In TLCB’s home nation it is illegal to disturb bats. We’re not sure why bats specifically, but nevertheless you can go to jail if you annoy them. The same applies if you eat a swan. We’re a weird nation.
Still, probably better that than this, which we expect Batman uses when he’s really pissed off. With styling from Batman’s, er… camper years, Alec Hole‘s jet-powered Bat Dozer looks just the vehicle for when the Dark Knight has had enough of nighttime noise and decides to clear the streets of drunken miscreants. Head to Alec’s photostream via the link above and give Batman a wide berth…
Great news for those of you who only work in black! LEGO have revealed their upcoming 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set, at it is really very black indeed. With 3,306 pieces (at least 3,000 of which look to be black), 76139 is one of the largest Superheroes sets to date, and bridges nicely across the DC and Creator car lines.
The model is a faithful replica of the vehicle used in the 1989 Tim Burton movie, and comes with a rotating platform and three slightly superfluous mini-figures (Joker, Vicki Vale (who?!), and Batman himself), which gives away the model’s primary purpose as being a display piece rather than a toy or engineering demonstration. Nevertheless the new set does feature working steering, a sliding cockpit (using a new piece), and pop-up machine guns should Batman decide to go rogue.
The new 76139 ‘1989 Batmobile’ set is expected to cost a around £220/$250 – which is rather a lot – and will go on sale on Black Friday 2019, which seems both appropriate and quite possibly a dark joke considering the price…
Batman has had some good, bad and ugly vehicles over the years. By far our favourite is this, the Tumbler from The Dark Knight trilogy, built for real for the movies and managing to be both believable and brilliantly wild at the same time.
This superb mini-figure scale version of Batman’s coolest whip comes from previous bloggee hachiroku24 who has not only recreated the Tumbler perfectly he’s made video instructions available too so that you can build your very own. Head to hachiroku’s photostream via the link above to find the link.
Batman has piloted a lot of vehicles over the years. Some were excellent, some, er… let’s just say they they fit into the ‘Robin’ category. This one of those, the ‘Batwing’ from the Tim Burton-directed movie of 1989.
First appearing in the Batman comics in the 1930s the ‘Batwing’ is more accurately called the ‘Bat Plane’ (‘Batwing’ was actually a name given to a pointless spin-off character), and originally looked like a fairly normal aircraft before its wild 1989 reincarnation in the form of the Caped Crusader’s logo.
It’s the Tim Burton version that’s the most famous (although definitely not the best), and it’s been recreated rather wonderfully by Riskjockey in the image above. Head to Flickr via the link to see all the photos, and you can watch the original trailer for the 1989 movie in which the ‘Batwing’ stars by clicking here.
Batman has had manyvehiclesovertheyears, however our favourite by some considerable margin is the Tumbler from The Dark Knight trilogy. Several full-size Tumblers were built for real to star in the movie (you can even see one in action here), and The Dark Knight’s dark ride has inspired a few Lego versions too. Today’s by newcomer Dominik Novak is a neat addition, being fully Technic, fairly small-scale, and thoroughly excellent looking too. Dominik’s Tumbler features a detailed cockpit, Hand-of-God steering and working suspension, and there’s more to see on both Flickr and Eurobricks via the links.
We all know Batman only works in black (and sometimes very very dark grey). After the extravagant campness of his appearances in the ’60s this is something of a relief, but if he were to pick a new colour the Dark Knight could do well to take advice from ianying616 of Flickr.
ianying616 has recreated the amazing Batpod from The Dark Knight trilogy and given it an exterior somewhat shinier than the mat-black original. The result is spectacular and there’s more to see of ianying’s all-chrome Batpod at his photostream. Click the link in his name above to see all of the stunning imagery.
Still the pinnacle of the Batman franchise, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy created easily the best Batmobile in the Caped Crusader’s history (we don’t even recognise ‘Batman V Superman’ as a legitimate movie here in TLCB office). Recreated many times in LEGO form the Tumbler is a favourite among Technic builders. Flickr’s _Tiler though, has built one rather smaller, and it’s magnificent.
Beautifully photographed (and enhanced with non-LEGO tyres at the front and a custom Batman), _Tiler’s Tumbler is probably the coolest mini-figure vehicle we’ve ever seen, and if you you agree you can see more at his photostream via the link above.
Batman, in all his various forms, has owned an expansive range of vehicles. Some were good, some were interesting, and others will be almost instantly forgotten. One of the very best comes not from a Batman Movie, but instead from the successful Arkham Knight range of video games.
The Arkham Knight Batmobile hails from a similar school of thought to the Nolan Trilogy’s ‘Tumblr’ and it’s been brilliantly recreated in mini-figure scale by Lucas Inc. of MOCpages. Lucas’ build uses some ingenious techniques to capture the design and there’s more to see of his Arkham Knight Batmobile via the link above.
Where do superheroes go in their time off? The fun fair of course! Flickr’s Kale Frost has built a customised dodgem for five beloved* comic book characters. Will the Flash be able to handle a top speed of 6mph? Will Batman and Catwoman finally get it on behind the candy-floss machine? Click the link above to head to the fair and find out!
Third-party (i.e. non-LEGO) bluetooth connection devices such as the superb SBrick and BuWizz feature regularly in the models that we publicise here at The Lego Car Blog. Able to connect your creation to your phone for remote control, and – in the case of the SBrick – even programme your model in way that betters LEGO’s own purpose-built robotics systems, they’ve revolutionised what can be achieved in Lego building.
The LEGO Company have been unusually slow to meet this demand themselves, however now (and probably unfortunately for the companies above), LEGO’s own bluetooth-controller is nearly here, launching first as part of the 321-piece 76112 Batmobile set.
Part of LEGO’s rebranded ‘Powered Up’ range, the new controller adds bluetooth control and programming to Power Functions and will be available as a stand-alone product that can be added to existing sets and creations following the launch as part of the 76112 Batmobile set.
LEGO’s press release states;
“The LEGO Batman App-Controlled Batmobile, created for children 8 years of age and older, combines LEGO building and remote-control car play. It is the first codeable and programmable LEGO Batmobile that is fully controllable via smart device. Users can steer the Batmobile using one of two preset remote-control interfaces or personalize their experience through a customizable interface. With the interface unlocked, users move sliders, buttons and other elements to customize the remote control to their liking. Through a coding canvas that will be introduced later this year, users can code and re-code speed, direction, sound and duration to program various movements and stunts and create their own unique driving experiences.”
Whether this will ultimately usher in the demise of the excellent third-party bluetooth products used by the Lego Community currently or spur them on to further innovation and development we’re not sure. We hope it’s the latter, as this competition could bring about a multitude of top-quality bluetooth options for Lego models in the near future (we’ll see if we can do a back-to-back review of all three bluetooth controllers later in the year).
LEGO’s 76122 App-Powered Batmobile set will hit shelves on August 1st costing around $100, and you can read our reviews of the SBrick and BuWizz bluetooth controllers currently available via the links in the text above.
Kapow!! Batman wasn’t always dark and moody. There was a time when he was kitsch, flamboyant, and – let’s face it – more than a little bit camp, and this was certainly reflected in his choice of wheels.
Built by hot rodding legend George Barris the outlandish 1966 Batmobile was based on the 1955 Ford Futura concept car that Barris bought from the Ford Motor Company for the nominal sum of $1. In just three weeks he turned the old concept into what would become one of the most famous TV vehicles of all time, complete with turbo-electric drive (whatever that is), a Bat-scope (ditto), a mobile phone, reverse rocket thrusters, and a remote tracking system.
Flickr’s Ralph Savelsberg hasn’t managed to built that lot, but his Lego recreation of Barris’ masterpiece pays tribute to the Dark Knight’s gaudier days in superb style. You can see more of Ralph’s brilliant replica of the 1966 Batmobile, complete with Batman and Robin figures, over at his photostream – click the link above to light the Bat Signal.
The sun is scorching and temperatures are in the 30s here in TLCB’s home nation, so naturally today’s posts are sombre and black. Or very very dark grey.
Following the dreadful Batman vs. Superman epic, and the pretty good The Lego Batman Movie, the Dark Knight is due some new toys. Flickr’s Chak hei Mok has duly obliged and created three new additions to the Bat Fleet. Each is packed with cool detailing and there’s more to see of each mini-figure scale Batmobile via the link above.
Ugh. ‘Batman v Superman – Dawn of Justice’. The most pointless, cynical and unnecessary movie since the remake of The Wicker Man. Even the Batmobile was a crappy sequel to Chris Nolan’s brilliant ‘Tumbler’ in the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy.
Nevertheless, despite the awfulness of the movie that spawned it, this Model Team recreation of Ben Affleck’s Batmobile is an impressive build, and you can see more courtesy of tfcrafter on Flickr or at the Eurobricks discussion forum.
Has there ever been a more perfect mash-up than this? 1960’s Batman – he of exploding-pop-out ‘Batwords’ fame – and a dodgem car surely means a cacophony of pop-up onomatopoeia at the fun fair. TLCB regular Redfern1950s is the builder and you can buy a ticket to the Gothem dodgems via the link above.
In our opinion the greatest Batmobile is, and probably always will be, the incredible Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy. However there is another Batmobile that runs the Tumbler close, and it hasn’t even featured in a movie…
Yes, this is the Batmobile from the hugely successful Arkham Knight video game, but unlike the Tumbler – which was made for real – the Arkham Knight vehicle only ever appeared in digital form.
Not now though, as a few well-heeled visionaries have recreated the insanity of the digital-only Batmobile from Arkham Knight and built their own street legal version. We throughly recommend clicking the link to see it, as what they’ve created is something extraordinary, but what if you don’t have a ton of carbon fibre, an ex-Koenigsegg engineer, twelve months, and a spare Lamborghini Gallardo V10 with which to create your dream Batmobile?
Flickr’s Nathan Proudlove has the answer, as he too has recreated the mad Arkham Knight Batmobile, but in thoroughly more attainable Lego form. It’s no less of a work of art than Team Galag’s life-size version, and you can see all the photos of Nathan’s build by clicking the link to his photostream above.
