LEGO Super Heroes 76085 Battle of Atlantis review

The DC movie version of Aquaman makes his minifigure debut ready for his appearance in Justice League. Is 76085 Battle for Atlantis worthy of its monarch?

Price: £19.99 / $19.99 / €24.99 Pieces: 197 Available: Now

The villainous Parademon are stealing the Mother Box from Atlantis, according to the description for 76085 Battle for Atlantis. In 76086 Knightcrawler Tunnel Attack, Batman is looking to retrieve the mysterious item from the antagonists. But that is getting ahead of things – first, there must be a battle for Aquaman’s kingdom.

I would like to propose a more honest name for this set – Battle of the Exceptional Figures Beneath an Underwhelming Facade. There are sets that are all about the minifigures and then there are sets that are ALL about the minifigures. While he is supposed to be king of Atlantis, Aquaman could be a contender for that latter category’s ruler. Despite the disappointment of the facade, the minifigures truly do make a saving dive to almost completely redeem 76085 Battle of Atlantis.

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The ‘Atlantis’ portion of this set is completely worthless. With the film still months away I will have to resort to conjecture here and surmise that Aquaman prefers swimming as opposed to piloting a cool underwater vehicle. Bound by occupying the lowest price point slot in the lineup and without a vehicle to include, this is likely the best that could have been achieved within the creative constraints. Doing any sort of structure in under 200 pieces is an impossible order, especially when a bunch of the parts are consumed by minifigures. I will always welcome more sand green bricks into my collection, but it would mean purchasing a lot of copies to acquire a meaningful amount.

If Atlantis is the sacrifice, then minifigures are the god’s reward. Four minifigures, all of them technically exclusive to this set, are included. I say technically, because the Parademon is exactly the same as the yellow version included in 76087 Flying Fox: Batmobile Airlift Attack, just with the other version of wings. However, Aquaman and the Atlantean guards are truly exclusive and worth every penny.

Unlike every other figure in the DCEU sets, their torsos bear no insignia or defining characteristics and they are beautiful. The crossover potential of these minifigure parts is incredible. Pearl gold is a colour that has been severely underrepresented in minifigures and in this set it reigns supreme. Nothing about the minifigures is distinctly underwater related either, there is no reason they could not show up in another setting with a spot of helmet swapping. Jason Moma’s Aquaman is sporting a magnificent new hairpiece that I want twenty of.

76085 should be viewed as a minifigure and sand green parts pack. In that light it does quite well, even for the price. It offers a lot of value to kids, minifigure collectors and AFOLs alike. The appealing minifigures make multiple copies worthwhile – I would love to see a display populated by those pearl gold figures.

This product was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

76085 Battle of Atlantis is available now at shop.LEGO.com. You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

More Justice League set reviews:

76086 Knightcrawler Tunnel Attack

Author Profile

Daniel
When I was 3 years old my dad bought home 6659 TV Camera Crew as a gift — he had no idea what he had just unleashed. Three decades and no dark age later, I am still going strong. My love of LEGO led me to a career in Civil Engineering and I am now raising three budding LEGO lovers with my lovely wife who is, bless her, a huge supporter of my brick addiction. When not writing for Brick Fanatics or fulfilling my duties as the U.S. Editor of Blocks Magazine I enjoy collecting, MOCing, exhibiting, as well as running, climbing and home improvement.

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Daniel

When I was 3 years old my dad bought home 6659 TV Camera Crew as a gift — he had no idea what he had just unleashed. Three decades and no dark age later, I am still going strong. My love of LEGO led me to a career in Civil Engineering and I am now raising three budding LEGO lovers with my lovely wife who is, bless her, a huge supporter of my brick addiction. When not writing for Brick Fanatics or fulfilling my duties as the U.S. Editor of Blocks Magazine I enjoy collecting, MOCing, exhibiting, as well as running, climbing and home improvement.

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