Review: 70902 Catwoman Catcycle Chase
Posted by LostInTranslation,
Morally ambiguous Catwoman is one of the most iconic characters associated with DC Comics hero Batman and is making her fourth appearance in LEGO form in The LEGO Batman Movie set 70902 Catwoman Catcycle Chase, which has 139 pieces and 3 minifigures and is priced at £19.99/$19.99/€24.99.
Minifigures
Catwoman
First up we have the titular Catwoman, and in a break from the tradition of previous black-clad incarnations, the version included here is wearing a head-to-toe purple outfit, complete with the new utility belt piece in purple.
Catwoman’s curves are delineated by silver lines as is the zip of her jumpsuit, which has a cute cat-shaped charm at the top. The silver lines continue down the sides of her arms, defining elbow protectors, and also down her back, possibly representing some kind of body armour. Her purple helmet has the classic cat ears design as well as moulded-on goggles with purple strap and silver printed edging.
Underneath, Catwoman is wearing a purple balaclava and the bright green lenses for the goggle are printed on. Her head is double-sided – on one side, she is smirking; on the other, snarling.
Batgirl
Fighting against Catwoman in a battle of purple outfits is Batgirl, who seems to be identical to the figure in 70906 The Joker’s Notorious Lowrider.
Her outfit has accents of yellow (I’m not sure whether or not that makes her the winner in this purple-off) in her accessories: yellow gloves, boots, utility belt, cape, bat logo and also printed wristbands on the sides of her arms. The yellow boots (rendered by dual-moulded legs) also have side printing, with a pair of buckles on each side. Batgirl’s yellow cape has a shiny finish on one side and is matt on the other, and has a nice fluted edge. Her cowl is clearly distinct from Catwoman’s of the same colour as a result of the taller, more pointed ears.
It also has a peg at the back for the attachment of a dark red ponytail piece, which creates a nice effect overall but could be annoying if you wanted to use the cowl for a different purpose. Gotham City must have a good supplier of purple balaclavas, as Batgirl is also sporting one underneath her cowl. Unlike Catwoman, we can see all of her face which is again double-sided: smiling and scowling.
Robin
The third and final minifigure in the set is Robin, who has been portrayed in the trailers for the movie thus far as rather immature and wacky.
His appearance here certainly supports that! The big-eyed goggles, which are integrally moulded with the wavy red-brown hair piece, definitely convey an impression of quirkiness, as do his skimpy green Y-fronts, matched with high red boots (which must surely mean rather chilly legs?). This is teamed with a red and yellow shirt with green short sleeves, which harks back to classic versions of Robin’s outfit. His short yellow cape is made of the same material as Batgirl’s.
I really like his dual-sided head: the main expression is a broad grin, slightly off-centre, in a style that kind of reminds me of Benny’s face. The alternate expression is I think a cross between confused and disappointed, with furrowed eyebrows and open mouth. There are also a few faint freckles printed on each cheek, which I think is a nice feature without overdoing the detail – I’m not a fan of heads with too many cheekbones and wrinkles added. Again, this figure doesn’t seem to be exclusive to this set but it is the cheapest one to feature the Boy Wonder.
The finished model
The set comprises two builds – a jewellery shop and Catwoman’s motorcycle.
The shop is basically a rudimentary black box with a built-in shelf for temptingly displaying shiny jewels behind a window. To relieve the plain black walls, the bottom layer is made up of medium nougat masonry bricks and over the door there is a dark green and white awning formed by a pair of cheese slopes in each colour. Above the window is a shop sign (sticker), featuring three diamonds arranged in the shape of a cat’s head and ears, with gold lines representing whiskers. I’m a little unclear as to why the jeweller’s has such a blatant invitation to the famous cat burglar, unless perhaps this is a honey trap set up by the heroes to catch the feline felon in the criminal act?
Outside, in the alley to the left of the shop, there is a green bin above which there is an amusing missing cat poster (sticker), and on the pavement out front, there is a very tall lamppost, which is also hinged so that it can be folded down and repositioned for an added dynamic for storytelling purposes.
Catwoman’s cycle gets top billing in the name of the set, and rightly so as it’s an excellent specimen, a vast improvement on the simple moulded piece attached to a chassis that we have seen in the past. Built up from the basis of a 2x4 plate, the robust bike frame consists of various Technic pins and connectors at a range of angles, giving the bike a funky edgy look.
Two light bley flick fire missile pieces are hingedly attached to represent exhausts. There are flashes of purple amongst the industrial black and bleys, for example the hubs for the wheels and the bracket for the handlebars, below which there is a brilliant bonus detail in the form of a black 2x2x2/3 bow printed with purple flames and a speedometer with cute cat ears. I actually also had a spare of this part for some reason; I don’t know if that is the case for everyone since it’s rather unusual to have a spare of a part this big.
On each side of the bike are some more printed pieces, a pair of curved “tooth” tiles in metallic silver, printed with lines and a circle pattern. I’m not sure what kind of mechanical component these are supposed to represent, but I like them nonetheless. (They are engine cylinder heads -- Huw) Catwoman sits quite comfortably in the seat area and can quickly zoom away from the scene of the crime, leaving her pursuers in the dust.
Conclusion
In a set this size, the three minifigures are a big draw for purchasing and they are all excellent. In the past, Catwoman has always tended to appear in smaller sets, in my opinion because she is such an iconic character that everyone instantly recognises and wants to acquire in minifig form. Putting the Robin and Batgirl in this set as well is a shrewd move, as they otherwise appear in sets at much higher price points. This way, consumers can buy just a couple of smaller sets and still have all of the movie’s major characters, but will most likely be lured into buying the bigger offerings for their larger builds and more unusual minifigures.
The build of the shop is fairly underwhelming – it’s functional enough for the purposes of creating a scene but doesn’t really inspire. The Catcycle I think is great though, a sturdy and cool design that swooshes along brilliantly and has a couple fantastic unexpected touches in terms of the printed pieces. Overall, I think this is a decent set for the price point and I predict that it will prove to be popular with both girls and boys alike due to its inclusion of 2 brilliant female characters.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review is an expression of my own opinions
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33 comments on this article
I liked the review, however, I wish you selected a different backdrop color since the set includes so much purple (minifigs, cat-cycle). Nice photos, but more contrast would have been ideal.
Good review. I agree the store is really empty and not inspiring
wouldn't take much effort to turn the catcycle into the bat-pod methinks
The printing on the back of Catwoman is quite likely back protector for bikes: https://www.google.cz/search?q=bike+armor&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjrL6G_sPRAhUHzRQKHeTJBxEQ_AUICCgB&biw=1461&bih=804tbm=isch&q=bike+back+protector .
Thanks for the review LIT!
You nailed the description of the bike spot on: funky edgy
Will be building this later on today :)
Really tempted to get this for just the wheels and the printed cylinder head pieces (The engine cylinders are inside engines thus wouldn't be visible) the printing on them is cooling fins that you'd commonly find on air cooled motorcycle engines.
Is it me or is Lego doing a lot of brick built motorcycles lately? This, Ghost Rider, Harley Quinn...
Also, this is the cheapest set you can get Robin and Batgirl in.
Nice review (and photos), but overall the set is not that interesting to me. I will have to give this set a pass.
Holy cow those printed cylinder pieces are awesome! The figs look great, too. I wasn't planning on picking up any of the Batman movie sets but I gotta have this. Thanks for the review!
This little set isn't a small beast.
This set is $16 at my local Wal-Mart.
nice set, like the minifigs. great review :)
This is by far the best brick-built bike to date. Normally they look so big and clunky. Love this set but holding off getting any of the TLB sets till I can score some decent discounts (or Lego store freebies).
Very few brick-built bikes actually look good, but this is a welcome change
the minifigs 10/10 the cycle is awesome, similar construction to the batman harley quinn bike chase of 2016 and also ghost riders cycle but the shop i,ll give it a 5.
i would buy this for the minifigs and cycle but the shop could have been bigger lego, with abit more detail.
Wonderful review and nice photography LIT.
This sets for my daughters name all over it.
Great review! This set seems to be getting a lot of flack because of the "shop"..... I'd actually rate it a little higher because of the shop. It is a perfect blueprint for mass production of a simple scene for those who actually play with their Legos. The parts are easy to find in your bin, or not to expensive to order. With a slight amount of variation you could very easily build a block's worth of storefronts. I found myself doing exactly that for 6858-1 Catwoman Catcycle City Chase five years ago, and find it very amusing that this looks so similar to what I'd come up with back then. Good job, Lego!
Thanks for the comments all. I can't take credit for the photography though; that's Huw's excellent work as always.
Great review! Love the purple - all of it!
I appreciate the comments from Mycroft42. I think the set is better because of the shop. If you want a bigger shop, add to it with your pieces you already own. I can see kids doing this. I'd add another plate to increase floor size and include a counter with a cash register. Catwoman's cycle is awesome and edgy. The bike looks like it goes well with 2016's Harley Quinn cycle that I have.
Yes, the purple background is all down to me. I thought, like the minifigs, I'd max out on it. Don't they look great against it, though, particularly the yellows and reds.
Looks great! $20 is a decent price for the three Minifigs and a cool bike. I already got Batman from the polybag so I can add him to the set. The store is enough of a backdrop to make this a neat addition to a desk display.
I just bought this yesterday! I think it's a nice set for a set price of $20, the jewelry store is quite small, but it sets the scene. :-)
I have an extra printed bow piece in my set as well.
Did we really need a different design for the street light? Looks like a good set other than that.
My favourite colour is purple and there's certainly enough to go around! This set certainly feels like less of a rip off than the Joker's Low Rider, might be tempted to buy, although I am dangerously tempted to buy most of the Batman Movie sets...
I love the minifigures - this is my favorite Lego Catwoman to date, and Batgirl and Robin are nice too. The storefront is functional -- think of it more like a movie set piece instead of an actual shop, and maybe you'll be happier with it... I don't know. It's cool that they tried to provide something extra to enhance play value in a smaller set.
I'm not a fan of the motorcycle. It kinda works with some of the other wild designs for the Lego Batman universe, but it is way too big for minifigure scale.
Dang, that's a nice bike. Great figs too.
I'm going to have to stop reading reviews for sets I don't intend buying... because I intend to buy this one now ;-)
Oh, and can we make at least one of the 70902 references a link to the set in the database? I'm lazy don't like having to type it into the search box!!
The set is 35$ here;-(, its norway though
This set is very purple.
Am I the only person who does not like this set one bit?
Great review. The minifigures are the highlight of the set though. I bought the set after reading this review.