Sunday 6 June 2010

#157 of 365 Lego Batman 7885 Robin's Scuba Jet: Attack of The Penguin

It's Justice League June, and we've just finished Wave 1 of DCUC yesterday, so I thought I'd take a break from DCUC and Action Figures in general and dig up another Lego set.  Today, I present to you Robin's Scuba Jet: Attack of the Penguin!


It's not a big box, but it's not small either.  The box prominently shows the Penguin and his sub with Robin posed such that it seems he's an afterthought.  Really though, they could have made these as two separate sets to bring down the price point and make them more affordable, but they didn't.   In fact, the most sought after set in the theme is actually the smallest set/box.  That's something Lego has got to learn - otherwise, it'd be the end of the license... like this one, Batman - which has been discontinued as a Lego theme.

The box seems a lot more action figure-ish than Lego-ish, which is not in Lego's favour.  Lego needs to sell itself first as a building toy with Action Figures because that's it's strong point.  It can't compete with Hasbro or Mattel on the Action Figure front because let's face it, it's not an Action Figure company nor does it produces Action Figures.  Why can't the Europeans learn this is beyond me.


OK, ranting aside, the contents consists of two baggies.  Yes, the exact 2 baggies that would be perfect in 2 separate sets.  *sigh*  Ther's also the instruction booklet and what appears to be 2 decal sheets, which on close examination shows one of them to be misprinted - oops!  Quality control problems again?  Yes, I know, blame it on the Slovaks or wherever they moved the factory.  Urgh - Lego is running itself into the ground.


The build is rather simple and easy.  I like Robin's cape and the fact that two chickens penguins with guns are also included.  The penguin figure comes with his trademark umbrella and a diamond, although the Lego unbrella is a bit big for him.  They've used the "child" legs for Penguin, which works for his short stature though.

The Robin sub is well, unimaginative.  Where's the grappling hook or the buzzsaw?  They could have done so much with that sub, but instead placed minimal effort into it.  Even the cockpit canopy is not hinged, which is really poor design.


The Penguin sub isn't difficult to build either and comes with a bit more fun, including a periscope that could be lower/raised and a spring-loaded firing missile and two manual friction missiles.  Again, the cockpit could have been hinged, but that's not so critical here.  The decals also give the sub a nice touch.


Overall the set is ... mediocre.  Lego has been trying so hard to pack a villian and a hero into every  Batman set for "added play value" that the resulting "big box" does not offer value for money.  I'm sorry to see the demise of the theme when it held so much potential.

2 comments:

  1. Hey dude,

    If you're really not into this set it fethces big bucks on Ebay I bet. I just sold my Batman Mr Freeze MISB for a pretty penny--figured I bought it so long ago and still wasn't that interested in opening it up. OH well, great review and sorry it didn't turn out to be a good set. :/

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Mr. Freeze MISB sells for a lot. I'm still trying to get one of those to be "theme complete", but I can't justify paying $100 for a $5 set.

    ReplyDelete

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