LEGO has done a heck of a lot of Batman sets over the years. Beyond the usual Batmobile, Batwing, and villain encounter sets, they’ve even released a LEGO Art set of Jim Lee Batman art and a brilliant shadow box model of the Batcave. Despite all of those cool Caped Crusader releases, we can’t help but feel like their latest LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City just might be the best one they’ve made yet.
A framed model of the Gotham City skyline, the set clearly draws inspiration from LEGO’s Art line, as this thing is designed for hanging up a wall or showing off prominently on a shelf somewhere in your home. It’s not a completely 2D model, by the way, as the structures aren’t flat against the canvas. Instead, they’re slightly raised to give the entire thing a more 3D feel, which, let’s be honest, makes it just that much more striking.
The LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City, basically, looks like a giant detailed poster of the city skyline in LEGO form, recreating all the familiar structures that appear repeatedly during the animated show’s 85-episode run. Key locations such as the Gotham City Court, Arkham Asylum, and Joker’s Amusement Park are all there, as well as other well-known spots, such as the Ace Chemicals factory (where the Joker fell into a vat of chemicals), the police HQ (complete with a Bat-Signal spotlight on top), the Gotham Opera, and the Galaxy Broadcasting System tower.
The city is set on top of a blood red night sky with a partly cloud-covered full moon, while police blimps patrol the Gotham airspace, along with the Batwing. A large Bat-Signal also appears in the middle of the sky, serving as a warning to anyone performing villainous deeds that the Dark Knight is about to come their way. Maybe. Oh yeah, the subterranean Batcave, by the way, actually hides a miniature buildable Batmobile inside, which makes for a really cool Easter Egg.
The LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City actually comes with 15 removable panels that reveal the interiors of Wayne Manor, the Batcave, and Arkham Asylum, along with some scenes of criminal mischief from the series’ numerous villains. On top of the frame is a large Batman logo cast in the familiar font used in the popular 90s animated series, while the back of the frame is fitted with a wall-mount facility and a kickstand, in case you want to set it down on a table or shelf instead.
A total of 4,210 pieces are included in the set, making it the biggest LEGO Batman model yet. This includes four minifigures, consisting of Batman, The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman, as well as a platform with gargoyles at either ends that can serve as a dedicated stand for the quarter of minifigs. Do note, you can’t actually integrate the minifigs into the actual skyline where they will make sense, so, we guess, they just threw those in there to add to your collection (which we don’t mind).
The LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City comes out April 4th, priced at $299.99.