Review: 76054 Batman: Scarecrow Harvest of Fear
Posted by LostInTranslation,When I saw this set at the London Toy Fair back in January, I was intrigued by the agricultural setting – unusual for the Super Heroes theme, which tend to feature urban or cosmic locales – as well as dazzled by the array of new minifigures included, so I jumped at the chance to review it. Read on to find out if the set lived up to my memory of it.
Minifigures
The first of the five minifigures included is of course Batman. Seemingly, no DC Super Heroes set is complete without the Dark Knight.
This particular variant features lime accents rather than the customary yellow, including a lime stripe printed at the top of one side of the dual-sided head and lime flashes on the printed metallic silver breastplate.
In terms of gear, the figure also has a printed grey utility belts, a batarang and the new breathing apparatus piece, definitely required to prevent Bruce from inhaling the Scarecrow’s toxic gas.
Speaking of the titular villain, the Scarecrow gets a nice update over previous incarnations and a new look, utilising a recolour of the Wacky Witch hair/hat combo from the Monsters minifigure line. In this version, the hair is medium dark flesh and the hat dark orange.
One day I would love it if there was a way to use separate hairpieces and headgear together rather than these less-useful all-in-one moulds but I realise this is most likely a pipe dream. Scarecrow’s hands and head are tan, and his expression is, as usual, a maniacal grin with stitching detail.
His outfit is dark orange instead of the brown of the past, a much brighter colour, but I like the patched and ragged design, which continues on to the back of the torso.
The farmer is never going to be the main incentive to buy this set, but is a decent addition to it nonetheless. He sadly only has one face print – pure terror! – but I imagine this is because his dark red baseball cap would leave any secondary expression fully exposed at the back.
His white Die Hard vest has a few stains front and back, making him look rather rough and ready.
The Blue Beetle minifigure is most certainly blue, but there is also quite a lot of black in the design too, with dual-moulded blue and black legs and a black mask/face print, against which his yellow eyes really stand out. The detail on his torso is reminiscent of an insect’s thorax.
For the wings, use is made of the Galaxy Squad design, in this case in trans. clear. Around the neck there is a soft rubber part with 2 prongs folded down over the chest and 2 larger ones sticking up behind the head. As a weapon, Blue Beetle holds one of the new 1x1 round trans. clear plates modified with a short bar, to which a trans. blue dish is attached.
For me, Killer Moth was one of the main attractions of this set and he does not disappoint. Rarely have I seen such a gaudy minifigure but I love him!
His moulded helmet is lime with antenna and the head underneath is also lime, with a printed flesh face sporting red goggles and a determined expression on one side and no goggles and a scared face on the other. Unlike Blue Beetle, Killer Moth flies by means of the Fairy wings in trans. neon orange.
His purple torso is simply printed with muscles, a yellow moth motif and a utility belt. His orange legs feature a snazzy pattern of purple and lime stripes - what a fetching ensemble!
The Completed Model
It’s been a while since we had a City Farm sub-theme, but historically, LEGO sure does love to make tractors red (see 6608, 7634 and 30284, for example). This particular model is a fairly modest version, without a cab for the driver and showing signs of wear and tear, such as the stickers applied to the panels and brown elements presumably representing patches of rust.
Possibly the farmer is not doing so well lately (well of course not, he’s being attacked by a crazy straw man!). The vehicle is built up from a simple 2x8 plate and uses some nice SNOT at the front to affix a pair of red cheese graters. I really like the use of black telescopes and taps on the sides of the engine to resemble external pipework. All in all, it is a great little representation of the subject matter.
The helicopter. *sigh*. A Super Heroes set including a helicopter? We have been here before, have we not? (6866, 76007, 6863, 76046…). But wait! It must be said that this specimen definitely lies at the more successful end of the helicopter spectrum in my opinion. Giving lie to the statement that Batman only works in black and very, very dark grey, this vehicle actually also includes quite a lot of blue parts on the body, roof and rotor blades. The body is constructed with the aid of small blue boat hulls and blue wedge bricks are used on the side panels, attached via SNOT.
The cockpit is just big enough to seat Batman, though it lacks any visible controls, even in the form of a sticker on the trans. neon orange 1x2 panel that I suppose is meant to represent a display screen. The classic bat logo on the trans. black canopy is provided by means of a sticker rather than being printed. I found the process of constructing the helicopter’s tail interesting, as it incorporates two 1x8 dark bley slide plates that slot into 1x4 grooved bricks inside the body. Initially I thought that this was just a different method of securing the tail into position rather than using SNOT but actually it activates a rather nifty play feature: when you push the tail in, two flaps on either side of the helicopter pop open to each reveal a pair of stud shooters!
The entirety of the second instruction book is dedicated to building the combine harvester. It’s not the typical subject matter for a Super Heroes set but this is part of what attracted me to the set in the first place and it also seems very fitting for the agriculturally-themed villain. The combine is built up around a chassis of Technic elements, including several gear wheels that afford another play feature that I had not appreciated before: as the vehicle is rolled across a surface, the cog mechanism in turn synchronously rotates the thresher section at the front. Again, the machinery looks quite dilapidated in tones of brown and dark tan and with more ‘damage’ stickers, but the trans. neon green accents add a suitably spooky and unnatural dimension to the model.
At the rear of the vehicle, the Scarecrow has added his fiendish customisation – a tank consisting of two trans. neon green half cylinders which can be separated to place something inside and the assembly as a whole can be tilted from a horizontal to vertical position. I placed the four bombs of fear gas inside though the instruction book also suggests placing the poor beleaguered farmer in there – no wonder he looks so scared! The fear bombs are provided with 1x1 round plates so that they can be handily attached to the brown stud shooter mounted at the front of the vehicle.
Overall
In conclusion, I think that overall this set marks an interesting departure from the usual fare offered by the Super Heroes line. Unusually, all three of the models seem to work together to tell a cohesive story and each have their own merits, with none of them feeling like redundant filler to bump up the parts count. It would be easy to slightly modify the agricultural vehicles for use in a City Farm scene too, if you were so inclined. The combine harvester and helicopter also include fun play features as well. Excellent minifigures are of course customary in this theme and I would say that the ones included in this set are no exception, with Killer Moth and Scarecrow being the stand-outs for me. All in all I think this set just about justifies its price tag if you are a Super Heroes collector but obviously as usual it’s even better if you can get it at a discount.
This set was provided for review by Norton & Co but the opinions expressed are my own.
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33 comments on this article
Good review, awful pictures though. You need to improve the lighting set up, and make sure you take pictures of certain things you mention to make it clear what you are talking about. It just comes across as a bit lazy to me. Otherwise, the review was pretty good.
I wouldn't call the farmers shirt a vest. It's a tank top.
Nice review though.
That Blue Beetle fig is delicious. And KILLER MOTH! When did he appear in LEGO Batman? Far too long ago for us to JUST be getting a fig of him, for sure. Can't wait to pick this up.
Thanks for the review. I will be adding this set to my collection, why? Two words: Killer Moth!
@Packer221 we call them vests over here... And what you know as a vest is a waistcoat.
@Packer221 This is another one of those British English vs American English things, isn't it? In Britain, what the farmer's wearing is definitely a vest.
The wikipedia page for "vests" has three handy pictures to disambiguate the issue, which I was more than a little amused by. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vest Vests really shouldn't be my major source of amusement, should they?
Re the review itself, I've been looking forward to this set since pictures showed up, for two main reason. First, a bunch of trans neon green parts - they're always appreciated, especially since this has a couple of minifig heads in that colour. Second, the combine harvester itself.
I'll definitely be picking this up when it shows up at a nice price.
Love the set. I will drop off the minifigs on ebay and keep the great tractor and harvester for next to nothing.
'Round these here parts they're known as wifebeaters.
Very well written review. Nice balance of humour and facts.
Can you make more articles about the new Lego dimensions packs? :D
What an awesome set. Scary stuff. I don't own a Scarecrow minifig yet--great reason to buy this set. I've been waiting for a Killer Moth/Drury Walker minifig since he appeared in the first LEGO Batman video game. Looks just like him! I love the Batman villains added for 2016--Killer Moth, Scarecrow, Ra's al Ghul, Talia, Captain Boomerang, and Deadshot. (Have 76053 Cycle Chase set w Deadshot.)
This is a good review, but I agree with the first reviewer joshp999 that the photos could be better. I would've liked to see a close-up shot of the helicopter's tail and the pop-out shooters on the side.
In French, a Veste is a jacket.
^^^ We will when there's more info, so later next week at E3 time! ;-)
Wow, you BrickSet are on fire these days, each days brings a new review. Keep up!
The set is OK but it's the three villains that keep it most attractive in my opinion. Especially Scarecrow, he's just marvelous... if it's suitable to desribe DC set like that? :P
I'll admit I'm not 100% familiar with the entire DC universe, but 'Killer Moth' sounds like the worst villain ever! What's his super power - the total inability to ignore a lightbulb?
Good review. Nice to see other not-as-mainstream characters as Blue Beetle and Killer Moth, AND farmer (j/k)in his 'tank T' (nicer than the more common slang for those in the US).
Another batman is inevitable in these sets, but at least DC is doing variants for those who are die hard collectors, or even kids who would get sick of seeing 300 of the same batman staring back at them from the bin. Nice set, and again better on sale. I think 45-50 USD is a better price for this set (and cheaper than that would be great!). I can see these getting to 25% off in the US eventually at some retailer.
Looks great but I am just after the Scarecrow hat.
@Richpepperell: Killer Moth's traditionally been kind of a "joke villain". Not a wacky, fourth-wall-breaking joke character like Ambush Bug or Bat-Mite or Deadpool, but just a villain who's kind of a pathetic wannabe villain by design. He basically got his start by trying to set himself up as an "anti-Batman", with his own Mothcave, Mothmobile, Moth-Signal, etc. This dichotomy between Batman and Killer Moth is also reflected by his costume, which is tacky and colorful whereas Batman's costume is dark and subdued. But as we all know, bats EAT moths, so it wasn't the most well thought out alter ego, and he ended up being just as ineffectual as his name implied. So if he looks and sounds stupid, yeah, that's because he's supposed to. :P
In the LEGO Batman video game, they actually did go the extra mile and gave him an obsession with bright lights.
Anyway, I really like this set. It's sufficiently cool, but also extremely silly. Evil combine harvester! Getting a Killer Moth minifigure is great, and the new Scarecrow isn't bad either. The little civilian farmer puttering along on his tractor is great as well.
The new Batman is nice, as Batmans go. His colors are awfully dark. A little more grey or silver (like maybe dark stone grey gloves) wouldn't hurt. The breathing mask is a nice touch.
I find it hilarious that vest and tank top mean opposite things in American and British English!
I said it and I will say it again - Super heroes sets become better CIty sets that City sets.
heh.
Apologies on some of the photos. I had issues with my lamps and was rushing to get the photos done before I went away for a week.
Hopefully you can still get a good feel for the set overall.
@Aanchir - he sounds brilliant and the minifig really captures the essence of your description!
Love those figures!
I would argue that the little red tractor is the best vehicle ever to be released in a DC set!
I'm not a big fan of the Scarecrow minifig... I like previous one better. This is probably because I'm a big fan of the Arkham games and the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. The minifig is far too "Scooby-doo" for my tastes.
"All in all I think this set just about justifies its price tag if you are a Super Heroes collector but obviously as usual it’s even better if you can get it at a discount."
But I don't see a price mentioned? I don't have a photographic memory for set numbers and prices like a lot of people do, and I don't do a lot of reading of other Lego-based sites. What's this set priced at?
I really like the farm theme and the spooky look of the combine harvester. That's a nice Scarecrow figure, too. I could be tempted by this if I found it at the right discounted price...
@mr_piggle
£59.99 / $59.99 / 69.99€
The farmer is clearly wearing a singlet. You are all speaking nonesence words.
Ugh..... Still waiting for Ares :P
I'm assuming blue beetle's head stays on alright, even with two bulky-looking things taking up neck space?
Cool set and review, I would get it, but cuts to my Lego budget, especially now that Lego Gremlins and ET are confirmed. I might have to get that Killer Moth though.
@SimonJC, I was thinking the same thing, what's all this talk about tank tops and vests, it's most certainly a singlet!
Killer Moth has been my favorite Bat-villain for over 30 years, and his inclusion alone justifies this set.
We are living in an age of geeky wonders!
Neat set. But why oh why is teh Blue Beetle the damned kid? I was so hoping for a Ted Kord at some point :_(
Only one reason I want this set: so I can grab Killer Moth and fly around my house ceiling while yelling "Ooh, lightbulb!".