1989 Batmobile is now available priced at €249.99 / $249.99 US / £219.99. Before reviewing the complete build, we thought we would take a look at all the new elements in this set.
"One-of-a-Kind" Elements
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| © 2019 The LEGO Group |
It is not often LEGO Element Designers appear within instruction booklets but both Jaime Sanchez Potter (Batmobile Windscreen) and Niels Milan Pedersen (Batman's cowl & cape) make an appearance this time. With some lovely images showing an early 3D printed prototype of the Batmobile Windshield and Niels carving an oversized test version of Batman's cowl, I hope to see more of this type of feature in future instruction booklets.
Batmobile Windshield
As you can see, the Black printing on the windshield element is used to define the curved shaping and central divide present in the original 1989 Batmobile.
The only other large-scale Batmobile produced by LEGO, 7784 The Batmobile: Ultimate Collectors' Edition, didn't actually have a windscreen at all so to have a specially designed windshield makes all the difference to the final appearance of this new set.
Batman Cowl and Cape
1989 Batman Cowl and Cape in Black (Mini Costume, No. 18 - 6272030|51112) has a more malleable feel resembling the feel of some of the minidoll hair pieces, mirroring the rubber outfit that Michael Keaton wore in the movie.
"One funny feature is that it is difficult for the Batman minifigure to turn his head. We think this is quite appropriate, as the actor apparently had a similar issue with the real costume."
Niels is not joking, LEGO Batman has a lot of difficulty turning his head, in fact his head does not move at all inside this new element. But it looks awesome!– Niels Milan Pedersen
Recolours
It is not unexpected that a few new Black and very, very dark Titanium Metallic elements will appear for the first time in this Batman set!
These beauties are Shell w/3.2 Shaft No.11 in Titanium Metallic/ Pearl Dark Gray (6266130|28220) and join the existing Black, Medium Stone Grey/ Light Bluish Gray, White and Bright Yellow/ Yellow versions of this element.
The other recolours in Black are Inverted 1X3 Tile with 3.2 Hole (6272184|35459) and 6x6 Tile (6155125|10202). The latter joins a select number of colours of this larger tile: Medium Stone Grey, Earth Green/ Dark Green, Bright Red/ Red, Dark Stone Grey/ Dark Bluish Gray and Brick Yellow.)
Two final new recolours are Brick 1X16 in Medium Azure (6261323|2465) and Boat Stud 2x2 in Transparent Brown (Slide Shoe Round 2X2 - 6273713|28558).
The smaller of the two tyres (Tyre, Dia 69x28mm in Black - 6262361|52985) are new for this set. The larger rear tyres (Tyre Wide Ø81,6x44 in Black - 6199832|18450) appeared in two previous sets including 76023 The Tumbler from 2014.
Interestingly both sets of tyres use the same rims. Rim Wide 43,2X26 w. 6 HolL.Ø 4.8 in Black (6276858|51488) also appeared in 70677 Land Bounty earlier this year, but no other appearances thus far.
Wheels
Interestingly both sets of tyres use the same rims. Rim Wide 43,2X26 w. 6 HolL.Ø 4.8 in Black (6276858|51488) also appeared in 70677 Land Bounty earlier this year, but no other appearances thus far.
Printed Elements
There are three new printed elements in this set.
- Round Tile 2X2 with Silver Bat in Black (Flat Tile 2X2, Round, No. 1143 - 6278867|54958)
- Flat Tile 2X2, No. 408 (6278879|65158)
- Round Tile 1x1 Bat in Medium Stone Grey (Flat Tile 1X1, Round, No. 125 - 6279964|65308)
Also of interest
Shell 4X8X2 W/Forks in Black ( 4294691|46413) hasn't been in any set for the past 13 years, since 4896 Roaring Roadsters in 2005.
1x1 Brick in Transparent Yellow (6277483|35382) is another element that has been in hiatus for a number of years. It was last seen in a Castle theme set, 8780 Citadel of Orlan, back in 2004 although its very first appearance was, unsurprisingly, in a Classic Space set from 1985.
Slanting Support in Titanium Metallic (Slanting Standard 2X4/2X2 - 6263550|4476) is a new colour for 2019 that has only appeared in one other set - a Batman set from earlier this year, 76122 Batcave Clayface Invasion.
Minifigures
I won't go through the names and IDs of all the minifigure elements but suffice to say that the Joker's head, torso and legs are all new printed elements.
Batman also has a new torso, head and the cowl/cape of course.
Kim Basinger... I mean Vicky Vale... has a new torso and leg print but her head and hair have appeared before. In fact this same head (Mini Head, No. 2049 in Light Nougat - 63442|28437) has appeared in nine other sets including as Rachel in 21319 Central Perk, Jyn Erso in 75171 Battle on Scarif and Mera in the DC Extended Universe set 76095 Black Manta Strike. LEGO seems to believe that all these characters have the same face...
Stickers
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Thanks to our 'Vibrant Coral' patrons: Iain Adams, Ryan Welles, Chris Cook, London AFOLs, Gerald Lasser, Big B Bricks, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Huw Millington, Neil Crosby, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Sue Ann Barber & Trevor Clark, and Kevin Gascoigne. You're all awesome!
You can also help us by doing what you perhaps do already - buying from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon USA: Amazon.com Canada: Amazon.ca UK: Amazon.co.uk Deutschland: Amazon.de
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Correction; Roaring Roadsters came out in 2006
ReplyDeleteDang, it's like all white ladies look the same or something.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Vicki Vale head, I think it's just the designers facing the inevitable conclusion. The CMF theme churns out a ton of basic human expressions because they skew towards 100% original deco with every minifig released. There was a time when the licensed themes tried to follow suit, and I recall it resulting in two minifigs where the only noticeable difference between their faces was that on one the left eyebrow was slightly raised, and on the other it was the right one. At some point it's just less hassle to pick from a group of generic minifig heads unless something character-specific is needed.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of character-specific stuff, I really wish they'd made the cowl without the attached cape so it didn't always have that windswept pose. The bib with the 1989 emblem I'm fine with, but the cape is so limiting.
1 x 1 trans-yellow brick is back!!!!
ReplyDeleteShowing as out of stock at bricks and pieces though.
Hopefully it will get used in other sets and become more readily available.
Yes, because what other element would you expect in the all-black Batmobile than a friggin 1x16 brick in Dark Azure.
ReplyDeletePlease Lego, stop it with all the hideously unfitting colors hidden away in sets!
How is it an issue? All the colorful pieces are hidden away and we get awesome recolors like this out of it. It also makes it easier to distinguish between pieces while building rather than EVERY SINGLE PIECE being black or dark gray. It's not a problem since they all get covered up.
Delete@Roger_Smith:
ReplyDeleteSet designers like to incorporate easter eggs into their set designs. In 2018, one of the Friends set designers visited Brickworld Chicago, and listed off a bunch of these easter eggs. One of the common ones is to slip the colors of their homeland's flag into the model. Given that there aren't many countries that have solid black flags, sets like the Batmobile require these elements to be internal. One of the designers of this set may have helped bring Teal back last year. Or we may see it come out soon in another set where it's displayed more prominently, with the Batmobile designers simply picking up on its timely availability.
Whatever the case, I just built the mini Gingerbread House GWP, and I got the distinct impression that a lot of the internal structure was chosen just to make it easier to tell where to place various elements. Certainly that's the only logical reason I can think of for why they would have packed it full of lime 1x1 round bricks, dark-bley 1x3 bricks, and red 1x1 bricks, when none of them are visible on the finished model.