TheBatstan

I'm sort of regretting not getting the Mobile Bat-Base set for those 3 cape variants. Then again, the only reason why I would get the Bat-Base is for that Nightwing figure and the capes, so I think I might just have to go Bricklink hunting for all that instead of spending $130 for a useless made up Bat vehicle. I thought those capes were going to be the new standard in future sets and instead, it's devolving.

Besides getting real sick of Lego suddenly switching over to the 4+ single hole cape for the main sets, I think I'm going to swap Battinson's cape to the spongy, two holed version instead. Not only is it going to actually look better, but since the material is so thick that it covers the entire neck area, it could kind of work to represent the collar part of the Batsuit (since no piece would actually be able to fit there thanks to the cowl).

Yeah, you both pretty much see the issue with the chinstrap area being the main thing that's holding this cowl back from being a suitable choice.

To kind of play Devil's Advocate, I can *kind of* see where Lego was coming from with deciding to use this cowl over the short ear version when you compare the promo art to the cowl piece. Of course if it were up to me I would've made sure that there would've been a new cowl piece, but the way the top of the cowl looks with the ear shape feels similar-ish enough. Though would it have been asking for too much to at least print the stitching outline on the forehead? I know it can be done, they did cowl printing for both Adam West Batman's, the Knightmare Batman, and on some of the alternate outfits from The Lego Batman Movie as well as the Electro Suit Batman that all used this specific cowl type. I think I'm one of the few that believe that the short ear cowl doesn't really work for Battinson since his cowl doesn't really have short ears, they're more medium sized compared to the stubs that Batfleck had. Right now, I feel like the closest replacements that are available would be the Batgirl cowl from TLBM if it came in black, or the First Appearance cowl if the ears sticking outward weren't a problem.

So the Wolverine mech is getting the classic yellow suit, thank god. Now to just hope that the cowl is included along with the hair. And now that we know the buildable Iron Man is going to be similar to Arishem in terms of height, I'm definitely going to be changing it into a Sentinel. It's practically already going to be done for me with the circle on the chest and the robotic face/body, all I need to do is swap out the red and gold for blue and purple.

Don't be so sure. Last year the Supergirl figure was announced on August 20th, only two days before Fandome. We still have one entire week left, that's more than enough time for something to be announced. I'm expecting the same for a special Fandome diorama set as well.

Glad to see someone liked my rambling. I already mentioned it in the post, but for the Batmobile I think I'm pretty much going to modify it based on this custom MOC:

Oh my god, it actually happened. And a week before FanDome too. I think I'm in the minority when I think the sets are pretty great, but they need a lot of modifications. LONG thoughts essay about them all incoming. Batcycle: It's a nice little impulse buy, and the Batman minifigure is well detailed. It's a shame that the legs aren't dual molded and now we have another Batman that suffers from this problem alongside the Justice League Batman, but it's either keeping these legs or switching them out for the one with dual molded black boots and no printing, so not a lot of options. Not getting any arm printing is a bit of a bummer considering the new comic/PS4 Classic Suit Spider-Man figure from this year has it in every set he's in. The cowl though...I'm absolutely shocked Lego decided to reuse the EXACT SAME cowl we've been getting for a decade, it's bordering on pathetic. Selina looks great, but again, no new piece for her beanie with the cat ears? I'm hoping Lego ends up making a minifigure accessory pack after the movie comes out that includes it as a new piece, there's no way they can just leave it out entirely. As for the bikes, I like the base for them, but that Batcycle is definitely going to be heavily reworked with the front area. It looks ridiculously bulky and nothing like the sleek design on the actual bike. I was really expecting it to be a new single piece for the chassis, but I know it can be fixed with something better. Getting our first look at the Bat-Signal in this is a perfect little inclusion, I didn't even think it would be in the movie considering this is only a Year 2 Batman. I wish it was printed on a bigger dish piece so that it matches the previous bat logo pieces, but at least it glows in the dark? The box art with the two bikes racing through rain drenched Gotham streets is honestly one of my favorite parts about the set, it reminds me of the original Batman box art designs. Batmobile: I think seeing all the custom versions for the past few months set my expectations up a little too high for this. It still looks good and fairly accurate, but I might have to make some changes to it with the custom designs in mind, specifically this one by Gervant Riviiskiy. The front for example needs some work to not make the engine look so high. And that missile shooting feature is getting removed the second I get my copy. At least it looks better than the Ghost Rider version, but maybe not as good as if it was a set from the Speed Champions line. And thankfully it appears that it can fit two figures, I'd be annoyed if it was a 6-wide car that could only fit one. Same Batman as before, but that Penguin looks perfect. I think I might swap out his hair piece for the George Costanza bald piece with black hair on the sides instead, it fits better from what we've seen of this Penguin. I was really expecting him to get his own car like what we saw from the trailer, but that would've resulted in the Batmobile getting even less pieces which would've been terrible. I love how the back of the box shows off the Batmobile in the same style as its reveal picture from last year. Batcave: This thing is a beauty. We already knew this Batcave was in a train station terminal, but the design here with the lamp posts and the upper area contrasts great with the darker colors of the rest of the cave. That Batcomputer is probably the best version I've seen since the original 2006 version with the giant green stickers. The best part about the whole thing is how much it emphasizes that this Batman is going to actually be the World's Greatest Detective. There's dozens of screens where it looks like he's looking over clues, the big map that's a side build has a bunch of Riddler locations all forming into a question mark, and those 2x2 tile pieces that you can use the red magnifying glass on to reveal a "To The Batman" message just like the letters from the trailer. I haven't seen that magnifying glass piece since the old Alpha Team theme from 2001, what a blast from the past. It's nice that they included Bruce's Drifter motorcycle that he uses in the day instead of the Batcycle so that you could have both versions. Having the Batcomputer be detatchable so that there's an actual space to park the Batmobile is something that's been missing from every single Batcave since the 2006 one, so it's about time it returned. 4 out of the 6 figures are standouts for me too. Same Batman and Selina from the bike set, but Gordon looks even better than I thought, especially that new torso with the trench coat print. We got our first look at Andy Serkis's Alfred through this, and it looks like he's going to have a beard this time around. Riddler has the same mask design that was from the trailer, very Zodiac Killer-esque, but I think Lego was looking at concept art because I don't think his hair was visible in the trailer. And getting Bruce's incognito disguise with "The Drifter" figure wasn't even needed, but a welcome surprise. Technic Batmobile: I've never bought a Technic set before, but I'm definitely changing that after seeing this. It looks even better than the minifigure scale version. It's all blacked out, the details are just right instead of over-exaggerated, and there's even the same blue flame exhausts that are included in both sets. Now the only problem is where I'm going to put this... All in all, I've waited too long for these sets, and I'm putting my pre-order down for all of these despite some of the builds not being as good as I anticipated. But that's the fun part about Lego, you can improve on what's already there. I still can't believe these are coming out on November 1st for North America either, I thought for sure that the earliest I'd see these would be near the end of December as they got ready for an official January release. I'm not complaining though, now instead of a few months, it's only a few weeks before I can get my hands on these.

If the Iron Man mech is going to feature a classic comic version, then maybe they're going to go the same route with Wolverine and give us the classic yellow/blue he wore in the 70s when he first joined the X-Men compared to the 2012 minifigure that used the modern Astonishing suit that he wore in the 2000s. At first glance it doesn't look like there's much of a difference, but it would help make the new version not be seen as a rehash of the old one. If it was up to me I'd want the Astonishing suit again since that's the design I grew up with, but after missing out on Wolverine twice, I'll take what I can get at this point.

Yeah I probably am. Can I at least ask for the cowl piece to be included this time instead of just the hair piece?

"As I live and breathe, the Wolverine." I had a feeling Lego was going to cash in on the hype of the Wolverine PS5 game, but I didn't think it was going to be THIS soon. I was close to buying the 2012 minifigure off of BrickLink along with the cowl piece a few weeks ago, but this is even better. The amount of advancements that Lego has made with minifigures since the last time we got a proper Wolverine in 2014 is going to make this one the best one yet. I hope it's an updated yellow/blue suit. The one from 2012 was great for the time, but maybe now he can finally have dual molded arms with the sleeves plus dual molded legs for the boots, and back printing that doesn't show the cowl pulled down (it looked awkward when you put the actual piece on him while you could still see the one that was on the back).

Revealing The Batman sets officially during FanDome would be the perfect opportunity, since I'm 95% sure they're going to start showing up on shelves by mid/late December if they're launching in January. Even though the whole event is going to be 4 hours long, I hope they would find the time to sneak it in somewhere. I'm still wondering if Lego's going to reveal that they have some special FanDome products again soon like they did for last year with the Wonder Woman diorama set and Supergirl minifigure. If the pattern continues, then we're going to get a Batman set this time as a tie-in for the movie. And like how the Wonder Woman set was an homage to the cover of Cheetah's first appearance in Wonder Woman #6, I wouldn't mind if the Batman set is an homage to Riddler's first appearance cover from Detective Comics #140:

The only reason why I think they would make a Guy minifigure right now is because he's going to be making his live action debut in the HBO Max Green Lantern series soon.

Huh, I didn't know that. The last time I bought one of these types of books was with the very first Lego Batman Visual Dictionary back in 2012 that covered the original Batman theme and the very first wave of DC sets. I still think the figure is going to be Klarion (because why else would he be mentioned out of all the characters in the description?), but if the figure DOES turn out to be Guy Gardner, then I guess I'm buying a Character Encyclopedia. It amazes me that we got Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz as minifigures before him, and those two were just created in the past 10 years. Guy has been around for decades and is probably the third most recognized human Green Lantern behind Hal and John (and he was even featured in one of the early Direct-to-DVD Lego DC movies), but not once has there been a physical minifigure of him yet.

I thought the silhouette was just a placeholder image.

Huh, Klarion isn't the first choice that I would've thought of for an exclusive figure, but it isn't a stupid Batman suit variant so I'll take it. I don't know much about the character besides his appearances in Young Justice, and in the show he was primarily up against Doctor Fate like in his debut episode where he wanted the Helmet of Fate. With Fate appearing next year in the Black Adam movie, maybe that's why they chose Klarion as the figure here to compliment the Fate minifigure that we could get next year (whether that be a comic or movie version).

Looks like we're getting a new DC Encyclopedia next year with an exclusive minifigure, hopefully it's going to be an actual important character this time and not a silly variant like Pirate Batman.

Slowly but surely the info keeps coming, now just to wait for the eventual image leaks. I feel like the Bike Chase set is going to have brick built motorcycles if it has that many pieces, at least for the Batcycle since the front would have to be an entirely new piece to match the "ears". The Batmobile set having a lower piece count than I expected makes me wonder if Penguin is going to get the car that he was in from the trailer or if most of the build is only going to be focused on the Batmobile itself. I'd rather take the second option than having the build split between two vehicles which results in a poorly detailed Batmobile compared to the masterpieces we've been getting with the '66, '89, and Tumbler sets. Excluding the Duplo and Juniors versions, this Batcave is going to be the one with the least amount of pieces to date. Though I don't really mind that since this Batcave is made up of various little sections instead of the standard Batcave design with a big Batcomputer, costume transformation area, and a jail cell like with every comic Batcave set we've gotten in the past:

1414falconfan clarified a little more and mentioned it being "similar to Dom's charger" with a picture of Battinson's Batmobile, so I'm willing to bet it's going to be that one. Technic has never interested me and I've never bought one of those sets before (unless you count the 2001 Bionicle Toa sets that were still under the Technic theme), but I might just make an exception here.

Well according to brick_clicker on IG, we're getting a Batmobile from the Technic line for $100 next year.

When it comes to Electro for me, nothing will ever top his design from The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. Turning his entire head into electricity and having it resemble his mask from the comics was the perfect modernization. I never liked it when some designs took the cowards way out and put the mask pattern on his face like it was a type of facial scar. But I'd really like to get the classic masked version as a minifigure (eventually) just to have it match and complete the classic Sinister Six designs from the 2016 sets. As for Rhino, it only took 6/nearly 7 years since his last appearance in 2015 to show up again, so it's about damn time he gets another shot. I would've preferred if he came in a regular comic set with his classic appearance that uses a standard grey big fig body instead of making him look overly armored, but beggars can't be choosers. I just hope he's still a big fig in this instead of a regular minifigure and doesn't look too kiddish, but his look in the show isn't giving me much hope. On the bright side, at least he's a guy in a suit in it instead of being in a Transformers mech again. The design kind of looks like a chibi version of how he appeared in the Web of Shadows video game when you put the two side by side:

I think I read somewhere that it'll be January 2022, but knowing Lego sets that means they might even start showing up as early as December of this year. That's just my guess/hope though.

FINALLY, some type of info on the sets! And unsurprisingly, it's what everyone already predicted would be coming. I always thought that the $70 set was going to be Riddler's lair, but getting this new version of the Batcave is more than welcome (it's super unique too since it's in a train station terminal this time). The minifigure selection has some surprises for me on the other hand. I really thought the Batmobile set was going to just have Batman, Penguin, and maybe a random goon. But getting Gordon is a perfect bonus that'll make it a day one buy along with the other two sets. The Batcave including Bruce Wayne and Alfred is great to see too, especially given Lego's strange habit of never putting in Alfred in either of the comic Batcave sets from 2012 or 2019. It seems like Lego wanted to cover all the bases and put all the major characters in these three sets. The only one we're missing is a Carmine Falcone minifigure, but I guess his role in the film won't be that big.

While it's nice to see that DC will also be getting the Art treatment with those giant mosaic sets, I wouldn't mind getting some descriptions or even set names for The Batman sets at this point considering it's been happening for the other big themes lately like Star Wars and City for their January 2022 sets.

The box is bigger than I thought it would be, but this review just made the wait for my pre-order to ship even more agonizing.