Review: LEGO 76046 Heroes of Justice Sky High Battle

May 23, 2016 | 20

It’s time to wrap-up my reviews of the Batman v Superman theme with the flagship set – Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle. The largest set of the theme is the complete Batman V Superman experience with all the main characters from the movie, Batman’s brand spanking new Batwing and a shitty helicopter.

Batman V Superman has been extremely polarising at the box office, and I don’t really want to venture into that debate except to say that I enjoyed the film and thought that it was unfairly panned by the critics. Not that it wasn’t flawed or anything, but hey, it was pretty good fun and I enjoyed it more than I hated it – being a massive DC fan and all.

Anyway, on to my review of 76046 Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle! DC and LEGO really need to shorten the names of their sets, ugh!

Note: There may be spoilers within this post.

Name: Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle
Set Number: 76046
Pieces: 517
Price: AU$99.99 | US$59.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA]
Exclusive to: N/A
Minifigures: 5
Theme: DC Super Heroes – Batman v Superman
Year of Release: 2016
Instructions: LEGO 76045 Kryptonite Interception Book 1 Book 2

Sky High Battle excels out of the box in the minifigure department. Featuring the who’s who of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the set packs 5 4 exclusive minifigures, all major characters in the movie into the set.

That’s right, no filler here. No nameless goons or henchmen, you get the likes of Superman, Batman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and the star of this set (and some say the movie) Wonder Woman herself.

Batman and Superman are the two big hitters of the movie, and Sky High Battle includes exclusive variants of DC Comics’ most famous bromantic couple. The exclusive label is fairly disingenuous as Superman is almost identical to the minifigure in 76044 Clash of the Heroes.

Edit: Just realised that Batman is the same as Kyptonite Interception. I got confused with the one from Clash of the Heroes.

The Batman minifigure is exactly the same as the 76045 Kryptonite Interception version. The only difference is that Batman and Superman both has dual-moulded legs, which gives them the appearance that he’s wearing boots. That’s all that’s unique about him.

These are definitely the superior versions, as the boots add quite a bit to their overall experience. Superman still rocks his blue suit with the electric blue lines that accent parts of his torso, and he also has a goofy grin, which I must say is a little uncharacteristic of his otherwise brooding demeanour in the movie.

Batman, perhaps looks best with his boots, as the black breaks up his mostly grey body quite well. Batman’s suit has great armour definition and the awesome looking light grey texture details.

Both superheroes have dual-sided faces. Superman has an angry look where he’s charging up his laser eyeballs, and Batman has a slightly unimpressed look. I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but I still can’t come to love Bruce Wayne’s overly tanned complexion.

Having both of the best versions of Superman and Batman in this set is quite a plus. I did wish that both of them had slightly updated or perhaps battle-damaged torsos as I didn’t like that there wasn’t much to set them apart from their other versions save for the boots.

Up next are two minifigures that are truly exclusive to this set – Lex Luthor and Lois Lane. Lex Luthor, comes with a generous mane of orange hair which is quite accurate to the movie version since Lex doesn’t lose his hair until the very conclusion. You can simply remove his hair to make him go bald.

Lex Luthor’s tan suit is a little inaccurate as I recall him being in a grey suit most of the time, but his inner patterned shirt is bang on. Despite the slight colour inaccuracy, I really like his tan outfit – it’s really versatile and you can use it for other minifigures.

His face, however is quite a generic one with a sullen frown and strong cheekbones. It’s a pretty common face, having been used as Loki’s head and also funnily enough, Bruce Wayne from 6862 The Batcave!

Lois Lane is decked out in a black suit jacket that’s very Scully-esque. She also has orange hair that’s parted to her right and rests on her shoulder. Her torso isn’t the most interesting, but I guess it befits her all-work, no-play attitude in the movie as a serious investigative journalist for the Daily Planet. She comes equipped with a camera accessory.

Both minifigures have back printing, which consists of fabric detail and folds on their back – so nothing too out of the ordinary there. Curiously, Lex Luthor doesn’t have an alternate face.

Lois Lane has a lightly startled/worried face with doe-eyes. I felt that this face isn’t the most suitable for Lois as she was quite determined and spunky in the movie, despite falling into damsel-in-distress situations. It just doesn’t look much like Amy Adams. Oh and if her face looks familiar, it’s the same head used in Claire from the Jurassic World theme.

For completionists, it’s great to get both Lex and Lois, but as minifigures, they’re a little on the plain side and could’ve been improved with some new facial expressions.

The undeniable star of this set (and one of the brightest points of the film) is Princess Diana of Themyscira, or better known as Wonder Woman. Like Gal Gadot’s scene-stealing performance, the Wonder Woman minifigure also manages to edge out every other minifigure in the Batman v Superman sets in terms of sheer awesomeness.

The Wonder Woman minifigure is undeniably gorgeous. The printing on her torso and legs are pretty much flawless. The designers have managed to capture all the finer details of her iconic outfit, modernised and transformed into a more Amazon warlike look.

The golden accents across her chest, waist and lining of her skirt contrast beautifully against the dark blue and reds. She’s got a brand new face, which has her tiara printed above her face which bears a determined and confident smirk.

Wonder Woman is armed to the teeth, with a gladius and a gorgeous printed shield which bears an Egyptian-inspired bird emblem. I cannot remember there being a bird on her shield in the movie but I love it on the LEGO accessory as it gives the shield plenty of flavour.

Here’s a look at Wonder Woman’s back printing, which has more of that awesome armour and the continuation of the leather straps that go across her body. Diana Prince also has an alternate expression which is more battle-appropriate angry and determined look.

What really sets Wonder Woman apart is the incredible attention to detail of her entire body. She has printing on her wrists for her Bracelets of Submission AND side printing on her legs for the folds in her skirt.

If I’d like to nitpick, the only thing I didn’t quite like about the minifigure is that I think her hair has too much volume, compared to the film version and it looks a bit too large for her body and face. That said, it’s a really, really minor thing. Her hairpiece itself is ridiculously detailed with wavy texture that it’s hard to hate.

Wonder Woman is not only the standout minifigure in Sky High Battle, it’s also one of the best DC Comics minifigures that I’ve ever owned. It’s just the complete package and oh, so satisfying. She made a big impression on movie-goers, which will further propel her status in pop culture. This set is worth getting purely for the Wonder Woman minifig alone.

Being able to assemble the DC Cinematic Universe Trinity in LEGO form is almost as satisfying as seeing the Big Three on-screen in Batman v Superman. Don’t they look amazing together?

Before we get to the Batwing, we have to take an unfortunate detour pass the Lexcorp Helicopter. I’m not a fan of the helicopter for a number of reason. Firstly, it’s tiny. Really small and only seats one. Secondly, for LEGO helicopters, it’s scores below average as there’s nothing remotely interesting or unique about it save for…

It’s gaudy green colour scheme. In a movie that’s defined by its muted and dark tones, the green is so out of place. It’s just loud and garish. I cannot understand why the helicopter has to be green. I suppose it’s to balance out the Batwing, which is mostly black and grey but all it does is make it stand out for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe the entire helicopter is made out of kryptonite to prevent Superman from crushing it into a pulp. *shrugs*

Flick fire missiles rarely excite me, but these at least look decent on the helicopter. I like how they look like they’re tipped in kryptonite which isn’t movie accurate at all, but it looks cool and something that Lex would do as a failsafe in case he needs to take down the Man of Steel.

The only thing that’s really interesting about the helicopter is the cockpit glass, which uses the windshield first seen in Speed Champions sets.

Oh and to add insult to injury, the helicopter rotors don’t even turn that well. It’s fairly sticky and can barely manage one full revolution.

The Batwing is the focal point of this set and it’s far and away one of the most impressive Bat-vehicles I’ve ever built. The Batwing is a triangular-shaped aircraft, built solely out of only black and grey bricks.

In the movie, Batman used the Batwing to embark on a frantic rescue mission and gun down a whole bunch of goons in the process. You couldn’t deny that it was one of the highlights of the movie and I’m glad LEGO did a commendable job shrinking down the Batwing into LEGO-scale.

The Batwing has such a uniquely awesome shape, thanks to the body section which is connected to two large wings that converge to form a V-shaped craft. It looks futuristic, menacing and stealthy all in one go. The monochromatic colour scheme lends itself well to the build, injecting a dose of maturity and grittiness to the overall build.

The Batwing employs the very same custom moulded cockpit that was first seen in the new Batmobile from 76045 Kryptonite Interception which is nice, as there’s a sense of uniformity with the Batvehicles from the movie.

Like the Batmobile, each half of the cockpit splits open to reveal a pretty cramped cockpit, where Bruce lies on his back to pilot the Batwing.

Inside the cockpit is a stickered console which highlights the Lexcorp Helicopter’s weak points.

The body extends forward with a small bit that sticks out that holds the Batwing’s weaponry – a stud blaster minigun which can fire an entire volley of studs rapidly by twisting the Technic gear behind it. It’s very satisying and closely mimics the gatling gun on the movie Batwing.

The nose of the Batwing isn’t connected to the wings at all, which was quite cool.

The only thing I didn’t really like about the Batwing is the underside, which looks quite ugly with all the light grey plates haphazardly scattered throughout. There are trans-blue studs elements below that act as thrusters. Thankfully, you never have to see the underside of the Batwing much.

Here’s a view of the Batwing from behind, where you can see two main engines and a Technic lever.

Pressing the lever downwards folds the wings inwards via a very satisfying and well-engineered mechanism. This is what the engaged “landing mode” looks like with the wings tucked in.

It kinda looks like a heavily armoured land-vehicle with the wings tucked in, as they act as large shields to protect the body. It has an almost tank-like feel to it. Sadly, the Batwing has no wheels which is a bit of a shame since I would’ve loved rolling it around in Landing Mode.

Here’s a look at the wing-folding mechanism. For the most part, it works very well although it’s sometimes easier to fold the wings in yourself instead of just pressing down on the lever at the back.

The entire Batwing is built very solidly, and I didn’t have any issues with folding the wings. I also really enjoyed the fact that you can transform it, as it gives the model a whole new interactive dimension. Together with the gatling gun, opening cockpit and foldable wings, the Batwing makes for one heck of a play set. 

What I liked:

• Wonder Woman is one of the best DC minifigures ever
• You get all the main characters in one set
• The Batwing is a lot of fun and looks really fierce

What I didn’t like: 

• Nearly everything about the helicopter
• Superman and Batman only have new legs with boots instead of updated torsos
• Batwing is hard to display since it’s so flat

Final thoughts: As the biggest Batman V Superman set, Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle does not disappoint for the most part. I was mostly very happy with the fact that you could just buy one set to get all the characters in the wave, instead of being forced to pick up every set to wrangle the whole Batman v Superman cast.

With 5 4 exclusive minifigures, 3 of them who are truly and really exclusive, you get your money’s worth with this set. In hindsight, I think I would’ve skipped on the Kryptonite Interception set if money was tight and if I didn’t really see the need to collect the Batmobile. Lois and Lex are a little on the plain side and it was quite disappointing to only get updated legs for Supes and Batman, but Wonder Woman more than makes up for it all.

Wonder Woman is ab absolutely stunning minifigure – one of the best DC Comics characters in minifig form. Her minifigure is so well designed that I have no qualms recommending this set just to get her on its own.

The Helicopter is forgettable and just feels like filler or a waste of parts.

I actually liked the Batwing more than I expected to. The great colour scheme and overall shape make it a very appealing Batvehicle. It’s got such a unique, almost spacecraft-like feel to it and it’s helped by the fun play features baked into it. I’m a fan of play features which dramatically alter the shape of a model or executed via smooth engineering – and the Batwing does both exceedingly well.

The only other drawback of this set is that it’s hard to display, since the Batwing is really flat and doesn’t look as good in landing mode. I had to use transparent wings to prop the Batwing up for photos, which is a decent workaround to displaying it.

The set is also quite pricey, which might hinder most people from getting it. For a AU$100 set, the end result is on the smaller side although I do think that the value in this set is justified thanks to the minifigure lineup. At 20% off, this set becomes a lot more palatable.

For casual LEGO fans or Super Heroes collectors, Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle is an easy buy if you’re after Wonder Woman, or a fast and efficient way to getting all the main characters of Batman v Superman without having to spend a fortune.

If you’ve collected the whole theme like I did, Batman and Superman will feel a little underwhelming, but thankfully, I get to console myself by owning one of the best Wonder Woman minifigs that LEGO has ever created. 

Rating: 3/5

And that concludes my review of Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle! Let me know if you managed to get your hands on this set and if you think if Wonder Woman is worth the price of admission alone!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the Review Hub to discover more LEGO DC Super Hero reviews!