Bruce Wayne, the wealthy industrialist philanthropist who became Batman following the assassination of his parents, was the subject of two minifigs: The 2006 one, rather generic and without excessive customization, which does not really resemble the Bruce Wayne from the animated series Batman The Animated Series and even less to the character seen in many comics, and that of 2012 which in my opinion cultivates a certain resemblance to Christian Bale, interpreter of the character in the trilogy The Dark Knight.

The minifigure from 2006, delivered in the set 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion, no longer has anything original. The head has been used many times for various characters including a guard in the set 7785 Arkham Asylum also released in 2006, a Hoth Rebel Trooper in the set 8129 AT-AT Walker in 2010 or an Alamut guard in the set 7573 Battle of Alamut released in 2010 ...

This same head is also used, as a nod to the 2006 Batman range, for a guard (sh023) in the set 6864 The Batmobile and the Two-Face Chase...

The chest Dark Blue Suit was also used for Harry Osborn's minifigure in the set 4856 Doc Ock's Hideout released in 2004.

Strangely, this minifigure is sold for only around € 8 on Bricklink and many sellers currently offer it.

The minifig from 2012 delivered in the set 6860 The Batcave looks a lot more eye-catching with her faux air of serious Christian Bale with slicked back hair and a crisp and exclusive 3-piece suit. she is already selling around 10 € on Bricklink, a price that should drop with the gradual arrival of sets from the new Super Heroes range around the world. Be careful, however, it should not be marketed again in another set and if the torso remains exclusive, its price should quickly skyrocket ...

If you are a licensed collector, treat yourself to the 2006 minifigure or buy the parts separately on Bricklink, because even if it is rather generic, the fact remains that Bruce Wayne is the key character in the Batman universe. As for that of 2012, obviously, it must be obtained without delay either in the retail or in the set 6860.

Another set which is referenced at Brickset (9476 The Orc Forge) but about which nothing has filtered yet.

If this set ever sees the light of day, it will no doubt be a LEGO Shop or Toys R Us exclusive. On the content side, we should have orcs, orcs and more orcs ... and some walls to replicate them. Isengard ironworks. And maybe even some new weapons ...

In short, we don't know anything, and we will have to wait a few more weeks to find out more about this set.

Are these the two exclusive sets for the second wave of Star Wars sets in 2012? I'm not sure of it...

But Brickset references these two sets out of nowhere without further details:

9525 Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Fighter

Pre Vizla is a human leader of the Mandalorian Death Watch faction during the Clone Wars. He is also Dooku's ally and governor of the planet Concordia, a moon of Mandalore. His ship featured in this set should be the Gauntlet, a class hunter Kom'rk seen in the animated series The Clone Wars (Season 2 - Episode 12: The Mandalore Plot).

9526 Palpatine's Arrest

 This set could reproduce the scene of the arrest of Palpatine aka Darth Sidious in TheEpisode III Revenge of the Sith. We would therefore be entitled to the minifigs of Saesee Tiin, Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Kitt Fisto and Palpatine. Maybe we will also see Anakin in this set, he intervenes in this scene where he saves the Chancellor ... Saesee Tiin, Mace Windu, Agen Kolar and Kitt Fisto do not survive this failed attempt to apprehend Sidious.

Rest assured, I'm not crying scandal, as usual ...

I was quietly surfing the internet, looking for some interesting info, and I came across a revelation: What if Luke's minifigure helmet in the set 9493 X-Wing Starfighter was not the correct one?

Or rather if it was in fact one of the countless helmets used in the filming of the saga ...

If you are a Star Wars fundamentalist or just like to educate yourself on everything related to this universe, you owe it to yourself to go to this link.

You will discover, with descriptions and detailed analyzes, everything about the different helmets used by Mark Hamill during the filming of the first two films of the Original Trilogy.

I also can't resist the urge to give you a photo of Jek Porkins alias Red 6 at the controls of his T-65 X-Wing Starfighter, this hero of the Rebellion accompanied by his droid Astromech R5-D8 (in the background on the picture).

The photos of the minifigs are those of Huw millington (Brickset) posted on his flickr gallery.

Bane is a character little known to the general public, and I am not talking about die-hard fans of the Batman universe here. Everyone knows Catwoman or the Joker, but Bane remains a mystery to many late-night fans.

This son of a revolutionary activist escaped from prison in Pena Duro on the island of Santa Prisca located in the Caribbean and drug distribution hub namedand Venom, had to serve his father's sentence and gain respect among his fellow prisoners.

He soon became the king of the prison, assassinating his enemies from an early age with a knife he hid in his teddy bear. He also served as a guinea pig for experiments involving drugs Venom and found that it allowed him to gain exceptional physical strength.

He set out to travel to Gotham City, freed the Arkham Asylum inmates forcing Batman to redouble his efforts to avoid an upsurge in crime, and eventually confronted Batman in the Batcave before rendering him paraplegic. He was later ally of Batman (recovered from his injuries) in the fight against the drug cartel Venom before leaving Gotham to search for his father.

If you've read this article so far, I come to what interests me: the two Bane minifigs we have available. Both are clearly inspired by the different comics (Revenge of Bane, Batman: Gotham Knights) or animated series (Batman The Animated Series, The Brave & The Bold) which have been or are currently being broadcast.  

The two minifigs are equal, that of 2007 suffers from a coarser screen printing on the torso but better proportioned (pectorals, abdominals). The mask of the 2012 version is however more stylized and the eyes have a more aggressive appearance. I prefer this black version of the character, but I regret the hands in Light Flesh. Black hands would have advantageously completed the overall appearance of the minifig of 2012 knowing that Bane is almost always represented with gloves or mittens.

To offer you the 2007 version, you will have to pay from 40 to 60 € on Bricklink (bat021). For the 2012 version, count just over 12 € for now on Bricklink (sh009). It's up to you to see if you need both or if you will finally be satisfied with the 2012 version available in the set. 6860 The Batcave, the differences being minimal between the two versions.