DC characters seem to have been on my radar lately… with the trailers coming out for Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad, and I’ve been playing Batman Arkham Knight a heck of a lot over the last few weeks. So it seemed like something of a theme was occurring when I got an email saying a couple of new Batman LEGO sets were coming out.
In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that LEGO sent me a set to review.
So, what have we got? Let’s look at the two sets that being released:
The Batboat Harbour Pursuit – RRP £29.99
Deathstroke has stolen diamonds from the bank and is escaping with the loot in his jetboat. So who best to catch him than Batman and Robin in the Batboat? Open up the secret radar tower to view the screens and track the jetboat. Avoid the jetboat’s flick missiles, and activate the split function to launch our heroes’ hoverboats and recover the jewels.
Sounds pretty good! I have to say, though, it’s the minifigs I always look at first when I open a LEGO set and this set includes Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke.
Jokerland – RRP £89.99
This is the set I was sent to try out, and so I’ll write a bit more about this one. The Joker and his fellow villains have transformed an amusement park into Jokerland, and trapped Starfire, Beast Boy and Robin there. Roll up in the Batmobile and rescue them with “Jumping Batman”.
The Jokerland set really is quite extensive, with eight minifigures (Batman, Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, The Penguin, The Joker, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn) all with accessories.
The models themselves are lovely too, especially the Batmobile which has two spring-firing missiles mounted in the nose. From a purely aesthetic point of view, the Batmobile is definitely my favourite piece, but that’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the rest of the set.
We have Harley Quinn suspending Robin beneath her motorbike in the Wheels of Fire, the Penguin trapping Beast Boy in the Deadly Duckies ride (why are they deadly? Well, they’re loaded with dynamite), Poison Ivy trapping Starfire on the Carnivore Fall (complete with snap-happy carnivorous plant), and the Joker presiding over it all from the main Jokerland building. Thing is, if he loses his footing he’ll end up in the Toxic Tank! There are some really nice little touches too, like a tiny penguin holding more dynamite, or a gun-toting clockwork clown. I like as well that the Joker’s cannon can fire either cannon balls or custard pies.
In all, Jokerland took me three hours to build but, if your child were doing this themselves (or helping) it would take a bit longer. Watching the speed that my children build LEGO I could easily see this being a weekend or week-long project!
I really enjoyed building Jokerland, and my children have enjoyed getting to play with it. If you’re a superhero fan, and particularly a Batman fan, these sets will be right up your alley.
