LEGO Batman 40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition review

40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition is available free with purchases of 76139 1989 Batmobile from Black Friday (Brick Friday). It’s the LEGO Batman freebie you deserve, but is it the one you need?

Price: Free with purchases of 76139 1989 Batmobile Pieces: TBD Available: Nov 28-Dec 2

In the finest example yet of LEGO fans being able to have their cake and eat it comes 40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition. This minifigure scale brick Batmobile is available exclusively as part of the LEGO Group’s Black Friday promotions (coined Brick Friday) and continuing until December 5, as a gift with purchases of the larger 76139 1989 Batmobile.

Do you really need further reason to go out and pick up that D2C masterpiece over the first week of its release? Do you really need more LEGO Batman goodness at no extra cost? Who said no? Well, as feint and insincere as your protests may be, the LEGO Group are ignoring you and insisting on offering this fantastic smaller Batmobile as an incentive to go buy 76139. A closer on surely one of the easiest sales the LEGO Group has this year.

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40433 feels so completely unnecessary and fantastic all at once. Only in the golden age of LEGO can we enjoy such an excess of LEGO Batmobile goodness, and all still in the relatively recent wake of The LEGO Batman Movie and the 300 or so sets that brought with it.

So, as a LEGO Batmobile set free with purchase of a much larger LEGO Batmobile set, what do you get? A highly detailed and fully respectable addition to any LEGO Batman fan’s collection.

Indeed, on first impressions the set may surprise you in size, given the LEGO Group are branding it in marketing as a ‘free mini Batmobile’, as it comes in at credible minifigure scale, i.e. ever so slightly larger than realistic, so as to comfortably seat a minifigure in the cockpit. It measures four studs shorter than the Batmobile featured in this year’s 76119 Batmobile: Pursuit of The Joker, and two studs wider at the rear end. Where 76119 is more sleek and stylish in design, taking inspiration from long and straight lines, 40433 brings chunkier edges, more curves, a wider back end housing thicker wheels, a shorter wheelbase and a shorter, more sloped front end.

Comparisons with that set will spring to mind due to the proximity of their release dates (albeit 40433 not going on general release), and for those that want to focus on this, the builds are suitably different so as to sit alongside each other without bat-confusion.

In spite of its role as a promotional product, few compromises have been made in piece count or application of those pieces. Technique-obsessed builders out there will have sneezed and gone to SNOT heaven with what 40433 offers in construction across four bags of pieces. Whilst predominantly plate-based in stature, the design team behind this Batmobile have found almost as many changes of build direction as have gone into its bigger brother, 76139.

It makes for an interesting final product, albeit one that also demonstrates the creativity and versatility that the larger scale and even bigger piece count within 76139 1989 Batmobile brings. Where the bigger Batmobile captures any number of curves comparable with its on-screen reference material, 40433 admirably tries but does fall short in areas. Perhaps don’t display them next to each other, even if the smaller one comes with its own small display stand too.

The Michael Keaton Batman minifigure included in 76139 1989 Batmobile may be the hero you deserve to drive 40433, but unfortunately, he isn’t the hero who can, because of that rubber cape. Either this 1989 LEGO Bruce Wayne drives around quickly enough that no-one can see him without his cowl on, or, a different LEGO Batman sits behind the wheel.

There are of course small compromises like these to be had in this set’s design, as there are with every Batmobile that has come before it. But, 40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition’s final model remains credible, pays tribute to 30-year-old iconic source material in a fun way and is available as a free gift, for anyone purchasing 76139 1989 Batmobile. If anyone seriously needed more awesome Batman LEGO to convince them to pick up 76139 this weekend, 40433 more than seals the deal.

Thank you to the LEGO Group for providing a copy of 40433 for review.

LEGO Batman 40433 1989 Batmobile – Limited Edition is free with LEGO 76139 1989 Batmobile at LEGO.com, from November 29 and until December 5. You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

Author Profile

Rob Paton
As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

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Rob Paton

As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

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