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Set Review: 70908 The Scuttler
 Wednesday, July 19th, 2017 at 12:49am by Jason, BZPower ReporterIt's time for another BZPower set review, and today BZPower Reporter Xccj is looking at the LEGO Batman Movie set 70908: The Scuttler. The Scuttler was a prominent vehicle in the movie and is a bit different than we usually see with Batman's vehicles, but how does the set itself hold up? Read on or watch the video review to find out, and get a chance to win some Batman Collectible Minifigures.
If you want a chance to win a Batman Collectible Minifigure, comment on the Youtube video, and you'll be entered into a raffle! Presentation
The front of the box shows off the Scuttler in all its glory, as the many minifigures run around its feet. Suffice to say, Joker and Poison Ivy are totally out of their league here. The back of the vehicle shows off a different view of the scuttle as the figs continue to battle it out. There are also some images highlighting the various action features found in the set, as well as the various minifigures. The set comes with 775 pieces for $79.99 USD. Building
It's a lengthy build, which is to be expected for a pricey set like this. Most of time is spent building the Scuttler vehicle, and there's a bit of repetition with its complex limbs, but nothing too complicated. Set DesignNow that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
The set comes with 775 pieces, plus a few extras. Generally, outside of fig parts, there are not a whole lot of new or exciting parts in this set. The pieces, in LEGO Batman's classic style, are mostly blacks and grays, with a few other colors included for internal structures. (This includes some pink bricks, strangely enough.) However, there are a lot of stickers to apply, which can be especially annoying on long, thin elements.
This set comes with six minifigures, and five of them are exclusive to the set, which is a nice value. The one figure that's not unique is Batman; this variation appears in three other sets. But given that he's the title character, I guess that can be forgiven. He comes with a classic black suit, a cape, and a cowl with a chinstrap. The new addition for him this year is the yellow utility belt that fits over his legs. His head has two grimacing facial expressions, and also different styles for the headband eyes. Dick Grayson AKA Robin comes dressed up in his party tuxedo. His blue party jacket has some nice sparkles on the torso and arms, and he also has an exclusive dark blue bow tie, which is definitely a hit. His two facial expressions are happy and mildly worried, and his glasses have a skin toned color in them, for when he's in his civilian clothes. Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl shows up in a SWAT uniform. The legs and vest itself has some nice printing on them, but sadly her torso is unprinted, although we do get dual-molded arms. The head and hairpiece appear in a few other sets, but are still nice.
Strangely, this is the only set that Commissioner Gordon actually appears in, outside his Collectible Minifigure entry. He's also dressed up for a party in his fancy dark blue suit with lots of metals printed on it. He does have two expressions: smiling and frowning. This variation of the Joker is exclusive to this set. However, all the parts do appear elsewhere, this is just the only time this head goes with this torso. All the same, his purple suit with coattails is a striking design, and it's nice to have the main villain included in the set for play value. His two facial expressions are a smug smile and a slightly worried looking grin. (I'm personally not a fan of the coattails, which seem to just get in the way, but I'm sure others will find this cloth element useful.) Finally, we get a classic villain in the form of Poison Ivy. She's quite different from her previous LEGO incarnations. Her torso and legs have some nice plant printing on them, in addition to her dual-molded arms. She also wears a new cloth skirt design. The hairpiece is a new mold with some nice foliage details included. Her head has two expressions, and both look like variations of her killer kiss. Her role in the movie was quite small, but it's still nice to see the character redesigned.
While the Scuttler uses most of the parts here, there are a few small builds included. The first is Poison Ivy's plant stand. It uses green and brown vines with a clear support in the center, to make it look like she's floating around on one of her living plants. It's fairly simple, but it fits with her character. The second is a jetpack for Batman to ride. It's a bit bulky with two engines to fly him around. Unlike many LEGO jetpacks, it doesn't actually attach via his neck; instead Batman just stands on a platform attached to the jetpack. (This is probably more realistic, since modern "jetpacks" don't appear to be backpacks.) It's not the best mini model, but it works well enough.
The main feature is the Scuttler itself, and it's quite a large model and unlike any of the other Bat-vehicles we've seen before. I appreciate that the Scuttler appears more like a real bat (sans wings) from the design of its limbs and head. The blacks and grays are nicely accented by the occasional trans yellow elements and the red stickers, and the crystals included for the Scuttler's eyes are especially nice. The model does take up a lot of space, especially given how the limbs spread out, so while it looks cool it still can be tricky to display. The most striking feature of the model is its forearms, which are built using one bag each. There's a click joint at the shoulders and Mixel joints at the wrist, so there's some posability but it's limited. This is particularly because the arms at a fixed angle from the body, so shoulder movement can often get blocked. The rear legs are far less impressive. While they have a bit more freedom of mobility with a clink joint at the hits and knee, they're also less substantial in terms of build, and are only really there to provide limited support from the back. It would've been nicer to see a bit more of a ample build for these.
The body is quite large and detailed, and serves nice connection points for the limbs and head. The back has a large windscreen covering the engine, and it opens up to reveal a lot of cargo space. This is where you can store the jetpack. (The instructions don't show this, but the box does.) You do have to adjust it so it fits just right with the ridges, but when it's in it fits nice and snug. (If you don't want to put the jetpack in, I'm sure you could also squeeze in a few passenger figs. Although since it's right next to the engine and it's caution signs, that might not be the best place to sit.) One issue I had was that the windscreen is attached via clips to a rod, which means it's pretty loose, and feels like it could pop open mid-flight. Perhaps that wouldn't be the best design.
My favorite part of the Scuttler is the head. I really like the bat-like design they gave it, with the snout and ears and everything. Plus, there's room for Batman to sit inside it and it still looks well contained. Batman doesn't actually connect to any studs, but sort of squeezes over a tile and then rotates the monitor down over his legs to hold him in; it's different but it works, and allows for easy removal. (Although his cape does make it a bit difficult to fit him in at times.) The head is also connected to the body by a click joint, so it has a fair amount of possible movement, especially compared to the limbs. Playability
The Scuttler looks like a cool model. . . but when it comes time to play with it, I think it falls short. First off, the design of the limbs is just a bit too awkward, with the forearms at a fixed angle that makes it hard for them to pose. It doesn't really have a flying or climbing mode; it looks best just standing in one place. That makes it awkward to hold and swoosh around. The main feature on the forearms is a gear system that allows them to extend forward. . . but this play feature really doesn't add anything, and just makes the set more obstinate. I think the lack of posability really hurts the model, and a lot of it falls onto the design choices for the forearms. The rear legs provide some support, but they're too small to do much more with. The set does have some action features. There are a total of six stud shooters; two on each of the forearms, and two on the head. The ones on the arms make sense; you can adjust the leg, point it at the target, and fire. The ones on the head, however, are trickier to reach. There's also a net cannon, which can be used to launch a net and trap the Joker. It kinda works, but it's a simple feature and one that's appeared in many sets previously. On the Scuttler, it looked like a last minute add on, which is disappointing. (Luckily, it can be easily removed.) Another issue is that the Scuttler can only really fit one character. I know if was a joke in the trailer, but the other three protagonists don't really have anything to do besides stand around as Batman flies around in his big vehicles. (Although it's assuming he's not letting them borrow his jetpack.) And meanwhile, the Joker and Poison Ivy are severely outnumbered and out powered; Ivy's plant thing has got nothing on the Scuttler. It's great to have all the characters to act out the party scene from the movie, but the Scuttler is still awkward to play with. Final Thoughts
In conclusion, I think the Scuttler is a cool new design style, and I appreciate all the details that went into making it look good. However, I think it's a bit to clunky in terms of posability and play value, and probably serves better as a display piece. The parts are decent but not particularly worthwhile. The figs are amazing, but while most of them are exclusive to this set, the characters all appear elsewhere in different outfits, usually in cheaper sets. Given the glut of amazing sets to come out of this movie, I don't think I would recommend getting the Scuttler first. Thanks again for watching and / or reading another BZPower set review. Many thanks to LEGO, who generously donated this set for review. The thoughts and opinions in the review and video are entirely my own. Stay tuned to BZPower for even more LEGO set reviews coming soon!
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