Review: LEGO 70905 The Batmobile

For my second LEGO Batman Movie set review, it made perfect sense to take on one of the more notable and recognizable builds from the theme – 70905 The Batmobile!

After starting with The Joker’s Notorious Lowrider, which I had mixed feelings for thanks to its relatively high price, I was more than ready to switch sides and take a look at The Batmobile, which is shaping up to play a massive part in the LEGO Batman Movie.

LEGO have also partnered with Chevrolet by building a life-size version of The Batmobile at the Detroit Auto Show, complete with a mock vehicle page on the Chevrolet website.

The Batmobile, like all the other Bat-toys in Bruce Wayne’s Bat-garage isn’t exactly the most budget-friendly option, and I’ll be honest, after the Joker Notorious Lowrider, I went into this set with pretty low expectations.

From the official photos, The Batmobile’s design didn’t really grab me and the minifigures weren’t particularly special as well. That said, after building the set, I was pleasant surprised and very much taken by The Batmobile a.k.a “The Speedwagon”.

Read on to find out how 70905 The Batmobile eventually managed to win me over.

 

Name: The Batmobile
Set Number: 70905
Pieces: 581
Price: AU$99.99 | US$59.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA]
Exclusive to: N/A
Minifigures: 5
Theme: The LEGO Batman Movie
Year of Release: 2017

Before we get started on The Batmobile review, let’s take a moment to appreciate the hilarity of the vehicle’s specs, as per the Chevrolet website. With an MSRP of $48 million (the LEGO set’s price is a steal in comparison!), a V100, 60.2L engine that outputs 20,000 horsepower and 4G LTE connectivity, this Batmobile packs quite a suite of features!

There are a LOT of stickers that go on The Batmobile, although they’re mostly fairly large and relatively easy to apply, except for the odd-shaped ones at the bottom.

 

The Batman Movie Batmobile comes with 5 minifigures – a decent number but is still a little light on exclusives.

Included in this set are the Dynamic Duo, Batman & Robin, who appear in their signature movie costumes. Neither are exclusive to this set but if you don’t plan on collecting the entire theme, it’s convenient to get them both in one set.

Robin steals the show, with his adorable bug-eyed glasses, and a very skimpy underpants-only costume. I really love the two-tone arms and his printed red boots which is all brought together nicely by his excellent red, green and yellow colour scheme.

Batman is well, Batman with the only real upgrade coming in the form of the awesome new utility belt accessory, which I really like.

Like his previous appearance in The LEGO Movie sets, Batman has expressive eyes instead of plain white jogger’s headband which is a very nice point of difference, but I feel that the eyes sometimes don’t line up really well against the cutouts in his owl.

Robin has a great expression under his bug-eyed goggles, which are fused together with his hairpiece. He has a neutral expression that can easily be re-used for other minifigures as there aren’t any particularly defining features on his face.

Here’s a look at the back printing, and their alternate faces. Again, Robin steals the show with an expression that’s part quizzical and part concerned.

For accessories, Robin comes with a Bat-Merch gun. It’s not immediately apparent what this gun does, but my most educated guess is that Robin fires Bat Merchandise/Swag into crowds of adoring Bat-fans when Batman rolls up to official events in his Batmobile.

I really liked that both the 1 x 1 Bat Merch round brick and 1 x 1 round tile is printed.

Over to the bad guys, we get 3 minifigures which include Man-Bat and a pair of Kabuki Twins. The latter continue the trend of The LEGO Batman Movie thrusting the most obscure villains into the limelight. Before this set, I had no idea who the Kabuki Twins were.

Man-Bat is the exact same minifigure as the one from 2014’s Man-Bat Attack set, which is kinda lazy. At least Man-Bat has decent printing, and his headgear is fairly useful, although I wish that LEGO had upgraded his pants with a bit more detail.

The Kabuki Twins have a nice, if a little uninspired design. They both come in a red suit, with bright red lines as design accents, and have pretty nice heads that have make-up on in traditional Kabuki fashion. They’re equipped with Wolverine claws, which are always nice accessories to have.

Here’s a look at the back printing of the villains and Man-Bat’s alternate face – nothing particularly remarkable.

The Kabuki Twins are the only real exclusives in this set, and due to their obscurity are not a particularly big draw. My hope with The LEGO Batman Movie is that each obscure villain is brought to life in the most memorable way, which will hopefully make these minifigures (and those in the LEGO Batman Movie Series) a lot more desirable.

Overall, the minifigure selection in this set is a little average, if not slightly disappointing. You can’t go wrong with Batman and Robin, but I would’ve liked at least one more exclusive character instead of a rehashed minifigure.

The finished model is rather sensational. The build process was quite easy and straight forward. There were five bags in total, and I liked how the minifigures were spread out across each bag.

The Batmobile was a lot larger than the illustration or the official images led me to believe. Like the entire LEGO Batman Movie, it’s got a very unorthodox feel to it, so if you’re expecting a “classic” Batmobile, it’s going to take you a while to adjust.

In many ways, I think it’s brilliant how they’ve managed to infuse LEGO Batman’s larger than life personality into this beast of a machine, lovingly dubbed “The Speedwagon”.

Mostly, the over-the-top design of The Batmobile seems to accurately project Batman’s insecurities and extreme need for validation.

The Batmobile’s strange design seemingly draws inspiration from the classic Batmobile, American muscle cars, monster trucks and tanks. The iconic features and shape of a classic Batmobile is still very much there, evident by the cockpit placement, Batfins, and elongated bonnet, which I guess qualifies it as a Batmobile.

The front of the Batmobile gives off a very intimidating vibe. I really like the grey cascading plates above the “BT1TUDE” (Battitude) plates.

The massive array of lights and spotlights are also pretty funny, as it reminds me of those obnoxious drivers who have super-bright High Intensity bulbs that just blind you when they meet your eye.

Here’s a look at the Batmobile on the front, in Race Mode, where The Batmobile is at its lowest.

The Batmobile is equally as gorgeous from the side. The bright red accents on the oversized wheels and that peek out from the side panelling give it a very aggressive look that contrast very nicely against the black and grey.

You can also see “The Speedwagon” stickered tile from the side, but what I really want you to take notice of is the black Nexo Knight shields right under it. I really love how those panels give it a really tough armoured look.

I also like the 3 exhaust ports on each side that make use of the new “macaroni” pieces. One of the things that I don’t particularly like about The Batmobile’s design is apparent in this shot – the exposed studs really stick out against what is an otherwise smooth model.

The black studs right after the Speedwagon tile are especially unsightly and could’ve been covered up a little better in my opinion.

The Batmobile doesn’t look really good from behind. Apart from the engine thrusters and exhausts and another BT1TUDE place, there’s not a lot of detail at the back.

The trans-purple knob can be twisted which triggers one of The Batmobile’s least impressive play features – it just forces the cockpit glass out.

After getting used to The Batmobile’s oversized tyres, I have to say that the model continues to grow on me the more I look at it. The proportions are bang-on, and I love really love the red streaks you can see from this angle, as well as the transparent yellow cockpit glass.

It makes me excited, knowing that classic space builders are going to utilise it in their designs.

Another great design consideration from LEGO is that Batman & Robin comfortably occupy the cockpit, with enough space between them to have both arms outstretched side by side.

This has been a major pet peeve of mine, when LEGO vehicles are unable to accommodate a driver and passenger, so I’m glad that they nailed it this time.

There are two stickered consoles inside the cockpit, one with a detailed diagnostic view of The Batmobile, and the other with some buttons and what seems to be a stick shift.

Robin has a green and red button for him to press, possibly because Batman doesn’t trust him enough with major Batmobile controls!

Here you can also see one of the new gold bars, which have been recoloured in black. The soft angles and indentations give the Batmobile a much more dynamic feel, that you couldn’t quite achieve with plain ol’ black tiles.

Here’s a closer look at the Monster Truck-esque wheels, and the stickered tiles with the Batlogo on them.

Here’s where The Batmobile really comes into its own and sets itself apart from any of its predecessors. The Batmobile has three different modes, and the one you see above is called “Parallel-Parking Mode”. You can swivel the wheels 90 degrees, allowing you The Batmobile to roll from side-to side, as you can see in the GIF below.

It’s a really silly, but playful feature that adds a lot of personality into this build. As perfect as LEGO Batman claims to be, I can totally picture him being annoyed by having to parallel park, so it makes perfect sense that he’s built this functionality into his vehicle of choice.

The third and final configuration is “Monster Truck mode”, achieved by swivelling the wheels downward, which elevates the Batmobile up on its massive wheels. This is by far my favourite configuration as it looks really dorky and shows that LEGO Batman is definitely trying to overcompensate for something!

The Batmobile’s brilliant design really becomes clear in Monster Truck Mode – even though it heavily alters the overall look and shape of the vehicle, it still manages to maintain all the right proportions and still look balanced. 

What I liked:

• The unorthodox, yet delightful Batmobile
• Model is a lot of fun to play with & display
• Transforming model actually works really well
• The Batmobile is satisfyingly large
• You get Batman & Robin in one set

What I didn’t like: 

• Minifigure lineup is a little weak
• Rehashed Man-Bat minifigure
• Exposed studs throughout the body

Final thoughts: As a LEGO fan, there’s no better feeling than having a set surprise you, especially if you weren’t that enthusiastic about it in the first place.

I really enjoyed The Batmobile, so much so that I’m calling it one of the early frontrunners of 2017 Super Heroes sets. The Batmobile manages to meld the silly yet self-aware essence of The LEGO Batman Movie together with outstanding LEGO design.

It’s one of those sets where you have to build it, and display it to properly appreciate how well designed it is. It’s also a lot of fun, which comes as a bit of a surprise for me given that play features usually don’t impress me much.

One of the things I really liked about The Batmobile is its sense of scale, and mostly, how large it is. I chided the Joker Notorious Lowrider for being poor value, and I was worried that the Batmobile would also evoke a similar reaction. But there’s something weird and unexplained about the connection between a set’s price, and how large/well designed the model is.

The latter can sometimes mask and make up for a set’s perceived price, and that is the exact experience that I had with the set. It was a lot larger than I thought, and it’s a really solid, well-built set that should be able to withstand vigorous play.

Of course, the set isn’t without flaws. Outside of Batman & Robin, the minifigures are a little lacklustre, and I doubt that will change, unless Man-Bat and the Kabuki Twins somehow make a big impression on the silver screen.

Even then, I think I would’ve preferred some regular civilians, especially one or two adording Bat-fans.

I’m also quite disappointed that LEGO forgot to include flames in the set! For all the raw power that The Batmobile exudes, the missing flames is a serious missed opportunity by LEGO to truly propel this set to greatness. Luckily for me, I can quite easily harvest some flames from my other sets and I’ll definitely be adding them to my Batmobile.

Price-wise, I think The Batmobile is very competitively priced for what you’re getting. I paid full-price for this set and I’m more than happy with the purchase, so it’ll be a bonus if you can wait and grab this set on sale.

It’s too early to call, but it’s safe to say that The Batmobile is going to have major screentime in The LEGO Batman Movie and be part of some very memorable scenes, which will also help drive up the perceived value of this set.

I highly recommend 70905 The Batmobile for its fun-filled features, and its gorgeous aesthetics. No other set has captured LEGO Batman’ personality in LEGO bricks as well as The Batmobile has.