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11/8/15

I've got BootLEGO bats in my belfry!

Looking at BootLEGOs on eBay the other day, I stumbled on to a brand new Bat-lot of Batmen with the new style cowl (I had yet to own any LEGO or BootLEGO Batmen with the new cowl style) and not only that, but the set included some great Batman variants. So even though I was as yet unfamiliar with the bootleg company that produces this lot (Duo Le Pin) I figured the pennies-on-the-dollar cost was worth the potential risk, so I ordered them...and man am I glad I did!

First up is Batfleck. I am pretty sure I will end up with an official LEGO set or two for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie, but BootLEGOS are so damn inexpensive and WHO CAN WAIT?!?! Also, thankfully I now know that Duo Le Pin is pretty high quality. These BootLEGOS are even closer to LEGO quality than the Sheng Yuan and Decool I have previous experience with! This set is just incredible. Don't get me wrong, they are still bootlegs and there are a couple flaws (one Batman head had the same no-emotion expression printed twice...ironic for Batman who isn't one to emote...and this Batfleck inexplicably has a scuba mask on the other side of his head) but...damn they are great. And they cost me less than 75 cents each with free shipping from China! And it only took less than a week for them to arrive! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Up next: at first I wasn't sure if this were an 'official' Batman or not, it actually took me a minute to realize that this is the Batman: Arkham Knight Batman! How cool is that?!?!

This Batman even has printing on his arms and the sides of his legs! QUALITY! Another fun detail is that Arkham Batman has a calm expression without stubble while his angry expression has stubble. Like in the game, Batman gets angrier and less fresh as he battles throughout the night!

Next: Batman Begins. Each Batman minifigure comes with a batarang, a base and a bunch of pieces to make some little Batmobile/Batdrone or something. I left those out of the shoot because they are really just filler.

Next: Batman from The Dark Knight (in grey.) Some of the Batman minifigures came with plastic extended wings, and some came with cloth capes. I actually did a little mixing/matching to suit my desires, this one may have come with the cloth cape that I gave to Batfleck. Whatever, the whole point of these buildable minifigures is mixing and matching!

Batman Beyond. HOLY MOLEY! This guy alone is worth the low low price of admission! Other BootLEGOers have made half-assed attempts at Batman Beyond, but this is the first correct and screen accurate one I've ever seen. He came with a red cloth cape (another irony, THIS is one that should have the solid wings...in red) but Batman Beyond does not have a red cape, he has red retractable wings, so I left it off the minifigure.

Batman of Zur En Arrh! This is now the third BootLEGO Batman of Zur En Arrh I own (each from a different BootLEGO company. Wow!) We do indeed live in incredible times. I will have to do a side by side by side shoot of this version of Batman soon.

All these Batmen have back printing too, BTW. MOAR QUALITY!

Green Lantern Batman! Another wonderful and surprising addition. Now that I think about it, this guy had a cloth cape, so I switched it out with Batfleck. He looks better with solid wings (although they would look better still in green. GL Batman also came with flesh colored hands...weird...so I switched them with some spare black hands (BootLEGOS always seem to come with additional hands.)

Last but...well...least...is Space Batman! I think this Batman appeared in the LEGO Batman 3 video game. He has a normal face and a space face but the 'normal' face is weird because it is printed on the white plastic head. No skin tone. He looks more like Batzarro with the other face. So I'm sticking with space face!

Man, what a set! The quality of Duo Le Pin is incredible, even the cloth capes are better than anything I've experienced from BootLEGOS to date (while still falling short of LEGO quality...but not by much.) The unique characters and the use of the new style cowl makes this set a must have for anyone who likes to dip their toes in the BootLEGO pool from time to time.

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