I adore the Dark Knight movies, but somehow the Batmobile Tumbler from those films never appealed to me much. I prefer the massive fins and entirely impractical wheel base on the 1980’s design, but the military looking Tumbler has its own fanbase, so let’s have a look at this set that was gifted by LEGO for us to review.

LEGO has released 9 Batmobile Tumblers since 2008, based on various renditions from the Dark Knight trilogy movies. You have plenty of choice when looking for a scale model (or even full sized replica) of this vehicle, so it makes sense that LEGO makes sure there is one available on the shelves most of the time. The latest rendition that is still available is 76303 Batman Tumbler vs. Two-Face & The Joker which is roughly minifigure sized, where this latest edition, is a Technic version, that can be remote controlled, containing 719 pieces retailing for AU$ 329.99, £169.99, US$189.99, €189.99.

There are three things you can expect from the description on the box.

1. It is a Batmobile Tumbler
2. It is a remote control vehicle
3. It is a LEGO set

Read on, while we investigate how this set scores on each of these aspects.

Does it look like a Batmobile Tumbler?

Consider the appearance of the movie tumbler first. Very characteristic for this vehicle are the straight angles. It clearly served as some inspiration for the cybertruck, and it reminds me a bit of the 1980’s stealth fighter F117 Nighthawk.

Now compare with this Technic rendition. I am surprised that the Technic parts are just too round! LEGO is known to be jagged and angular, which should suit this vehicle very well, but the use of Technic panels and beams (that all contain curves) misses the jagged, almost fierce, appearance of the original.

Then there are the massive holes in the frame, not uncommon with Technic. These holes detract a lot from the ‘bullet proof’ appearance of the vehicle, and these downsides are not compensation with any adjustable decorations; the hole thing is a pretty stiff construction. So as far as appearance goes that is a strike for me. Let’s see how the vehicle fairs in the other categories.

Batmobile-in-a-box

Not a lot of bags, a few stickers, two boxes with control hub and some wheels.

Is it a good remote control vehicle?

At time of writing I am not able to fully answer this question, and this annoys me. And a LEGO set that annoys me cannot be a good thing. Let me clarify; this tumbler is controlled with the LEGO Control+ app, and it currently does not have a configuration available for this set. “No matter” I hear myself thinking, “I will just use a generic control panel to try it out”. And that is where it goes wrong. The LEGO Technic Control+ app does not support a generic control panel, or the ability to create your own control panel so I have to wait until LEGO decides to update their app before I can run the vehicle as intended.

When I try to use the configuration of some other recently released sets with the same hub inside, such as the Porsche GT4, or the Lamborghini Revuelto it doesn’t work and it doesn’t make sense to me intially. They all have 4 wheels and front wheel steering and head- and tail-lights. Why would they not work the same? It turns out, because these other vehicles each have one of the motors at the back of the hub connected to one of the wheels. This means that to drive forward, one side rotates clockwise and the other rotates counter-clockwise. Not so in the Batmobile. The two motors are connected to each other with a gear in the middle that connects to the rear differential. This means that, for the Batmobile, the rear motors need to move in the same direction or they will try to fight each other.

When driving the gears using the Lamborghini profile, they turn in opposite directions so the rear wheels would not move. This is easy to fix by disconnecting one motor, and then, using only 1 motor, you can drive the Batmobile.

[42239 Batmobile Tumbler Driving(HD).MP4]

This is a long-winded way of saying I am annoyed that I cannot open a general panel in the app to drive each of the motors separately. Or turn lights on and off. What if I want to use the this hub for my own configuration? What if I want to use it to drive an excavator? Or flap the wings of a dragon? Why does LEGO not allow me to play with this hub any way I see fit?

Fast forward a few weeks, and the update arrived (2 days before the set is to be released). As soon as I tried to connect to the vehicle, a warning came up highlighting that using the wrong configuration could lead to damage. Exactly because of the issue I highlighted above; the possibility of having two motors directly connected to each other and trying to move in opposite directions. This annoys me (again!) because it is not that difficult to detect this situation with a quick self-test. Do better LEGO!

If I push myself past my annoyances, it is kind of fun to drive the Batmobile. It is not too fast, has a nice turning circle and it struggles a bit with obstacles like a door threshold. The control panel has a ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ mode, and there is a boost that sends the Batmobile off at high speed with the rear ‘flame’ lit.

Speaking of lights; the vehicle has headlights that can be switched on and off, but it also has green ‘lights’ at the front and rear that stay stubbornly off, when driving around, until I engaged a game mode where I got attacked by the Joker at which time the vehicle started shaking and the green lights flickering. A bit of a gimmick and I would love to be able to trigger the green lights myself! I don’t want LEGO to tell me how to play!

Considering the price of this set, I cannot say this is particularly good value for a remote control vehicle. For this budget you can buy a VERY good quality remote control car that is able to zoom at 10x speed, jump ramps or even achieve wheelies. Outside. In the dirt. I can wholeheartedly recommend that experience, but this set does NOT provide that experience.

Strike two.

Is it a good LEGO set?

There are 7 bags of parts in this set containing 719 parts, which is fewer that the AU$ 99 sets we reviewed recently, and I would consider those mid-sized.

What makes up a Batmobile?

There are relatively few new parts in this set. A few notable new ones are the front wheels (I had expected the rear to be unusual because they are so iconinc on the film vehicle, but it turns out the front ones are new to LEGO. There are also a few new small panels, that have the characteristic rounded/curved shape of Technic, which is exactly why this Batmobile looks a bit too round.

All the parts are splashed out for your entertainment below:

How to assemble a Batmobile?

The build commences with a crab like front with wheel mounts facing inwards, a remarkable design feature of the tumbler. If you’re naughty like me you can fire up your controller app and see the steering in action already at this stage, which very satisfying. There are several beams at not-quite-straight angles that made the think something was off, but this is actually an elegant way of creating the front structure capturing the odd angles of the tumbler.

The next part adds the sides of the tumbler which is almost boring compared to the odd angles and movement of the front.

But luckily the rear has some unusual angles and connections again, especially where the fiber optic cable is fitted. A part I would not recognise as a LEGO part outside this context.

The internal frame of the batmobile is now complete and all the lights are connected. Running some quick tests is promising, but as I mentioned earlier when using the ‘official’ controller these lovely green lights rarely come into effect.

The front ‘mandibles’ of the tumbler are created with angled parts that are only connected on one side and then ‘jammed’ by sliding another piece over them (slide through the images below). This is a clever ‘cheat’ that I would struggle with in my own builds; but I admit it is very efficient.

Considering how small this build is, there are a surprising number of nice techniques presented due to the unusual angles of the vehicle. A lot of ‘off grid’ building is used creating studs and holes at any angle or direction. See below an example how the tapered roof has an edge added to connect other parts.

I also encountered several steps in the instructions that will make it difficult to disassemble unless you know how it was put together, as seen in this step where the bent beams have been added and another part is rotated in the space underneath so that they cannot disconnect any more. Great examples for sturdy building that is often reserved for the biggest Technic sets.

With the roof in place the vehicle is all but complete. Only some rear wings and wheels need to be added.

And that brings us to the complete Batmobile Tumbler. The build experience was surprisingly satisfying. Some new tricks I had not seen before with other vehicles, or at least not remembered, gave me the feeling I had learned something. But by the end it absolutely does not feel like a AU$300 experience.

This means that as a LEGO set it is not exactly strike three, but it’s a fumble at least.

‘Sometimes the truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more’

With regards to the three aspects mentioned at the start we do not have a pretty picture. It is a Batmobile Tumbler, but it doesn’t look very good. It is a remote control vehicle, but it only achieves a ‘cheap’ experience. It is a LEGO set but it is quite basic for the price. You do get a little bit of each of these things, and the price of admission for each of these things individually is not worth it. Adding all three together still does not raise the value proposition enough to be worth it. It would have been better if it had chosen a clearer simpler identity.

If you want a Batmobile Tumbler I suggest looking at 76303 Batman Tumbler vs. Two-Face & The Joker. For remote control, do a web-search and be amazed at what you can buy for this kind of money (there are a couple of well respected brands). For a good LEGO set, you don’t need to look far to find better value for money with great build experience. I cannot give this more than 2 out of 5 arbitrary praise units.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!