Column: How a vintage LEGO Batman set rekindled my passion for building
When a vintage LEGO Batman set emerged from a box of donated LEGO, it opened a door that will never close for Matt. This is his LEGO origin story…
As a LEGO fan and collector of a certain age, I’ve been lucky enough to not only grow up with LEGO products from my formative years and into adulthood as a professional writer, but to also see how much fun my kids have had making their own inventive brick-built mini masterpieces.
That was first demonstrated to me a few years back when a family member kindly donated what initially appeared to be a large box of random LEGO pieces. Sorting through the numerous parts, my boys and I started out by constructing a variety of crazy creatures, ships and characters together, letting our collective imaginations run wild.
However, on closer inspection of the LEGO elements, I soon realised that I was in fact sitting on a near-complete copy of the 2006 set 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze’s Invasion. In addition to battered and torn building instructions, an inventory of the pieces revealed that the LEGO Batman set was mostly intact and the majority of the minifigure selection was also present and correct.
I wasn’t writing for Brick Fanatics at the time and hadn’t purchased a LEGO set for a fair few years at that point, but there was something about that pile of primarily black and grey parts that really called to me. I not only wanted to reassemble 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze’s Invasion with the elements I had to hand and with the assistance of my children, but I was driven to hunt down any missing pieces too.
In addition, my kids and I took our time building the LEGO Batman set together, trying to solve the puzzle of which parts and stages matched the crumpled instructions, and what was missing in order to complete the model. Sure, some of the printed parts had seen better days, but the point was that everything could still be connected together and played with.
My boys had no idea that 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze’s Invasion was released back in 2006, what its potential value on the secondary market might be, or that the model was older than either of them. The fact that we became almost brick archaeologists attempting to resurrect a years-old build was what kept us going and entertained for a few weeks.
We wanted to discover if we could recreate the LEGO Batman model as thoroughly as possible, working together to figure out which parts were missing and where every well-used element was meant to attach to another. Some pieces were borrowed from other sets we had to hand, while others had to be purchased online to fill in any crucial gaps.
Our combined multi-generational efforts not only allowed us to spend some true quality time together as a family, but it also rekindled my interest in LEGO as a long-time fan and collector, ultimately leading to me writing for Brick Fanatics and reconnecting with my existing LEGO collection.
While the completed 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze’s Invasion didn’t stay that way for long (and may or may not have been disassembled to create a giant robot), the fact that the various bricks in that box still inspired hours of fun, play and creativity made it a memorable experience for all involved.
As my kids have grown and moved on to other hobbies and interests, my rekindled enthusiasm for all things LEGO-related has ultimately allowed me to write about sets and minifigures for a living. While the models I have in my collection now are varied and numerous, I know that they too will be passed on at some point in the years to come, encouraging play and creativity in a whole new generation of builders yet to be born.
That’s at the very core of the LEGO Group’s new #MadeToBePlayed campaign, which aims to demonstrate how the high quality and durability of its bricks means they can be passed on through the generations. Head here to find out more.
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Author Profile
- From video game journalism to kids’ publishing, I’ve been there, seen it, done it and worn the T-shirt. I was also the editor of the first-ever official LEGO magazine way back when, LEGO Adventures. I have a passion for movies, comic books, tech and video games, with a wallet that’s struggling to keep up with my LEGO set wish list.
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