I tested for you: 70911 The Penguin Arctic Roller

This is one of the sets from the The LEGO Batman Movie range for which I have a real crush: here is the box bearing the reference 70911 The Penguin Artic Roller which will be available from January 1st on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores at the retail price of 34.99 €.

Small useful clarification: LEGO has selected a few sites, including this one, which have received all sets of The LEGO Movie range. I will therefore suggest that you discover the content of all of these products a little more closely in the coming weeks.

As you can read and you are able to look at images, I will not describe the box, the back of the box, the bags, etc ... I will not reveal the different here either. stages of the assembly of these sets. What is the point of knowing everything about a set before buying it? Discovering the editing process is also part of the pleasure to me. If your buying decision really depends on a particular editing technique, you will find everything you need to make up your mind just a few clicks from here.

The movie The LEGO Batman Movie will be released in theaters in February 2017 and it is therefore difficult, unless the contents of the box appear in one of the trailers already released, to compare the LEGO product and the version that will be present in the feature film. animation in question. But that's not so bad: Everyone will have understood that while the LEGO products are based on the film, the film itself is just a giant (and paid) advertisement for the slew of merchandise that will go flood the shelves of stores.

The advantage of this range over other products based on a film or a licensed universe: the physical products and their digital versions were created in concert by LEGO and the film crew. There is therefore no risk that LEGO's interpretation of the various places, vehicles and characters will be hazardous or incomplete. The only limit that will eventually be a source of frustration is the one that defines what exists in the film and who will or will not appear in a box.

That being said, here is the set 70911 The Penguin Arctic Roller, with a little over 300 pieces and two minifigs: Batman, the hero of the film who should therefore logically be expected to be at the center of this range of sets, and The Penguin, the villain of the set who is here at the wheel of his Arctic roller. Two minifigs. That's all. And a closed umbrella.

No penguins on steroids in this set to accompany Oswald Cobblepot, you will need to get the set 70909 Batcave Break-in to get two. Here, we just have the necessary inventory to assemble theArctic roller with six wheels and a mini-jetski that fits in the trunk.

The vehicle, which vaguely reminds me of an Excalibur Phaeton taken over by the tuning kings of Gotham City, is a nice surprise. It's compact and rather playable if you pay attention to the headlights located at the front, which will tend to come off. No exceptional features here: The vehicle rolls (it's a minimum ...), we open the trunk, we take out the jetski and we fire the two missiles. No steering or suspensions.

The front fenders of the vehicle, which obviously contribute to giving it this retro look, make very relevant use of the parts used for balloons and other airships from the Friends, City or Ninjago ranges. Some may find the choice of designer a bit lazy, but it is a solution that in my opinion remains very elegant.

By the way, I was a little hungry when I finished assembling the vehicle. The visual on the box and the size of the latter gave me the impression that I was going to have something larger in my hands. After all these years of opening LEGO boxes, I still get fooled from time to time by marketing and its techniques ...

The The LEGO Batman Movie range is not free of stickers and a small board comes with the pieces in this set. Nothing essential, but just enough to polish the look of the whole (ventilation grilles for the hood, dashboard, license plates).

On the minifig side, we therefore find Batman equipped with this new yellow belt to be inserted between the torso and the legs. The accessory in question will quickly disappear following the manipulations of the youngest and LEGO had the good idea to slip an additional belt in the box. The same goes for the batarangs and the blue missiles which are inserted at the front and which can be ejected via the button located on the hood. These Spring Shooters are also very well integrated into the whole and their presence does not disfigure the front of the vehicle. However, we may regret suddenly the absence of a radiator to plug the hole in the front.

The Penguin minifigure is successful, the pad printing on the torso is finely detailed, the paunchy effect of the character is very well interpreted with the folds of the jacket. Collector friends, know that the Penguin minifigs present in the sets 70911 The Penguin Arctic Roller and 70910 Batcave Break-in are different: The character's facial expression changes from set to set.

Finally, I'm really, really excited about this The LEGO Batman Movie line. Unlike the usual LEGO Super Heroes sets which are often lots of minifigs accompanied by a few pieces to put together something more or less interesting, here we find a real balance between characters and additional content. The vehicles, machines or buildings are at the center of each box and do not serve only as a pretext to justify the concept of "construction toy".

Note: The set presented here is involved. To participate, you must intervene in the comments. You have until December 8, 2016 at 23:59 p.m. to contribute to the discussion and a draw will determine the winner.

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