The Lego Madhouse and Me


Welcome to The Lego Madhouse,

My name is Christopher Pearce, perhaps better known as CapnRex101 throughout the online Lego community. I am based in the UK and recently decided that I would embark on a somewhat ambitious project, that being to create my own MOC of Arkham Asylum.

On this blog I will document my progress surrounding the MOC, from initial designs to build pictures right through to the finished article, as well as giving some of my views on more general Lego news and sets.

Saturday 11 May 2013

Mr Gold...

In a slight diversion from the Arkham Asylum MOC and the Lego Super Heroes side of things, it has weighed heavily on the minds of many a Lego fan recently that the popular Collectable Minifigures line has taken the step to include a chase Minifigure in the form of the notorious Mr Gold.

This decision has met with widespread criticism from all areas of the Lego fan base. Almost every one of the 5000 Mr Gold Minifigures will doubtless end up in the hands of adult collectors, therefore ruining the chances of any children (the intended target audience of course) to maintain a complete Collectable Minifigure collection. Up to this point I have a complete collection of Collectable Minifigures from Series One to Series Nine, and feared that now that Mr Gold had been released, my collection would no longer be complete unless I paid a great deal of money for a Mr Gold Minifigure.

That fear however subsided last night after I found a Mr Gold in my local toy shop! While feeling through a half empty box of Collectable Minifigures in search of the final four Minifigures I required from this series, I came across the tell tale 4L bar which only appears with Mr Gold in this series. Such was my excitement to get the packets home and open them up that I did not even purchase the final two Minifigures I required, but it was worth it when I got home and opened them up to find...


My Mr Gold Minifigure is No.2264/5000, and is pictured here with the much rarer (and better if you ask me) Brickset Minifigure. While the chrome has a reasonable finish and the rarity of the figure goes a long way to make up for it, I do feel the Minifigure lacks something to really make it stand out. Lego should at least have ensured that the chroming was of appropriate quality, which given the stories going around at the moment about people finding scratched Mr Gold Minifigures, does not appear to be the case.

While I still do not endorse the decision of Lego to include a chase Minifigure in the Collectable Minifigures series, it is a huge weight off my mind to have my hands on a Mr Gold, now leaving me able to easily complete my collection hopefully. Had I not been lucky enough to come across the figure, I would doubtless have ended up paying for one online, and while the prices are dropping all the time, that is something which I am glad I will not have to do.

Nevertheless, if you are still looking for a Mr Gold Minifigure, here are my thoughts on the subject. Firstly, while at the time of writing the average sale price for Mr Gold on websites such as eBay or Bricklink is around the £500 ($770) mark, I guarantee this price will drop dramatically as more and more Minifigures flood the market. I anticipate an eventual selling price of around £80. If you are unwilling to wait however, why not head over to Brickset and take a look at the brilliant raffle being run? The raffle features many excellent prizes, including the elusive Mr Gold.

Good luck to anyone searching for Mr Gold. With only 5000 out there in the world, the chances of getting a Minifigure seem slim, but if I could find one in the first box I have searched and felt through, which was already half empty (in part thanks to me purchasing the first sixteen Minifigures I got from the very same box, twelve of which were different) then I am quite sure any of you might find one.

Sunday 28 April 2013

Parts are Amassing...

Firstly, apologies for the lack of any updates recently, as exams approach for me I have had less time to build or gather pieces for the Arkham Asylum MOC. Between the 13th of May and 4th of June I have several A-level exams (that is the equivalent of APs for US readers) in Latin, Ancient Greek, Classical Civilisation and English Literature. Anyway, without further ado, allow me to fill you in on developments this month so far...

In the first week of April I finally received my Lego cabinets. I am in the process of filling them up with sets for display and the parts I have so far are going in their respective drawers. I am very pleased with these as storage solutions, particularly the small component cabinets which are just the right size to store whatever pieces required and are ideal for Lego. An image of the drawer cabinets can be seen below, as you can see they are too large for my small photography studio and I have only just begun to fill them with parts.


I have also made my first Bricklink order for this project on the 17th of April which although small, contains some very useful parts including some rock pieces and twenty conical flask pieces containing a green liquid which will be used for medical rooms and the like, plenty of which will be found in my Arkham Asylum model. I have not even got around to unpacking those yet, so busy have I been!

Finally, and moving away from progress on my MOC, I have been able to get my hands on all three Superman: Man of Steel sets, along with the three Iron Man 3 sets as well. Expect reviews of those over the next few weeks. My intention is to put those up whenever I have little to update you on, so as to avoid too many long periods of inactivity like the last three weeks, although I will probably only be able to post one or two articles during my exam period.

It is also worth noting that as you can see it is now possible to follow my blog with a single click on the right hand side of the screen. If you have a Blogger or Google account, click on there to subscribe for updates as the actual building begins!

Sunday 31 March 2013

FBTB Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vignette Contest Entry...

Now that I have finally managed to find the time to photograph my model for the FBTB Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vignette contest, I will also present it here. You can see here my first real attempt at a sewer model as well, which of course will feature in the Arkham Asylum MOC I am working towards.

In this first image you can see an overview of the MOC. It was quite a challenge to photograph thanks to the model being constructed on two levels, with no single image capturing the details of the MOC as a whole in my opinion.


The next image shows the upper (or street) level of the MOC. The Shredder and his Foot Ninjas are hunting the Turtles down, while the Kraang cause some more chaos as Mutagen leaks into the sewer from one of their warehouses.


The final image, and perhaps the most interesting with respect to the Arkham Asylum MOC, shows the sewers as I have designed them for this model. I think they still need some work before they are incorporated into the Arkham Asylum model, but are a decent start to proceedings.

Here Michaelangelo and Donatello have escaped into the sewers. While Mikey relaxes Donatello is not yet comfortable that the danger has passed. As usual he is exactly right as one creature appears to already have begun to mutate thanks to the Mutagen leak...


Voting on the contest at FBTB commences tomorrow. My next post will hopefully be about my current parts collection once the cabinets I await have arrived, which ought to be this week if they arrive on time.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Proposed Blog Background

In a change to the planned article, today I bring you a very brief question.

Recently I asked a few followers of my blog what they would like to see changed here. The most common response was that the blue background was in need of some updating, so here is my proposed replacement.


As you can see, I selected some of my favourite Batman comic panels and created a collage from them, which was then washed out in blue so as not to be too invasive on the more important centre of the page. The question is, would you rather I keep the background as it is or swap it for this new one? Any opinions are much appreciated and can be posted in the comments below.

Sunday 24 March 2013

A Few Items from my Wanted List...

While I still await delivery of my cabinets, and things are all quiet on the Arkham Asylum MOC side of things, perhaps you can help me to obtain a couple of Lego items which I am looking for at the moment.

Starting with some polybags which are available in the USA and Canada from Toys R Us, but have yet to make an appearance in the UK, if you have any of the following and are willing to sell some to me, please contact me using this link.

30240 - Z-95 Headhunter
30241 - Mandalorian Fighter
30243 - Umbaran MHC

Next, and going up the scale of rarity, I am looking for anybody who has the Comic Con exclusive Bizarro, which was released in 2012 and is shown below, who is happy to part with this item and willing to sell one to me. Once again, please send me a message via this link.


The final two items which I am looking for are two more exclusives, this time the TMNT Minifigures which were available in October 2012 at events in the US, images of which are below.



I think I have a fair idea of what I would like to pay for the items, and am offering realistic prices for each, so if you have any of the above items and are happy to sell, please contact me. Thank you in advance.

My next article will be posted in the next couple of days, and unless my cabinets have arrived, will showcase the MOC which I have created for the TMNT Vignette Contest over at FBTB. In this MOC (which is complete, but needs photographing) I have included an area of sewer, which will be similar in appearance to the sewers featuring in the Arkham Asylum MOC.

Saturday 16 March 2013

FBTB Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vignette Contest..

With little going on with respect to creating my Arkham Asylum MOC as I still wait on delivery of my storage cabinets, I think it is time for me to bring another competition to your attention.

Prior to the interesting (and divisive) revelation of Lego Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I had no interest in the series, but once the sets started to appear I thought I might as well give the new cartoon a try. Immediately I was hooked and have been keeping up with the series ever since. I have only been able to pick up a couple of the smaller sets so far (79100 and 79101) but intend to collect the remainder of the sets when I can get around to it.


Anyway, I write this article to point any TMNT fans who read my blog in the direction of this brilliant contest over at FBTB, which I am soon going to be entering myself. Hopefully the model I am making now (which includes a sewer area and is not the one above just to clarify, that is the model built as a kind of 'logo' for the contest by the host) will serve as good practice for the Arkham Asylum MOC. The full contest rules can be seen via this link, but just to outline them, the idea is to create a 16x16 stud vignette with a TMNT theme, there is no height limit, and there are some excellent prizes to be had so get building!

My MOC is now in its final stages, but there is still plenty of time to enter as the closing date is not until the end of March, so why not have a go?

Good luck!

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Brick Fanatics Collectable Minifigure Contest...

In a slight change from the usual discussion about all things related to Lego DC Super Heroes and my Arkham Asylum MOC, this time I would like to mention a competition which has recently come to my attention and which you may be interested in.


Over at Brick Fanatics, an excellently rounded website which not only features Lego news but also showcases some great MOCs, a contest is currently being run to create a 16x16 stud diorama around one of the Series 9 Collectable Minifigures of your choice. It has been running for a month now and continues to the end of March, the aim and rules of the contest are explained in more detail here with some great Galaxy Squad prizes available to the winners.

You can see some of the entries so far in the Brick Fanatics Flickr photostream and a gallery devoted to the contest. If you own one or all of the Series 9 Collectable Minifigures, and have a few spare pieces lying around, why not try your luck and enter?

Good luck!

Sunday 3 March 2013

Arkham Asylum - Functions for Section One...

As I have previously mentioned, this MOC will be build in several sections. The first section to be built will be the front gate and courtyard, and although I am sure as I build more possible functions will become apparent, I already have some in mind. Over the last few days I have discussed a couple of these possible features with more experienced Technic builders than myself, and have received some excellent advice (and new ideas).

One of the functions which I proposed was a secret door in Killer Croc's lair. This would be opened by moving a rock hidden among many others which would act as a switch. It is apparent that using an only mechanical solution would be particularly tricky, and thanks to some of the people who volunteered to assist I have worked out exactly what I want to do here and how I will go about achieving the effect I am hoping for. Beneath you can see my initial idea for how to create this function, unfortunately however, despite using more gears to increase the torque, nothing could be done to make the door slide up as much as I wanted without forcing the switch to move further than I wanted. Therefore the only solution is to use Power Functions, which will not only mean that the door will open nice and smoothly, but I can run other functions off the same motor (like lights for instance) and activate the feature via remote control!


I do not want to give away too many of the features I have planned for each section, so this is just a taster of what might be included in the final model.



This week a large cabinet which I ordered for storing the bricks for this model, as well as general spare parts, arrived, so now I can commence with the mammoth Bricklink orders which will be required. Expect an update on what I bought soon. Until then however, keep checking back on my Flickr page for some images which I hope to post in the next few days of some more small concepts I have created recently.

Saturday 23 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - I Need Your Help...

Up to now I have only been presenting the aesthetic elements of my design, which I hope will only be a part of the final MOC I produce. I also intend to include plenty of functions and features which will help bring the asylum to life.


However, I have little experience with Technic or Mindstorms construction, and therefore I am looking for anybody who is particularly interested in Technic or Mindstorms to assist me with creating some of the more challenging (perhaps even impossible) functions which I have envisaged. If you fall into this category and would like to help, please contact me either through my Brickset profile or via Flickr Mail, and hopefully you can help in considering how some of the functions I have in mind might work. I already have some ideas, but I would prefer to consult others about them rather than overcomplicate my solutions or simply miss them altogether! Many thanks in advance to those of you who can assist me.

In my next post I will discuss some of these proposed functions and possibly some of the early solutions which I have created through discussion with Technic enthusiasts from this article.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Construction Concept Two..

In a continuation of my previous post, here is the second in my series of small models demonstrating the look I hope to achieve in some areas of my Arkham Asylum MOC. You can see in the images below that I plan to use mostly dark greys and greens, although I will likely disperse a bit of light bluish grey through these cliffs to add a bit more variety and break up the colour. This particular model, like my last, was built with a fairly narrow selection of parts, so in the final version, expect some improvement. Once I have made my first Bricklink orders, which as I have previously mentioned will consist in the main of rock pieces, I will try and post another little model built with an improved inventory of pieces.


Due to my inexperience in the field I have recruited the assistance of one or two experienced cliff builders over the last couple of weeks who were able to give me plenty of tips on creating realistic and organic rock shapes (which is easier said than done if you ask me). Nevertheless, any opinions on the model I am showing here and how I could improve my technique on constructing rocks are most welcome in the comments.


By my next post I should have some Bricklink related news to bring you, so stay tuned for that, at last I can get down to some proper building of the first section. In the meantime, I have opened an account over at Flickr, there is not much to see there at the moment, but when I start building I will be posting loads of images over there hopefully as well as here at The Lego Madhouse so keep an eye on it.

Saturday 16 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Construction Concept One...

After a month or so of sketches and designs, I think it is time to show one of the concepts I have actually built in Lego over the last few days. As you can see in the images below, this is just a tiny model, built to demonstrate how I might go about constructing small water outlets in the sewers and Killer Croc's lair. I imagine this exact design will not make it into the final model, as this was created with a relatively limited parts palette, but it certainly gets the idea across. I hope this design also conveys the atmosphere of decay and dilapidation which I am hoping to include in my final model.


I was recently able to get my hands on hundreds of 1x2 and 1x1 translucent plates from my local Lego Store, as they were available in the new and improved Pick-a-Brick wall there. These will be very useful no doubt for creating more water effects like you can see here, as well as the ice details I plan to include in Mr Freeze's cell when I get to that stage.



This will be just the first in a series of small models to demonstrate planned building techniques which will continue throughout this gargantuan project. For the moment however, tell me what you think of this design for achieving a watery effect, any constructive criticism and suggestions are of course very welcome.


Monday 11 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Progress Updates...

After my aspect sketches in my last post, on this occasion I am presenting one of my concepts which shows what kind of look I hope to achieve in this area of Killer Croc's subterranean lair.

As you can see in the image below, I am looking to include some bizarre rock formations, such as that large stack which goes from floor to ceiling, as well as smaller cave recesses and perhaps a couple of shafts of light coming in from outside. The dark patches on the floor of the cave represent the small pools of water which will feature prominently in many of the caverns beneath the asylum.

Cavern Sketch
In another point entirely, I hope to make my first Bricklink order for this MOC later this week. Of course, light and dark bluish grey rock pieces (slopes and bricks) will be the order of the day, of all shapes and sizes. Look out for more news on that later in the week.

Before that however, I will be posting an article about a small vignette which I constructed, as more of a practice effort than anything else for creating these vast caves.

Sunday 10 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Modular Section One Plans...

Over the last day or two I have been working on some fairly accurate sketches of what I hope to achieve when constructing this first section of Arkham Asylum. This particular area covers none of the building itself, only the island on which the asylum is set, and is therefore reasonably sparse on details.

In my first sketch you can see a bird's eye view of this section of the model, which shows the layout I am planning here. As you can see, I intend to include a statue of Jeremiah Arkham and a round driveway here, as well as the bridge to the mainland.


The second image is my plan of the first section from the side. You can see that on the surface is a statue of Jeremiah Arkham and the legendary 'ARKHAM' sign which looms over the main gates. The driveway cannot be seen from this angle. Beneath the island, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I plan to include some caverns and basement areas, part of which is shown here as a section of Killer Croc's lair.


In my next post I will look at this section from other aspects with some detail sketches, as well as discussing the Bricklink order which I hope to make for this section later this week.

Saturday 9 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Modular Modelling...

After some consideration, I have made a couple of decisions on how I will go about building my Arkham Asylum MOC. It seems to me that in many large MOCs, detail is sacrificed in place of size, but I hope to avoid this in my model, keeping every tiny section of the asylum as detailed as possible. Hopefully this extra effort will pay off in the end with an impressive model.

I am of the opinion that the best way to do this is by constructing my MOC in modular sections which, much like the Lego Modular Buildings sets, will fit together using Technic pins as shown below. That is not the only advantage however, building in stages will also allow me to easily transport the model, which I hope will be displayed at one of the Lego Shows in the UK at some point in 2014. Last of all, building in this manner will mean that I can easily blog my progress once the building process has begun.


The first area I have planned out in detail is the area of the island in front of the asylum's main entrance, for which I will be making my first Bricklink orders over the next week or two. That plan however still needs some further touches in my opinion, so I will complete it, and then display that in my next post which should be expected in the next day or two.

Monday 4 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Building Cliffs...

To construct the kind of island seen in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game, vast and sheer cliffs are required, and building such things can be easier said than done. An example of how the cliffs look in that video game is shown below, with the brightness turned up a little to make everything a bit clearer.

Screenshot from the Batman: Arkham Asylum Video Game
Therefore, having encountered some challenges in creating these kinds of cliffs, I have consulted a few people who I consider have shown off a particular talent for creating rock walls in Lego. One such person who I have spoken to is Simon Pickard, creator of this brilliant MOC recreating the Battle of Thermopylae which includes some very impressive rock walls. He, among others, gave me some excellent tips on this aspect of Lego construction, particularly on how to make these notoriously fragile type of walls as sturdy as possible. This will be key for my model as a great deal of weight will need to be supported.

However, more advice is needed, so if you have any suggestions or advice on building rock walls, please post a comment below and help me out on this.

Saturday 2 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - A Few Certain Inclusions...

I thought it was worth posting a quick update to explain which features are already decided for my final Arkham Asylum MOC. These are the components which will definitely be included:


  • The asylum will be set on an island - This is something which I have been certain of including since I first considered an Arkham Asylum MOC last year, as I believe it makes the model more interesting as well as allowing me to place some rooms and areas underground without raising the entire model off the ground which would be far too expensive to do for me.
  • The legendary 'ARKHAM' sign will be present - As a mainstay of almost every incarnation of the building, this is really an absolute must-have for an Arkham Asylum MOC in my opinion. It will no doubt present a great challenge later on, however some possible solutions have been discussed over on the Brickset Forum which will be of great help.
  • Killer Croc will have a lair beneath the asylum - One of the elements in the Batman: Arkham Asylum game which struck me the most was the interesting placement of Killer Croc, who was essentially dumped down in the sewers as a form of incarceration. Therefore, I decided it was something which I would hope to include in my MOC from early on in the process.
  • There will be sewers beneath the asylum - I wish to include a reference to Christopher Nolan's fantastic Batman trilogy, which is difficult since Arkham Asylum has only fairly fleeting appearances in the series, almost exclusively in the first of the three, Batman Begins. Therefore, since one particular scene was particularly enjoyable in my opinion, I have decided that I will try to include the sewer junction seen in that film as well as Killer Croc's lair in my model.
  • The Scarecrow will be imprisoned in a tower - This idea is purely from my imagination, but is nevertheless something which I feel strongly about. In my mind The Scarecrow should be in some kind of hay loft style area within Arkham Asylum, not just a regular cell, and a tower seems suitable for this.
  • A satellite Batcave will be placed in the cliffs - If you have ever played Batman: Arkham Asylum, you may recall that a small Batcave is found on the island which Batman placed there in case of breakouts. This is a fascinating idea in my opinion, and one which I will certainly be including.
  • Some of the more 'sane' villains will be incarcerated in Arkham Asylum - While obviously most of Batman's rogues gallery are far too unhinged to be placed in a standard prison, there are a few who are not completely insane, and therefore are usually placed in Blackgate Penitentiary in the comics. However, no Batman MOC of this scale is complete in my opinion without at least including the vast majority of the most famous villains, so characters such as the Penguin or Bane will likely find their way into the model and have their own cells.
  • The model will be huge - Perhaps most important of all, while there have been some great Arkham Asylum MOCs in the past, none have been of the scale which I am aiming for. You may have noticed on the layout sketch which was included in my previous post there are some very vague ideas for the dimensions of the model (in Lego studs of course). These are just ideas, but I think that in both width and depth, the island as a whole will be at the very least 100 studs, most likely even more.

In my next article I will move on to discussing one of the most prominent features of my envisaged model, that being the enormous cliffs which will surround the asylum, and how I will go about constructing them.

Friday 1 February 2013

Arkham Asylum - Proposed Layout...

Following the result of the recent poll to decide which of my four initial concepts was the best, I have drawn up a quick plan of how I might organise the asylum on Arkham Island. Keep in mind that this will almost certainly change and is simply a vague idea of how the buildings might fit together, so there are plenty of adjustments yet to me made.

Arkham Asylum Layout Concept

I have not included much detail on this particular image as it is just an idea, not a final layout design. If anybody has any suggestions of how to improve it or what more to include, do not hesitate to comment. I have not included the majority of the bridge, nor the small section of Gotham City which I might place at the other end of the bridge in this sketch.

In my next post I will go through some of the features which will almost definitely be included in the final model I create.

Thursday 31 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - Poll Results...

For the last week or so a poll has been running, as I am sure many of you are aware, to decide which of my four initial concepts was the most popular.

The winner, in something of a landslide victory, was my Arkham Asylum Based Concept with 69% of the vote (210 votes). This came as little surprise to me as it is by far the most visually interesting and versatile of the four ideas in my opinion.

Arkham Asylum - Batman Arkham Asylum Inspired Design

The other designs came in with the following percentages of the vote:

The Batman: The Animated Series inspired concept - 17% of the vote.

The Hospital inspired concept - 9% of the vote.

The Castle and Batman Forever inspired design - 5% of the vote.

Now I can begin considering the layout of the asylum in more detail, and tomorrow I will kick things off by posting a sketch of the proposed layout on Arkham Island of the various buildings which make up the asylum. Following that, I will finalise the layout and shape of the actual island and consider what can actually be placed beneath the asylum (a small satellite Batcave, the sewers and Killer Croc's lair to name just a few) while still retaining a strong enough structure to support the large building on top.

I have already been given some ideas over the last few days, but if there are any elements of any of the other three designs which you feel should be incorporated in the final model, please leave a comment below.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

DC Super Heroes Exclusives Part Two...

In the second part of my look at the Super Heroes exclusives which have been released over the years, I will be focusing on the five newest of those, which have become available in just the last couple of years upon the release of the new DC Super Heroes line.

The first three of these were released in 2011, Batman in his costume from The Dark Knight film, Green Lantern as he appears in his own feature film, and Superman, who is in fact identical to the Minifigure that appears in set 6862, Superman Vs. Power Armour Lex. Batman and the Green Lantern were both available at the New York and San Diego Comic Cons, limited edition to 1000 at each convention. Superman however was only present at the New York Comic Con. Each figure comes mounted on a piece of card which advertises a stop-motion animation competition in the style of a newspaper. These figures tend to sell at around the £130 mark, and are superb Minifigures (particularly Batman) in my opinion.


The next year, two more DC exclusives were released alongside a couple of Marvel comics Minifigures as well, Shazam (or Captain Marvel) and Bizarro. Once again, both were placed on card backing and were limited edition to 1000 at both the San Diego and New York Comic Cons. These Minifigures also tend to sell at a high price, anywhere upwards of £100 generally, although there are bargains to be had out there of course if you can find them.



The Minifigures are indeed excellent, but the fairly extortionate cost is rather off putting, so quite what is it that drives people (including myself) to pay these kinds of prices? Well my response is two fold, more obviously most Super Heroes Minifigure completists are going to view these items as must haves or their collection will obviously be left incomplete. However, if you buy at the right time (or of course are simply lucky enough to win them in the raffle), a great deal of money can be made on these I think. If you purchase the Minifigures soon after their release, you often find them at lower prices in my experience.

I have luckily been able to pay under £100 for each of the Green Lantern, Batman, Bizarro and Shazam Minifigures (since the Superman Minifigure is not exclusive, I do not see that as a must have personally), in the main due to the timing of my purchases, which was very soon after their release.

This summer the New York and San Diego Comic Cons will be running again as usual, but whether we will see any more exclusives this year remains a mystery for the moment, we will just have to wait and see.

In my next article I will go back to discussing my progress on the Arkham Asylum MOC, as the final hours count down on the poll running, if you have not voted yet and plan to do so, make sure to do so soon!


Sunday 27 January 2013

DC Super Heroes Exclusives Part One...

Since 2005 DC Super Heroes exclusives have been released to coincide with both the original Batman theme and the new Super Heroes line of sets. For many, despite commanding huge prices on sites such as eBay and Bricklink, these items are true must haves.

The first such exclusive was, as I already mentioned, released some time ago in 2005. Packed in a special commemorative box, this included Minifigures of Batman and the Joker and a sound chip with a recording of the Joker's maniacal laughter and an announcement concerning the upcoming release of Lego Batman. This item was limited to only 250 and was available at the San Diego Comic Con, you would be lucky to find one now for any less than £100.


In 2006 a Lego comic book entitled Batman: Secret Files & Origins, was released, which contained a short comic strip showing Batman in action against his foes. This exclusive is the least expensive of the lot and costs only about £5 to purchase online as it is by far the most common.


Then, in 2008, a similar set to the initial 2005 item was released, with the same Batman and Joker Minifigures, but entirely new packaging and no sound chip or accessories for the figures. This time it heralded the release of the Lego Batman video game, which of course went on to be very popular. This exclusive is a little more affordable than the earlier edition, but still will set you back a cool £50 at least.


In my next post I will conclude my discussion of the Lego DC Super Heroes exclusives released over the years with the most recent of them, from 2011 and 2012. After that, I will return to bringing you updates on my Arkham Asylum MOC and the progress I have been making concerning the design side of things over the last few days.




Saturday 26 January 2013

DC Super Heroes 2012 - My Thoughts Part Two...

Following on from the first part of my views on the DC Super Heroes sets which were released last year, I now present the second half in which I will discuss the larger sets from the first wave.

The first of these is The Batmobile And The Two-Face Chase. Five Minifigures are included in this set, Batman in his black costume, my personal favourite outfit for the Dark Knight, and a simple Security Guard for defending the small bank. Naturally we also get Two-Face, a particularly brilliant Minifigure and my second favourite of all the villains after the Joker. Finally, a pair of Two-Face Henchmen are included, who wear the same clothes, but have different faces, both of which look suitably tough and rugged.


There are three components to this model, a small bank which contains a green safe for Two-Face to steal, a lovely new Batmobile, and a large truck which Two-Face uses as his getaway vehicle, painted in his unique orange and purple colour scheme. Both vehicles include flick-fire missiles, and Two-Face's Jeep has a crane arm on the back which can be hooked onto the safe. There is a nice selection of pieces in this set, but for the the best has to be Two-Face's coin, which is printed with some excellent designs.

Next up is the largest of last year's DC Super Heroes sets, The Batcave, and a wonderful set it is too. Being the largest set, it also contains the most Minifigures, six in all, including Batman in his comic book Batsuit, Bruce Wayne in a rather dapper looking blue suit, and the Boy Wonder himself, Robin, who is based on the Tim Drake version of the character from the comics. For the villains, we get a superb Bane, which is printed with huge amounts of detail on the front and back, along with Poison Ivy, who is imprisoned in the Batcave according to the box artwork.


Bane is equipped with a huge red Drill Tank, on which the drill turns as you turn the caterpillar tracked wheels and you can launch a couple of flick-fire missiles. Batman rides a Batcycle, one of two released in the first wave of these sets, and my personal favourite. The Batcave itself has some rather nice blue and yellow highlights and includes opening doors to let Batman's vehicles in and out of the cave, the Batcomputer with a chair for the Caped Crusader to sit on, and a brilliant costume changing feature, which is ingeniously designed and works perfectly. A prison cell is also included as well as some crime-fighting equipment for the Batman to use and a red telephone with which he can contact Commissioner Gordon.

The last of 2012's DC Super Heroes sets is perhaps the most popular with most as it is the only one which is not a remake of an older model, that being The Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape. Five Minifigures are included, from Batman and Robin in their comic book guises, to the Joker (who is identical to his appearance in set 6863, The Batwing Battle Over Gotham City). Two new figures also come with the set in the form of the Joker's loyal sidekick, and fan favourite, Harley Quinn and another of my favourite villains, the fiendish Riddler, who here wears a charming bowler hat and his classic green costume.



Another Batcycle is included, this one with some nice tail fins and exhausts and a nice sleek design.The Funhouse itself is divided into sections, a flight of stairs and winch for hoisting the Boy Wonder into the air over a deadly purple vat of Joker Toxin (and a fish). Here Riddler has a trapdoor and of course a hidden clue for the Batman to escape from this particular trap, a single arrow pointing out the danger among the numerous arrows on the wall behind. In the centre is a huge mural of the Joker's face and a section of wobbly floor, and on the far left is a falling hammer, a riddling machine obviously installed by the Riddler and a small roller-coaster so that Harley Quinn can escape Batman's clutches if you so wish. The huge number of fun play features and a great selection of Minifigures make this set a winner in the eyes of most, but for me the highlight set of the first wave has got to be set 6860, The Batcave.

In my next post I will look at the exclusive Super Heroes Minifigures which have been produced over the last couple of years, and quite what the fascination is, which I and many others suffer from, surrounding them.

Friday 25 January 2013

DC Super Heroes 2012 - My Thoughts Part One...

I almost entirely missed out on the original Batman theme, and the news that another theme was going to released, which would also feature many other DC Universe characters, was very well received by me. Although many of the sets released in 2012 were in fact updated versions of older sets, they were nevertheless an excellent selection of models, and gave us many of the most popular characters in Minifigure form for those who missed out on them the first time around. In this article I will give some of my thoughts on the smaller sets in the first wave of DC Super Heroes models, stay tuned for the second part where I will discuss the larger sets.

I will begin with the smallest of the six sets, the Catwoman Catcycle City Chase which despite its small size, makes for a great introduction to the Super Heroes theme. It features both the wonderful comic style Batman figure, in this set equipped with a winged jetpack, and the legendary seductress Catwoman, both of which are wonderful.



The set itself lacks anything particularly outstanding, but Catwoman comes with a rather nice motorcycle for her to ride, and we get a small section of pavement which includes a nice feature in the form of the falling traffic light as well as some boxes which are ideal for crashing through. Finally, we also receive some outstanding accessories such as a Batarang, a diamond, and two newspaper tiles which complete the set.

The next smallest set, Superman Vs. Power Armour Lex is the only one in the first wave not to be centred around Batman, but instead the hero here is of course the one and only Superman. His Minifigure is, as you would expect, the highlight of the set and looks fantastic, being highly detailed right down to the famous 'S' curl in his hair. We also get a wonderful Wonder Woman Minifigure, although it does suffer from some poorer quality plastic issues unfortunately. Still, this is a superb Minifigure and a welcome addition. Last of all, we get Lex Luthor, Superman's arch enemy and a wealthy businessman of the Metropolis high society which is an equally marvellous Minifigure in my opinion, despite its rather simple design.


The power armour worn by Luthor is a lovely model with plenty of playability and poseability, as well as an absolutely brilliant Kryponite gun for taking down Superman. The set contains some very useful and rare pieces as well, including several purple parts and a few translucent green components to boot. My favourite piece however is Wonder Woman's lasso of truth which looks absolutely fantastic.

The final set for this half of my review of DC Super Heroes sets last year is the excellent Batwing Battle Over Gotham City, which is the smallest set to include Batman's most famous enemy, the Joker, who is captured in Lego form spectacularly, getting just the right balance between his comic book and film appearances. We also get a Henchman to assist him in his nefarious deeds, who is highly detailed, especially on the back of his torso where one finds a lovely image of the Joker's grinning face. Of course, we also get a Batman Minifigure to pilot his lovely Batwing, who here is dressed in his black Batsuit, which is much like the one he wears in the 1989 Batman film.



Two vehicles are included in this set, Batman's Batwing jet, as well as Joker's helicopter which looks suitably crazy. There are plenty of fun features, from a dropping bomb on each model, to the obligatory flick fire missiles which also feature on both vehicles. Perhaps best of all however is the white rope ladder which the Joker can hang from to bring chaos upon Gotham as he shoots manically with his trick gun.

Next time I will continue to document my thoughts on the larger three sets from the first wave of DC Super Heroes sets, and after that I will be discussing the curious craze that is collecting chase Minifigures such as the six Comic Con exclusives, which I am in fact guilty of myself.


Tuesday 22 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - Initial Concepts Part Four...

The last of my four concepts which I am going to present is based around the asylum as it appears in the fantastic Batman: Arkham Asylum video game. This version took a significant step up away from others, splitting the facility into separate buildings and also placing it on Arkham Island and while my design here is not entirely split up like the asylum in the game, I have aimed to capture the differing appearances of each section.

Arkham Asylum - Batman: Arkham Asylum Inspired Design

So, that is the last of my four concept drawings and now I leave it up to you. You may notice a poll which I have opened at the top of the page on the right hand side, there you can vote for your favourite of my ideas. Please look back over the four, select your favourite and vote. The results will decide which direction my Arkham Asylum MOC takes and while the final model will not look exactly like any of my initial ideas, the general theme and main basis of the design will be chosen from your votes.

The poll closes on the 31st of January at Midnight (GMT + 0.00) so make sure to cast your vote before then. Also, I would appreciate any messages on which aspects of each design in particular you like or dislike so please do not hesitate to contact me personally or post a comment below.

Monday 21 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - Initial Concepts Part Three...

Following on from my previous concepts for my upcoming Arkham Asylum MOC I present one inspired most heavily by a traditional castle, as well as the asylum from the film, Batman Forever (which is perhaps my favourite element of that entire film in fact). I very much like the idea of including towers in my final model as they really sell the Gothic look in my opinion, as well as helping to break up the rather basic and unattractive central section of the building.

However, I am looking to steer away from having my version of the asylum as a single large building like it is here, but to move more in the direction of Arkham Asylum from the game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is multiple buildings linked via underground, and occasionally overground, corridors.

Arkham Asylum - Castle/Batman Forever Inspired Design

Tomorrow I will present the last in my series of initial designs, which is perhaps the one which I want my final model to be the most similar to. I will also be opening a poll to discover which of the four designs is your favourite. I hope that will help me decide which elements I wish to bring forward from each one.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - Initial Concepts Part Two...

My second concept drawing was probably most significantly inspired by Arkham Asylum as it appears in Batman: The Animated Series. The towers are something I really want to include in my final model, and I think that the wrought iron 'ARKHAM' sign over the gates is a feature which has to be included, as it has been one of the few mainstays of just about every incarnation of the asylum. If I were to construct this particular design I would want to add a couple more stories to the model as at the moment I don't think the intimidating feeling I am hoping for is quite captured. Finding a compromise between the height of my design and the footprint will be a key element to look at later on I think.

Arkham Asylum - Batman: The Animated Series Inspired Design

At this point I should explain that the only element of the design which I am certain will be included is the fact that I want the asylum to be located on an island as it was in the Batman: Arkham Asylum game. This has heavily influenced many of my initial ideas and there are many aspects of that design which I will look to include in the final version I decide upon. The building itself however will likely be an amalgamation of my concept designs, all of which have advantages and flaws in my opinion.

Tomorrow I will present the penultimate of the four initial concepts I have produced, and after that I will introduce a poll to see which of the four is your favourite and what elements I ought to bring forward from each model to the next stage of the design process.

Saturday 19 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - Initial Concepts Part One...

When making larger MOCs, it always seems advantageous to me to plan before you begin building to avoid underestimating or overestimating the difficulty or volume of parts required. Therefore, once I had pinned down what I wanted to make, naturally I moved on to creating some initial designs on paper. Here I will display some of the earliest concept artwork which I created.

The first of these is perhaps the most realistic of my designs, based very much on photos and paintings of Victorian hospitals and asylums. It would doubtless be the simplest to make, as the shapes which form the building itself are particularly regular. However, I felt that this idea was perhaps a little too simplistic, and would perhaps look somewhat bland, not doing justice to the building. Nevertheless, there are certain elements of this design which I hope to bring forward to the next stage of the design process, including the Satellite Batcave and quite possibly the small area of Gotham City itself where I might place some kind of Police barricade. This image is displayed below:

Arkham Asylum - Hospital Inspired Concept

In my next couple of posts I will continue to reveal some more of my initial design ideas, so stay tuned for those over the next few days...


Friday 18 January 2013

Arkham Asylum - The Beginning...

Welcome!

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Christopher Pearce, but perhaps I am better known as CapnRex101 on such fantastic Lego fan sites as Brickset. I am seventeen years old and have been a huge fan of Lego since I was first old enough to smash Duplo bricks together. This is my first post on this blog or any other, so here goes...

In the months leading up to Christmas and New Year I decided that rather than simply building and enjoying sets produced by Lego as I have for many years, it would be nice to truly embrace the spirit of Lego and construct my own models. The next question of course was what to build? As a huge Star Wars fan, a Star Wars MOC seemed like the obvious choice, but many of the vehicles and locations are a bit bland for my liking when translated into Lego and I thought for my first large MOC, a really interesting and eye-catching model was what was required, so that idea was quickly dismissed.

At that point, two very clear options came to mind, either the legendary Batcave, or the equally famous Arkham Asylum. After some research I found that there have been numerous incredible Batcave MOCs which have been produced, including this amazing model. However, despite being such a spectacular building, I found no really definitive model of Arkham Asylum anywhere, and while many of the existing MOCs had their own charms, particularly this one, which, despite its small size, in my opinion really captures the (naturally) insane atmosphere of the place, I did not think any of them combined all of the elements which go towards making Arkham Asylum a truly fascinating building.

The fact that no one incarnation of the asylum exists, and its style and appearance changes between the comics, TV shows, films and video games, allowed me a great deal of freedom on what I made. Rather than simply recreating a location from a film or TV, I could really put my own stamp on the building as I imagine it to be.

So with that, the decision was made, and I began the design phase of creating the enormous MOC which had been bouncing around in my head for so many months. Over the next few days I will post some of my initial plans for Arkham Asylum, and further discuss the various versions which have inspired me.

Thanks for reading!