Lego Superheroes 2013 Rumours & Discussion

[SoupOrFishOil]

I can see how people do prefer the black over blue, and thank you DarthPotato for photoshopping that image, but to me it looks boring. I don't care for Nolan's "realistic" vehicles myself, except for the Tumbler, but I prefer it as a bat-tank over a bat-mobile. The blue makes the BAT feel futuristic and while I still wouldn't prefer it to the '89 Batwing or other Batplanes (except as a LEGO model where I think it is better than both), I think it gives it a good, cartoony vibe.

Which is why I don't get why they didn't do it for Bane. Maybe there still testing it out and Lobot was a perfect test subject?

I don't own the figure, but what I have seen of him it is pretty good. It would actually be less complex for Bane and probably Spidey to have printing on the side of their heads than Lobot too I think because I'm counting about four colors on the side of Lobot's head plus a few shapes, whereas those mentioned above would only have a couple lines and coloring.

As far as I'm aware the old Lobot that came way back around 2001 had the same printed sides as well. I think the problem is that it isn't easy to do. On YouTube there's a video called How its made: LEGO. They show you how they print on a minifigure and its with a rubber stamp. From the look of the video it's from 2001 and I'm not sure if lego prints the same way anymore. I think that the all the way round would be difficult. Just look at the Astromech droids that are commonly misprinted. The print will a lot of the time be crooked or misaligned. I sure that LEGO only do it when they have to because of quality control issues.

You know, I never noticed that before, and I now I'm kind of confused. I don't follow Star Wars LEGO much, but I have never heard of a complaint regarding either Lobot minifigure in that sense and the pictures I have seen of both of his variations, official and unofficial, look as fine as any other minifigure. I'm sure that there are potential quality control problems, but I think that a minifigure head would be easier to print than an astromech one. I wonder why it has been limited to just Lobot. I mean, it's been 11 years and they have only done it twice. I wonder what is holding them back.

Anyway, I think that Bane would actually be more accurate with a head the color of his mask (which I'm pretty sure isn't olive ) and flesh printed on, rather than this way. It would reduce the (I use the word loosely) "need" for side printing because the color would be there. I wonder if the way Captain America turned out (with a golden tan) has anything to do with this choice.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Superficial Username

[DJ Bricks]

There's a slight tint of olive green to his mask and armor, so it's kinda accurate. They could have also made a special mold for TDKR Bane, though I think the printed on looks good, I just wish it goes all the way around and connects.

[Lyichir]

As far as I'm aware the old Lobot that came way back around 2001 had the same printed sides as well. I think the problem is that it isn't easy to do. On YouTube there's a video called How its made: LEGO. They show you how they print on a minifigure and its with a rubber stamp. From the look of the video it's from 2001 and I'm not sure if lego prints the same way anymore. I think that the all the way round would be difficult. Just look at the Astromech droids that are commonly misprinted. The print will a lot of the time be crooked or misaligned. I sure that LEGO only do it when they have to because of quality control issues.

The original Lobot had his electronic brain thing printed on the back of his head, but not the sides. The new one is the first one to be printed all the way around the head. I also wonder why they didn't do this for Bane, but part of it may be that they just don't have enough machines capable of printing the full head to produce enough parts for this set. After all, I believe the Star Wars planet sets are done in limited production runs like the collectable minifigures or Ninjago spinners and booster packs. This set is probably going to have massive demand, and it could be that to satisfy that demand, they were forced to skimp on the full-head printing.

[Jackattack7]

I don't care for Nolan's "realistic" vehicles myself, except for the Tumbler, but I prefer it as a bat-tank over a bat-mobile.

Actually I like Nolan's vehicles and it would've been better if they sold the vehicles seperate, like Bane's Tumbler would include Bane, The Bat would include Batman and Gordon and an extra maybe an extra the Batpod with catwoman. But I agree that the Tumbler is more of a Bat-Tank than a Batmobile.

[Santaduckz]

Let's not forget Alfred. He had side printing too.

[CBMM1]

_{Close-ups of Daily Bugle...}

[Bilbo Baggins]

I was assuming they'd also be working on a Lego Hobbit game (upcoming series is a trilogy in case you aren't aware :D)

But they probably won't release it untill all 3 films are out ;)

[the Brick Kid]

Pity, we didn't get a Catwoman in the set as well so she can ride along with Batman.

Yeah that would have been awesome and would have made sense

[Oky]

_{Close-ups of Daily Bugle...}

Seems like the deeplinks aren't working. Click here to see the images.

It's great that JJJ and Nova come with angry faces. But why does Beetle have a gun? In the cartoon, his weapons are mounted on his wrists. I guess they figured since they can't put anything on his wrists, they'll just put it in his hand.

[Santaduckz]

Is that camera mould new? It looks different to the old one

[DJ Bricks]

Seems like the deeplinks aren't working. Click here to see the images.

It's great that JJJ and Nova come with angry faces. But why does Beetle have a gun? In the cartoon, his weapons are mounted on his wrists. I guess they figured since they can't put anything on his wrists, they'll just put it in his hand.

Yeah, I assumed thats why they gave him the gun too. That angry face for JJJ is perfect for "Spider-Man is a menace!". But Nova's face looks like they reused Batman's, as they are in the same style helmets.

Is that camera mould new? It looks different to the old one

Nope, same old mold.

[Spider-Man]

Nova's helmet looks WAY too big when seen up close like that! Beetle on the other hand looks great

Are there any pictures from the back so we can see the interior?

[Oky]

Is that camera mould new? It looks different to the old one

Yes, they started replacing the old mold about a year ago. This one is easier to grip by minifigures.

[Aanchir]

Let's not forget Alfred. He had side printing too.

No, Alfred has front, back, and top printing, like some Sports, Power Miners, and Avatar: The Last Airbender figs. It gives the illusion of printing on the sides of his head but in fact requires only those three print surfaces. As such it wouldn't work for Captain America, Bane, or Spider-Man.

To be perfectly honest I'm curious why side printing on minifigures is not being used more widely if it was able to appear on the Lobot fig. But unless a LEGO designer like Nabii can fill us in with a reason, I imagine we'll just have to wait patiently for TLG to make wider use of this new innovation.

[Santaduckz]

No, Alfred has front, back, and top printing, like some Sports, Power Miners, and Avatar: The Last Airbender figs. It gives the illusion of printing on the sides of his head but in fact requires only those three print surfaces. As such it wouldn't work for Captain America, Bane, or Spider-Man.

To be perfectly honest I'm curious why side printing on minifigures is not being used more widely if it was able to appear on the Lobot fig. But unless a LEGO designer like Nabii can fill us in with a reason, I imagine we'll just have to wait patiently for TLG to make wider use of this new innovation.

How would top printing work differently to side printing? The footage of printing machines I've seen haven't printed directly onto the top of the figure, they printed onto the front?

I feel like I am missing something... haha

[Capt. Redblade]

People keep mentioning a design video for Arkham Asylum. I have seen no such video. Am I missing something here?

[Oky]

It probably got lost in the server outage... Here you go:

By the way, I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but it looks like the round window in the Mr. Freeze tower uses the same kind of round window plate as those used in the Bag End set, but in trans red. Should be useful.

[Capt. Redblade]

Thanks, Oky!

[Mr Spielbrick]

Is that camera mould new? It looks different to the old one

(...)

Nope, same old mold.

It's not brand new, but it does differ from the original photocamera. This one, probably the one Santaduckz was thinking of, has been around since 1997: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30089

The 'new' one has only been around for two years, and does indeed look slightly different: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30089b

Also: YAY! for that dark green hood. Very useful for Robin Hood or other castle-type MOCs, and perhaps the rangers from The Lord of the Rings.

[TenorPenny]

Yes, indeed, the NBA figures had some really quite terrific head printing. More of that wouldn't go amiss.

[Krulis]

Daily Bugle interior:

Some closeups of TDKR set:

Enjoy them.

[SoupOrFishOil]

There's a slight tint of olive green to his mask and armor, so it's kinda accurate. They could have also made a special mold for TDKR Bane, though I think the printed on looks good, I just wish it goes all the way around and connects.

Hm, I didn't catch that while watching the movie, but now looking over pictures I do see it. I do think that the printing does look good, but a molded mask would be too big I think.

Actually I like Nolan's vehicles and it would've been better if they sold the vehicles seperate, like Bane's Tumbler would include Bane, The Bat would include Batman and Gordon and an extra maybe an extra the Batpod with catwoman. But I agree that the Tumbler is more of a Bat-Tank than a Batmobile.

Other than Star Wars though (and action figures and spinners, I guess), LEGO doesn't often use that strategy that you need to buy more than one set for "maximum playability."

Seems like the deeplinks aren't working. Click here to see the images.

It's great that JJJ and Nova come with angry faces. But why does Beetle have a gun? In the cartoon, his weapons are mounted on his wrists. I guess they figured since they can't put anything on his wrists, they'll just put it in his hand.

What image are you looking at? The only expression I can make out on Nova is the one he had at SD comic-con.

Edited October 16, 2012 by Superficial Username

[Aanchir]

How would top printing work differently to side printing? The footage of printing machines I've seen haven't printed directly onto the top of the figure, they printed onto the front?

I feel like I am missing something... haha

It doesn't differ in terms of complexity (although getting side, front, and back prints to match up at the edges might be more difficult than matching top, front, and back prints for all I know-- even some of the top-printed minifig heads I have are a little uneven at the margins). It's just that different surfaces would probably require different machines. Since TLG now has the ability to do wraparound head prints though I hope it's not too long before they make use of this.

[Jackattack7]

mmmnn?... I have noticed something really peculiar, If you pause the Arkham video on 4:08 you will see the different panels you can switch on the actual prison cells. They have one for Poison Ivy and yet she has a special glass cell, so yet again Lego has angered me. Because IMO they shouldn't of even included her at all, you see they could have added a completely different villain, but no because in their eyes Poison Ivy is the best and most popular villain in DC (sarcasm.)

EDIT: What!!!??? they have one for Mr.Freeze aswell, yet he has a special cell. They should change Poison Ivy and Mr.Freeze panel to Bane and Catwoman at least. You can really tell Lego didn't think Arkham thoroughly enough.

Edited October 16, 2012 by Jackattack7

[strangely]

mmmnn?... I have noticed something really peculiar, If you pause the Arkham video on 4:08 you will see the different panels you can switch on the actual prison cells. They have one for Poison Ivy and yet she has a special glass cell, so yet again Lego has angered me. Because IMO they shouldn't of even included her at all, you see they could have added a completely different villain, but no because in their eyes Poison Ivy is the best and most popular villain in DC (sarcasm.)

EDIT: What!!!??? they have one for Mr.Freeze aswell, yet he has a special cell. They should change Poison Ivy and Mr.Freeze panel to Bane and Catwoman at least. You can really tell Lego didn't think Arkham thoroughly enough.

It wouldn't make sense for Bane and Catwoman, neither of them are crazy. They're criminals yes, but Arkham is reserved for those who are criminally insane.

I do agree it's a bit stupid to have panels for Ivy and Freeze, but perhaps those cells are meant to be temporary holding cells until they are moved to a more permanent room. Or perhaps the special cells are for treating them (Since both have unique biologial conditions).

Perhaps in the future we'll get an add-on (Hogwarts style) that includes special cells for Joker and Scarecrow. There might be a real logical reason as to why the designers built it this way.