I put off buying the DC Superhero Girl sets for the longest time. Honestly, it was the trailer for the Lego Movie 2, with it's inclusion of the mini dolls in the larger Lego universe that made me pull the trigger here. That, coupled with the retirement of the line and dwindling stocks on TRU shelves sent me on a run to buy them up.

Eclipso's Dark Palace is just a must have set for any DC fan though, regardless of your feelings either way about the mini dolls or the DC Superhero Girls theme. Finally we have an interesting structure (completely unrelated to Batman!) in which to set up our legions of DC minifigs!

The build itself was fun. While not bringing anything new to the table for old hands at the Lego experience, it's interesting enough with a few fun design techniques that you may want to bank for future builds. It keeps repetitive steps to a minimum, breaking up the sub assemblies with little tweaks to the facade or surprising twists to parallel elements. While primarily black in it's overall colour scheme, it contains many interesting parts in unique colours.

The main play feature - the castle roof opens up to splay Eclipso's power stealing contraption - is well implemented and fun to fiddle with. It's about as "swooshable" as a fixed structure can possibly get, hahaha.

The actual appearance of the castle is surprisingly well realized. In a line plagued by lazy, unfinished looking models, it was a pleasant surprise to see this castle upon completion. From the tip of the (detachable) rocket ship spire, to the crystaline base... it's all smooth lines and fun, character appropriate details.

There are two vehicle builds here. While Eclipso's rocket serves better as a spire atop the structure than an enjoyable toy in it's own right, Wonder Woman's invisible plane is top notch. It surpasses the already exceptional previous model (76026), by doubling the size of the interior and adding golden hilights to the design via parts and decal application. It's worthy of being a set unto itself, and a must have for Wonder Woman fans.

Lastly, I just want to comment on the figures. Eclipso herself (yes, the character is a woman here, a twist not entirely unprecedented in the DC Multiverse) is obviously the star of the show, and she shows up in fine form. Sporting a ruffled fabric collar and matching train, as well as some top notch printing from her sinewy chest piece to her 'eclipsed' face. She delivers everything you'd want from a dark envoy of Gemworld.

Wonder Woman shows up in a new outfit, differing dramatically from her traditional DC Superhero Girls togs (previously released in 41235). While the design is well rendered, with crisp metalic golden highlights, it leaves me rather cold. It's a bit too much of a divergence from her traditional look. The inclusion of a beautiful new shield for her though is most welcome!

Flash is the third figure in the set, and he's a fun surprise (I think Steve Trevor was the only other male character in the line, from 41231). He's featured unmasked, with his cowl printed hanging off his shoulders down his back. I'm not a huge Flah fan, but he makes for a great addition to the lineup.

If you're a fan of the DCSG line, there are also some fun new Kryptomites in this set, including a rather roided up new model that was fun to assemble. My only gripe with these guys is that it might have been nice to see more colours included. The three orange guys in this set place orange almost tied with green, while blue, yellow, and red are scarce across the line. They also come with a little mini build 'training' structure (which, much like all of the Kryptomite accessories in the line, just feels like parts count padding).

All told though, I can't reiterate enough how necessary this set is for the DC fan's collection. While we've seen plenty of Batman centric landmarks, the landscape is rather barren of interesting playsets from across the rich DC multiverse. This set starts to fill that void nicely. It's a sharp looking structure that features all of the trappings you'd want from an 'evil lair', from a convoluted trap for our heroes to a throne on which to perch and observe one's handiwork. It is absolutely a top notch offering from the fine folks at Lego!