Today we make a little detour to the LEGO Technic range with the set 42096 Porsche 911 RSR (1580 pieces - 149.99 €) that LEGO presents to us as "developed in partnership with Porsche"and which allows to assemble"an authentic replica"of the vehicle in question.

You might as well get rid of the inevitable comparison with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS from set 42056 marketed since 2016 (2704 pieces - 299.99 €), the two models do not share much in common apart from their desire to reproduce two versions of the same vehicle. This 911 RSR is 7 cm shorter and 5 cm narrower than the GT3 RS version and it does not benefit from the same features as the model "Luxury"from 2016.

So don't expect to have many Technic functions here, it's more of a simple licensed mockup based on Technic parts than a product that will turn your kids into future NASA engineers.

You have to be content with the doors that open, a steering that is a little soft and hardly usable with a steering wheel placed very low and difficult to access, a six-cylinder engine set in motion by the rear axle and whose pistons move during travel and four suspensions that do their job very well. No sequential gearbox, steering wheel paddles or other mechanical refinements on this model.

I do not generally post photos of the sticker sheets present in the different sets that I present to you here, but this Porsche 911 RSR does not exist without its wrapping (do not listen to those who tell you the opposite to hide their plates stickers in a binder ...) and there is also another problem posed by the fifty or so stickers to stick on the vehicle.

Some of these stickers are printed on a pristine white background which is not the same shade (slightly cream) as the body parts. The end result is a little disappointing because of the contrast between the two shades which becomes obvious depending on the light used.

The assembly is very pleasant, with the usual progression of chassis, functions, engine, bodywork. Nothing complicated here, this set is accessible even to the youngest fans. It will take a little patience to finally see the Porsche take shape thanks to the implementation of the various bodywork elements.

The four wings are pad printed, it's always four less stickers to stick. The wheel arches are a little too wide for my taste, or the wheels are too small in diameter, but we'll make do with it.

Competition vehicle requires, the cockpit comes down to a bucket seat, a few instruments and the steering wheel. This is consistent with the sporting vocation of this vehicle which evolves in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship, we can't blame LEGO on this point. As I said above, the steering wheel seems to me to be placed a little too low in the passenger compartment.

The naturally aspirated flat-six engine is recessed at the rear, but it won't completely disappear under the body and will remain visible when lifting the rear panel. This is a good point that allows you to take advantage of the only assembly really "Technic"from the set.

The curves of the body are embodied by tubes Flex which are struggling a bit on this model as on others. It is also necessary to place them and bend them correctly for the effect to be successful. On this model, LEGO also split a reproduction of the central wiper. Why not, even if I could have done without.

The roof hatch is embodied here only by a simple sticker and we could also discuss the somewhat rough rendering of the headlights. On the reference vehicle, the bubble effect is not as pronounced as on the LEGO version. I still prefer the option chosen here by the designer rather than the flat headlights of the model of the set 42056 which leave too much empty space around their location.

Speaking of glass surfaces, I wouldn't be against a few transparent elements to reproduce the windshield and side windows of these models, no offense to the fundamentalists of the LEGO Technic range. This range is already evolving with the regular addition of new parts and will continue to evolve with or without their agreement.

Where this Porsche 911 RSR also makes a big impression is in the finish of the front and rear rocker panels. Apparent blue pines aside, the solutions adopted by the designer ensure a very clean rendering. Special mention for the ingenious use of two quarter-toothed crowns at the front and at the rear with a perfectly reproduced diffuser.

The rear spoiler is perfectly positioned, it just lacks the Adidas stickers on the side trim ... The mirrors are a bit massive but that doesn't shock me too much.

In short, this Porsche 911 has nothing to envy aesthetically to its big sister of the set 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS even if it logically offers fewer features. I prefer the sporty look of this exhibition model, having no particular passion for LEGO gearboxes ...

If you haven't bought the 42056 set (€ 299.99) yet and just want a Porsche 911 to display on a shelf, you can in my opinion save some tickets and go to this set which is sold at the retail price of 149.99 € on the LEGO Shop which will inevitably end up on sale around 100 € at Amazon.

If you prefer to keep your stickers in the back of a cupboard, you will not really enjoy the look of this Porsche 911 RSR, many stickers reproducing details of the different body parts.

It's up to you.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before January 13, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Today we take a quick look at the LEGO Marvel set 76115 Spider Mech vs. Venom (604 pieces - 54.99 €).

First of all, I want to clarify that despite what is indicated in the description of the product, there is in my opinion only one mech in this box: that of Spider-Man. The Venom minifigure is just an evolution of the character who doesn't really need a robot to fight opponents.

The name of the set also indicates that this is simply a clash between Spider-Man's robot and Venom himself. But children who absolutely want to organize a robot fight can always place the Venom minifigure in the cockpit discreetly integrated behind the figure's head.

Spider-Gwen aka Ghost Spider comes with a rather successful flying surfboard that matches well with the dominant colors of the character's costume. It's consistent and this character has here a real element of playability with the added bonus of two Stud Shooters positioned at the front of the board. This accessory makes all the difference, instead of playing two with this set, we can play three. Ghost Spider isn't just a minifigure thrown in the box, he's a character who gets really into the action.

The Spider Mech looks a little pale against Venom, but it's also a way of making the latter more prominent. This exoskeleton that houses the Spider-Man minifigure is well designed even if it may seem a bit messy at first glance.

It is stable, it can take many poses and can even throw a few web traps thanks to the Stud Shooter integrated in the left arm. The assembly can be handled with both hands without any parts escaping in passing.

Venom is obviously the real star of the set. The figurine is impressive, although the arms seem a little gaunt while the musculature of the legs is visually very successful. As with the Spider-Man mech, stability and the possibility of taking many poses are there, especially thanks to the finish of the character's feet. Sometimes you have to carefully seek the balance point of the figurine, but with a little practice, you can get there without getting excited.

The handful of stickers to stick on the chest will quickly be forgotten, these stickers partially disappearing behind the character's scary, very successful jawbone. the hemisphere with the eyes, however, is pad printed. Too bad for the visible blue Technic pine in the palm of the figurine's hands.

In this box, LEGO provides four characters: Spider-Man, Ghost Spider, Aunt May and Venom.

Fans have been waiting for a long time for LEGO to finally deign to bring them a version of Spider-Gwen. It's now done, even if the result is a little minimalist. No pad printing on the arms or on the legs, a torso that is satisfied with two small colored inserts at the shoulders, I know some who will continue to prefer the version of Phoenix Custom with reflections on the hood and pad-printed arms ...

For the rest, it's pretty decent with a nice pattern on Spider-Man's torso, a metallic eye shade, and a pair of legs molded in two colors.

The new version of Aunt May is quite acceptable with two facial expressions and the minifigure of Venom finally shows the character's tongue between the two rows of teeth. Nothing revolutionary here, but these four minifigs are welcome in our collections.

In summary, I say yes because the minifig assortment is consistent and the Venom figure / mech is really very convincing.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before January 13 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Today we talk briefly about The LEGO Movie 2 set 70841 Benny's Space Squad (68 pieces - 9.99 €), a small box which does not really deserve to be made a lot about it. Either its contents mean something to you, or you just find these four colorful astronauts and their pretty cool mini-vehicles.

The good news here is that LEGO makes fan service very accessible. No fuss, those nostalgic for Space Classic get here four colorful astronauts who will remind them of memories, a piece with the logo of this cult range pad printed and enough to assemble two machines that justify the name "construction toy".

Lenny (in pink), Kenny (in yellow) and Jenny (in white) accompany Benny in this set. The latter is the only one to be equipped with the usual split helmet and the slightly faded logo on the chest. The other three members of the fine team are dressed impeccably.

The helmet worn by the three characters who accompany Benny is thicker and more resistant than the old versions which had a tendency to split at the chin as on the copy worn by Benny. Nothing prevents you from putting a chisel in it if you absolutely want to ...

For those who have not yet bought this set, I would like to point out that it is not me who invented the names and the associated color, everything is clearly indicated on the back of the box ...

I see from here coming all those who will regret not having the right to a few more astronauts in this set, or a character in a red outfit instead of a pink one, etc ... It's like that. We are also not immune that the team is made up of other colorful astronauts who will perhaps be available in a future set. Who knows.

For the youngest, there is not much fun for hours with this box and it will be necessary to wait to know where, when and how the team of astronauts intervene in the film to associate this set with the one of the many other boxes already available or to come.

For collectors, it's risk-free. They will be able to wipe away a small tear in front of these colorful astronauts who will remind them of good memories. And they can then spend long hours comparing these new minifigs with the previous versions that are lying around their drawers. For 9.99 €, it's an unbeatable price / nostalgia ratio.

I say yes, of course, especially because for once LEGO is doing a good big fan service that tries without plunging its hand too deep into the pockets of nostalgic fans.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before January 10, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

One more. Another year has passed and we are now on our way to the new adventures that 2019 has in store for us.

I have the impression of writing the same thing each time, but it is difficult to do otherwise: in 2018, once again, more and more of you came to take a look at this blog, some of you very regularly, others more occasionally. As a consequence of this significant increase in site traffic, a new resizing of hosting resources which is costing me a lot but which effectively absorbs the influx of new visitors.

Once again, I sincerely thank all those who have contributed to the life of the blog via their comments. It is mainly thanks to you that this site is alive and these many contributors encourage a little more other fans every day to come and exchange, discuss, argue, express their satisfaction, indicate a good plan, complain or simply give their opinion on this or that subject. Without these interactions, the site would be, as I said before, just one more blog in an already very crowded microcosm.

During this past year, I have once again redistributed all of the products sent to me by LEGO and by brands that have found it useful to participate in the various operations organized here. I bought all the sets from my personal collection and this is a principle that I will not deviate from in 2019 either. Impossible to reward everyone, but it is always with immense satisfaction that I read the messages of joy or thank you letter sent by most of the winners.

I say it again: I hope 2019 will be a good year for all of you, with or without LEGO bricks, with or without a phase of Dark Age or with personal constraints that force you to temporarily or permanently put this often overwhelming passion aside. Remember this tip that I try to repost once a year: Don't sacrifice anything for a box of LEGO. Don't go into debt to buy LEGOs. Plastic cannot be eaten, and it does not sell for as expensive as some people would like to believe, especially when it is urgent to act.

Next year, I hope that you will continue, as you have been doing for eight years already, to make sense of everything I do here. A passion only has meaning if it can be shared with others.

I wish you all a Happy New Year 2019.

Note: Tradition obliges, I'm obviously putting the last five copies of the "exclusive" Hoth Bricks minifigure into play. To participate, all you have to do is post a comment (you should find what to say without too much problem ...) and you have until January 7, 2018 at 23:59 p.m. to act.

Update : The winners were drawn and were notified by email, their nicknames are indicated below.

It's time for the 2018 review with a small, very personal selection of sets marketed this year that I consider very successful, without much interest, or on the contrary as first-class failures.

I will not give you an inventory of the small boxes that deserve to be considered successful this year. Their reasonable price often justified taking the risk of acquiring them and the possible disappointment felt will not have put you on the straw.

Overall, in 2018 I therefore found something to please me in my favorite ranges (Star Wars, Super Heroes, Jurassic World) without being too tempted to spend my money on products from other universes.

So much the better for my wallet, too bad for LEGO who could not really attract me out of my comfort zone except for several copies of the LEGO Architecture set 21041 Great Wall of China because I am strangely fascinated by the possibility of aligning several of these boxes to make a long wall. At 50 € a box, I quickly revised my ambitions downwards, the very very long wall I dream of will wait a bit ...

I'm still just as allergic to the Speed ​​Champions range because of the concept: stickers with bricks and not the other way around. Even the atmosphere Revival around the Harry Potter universe left me a little indifferent. It all comes a little late for me and it smells warm, certainly intelligently updated, but I have long since moved on without particular nostalgia or regrets.

I assiduously collect sets from the LEGO Star Wars range and even though I'm generally very (too) indulgent with what LEGO offers us on this theme, I couldn't leave out the calamitous set. 75201 First Order AT-ST. This is the absolute failure of the Star Wars range this year. Fortunately, this fiasco will have cost me only about fifty euros and it is in fact already too much for what this product vaguely derived from the film offers. The Last Jedi.

This box perfectly embodies the permanent opportunism around the Star Wars universe and the portfolio of its most assiduous fans. By dint of trying to sell them anything, there comes a time when it goes too far. Here we are with this set. And also with the very dispensable set 75230 Porg.

The other product that I think deserves to be considered a failure is the LEGO Creator Expert set 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5 which does not really pay homage to the vehicle concerned. There will always be a few diehards to defend LEGO on this issue, but this box is proof that we cannot do everything with LEGO bricks and that we sometimes have to know how to let go at the risk of making a fool of ourselves and selling a product. that even the worst second-class Chinese brands would not dare to market.

I hesitated for a long time to put the Bugatti Chiron from the Technic 42083 set in this list of flops. There are a number of reasons why it belongs: the LEGO vehicle only looks like a Bugatti Chiron from a distance, and the designer's many approximations and other shortcuts do not make this set the ultimate luxurious model promised by LEGO. Fortunately, the building experience saves the furniture.

It is therefore ultimately the Aston Martin that wins between the two: if you do not tell you what it is, there is little chance that you will spontaneously find the model of the vehicle that LEGO has tried to reproduce. here. At 150 € joke, this box is not worthy of a manufacturer like LEGO.

Fortunately, aside from the usual small sets with scraps of scenery, more or less successful ships and a large handful of minifigs, the LEGO Star Wars range occasionally reserves some nice surprises with boxes with very successful content. This is the case with the set Ultimate Collector Series 75181 Y-Wing Starfighter, a true demonstration of LEGO know-how.

More than a simple opportunistic reissue of the 2004 version, this is a great adaptation that meets the expectations of today's adult fans, ever more demanding on the finish and the fidelity of the reproduction.

In the department of good surprises, the LEGO Marvel set 76105 The Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition is also worth mentioning. It is an exhibition figurine which is in my opinion very successful.

If we forget the absence of knee joints and the somewhat approximate reproduction of the armor, this product is a fine example of LEGO know-how that will find its place with any fan of the Marvel universe who does not he isn't necessarily a plastic brick addict.

Another set that I found really successful this year: the LEGO Technic reference 42078 Mack Anthem which is a really balanced mix between aesthetics and functionality. The workmanship is excellent and the final model really looks like the real version it was inspired by. You don't have to be an absolute fan of the Technic range, its construction machinery, pins and other gears to appreciate the contents of this box.

After a great 2017 in the LEGO Ideas range, I'm skipping this year's sets. Frankly, even if the set 21315 Pop-up Book was rather a good surprise, there is nothing to do with these niche sets which for the most part only have the merit of being "different" from what LEGO usually sells.

Each box marketed this year was the result of a global plebiscite on the selection platform and therefore inevitably found its audience at the time but these sets leave me rather indifferent with the passing time: A set on a nanar which dates from several years (21314 Tron: Legacy), a reference to an animated series that I have never watched (21311 Voltron: Defender of the Universe) or a concept that is really too kitsch for my taste (21313 Ship in A Bottle), nothing to ignite ...

I'll stop there, this small non-exhaustive selection obviously reflects only a very personal opinion and I know that there will probably be as many opinions as boxes. I look forward to hearing which were your favorite 2018 sets and which ones you consider disappointing ...