The Legends of Chima range is not yet available as it is already overdosed: Videos, visuals, leaks, mini site, endless teasers, sets System, spinning tops, action figures (Visual above unveiled by Bionifigs.com), etc ... This new in-house license covers the almost complete range of the manufacturer's offer, only a few Technic sets and one or two UCS are missing.

One thing is certain, LEGO is putting the package on this range which in principle should leave it a little more margin than products under third party licenses for which royalties must be paid to the rights holders. This is undoubtedly a question of restoring the balance between derivative products that generate guaranteed visibility and predictable sales (Super Heroes, Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit, TMNT, etc.) and products based on an original concept including LEGO controls all stages: Production, marketing, marketing ... This total control added to intellectual authorship over the developed universe obviously guarantees the best margins.

So, commercial success announced or major industrial accident in anticipation?

LEGO Legends of Chima Cragger Teaser Video

The future will tell, but at the start of 2013, LEGO will ensure a smooth transition with the end of the Ninjago range materialized by six sets marked with the words "The final battle"before launching Legends of Chima which obviously targets the same young customers of the brand. 
I put aside here the AFOLs and other TFOLs interested in this new range of which they are not a priority target. Their eventual enthusiasm alone will not be enough to ensure the success of this range.

Let us also be realistic about the playful alibis of the range: The Speedorz, ​​a species of hybrid tops-vehicles will not liven up the recreations and will not dethrone the Beyblade tops. And no one will ever play the Legends of Chima pseudo-card game. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! still have a bright future ahead of them.

In recent weeks, LEGO has clearly shown its intentions and its desire to impose very quickly a whole new universe populated by strange characters and new stories that should revolve around the endless struggle of good against evil. But children are already extremely in demand by the various existing universes and it will be necessary to be very persuasive to attract the favor of young consumers who already have their favorite licenses on TV, in the cinema or in their favorite game consoles.

Shaking up these benchmarks is no easy task. We have to convince the children, who will play with these minifigs and these machines, but also their parents, who will pay for these sets and will have to come back to the cash register regularly to complete the kid's bestiary. They must be given cartoons, advertisements and other online mini-games, LEGO has also become a specialist in this type of diversified marketing plan by outsourcing these services and leaning on recognized specialists in their respective fields.

Some would say that if the Ninjago line has been convincing, Legends of Chima shouldn't have a hard time doing the same. But nothing is won in advance. The LEGO department is cannibalized by attractive licenses and Legends of Chima will inevitably lack a little charisma to fight effectively in the first months. LEGO will undoubtedly adapt its pricing policy to make the sets in the range financially attractive.

LEGO clearly feels in a strong position in its market, which the figures confirm, but the manufacturer is undoubtedly keen to maintain the right balance between derivative products and original creations. As if you had to show a certain ability to create and innovate rather than perpetually surfing on the success of others to generate profit. It is also the price to pay for maintaining control over one's own development without blindly relying on the performance of other players in the world of television and cinematographic entertainment.

2013 will tell us if this new range will be able to impose itself quickly as Ninjago did in 2011 or if LEGO will have to repackage its motorized crocodiles and return to the licenses better established with the young public.

This is thanks to ExoBrick (See his flickr gallery), who was able to get some of the 2013 novelties of the LEGO Star Wars range in Norway, which we can take a closer look at the Captain Rex minifig delivered in the set 75012 BARC Speeder with Sidecar.

As far as I'm concerned, nothing to say, it's a great job from LEGO. We find traces of earth / sand / mud on the chest / helmet as with the two Sandtroopers of the set 9490 Droid Escape covered with Tatooine sand.

The silkscreen, legs included, is detailed enough to be convincing.

The Phase II helmet will undoubtedly not be unanimous among fans, but it will be necessary to be satisfied or to turn to other manufacturers of custom helmets.

The laser cannon of yesterday was of little interest without the proper minifig to use it. This issue is resolved.

Today's box of the Star Wars Advent Calendar offers us one of those minifigs that we never tire of if we like the Battle of Hoth: A superb Hoth Rebel Trooper with a mustache, assembly of two elements taken from each of the minifigs in the set 8083 Rebel Trooper Battle Pack released in 2010.

This mix between torso and head from two different minifigs is not enough in my opinion to make it a new reference, whatever Bricklink may say ...

In short, a minifigure is always good to take, especially since it comes with two additional pairs of glasses.

For the rest, with the head, you can choose to make a minifigure of Magnum, Commissioner Gordon, or José Bové.

Come on, here are two pictures taken at the moment with what I found in the boxes of the last days.

This is the opportunity to take a quick look at the content of this LEGO Star Wars Advent calendar.

We forget the gun of the day, while waiting for the minifig that goes with it, as well as the AT-AT of yesterday which does not deserve any compassion from the Imperial Officer of the day before yesterday.

I was more pleasantly surprised by the Naboo Starfighter and Droid Fighter from the previous days. These are two rather successful mini ships and which were immediately recognized by my son, which is not the case with all the contents of this box ...

As you might expect, there are some good, some not so good and some really mediocre in this set. But it's still Star Wars, and we are always more indulgent with what (or those) we love.

Since the release by LEGO of the trailer for the web-series The Yoda Chronicles, everyone has their own interpretation of the presence of new minifigs (Dooku, Yoda, Windu) and a new Republic Gunship.

Some already see it as clues to the novelties to come among the ships and characters of the Star Wars range planned for 2013. 

The team in charge of making these images had to be inspired by existing products, as is the case for the Rancor which is a true copy of the one in the set. 75005 Rancor Pit, or for C-3PO which is here in its most recent version. 

This does not therefore exclude that LEGO has provided WilFilm, the Danish production company in charge of making The Yoda Chronicles, models planned for later commercialization, at the risk of revealing too long in advance the evolutions planned on these models. LEGO is no longer a marketing blunder and that would not surprise me only half.

Should we wait for a conversion to ABS plastic of everything we have seen in these images. Probably not, LEGO offers a lot of video content featuring its products and not everything is converted into a plastic version. The licensed video games the brand operates are filled with vehicles and characters that never hit the shelves in toy stores.

We will have a new Yoda and a new Dooku in the set 75017 Duel on Geonosis ? No doubt yes. The Republic Gunship from set 75021 will it be the same as the one we find here? There is nothing to confirm this for the moment, even if logic would have it.

Wait and see ...