TheBatstan

As someone that just managed to finally get this set sealed (for way more than I'd ever thought to pay for it, but not as bad as one eBay listing I've seen that wants $1000 for it), I completely agree. I'll take getting a single incredibly detailed like this or a 1966 Batmobile (actual vehicles that are from the movies/comics) instead of 3-4 sets with made up vehicles like a Bat-Dragster or a Bat-Buggy that are just a waste of parts and look stupid to boot. If I'm being honest, it's starting to get a little annoying to see all these other sets/polybags from other themes that are coming out in the Fall get leaked or revealed, yet there's still nothing for the minifigure scale Tumbler. It's now two months away from it's supposed October release and there's not even a placeholder search result for its instructions showing up on the Building Instructions page on Lego's website when you type in 76239. Now if it was just going to be a poorly made model, I wouldn't really be constantly checking Instagram for pictures. But after seeing how much accuracy these Batmobile display stand sets get with the '66 and '89 Batmobiles, it's probably my most anticipated set that's remaining from this year. The innovations that Lego have made from 2008 are exponential, and while they needed to make the Tumbler oversized back then in order to get in all the details and shaping, I feel like they can do that now but they won't have to make it as gigantic so it'll be more size accurate to how small the Tumbler is in real life. And don't even get me started on the minifigures that might come with it (if there will be any and it's not just the Tumbler by itself). A proper black suit Nolan Batman instead of dark grey, and probably a new version of Ledger's Joker if they're using the same selection as the 1966 Batmobile, which I wouldn't mind at all since I missed out on the 2014 UCS Tumbler. Or Lego could finally surprise us and include a Nolan Scarecrow or Ra's al Ghul since the Tumbler had the most focus in Batman Begins compared to the later two films, and those two were the villains in that movie.

Maybe give the comic sets a little more appreciation since that's without them the movies wouldn't even be possible? That's all I'm pretty much asking at this point. I mean, the Bugle is a comic set and it's back to being Sold Out again on Shop@Home. But I get it, a business company looks at what sells, and MCU anything can sell at this point.

Eh, for me it's practically been the same with the Marvel side since they throw all attention to the MCU and leave the comic sets/characters to drown. Look at all the figures here, the only focus is on the MCU. Might be an unpopular opinion but I've always preferred the comics to the MCU, and as much as people rag on the DC theme for only doing Batman sets, the Marvel theme has just been the "MCU/Avengers/Spider-Man" theme. If it was really supposed to be about Marvel Super Heroes, there should've been a comic set with the Fantastic Four by now (since Marvel/Disney cleared up that whole issue of no F4 merchandise between 2015-2018 due to Fox and the movie rights), or another X-Men set instead of the last one being released all the way back in 2014. For a good 90% of the theme's lifespan, if it's not MCU or Spider-Man related, getting a comic version of a character is almost never going to happen or you're just going to have to hope that the movies introduce their version soon so that the subsequent comic variant will follow. It really should not have taken almost a decade to finally get Daredevil/Black Cat/Punisher, characters that should have been in a comic based set YEARS ago. But luckily they were Spider-Man affiliated characters so they got their moment with the Bugle. When there first was news about Lego finally making a CMF series about Marvel, I was hoping that it would be comic based just like the DC CMF series since Lego already places so much focus on the MCU, at least give the comic fans this much since it's unlikely that any of those characters would show up as figures in a regular set. But nope, MCU and MCU only, I'd feel the same if the DC CMF's were based on the DCEU instead of the comics. I know the Spider-Man sets take inspiration from the comics as well as the PS4 game and even the terrible Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon during the beginning of the theme until 2015, but there's always a caveat of getting a stupid vehicle included with it. The Daily Bugle is the first Spider-Man set I've bought in 5 years since the amazing (pun intended) Summer 2016 wave with the three sets that gave us classic Spider-Man villain designs, and for once it actually felt like a Spider-Man type of set with no Spider-Copter/Trike/whatever shoved in it. Give the Baxter Building that treatment, and I'll gladly throw down another $400 again. Okay, rant over.

I'm still really surprised the set images never leaked at least once over the past few months. Shang-Chi and Eternals both got heavily pushed back with their release dates as well, and their set images/other merchandise leaked months ago. Meanwhile all we've had for The Batman for nearly the past year has just been 3 set numbers and their prices. And it's not just the Lego sets, the only other piece of merchandise for the movie that's been released so far is the Hot Wheels model of the Batmobile, WB must really have this stuff locked down.

I think the original minifigures mainly took inspiration from the comics (like you said with Bane, he looks straight out of the original Knightfall storyline from the 90s), along with some heavy inspiration from Batman: The Animated Series. Off the top of my head with the figures that were based on their appearances in that cartoon: Two-Face: His black and white suit that originated from the show and his unique hairpiece matching the show's hairstyle with the black/white hair. Joker: The vampire hair in green and his suit design are an exact match with how he looked in the show. Harley Quinn: Do I really have to say anything here? Mr. Freeze: Because of the limitations at the time, Lego couldn't really put a glass dome piece over a minifigure head, so they went with a clear Insectoids helmet that gave off the same effect and looked just as sleek. But I feel like the others stayed pretty close to their comic designs at the time in the mid-2000s...though I really wouldn't have minded if they gave Riddler a suit instead of wearing a green onesie. Regardless, they're all still incredibly nostalgic to me as well, and I feel like Lego nailed them the first time and have regressed since, especially with Two-Face. It's been 15 years and no one decided to give him the black and white suit color scheme again? Well if I can play Devil's Advocate here (this isn't a spoiler since we already saw it in the trailer), Penguin is going to be featured in a chase scene with the Batmobile. If I were Lego, I'd space out each of the villains in the three sets we'll be getting for the movie so you'd have to buy all 3 to get the complete set of villains. The 76181 set that's going to be $40 definitely sounds like the one that'll include the Batmobile, and since every Batman set needs a villain, there's no perfect set to include a minifigure of Penguin and his car than in that one.

Yeesh. For years I kept thinking that if I just bought them on eBay back when the line was just discontinued, I could've got them for a good deal. But I guess it doesn't matter if I bought them online in 2009 or 2019, it's been stuck like this from the start. That guy that found the 2006 wave for 80% off won the Lego lottery, it sounds like something that can only exist in your dreams. A part of me still wonders if Lego ever thought about reviving the theme prior to 2011 after noticing how popular it became right as they shut it down when The Dark Knight and the first Lego Batman game turned the sets into buildable goldmines. Lego has definitely made up for that mistake by keeping the DC line going for a decade now (and even recently with the past few years being strictly Batman sets), but nothing will ever have that same feeling as the original Batman theme did. The only thing that's kind of come close to it was the Accessory Pack from this year with the updated 2006/Hush Batsuit. I remember stumbling upon this old Eurobricks forum with users speculating about a possible 2009 wave of Batman sets before the discontinuation news got out, and the amount of ideas for sets and new minifigures that were thrown around were amazing. Reading all the enthusiasm in that forum now is a little depressing because we know there was never going to be a 2009 wave, but I would've killed to have gotten figures like Ra's al Ghul, Mad Hatter, or Clayface in the original Batman design style. A GCPD set from that era with a Bat-Signal on the roof and minifigures like Commissioner Gordon and Batgirl based on their game designs still has me drooling for what could've been if Lego just waited till the end of 2008 to see if they should've pulled the plug or not.

Was the online market price for the original Batman sets THAT bad even 10-12 years back? Those prices are the same as what they go for today, if not slightly higher. I wasn't really allowed to be using eBay back around 2009-2011 as I was still a kid, but I always thought the sets were reasonably priced at first before spiraling out of control on the secondary market. I still can't believe I saw this image of a sealed 2006 Batcave a few years ago that shows it was originally bought for $30 USD. 30. Dollars. Meanwhile I'm currently trying to negotiate with a seller to see if he can part with his sealed 7888 Tumbler set for $500 so that I can complete my collection...and I consider that to be a deal since it now goes for minimum $900 or even $1000.

Tan, yellow, light bluish grey, etc. I get they did that so that the instructions would be easy to understand and not trying to decipher a black blob of pieces, but it just doesn't look right.

Now if only the minifig scale Tumbler set images would leak already...almost every other major set that's releasing in September/October has gotten pictures revealed. Yeah, it's really insane how a single sticker can cost that much. I made some improvements to mine too, mainly replacing every piece that wasn't black (besides the side engine details) and fixing the back area along with the fins. Though I think I messed up when changing the rear tire axle piece to a Technic 8 instead of the Technic 9 that came in the set, because the wheels really don't roll as smooth as I thought they would now...

Oh yeah, that too . I was never really bothered by that since you could buy all the pieces for it on Bricklink, you'd only have some tough luck if you wanted the box or the sticker for the display stand/the only exclusive "piece" of the entire set. But even though it was great set, there was still a lot of room for improvement. I've said it before, but I'll have no issue buying another version of it if this new one updates the previous design with things like being able to fit two minifigures this time, round 1x1 tiles with a printed bat logo for the hubcaps, brick built fins instead of those single fin pieces, and maybe if a miracle happens we could get a more accurate looking windscreen piece that gives it the split window look (or at least a sticker that gives it that effect). Bonus points if the cockpit could slide forward and not be on a hinge piece to open it for once.

And based on those pics, the 1989 Batmobile looks exactly like how it did in the Burton movies. I was worried they might try to "modernize" it, but you really can't improve upon perfection. Now Lego can really get a second chance to improve upon the GWP Batmobile and make it a little more accurate this time.

I think most people were expecting the Spider-Strange figure to look like he was wearing something a lot more mystical, instead of using a suit that was made for a theme park. I'm not complaining though, I always wanted this suit to be what he wore in the movies, even if it looks like it was made using Tony's tech (AGAIN).

That figure is actually the Spider-Man suit from the Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland Paris attractions, and I don't mind that at all since this design is probably the best that MCU Spider-Man has looked by far IMO.

I don't think it's a GWP this time because it was given a price from the very beginning when it was first leaked (the 1989 Batmobile GWP had a price of $30 USD/40 CAD but that was only if you looked it up on Lego Shop@Home). I also remember seeing the placeholder info for it listed on the Walmart.com website before it got removed recently, so it's definitely not something that's just exclusive to Lego Stores or a freebie.

With the new Seinfeld Ideas set making the bald top hairpiece have black hair on the side instead of grey/white for the very first time, I really think the timing couldn't be better to FINALLY get an Alfred figure based on his appearance in DC Super Villains. The design in the game is practically a modernized version of how he looked in the 2006 Batman theme, he's the only version that also had black hair. And if you don't count the Alfreds we got with the '66 Batcave or The Lego Batman Movie, there STILL hasn't been a standard DC Super Heroes/comics version of Alfred that's been made. It's crazy that this theme is hitting 10 years next year, and not once has there been a decision to at least include him in one of the many Batcaves that have been made over that period of time. But thanks to the George Costanza figure getting that hairpiece, it's slightly more possible now.