Review: 41230 Batgirl Batjet Chase
Posted by GothamConstructionCo,
Mini-dolls, pastel colours, colourful box art. These are words have never exactly been synonymous with the DC Super Heroes line. Until now. 2017 will be the year that introduces to us a new and, in my opinion, overdue line of DC Super Hero Girls.
A blend of the LEGO friends colour palette and all the fun gadgets and vehicles that makes the DC Super heroes so appealing to kids and young at heart adults.
41230 Batgirl Batjet Chase is one of the ten sets that make up the first wave of the DC Super Hero Girls line and also represents the first of my set reviews as part of the Brickset review team.
Box and contents
The box art follows the same layout as its Super Heroes counterpart but introduces a softer colour scheme and an image of the Super Hero Girls team.
Parts are distributed across two numbed bags along with a sticker sheet, two plastic capes and a card box containing the cargo net.
2017 brings a host of new elements and printed parts which this set contains a high good number of.
These are a list of the new, printed and recoloured elements of interest.
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Construction
With the help of my nine year old daughter, which places her squarely in the middle of the set's 7-12 age range, I broke the seals, tipped out the contents, and set about the joy of clicking one brick to another.
Bag one contains Batgirl, a fearful yellow Kryptomite (a small colourful character that resembles a rock of Kryptonite) and its buggy with front mounted grabber.
Bag two contains the batwing itself. The instructions are as usual with a set of this size simple to follow with the build being made up of forty eight stages.
Despite the set containing four printed parts including a spare kryptomite printed 1x1 tile there are eleven stickers included. Application of the stickers was spearheaded by my assistant as I was curious to see how she found applying the large stickers to the four circle 6x6 roof tiles.
My concerns were alleviated as she made light work of applying the stickers and in fact surprised me with just how well she did.
The build as usual started from the bottom stopping while you assemble the wing sub section and continue with creating the cockpit and nose cone sections.
One of the stand out parts of the construction for me was the SNOT building techniques that give the Batjet a dynamic appearance. This is most notable around the front and is followed on at the back with the use of two 1x4 brick with bows.
Verdict
Batgirl's Batjet Chase has been a strong introduction into the DC Super Hero Girls theme for me combining tried and tested play features of the DC Super Heroes theme with the charm and colourful world of LEGO friends.
As a set you have a main character of the theme along with an antagonist in the form of the evil Krytomite and two vehicles one in the air and one on the ground throw in the cargo net cannon and hours of play as my daughter discovered with immense swooshing.
Now with my AFOL hat on, where would this set fit into my collection?
As a display set it would not look out of place alongside other Super Hero sets as it retains the Super Hero DNA with the strong use of dark earth blue as the primary colour and is immediately recognisable as a vehicle befitting the caped-crusader.
But for me my real interest with this set lies within parts. A swathe of new elements along with new prints and a few recolours to add to my parts collection.
Let us know what you think in the comments below and I welcome any constructive feedback you may have on my first of what I hope to be many reviews in the future.
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22 comments on this article
Nah. Not for me.
Undercover California.
Wait until you see more of the theme, you may change your mind ;o)
I really like it. The mini-doll looks fantastic, the ship is really nice. my only complaint is that I really hate that pink-purple color. Which it was a different shade.
Great review (that deserves a better first comment). Thanks for taking the time to do it! :)
Nice photography and good work in particular covering the new/re-coloured parts for us AFOLs. First I've seen of this set, and I have to say I quite like it. I have a nine-year-old daughter too (who will love this set) so it's encouraging to see TLG expanding the use of mini-dolls to further appeal to girls without making the sets 'girly' in any patronising way.
Anyway, congrats on your first review and keep up the good work.
I like this review, but I gotta say those pictures really don't do the set justice. Good point on how it can integrate into the regular dc theme though. Hadn't thought about that, and after looking at it in person I agree it can blend into the regular theme pretty well.
Good review! I really love this set. The colors are harmonious, but still bold and striking. It looks really swooshable, with some nicely integrated launchers. And perhaps nicest of all, its curves echo the bat-silhouette design of the Batwing from Tim Burton's "Batman" a LOT better than any previous Batwing sets in the Super Heroes theme, which have been characterized by straighter lines and sharper, more aggressive angles.
Batgirl's design echoes her look in other Super Hero Girls cartoons and merchandise, and looks both stylish and practical — like something a high-school superhero in this day and age might actually wear. The way her wings are attached is really innovative, eschewing the need for bulkier or more specialized solutions like a using a neck bracket, introducing a custom torso, or making them a part of the headgear like the jetpack on the original Boba Fett minifigure. The flexibility of plastic film parts makes them lots of fun to play around with and I expect to see at least a few unconventional uses of this wing piece in the years to come!
The Kryptomites look adorably mischievous, kind of like the rock monsters from Power Miners or the Scurriers from Nexo Knights, and it's really clever how they achieve such an expressive, distinctive look without even a single new mold! Its buggy is simple and raises a few questions (where did it come from? why does it use the colors that it does?), but adds some nice additional play value since the Kryptomite doesn't have to flee Batgirl on foot.
Parts-wise, the set has a lot of gorgeous parts both in bright colors like Medium Lavender and more subdued colors like Black and Earth Blue. I love the printed Batphone, and the 1960s-TV-Batman-esque "BAM!" tile is a clever way to signal a point of action, which could also be great as a comics word bubble in vignettes. Overall, I think this is one of the standout sets of this new theme, and I look forward for getting some of these sets as a gift for my younger cousin who loves Super Hero Girls!
G2covers,
Thank you for your kind comments.
Yes TLG have struck a good balance with this theme.
Emmafofemma,
My photography skills are lacking at the moment and are not up to the standard you have come to expect from Brickset. Fortunately Huw has been a good mentor and my next review should show a vast improvement.
@GothamConstructionCo How are you able to post this review if your profile says you aren't a news person? Are you new? Also why are your comments not yellow as all other moderators comments are?
Short and good review! But I'm not a fan of this set because of the price and i have a lot of set to buy in 2017 ;)
^^ If I were to guess, I would say Huw posted this for him and attributed the name to him. You don't HAVE to be a news editor to get a review on the homepage. It is helpful, though!
Great review!
Did the photos get swapped out after the above comments? If not, they actually look pretty good to me, considering there above self-proclaimed lack of photography skill!
Nice review! Welcome to the team :-)
Thank you, TheBrickPal.
Yes that is the case.
Dare_wreck,
Kind of you to say so.
Thanks, MeganL.
Sorry, Aanchir.
My response to your comments would not save when posting the comment dispite several attempts.
I agree with a lot of the points you raised and yes the Batwing is very evocative of Burtons Batwng.
Great review and a good length. Read the whole thing even though I'm not interested in this particular set. I'd like to see more 'in construction' photos please, especially as you comment on the snot techniques.
Well done!
I love this Batgirl minidoll so much. I'm actually really fond of this re-design they've made for the character. I am really looking forward to getting this minidoll and the Batgirl minifig from the Batman Lego movie sets to swap their head pieces. I really wanna see the minifig with this minidoll's head cowl/hood.
Cool set! I have high hopes for this theme.
Thanks for the review, loads of them coming out from Brickset at the moment and they're always interesting to read - particularly when the reviewer also has the back-up of the target audience themselves. Your daughter is very good at applying awkward stickers!
I think the photos are fine - what I care about are the focus, the angles and the cleanliness of the background and you've nailed those 3! I've also tried review photography before but I think I needed a burning supernova to light it up enough because all my light sources seemed so dim or yellow.
Most reviews here are targeted at AFOL's I'd assume. That said I think its a great idea that you have included your daughter in the build and sticker application. A nice change and new perspective. Well done.
I'm loving this doll. Think I will certainly get a few of these sets.
Nice review!
Anyone think that the release of these sets will steal a fair few Friends fans (both kids and adults) so the sales of Friends Lego may diminish? I've not been overly keen on friends Lego this year and have decided to buy a lot less next year. I will however be buying all of these super heroes girls sets!
@meesajarjar72 Well I've never bought a Friends set yet although there certainly have been sets I was interested in buying. I have however bought all of the Elves sets minus a few poly bags.