The Penguin

(The pic is an official box art one.) Set Number: 5826 Name: The Queen’s Room Theme: Belville Year of Release: 2000 Pieces: 79 Minifigs: 1 Price: $17 USD Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron parts inventory All images can be found in my brickshelf folder. It’s been a long time since my previous review. What have I been doing? Well, actually I was forced to have a rehabilitation course in Arkham Asylum, since the venom left from the Stable monster had to be drained from my body and mind. And know what? I’ve had plenty of time to think, while those nice men in white were poking me….. What happens when you miss somebody you really like? At first you keep thinking of him/her. Then you can’t really get the person out of your mind. Then you go completely insane! And after that you try to lock all your misery inside. And only then, after looking deeper you find the bright side of it! Three years without Batman showed me my rainbow bright side…. It’s Belville! So I invite you to the court of HRM Queen of all Belville of the long forgotten Fairy-Tale era. The Box I bought that set off BL and it did not have the box, so I just had to take the image from the net. But still it's quite possible to examine it even that way. To the right of the LEGO logo you can see exactly the same sick-heart Belville symbol as shown in the previous review, what actually surprised me. It just came to me that the symbol has never really been changed since 1994 to 2008 when the theme was presumably killed off. Or more likely it had a heart attack! Get it?? Heart attack…. Oh, never mind….. As in most Belville sets the box is done in a purple rather than pink color scheme which, again, can be seen throughout the whole history of the theme. And back in early 2000-s it was not just purple but with some yellow stars and magic wands flying around. Back then the villainous designers of the sets were more careful and did not actually draw any monster-like girls on the front of the box. They were far more cunning and complicated back then! You can see that the actual set pic is put in a kind of a bubble through which you can see a peaceful landscape with a mighty castle on the hill. But at the same time you can see the ethereal purple mist surrounding the scene with those glowing yellow stars which actually remind me some creatures’ eyes in the dark! The mist is obviously going to consume the whole scene in a few seconds, so either you jump in that peaceful fantasy world or remain to be torn apart by the unknown creatures in the mist! Instructions booklet What I also find quite disturbing about all those box art pictures (which is the same for the instructions booklet) is the fact that the Queen’s room is located outside the castle! I mean why would she live outside it, without any proper roof over the head!? Well, however, I may know the answer…. The instructions themselves easily may be the best part of the set. No, really, I mean it! Can you see anything odd? Yes, the Queen is actually building her room all by herself! And outside the castle. It’s like: “O-oh! So you cast me away?! Ok, I’ll build my own castle with blackjack and hooters jousts and knights!” Actually I suppose that such an unusual booklet deserves a couple of additional images. Yep, women were much healthier back then! Interesting parts and pieces Well, this set is just filled with interesting and unique pieces which actually makes it one of my most favorite Belville sets. Yes, I admit, I have my favorite Belville sets! Belville pride! You can see some lovely printed pictures here, two colors of tiaras, transparent chest, goblets, etc. Just a treasure trove for Castle MOCers. The Minifigs As in my previously reviewed set this one officially contains only one minifigure, but I also decided to include the Queen’s black hound here, because he might as well be quite an interesting playable character. The Queen’s minifigure is actually by far is one of the most interesting figs in the entire Belville line for two major reasons. The first one is that she got a unique never-after-released headpiece with quite an interesting hairstyle. The second thing is the nice black-violet color scheme and a long sleek purple dress which strikingly differs with those carousel-like ones of the princesses’. Not to mention that I really like the facial expression with that sneer of cold command and hidden lust in her green eyes! There should be a reason she’s having a leash in her hand on most of the pictures. Yeah! Ahem, so where were I?... And another nice thing that we get in this set is actually two tiaras (the green and the red one). By applying either of those you indicate either you want her to be a good or a bad girl Queen. Um, I guess, I need a glass of water…. The dog is actually less interesting, being just a standard immovable dog mold with printed yellow eyes and odd legs. You can clearly see that it’s quite useless for System sets, so you cannot really use it anywhere outside the theme. However it could work fine for Hound of the Baskervilles MOC. Just imagine how freaky that hound looks in the eyes of a minifigure! The Room I don’t really understand one thing about this set. Why call it a “room”? I mean, aren’t Queens supposed to live in chambers? But taking into account how small the scene is, it should have as well been called a “Queen’s cabin” or a “Queen’s cupboard”, so I guess, “room” was a fair compromise. I suggest we start with a room itself. It has two interesting features here: a purple transparent wall piece with the window and the rotating wall piece. I won’t comment on the purple wall. Since I cannot really think of the reason anyone would wish to have a transparent wall so that everybody in the Kingdom may see your private life. Unless…. Oh, god! That’s one naughty-naughty Queen! The rotating door is much more interesting, since we can have at least two nice classical storylines here: the one with the frog prince kissing and the second with spying on young princess Rosaline and prince Justin (Yes, they have their official names! And no, he has nothing to do with Bieber! Kids these days! ) My set had no image on the mirror, so here's the pic how it should've looked like. Now to the tower. The tower is actually not very imposing and has two floors, with a chair on the ground one and some bottles and goblets on the first one. Actually I can’t really call it a throne since I can’t watch it when a minifig is trying to sit on that! It’s just terribly flat! Complete set The set itself is rather small for the Belville line, but really stands out due to it’s color scheme and unique pieces that it contains. Not to mention the playing possibilities of it. Play features The set itself offers at least two obvious scenarios: 1) to kiss a frog and either get a disease or get the Prince; 2) to poison the apple, give it to Rosaline and get the Prince. But what’s the fun in that?! The set has so many nice pieces so you just can’t resist using those in your play: When bored the Queen can play a classical peasants’ game of getting an apple from the bowl of water with your mouth! But you should not play it too often or it may cause some other problems: Ratings Design: 4/5 it’s quite well-designed for such a small Belville set and can really work well for a tower or a dungeon scene. Build: 4/5 The build is pretty simple. Big parts and simple techniques make it possible to assemble it even without instruction booklet. Minifigs: 5/5 We get a nice unique figure, we even get a pet. Well, I guess adding some servant to this scene might have been really nice, but we do know that in fairy tales everything is done by magic and there is no hard labour. Playability: 4/5 – I showed you only three of my scenarios, but trust me you wouldn’t want to see other ones! Parts: 5/5 – The parts back in fairy-tale era were really unique in their colors. When was the last time you say a chrome part? Price:4/5 – The price is somewhat high for 79 pieces set, but taking into account how many nice parts and bits you get, the set was worth getting! Overall: 5/5 – I seriously think it to be one of the strongest sets in the whole line, perhaps even in the whole Belville theme. The colors, the parts, the minifigs, everything is nearly perfect. Good day, ladies and gentlemen! ) P.S. I would like to thank those EB members that helped me bringing this review to you. I trully appreciate your help!

Ah, you actually got me here, Oky! Indeed I have a very similar design, but it till can't beat my favourite (so far) version: (shameless self-promotion!) My problem with the new Ivy fig is actually the face. It looks rather generic and boring to my taste. But it's still a good figure. I sure hope, should they make the Penguin one, it will be much better than the original fig. Though the original one is great, so it will be some hard task for TLC designers. ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Good day, everyone! So I'm back! ) As Flitwick correctly said I was on a vacation but now am back. At the moment I can't, I'm afraid, promiss you any new figs soon, since real life is tough on me now. However, I shall be mostly glad for your suggestions and (if it is possible) links to pictures of the heroes you wish to see. With the news anout LEGO Superheroes a new age of Batman emerges! Yay! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

No, I do not! I mean I don't really care much for Talia and Grundy. They look ok, and just the sort I always imagined them to be (though Talia is a bit "generic", to my taste.) But Penguin I don't like. Not a bit of him so far. The looks the mannerisms, the voice, the accent. Nothing! Why the heck would he even have IL if he's such a freakish-looking maniac? What's the point of it? Well, I really can't express my frustration and disappointment here other that by posting something that shows how he should've been done: To my taste a completely different character from the parade of AC inhabitants woul've looked much better. Imagine a quiet, clean and posh place in the middle of the chaotic AC? That woul've been really nice. But no, we have to make everyone look either freakish or generic. Bah! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Ok, so I leave (Gotham) this forum for a couple of months and *BANG* we get such an awsome piece of news! Yay! Well, if I get it correctly it's still unclear if it is going to be a proper set-based theme or just minifigures, but in any case it's great news. So far I can say the Joker looks much better than the old one, which I can't really say about either Catwoman or Ivy, but they're still good. I'm not a fan of JL heroes, so I'm glad that we get them, but I do not have any special emotions about them. Marvel ones impress me less (sorry, my dear colleague tin7)but they're quite good and may be useful target practice sourse of parts for my DC ones. Looking forward to more news! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

The final Robin art: I just love that approach to him! Am I completely perverted, if I keep seeing him standing there in underwear and hing stockings, instead of accepting the idea that it's just his thumbs? Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Happy Birthday, people! ) May the following year bring only joy and funds for more MORE LEGO. ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

An outstanding review as always, WhiteFang! ) This Series provbe rto be extremely useful for Batman. With all thgose mobsters, midget clowns, graduates. The series are also useful for my Castle figs with dwarves and Queens. my victorian figs and etc. A great review of great series! Wel done, indeed! ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

I just hope he won't sneak into my sub again!

Now, THAT's a re-make that I really like! I sure need to get the exclusive release copy. ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Ok, a couple of days away from EB, and here we are: they included Robin! I just love that they made that desicion! Yeah, stick a botttle in the eye! (Hm, I guess I should quit saying that! ) I'm in minority of fans who actually like Robin as a charater, so I guess it's very nice to be seeing him around. I hope he'll have his cameo appearance in the game itself. Say, the last Riddler victim, eh? And, yes, i'd love to see Nightwing there as well. Who wouldn't preffer him to Robin? In my bat action figures collection I have three Nightwings and only two Robins. That means something, you know! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

And I can't help but agree with Oky. The best part is indeed blowing up bridge, but the ad just lacks something..... Ah, where are those good old days, when ads were like that?! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Definitely, would you like me to avenge you and stick what's left of my "monocle-bottle" in his..... ? Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

BTW, forgot to say that this was one outstanding punch that Catwoman gave Dent! Hm, I wonder what happens if Harv's other half is left scarred as well? Evil Harv becomes another deranged maniac with no cool two-sided stuff? Bah! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Well, those riddler challenges look really challenging! And taking into account the fact that I'm not very good at rapid buttons pushing (I'd like to see how you do it in white gloves and with a monocle on! ), that may take me even longer than 50 hours to complete the game! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

JR can go there to save JT. Like a mighty Heracles saved Theseus from the underworld! And remain there forever himself! I strongly dislike the character..... Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Sorry, but it doesn't really look like "Everyone's favorite Russian hat". There was some customizer shop around who was selling cutom molds, but they were never good. so sculpturing was the answer for me! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Yes, it seems so. You're right I guess! Now i just need to get it! I really love that screenshot for some reason. And not only because the guy is my thug. ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Well, I know how you feel. Actually I like the part as well since it has CIS emblems all over it! 2Flitwick Thanks a lot for the news. A shame I can't get the controller, I have PS3. ) Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Yes, I'm quite aware of that, thank you. The image was supposed to show how popular I am among some women..... and how I look at some men! Though, I wonder what comic it is from? I can't really recall now..... Yes, it is! Why would any decent man wish to have a company of a woman who kisses every second thug on the street? Actually it has been revealed that Selina Kyle will be a part of a story mode (about 10%)? so will just switch to her from Bats and back. I find it very intriguing! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

A very fair note. Actually DC is no less big than Marvel and is in fact independent. I guess one thing that may stop LEGO, and rather than bringing us Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc.... give us Marvel, is the fact that DC is generally darker and certain storylines are obviously adult-oriented. (Batman mostly) That may pose a threat to future LEGO Batman. Still they did a pretty good job with Batman theme back then. And should they step away from vehicle vs vehicle concept, the theme will become the second SW, no doubt. Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

I'd recommend you, people to have a look at arkhamcity.co.uk discussion thread which if quite interesting. Especially the discussion of Catwoman's behavior! I couldn't resist posting that image, could I? EDIT: Sea snail?! What kind of phrase is that? Was I drunk or what?! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

Well, what puzzles me about Dent is the fact that he's so much burnt, almost Nolin-like, which indicates that it was more than acid in the face, actually. Well, for some reason I'm not that fascinated by the character anymore. I guess he's been overused a bit and sure requires a new view on the character. As for catwoman, she looks quite nice. I wonder if it's very convenietn to have a zipline so low? Well, now I want an opportunity to play Penguin! Shooting some bottles with a rocket-launcher umbrella! Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )