76055: Batman: Killer Croc Sewer Smash Review

The second of our Super Hero reviews sees me switch over to DC Comics and take a look at the £70 Batman set.  After the previous set I went into this review optimistic that I was going to have another set that I really enjoyed, however this failed to live up to expectations or the price. Read on to find out why this set left me disappointed….

Set description

Bite back against Killer Croc™ with the Bat-Tank!

Reinforcements have arrived! Help Red Hood™ and Katana™ stop the monstrous Killer Croc™ and evil Captain Boomerang™ from destroying Gotham City. Charge Killer Croc’s Battle Chomper with Batman’s Bat-Tank. Crush the heavily armored vehicle with the Bat-Tank’s powerful ram weapon, but don’t get bashed by the swishing tail or fall into the giant jaws. Crush the foes with super heroes teamwork and stop the evildoers once and for all!

lego

  • Includes 4 minifigures: Batman™, Red Hood™, Captain Boomerang™ and Katana™, plus Killer Croc™ big figure.
  • Features Batman’s Bat-Tank, Killer Croc’s Battle Chomper and Red Hood’s motorbike.
  • Bat-Tank features a deployable ram weapon, an opening minifigure cockpit, 6-stud shooter and rolling track wheels.
  • Killer Croc’s Battle Chomper features the detachable Killer Croc™ big figure, movable jaws and tail, and a lookout tower for Captain Boomerang™ with a boomerang shooter.
  • Weapons include Red Hood’s 2 guns, Katana’s sword and Captain Boomerang’s 2 boomerangs.
  • Accessory elements include Batman’s mask and cape.
  • Also includes a comic book!
  • This set offers an age-appropriate building experience for children ages 8-14.
  • Bat-Tank measures over 3” (9cm) high, 11” (29cm) long and 6” (17cm) wide.
  • Killer Croc’s Chomper measures over 3” (10cm) high, 10” (27cm) long and 6” (16cm) wide.
  • Motorbike measures over 1” (4cm) high, 2” (6cm) long and under 1” (2cm) wide.

Review

The box comes with Batman artwork displaying the set in an action scene on the front and a different scene on the back with play features in a comic strip at the bottom. The box itself is 54 x 28.2 x 7.8 cm and weighs 1.09Kg. Inside each step comes with a numbered bag along with two instruction manuals and a sticker sheet. Plus the bonus comic book that’s the same in all the summer DC sets, though I do quite like the artwork in these comics. The smaller manual is for Killer Croc’s Battle Chomper and is a smaller booklet with 54 pages. The larger manual is for the Bat-Tank and is over 82 pages with the usual parts list at the back.

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In the first booklet we build Batman, Captain Boomerang and the Killer Croc™ big figure. The Batman is one found in a large amount of sets with his full dark-bley suit.  Captain Boomerang is new to this set with front and back printing on his torso as well as printing on his ski hat. His legs are also printed and he comes with two boomerangs. Killer Croc is the latest big figure and comes with the standard arms and fists but he has a modified body that has raised parts going down his back which makes him one of the best big figs IMO.

We build the other minifigures when we start the second booklet. First up is Red Hood who comes with black legs, a red head with printing on and his torso printed both front and back. He also comes with two hand guns. However my favourite minifigure is Katana with printing on torso, arms and legs with red boots. This LEGO version, I think, is a standout minifigure and we are slowly getting more and more characters that have appeared on the Arrow TV series.

I do think the selection of minifigures in this set is excellent but don’t feel that it justifies the £70 price tag. This is where you hope the build and play features compliment the minifigures much like they did in 76059: Spider-Man: Doc Ock’s Tentacle Trap. However I’m afraid neither the build or play features are that good.

We start the build with Killer Croc’s Chomper. On the box it looks excellent and the entire first booklet is given over to the build. It’s very straight forward with plenty of Technic elements that create the jaw mechanism at the front. The whole concept is as you push it on its wheels his mouth moves up and down. However it’s quite flimsy and very temperamental; sometimes it looks good then it is like a firework that promises so much but when it comes down to the main bit it fails to deliver. I found the entire vehicle lacked a finished look with too many Technic elements left exposed. On top of that (literally) Captain Boomerang’s perch felt like it was just added at the last minute and looks out of place.

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So, after building that I hoped the tank would improve the set.  First we built Red Hood’s motorbike which just felt like more filler IMO. The tank is then a very drawn out build with the finished model fairly large at 3” (9cm) high, 11” (29cm) long and 6” (17cm) wide.  The entire bag two is given over to build the main chassis of the tank. This includes Technic elements that are part of the main play feature of the tank (more on that later).

Bag three we build up with the front and rear sections of the tank taking shape as well as the quickfire flick gun. Bag four is when things really take shape as the majority of the tank is built. This includes the cockpit which is so low you have to lay Batman down for him to fit which I didn’t like. We also complete the mechanism for the ram that is at the front of the tank and operated from the rear. Personally I felt the play feature is weak as you can turn it to flick out but have to manually put the ram back. I think kids would have preferred the mechanism to operate the flick gun at the front which would have been a really good feature, instead of having to get your hand right in front to turn it manually.

Bag five is where it gets tedious as we have to build the caterpillar treads for the tank. The rear ones required 26 connected together with the front ones require 36. This is rather repetitive and can get annoying, but there isn’t really any way round this. To make it worse, only the rear ones work as designed; on the surfaces I tested my tank the front ones did not move freely, so the tank is let down by the front caterpillar treads not functioning in rhythm with the rear ones.

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Neither vehicle lived up to expectations. The box makes them look good but the build isn’t anything special.  The tank is tedious at best and the play features are not the best. I play-tested it with some friends’ boys and they got fed up with it after 10 minutes. As I said earlier, the highlight of the set is the minifigures but it’s hard to justify spending £70 on 5 minifigures.

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This set can be picked up from all major retailers now.

Disclaimer: All our reviews are our own personal views, thanks to the Norton & Co for providing us with sets to review.
 

Author Profile

Rich
Founder of Brick Fanatics. I'm Richard Hayes a 34 year old runner based in Sheffield. However I'm better known as the Mohican Runner due to my very distinctive hair style. I've gone from 20st to a runner, I've raised over £1.3 million for charity by doing various running challenges.

I'm supported by Absolute360,SockMine and Tribesports.

Currently I have a 17:20 5k PB, 36:02 10k PB, 81:11 HM PB & 3:08:24 for the marathon.

You can find me on my blog http://mohicanrunner.co.uk

YouTube video

Rich

Founder of Brick Fanatics. I'm Richard Hayes a 34 year old runner based in Sheffield. However I'm better known as the Mohican Runner due to my very distinctive hair style. I've gone from 20st to a runner, I've raised over £1.3 million for charity by doing various running challenges. I'm supported by Absolute360,SockMine and Tribesports. Currently I have a 17:20 5k PB, 36:02 10k PB, 81:11 HM PB & 3:08:24 for the marathon. You can find me on my blog http://mohicanrunner.co.uk

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