Before you buy: LEGO 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City

30/03/202430/03/2024Matt Yeo789 Views 0 Comments

LEGO 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City swoops into view on April 1, so here’s what you need to know before you buy the set.

When it comes to LEGO Batman, fans of the theme will no doubt already know that it’s usually a case of famine or feast. Sets tend to either be 4+ builds with next-to-no appeal for older collectors or high-priced entries that can often cost a pretty penny.

Next up for the theme is 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City, a massive 4,210-piece addition that comes with an eye-watering £259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99 price tag. The model is based on the hugely-influential 1990s animated show and offers up a unique LEGO Art-inspired collage for fans to construct and explore.

It’s a microscale masterpiece

76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City takes its inspiration from the Dark Knight’s hometown itself, with a 3D skyline complete with a number of familiar sights and buildings. Every inch of the LEGO model is packed with detail, references and Easter eggs to discover, which is just as well considering the time it’ll take you to open up and assemble the contents of the 44-bag build.

The limited colour palette of 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City definitely works in its favour, creating a suitably moody art deco look that successfully captures the feel of the original show. In addition, strong angles, distinctive shapes and smooth textures make the set as iconic as it is memorable.

It’s packed with references and Easter eggs

Fans of the Dark Knight will certainly have their work cut out for themselves finding all of the subtle nods to the model’s source material hidden within. Multiple stickered 2×2 tiles are tucked away throughout 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City, although you may inadvertently rip off an entire skyscraper in error while searching for them all.

In addition, there are a variety of iconic locations from the animated show that have been incorporated into the build. These range from the likes of Arkham Asylum, the Palace Theater and Ace Chemical plant to Paulie’s pool hall, the Stacked Deck and Wild Deuces club, as well as the GCPD building, Wayne Manor and a tiny Batcave.

It’s a nostalgic build

The cityscape on display in 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City is one that definitely taps into a real sense of nostalgia for fans of a certain age. The choice of colours, references and included characters will no doubt hit the right spot with those for whom the original animated series was a huge influence.

Having said that, we suspect that those same fans would have preferred that the LEGO Batman design team had put its creativity and the set’s huge piece count to better use in a minifigure-scale model based on the series, one that could potentially have had more play and display options.

The included minifigures are (almost) perfect

76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City includes what feels like a bonus in the shape of four exclusive minifigures of Batman, Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Joker. The latter three offer up near perfect renditions of their animated counterparts, with impressive expressions and printing, representing excellent minifigure designs.

However, it’s the set’s Batmanminifigure that is ultimately a letdown, featuring as it does the same disastrous over-juniorised cowl piece we’ve seen included in other LEGO builds. The minifigure fails to capture the look of the character in Batman: The Animated Series and makes this version of the Caped Crusader feel well-and-truly out of place in the set.

It’s a little pricey for a concept build

Even when considering that 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City is essentially a concept build, it’s asking price of £259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99 does feel a little hard to swallow. For that amount you’re getting a model that could just have easily been a much smaller and more affordable build at a fraction of the cost.

Although 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City certainly offers something new, we can’t help feeling that the effort, piece count and potential could just as easily have been channelled into something that fans actually wanted, rather than a set they’d probably never even considered might be in the pipeline.

LEGO 76271 Batman: The Animated Series verdict

While fans of LEGO DC sets might bemoan the arrival of yet another Batman-themed set, there is actually plenty to like about 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City. The beautiful art deco style, immersive attention to detail, sneaky secrets and three out of the four minifigures do make for a satisfying building experience.

Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City is essentially an expensive concept build, one that may only appeal to those with pockets as deep as billionaire Brue Wayne himself.

For the fullBrick Fanaticsverdict on 76271 Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City, be sure to check out our in-depth review here. The LEGO Batman set is available to pre-order now and ships from April 4 priced at £259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99.

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Author Profile

Matt Yeo

From video game journalism to kids’ publishing, I’ve been there, seen it, done it and worn the T-shirt. I was also the editor of the first-ever official LEGO magazine way back when, LEGO Adventures. I have a passion for movies, comic books, tech and video games, with a wallet that’s struggling to keep up with my LEGO set wish list.