er! When having one set of steel teeth is not enough, Jaw's uses his Chomp-er, a vehicle with large razor sharp teeth to bide down on rival vehicles or the rivals themselves! CHOMP! CHOMP! ~Nemo

Well the mouth opens up and down...so yes...it chomps...

Is this for the Agents building drive? It doesn't look to spy like. Either way, it looks cool!

Thanks! I like the design I made for this--I went for a more old school Bond style, hense the bright colors and stuff.

Good find. I think he looks ok, though there could be far better choices for figures--like one of the other Justice League members. Still, Clark Superman is cool, even though his use is a bit limited. Now hopefully the movie will be worth it and not 90% cut scenes from the game.