Review: 41588 The Joker
Posted by CapnRex101,The BrickHeadz theme made its first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con last summer and the announcement of a full wave elicited an overwhelmingly positive reaction last month. 41588 The Joker stood out to me as the most impressive of the sets revealed so far as it displays some innovative building techniques and contains a number of new pieces as well as depicting one of my favourite characters from The LEGO Batman Movie. Hopefully the model is similarly satisfying in person.
The Completed Model
Each BrickHeadz figure comes with a black display base. These include a printed 2x4 tile featuring the BrickHeadz logo and the series number as well as two studs on which the model is mounted. I think it looks alright but would question it's usefulness as the figure occupies the rear section of the stand so tends to tip backwards. This issue does not apply to the majority of the sets released so far but the Joker's large hairstyle alters the centre of gravity and often causes him to fall. I have found that he stands more steadily without the base and would hope that future sets do not suffer from such an avoidable design flaw.
The Joker himself, on the other hand, is brilliant. The figure stands almost 8cm in height and is very brightly coloured with a purple jacket, flame yellowish orange shirt, white skin and lurid green hair. Several printed pieces are used, with two forming the detail of the Joker's jacket and another three on the face. The jacket features a golden skull-shaped button and a similar motif adorns the bright green tie. The rectangular collar looks a little odd but suits the BrickHeadz style, as does the relative simplicity of the printed designs.
Printed 1x1 round tiles represent the eyes on most BrickHeadz figures but the Joker is unique in that his eyes are backed by bright light blue 1x1 plates, giving the impression of sunken eyes which are also represented on the standard minifigure. The mouth is printed on a 1x4 tile and looks great, with rough edges and a single visible tooth. A smiling expression might have been more appropriate for the Joker but the other figures do not include a mouth at all and this angular design is consistent with the rest of the model.
The Joker's white ears are formed using 1x2 slopes on either side of the head and the shirt has short sleeves which are represented by flame yellowish orange upper arms. However, the spectacular hairstyle is undoubtedly the most impressive aspect of the figure. It is constructed in five directions and primarily consists of layered curved slopes accented by exposed studs and 1x1 slopes. The shape of the hair is faithful to the design of the minifigure and it incorporates ten green 1x1 quarter which have not appeared in this colour before.
The Clown Prince of Crime also appeared in 41491 Batman & The Joker last year. That figure more closely resembles the character from the comics while this one is very clearly based on the version from The LEGO Batman Movie so they are quite distinctive. I like the earlier model very much but it is easily surpassed by the superior detail of 41588 The Joker and the red 1x4 tile looks particularly poor in relation to the printed mouth in my opinion. The hair styles are somewhat similar but the new one is more intricate and I like the partially covered forehead.
Overall
41588 The Joker is my favourite of the six BrickHeadz I have constructed so far. The detailed hair distinguishes this figure from others and I love the design of the face, particularly due to the light blue plates which give the impression of sunken eyes. The bright and varied colour scheme ensures that the model looks tremendous on display and it is remarkably authentic in relation to the minifigure found in 70906 The Joker Notorious Lowrider.
The style of the BrickHeadz will not appeal to everyone but I would certainly recommend this set if you are unsure about these figures and it is a worthy purchase for fans of The LEGO Batman Movie or DC. It seems to offer reasonable value for money at a price of £9.99 or $9.99 and the parts selection is splendid, although I would be very reluctant to disassemble it given the quality of the model!
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review is an expression of my own opinions.
The first wave of BrickHeadz sets can now be ordered from shop.LEGO.com:
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22 comments on this article
I love it!
Personally I think people are getting WAY too bent out of shape over the designs, etc.
Fabulous use of parts IMO.
Would be cool to set a bunch up on a shelf!
Neat use of parts.
I understand a number of people like this things, and that's fair, but I couldn't give a damn about these things even if my life depended on it. Sure, there's some nice building tricks used here and there, but the Funko POP fad needs to die. It'd be nice to see something original being done instead of millions upon millions of highly stylized human figure that all look slightly different (Brickheadz has not had this problem yet, but the millions of human characters made in the POP range do).
Literally every article about Brickheadz has so many negative comments! We get it, some people don't like them! We don't need a repeat of what's already been said in every Brickheadz article!
Just for you @BrianG2402..........these Brickheadz look awful
I like these brickheadz and look forward to seeing new figures in the future
My favorite Brickhead!
The two POTC Brickheads also use the "sunken eye" technique to good effect.
That comparison makes the SDCC version look like a MOC.
Speaking for myself, one reason I feel like venting repeatedly against Brickheadz is the subjective sense that this "replaced" Mixels -- a line which, while not without flaws, was tremendously creative and creativity-inducing.
But LEGO utterly botched the marketing of Mixels, so away they go.
Now along comes a highly derivative -- and lamely derivative, at that -- line which will be powered solely by the Hollywood branding behemoths. Since the models are totally dependent on specific printed parts, FOLs will not be able to create their own, so it's a huge creativity-killer. Posing and battling Mixels was a blast; Brickheadz have zero play value.
That's why, in addition to being simply hideous, Brickheadz seem to some of us practically an affront to core LEGO values. They are anti-play, anti-MOC, and anti-innovation. Is it any wonder people are irked?
^
"Since the models are totally dependent on specific printed parts, FOLs will not be able to create their own, so it's a huge creativity-killer."
I think you should have a look at that:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89141500 @N07/sets/72157679141763726
^ It's funny how every time there are some new parts that seem a little too specific, that creativity killer argument keeps popping up even though THERE IS NO SUCH THING when it comes to LEGO (heck, not even in other hobbies, but let's not go off topic).
I mean you can even find amazing MOCs that are using Galidor parts, of all things...
I admit that I too don't like the BrickHeadz very much, and for very similar reasons as @ninjagoyo.
But having said that, I think that some BrickHeadz are more interesting than others and that is basically those that have more detail and more creative use of parts, like this Joker, Black Widow, or Captain Jack Sparrow. Most of the others just look too flat/undetailed/similar imho.
I think the BrickHeadz MOCs in the "anatomy" article by Huw or in the link posted by @nutzerle show much more of the creative potential in the concept. Just look at that Greedo for example to see what I mean.
This one is my favorite of the first wave of brickheads. I might buy it.
I loooooooooooooove..........HIS EYES!
Love The Hair Man.
Why does he have ears?
@yellost I myself have used Galidor parts in MOCS! And I will probably find a way to use printed BHz parts. Of course true creativity can overcome any barrier. But it is still legitimate to assess whether official sets and lines themselves, by their nature, promote or hinder certain aspects of creativity. Mixels was very pro-creativity, and BHz is the opposite.
@ninjagoyo I do agree on the much more creative aspect to the mixels but I have to disagree with you on the brickheadz. The approach is completely different. In one you have the most outrageously crazy design imaginable achievable with a variety of parts while the other needs you to get a very recognizable look while sticking to a set of design constraints. So yes, in a way, they are more hindered in that you can't really do whatever you want but it isn't really the goal either. I really find them no less creative in their making, just completely different. (I honestly would never have thought of comparing them to the mixels if you hadn't brought it up).
@ninjagoyo: It's worth noting that BrickHeadz and Mixels were aimed at very different audiences. Mixels was 6+, BrickHeadz are 10+. So the latter is targeted at more of a teen and adult collector's market.
However, I don't think BrickHeadz are anti-creativity at all. As soon as you learn the BrickHeadz standard there's nothing stopping you from creating your own models to go with them, and in fact the Brickheadz VR app that recently came out for Google Daydream has a major emphasis on mixing and matching different non-branded BrickHeadz characters or free-building your own digital characters and creations.
What would be stopping you is the dependence on printed parts, as I mentioned. And I have never heard of Daydream but after looking it up, I bet the installed base is miniscule. Some obscure VR app is just not relevant to the vast majority of FOLs.
I won't dispute that creativity within the limitations of Bhz is possible. That would be stupid and wrong. But I really think it is far less conducive to creativity for the reasons I have mentioned. And I compare it to Mixels because of the chronology and because of it occupying the "off the wall" slot, you might say, in the lineup that Mixels did, being dramatically different from established categories of sets, "cute", and minifig-free. Also being series-based, and in that sense partaking of the collectibility craze.
And I do think the licensing in and of itself is a creativity killer to a certain extent. Just look at Constraction: Hero Factory and Bionicle invited us to create our own heros and monsters. Now that it's just Star Wars buildables, sure, I still use those parts in MOCs and love the new palette of colors and parts, but I'm not building additional Star Wars figures, because I don't have my own Bossk head or other specialized pieces, etc, that would be needed. I'm just making more Hero Factory MOCs, now with sand yellow.
@Aanchir: funny to read that Mixels were targeted towards kids of 6+, because over here, all I ever saw buying Mixels were AFOLs and MOCers buying them as cheap parts packs. Might have had something to do with the fact that the corresponding TV show was unknown over here.
As for the Brickheadz, I find it interesting that even the review by Jangbricks, who is usually able to find positive things to say about even the dreariest of Lego sets, was more than lacklustre.