Review: 41231 Harley Quinn to the Rescue
Posted by LostInTranslation,
As someone who is a fan of both the DC Super Heroes and minidoll lines such as Friends and Elves, I was hotly anticipating the DC Super Hero Girls range, which brings together both of these concepts. It seems like it’s been forever since we first heard that LEGO and DC would be collaborating on this theme, but they will finally reach the shelves in January and I’m delighted to now have my hands on a set to review, 41231 Harley Quinn to the Rescue.
The box colour is predominantly light blue, giving a fairly gender-neutral impression. The back of the box shows the finished model and also has a side panel featuring some of the many play features and details of the set, which I’ll describe as we come to them.
Inside the box, we have two bags of parts, one instruction book and one small sticker sheet, which adds lovely detail to the set, but there are actually also several cool printed parts too, for example two 2x2 round tiles printed with “Bam!” and “Pow!” – a feature I lamented the lack of when I reviewed the 1960s Batcave, so I’m thrilled to see them here – and a 2x2 tile that looks to be a comic with Batgirl on the cover.
There are two minidolls in the set, the first being the titular Harley Quinn. I really love how the figure combines the look of a regular teenage girl with some of the aspects one expects of the comic character, by means of red and black tights, blue shorts and a white top printed with red and black diamonds. The most overt comic book feature is of course the fact that she is wearing a mask – it might have been useful to include a spare unmasked head for Harley, although I don’t know whether in fact she always wears the mask in the related cartoon show.
Her blonde hair is in the classic pigtails style, with a streak of red on one side and blue on the other. Sadly, there is no printing on the back of the torso – it would have been nice to see the pattern continue all the way round.
The second figure is Steve Trevor, historically a staunch ally of Wonder Woman, and here a waiter at the Capes and Cowls cafe, whose logo adorns the grey t-shirt he is wearing. The slicked back hairpiece he sports is new in bright light yellow, and his smiling expression has in my opinion a slightly mischievous aspect as a result of one of his eyebrows being quizzically raised.
Also included are two trans.-green Kryptomites, which despite their small size seem to be wreaking havoc at the Capes and Cowls cafe. They are formed of a 1x1 brick with studs on four sides to which cheese slopes and 1x1 printed tile faces are affixed; the larger of the two also has 1x1 modified plates with clips by way of hands and is brandishing a $100 tile (stolen from the till perhaps).
The first item to build is Harley’s glider, simply constructed of a barrel-like engine piece with small white wings on either side. Inside there is a mechanism consisting of a Technic axle and 2x2 round tiles, plates and bricks which can be pressed in order to eject a string net, presumably to catch the naughty Kryptomites. One end is finished with a “Pow!” printed tile and the other end uses a sticker with the caption “Knock knock”. On top of the engine there are handlebars for Harley to steer her vehicle and a new 2x3 tile in white, which is decorated with a pattern of card suits in black, white and red.
The build continues with construction of the ground floor of the cafe, beginning from a base in bright light orange. The walls are generally formed of red-rimmed panel pieces with a brick frontage in medium dark flesh, which I think is an attractive colour scheme.
On the inside, there are two comfy-looking seats in blue and pink and two blue stools. A trans-blue modified tile is attached in a hinged manner so that it can serve as a tabletop when in a horizontal position but reveals a computer screen (a sticker) displaying a Kryptomite when flipped up.
Over on the left-hand side of the cafe, there is an arcade game console featuring a digital version of Harley taking on a Kryptomite with her trusty hammer, which again is a cool detail.
The arcade game can be swivelled around to reveal the gorgeous printed lavender Batgirl tile I mentioned before.
Bag 2 is used to build the second floor of the cafe, which for some reason does not continue with the same colour scheme but adds in dark pink walls, again topped with a blue and white awning. I personally think that the design would look more harmonious if it stayed with the red and medium dark flesh but perhaps this is more accurate to the depiction in the cartoon.
The top of the mechanism for turning the game machine is camouflaged by the addition of a white 4x4 round brick and a medium azure catapult for lobbing confectionery at the Kryptomites.
The front window of the upper floor also forms part of a play feature, whereby a Technic axle can be pushed in, to press on a Technic connector which then pops out the panel, with a “Bam!”.
Upstairs, atop a cupboard which also acts as a safe (judging by the sticker attached to the door), there is also a very neat model of a coffee maker, which is reminiscent of the kind of details frequently found in Friends sets.
When all put together, the model depicts an action-packed scene, with Steve haplessly tied up in a trans green chain and Harley swooping in to rescue him from the troublesome Kryptomites.
There are plenty of play features to help create a dynamic story even though the model itself is rather compact at only 14 studs wide by 10 studs deep.
I really like the Harley minidoll, though shall probably mix and match her hair with those of the many minifigure forms of her until I find my favourite combination.
The Kryptomites are cute, and as you get spares of each of their faces, you can form a proper gang of them if you have some spare cheese slopes.
The inclusion of several excellent printed parts and new parts, such as the 2x3 tile and x2 corner brick in dark pink, are also an added bonus.
Upon comparison with Friends sets of a similar size and price point (£24.99, $29.99, e.g. Heartlake supermarket), the finished model does feel somewhat small but in my opinion it does pack a lot of punch with all the details included and I shall certainly be collecting the rest of the theme.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group. This review is an expression of my own opinions.
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11 comments on this article
Pretty good set but I'm still disappointed about the doll figures.
I am so miffed that these aren't going to be available in the UK this side of Christmas! Hopefully there will be some gift vouchers given as gifts that can be spent in shops that sell them! I love the little arcade game!
The arcade game and batgirl tile are really neat, but I can't get over Harley's vehicle--not very impressed. I like the lower building color scheme and the trans-green chain though!
The Batgirl tile is awesome.
OMG Lego! I was planning to buy this set ONLY for the Cafe window`s cool "print", but what!? It`s a STICKER! Shame on you.
^ It was a pain in the proverbial to apply too.
Nice review! I'm loving this theme and how the girls get to do really cool stuff in these sets.
Great review,
Curious to see if the show gets any airtime over here in Norway after how they treated Elves and Friends (06:00 Saturday - t.y pvr!)
I had the "coffee maker" pegged as a smoothie or juice maker based on the clear cups and the sticker next to the door...?
There are some really nice design flourishes in this theme and this set, but unfortunately Harley Quinn's actual transport is left feeling like a massive afterthought - I think the balance of vehicle to building in the smaller Batman Movie sets is looking better e.g. Catwoman Catcycle Chase, Scarecrow's Special Delivery
Travis, we need some kyrptomites.
Yes, I think it's a slushie machine, with the two different coloured containers on top. Though I'm not sure I've ever seen anything other than red and blue in a real one...
Shame they couldn't have added a bit more detail to the arcade game - the sticker for the controls is a bit cheap, when there are plenty of examples on the net of using things like a microphone for a joystick and a round tile on a stud next to it for a button.