LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure review

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure enjoys the benefits of an already successful LEGO Marvel formula, but also highlights some issues.

Hot on the heels of several LEGO Marvel Construction Figures (and most likely only because of those) comes the LEGO Group’s number one afterthought, Batman, in the form of 76259 Batman Construction Figure.

Okay, afterthought is perhaps a little harsh, but it’s been a rough few years for the Caped Crusader and likely through no fault of the LEGO Group. But even as the character begins to find his feet again in LEGO form, releasing something like this (where he literally struggles to find his feet, as gigantic as they are) doesn’t help the general view that it’s been a really dark time for the Dark Knight.

— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure set details —

Theme: LEGO DC Set name: 76259 Batman Construction Figure Release: June 1, 2023

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Price: £31.99 / €37.99 Pieces: 275 Minifigures: 0

LEGO: Available June 1, 2023

— Where to buy LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure —

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure releases on June 1 in LEGO Stores and at LEGO.com, and will also likely be available through third-party retailers.

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— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure build —

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure follows on from 76206 Iron Man Figure, 76226 Spider-Man Figure, 76225 Miles Morales Figure, 76230 Venom Figure and 76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure and will release alongside 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure and 76258 Captain America Construction Figure.

As a range of larger-scale buildable characters, there is plenty to appreciate in these sets, and to look forward to in the June 1 additions to the line. Iron Man and the Spider-Man trio perfectly suited the format and Ant-Man definitely adds a further level of unique play potential to the range. Creatively and stylistically, these figures have almost quite literally built on what came before and successfully carved out a credible niche within the LEGO Marvel theme.

And now, the exact same design approach to these Marvel characters has been adapted to DC’s finest, Batman, in the form of 76259 Batman Construction Figure – and while it makes sense to translate winning formulas from LEGO Marvel to LEGO DC and vice-versa, this straight one-for-one translation doesn’t seem to work as well.

It makes sense for consistency’s sake – and for younger play, where Marvel vs. DC is an inevitability of the toybox – to maintain as much of the same building, design and proportions here, and for the most part, it works. As with the Marvel Construction Figures, 76259 Batman Construction Figure contains in one arm or leg more actual LEGO pieces and building techniques than any of the previous large-scale buildable figures we have seen before, and that is a design craft to very much appreciate and enjoy. It’s partly why there are as many as 275 pieces to be found here.

These are interesting builds to put together – far more so than the likely first impression that these are more juniorised sets would have you believe.

Yet, as we see LEGO DC finally swing back into action after a creatively barren few years (most likely not for the lack of appetite from the LEGO Group and a glance at LEGO Marvel in this same period is evidence enough) it does sting that one of the first sets of the year for the lead character is a carry-over from LEGO Marvel.

That aside, there’s also an interesting issue at hand with 76259 Batman Construction Figure. Even though it’s the same general design as we have seen across several successful LEGO Marvel figures, this is the first instance of said build coming in just the one colour. That monochrome colour scheme seems to have the effect of pulling greater focus on to the anatomical proportionality of the build. All in the one colour, body parts seem easier to compare with what you would expect them to be – there are no brighter or darker shades to camouflage or highlight particular areas. This is as naked as this design of LEGO set can be.

And that brings us to the short arms, little thighs and biiig feet. The feet are an inevitability of a brick-built design and a more than forgivable compromise to have these buildable figures at all, so we can overlook those (just as the LEGO Group has cheekily tried to in its box art…), but the relatively short arms and thighs are really hard to not notice here and – for being the same colour as everything else on this model – pull as much focus as some of the really good details, such as the torso design and general smoothed-out approach of the entire figure.

Proportionally, those arms need another stud in length, at least, whilst the thighs need to more closely match the calves in length. At the moment, these mis-sized attributes diminish the menacing nature of Batman, central to his character. Unless you put him in the shadows of your LEGO collection, his all-black appearance unfortunately highlights as many of the compromises of this buildable figure design as it does the good points.

Additionally, the thighs one is particularly frustrating because their current size (as well as the longer calves and big feet) doesn’t seem to allow for good balance when posing the figure.

The other issue to be had is in the design around the cowl – the ears seem to be too far back, or at least further back than they perhaps need to be. It’s the main thing to get right and unfortunately it doesn’t quite come together as it could otherwise do.

Each of these issues is addressable through customisation now, but also were likely addressable during the design process. That would have meant editing the proportions of the buildable figure, though, which would have distanced this LEGO Batman set from the LEGO Marvel ones it is otherwise related to, and perhaps that was a compromise not open to the design team. It’s a shame because having that little bit more flexibility in 76259 Batman Construction Figure’s creation would have at once both captured this character in a far more credible and playable way and also served LEGO Batman fans something unique to them, that doesn’t just feel like a secondary idea brought over from that other theme.

Criticisms to one side, these issues aren’t the be all and end all of this set and, as mentioned above, this design approach lends itself nicely to more interesting and dynamic large-scale LEGO buildable figures than we’ve ever had before. It means that, in spite of its flaws, 76259 Batman Construction Figure remains the best large-scale LEGO Batman we’ve had so far, and that’s nothing but a good thing.

— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure price —

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure comes in at £31.99 in the UK and from €37.99 in Europe, which is comparable to the LEGO Marvel Construction Figures and actually cheaper than 76206 Iron Man Figure. For being the same size, that’s probably fair value.

— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure pictures —

— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure pros and cons —

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure offers a first LEGO DC/LEGO Batman Construction Figure to try to compete with the barrage of LEGO Marvel ones we have, and where better to start than with Batman himself? Unfortunately, simply translating the same exact design approach from one character to another doesn’t always work, and the visual issues that the all-black design of 76259 Batman Construction Figure highlights are one reason why.

As it is, 76259 Batman Construction Figure remains interesting to build, alright to look at from certain angles and still the best buildable large-scale Batman we’ve ever had – there’s plenty to appreciate here, even if there are parts to still perfect.

76259 Batman Construction Figure pros76259 Batman Construction Figure cons
Lots of LEGO building in thisThe cowl design needed to be different to just building around the same printed face piece as we got in the LEGO Marvel figures
Best large-scale Batman so farAll black colour scheme highlights disproportionate arms and legs
Looks good from certain angles……doesn’t look good from certain other angles

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your Bat-LEGO through one of our affiliate links.

— Alternatives to LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure —

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure is part of the Construction Figure family currently heavily populated by LEGO Marvel characters. The best of these are arguably 76206 Iron Man Figure for being the first, and 76256 Ant-Man Construction Figure for adding an extra dimension of play simply for what that character can do.

— LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure FAQs —

How long does it take to build LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure?

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure can be put together in about half an hour, but is one to enjoy as it’s an interesting process.

How many pieces are in LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure?

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure contains 275 pieces, including a printed chest piece with Bat symbol and a printed face piece.

How big is LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure?

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure stands 27cm tall and if you stretch his arms out and point his fingers then he has a wingspan of 25cm.

How much does LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure cost?

LEGO DC 76259 Batman Construction Figure releases on June 1 for £31.99 in the UK and €37.99 in Europe, with US release details and price still to be confirmed.

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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