Lego Batman... the cartoon?

Well I wanted to post more up-close pictures of Hulk Wave 3, but because of a shipping mistake on Hasbro's end (and I swear on Captain America's grave, if, after waiting 10 days to make sure Skaar doesn't show up separately, I end up having to pay a premium on eBay because he's sold out online my vengeance will be mighty!) I'm going to wait to take photos (and this time I'll be sure to use better lighting.)

In the meantime, one of the greatest Lego sites of all times, Brickset pointed us to Eurogamer's article on the possibility of a Lego Batman cartoon. While Lego can be finicky with its licensed properties (while Star Wars is still going strong, the last Harry Potter movie received only one set, and it was yet another super-sized Hogwarts Castle) I can never tell if Lego Batman (one of the few micro-heroes we haven't covered here) is doing well or not. In 2006 when it started there were 7 sets, including the super-sized Batcave, Arkham Asylum and "collector's" Batmobile, while 2007 only had 2 sets and 2008 jumped up to 4 sets, all in the small-to-mid-sized range.

If I didn't blow my Lego budget on the new Castle sets, I'd probably pick up the older sets before they reach "OOP VHTF Rare OMG" status on eBay and you have to pay twice the price (or more... the Catwoman set is already listing for multiple-times listing price on eBay). Although the recent retailer's catalog featured pirates, farm sets and the new Power Miners sets, no word on what Lego Batman sets might be coming out in 2009 to capitalize on the video game that should come out later this month.

If you like Super Hero Squad... (things I forgot to mention)

In the first If You Like Super Hero Squad I forgot to mention two very important miniature Marvels: the Mega Bloks and Lego sets.

Now, Mega Brands construction toys are currently the only official licensed Marvel brand construction toys. Which means Lego purists beware. They have produced a Duplo-like series based on the Super Hero Squad predecessor "Spider-Man & Friends" featuring a chunky Spider-Man and friends like Thor and Hulk with "Super Hero Training Camp" and the like. They have also put out, and continue to put out, sets that appeal to both a more traditional (re: Lego oriented) audience consisting of mini-figures (generally Spider-Man and his foes, but Hulk, Wolverine and the Fantastic Four have also been represented) and playsets/vehicles for the minifigures, as well as the Bionicle style "Super-Tech" figures.

Unfortunately, these sets lack that "pure Lego" marketability that their predecessor the Lego Spider-Man sets had. Unfortunately, the few sets that were made in this short-lived line were movie-centric, so other than Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and Mary Jane, most other mini-figures were generic cops, thugs and civilians. Actually, I think J. Jonah Jameson had a figure too. It's a world without Avengers, without Fantastic Four, without X-Men. The recent Lego Batman sets have fixed part of that problem by delving into Batman's diverse roster (Nightwing, Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Robin all have figures, as do many other Batman villains) but has yet to tackle the gold-mine that is full DC Universe build-ability that fans have waited for since way back when DC showed off all the Justice League-themed C3 sets years ago.

For those that love the concept of Marvel Legos and are willing to look past the "official" aspect of things, Brickshelf has a huge gallery of Marvel characters from the farthest reaches of the universe, including Guardians of the Galaxy member Aleta (ok, member of ONE of the Guardians of the Galaxy teams), to Mr. Immortal, the White Rabbit, and even the great Ruby Thursday.