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I like Super Hero sets. I think there's a lot of people who do. Well, ok not so much the sets. A lot of people like the minifigures. DC and Marvel Super Heroes sets by LEGO tend to be heavy on lame playsets or jets or bank trucks. There's also a lot of motorcycles. If it's a Batman set, there's almost never anything new. In76053 we get not one, but 2 Motorcycles. I kind of shake my head and try to figure out if it's worth doing a review. Well, let's just see, shall we? REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 76053 Name: Batman: Gotham City Cycle Chase Theme: DC Super Heroes Parts: 224 Price: $19.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At 19.99 the price per piece works out to almost $.09 each. This is on the low side of pricing for a licensed set. There are 3 minifigures. The minifigures are New 52 Harley Quinn, New 52 Batman, and Deadshot. I am not 100% sure, but I think this version of Batman has been seen before. Harley and Deadshot are both new. 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 numbered baggies, a sticker sheet, a comic book, and an instruction book. (I got 2 sticker sheets. I don't know if this is standard or just my good luck.) THE BUILD AND EXECUTION BAG 1: I've not reviewed and Super Hero sets before. I have built them though. I'm not going to let my preconceptions color my writing. I will approach this set with eyes unclouded. So,with that said, I have a weird question. Why on Earth did the designers put a pink brick inside of this build? It disappears completely in very short order, but there it is. It's a color that no one associates with Batman or Harley Quinn. Obviously with the red and blue color scheme, this bike belongs to Harley, I like the alternating Red and blue. It reminds you of her motley. Apparently, Super Hero motorcycles need massively oversized tires. I like the exhaust pipes that you build in here too. Nice use of those pearl gold pieces. It's good to see that Harley's custom bike has headlights. Something I noticed here, The front wheel and the rear wheel are different colors. The tires are different sizes, so the wheels themselves are different sizes. Is this why they are different, or is it a design choice because Harley utilizes multiple colors? I choose to believe that it's due to Harley's color choices. Ok, so the motorcycle is a little boring. It really needs something to make it say Harley Quinn How about a giant Mallet? Harley Quinn is frequently seen with a comically oversized mallet. This mallet can be mounted on the motorcycle either the way I picture it below, so that it can hang out to the side to swat people as she drives by, or on the pin right behind that so that it can swing forward to bonk people that she drives up to. Actually, that's terrible. She just sideswipes people with her mallet. Plus, she can take it off her bike and carry it with her. BAG 2: We just made Harley's bike, so it must be time to build Batman's Batcycle. First though, we have to build up Deadshot's stuff. Hey, look, a jetpack! Does Batman have a jetpack? Now, we make Deadshot's Rocket Launcher. Uhm, at least the stud shooter is almost disguised. According to the LEGO Movie, Batman only builds stuff in black and really really dark grey. Apparently with a nice pink base. I've made Batcycles before. this one is a little weird. Apparently Batman doesn't like to sit? I guess he wants to feel like he is flying just like Superman. I like the hint of a monster engine hiding under the black. No idea what that's supposed to be. Portable spot light? Rocket booster? Bat crock pot? Batman's got massive tires. You know what they say about big tires, right? Yup, you need big wheels. Both of Batman's wheels are black. I'm really curious how Batman in a prone position can see over that gigantic tire. Rear wheel matches front wheel. You hear that Harley Quinn? Batman's got tail lights. Some of the tail lights are also stud shooters mounted on a swivel. There are also clips on the stud shooter piece that allow you to put Batman's accessories away as he drives. REACTION I liked this set. I didn't love it. The 2 motorcycles make more sense than a drag racer or a submarine or a mech suit. Both of these vehicles come off nicely and don't look totally goofy. The minifigures are spectacular, and they had better be. No one buys these sets for the sets. Harley Quinn is a perfectly deranged looking clown in a bodice. She's got printed legs. I wish that her hair and legs had been molded in 2 colors. She also has a 2 sided head. Deadshot has printed arms. He's got a ton of parts to make up his accessories. Batman is Batman. Nothing new,kind of bored of getting Batmen. FINAL THOUGHTS: Collectors are probably as tired of getting the same Batman constantly as I am. The motorcycles are nothing spectacular. They're highly unlikely to draw attention to this set. With SUper Heroes sets, you're drawn to the minifigures. Here, we have 2 unique minifigures. Harley and Deadshot are important characters to the Suicide Squad. Later this year LEGO is releasing a set with Killer Croc and Boomerang and another one with Katana. That's a pretty significant way to having the movie characters. If that movie gets a significant amount of attention and spawns a sequel, these sets will be must haves. The biggest problem that I have with the future value of this set is that it is Minifigure driven. If knockoffs flood the market with these unique figures, it will be an anchor that drags this set down. If LEGO reissues Harley or Deadshot in this version, it's pretty much dead. Best case scenario is if this set goes the route of Ant-Man. We'd see people scrambling to catch up. Don't bank on unexpected 6 month retirements though. Go get it on Amazon! EXTRA PARTS:

I am not a little girl. I know that may come as a surprise to some. I have never built a LEGO Friends, Elves or Princess set, but I have helped my daughter build a couple. With that in mind, I asked my little girl to help me with this set. I thought it might be valuable to get the insight of the target market for the Water Dragon Adventure set. She was excited to help me, and her younger sister tried to "help" as well. So, in this review, we're going to take a look at the stuff that interested a 6 year old girl about this set designed for 7 year old girls. Is LEGO doing a good job reaching their target audience? REVIEW: SET DETAILS Set #: 41172 Name: The Water Dragon Adventure Theme: Elves Parts: 212 Price: $19.99 Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At 19.99 the price per piece works out to a bit over $.09 each. There is 1 minifigure. (Probably because the main part of the build is a dragon) The minifigure is some elf that I don't know the name of. It's times like this where I try to decide if the ppp is a good metric. 2 (or 3) wings and a dragon head probably throw off the part count as far as the number crunchers at LEGO are concerned. 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 numbered baggies, wings, a head in a bag, stickers and an instruction book. I do not know if 3 wings are standard or if I just lucked out. BUILD AND EXECUTION Bag 1: I asked my daughter to do the building so that I could see what kind of trouble she ran into. The main body is a blocky shape with several angles jutting off of it to give the impression of roundness. The towball is where your tail will mount to. The first sticker is applied on the dragon's rear. Each tail segment has a smaller sticker. My 6 year old had some difficulty getting the ball and socket joints to snap together. Is this just my daughter or is it too much friction for your standard little girl? I was curious about the bow/flipper combo on the top of this dragon's head. My older daughter didn't really care, but the 3 year old was very upset when the bow was not on the head. To me, the legs seem stiff and in need of one more joint, but the 6 year old liked the shape and was happy when she saw what looked like legs to her. 2 more legs. 2 more feet, I stepped in to finish those as it was getting close to bed time. With the wings, this dragon doesn't look bad. it's a little simplistic and cutesy, but both of my girls were very happy with it. This one spits water? BAG 2: Time to make the part padding other stuff from this set. First you make 3 round things. I don't know what they represent, but you make them and then move on to building a crystal island. I will say this for the part selection here. There are a lot of translucent pieces. My daughters both love the translucent pieces. They try to steal them from every set I get. This set had a lot and that made them happy. I really have no idea why there is a catapult here. My kids think it is used to feed the dragon. are the elf and dragon enemies? is there someone else flinging plants at them for some reason? who knows. There's an obligatory brush and a crystal heart. Is that a cookie in the clam shell? I don't understand this island thing. I really don't understand why there's a set of golden binoculars hidden here. The elf has a map, is this the treasure she was seeking? REACTION: For me, the dragon was cute. The price wasn't bad. I'm not upset at the cost of this set, and the time we spent building it wasn't terribly long. I guess that just goes to show that it's a simplistic build. The island perplexes me. I can see similar set dressing in Star Wars and Super Hero sets. They are there to add value to a smaller simpler build. I wish they had put the parts and time into making the dragon more complex. My daughter completely loved it. From the dragon, to the minidoll, to the island made out of "shiny" pieces, it spoke her language. In her case, at least, LEGO hit the right notes and she wanted to sleep with it. (She didn't.) The minidoll has some nice print on the torso and the face. The back is completely plain. I can understand why long term LEGO fans don't want to have these mixed in with their minifigure collections. They are just awkward standing beside a regular minifig. I don't think that there's anything inherently wrong with these figures. If LEGO decides to make a few Super Hero or Star Wars characters in this style, I just might get them and place them on a separate shelf. FINAL THOUGHTS: It seems like the Elves line isn't the most popular expansion of the LEGO brand. The dragons in this series seem to be an attempt to bring vitality to the brand. To my eye, they are more striking than whatever else they've been doing in the Elves line (except maybe that Pegasus sleigh.) If anything is going to turn this theme around, it's stuff like this. I think that at some point, collectors of dragons will circle back around to these sets. They're never going to be yuuuuge money makers, but I feel like there is some money to be made. Don't rush into these, but I'd pick them up on clearance. Grab it on Amazon! EXTRA PIECES: Was I supposed to get a third wing? I have no idea. It seems like way too big a piece to be a standard extra.