This 1869-piece model of The Tumbler, revealed in a press release published a couple of weeks ago, will be available to VIPs next Monday for US$199.99 / £159.99 / 199.99€. We've been sent one to review ahead of its release.

It arrived about an hour ago, so no, I haven't built it yet, but I have taken pictures of the box, parts and minifigures which I'll share with you now ahead of a marathon building session tonight and tomorrow, after which I'll continue the review.

Box and contents

The first thing that struck me is the size of the box, which is huge, the same size at that for the Tower Bridge and Volvo Wheel Loader, approximately 58 x 47 x 12cm.

The front of the box shows the main model, the two minifigs and the The Dark Knight trilogy logo.

The back shows an excellent photo of the vehicle, 'blueprints' and photos of some of the details.

The text by the inset image of the minifigs on the stand states "Minifigures not in scale with vehicle model."

The box size is justified by the contents which comprise of 18 bags numbered 1-11, six tyres and an 8x16 tile. There's so much stuff I didn't have a piece of white card large enough to photograph it on.

There are five instruction manuals with identical cover photos...

...and two sticker sheets. The manuals and stickers are poly wrapped with card so should reach you in perfect condition.

The sticker for the UCS information plate is printed on white; the other, containing control panels and other details, on clear plastic which should avoid 'Sticker Horror' years down the line.

Minifigures

I'll come straight out and say it: The minifigs are superfluous and have been included in the set for marketing purposes only.

That said, they are vey cool and are indeed likely be the impetus needed to encourage sales of the set at such a high price.

Although Batman is superficially the same as every other minifig version of him, he does have a new torso print, front and back. I'm not sure about the head, it looks similar to others but may well have a slightly different smirk.

The Joker however, is all new and is fantastic. It's the late Heath Ledger version, of course, from The Dark Knight movie. It's the first version of The Joker not to have a white head.

Both minifigs have two-sided heads. Batman has a different smirk, The Joker looks more sinister.

They both have printed backs too.

The Joker appears in bags #1; Batman and the stand are constructed right at the end from bags #11.

I hate applying these large UCS stickers, but for the sake of the review, I persevered and just about got it on centered and straight, but it wasn't easy.

There are a few bubbles in it, though, which is pretty much unavoidable. If I had bought the set, I wouldn't have risked applying it.

Stay tuned for part two which I'll try and get published tomorrow morning.

Thanks to Kim from the LEGO CEE team for providing the set for review.