This is the news of the day and it comes to us from Austria where representatives of the Turkish cultural community announce that they are suing the Danish manufacturer LEGO for inciting hatred and racial discrimination in Austria, Germany and in Turkey.

In question, the set 9516 Jabba's Palace released in the summer of 2012 and which, according to the complainants, would be a perfect reproduction of the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul or the Jami al-Kabir mosque located in Beirut (Lebanon).

Representatives of the Turkish cultural community in Austria then equate the Gamorrean Guard minifig delivered with the set to a religious representative in his minaret, presented by LEGO as an overarmed criminal.

Jabba the Hutt, notorious criminal of the Star Wars universe and owner of the premises, also takes it for his rank in the analysis made by the complainant of the content of the set. Jabba would be the materialization of racist insinuations towards Eastern and Asian communities: He is a slave criminal who uses drugs, and sacrifices his subjects without any mercy.

The dressing of the box is also implicated with the presence of the scary and evil Darth Maul.
On the strength of these arguments, the complainant therefore accuses LEGO of engaging in acts of racial discrimination and incitement to hatred towards certain communities, but also of marketing toys that are unsuitable for the target audience: children.

The set 9516 Jabba's Palace is intended for an audience aged between 9 and 14 years according to the indications provided on the box and the complainant considers that this product containing a building representing a combination between a "temple" and a "bunker" n ' is not suitable for this young audience.

LEGO is then questioned about its relationship to religion, war and ethnic diversity, including requests about the psychological damage that these toys could cause to young audiences.

You can read the full arguments developed by representatives of the Turkish cultural community in Austria at this address (Translation from German to English via Google Translate).

Thank you all to avoid slippage in the comments ...

It is the Canadian branch of the Sears brand that makes the dumpling of the day and which in the process allows us to see a little more closely what the next LEGO Lord of the Rings set will be made of. 79007 The Black Gate.

On the preliminary visual of this set of 655 pieces marked as "in stock" at Sears and that you can discover by clicking on the image above we will note that the eagle is a molded figurine, that we will be entitled to Gandalf the White, Mouth of Sauron, 2 orcs and Aragorn.

The description of the set in English:

"... Fly the Great eagle high above the Black Gate of Mordor where Aragorn and Gandalf the White must distract the Eye of Sauron. Use them to stage a scene while Frodo Baggins and his friend Sam throw the One Ring into the fiery depths of Mount Doom and destroy it forever. To reach the Ring's final destination, you must defeat the Mouth of Sauron and the Mordor Orcs positioned high in the spiked gate walls. Then breach the gate and lead the attack on the enemy! Includes a Great Eagle and 5 minifigures with weapons: Aragorn, Gandalf the White, Mouth of Sauron and 2 Mordor Orcs..."

If you want to see the visual, don't hang around too much, LEGO is definitely going to request its removal from the Sears online catalog ...

(Thanks to maxell in the comments)

LEGO recruits again and again as part of the opening of its Stores in France.

Latest offer to date, a position of Assistant Store Manager (Assistant Store Manager, that's better) to be filled in the next LEGO Store which will be in the Disney Village of Marne la Vallée (Disneyland Paris) and which is already announced as the largest LEGO point of sale in Europe.

No indication of deadline, nor of precise date concerning the future opening of this giant point of sale.

So, if you have a convincing CV, you speak English fluently, have already had your first experience as a store manager and you are tempted by the adventure, apply without delay.

To see the full ad, go to the website of the recruitment agency Mercuri Urval that it happens.

(Thanks to Jérôme for his email)

Information is circulating so well that many of you are not informed of the next scheduled date for AFOL Shopping Day ...

I therefore confirm that it will be next Saturday February 2 from 8:30 am to 10:00 am in the two French LEGO Stores: the one in Levallois (SO Ouest shopping center) and the one in Lille (Euralille shopping center).

As usual, you will be entitled to a 15% discount on all products for sale (except products already on promotion, books and gift cards).

To register, you must send an email to store.soouest@lego.com or to store.lille@lego.com depending on the Store you want to go to by mentioning your name, your first name, your possible membership of a LUG or a forum as well as the number of people accompanying you.

No one will confirm your registration, so don't waste your time waiting for a message back.
You can also opt out of registering and go to the store of your choice on D-day. I think without getting too wet that you will not be refused entry.

Note: For cross-border commuters, the operation will also take place on February 2 and under the same conditions at the LEGO Store in Saarbrucken. Write to store.saarbrucken@lego.com to register.

Like some of you, I just received my copy of LEGO Club Magazine for January / February 2013. And I am both happy and disappointed.

Glad to see that LEGO has slipped between the pages the poster gathering the minifigs of the LEGO Star Wars 2013 range and that it is thus accessible to the greatest number without having to order with a minimum purchase to obtain it.

But I am a little disappointed (obviously, I always have a complaint under my elbow ...) to obtain this magnificent poster on such thin magazine paper. I would still have preferred to get it through the LEGO Shop for example, and on better quality coated paper. 

For the rest, this latest LEGO Club Magazine is pretty cool, given the audience it is aimed at, obviously with Legends of Chima everywhere (With tips and tactics for Speedorz in pdf), a little City comic book (And a pdf on fire safety), Technic (With instructions to assemble a dragster with parts from sets 42010 and 42011 in pdf format) of Ninjago (With a pdf on the Golden Dragon), the announcement of the arrival of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles range for April 2013 (The sets of the range had made a brief appearance on the LEGO Shop before being retired), and a really nice bonus with the instructions for LEGO Star Wars mobile repair shop. Click the image below to download it in pdf format.

If you haven't received this magazine yet, register quickly at this address, it will be sent to you free of charge.