OUTSIDE THE BOX LEGO REVIEW: DC Super Heroes Clash of Heroes #76044

[thoroakenfelder]

I picked up this set and put it down in the store so many times, I just can't recall. Nothing about it made me want to build it or own it. Clash of the Heroes was not speaking to me. One day I thought of something that amused me. I decided that if I was going to do it, instead of describing the building process, I would tell a story and put the pictures in reverse order to tell it. You'll still see the build in steps, but I'm not going to give my thoughts about each little chunk. I'll give you my reaction at the end of the review like I normally do. For now, I ask your indulgence as I play with my LEGO a little bit.

To differentiate this from the more serious reviews this (and any others like it) will have an "OUTSIDE THE BOX" title.

REVIEW: SET DETAILS
Set #: 76044
Name: Clash of the Heroes
Theme: DC Super Heroes
Parts: 92
Price: $12.99

It's sort of interesting, sort of sad that there's a $3 markup on these licensed sets over the unlicensed counterparts. 92 pieces including 2 minifigures for $12.99 seems a bit on the pricy side to me. 

BOX CONTENTS

Some people may wind up picking up a set that is open box or, want to verify the box contents before beginning a build. For this set, there are 2 unnumbered baggies, a plate, a single sticker and an instruction book.

BUILD AND EXECUTION: (to see the build in order, you kind of have to look at these pictures in reverse)

"Hey Bruce, just came by to pick up that DVD I loaned you and . . . Hey, is that Kryptonite?"

"Hey Superjerk, stop taking my stuff apart!"

"Kryptonite weakens me!"

"Yeah, I can tell."

"You're so inconsiderate keeping your Kryptonite out when I come to  visit. I'm taking back the Bat mirror I bought you as a friendship gift."

"I'm gonna give you one chance to put all that stuff back."

"I need to fold this stuff around the Kryptonite to protect myself."

"It's weird how much I hate guns, yet I keep these things everywhere."

"All I wanted was my Dances with Wolves DVD back."

"Hang on, I've got something for you. . . Let's see, Tab A into Slot B . . ."

"Catch!"

"Your turn jerkwad! I was going to loan you Driving Miss Daisy next."

"Here hold this for me."

"Man, all my stuff is messed up. I can never keep nice stuff with you around."

"Heh heh heh, I just remembered, I loaned that disc to Aquaman. My bad."

"Superdunce."

REACTION:

Even though I started off with no enthusiasm for this set, I still went into it with the intention of being fair and balanced. Spending all of the extra time to think of a story with these 2 gave me a chance to play with the toy in a way that most adult collectors aren't going to, but some kids might. I can appreciate that the kids might like the flick missile bat shield or the shove bar in the back. Those didn't do a lot for me though. So, apart from the play features that I didn't like or want, we've got a small, uninspired platform. I can't tell if the railing in front was a turret or just a railing with cannons. Regardless, it stays on very poorly. I couldn't get Batman to 2 hand his bazooka, which would disappoint kids.

Since most people are only getting this set for the minifigures, let's look at them. The minifigures look good. Both of them are unique.

Superman's only slightly different from the version in 76046. In this version he does not have red boots. To me, that makes his plain blue pants stand out. Unique, in this case, is not better. His hair and torso are shared with the other BvS Superman. The hair is molded in a different color for Captain America in the Black Panther Pursuit. The head is shared with Dimensions Superman and Hyperion from the Avenjet set. His cape is the spongey softer fabric being used recently. The torso and head have printing on both sides. All in all, despite the plain legs, a successful figure.

Batman is entirely new. Every single piece of the figure is new and even most of his accessories are unique in some way. The head is painted to look like a balaclava which is so much better than the previous sweatband version from most older sets. It's got printing on both sides grim and angry-grim (angrim?) It's also cast in glow in the dark plastic so that the eyes will glow. That seems like a lot of plastic for 2 tiny angrim pinholes. The torso has some fantastic printing on both sides that is almost entirely obscured by the armor and the cape. At least when Johnny and his friends lose the accessories, he'll still look like armored Batman. The leg printing is nice and detailed, I guess being a billionaire, he can afford leg printing. The cowl is the older version, which I guess works best for the armored look. It's never been released in this color. The armor seems a little plain. I guess they wanted to have the option to use it for other characters later on, so no bat symbol. It's got 2 attachment points in back. His cape is a simplified version of the Batman cape. Since it doesn't have to wrap around his shoulders, it only has one neck hole. The top 1/3 is covered by the armor. The cape is also the stiffer cloth that I thought they moved away from. His other accessories are a standard stud shooter, a batarang molded in light silver, that cool little grappling hook launcher that's pretty new and a light grey grappling hook. Batman is far and away the star of this set.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This set is common as dirt and it's cheap. Every little Jimmy is going to easily be able to afford this one or get it as a gift from a well meaning (but cheap) friend or relative. It has a lot of kid appeal, 2 major Super Heroes and a neat little Batsignal. Will future collectors respond to it and need to get this set? I feel like it is bound to do better than the disappointing Metropolis Showdown. The exclusive Batman is bound to see to that.

I don't really feel like this set is going to take any major jumps on the aftermarket. This is definitely the cheapest way to get these 2 iconic heroes, and I fear that it will always be. If you can get a significant discount on this set, it's going to hold value and appeal to people who still want a cheap Bat/Supes set. I'm thinking that the upper limit of this set cannot be above $17.99.

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EXTRA PIECES:

You get an extra silver batarang, which is cool. I know I can't be the only one that has no use for an extra stud shooter trigger. I mean I get so many sets with stud shooters, I have more extras than I can count (mostly because I throw them in a big bin full of all the small extra pieces and try to forget them.)

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[Deanfjr]

I so agree with your phrase: "I picked up this set and put it down in the store so many times" I have done the same thing. I have considered picking it up for the kid, but we have so much Batman Lego, and he is not crazy for superman. Although the 2 mini figures are sharp looking, the new bat signal carries appeal to me for our Jr. Batcave and hey who doesn't want a glow in the dark head for Batman? So for the $10 for those 3 items it seems fair, but I always seem to do the pick it up, look at it, and put it back on the shelf and keep moving...

Ps. Nice review I enjoyed the character commentary, lets see some new Ninjago set reviews!

[thoroakenfelder]

I'm going to do a poll later this week to see what people think about this kind of thing.

[jeff_14]

Whatever one's views of the film this set is based on (and I loved it BTW), this will likely be the only way you can ever get this version of Batman based on the iconic Dark Knight Returns comic. This figure will always be wanted by AFOLs with any exposure to comics.

[onehapppydogstl]

I was hoping the dish for the bat signal would be translucent in order to accommodate an LED from behind.  :-(

[TheOrcKing]

"All I wanted was my Dances with Wolves DVD back." This really made me laugh for no good reason. Haha. Oh, and I read Batman in Will Arnett's LEGO Movie voice. Also great "reverse-review" format; very unique.