I have this! Tough some pieces missing

What a difference when compared to the recent 76139 Batmobile! Maybe not completely faithful to the movie version, but I do like yellow wheel discs from this one :)

I'm sure this was big in the day, and I kind of liked Batman back when it wasn't an omnipresent part of the LEGO landscape, but all I see now is... Just Another Bat-Conveyance. I'd need someone more into Batman--and more into the original line--to tell me if this set is GOOD or not

I'm pretty sure this is based on the Rebirth Batmobile, can anyone confirm?

I have three copies of this one. Built one, then got a deal with a TRU charge card for a percentage off the first purchase you made with a new card and picked up the other two for $25 each, pre-tax. I’ve raided one pretty thoroughly for parts, but having seen the aftermarket value since, there’s just nothing I’ve been so desperate for to pop the seals on the third copy. Since it’s almost nothing but basic black bricks and plates, the only thing that might change my mind is those black dragon wings. You know, after I find a use for the pair from the first part-out copy.

Funny thing about this car is it has _ZERO_ visibility. Regardless of whether the bat-head is up or down, the top of it sits higher than the roof of the cockpit. The only way to see where you’re driving is to hang out the side window like a pet dog.

@myth:
Those ones actually look like drum-lacquered gold. I don’t know if they actually are, but there aren’t many parts that have that soft metallic finish on a part that has an unpainted section with a crisp edge. The only other one I can think of offhand is the Batman v Superman version, which has a silver background. I actually prefer the yellow version to this one because it fills the disc more completely, and the yellow works better for the light cast by the Bat-signal.

@myth said:
"What a difference when compared to the recent 76139 Batmobile! Maybe not completely faithful to the movie version, but I do like yellow wheel discs from this one :)"

@Slithus_Venom said:
"I'm pretty sure this is based on the Rebirth Batmobile, can anyone confirm?"

This one may be from the 2nd movie, Batman Forever. That Bamobile had the hub caps like this but that stayed in place as the wheel moved. 76139 is from the first movie.

@MCLegoboy said:
"*copypasta*"
I hate that I recognize this

I never payed to close a mind to this UCS, but I always loved the bat-decals on the wheels.

That wing piece in black is super useful. I'm positive this isn't the only set to come with it, but it's always fun to see!

A rather awful looking model really. Very interesting to compare this with the updated version. (non Batman fan here, I suppose its basically the same) This definitely shows how great the new one looks. The same problem with the new Tumbler, I would buy it, but only if I could find a nice case for it.

@Formendacil:
I mean, it’s got some interesting mechanicals, but the aesthetics are pretty plain, and it looks like it wanted so bad to be the Burton Batmobile instead. The value has dropped a few hundred bucks, but I really don’t get the resale value on this, and I have a sealed copy I could unload at any moment.

@Mr__Thrawn:
If you read up on the history of the Batmobile, the bat-head over the grille is something that goes back to the WWII era. Heck, even the first real-world Batmobile had one (not to be confused with the second Batmobile that was driven by the third guy to play Batman). The problem with the Batmobile is you can point a camera at the Burtonmobile from any angle you choose, but hand-drawing that on a dozen or more panels in a single issue of a comic book would be insanely difficult (e.g. the Bionicle comics never once looked like they were traced from photographs because of the complex mechanical shapes they had to draw). Around the time Burton was working on his films, a streamlined blue Batmobile was the standard design for comics. It looked very much like a run-of-the-mill 80’s sports car (I.e. easy to draw repeatedly), which meant there wasn’t anything really distinct about the shape. So they brought the bat-head back, which was pretty easy to draw, and nailed the design in your mind as “The Batmobile”.

@MCLegoboy:
Almost sounds like Joker set us up the bomb.

@Slithus_Venom:
Not even close. This set came out in 2006, and Rebirth launched ten years after. The Rebirth Batmobile looks like the B:TAS Batmobile with some of the Batman Returns Batmobile’s armor plating in the middle, and a more futuristic (and smaller!) bat-head on the grille.

@TeriXeri:
Right you are! I was planning to look up that set number myself, but yeah, as soon as we saw pics of that set, the second comments were about how it looked just like this set. The first were people who thought it was the Burton Batmobile, which, I mean, the overall shape of both this and 76119 do seem fairly consistent with the Burton design, but more like a rough draft than a movie-ready custom vehicle.

@bue_car:
Nope, again. As far as I know, this has never been matched to any official Batmobile design.

LEGO fans in 2006: Why so blocky?

LEGO Designers in 2019: Let's put a smile on those faces...

@bue_car
Batman Forever was my second guess.
@PurpleDave
Whoops!
@MCLegoBoy
I was just watching a video of that story again today!

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"Easily the most fascinating thing about this is how it has a giant effigy of Batman’s face mounted to the front."

Cool! Never noticed that before - thanks for pointing this out!
I wonder if this could be easily Bricklinked, with the only obviously rare parts the black wings and the wheel covers?….

Just look at all that black! Its glorious! And no minifig! even better!

Great set, I picked up a 2nd hand model, with a few parts missing. Great display!

@lemish34:
Exclusive (still) to this set is:
4x 41896 - Pearl Gold Wheel 43.2mm D. x 26mm Technic Racing Small, 3 Pin Holes (there is one seller listing over 200 for just under $2 per rim)

There are a handful of other rare parts, a few more uncommon parts, and the rest generally appear in at least two dozen other sets. The rarest, besides what you’ve already mentioned, are:

2x 41766 - Black Slope, Curved 8 x 2 x 2
First use, then it appeared in two more sets in 2009

1x 2621 - Black Wedge, Plate 9 x 10 (Boat Bow Plate)
Last use, after appearing in three sets in the 90’s

The 4x radar dish was also used in the first Batcave set (7783) from the same year, and the black dragon wing was used for the Ender Dragon dragon (21117). The cheapest dragon wings at this very moment will run you $41 for the pair, and the radar dishes about $30. I guess props are due to Jason Todd. They may only be the second most valuable part of the Batmobile, but you can build a stack without risking damage to the fancy gold paint job, and they’ve got to be a lot more portable than those giant dragon wings.

Man, this set's design hasn't aged particularly well... Even without comparing it to the newer version, this thing just looks so blocky to me...

I like the front bat grill as more faithful to the comic book than the movie version, plus I would purchase just for the wheels! The old style wedges also looks more Lego to me, and I can appreciate where my money has gone on the 1000+ bricks and plates rather than disappearing among 100's of tiles and other tiny pieces hidden away.

Incidentally I came upon an episode of the original 60s TV show by coincidence while zapping through the channels yesterday, but oh boy had I forgotten how cheesy that was. Even though the particular scene I saw included the classic Batmobile. It was totally cringeworthy to watch.

@PurpleDave said:
"I guess props are due to Jason Todd."

Oh, you.

I got this at a Tuesday Morning for 70% off.

Honestly, I regret it. It caused a huge spike in the amount of black bricks that has caused me nothing but headaches since.

And it’s ugly.

Yet despite all that I still got the big honkin’ Burtonmobile because it’s such a beautiful machine. But that one I actually have on display.

That will never clear a speed bump.

I guess I'm confused on resale value not being what people expect when it looks like Bricklink has it listed at $455, and it retailed for $70.... that's a plenty good return on investment (especially considering so many to claim getting it on massive discount).

With that said, I do not own it nor do I want to. It happened in my dark ages and even though Batman was everything to me as a kid, I don't like how it looks.

I have this set - part of my 'emerging from The Dark Ages' spate of purchases. Still happy I have it - mean to display with my other bat-vehicles when I have a bit of room. I like the blockiness, as it gives it a sense of history and legacy that echoes Batman's own 'comic book... TV... movie...' existence.

@Sethro3:
The previous time I checked (well before the 1989 Batmobile was announced), it was listing for $700. What I didn’t understand was how it got so high. Whatever you think of the design, there’s only a handful of noteworthy parts in a sea of really basic black bricks and plates. I just don’t see what people were willing to pay that much for.

As I said, the resale price has gone down quite a bit. The use of the same black wings in the Ender Dragon three years later certainly helped bring it back down, and I suspect the release of the Tumbler and 1989 Batmobile providing much better alternative builds did some damage, but it still seems too high. Two people have actually paid over $500 for this in the last six months.

Now, I’m not seriously invested in the resale value. I did buy three copies, but I built the first one and figured $25 a pop was worth it for the loose parts from two more copies. It’s just that one copy got opened over a decade ago, and before I ever needed anything out of the last remaining sealed copy I happened to check the Bricklink price guide out of pure idle curiosity. It’s really hard to justify breaking the seals on a $700 set just because you’re working on a project and ran a couple short on, say, 1x2 black bricks. Sure, I only paid $25 for the contents, but it’s a big psychological block when realize you’re going to be causing hundreds of dollars to cry out in terror before being suddenly silenced, all for maybe half a buck in parts.

While being a huge Batman fan both then and now, I initially sort’ve wrote this set off when it came out, largely because of the blocky stacked-bricks design of the front end. But like many sets, it’s much better appreciated in-person rather than by the pics; the shaping and proportions actually work well, especially considering the design conventions and parts available at the time of release. Also, the dual spinning turbine function was an effective and unexpected feature.

But I’d not have discovered of that had it not been for basically a best-ever discount LEGO find…$15. I bought two.

i had this one. very blocky!

@bue_car said:
" @myth said:
"What a difference when compared to the recent 76139 Batmobile! Maybe not completely faithful to the movie version, but I do like yellow wheel discs from this one :)"

@Slithus_Venom said:
"I'm pretty sure this is based on the Rebirth Batmobile, can anyone confirm?"

This one may be from the 2nd movie, Batman Forever. That Bamobile had the hub caps like this but that stayed in place as the wheel moved. 76139 is from the first movie.
"

The second Batman movie was titled Batman Returns.

This was a comic book inspired design.

@deathmoth:
Wow. I thought I did good with a pair for $25 each. And that number isn’t as great when you average it against the one I paid MSRP for.

@Rimefang:
Batman Forever never happened. Batman & Robin happened even less.

My brother has this set. It’s such an awesome set!