LEGO DC Super Heroes Batman Minifigure 212330 Review

Hello. This is Builder Elephant and welcome back for another LEGO review. Today we will be taking a closer look at the LEGO Magazine Gift Batman set number 212330. This set came out in 2023, has 6 pieces, and was designed for people 6 and up.

Batman Minifigure Inspiration

Batman has close to 100 minifigures. Many of those are based on his numerous television and movie appearances. Over the years, he has been portrayed by many different actors. These performances have ranged from campy to dark, as well as garnered rave to questionable reviews. This particular minifigure is based on Michael Keaton portrayal of the Dark Knight in the 1992 Tim Burton movie Batman Returns. There will always be a debate on who was the best Batman, but Michael Keaton tops many people’s lists. Even though Batman Returns came out over 30 years before this minifigure’s creation, Michael Keaton had just reprised his role for the 2023 Flash movie. With Ezra Miller’s negative off camera behavior, marketing focused more on Michael Keaton’s return to the bat-suit rather than the movie’s title character.

The Magazine

The minifigure was included with the LEGO Batman Magazine #6 released in December 2023. Unfortunately, the magazine was only available in Europe. Luckily, this exact Batman minifigure could also be found in the Batcave Shadow Box set 76252 and the Batman 1992 Polybag 30653. Both of those sets were available world wide. Let’s take a closer look at the minifigure.

The Legs

The legs bring us to the first of 4 pieces used to build our Batman minifigure. The all black leg piece is extremely common, but hard to get away from when building a character who to quote Batman in The LEGO Movie “only works in black and sometimes very very dark gray”.

The Torso

The torso piece is what lets us know exactly which movie LEGO was using for its inspiration. (That and the fact this minifigure was also in the Batman 1992 Polybag, which was the year Batman Returns hit theaters.) The bat-symbol on his chest is a perfect match to Michael Keaton's costume in the second film. This symbol had a pointed bottom, while the 1st suit had a wider three pointed tail for the bat. I loved the armor plating on his chest and abs. This was also another clue as to which outfit he had on. The first film made the chest and abs look more realistic, as if it was Bruce Wayne's muscles showing through. For Batman Returns, it still had the shape of these body parts, but the straighter lines and notches let us know this was body armor and not supposed to be a spandex suit. The gold utility belt printed on the torso had a lot of intricate details put into it, that you felt like it was a 3 dimensional part of the torso. The small capsules spaced around the belt look great, but the buckle blows my mind. You can see where the buckle is connected to the belt, the decorative patterns match the film and it even includes the line down the center where it snaps together.

Despite the back being covered by his cape, the same attention to detail was put on the back. The armor plating around the shoulder blades and lower back were outlined in gray. More impressive is the batarang clipped on the back of his belt for quick access.

The Head

I have mixed feelings on the dual printed head piece. The serious expression with a chiseled jaw looks fantastic. To create the white eyes under the cowl, goggles are being worn on his forehead. I love this technique. The goggles look great but also allow the head piece to be used without the cowl on. The simple white line printed across the foreheads of past minifigures limited the head’s use without the masks or outside an 80’s theme MOC. The other face had the cocky crooked smile and raised eyebrow of Bruce Wayne. The expression is expertly printed with the skill we expect from LEGO. The crease lines on the face and different shapes to the eyebrows are wonderful. Unfortunately, with no white printing on the forehead the head does not work well under the cowl. Since this set does not come with a hair piece, you can’t use it for Bruce Wayne either. You will need to dig into your own collection to fix this issue.

The Cowl

The cowl is my favorite piece used to create this minifigure. Typically, Batman comes with a hard plastic headgear mask or cowl and a separate cloth cape. This time the cowl and cape are molded into a single rubbery piece of plastic. From a movie perspective, this piece fits perfectly with his onscreen appearance. The indentation and ridges around the eyes copy that of Michael Keaton’s mask that created the outline of a bat. I had never noticed that until I intensely studied his costume for this review. More obvious was how the cowl and mask looked like one piece in the movie. Finally, using the soft rubbery plastic matched the material used for Michael Keaton’s costume. Beyond the movie replication, this was a great LEGO piece for Batman fans. The cape was shaped to look like it was either billowing in the wind or whipping behind him as Batman runs to save the day. This look is great for people wanting to give life to his cape in MOC work.

Accessories

The magazine also included 2 batarangs with the minifigure. Batman has lots of cool gadgets to help him fight crime and solve mysteries, but the batarang is his most famous. This go to weapon makes an appearance in every incarnation of Batman and it’s nice to get 2 with this one minifigure. Just in case he misses with his first throw. Which Batman would never do.

Conclusion

This was a great free minifigure to be included with the LEGO Batman Magazine. The figure is not exclusive, but uncommon enough to get excited about when opening up your free insert. If you don’t live in Europe, you’ll probably want to get it through the cheaper Batman 1992 Polybag set.