There are times in life when less is more. This is the thought that springs to mind after I built the classic Bronze Age Batman from LEGO BrickHeadz Batman: Batman 8 in 1 Figure set (#40748). A gift from my kids this past Christmas, I loved the idea of being able to build any version of the capped crusader of my choosing.

Now I am no stranger to the world of 3-in-1 LEGO sets that sell you the notion of building multiple items out of one box of pieces. Try turning that pink cat into a pink dragon, that truck into a helicopter, etc. But I also know that, as a fledgling LEGO collector, I am all about building what I love the first time. I have little desire to breakdown something I took such pleasure in constructing, simply to try my hand at a less than desirable object.

My personal preferences aside, I could not help but be frustrated by just how wasteful the 8 in 1 set is. After building the Bronze Age figure, whose build instructions are the only ones in the accompanying guidebook, I was left with a slew of unused pieces.

Adding to my annoyance was the fact that one needed to use the LEGO Builder app (usually a useful app that any LEGO fan should download) to build the other variations. While the app provides 3D renderings of the pieces and where they go, it failed to outline from the onset the full list of bags one will need for the build.

Wanting to keep the bronze version for my display purposes, I decided to try and see if I could squeeze a second version out of the remaining pieces. I originally thought I’d struck gold when I looked at the instructions to build the Batman: The Dark Night Trilogy BrickHeadz. It seemingly required only two of the unopened bags, or so I thought. It became clear halfway through the build that I would still need items from the Bronze Age Batman (i.e. the first two bags) build.

As a last resort, I decided to raid my kids LEGO bins of random pieces from sets they no longer play with. Sifting through the remnants of an Avengers jet, LEGO stunt tracks, and more proved equally challenging as I didn’t have all the pieces I needed. Attempting to use ones I deemed “close enough” didn’t work since they protruded in ways that would have made the build look deformed. A few pieces short, I still managed to get the Batman: The Dark Night Trilogy version built, as fragile as the inside of the head may be, through some delicate placements and luck.

Although I was miraculously able to get two builds out of this set, it is clear the LEGO BrickHeadz Batman: Batman 8 in 1 Figure was designed to entice fans to buy multiple versions of the set to get all the eras of Batman. However, it is just too hard to ignore the large number of unused pieces one will be left with regardless of which Batman you build. Sadly, one’s milage with this set will depend on your tolerance for unnecessary excess.

Catch up on previous editions of The LEGO Shelf now.