Review: 70817 Batman & Super Angry Kitty Attack
Posted by Huw,It's somewhat surprising that only three new The LEGO Movie sets have been launched this year given the film's popularity, but I suppose that now the DVD release, and Christmas, have been and gone, interest the film may wane.
The three sets that we do have though, are excellent and appear to be great value too, particularly in the USA. In this review I will take a look at 70817 Batman & Super Angry Kitty Attack. A review of 70818 Double-Decker Couch will follow later today.
Box and contents
70817, the smallest of the three sets, contains 115-pieces and costs £11.99 in the UK and $9.99 (=£6.52) in the USA. I think someone pressed the wrong button on their calculator when working out the UK and Euro prices: I can think of no justification for it being virtually double the US price even when sales tax and VAT are factored in.
It's packed in a tiny 14 x 11 cm glossy box that looks great. The Micro Manager looks to be getting some grief from an angry Unikitty while Batman looks on and tackles a Robo Skeleton.
On the back it looks as if the Micro Manager has the upper hand...
Minifigures
The main reason most will buy the set is for the three minifigures: Batman, Super Angry Unikitty and a Robo-Skeleton. The latter is the least exciting, being identical to those that appeared in last year's sets.
I believe Batman's torso is the same as other recent incarnations of him, in particular that in Super Secret Drop Ship, Bricklink #SH016A. However the head is new, and unlike older Batman heads, it has a black 'headband' with white eyes that show through the eye cut-outs in the mask. When the mask is on, it looks much better than the previous white 'headband' does.
I don't have any of this year's DC Super Heroes sets to know whether this improvement has been made to Batman's head in all of this year's sets, but I suspect CapnRex101 will let us know when he reviews them.
The double-sided head offers two facial expressions and eye shapes in the 'headband'
Super Angry Unikitty certainly looks to be upset about something, that's for sure! Unlike last year's Angry Kitty, the 1x3 plate above her mouth is printed, with eyebrows and whiskers. Just her face and this piece differ from the old version.
The Micro Manager is very parts-dense and has a fairly complex design. As well as the obligatory flick-fire missiles in the body, the top part has been designed to be frangible. Press down on the protruding 2x4 tile at the back, and the top comes flying off.
Here's the completed set. Batman has a fat-off weapon that's so heavy that he can't stand upright when holding it. That does annoy me: it seems to a common problem these days.
Verdict
Fans of the unexpected star of the film, Unikitty, will rejoice that a new version of her is available in a low-priced set. The new, improved Batman will also be well received, but to be honest the skeleton and Micro Manager are just filler that add some play value but are largely superfluous.
At the US price of under 10 bucks, buying it is a no-brainer. At the UK/Euro price it's a less compelling purchase but I suspect the inclusion of Unikitty will ensure it sells well.
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21 comments on this article
personally, I would buy the set for the micromanager and skeleton for additions to my army of "terminators"
I'm in the group that want it for the micromanager and the T-800 endoskeleton. Never did get either of those things in last years set (never got the metalbeard set myself , though I kinda wanted to). Although the new batman is gonna be a good addition to my superheroes collection.
Actually , and I'm EXTREMELY biased here as I dislike both unicorns and cats , super angry kitty is the least interesting part of the set. It's the same as the other one , just with a Strange enormous mouth thing for a face and a cool , useless printed 1x3 plate.
All in all , no brainier purely for the micromanager (the best one to date IMO) and to get another T-800 to add to the droid army.
Also , is batmans weapon new? For that matter , does it even work? Or is it not designed to launch it (unlike the stud launchers)?
are there new or rare parts in this set.
also way is Unikitty so angry i never saw the lego movie yet.
also i wold like to no can batmans weapon fire thanks.
Ok, ever since I first saw LEGO Batman, I have disliked the way his head/cowl has been presented. At least the first head was use able as someone with a headband, but now this new head is just weird and I don't see how it can be used other than under the cowl.
Uni looks majority ticked off! The plates with print are nice, and that mega-mouth is interesting.
Micromanager and the skeletrons are good army builders.
Overall, I will probably pass on this set...unless my kids want it.
No, Batman's weapon does not fire and there are no new parts in the set, other than the printed pieces.
OK thanks huw.
I like that I'll be abe to get a "skeleton" in a cheap set. As much as I love Terminator, I'll use them as YVH-1 droids. Overall it's a pretty neat set and not all too expensive.
Any chance the price is cheaper in the states for some copyright or licensing? If I'm not mistaken, DC is an American company, so that might have something to do with it
^^^ There's a few of these: http://brickset.com/parts/6100627
@Hew, no new parts? There aren't any new designs, but there are certainly some new/rare colors:
http://brickset.com/parts/6073031 & http://brickset.com/parts/6073040 have only appeared previously in 70814.
http://brickset.com/parts/6073031 has only been in 70814 & Ecto-1.
http://brickset.com/parts/6079000 is completely new.
http://brickset.com/parts/6100627 only appears in the detectives office...
70818 is even better in my opinion. But all 3 new sets are great. The bad cop car chase is very nice. The car looks like a dodge charger. Also these are a great way for people to get the figures without breaking the bank b
Looks a great little add on set, but I absolutely hate it when lego charge more for the uk than the U.S. $-£ same figure is bad enough.
Good call @kipper147, apart from the prices being mixed up and put in the wrong boxes (£9.99 and $11.99, no?) there can't be any other reason for it can there?
Hasn't the pricing differences been discussed to death in EVERY.SINGLE.FORUM...
I'm sorry it is so vastly different, but I don't think you can go into a discussion about LEGO without seeing someone mention it...
The set itself looks like a joke, but I'll still pick it up for unikitty and Batman. I could always use more expressions.
I quite like this set. Grappler gun, self-destructing micro manager, Angry Kitty... and the Skeletron is something you can't really have too many of, seeing as they are always in huge masses in the film. For 10 bucks? A steal. Anyone else noticed the exceptional value of 2015 sets $15 and under?
Holy crap , epsheb is using them as the same thing I'm using them as... Those YVH-1 droids are neat.
Which is why IG-88 'acquired' a few after he escaped the Death Star's destruction... Hehe
It must be said, that is the best and creepiest batman head print ever released by Lego. That cheesy smile is just so awesome on Batman. Especially when you take it out of the Lego Movie setting. "Oh look Batman is dropping the Joker off the roof of Arkham!" :D
Will definitely have to pick this one up, not sure why i didn't when i was there on the 1st. A lot of bang for your buck, much like the Double-Decker Couch. Thanks for the review of these sets Huw.
^^ Faefrost, that image just convinced me to buy this set. Inappropriately happy Batman will be definitely be dangling Joker off Arkham or Two-Face off of the Town Hall. Especially better if you put Robin behind him with his horrified face.
You know...the more I look at the pictures of Batman without his mask, the more I see a face (wearing a domino mask) with a pair of enormous nostrils. Am I alone in seeing a humongous hooter on this figure?
@Carlq Yes, yes you are.