Yes, We Have No Bananas

Fresh from his adventures in Sector Eleven, Exo Suit designer, bestselling author and talented voice actor Pete Reid rejoins us for an exclusive look at a brand new LEGO® DC Superheroes set, 76026 Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas.

The box art is very exciting. There's all sorts of stuff going on. An invisible aircraft is about to smash into the ground, a fruit truck is being torn apart by a furious gorilla, the Flash is jaywalking really quickly between the legs of the Bat Mech. I can only hope there are no civilians nearby. It's a health and safety nightmare.

The set comes with four numbered bags, plus Gorilla Grodd in a separate bag. It also contains two instruction books, a tiny sticker sheet and a comic.

The set costs £49.99, which seems quite a lot of money (especially given that it is $49.99 in the US). The thing to bear in mind is money is just an abstract concept. If you're a LEGO® superheroes fan, and you like the figs, it's a must have. As everyone knows, it's all about the minifigs these days, and the people in this set are gorgeous. There are five minifigs and a bloody great big gorilla in this one. Let's take a closer look.

Apart from Truck Driver, they all have double sided head print. All the figs have back printing on the torso. The figs these days are really beautifully made. I'm not much of a photographer, but these little guys really give good face when you get in nice and close.

Superheroes 

Batman - I'm probably a bit out of touch, but the new cowl piece is a definite improvement, and I really like the new cape material. I used to love Batman when I was a lad. In my day there weren't many superhero films. Richard Donner's Superman movies were all we had, till Burton's Batman arrived, and everyone on the planet grooved to the Prince album. On vinyl. Nowadays, there are too many superheroes, and not enough Prince albums. Kids have it so easy these days.

The Flash - To be honest, I'm not that familiar with the Flash. The character was created in 1940, and moves very quickly or whatever. There have been several versions of the Flash in the DC comic verse. I'm not sure which version the fig is meant to be. The last one, probably. Whatever his name is, he looks great. Look at his lovely face.

Wonder Woman - All new print. She's pretty. She's also scary sometimes.

Legion of Doom

Grodd - It turns out Grodd was once a normal gorilla. In 1941, a spaceship crashed in Africa, and some gorillas got bigger brains. Grodd is super intelligent and has telekinetic powers. Why is he smashing the banana truck? Couldn't he use his telekinesis to get the bananas? Or his intelligence to play the stock market, make millions and buy lots of bananas? Why is he a bad guy? Because gorillas and aliens don't mix? What's the lesson here? Gorillas are evil? That's a really good thing to teach the kids. Well done, everyone.

Grodd is the same size and articulation as the Hulk. He's got a different body sculpt, with Hulk's arms and hands in black and grey, respectively. Points of articulation are the shoulders and wrists. He cannot turn his head, which might explain his anti social behaviour.

Captain Cold - My half arsed, drunken research suggests he might not be a real captain. Apparently, Captain Cold's real name is actually Leonard Snart. I'm not making this up. In 1957 he put on a parka and declared himself to be Captain Cold. He's got a new parka headpiece, which is nice. His gun is much too big and heavy for him to hold, unless he's standing on studs. I don't do studs.

I do wonder if they're scraping the bottom of the barrel with these Z list superheroes? I hope I'm not offending the massive Captain Cold fanbase out there. Freeze a jolly good fellow.

Truck Driver - possibly the least well known DC superhero. Truck Driver (real name Chuck D. River) was struck by radioactive lightning at a roadside diner in 1953. The force of the lightning blast froze his face, and gave him unique powers, allowing Truck Driver to safely and legally operate any vehicle on the interstate. His first appearance was in Amazing Tales #17, and his popularity resulted in a short-lived comic of his own, which ran from 1956 to 1959.


Let's move on from the minifigs now to the models and the new parts... although this first one is sort of a minifig accessory.

Super jumper

It took a few goes before I got the hang of this strange new part that TLG call the Super Jumper (Element ID 6093683  | Design ID 18663). You put a minifig on the studs (which are extremely clutchy...I think LEGO might have gone a bit too far with the clutch on this element), then you do the jumpy frog thing, for exciting jumping play action. It looks like something a dentist might put in your mouth, before pouring in some horrid pink goo, which makes you throw up. And eat your own sick.

To the 'Invisible' Jet!

The 'invisible' jet isn't entirely transparent. It's a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act, but I'll let it pass for now. A core of grey and white elements hold the 'invisible' jet together, including some of those new fangled brackets the kids are always harping on about along with their clone troopers and chimas and myspace. It's also got those new shooty things. I can't really get into them as a play feature, because I'm not six years old, or mentally deficient. When they're loaded with the trans blue laser bolt they look stupid, and it makes me sad that LEGO is for children. The 1x4 launcher brick might have its uses as a detail piece for the dedicated AFOL builder. Look, it's a play feature, and wholesome, safe fun for the kids. I am not the target audience.

So many lovely new Transparent [TLG]/Trans-Clear [BL] elements! I reckon builders will find all sorts of interesting ways to use them. We've got the following in Trans-Clear in this set, for the very first time: three 2x6x4 tails (6097515 18989), two 2x2 curved slopes with lip (6100761 47904), two 4x4 wedge plates (6100764 43719) and two 2x12x5 tails (6097549 18988). I think this is the first wedge plate we've ever had in Trans-Clear.

I was surprised and outraged to see Trans-Clear/Trans-Light Blue large flames (6055858 85959) stuck into Trans-Clear headlight bricks. I thought putting the clear 3.18 thing into the hole of the other clear thing was strictly forbidden, design wise. Polycarbonate elements tend to fuse together at a molecular level, causing parts to break, and children to have a bad play experience. This is why we can't have entirely Trans-Clear figs.

Banana Delivery Truck

This kind of vehicle is called a tuk tuk. It has a play feature where the cab and body are on a click hinge, so Grodd can smash it down and blow the transaxle, making bananas spill everywhere (with hilarious consequences). I've done a bit of design work for LEGO, and they don't generally approve of wheeled vehicles that can't be rolled with the aggressive downward pressure of an idiot child. It's also got a deliberately poorly attached cab roof, for improved monkey smash fun times. Curious.

There are some recolours in Bright Blue [TLG]/Blue [BL] in the tuk tuk. We've had the old style 1x4x6 window (with shutter tabs) in Blue a long time ago but this is first time we've had the current style (6097556 60594). There's also a 5x2x1 1/3 bracket (6033353 11215).

Bat-mech

I really don't know what to make of this. A handsome, charismatic man, piloting a great big mech? That's a stupid idea.

I'm not aware of the Bat-Mech ever appearing in the DC comic universe, but I don't really read comics, and I've done enough research for the moment. Maybe it's in one of those early morning cartoons I never watch, or tucked away in a dusty corner of the Batcave? I'm not entirely sure the Bat-Mech fits with the universe. It's like the Spidercar, you know?

The Bat-Mech actually poses fairly well, and I quite like the left hand. The right hand has been replaced with a deadly combination weapon: dual shooters and a push out net. The shooters are the style introduced last year but they're in a new form here - a modified 1x2 plate with shooter (6102734 15403).

The Legion of Doom are terrified of the Bat-net. It could flop out at any moment, and the baddies would be all like "oh no, I'm trapped". Most exciting!

'You're my muse, Kenny'

I've got a non-AFOL friend called Kenny. He was sitting beside me on the couch when I made the alternative model for the Getaway Glider review. You ever encounter people who you can just hang out with and make a cool model next to? Someone who contributes something just by being there? Kenny's like that. I wanted to repeat the experiment with my alternate build of this set, and he came to visit and just gave off this spaceship vibe. I was all like, yeah, let's do this. Smash the bricks together. This is Kenny on the right, checking out a spaceship I made twelve years ago. Isn't he a dreamboat?

I don't think my microscale Armoured Freighter quite meets Space Book building quality standards, but I did what I could, and managed to use the stickers. It is common knowledge that photoshopped backgrounds are totally allowed, to enhance presentation.

Once I'd finished the ship, my beloved Yvonne made a Batboat from the remaining pieces. Little trans and blue bits were used for the spume. Spume is a good word, which everyone should use more often. Spume.

Did I mention the Space Book? If you haven't got the Space Book yet, you should totally buy a copy. Seriously, it's best book in the world, which my team and I spent two years crafting. Your life will be incomplete and meaningless without the book. I am in no way biased.

This review has been lots of fun, but I have to return to outer space now. I'm getting reports of hostile activity in the Philangi sector. Apparently the Quazmodian Alliance have invaded the third moon of Trinia, and it's all kicking off.

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Special thanks to Jeremy Williams for the photoshopping, and Kenny for projecting that vibe. I'd also like to thank our LEGO community support overlords for providing the set.

76026 Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas retails for £49.99 / $49.99 / €69.99. Consider using our affiliate links to buy it (or anything); this helps support New Elementary!

USA: Amazon.com | The Official LEGO Shop

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France: Amazon.fr

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