Batman Batmobile Tumbler Review (76240)

Deep down, I think most of us would like to be Batman. Sure, it’s nice to have parents, but being a billionaire with awesome gadgets and toys? It’s hard to beat that. One such toy is the Batmobile Tumbler – an absolute tank of a vehicle.

Opening the box, you immediately get a feel for the sheer size of the model just by looking at the wheels. They would fit perfectly on a monster truck! If you’ve ever had to buy tyres, this itself proves Batman is a billionaire. Batman would be Goodyear’s favourite customer, particularly the way he drives it.

The initial part of the build follows the line of most large scale LEGO vehicles. We build a robust frame supported by many Technic elements for rigidity. You can also start to see the cabin taking shape.

Although there’s not really any special technique used, the seat construction definitely feels like Batman spec to me. At this stage we’re also starting to shape the external elements. This is no easy feat given most of the external panels are not parallel with other surfaces.

Although minor, it seemed a strange to me that this part should be added after the external body. It was a lot more fiddly than neccessary. I can’t really see any reason why it wasn’t added before adding the external framework to make it a bit easier.

As we continued the build to the front of the Tumbler, I started to see a face appear in the chassis. I asked Oscar if he can see it too. His look of “what are you talking about old man” indicated he couldn’t. Can you see a face from this angle?

No? What about now? I was pleased to see that the glass frame was printed rather than stickers. I’m not a fan of stickers at the best of times, but especially on see through pieces. High 5, LEGO group for keeping it clean.

Building the rear motor housing and attaching the wheels was quite fun. It’s a little tricky with the four monster tubs (wheels) on the back as the attaching pieces need to be carefully aligned. You can also see the rocket housing to the right of the red bricks along with the fuel tanks. The Tumbler has a 1500hp rocket, so at around 567L of fuel an hour, it’s no suprise 4 are needed. That sort of horsepower definitely would need rubber like this to get traction.

The designers of this set have done a great job trying to reflect the various angles on the Tumbler. As you can see, there’s a signficant amount of variation. There’s also a few greebles here and there to break up the surfaces. Due to the nature of the angles, the attachment of the side panels sometimes feel a little flimsy. A few of them only have a single attachment point which allows them to meet the angle, but also fall off relatively easily if you are playing with the Tumbler. However, they will stay fixed in place if it’s just on display.

The main Tumbler is completely finished once the external armour is added and the two roof pieces are slotted in. Both roof pieces are removable for easy access to the cockpit. The finished Tumbler is truly a beast and is quite imposing. We all know that Batman only works in black, or sometimes very, very dark shades of grey and it shows with the Tumbler.

Fortunately with this set, the team have also included a Batman and Joker minifig. This isn’t always the case with large scale vehicles, but it’s something I’d love to see with almost all models. It wouldn’t need to be to scale as is the case here, but it adds a special something to the set. The amazing Titanic set for example could have a Captain minifig.

Each minifig has prints on both sides of their head. The team nailed the Joker with highly intricate printing on this vest, pants but also the arms to finish off the look. He has the right combination of menance, curiousity and suprise in his expression too.

Overall Thoughts

This was an interesting set for us. There’s no doubt it looks stunning once built. The addition of the minifigs and turntable are also nice bonuses. However, being almost completely in black did mean the build could be a little tedious at times. Finding black in black is not always an easy task. Similarly the techniques used to get the angles right are good, but not great. The panels are not as secure as I’d like them to be.

If you’re a fan of Batman (tick) or LEGO vehicles (tick) then this is definitely a set worth considering. If no to either of those, then there’s other sets that may give a better build experience and addition to your collection.

A special thanks to our friends at Zavvi who supplied this set for us to build. Check them out for some great deals on LEGO sets.