lego: the lego batman movie - the scuttler

I've had The Scuttler from The Lego Batman Movie sitting on top of my linen cupboard since about March 2017.

It wasn't that I didn't want to put it together, it's just that it looked like it was going to be a massive set, and I really didn't have the room for it.

But then this week happened... and honestly, I needed something else to occupy my mind.

So I got it down and wiped the dust off the top edge of it.

Like with many Lego sets and many other things for children, the whole thing could probably have fit comfortably into a box about half the six. Two thirds the size certainly.

And I do love a Lego set with many numbered bags, seven large bags, and most of them also contained at least one additional bag for the very small parts. As well as a magazine-sized set of instructions.

I mostly did some casual knolling... less rigorous than I've done in the past. It was more what I'd call functional knolling rather than aesthetic knolling. I've often wondered why they don't just put all of the minifigures in the first bag, especially on a set with so many, but for once only dealt with them as the bags came up.

This first bag also comes with Lego Batman (because of course) and Dick Grayson in his sparkly powder blue tuxedo jacket. If memory serves, it may have been better to put Dick in his Robin duds. But I know Lego likes to do the whole "exclusive to this set" thing, and I think this was the only casual Dick outside of the minifigure series.

The first bag was what I assume was the cockpit of the Scuttler (surprise, turns out it was actually the cargo hold). I do love a set with some good Technic connectors (all those blue and grey pieces), and the angle plates for some good old SNOT (Studs Not On Top) building.

The jetpack is kind of ridiculous, Batman doesn't stand up in it very well, his cape gets in the way and it's very grey rather than being black or very dark grey. There also isn't anything that tells you that it will fit pretty comfortably into the cargo hold. It might have been nicer if there was a way to properly secure it there, but at least it looks good once it's in.

The second bag finishes off the cargo hold, adds in the slightly temperamental net launcher (as in the net flies out if you so much as tap the cannon, and it's not secure if you angle to cannon much beyond the horizontal).

However this bag also contains the Poison Ivy and Commissioner Gordon in his dress uniform minis. And while I'm not a huge fan of Ivy's thornmobile (or the fact that in large sets like this they usually throw in a very small and often not well thought out or secure secondary vehicle... this at least feels thematically appropriate), she does have a gorgeous minifig otherwise.

The third bag held the last of the minifigs, The Joker with his very long tailcoat and Barbara Gordon in her bullet proof vest. Also, one of the "biceps" of the vehicle.

I've said before that I really, really love the design of the Joker in the Lego Batman Movie Universe, so much so that I have at least five different versions of him (Brickheadz, Lowrider minifig, Vacation minifig, this version and my minifig torch). I do love finally having one with the ridiculous tailcoat. I also really like the design of the hairpiece for Barbara, as well as the vest. The fact there's no design on the "t-shirt" under it isn't a huge issue, but they could easily have thrown another GCPD logo on there.

Part of the "but why" I came across while building this is the fact that you build the bicep at the front, then the fourth bag contains the two back legs... before you build the other bicep, which makes the whole thing sit all wonky-like, which just irritates me.

I can't say that I was especially impressed with the stickers in this set. Putting them on clear plastic was a good idea in theory and some of them look great, however they don't go on totally clearly, and honestly, for most of them black backgrounds would have just been better.

At last, bag five, and we get to add the other "bicep", as well as possibly one of the coolest Lego elements I've come across in a while, those black tubes. I don't think they're the same as the ones in the R2D2 set, these feel like they'll stay where they're placed better.

I also love the phone handsets as lights. And those "hydraulic tubes" on the outside.

A little difficult to take a good photo of bag 6's parts in situ, but here we have the front legs. Or at least the first half of them. Weirdly, given how quickly they came together, and how strange they look out of context, I like how these ended up looking.

I also managed to put the legs in place without firing the little stud cannons all over the place. I can guarantee I won't remember that later and I will lose studs. But the model does come with a lot of extras for that very reason.

The final bag held the "claws" in front, the decorative moulding on both forearms and the massive extentions at the top.

Also the very bat-like head. Which, when it was finished, was about the point that I suddenly realised which way around the thing pointed.

Overall, I really like it... it was super weird in the movie and it's super weird as a model. It's placing all of it's weight on those two grey cheese wedges on the back feet and one corner of those "claws" at the front. And if you extend the arms all the way out, it very much feels like it could fall apart with the least amount of provocation (and yes, I could pose it with flattened claws and feet, but that doesn't feel as bat-like).

I do love that pulling the arms and legs in gives it this werebat/ape/mech vibe. Because I do love me a Lego mech.

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photo saturday: lego space marines

I have most of a face again.

The lower lid on my right eye works again properly, my forehead emotes and everything, basically I'm kind of at the same stage now as I was when I woke up originally the day this whole Bell's Palsy thing happened. I can't quite make all of my mouth do what it's supposed to, but it's coming along nicely.

Yay.

After having grabbed a couple of plywood "trays" from Lincraft a couple of weeks back, and then having used the leftover stain from my bedside table project (based on, but not identical to this one) back when I moved into the Wellington Square apartment last week, this week I put three coats of varnish on it (leftover from the same project) and actually sanded it back between (something I didn't do with the bedside table) and then lined it with purple felt (well, the small one I totally lined, bottom and sides, the other I just did the bottom), so now I have a pretty good looking dice box that splits into two possible dice trays (or dice storage and a dice tray).

And yeah, I know I made a dice tray the little while back with a photo frame, but the base of that was a bit wonk and the dice continually rolled into the corners. It was pretty though.

But the new one is very cool. Problem being I don't have a way to keep it shut right now. And it takes up more room than my pencil case. But it's pretty. And I'll use it eventually.

Also, I have a fuckton of dice. Not really news, but seeing it in a different container kind of reinforces the idea.

Anyway, rewinding... I made a metric fuckton of chilli for dinners this week. I thought that perhaps I wouldn't have enough meat or whatever, but no... I had more than enough, between the beef and the pork and the canned beans and the corn and almost every can or jar of tomato in the house... it made tons.

I will say that I think possibly the "chilli powder" I made up with things that I had in the house the first time I made chilli this season was better than the packet stuff I used this time. I'll have to experiment with that again to be sure though.

Tuesday morning I got out of the shower to discover a giant spider (relatively speaking) just chilling on the edge of the sink. Definitely an instance where clothes are vastly superior to standing there in a towel. But I got him into an empty Nutella container and let him go outside.

Wednesday was DnD day, the day game was... fine. As it seems is always the case, it took us a long while to get our collective act together (which is at least partially also a DM issue, but whadyagunnado), and then a big giant battle. And maybe I did a bad thing at the end by using a spell that still had like 9 minutes left on it to stir up the area, wake up a bunch of bad guys and set us up for who knows what next week.

The night game was... not our usual game. Our DM wasn't available for... reasons (I dunno, and honestly, at this point, I don't really care), so I put forward the option of playing here at my place with me running, but we ended up going to one of the other people's place and her husband ran, which he's done before. It also meant that we got to play the characters who have been together since level 1 about two years ago. And they're now level 15 at the end of Wednesday's game.

It was nice to visit with those characters honestly... they have a very different relationship than the Out of the Abyss characters we've been playing for the last year and a bit. They are beasts though... but they've been beasts pretty much since the beginning. It has always been a good mix of abilities (and people for the most part) to be honest.

Friday I had my chiro appointment, which I was very much in need of. And I had a wander around town for a bit.

Today was, unsurprisingly, yet again, not much of anything.

Given that the weather is going to be warmer next week (urgh), I won't be making soup... I mean I could have, but I'm not gunna. Instead I've bought a bunch of chicken and I'm going to probably do a big oven baked chicken breast thing on Monday night, then invent variations throughout the week. I forsee a disaster by about Thursday... Wednesday at the earliest.

The supermarket was supermarkety... then we came back here, killed a bunch of time and ended up going into the city again for random wandering (I swear, we're going to have an actual plan and do an actual thing next week).

On a related note, fucking Christmas decorations are now available in the shops. As much as I think that Australia shouldn't be trying to do Halloween, there shouldn't be Christmas decorations in the shops until AFTER Halloween. It's like hot cross buns... they shouldn't be in the shops in January. But I acknowledge in both cases that it's a losing battle. And I'm also part of the problem because I at the very least look at the decorations as soon as I encounter them.

Mostly because there is some fucking tasteless tat out there in the world, even in the more expensive stores. Plus the amount of Scandinavian inspired animals, mythology and iconography of late is just weird. Not to mention everything having way too much glitter.

And nothing says "Christmas" like an iridescent crystal (clear plastic) lobster...

That's it really...

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movies: the lego movie 2

First there was The Lego Movie... then The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie... and now we have The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

It's hard to make a sequel live up to the original... it usually falls into a few cliches like characters you really loved from the first movie not getting anywhere near enough screen time (usually because they break up the team in some way to create tension) and the whole thing not feeling quite as fresh or as focused or being able to wow you in the same way.

But if you're lucky they do manage to find that same emotional vein.

That pretty much sums up The Lego Movie 2.

Having seen four of these movies at this point, I know they're going to be as pretty as hell, I know they're going to be dropping pop culture references left, right and centre, I know they're going to make me laugh, and at some point I'm going to look at something in the movie and want it as an actual Lego set.

Possibly because of the reveal that all of this was "happening" in the imagination of The Boy/Finn in "the real world" in the first movie (and I liked that Jadon Sand returned to play the older Finn), you can't do that type of reveal again in the sequel... I mean they did a bit, but it was pretty obvious all the way through what was going on... and this movie's version of "Kraggle" is a little too on the nose.

Doubly so because the end of the first movie sets up that the supposed antagonist of this movie is Finn's sister, or rather her Lego/Duplo creations.

Having said all of that, this movie still got to a place that made me emotional... and I don't even have a sibling. I also appreciated that while it was mostly a "don't try and grow up too quickly" message (which you could say is Lego trying to ensure that they keep their target consumers interested for as long as possible if you wanted to be cynical), it managed to take a swipe at toxic masculinity in a clever and age appropriate way for the movie's intended audience.

I'm a little torn between wishing we had a clearer resolution to the conflict between brother and sister, but I also appreciate that it didn't go the overly earnest and a little too twee on repeat viewings route of the father/son conflict from the first movie.

I did wish that they're included more Benny and Unikitty in this movie though... they're leaning a little too heavily on the Lego Batman crutch right now (unsurprising since he's probably super popular in the target demographic, and he had a whole movie of his own), and while I love the way Will Arnett plays him, I do like Benny and Unikitty a WHOLE lot more. My "want that as a Lego set" was pretty quickly sated by Unikitty's transformation into Ultrakatty (which I already knew was a set to be honest).

Of the additions to this movie, I do like Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (voiced by Tiffany Haddish) the most, especially since she basically turns her parts of the movie into a musical (particularly her first number, "Not Evil"... which may possibly be my theme song from here on out).

Speaking of... I do love this movie's attempt at the amazingness that was "Everything is Awesome"... and within the confines of the movie I did love the appropriately named "Catchy Song" (which should really be subtitled "This Song's Gunna Get Stuck Inside Your Head")... but it doesn't quite measure up.

I will say that the idea that the "forces" in the movie representing Finn's younger sister having a bright poppy song in their arsenal that is equally irritating and earwormy makes perfect sense considering Finn is now 14 or 15 (Sands is currently 15, so it makes sense they're basically the same age). It also explains all the glitter.

Overall I think that while this movie doesn't live up to the original, it is definitely higher on my list than the Batman and Ninjago versions respectively. And it manages to be greater than the sum of it's parts.

yani's rating: 4 dolphin clocks out of 5

movies: the lego ninjago movie

I will freely admit that when I first heard that there was going to be a Lego Ninjago Movie I scoffed and said "yeah, so not seeing that".

Even after the amazingness that was The Lego Movie, I wasn't particularly sold... then came The Lego Batman Movie, which was also great. Somewhere along the way I relented, because, really, these movies have a good track record so far.

And The Lego Ninjago Movie is... okay. I mean it's not bad. It's gorgeous to look at, but it just doesn't feel like it lives up to the level of the previous two movies.

Starting with the good stuff though...

This movie looks sensational. Everything that made the previous two movies look good, this movie ramps up to about 300. I will say that I do miss the "everything is made of Lego" aesthetic from the first movie though... where water and smoke and cloud and just about everything else is made of Lego.

However I get why that doesn't always feel practical, or always make sense for the movie. And there's very little about the visuals of this movie that don't feel refined and polished. The water effects alone... amazing. There are literally scenes where I would swear that they filmed practically, even though I know they couldn't have. Even the (mild, if you haven't seen the commercials for the movie this may be news to you, spoilers) giant cat that appears about halfway through feels organic and real, and I really don't know how much of it is practical versus CGI, but my thought it that all those scenes are about 50/50.

The voice acting is solid too... there's no particular stand-outs, but by the same token, nobody's voice really sticks out as "hey it's that person from that thing"... well, except Jackie Chan, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I also loved the way they did the opening titles, in that old Kung-Fu movie style... it sets up the world nicely and throws you into mindset of the world right away. And while the closing song is no "Everything is Awesome", it is nicely bizarre.

The opening and closing of the movie are a little... m'eh to be honest. I know what they were going for, setting up a Lego Movie/Neverending Story/Karate Kid kind of vibe, but honestly the two parts of the story (the kid feeling excluded from his friends in the real world and Lloyd's story within the movie) don't really interlock in the way that they probably should. Also, frontloading the idea of the real world into the movie just feels weird for some reason.

Maybe it will go over great with their actual target audience, pre-teen boys, but personally I think the movie would have been stronger without it. I also feel like it may have just been that since they had Jackie Chan in their movie they wanted him to do real life Jackie Chan stuff, so that gets crammed into the front of the movie (my suspicion for this stems mostly from the fact that they use outtakes of that one quick scene at the end of the movie, so clearly it was important to them). Also speaking of their target audience, this is much more a property that they will be aware of and care about, as it's relatively new in the Lego timeline and doesn't have a lot of nostalgia attached to it.

Overall, story is really not this movie's strongest asset. Compared to the other two it just feels a bit lackluster... it doesn't seem as funny, or as moving, or any of that. Which, again, doesn't mean that it's bad, it's enjoyable and has the odd laugh at times, it just doesn't compare favourably when you put it up against its predecessors.

It also did what a lot of "superhero team" movies tend to do, fail to give anybody but the "lead" character anything resembling a personality or any kind of backstory/development. Yes, we get a little bit about each of them, but they're more background to Lloyd and his story. If you were to compare it to something like Big Hero 6 for example, which is possibly the closest tonally, that team each have something unique and ongoing about their character and they each get moments later in the movie to shine. Ninjago gives each character half a line of character and an element and leaves it at that. And they don't even seem to have very much of a relationship to either each other or to Lloyd. There is literally a moment towards the end of the second act where all of the other characters are essentially shoved offscreen so the two leads can have a conversation.

Yes, the fact that Garmadon, the bad guy, and Lloyd are father and son and have a complicated relationship that isn't the typical "good guy stops the bad guy" storyline from this style of movie is to be applauded, as is the fact that they team up in a fairly friction-less way. It's just disappointing that it lacks the emotional impact it really needed to go from okay to great.

It's clear that while the previous two Lego movies were catering to a much wider audience, this one seems to know exactly who it's audience is and has tailored a movie for them. Which is fine, it's just disappointing given that previous outings did all of that and then more.

yani's rating: 3 ninja mechs out of 5

lego: the lego batman movie - the joker notorious lowrider

The Joker's Notorious Lowrider set from The Lego Batman Movie has been sitting on the floor by my bookcase and vaguely mocking me since the middle of March (ie my birthday)... I've intended to put it together a couple of times, but ran out of day.

Turns out that yesterday may not have been the smartest option, as the weather turned dark and dreary and I ended up with some less than stellar photos (annoyingly, if I'd done it today it would have been much better).

It's was a fun build though, and the finished piece is pretty cool looking.

The set contains three bags of parts, with a minifigure per bag, a two volume instruction book and a small set of stickers. And there's a LOT of Joker purple in this set, unsurprisingly (which oddly enough also ends up being the same purple as Batgirl, they match each other fairly well to be honest).

Speaking of the minifigures... The Joker in his short sleeves and Harley in her rollergirl outfit are part of why I love this set so much. I will say that Harley's hair could drive me to distraction because of the ease with which it seems to be dislodged from her head. And the fact that the Joker's flag gun doesn't make a lot of sense since a) it's a megaphone, not a gun and b) they decided that the sticker should be orientated so the text isn't horizontal when it's in the correct position. I almost changed it, but decided against it at the last second... kind of wish I had changed it now as it looks a little stupid.

Also, there's nowhere to put the gun when Joker is in the car, and Harley won't sit in the passenger seat with her rollerskates on. It's the little things, I know, but they do make a difference.

The first bag is the understructure of the Lowrider, along with Batgirl. the majority of this part of the build is tones of grey with some Technic pieces under the vehicle that will hold the wheels and allow the car to "bounce" (more on that later).

It ended up being a little longer than I was expecting... or thinner... but the little details like the zebra print seat covers are a nice touch.

The second bag contains SO! MUCH! PURPLE! And also the Joker minifig.

I'll be honest, this section was the most fun, especially the front and back bumpers and the front grill section... but just the way that pieces are used in a slightly unusual way (ie the bumpers and grills are both SNOT (studs not on top) constructions).

There were also a few places that made no sense until the next bag... mostly the boot of the car.

Also, I think this is the worst shot of the bunch... mostly from the colour perspective.

The final bag was mostly finishing details, along with Ms Quinn.

I do like the golden chicken as the hood ornament detail, the very pimped out wheels (although that's twice now where I've had to turn the wheels from what looks like it should be the finished side). Also, as I mentioned before, the zebra seat covers are just perfect. As is the big clown horn and that fifth wheel on the lid of the trunk.

This is the second LBM set that had rubber bands to create the suspension of the vehicle. In this case it's designed in such a way that you can push down on any of the four corners of the car to activate that suspension independently. My only problem with that is that I don't know if the car is supposed to sit in the raised or lowered position as the default. I think it's supposed to be raised, as the smallest touch of the car makes it spring back to that position, but it's a little odd.

The rear of both the Lowrider and Harley's jacket.

Not seen on the Lowrider is the opening trunk with the two missile launchers controlled by what I though originally were speakers under the back window... what, there's a radio back there, and a bunch of single stud round tiles... and then as you can just see over the back of Joker's seat, the little blue button that launches the missiles.

I also love that everything on Harley alternates, and before I'd even looked at the instructions, I knew that the skates had to go on the opposing colour legs (also why I put her red baseball bat into her black clad arm).

Once again, a final beauty shot... and I do love Harley on the hood of the car in this... I kind of did it by accident, but just loved the way it looked.

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lego: the lego batman movie - killer croc tail-gator

My farewell present from work was The Lego Batman Movie Killer Croc Tail-Gator set... not really surprising when I had Lego minifigures on my desk the whole time I was there... it was a very welcome surprise though. It's also not a set I necessarily would have (or had) bought for myself... but I do love it, and the fact that people knew me well enough to choose it for me makes it even more special.

I was always planning on putting together one of the Lego Batman Movie sets today, although I'd originally planned on the Joker's Lowrider... but it seemed more appropriate to put this one together to be honest.

It was a fun build, and I put on the 1989 Batman movie for some colour and sound while I was building, which was nice.

The set itself came in four bags... five if you include the extra bag that Killer Croc's body came in, along with a set of stickers and two instruction books.

As always, I would have preferred printed tiles to stickers, especially on several of the decorative tiles, but I get why they didn't go that way on some of the other pieces.

The first bag contained the rest of Killer Croc, Batman and his little jetski... so I started with Croc. I haven't had one of these maxifigs before, but I do really like the design of Croc... especially the head and neck... and those ridiculously long fingers.

Batman's jetski is a little... m'eh. I know that they have to include the hero in all of these sets and it's either a big hero vehicle and a little villain vehicle or the other way around (The Scuttler has a slightly ridiculous Poison Ivy... plant thing, for example).

I do like the colouring though, and the placement of the new little flick fire guns on the side is nice... but it doesn't actually stand flat on it's own. It has a tendency to fall to the side which is annoying, and I had to add a couple of the leftover round bricks to the bottom to keep it level in the photos.

The two other villain minifigures are Zebra Man and Tarantula (because of course they are)... and I will admit that I fell hopelessly in love with Zebra Man pretty much as I unwrapped the present. I couldn't even tell you why, he just seems very cool, and a minifigure I just want to tuck in my pocket and carry around.

Reading up on the two of them, it seems that Tarantula has a history with Nightwing (ie Dick Grayson, the original Robin), and he's become a favourite character of mine in recent years.

The second bag contains the base of the Tail-Gator truck as well as the two minifigures, and it's an interesting build... the two bricks at the back allow for parts of the truck to come off as part of an offensive/defensive mechanism, and there's a fair amount of Technic bricks used throughout.

The third bag is smaller than the other two, and just concentrates on the cab of the truck. Given that this is a beat up old truck, the colours purposefully don't match, with red being dominant, with a number of brown elements (possibly rust) and with a blue wheel arch and a white hood.

The larger pieces all have some kind of sticker denoting either decay or else damage from Croc's massive claws.

The final bag is fairly large and finishes off the model. I really like the massive tyres... having not really dealt with wheels all that much in my building, these are impressive, and are placed on the model "the wrong way around", which adds to the monster truck vibe.

The greeblies and decorations around the truck are really fun, from the skull hood ornament to the crates and the lights and signs. I also love that the idea is that this truck has been hastily modified so that Croc can drive it himself from the back... both the gear level (with the fantastic 8 ball knob) and the steering wheel are accessible from the back, even if it doesn't look like Croc's arms could really reach the steering wheel.

The truck also has some limited suspension care of both the Technic bricks and a set of yellow rubber bands. I always worry that those rubber bands will decay at some point, messing up the model (Emmet's Construct-o-Mech from The Lego Movie has them on one of the hands, but they're okay so far).

All in all, it was a fun build, and while I don't really know where the hell Killer Croc and his Tail-Gator are going to find a permanent home (there may have to be some reorganising and culling of other tchotchkes), it's a nice reminder of my former workplace.

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lego minifigures series 17

It's that time again... and the official images for series 17 of the Lego minifigure series have appeared online.

And for some reason, there's a mystery character... which in the image above is really hard to work out what the hell it is, but when you see the image with the characters all arranged on their little stands, it's very clearly a highwayman. Or it could be a highwaywoman I guess. It could be the Scarlet Pimpernel for all I know... but it's weird that it's a fairly average character for the series. Maybe there are variations? I don't know... it's a little strange though.

Otherwise it's a fairly solid set...

• Professional Surfer
• Gourmet Chef
• Sausage Man
• Elf Girl
• Circus Strong Man
• Yuppie
• Veterinarian
• Highwayman (Mystery character)
• Connoisseur
• Butterflies Girl
• Roman Gladiator
• Corn Cob Man
• Retro Spaceman
• Dance Instructor
• Battle Dwarf
• Rocket Boy

Some of the names this time around bug me more than they have in the past... "Sausage Man"... he's either a hot dog vendor or a fast food worker (probably more the latter)... but Sausage Man is just weird. And "Elf Girl"... I would have accepted Elf Swordmaiden, even just Elf Maiden. I mean the female warrior with the bow and shield was Forest Maiden. And "Connoisseur"... I suppose "Stereotypical French Dude" wasn't going to fly, but it's a weird.

Having said all of that... I think my favourites are the Elf Girl, Connoisseur, Roman Gladiator, Corn Cob Man, Battle Dwarf and Rocket Boy. If I had to pick just one, I think it would be the Battle Dwarf to be honest, although the Elf Girl would be a close second.

One thing they've really gone to town on with this set are the accessories, from the surfer's Jaws inspired board (I do wish his wetsuit was blue not red to match though), the chef's whisk, the yuppie's mobile phone (which is actually a regular radio accessory, but with some great printed tiles), the adorable bulldog and rabbit, the spaceman's gun and the Rocket Boy's flag... there's both some great new moldings as well as some amazing paintjobs and printing.

They've really outdone themselves this time.

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