Review: Brother Eye Takedown

I got this set for free with saved up VIP points for one reason, and one reason only. I wanted the Batwoman Minifigure. I have greatly enjoyed the Batwoman comics in the past, and she is one of my favorite characters in the DC Comics universe (or should I say Multiverse?). The set itself held no other particular interest for me, but sadly the only way to get some of the best Minifigures is through purchasing a set you don’t really want. Sometimes, those sets do surprise you, so let’s see if that’s the case with Batman – Brother Eye Takedown. As always, if you are curious about how I generate scores in my review, you can click here to read about my rating system.

SET SUMMARY

NAME: Batman: Brother Eye Takedown
SET #: 76111
THEME: DC Comics Super Heroes
COST: $34.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 269
MINIFIGURES: 3
OF INTEREST: light brick
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2018

SUMMARY REVIEW: 81%

VALUE: 80% (Good price-per-brick, okay build-time value.)

BUILD: 80% (Brother Eye has a few design flaws, but the Batwing is nice.)

MINIFIGURES: 93% (Good Minifigures, lots of accessories, great brick:fig.)

ENTERTAINMENT: 70% (Brother Eye is only fun for real comic book buffs.)

REVIEW

VALUE: 80%

Brother Eye Takedown retails for $34.99 in Canada. With 269 pieces, you are looking at a cost per brick of $0.13, which is actually not that bad. Based on all of the sets that I have reviewed over the last couple of years, my current average cost per brick is $0.14. So, I rate Brother Eye Takedown at 84% in this category.

Brother Eye Takedown took me 38 minutes to build. At $34.99, each minute of build time set me back $0.92. That is okay, but not the best value I have ever seen. My current average is $0.84/min. I rate it at 76%. Averaging this score with the cost per brick gives an overall value rating of 80%.

BUILD: 80%

There are two builds in this set. The main build is the Batwing. The LEGO® Group has released different variants of this iconic jet over the years, but as far as this one goes, it is not bad. The end product is aesthetically pleasing and sleek. It has two stud shooters on the front, as well as two non-functioning machine gun barrels, somewhat reminiscent of the 1989 Michael Keaton Batwing. There are no really novel build techniques in this set, and it is not really a novel concept, but I do like it.

The second build that you get is Brother Eye. I don’t know much about this character. I never read the story line that included Brother Eye, so I find it hard to get excited about this build. It is well designed, and it has an integrated light brick. Pushing a bottom on the bottom causes the eye to glow. The arms look imposing, but they actually have fairly limited forward mobility due to their design. They cannot, for example, grasp a Minifigure for a single-eyed glare. It is also incapable of standing on its own. I am not terribly impressed with Brother Eye.

In the end, you build a nice Batwing. I could have done without Brother Eye. But, perhaps more avid comic book fans will get a kick out of it. I kind of lost touch with comic books when the New 52 rebooted the DC Universe, and the it was rebooted again… and again… This set looses some points with me for having no interesting and new build techniques, as well as the lack of mobility in Brother Eye’s arms. What good are those claws if you can’t stand on them or hold things? Brother Eye Takedown earn 8/10 from me.

MINIFIGURES: 93%

Brother Eye Takedown comes with three Minifigures: Batman, Batwoman, and an OMAC cyborg. Batman is identical to the one we got in the Lex Luthor Mech Takedown set (click here for my review), except that this one comes with a cape. Again, not being familiar with the story this set draws from, I am neither here nor there about OMAC. However, Batwoman is awesome. She really is the highlight of this kit.

All of these Minifigures come with all of the standard parts. They also all feature front and back torso printing. Batman and Batwoman have double-sided faces. None of the characters have any leg printing, which is a bit of a shame. Based on their designs alone, I would rate these characters at 34/45 (76%). However, you get way more batarangs, bat-shields, and other bat-shaped things than you actually need in this kit. 13 separate bat-things if we were to put a number on it. I have gotten a few sets now with these shields/batarangs/etc, and I am not really a fan. I don’t see the point to a few of them, and I don’t need that many of them. But, they are still accessories, and add to the design score. They actually would bring the score up to 100%, but again, I don’t really see the point to many of them since Batman doesn’t use some of these things in the comics (at least not to my knowledge). I love Minifigure accessories, but in this case, they don’t really serve a use or purpose, so I am loath to give a perfect score. I’ll say 95%.

Three Minifigures in a kit containing 269 pieces gives you a brick-to-Minifigure ratio of 90:1. My average is currently 139:1, so this is actually pretty good, and earns 90%. Averaging this ratio score with the design score gives an overall Minifigure grade of 93%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 70%

From an adult collector’s perspective, I like the Batwing. It is not overly large, which makes it believable as a vehicle that can easily fly between buildings in a city. For that reason, I could even place it in my own city on display. I also love that you get Batwoman in this kit. She automatically gets a place on my Super Hero Minifigure display wall. I am not crazy about Brother Eye. Even if I knew the character, there is no easy way to display it in a city scene because it can’t stand on its own. It also weighs a surprising amount, so you would really need to build a sturdy support for it, meaning it will never look like it is floating like it does on the box. I also didn’t need another Batman identical to one I already have, or all those weird bat-accessories. I give this set 3/5 as an AFOL entertainment score.

From KFOL point of view, there might be more value to this set. Again, the Batwing is pretty cool, and not too expensive. I would have had a lot of fun playing with that jet. The accessories probably would not have bothered me as much as a kid, and my imagination would have been a little more forgiving of things that Batman never actually uses in the media. I still have trouble with Brother Eye in this category. The light up function would have been cool for younger me, but if you are not a comic aficionado, are you really going to know who the character is? I don’t see it being very relatable. With that being said, KFOL me would have made up stories for a character that I didn’t know. I give this a perceived KFOL score of 4/5 for entertainment. That gives an overall entertainment rating of 7/10 (70%).

OVERALL: 81%

Brother Eye Takedown is an okay value, and an okay build. Though the Batwing is fun, I am really not very excited about this set. The Batwoman Minifigure is the best part about it in my opinion. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, the Super Heroes theme needs an injection of originality. I am tired of bat-vehicle after bat-vehicle. This set made an attempt at bringing more comic book story into the mix with Brother Eye, but it wasn’t exceptionally successful. I want more scenes, more buildings, more comic book or movie sites (and, no, I don’t mean another Batcave). I can appreciate how a comic book fan might really like this set though. I would wait for a sale on this one.

Have any thoughts that you would like to share on Brother Eye Takedown? Be sure to leave them in the comments below. Also, if you like the content at True North Bricks, I would love it if you followed me here on WordPress (click the “follow” option in the menu at the bottom of the page), Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter for regular updates.

Until next time,

-Tom

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