I tested for you: 70909 Batcave Break-In

The Batcave is the chestnut tree of the various LEGO DC Comics ranges featuring the vigilante of Gotham City: early fans will have known the set 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr Freeze's Invasion released in 2006, those who arrived later in the LEGO universe probably have the set 6860 The Batcave released in 2012. Not to mention the Batcave from the set 76052 Classic TV Series Batcave released this year.

The LEGO Batman Movie must stage Batman's lair and it is therefore the plastic version of this high-tech cave / garage from the film that interests us today with the set 70909 Batcave Break-In (1047 pieces - 109.99 €).

As a preamble, I would like to point out that a Batcave without stickers is like a battle on Hoth without Snowtroopers, it doesn't make sense. Impossible to present the contents of this box without going through a session of alignment / pasting of stickers. The Batcave wouldn't look like much without all of the monitors.

As usual with LEGO products, forget about the box and its enticing design if you want to get a clear idea of ​​what's inside. The LEGO Batcave 2017 version is not a cellar. Or a cave. It will take some imagination to put all the elements provided in their context.

On this subject, an idea that could help us to stage this type of set: what if the box contained a simple cardboard panel serving as a background to the scene in question? LEGO knows how to use this process for the visuals on the boxes, why not go to the end of the concept. The box itself could also play this role with a specific print on the inside. I know I know....

Regarding the Batcave, you will quickly have to put everything together and move on. We assemble the three modules, we connect them together and that's it. It's without challenge, and the end result is still very ordinary, not to mention the feeling of déjà vu. Nothing looks more like a LEGO playset than another LEGO playset. The 2006 Batcave was designed on the same basis, the sets 6868 Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout et 6873 Spider-Man Doc Ock Ambush also.

Quick look at the two vehicles provided: Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin is here accompanied by his duck mobile and two threatening penguins. The machine is very original, a point for that. And this over-equipped amphibious duck is in any case more elaborate than the one seen in the set 70610 Batman: The Penguin Face-off released in 2014.

The other machine is a speedboat nicknamed "RiptideIt's simple, but I really like the aggressive lines of this BatBoat that does not float. It's LEGO that specifies it on the box, in case you want to try the experience in your bathtub.

In short, let's forget the perks and take care of the features of the set. On the left, a cell (which one wonders what it does in the middle of Batman's secret lair), things that spin, things that fall, a ramp that moves, to the right a carousel that allows Bruce to disappear. Wayne and make him reappear as Batman on condition that the two minifigs are correctly positioned there, etc ... Most of these functions are of little interest unless you have a lot of imagination and nothing else to do.

The "real" functionality of this box is elsewhere: it is a reproduction, much less ambitious, of the system that scrolls through the different costumes seen in the trailer of the film. LEGO has thought of everything: three costumes are provided but the dressing room has seven slots.

You understand the rest, so there is room to integrate a few additional outfits into your Batcave. The idea is interesting, even if the whole is difficult to see. It's wobbly, it trembles a little as soon as you manipulate the mechanism to activate this mobile dressing room, difficult to integrate the minifigs whose backs are dressed in bulky equipment and apart from the principle of scrolling the different outfits , this system has absolutely nothing to do with that of the film ...

Who says Batcave, says many control screens and therefore a slew of stickers. I do not give dear skin of those used to dress the screens below. Dust, light, multiple manipulations and time will do their work. Your Batcave will probably look less good in a few months and that's a shame. By the way, all the screens generally form a Bat-logo. In principle. Nearly.

As for the minifigs provided, we start with four versions of Batman: the usual version present in all the boxes of this range and three costumes, with from left to right: Raging Batsuit, Scu-Batsuit et The Bat-Pack Batsuit. The three additional costumes come with unpadded white heads. These are additional outfits, it's up to you to transfer Batman's head to each of them.

As a bonus in the box, Bruce Wayne and his bow tie, Alfred Pennyworth and his bald head, The Penguin and his two "goons", the two red-eyed penguins overarmed. No Robin. However, it had its place in this set, judging by what we could see of the film in the various trailers already released.

No, definitely, I can't get excited about this Batcave sold for 109.99 €. It's really too minimalist, everything is reduced to its simplest expression and it is really difficult to find the spirit of the immense Batcave seen in the trailers of the film ... That's all the problem, this Batcave isn't even a believable scaled-down version of the movie's.

That LEGO is making concessions to make its products affordable, I can understand that. But here, we probably reach the limits of this reasoning and even the most indulgent will find it difficult to claim the opposite without showing a little bad faith.

In the end, it's up to you. There is nothing innovative or flamboyant about this Batcave, it is a LEGO-style playset as there are a few already and has been loosely adapted to resemble the Batcave from the movie. Collectors will not be able to ignore the exclusive minifigs provided.

Note: The set presented here is involved. To participate, you must intervene in the comments. You have until January 3, 2017 at 23:59 pm to contribute to the discussion and a draw will determine the winner.

Update : The winner has been drawn, his nickname is indicated below.