I recently found out about set
5004590 Bat-Pod, and now I sort of wish I hadn't... It was "released" in 2015, but only 1,000 sets were made; 750 for the US, 250 for Europe, and the only way to get a set was to win one in a Lego VIP competition.
It's the same scale as the 76023 and latterly 76240 Tumbler sets, which I have both of, so it was inevitable I was going to get a Bat-Pod somehow.
On eBay used sets go for around £130-140... for 338 pieces. And those aren't even original sets, they're just put together from Bricklink. So if eBayers can do that and make a profit, surely I can get the parts for less than what they're charging...?
Fortunately the set didn't include any unique parts, but it did require several rare parts in the appropriate colour. Some were
£5-6 each for a single piece. In the end it came to just shy of £100, for 6 separate orders, including a few extra bits to make the minimum order from a couple of sellers.
The tyres (not pictured) were £7.50 a go, but I expected that. The wedges at the top were just over £1 each. The shields, £4 and £5.33 each from 2 different sellers. And those little 1x2 slopes on the left? £2 each! Almost certainly worth their weight in gold. Or cocaine.
£100 for a 338 piece set is an eye watering pence-per-part ratio so I've not worked it out. If you do feel free to keep it to yourself
I could've saved a little if I'd combed through my own Lego, but any parts I already have were only a few pence each, and I had neither the time nor inclination.
First step: emptying about 100 plastic bags.
Luckily the major Lego sites had the parts list, and some kind hearted soul had scanned the instructions and made them freely available online.
I can see why it didn't make it into production as aside from the core part the rider would sit over, it's remarkably flimsy. I don't have an issue with that as I don't think it would be possible to improve without spoiling the look, and this scale of models ought to be looks over playability.