When the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave (76052) was officially announced back in January, there was a mixed reaction to the set with some loving it while others didn’t like some aspects of it to those that were indifferent. The set itself is based on the classic Batman TV series starring Adam West and it consists of 2,526 pieces while retailing for $269.99 which has some questioning if it is worth that price.
Minifigures
There are a number of minifigures in the set with nine including Batman, Robin, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, The Joker, Catwoman, The Riddler, and The Penguin.
As mentioned before, Batman is based on Adam West’s character. The suit is made of a lighter blue color but a little darker than the blue versions of the suit that have been released. The utility belt printing has been emphasized with the gold printing. The torso printing also goes down to the legs as well. He has the standard double-sided head with the white headband being the eyes when the cowl is on. Speaking of the cowl, it also has some new printing on it. Batman also wears a blue cape which is the softer version. His accessory is a Batarang which he get four of.
Robin is based on the character played by Burt Ward in the TV series. The costume is the red and green version with the green shorts. He also has a double-sided head with happy and scared expressions. Also included is a soft yellow cape.
Bruce Wayne also makes an appearance in this set. There’s nothing too special about him because he just wears a blue suit and pants.
Of course you can’t have Robin without Dick Grayson. In this set, Dick wears the red sweater that’s seen in some of the episodes. Again, nothing really too special about Dick but at least we have him in the set.
Next up is Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Portrayed by Alan Napier, Alfred wears a simple black suit that he’s seen wearing many, many times throughout the series. The head and hair choices are pretty spot on to Alan Napier’s looks.
The Joker is portrayed by Cesar Romero and the LEGO minifigure version of him in this set is fantastic. He wears the bright purple suit with the green shirt and it even has the tie printing as well. The facial printing on both sides of the head is also top-notch and it even includes his moustache that is covered with white make up. His accessories include a a potion and handcuffs.
Catwoman also makes an appearance in this Batcave (76052) set and this version of her is portrayed by Julie Newmar. There’s nothing much going on with Catwoman. She wears a black bodysuit with printing of the cat medallion around her neck. Like with many other minifigures in the set, she also has a double-sided head with a regular unmasked version of her on one side and the masked version on the other. Her hair piece also includes her cat ears on the top. Catwoman’s accessory is of course her whip.
Frank Gorshin’s Riddler is up next and he’s pretty much what we expect of him. He has the green suit with the question mark on both sides of the torso. The head show his evil smile on one side and angry look on the other. His accessories are some sticks of dynamite.
Finally, we have the Penguin who was played by Burgess Meredith. At first look you may think that we’ve already gotten this minifigure before in previous DC Comics Super Heroes sets but there are subtle changes to it. The torso shows printing of his suit that’s similar to the one seen in the Arkham Asylum (10937) and the more recent Jokerland (76035) set. The only change is the color of the bowtie from pink to purple. It is worth nothing that the Penguin is the only minifigure in this set to have a single sided head, mainly because there’s no real way to hide the alternate face with his purple top hat. His accessoy is an umbrella that you have to finagle with to get him to stand upright.
Build
First I’m going to go over the vehicles that are in the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave (76052) set. The classic Batmobile in my opinion is the standout of the whole set. The overall look of the Lincoln Futura is pretty much spot-on with the the red accent stripes around the middle of the car, and the fins in the back. There are also a ton of tiny details that bring the overall look together like the Bat symbol printed on the hubcaps, the Batphone, the emergency Bat-turn lever, and the exhaust pipes in the back. The only thing that seems to be missing from it is the license plate. On the front hood, there are a couple of stud shooters that add some more play functions although they kind of take away from the look since it wasn’t present in the original car.
The Batcopter was first seen in the Batman 1966 movie and it is based on the G3B-1 Bell N3079G helicopter. The build mimics the original vehicle very well with the red color throughout. The canopy piece is actually printed with the Bat symbol which is nice. Also note there are two flick-fire missiles on the sides of the Batcopter.
The Batcycle is probably the worst vehicle out of the three in the set. From my research, it’s based on the 1965 Harley Davidson with the side car and not the Yamaha Catalina 250 that we’re used to seeing more. It would’ve been more cool to use the newer LEGO bike chassis to get the sportier Yamaha look but I can see why LEGO chose to go the former route. The newer chassis doesn’t allow for the side car to attach to it using the Technic pin.
As for the structures, the first section is Wayne Manor which is the tallest of the three but it really isn’t the manor we only get to build Bruce’s private study. Although this only represents a small section of the manor, the room is filled with lots of little details. There’s a globe that sits on its own little table and the desk has a couple of objects like the green desk mat with a sticker of a case file of Mr. Freeze which we’ll be getting in April. Also on the desk is the red Bat-Phone as well as the Shakespeare bust which can lift up to reveal the Batpoles behind the bookcase. Speaking of the bookcase on the back wall, you can also see the wall is actually made out of the printed 1×4 bricks with the beautiful wallpaper pattern that many were excited for. On the wall are some stickered portraits of Bruce’s mom and dad.
When the bookcase opens up, you can see the two poles with Bruce and Dick’s names to distinguish which is which. On the underside of this section, you have one part of the Batcave. There’s two platforms for the Batman and Robin to spin down the poles. The easiest way to attach the minifigures to the handles is at the bottom and just spin them to the platform. It’s somewhat counter-intuitive but unless you have really small hands, you’ll probably be doing it this way. This whole area is held up by four columns with 16×16 plates on the outside with some really nice rock formations and the opposite side has the outer wall of Wayne Manor which we’ve seen Batman and Robin scale many times.
The next section is actually the middle section of the Batcave as a whole. The main part of it is the atomic pile that powers up the Batmobile. There are also some Batcomputer elements and other machinery like a lie detector. The problem with this is there is little to no room for the minifigures to stand in front of them because they are literally right next to the center reactor with no room to spare. Some BURPs (Big Ugly Rock Pieces) are used to recreate the walls of the Batcave to give the earthy look. There’s also some lab tables and drawers separate from the structure.
The last section of the Batcave set is the Batcopter helipad area along with a ramp area below. The helipad is created by two stickered 8×16 tiles that are situated on four columns. Although I don’t like applying very large stickers, I think these were the most perfect ones I’ve ever put on. The ramp below seems sort of out of place and I’m not sure if it’s the entrance to the Batcave or what. If you sit the Batmobile on the ramps, it just rolls off easily.
The three different sections to connect to each other but they use the cross axle connector instead of the standard Technic pins so they are kind of loose.
Results
Overall, the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave (76052) has many things going for it but it also some things that aren’t so great about it. First the minifigures are very accurate to the Tv series as they should be. The designs of the heads and torsos are very well done, moreso for some than others. For example, the printing for the Joker is probably my favorite but some like the Penguin are disappointing.
Although there is a really good selection of minifigures in the set, there’s also some very notable ones that have been left out. One of them is Mr. Freeze but we’ll be getting him soon enough in April when he’s available as a promotion. Another character that we hoped would be in the set was Yvonne Craig’s Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. Along the same lines, a Commissioner Gordon minifigure would have been nice as well.
For the vehicles, the classic Batmobile, as I said before, is probably my favorite part of the whole set. The design of it is just great and there are some very small details that bring the car together. If LEGO had made this particular Batmobile as a standalone set, it would probably be flying off the shevles. As for the the Batcopter and Batcycle, they’re nice additions to the set but the Batcycle is kind of lackluster.
For the Batcave set itself, it was a fun build and not as repetitive as I initially thought although the cave part of the Wayne Manor section was intersting. I did like the way the rock formations for each of the three different sections but building parts of them was more finicky than others. The use of the BURPs on the atomic reactor section was nicely done however the overhanging rock areas are flimsy and can be broken rather easily.
Speaking of the reactor, this particular area is a good depiction from the one in the show. The computers and other equipment like the lie detector and lab table are nice details that add to the ambience of the Batcave.
Finally the helipad for the Batcopter is pretty bland. The rock walls look incomplete and could’ve used more bricks. At first I was apprehensive of the large stickers for the helipad but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. As for all the other stickers, they do give lots of detail for the set but many are not fond of them for obvious reasons.
Finally, the private study looks amazing as the printed wallpaper bricks are some of the standout pieces in the area. I have a feeling that these some useful pieces that people would want to use in their MOCs. There are also some other nice details in the study like the Shakespeare bust and the sliding bookcase. The gripe that I have is that the Batpoles behind the bookcase do not actually connect to the spiral poles below.
Again there are many things that I liked about the Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave (76052) it but there are also I didn’t like as much. I would recommend the set to any Batman fan but the price of it may dissuade some. If that’s the case, just save up your VIP points and your wallet will be happier about it.
Finally a thank you to LEGO AFOL Relations & Programs team for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company.
[easyreview title=”The Brick Fan Scoring Summary” cat1title=”Design” cat1detail=” ” cat1rating=”4.5″ cat2title=”Playability” cat2detail=” ” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Value” cat3detail=” ” cat3rating=”4.5″ summary=” “]
When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.
The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We partner with Rakuten Advertising, who may collect personal information when you interact with our site. The collection and use of this information is subject to the privacy policy located here: https://rakutenadvertising.com/legal-notices/services-privacy-policy/
