Guest Review Week III rolls on with a post from Mint Condition Customs! Before we get to the review, let me give a huge shout out to John for suggesting we do Guest Review Week! What we would do without you? Today, MCC gives us a detailed look at a Dark Knight Rises LEGO set that I’d love to own!

I’ve always admired LEGO for their clever use of the properties they acquire, and the ability of their sets to seemingly never depreciate in value. However, I’ve never considered myself a LEGO collector, and indeed have nod bought any LEGO related items since I was a child. At least, not until last year. Last year LEGO brought back a series of Batman related sets, as well as general DC Superheroes. I’m a DC fanatic, so naturally I couldn’t help myself but buy everything.

This year, LEGO has even more DC Superheroes sets available, one of which is based on the movie The Dark Knight Rises. And wouldn’t you know it, it just also happens to be the subject of this review (I’m a master of the segue). I loved The Dark Knight Rises, and thought it was very awesome that LEGO was including two of the iconic vehicles from the movie in one set.

LEGO definitely picked an opportune time to bring back DC sets, since last year was “The Year of the Bat”, and we have a new Superman movie out this year. Not to mention the various popular DC cartoons on television right now.

These LEGO boxes always make the sets inside look so epic. It’s not until you open it, that you remember how small LEGOs really are, but hey the packaging has already done its job. The front gives us this awesome action packed scene of the Bat chasing the Tumbler down a Gotham City street, with Commissioner Gordon running after. If you notice on the lower left hand corner, it says that there’s a code inside to download the full LEGO Batman video game. I think this is very awesome of LEGO. I already own the game, but for those who don’t, especially the kids out there, this is very cool indeed.

The back gives us more pictures of everything in the set and shows off the different play features with everything. Looking at everything included, it’s actually hard to believe there’s only 368 pieces involved, but apparently LEGO made it work. Open it up and it comes with a few bags filled with loose LEGO pieces, and we have two instruction books. The instructions are always easy to follow on LEGO sets, and I actually find building them quite relaxing after a hard day’s work.

Let’s talk about the minifigures included first. This set comes with three minifigures: Batman, Bane, and Commissioner Gordon. The Batman minifigure is awesome, and the decals on him actually resemble the suit from the movie. Even his cowl looks like the one Christian Bale wore in the movie, only LEGOfied (it’s a word now). He has two facial expressions, one looking rather stoic, and the other looking like he’s almost growling. There’s also a white sweatband looking thing above the eyes, so that way when the cowl is on it looks like his eyes are just whited out. Sadly, he comes with no accessories, like a batarang.

Bane is so awesome and adorable. Just look at that angry face! Here we get Bane without his coat or sweater on. Just him in his vest with bare arms. The vest detailing is pretty cool, and you can easily tell it’s the design from the movie. Bane’s mask and face decal look awesome. The mask detailing is on the front and back of the head. I also think it’s cool that they gave him one black hand, to resemble his wrist brace he wore in the movie. He comes with no accessories either.

Commissioner Gordon is a treat in this set for me, since this is the first time LEGO has ever made a Gordon minifigure. Now, his outfit isn’t movie accurate at all. Instead, they opted for him in SWAT gear, similar to what he wore in The Dark Knight when he helped catch the Joker. It still looks very cool, and I love his expressions on his face. One is just very stern, while the other looks terrified. The little cartoony looking mustache and glasses he has are just so cool. Gordon is the only minifigure to come with an accessory, a rather large gun (or small cannon). Who needs that new age “fear of death” crap for taking down an enemy, when you can just blast all your problems away? I think Gordon might have the right idea here. Continue to Page 2…