Brickheadz: LEGO® Batman Movie

This week we are doing early reviews of LEGO® BrickHeadz, a fun range of brick-built, heavily stylised pop-culture figures. They are released on March 1 priced £9.99/ US$9.99/ 9.99€ but VIP Early Access started on February 15. To get inside their headz and see what makes them up, we welcome back Sven Franic.

BrickHeadz are a novelty in the LEGO collectors’ world, and if other collectable series are anything to judge by, the first series is usually the one that ends up being most sought after, whether this was the intent or not. Series 1 of BrickHeadz so far consists of 10 buildable figures: four characters from The LEGO Batman Movie, four MARVEL Super Heroes and two Disney characters.

 Today, we will look at what comes inside the four LEGO Batman Movie figures: Batman, Batgirl, Robin and the Joker.

There are certain pointers which tell me this theme is filled with high hopes of being a great success. For one thing, not a penny was spared in introducing elements in new colours (“recolours”, as we call them here on New Elementary) in order to make the characters look as authentic as possible. Also, since most AFOLs aren’t particularly fond of stickers, you’ll be delighted to know all decorated elements are printed. Every character comes with a minimum of one exclusive print, plus two recurring for this series; the 2x4 tile with the series number and the 1x1 round tiles used for the eyes.
 


Even though collectability is their primary goal, we are not here to discuss them in that sense. I will try to dissect them piece by piece and see what they are made of.
 I can tell you right away no new moulds were introduced, but the theme wasn’t cut short on recolours.

Every BrickHeadz figure is numbered, so I will just go through them in that order.
 And number one is Batman because Batman is always number one.

41585 Batman

Upon opening the sets I was delighted to find that the core of each figure is built using 14 Brick 1X2X1 2/3 W/4 Knobs in Medium Stone Grey [TLG]/Light Bluish Gray [BL] (Element ID 6123809 | Design ID 22885) – still a relatively recent innovation in SNOT bricks.

Most old SNOT elements are one brick high which means, when stacked directly on top of each other, you can’t connect anything to their side studs without causing a gap between the elements. Sometimes this effect is desired, but a lot of times you just want a seamless surface. 
For connecting large elements, one solution is stacking SNOT bricks with either two plates or four bricks in between. As shown below; this makes them line up correctly with any element you want to place to their side, but isn’t feasible for every application.

Basically, element 22885 makes a direct projection from horizontal to vertical studs without much planning required, and can be stacked on all sides without causing any collisions. It is the most user-friendly SNOT element to date. 

It was introduced in last year’s Modular Building 10251 Brick Bank and has been spreading through an infinitude of sets, as though we never knew a time without it. So just in case you are in it for the pieces: 14 is a generous number to get from a relatively small set and this quantity is consistent throughout all current BrickHeadz figures.

41584 Batman is unfortunately one of the less attractive figures in terms of interesting parts and recolours given he is mostly Black, which is the second-most common colour for all LEGO elements ever produced. 

His two exclusive printed elements are Bright Yellow [TLG]/Yellow [BL] 1x4 tile with utility belt detail (6188702) and a 1x4 brick in Black with yellow Batman logo (6188640).





One piece of interest to me is the still uncommon 2x3 tile in Black (6162892 | 26603), introduced in late 2016. Also, the 1x1 round tiles which make up Batman’s eyes glow in the dark. It is a colour called White Glow [TLG]/Glow in Dark White [BL] (6009088 | 98138) and they have only appeared in one other set before; 10244 Fairground Mixer.

On to our next character.





41586 Batgirl

If you are into Medium Lilac [TLG]/Dark Purple [BL], you are in for a treat. We got a bunch of new elements in this colour recently in 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider, and Batgirl just continues where The Joker left off.



 But before I tackle Lilac, I should first mention two other recolours.

Plate 2X2X2/3 W. 2 Horizontal Knobs now comes in New Dark Red [TLG]/Dark Red [BL] (6188829 | 99206), a welcome addition to this element's otherwise weak colour palette. Unfortunately, we are just teased with one piece in this set which makes up part of her pony tail, but I am positive we will see it elsewhere in the future.





Another element with a relatively poor colour selection gets an expansion, Plate 1X2 W. 1 Horizontal Snap in Bright Yellow (6179329 | 11476) — a recoloured element which is shared with another character from this series.





The four new Medium Lilac elements, shown in the right half of the above picture, are Flat Tile 2x3 (6185991 | 26603), Flat Tile 2X3 W/ Angle (6163246 | 22385), End Ridged Tile 1X2/45° (6185990 | 15571) and Plate 1X4 W. 2 Knobs (6185993 | 92593). Two of each of these elements are provided, except for the latter of which there are five. Also, shown above left, there is one Brick 1X4 W. 4 Knobs (6167459 | 30414) and two Flat Tile 2x4 (6167472 | 87079) which were only recently introduced in The Joker Notorious Lowrider set.

An element of special interest for me is Flat Tile 2X3 W/ Angle (Design ID 22385). This is the eighth recolour of this element since its introduction in early 2016, not counting transparent, printed variants. It is most prominently used as shields in the LEGO Nexo Knights theme, but is finding great use as a finishing element in other applications. If you have any doubts about this element’s incredible potential, make sure to check out the ongoing Iron Builder Competition for February 2017 in which two exceptional LEGO artists compete against each other in brainstorming some of the most unexpected uses for this element.

READ MORE: Also check out how LEGO builders used the shield tile in our Nexo-Classic Space parts festival in 2016

This element’s mould seems to have been updated since its first introduction. The initial location of the injection point caused a flat spot on the outside surface. This slightly annoying cosmetic flaw depends on which production batch your tiles come from. I have black tiles from both the old and new moulds, but all my brown and white ones which are of a later date are flawless.

Batgirl’s exclusive printed element is a 1x4 Brick in Medium Lilac with a yellow Batgirl symbol (6188645).





41587 Robin 



Robin brings us only one new recoloured element, another Plate 1X2 W. 1 Horizontal Snap, this time in Dark Green [TLG]/Green [BL] (6185996 | 11476).

His exclusive printed element is a 1x4 Brick in Bright Red [TLG]/Red [BL] with Robin’s torso detail (6188650).





It might be time to mention the Black 1x1 round tiles with printed white squares used as eyes on almost all the characters. Although they may stay exclusive to BrickHeadz, I think the same concept can be reused in your own creations to add a bit of sparkle to eyes.





An element very limited in supply so far is included with Robin and another BrickHeadz character: Plate 2X2X2/3 W. 2 Horizontal Knobs, in Reddish Brown (6146301 | 99206). This piece in this colour has only ever been seen once before, in LEGO Creator 31052 Vacation Getaway. 



Previously, due to their limited choice of colours, I tended to work towards covering them up which often defeated the point of them being so flat. Getting this element last year in Brick Yellow and now in Reddish Brown and Dark Red is a gamechanger for inconspicuous tight snotting.




41588 The Joker

This is the largest set of the series by piece count, mostly as a result of his elaborate hair. 



While he comes with more Medium Lilac elements, none of them are new in that colour.


A useful addition to the aspiring collection of elements available in Light Royal Blue [TLG]/Bright Light Blue [BL] is the 2017 introduction of a 1x1 plate (6184484 | 3024) which can also be found in the recently released LEGO Ideas 21308 Adventure Time. Since they are used for his eye makeup, we only get two (plus a spare) with the Joker. 





The most exciting recolour in this set for me is the 1/4 Circle Tile 1X1 (6150607 | 25269) which now comes in Dark Green [TLG]/Green [BL]. This was actually the first colour that this element was introduced in, but it only came as a decorated version with a watermelon print. This is the first time we officially have it plain. The Joker will generously supply you with ten (plus a spare) of them.

 



Joker comes with three exclusive printed elements: a White Flat Tile 1x4 with Joker’s mouth (6188704), a Flame Yellowish Orange 1x2 Brick with Joker’s tie (6188722) and a Medium Lilac 1x4 Brick with Joker’s pockets and skull detail (6188665).



Posing your BrickHeadz

I was reading some comments when BrickHeadz were first shown to the public and noticed that some reacted in disappointment about their lack of poseability. I couldn’t resist adding a small modification just for fun: a couple of tiles and a 2x2 turntable between the head and body to give Robin some neck articulation.

There is probably a good reason why this wasn’t done from the start. Some characters have hair in the way, and it either weakens the structure if you replace the 4x4 plate, or adds a plate of height to the body. I don’t think they were designed with play features in mind, but if it really bothers you, this is an easy mod to do yourself.

READ MORE: Our BrickHeadz analysis continues with MARVEL Super Heroes and Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group.

Shopping on Amazon? Consider using our affiliate links to buy your LEGO sets (or anything); this helps support New Elementary!
USA: Amazon.com Canada: Amazon.ca UK: Amazon.co.uk Deutschland: Amazon.de