Because you must always have at least one X-Wing in your collection, today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Star Wars set. 75218 X-Wing Starfighter (730 pieces - 99.99 €) which finally takes over the set 9493 X-Wing Starfighter (2012) after the variants seen in the sets 75102 Poe's X-Wing Fighter (2015) et 75149 Resistance X-Wing Fighter (2016)

Forget the previous versions, they're overpriced on the aftermarket anyway and there's always an X-Wing on the shelf at LEGO. It is a staple of the LEGO Star Wars range as can the police station in the CITY range.

I remember my discussion last June with the two designers of the LEGO Star Wars range, Michael Lee Stockwell and Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, who explained to me this desire to renew with each new version of a recurring model in the range. This X-Wing is a perfect example of this permanent questioning of designers, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality.

Exit the wheel which protruded from the back of the ship and which allowed the wings to be deployed, now places a new, more discreet, a little brutal, but very effective mechanism which puts the X-Wing in combat position instantly. The gameplay is thus maximum, no need to spend your time putting the wheel back in place while your friends are already shooting you with their Tie Fighters.

We find here some interesting techniques for the construction of the front fuselage but, due to symmetry, the assembly quickly becomes repetitive when it comes to building the wings and engines. Not to discourage a fan so far, young or old.

I will not embark on the eternal debate around the fidelity of each new interpretation of the X-Wing to the ship seen in the movies. This model is not a UCS, it is just a toy. Overall I think this new version brings a nice amount of cosmetic updates and makes the 2012 version dispensable.

I note that we can finally place the droids in the right position, in the direction of travel, instead of placing them aside as was the case in set 9493.

We could also discuss the simplification of the cannons placed at the end of the wings, but the solution implemented on this new version is in my opinion more suited to the fights between young fans who will thus avoid losing a few pieces during the confrontation.

The vessel is also thought to be handled by the youngest. Nothing comes off the fuselage, the whole is rather solid. Small annoying detail: in flight position, the front landing gear cannot be completely retracted under the fuselage, it's a shame.

Here we find the usual rubber bands that ensure the return to the closed position of the wings, it's a bit unsightly but we will do with it. LEGO still does not provide replacement rubber bands in the box and it is a shame for a € 100 toy that has to undergo a lot of handling.

We also glue some stickers with once again this very unpleasant difference in color between the white background of the stickers and the cream color of the parts on which they are placed.

I note in passing that these stickers seem strangely thin to me, more than usual. For those who are wondering: the cockpit canopy is pad-printed, it is the one that was already delivered in sets 75102 and 75149.

Collectors who consider LEGOs not for children will eventually be able to get rid of the spring shooters placed on the wings to reinforce the model aspect of the machine. The youngest ones will be delighted to be able to knock things out with these elements rather well integrated and which do not disfigure the ship.

You will also be able without regret to remove the somewhat unsightly Technic axis placed under the vessel and which is used to return the wings to the closed position during landing, the mechanism provided for deploying the wings is sufficient on its own, it works in both ways. Some may regret the somewhat violent side, including the slamming, of the mechanism. I do not care.

On the minifig side, LEGO delivers here Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter both accompanied by the essential droid that comes to stay behind the cockpit. If the two pilots wear the same outfit, their helmets are obviously different with pretty pad prints.

We could debate for a long time this new version of the pilot's helmet with integrated visor that some find too bulky, but in my case it is a significant evolution of this accessory that avoids us the very questionable pad printing of the visor used until now on the face of the minifigure.

A note about droids, LEGO persists in pad printing only one side of the body of these little robots. Some patterns on the back would be welcome, just to make R2-D2 and R2-Q2 more successful.

Sold for 99.99 €, this 730-piece X-Wing is a bit too expensive for my taste even though it comes with two pilots and two droids and offers the possibility to customize it in the colors of Luke Skywalker (Red Five) or Biggs Darklighter (Red Three), which is making a comeback here in the LEGO Star Wars range, with a set of Tiles additional.

Fortunately, we find this box currently less than 80 € at amazon and this new version of a classic from the LEGO Star Wars range deserves in my opinion to be found at the foot of the tree even if I hope that LEGO will one day be able to offer us an X-Wing without these small rubber bands and whose mechanism does not contains only parts ...

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before November 4 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.

We will quickly talk about the next LEGO Ideas set that you will soon be able to add to your collections: The reference 21315 Pop-Up Book (859 pieces - 69.99 €) based on the project by Jason Allemann aka JkBrickworks, the artist who is also behind the LEGO Ideas set 21305 Maze, here associated with Grant Davis.

The idea of ​​the book that opens to reveal content that takes shape is not new, it is already a few hundred years old. If you have children, you probably have a book somewhere that uses this technique with Dora walking on a path and Chipeur coming out of a bush ... The format is still having some success, I am thinking of the magnificent in particular. Pop Up Book based on the Game of Thrones TV series published in 2014 by Huginn and Muninn. This same principle is therefore applied here in LEGO sauce.

LEGO has made a great effort here on the exterior appearance of the book. Too bad the designer did not go to the end of the process: only the cover is dressed with nicely pad printed plates indicating the title and the names of the two creators of the initial project, the spine of the book and the spine remaining on their side hopelessly empty. It smacks of the savings imposed by the marketing department.

The handling is very convincing and you will inevitably want to put this book among others on a shelf to take it out in front of the astonished eyes of your friends who will choke on their aperitif when they discover what it really is.

Unfortunately, the lack of pad printing on the edge slightly reduces the potential for integrating the thing into a library and that's a real shame.

As a bonus, you will have noticed that we are entitled to a large unsightly injection mark right in the middle of the 16x8 plate which dresses the back of the book. Manufacturing process requires, it is also present on the plate placed at the front but the pad printing makes it less visible.

The formula Once upon a brick displayed on the cover of the book is completely neutral and does not directly reference the two scenes provided in the set. This is a good initiative that keeps the element of surprise and does not harm the potential for customization of the set.

I note in passing that LEGO has abandoned the idea of ​​the latch present on the initial project and which keeps the book closed. I liked the idea of ​​being able to secure the work via this latch but we will do without.

In front of your friends impatient to see what is going on, you will then casually open the book to reveal the scene that you have chosen among the two provided in the box.

Only the decor remains in place in the book. The minifigs can be stored there but will have to be placed where you want afterwards, nothing is specially designed to keep them in place when closing.

Because you have to leave room to store the decor in the two flaps of the book when the latter is closed, some may have the impression that the two scenes are a little minimalist when deployed. It's the principle that wants that and we can not blame LEGO on this specific point.

The and 21315 Pop-Up Book allows you to set up two different sets provided: the first is based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood with the grandmother's house, some furniture and some accessories, the second is inspired by the story of Jack and the Magic Bean with a landscape, a few micro-tricks symbolizing the houses and the vegetation and a bean that unfolds on a few Technic pieces held in place by a string at the opening.

It's well designed, it works every time. No blockage or destruction of the various elements during repeated handling.

Once you have fully understood the principle, you are free to create your own content while keeping the mechanism and dressing the two spaces with 12x2 studs available. The real challenge here is to put together a decor that will not block when closing the book.

I already know that we will be entitled to dozens of creations from more or less inspired MOCeurs and you will quickly find some ideas to fill the book on flickr, Instagram or your favorite forum.

In the box, three minifigs to embody the different protagonists of Little Red Riding Hood accompanied by the giant from the tale Jack and the Magic Bean and a microfig to represent young Jack. This coherent endowment allows the two stories to be told while adding a little interactivity. To signal your young audience that it's time to go to sleep, just close the book.

This is obviously more of a "demonstration" product with almost infinite customization potential than a toy. You can use it to show your friends that there is much more to do than a Star Wars ship or a building with a few LEGO bricks.

I say yes: LEGO offers here a nice set with a really well executed idea, which you can offer at Christmas and which will have a small effect even on those who are not absolute fans of the brand's products. Guaranteed effect also on the youngest who like stories before going to sleep.

LEGO Ideas set public price 21315 Pop-Up Book from the LEGO Shop  : € 69.99.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before October 31 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 are talking about the first set of the LEGO Overwatch range, the reference 75987 Omnic Bastion (182 pieces - 25 €) which has the particularity of being an exclusive marketed only by Blizzard and of not containing any minifig. It is indeed a question here of assembling the automaton of combat named Bastion, delivered for the occasion in version Omnium crisis.

As much to tell you right away, do not buy this box hoping to spend long hours assembling the parts that are inside. Everything is completed in less than 10 minutes and it is not a high level "creative experience".

The fact remains that fans may find some reusable techniques there. Those looking to create their own custom mechas and who regularly damage their eyes on various flickr galleries while attempting to reverse engineer may also find some creative avenues there.

Contrary to what one might legitimately imagine because the minifigure is made from LEGO bricks, Bastion cannot switch to turret mode. In any case, not simply and it is in any case not documented in the instructions or on one of the sides of the box. I tried a few things, but I quickly abandoned the case ...

This figurine is obviously not modular despite the presence of ball-and-socket joints at the level of the hips and arms which ultimately only serve to make him strike a pose out of his display when the point of balance has been found. The two black pieces placed at the back of the feet help stabilize the whole.

For those who are wondering, this product exclusively distributed by Blizzard on its merchandise shop is a "real" LEGO set, with real parts, real instructions and real stickers to stick on (two on the armor protecting the arms, one for the plate placed on the front of the small display). Only the box is really cheap, the cardboard is really very thin, the package I received is a brilliant demonstration ...

At 25 € joke, this is obviously a starter product intended to bring fans of the game Overwatch into the LEGO universe. Blizzard and LEGO have undoubtedly seen significant commercial potential here with no less than 40 million players identified according to the latest statistics from May 2018. At 9.99 €, we could discuss, but here it is much too expensive for what it is.

If you feel like it, you too can show your attachment to the game by placing Bastion and its small display on a corner of your desk between your pencil holder and your stapler. It's more discreet than a Delorean, less ugly than a BrickHeadz figure or one of those LEGO clocks in the shape of a minifigure, your boss will see nothing but fire and you can sketch a smile of satisfaction by saying to yourself that you are part of the Overwatch family and proudly display it.

Or, with your 25 €, you can also eat lots of ice cream.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before October 24 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.

Go ahead for a quick peek at the two minifigures in the LEGO BrickHeadz set 41626 Groot & Rocket Raccoon (15.99 €).

It's hard for me to be enthusiastic about these two LEGO-style interpretations of characters with an atypical physique ...

If I had to choose between the two figures, I would give the best rating to that of Rocket Raccoon. The attempt to reproduce the character is almost successful even if we are here in a symbolism that goes a little into abstract art. It's cute, but too far removed from the character's on-screen look. Keeping a soft toy in a cube is complicated. At 15.99 € a box, I don't want to be indulgent.

Regarding Groot, it's even worse. Even the color of the figurine is not suitable, we lose the texture of the wood in favor of a very plywood side ... And it is not the pad printing with a vague vegetal effect or the few leaves placed on the head character by a designer probably a little desperate and aware of the extent of the failure that saves the furniture.

While many minifigures in the LEGO BrickHeadz line regularly flirt with the limits imposed by the format, here I think those limits are being met and the trade-offs required to stay in the cube make the end result truly mediocre.

I don't think you need to talk any longer about these two figures, buy them if you want to continue to complement your Guardians of the Galaxy team. Otherwise, you can skip it without regrets, unless you meet them one day on sale at the bottom of a ferry at GiFi. Next.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before October 15 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.

We continue to tour the LEGO BrickHeadz novelties for this fall with three boxes featuring characters from the Star Wars universe: 41627 Luke Skywalker & Yoda (€ 15.99), 41628 Princess Leia (9.99 €) and 41629 Boba Fett (9.99 €).

I'm doing all of this to you as a group, these figures don't call for tons of reviews and it seems by some rumors that the days of the BrickHeadz line are numbered now.

If these rumors are confirmed, these products will soon be a bad memory for some when others will regret not being able to add a few more to their already well stocked shelves.

But we're not there yet and you can now add these new characters from the Star Wars universe to your collections.

In my eyes, it's Yoda who wins in this series of four characters with a minimalist but successful portrayal of the character.

The designers' choice to leave the model usually used for the majority of figurines is both logical and welcome. The morphology of the character made it necessary to reinvent a figurine that pays homage to him. It is done, and it is successful.

All of Yoda's characteristic attributes are there, from the ears to the hood of her outfit, including her white hair and a pretty and discreet pad printing on the front. This minifigure is a beautiful demonstration of the possibilities offered by the LEGO system, without overbidding or exaggeration.

Luke Skywalker is a bit too monochrome for my taste, with his Bespin outfit in the same Dark Tan colourway as his hair, all struggling to contrast with the Tan of the face and hands.

A good point, the character's elf ears are buried in the nicely textured hair, but the fact remains that the figure is far too generic to be convincing for me. Without his lightsaber handle, Luke might as well be Zac Efron or Diego (Dora's cousin).

LEGO provides a second lightsaber handle with the blue blade in the box. It's always taken.

A very unpleasant detail that I note on the copy I have: The significant difference between the pad printing of the parts allowing to reproduce the torso of the character (see photo at the top of the article). At the risk of repeating myself, it's LEGO's job to produce toys, print parts and do it correctly, even on a product under € 10, so there is no reason to be indulgent on this point.

About Leia, here in version Episode IV, why not. The buttons and the hood are there, the outfit is simple but consistent. the pad printing on the belt is a bit coarse, but seen from a distance, it works. I like the look of the sleeves of the tunic, with the puffiness that gives them volume, that's well seen.

Regarding the hair, we may regret the absence of the parting placed in the middle of the head and the forehead a little too open, especially when the figurine is seen from the front.

Boba Fett is here in version Episode VI, and it's a bit too busy for my taste. The figurine is crumbling under the colorful pieces and I find that a little too complex even if I understand that it was a question here of reproducing the character in his outfit seen on the screen.

We lose a little the contours of the usual BrickHeadz format with all these growths representing with more or less efficiency the different attributes of the characters and weighing down their silhouette.

The good thing about this Boba Fett figure is that it offers some new construction techniques in this range at the head and helmet level.

Finally, I would say that these four minifigures pretty much summarize all the complexity of the LEGO BrickHeadz concept, with its qualities, its faults, its possibilities and its limits depending on the starting subject.

As usual, it is you who see according to your affinities with this range which at least has the merit of leaving (practically) no one indifferent. For my part, I will be tempted by the set 41627 Luke Skywalker & Yoda (15.99 €), only for the Yoda figurine.

Note: The sets presented here are as usual put into play (only one winner for the lot). To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before October 15 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.