Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21343 Viking Village, a box of 2103 pieces currently available for pre-order on the official online store at the public price of €139.99 with availability scheduled for October 1, 2023.

It is therefore a question here of assembling a portion of the Viking village comprising a forge, the farmhouse of the head of the place and a watchtower. It's not yet a real village but it's a good start for anyone who would then like to expand the area with a few buildings reusing the different techniques offered. We can almost conclude that it is a Structure thematic and (vaguely) historical with well appointed and easily accessible interiors and a very acceptable overall build finish.

The diorama is divided into three separate sections but LEGO only provides one instruction booklet. To assemble the set with several people, it will therefore be necessary to turn to the digital version of these instructions available within the official application.

The construction process is quite linear, starting with the base of each of the modules and then alternating between the walls and the furniture to finish with the roof. No base plates, the base of these modules is entirely part-based. No stickers in this box, so all the patterned pieces you see in the photos are stamped.

The interiors are well laid out considering the space available. Do not expect to play in the different constructions of the village, even if the roofs of each of the buildings are easily removable. At best, you can come back from time to time to admire the interior of the premises. The outskirts of the village are embellished with a pontoon which inevitably calls for the presence of a boat. The LEGO Creator set 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent, which is the subject of a wink in this box via the stone engraved with runes in front of the forge.

This set from the Creator range, marketed since summer 2022 and which is still available from LEGO at the public price of €119.99 (and for many cheaper elsewhere), will do the trick even if the level of detail of the latter is a little behind that of the new village. The secondary construction of the Creator set, a Viking house, may also be able to expand this new diorama.

The different sections of the set can only be combined in one way and it is not possible to rearrange the places other than in the planned configuration. The set is therefore very modular but not modular. As the entire diorama is surrounded by water, it only works visually when all the modules are present.

The diorama is cleverly designed for display and to offer something interesting to admire from any viewing angle with its two side sections angled at 45°. The counterpart to this aesthetic choice: the set will take up space on your shelves with substantial measurements, 46 cm wide by 26 cm deep and 24 cm high at the highest point.

If you are looking for the 2103 pieces of this new set which seems to offer a rather attractive content/price ratio, they are there: the product uses a slew of small elements which are in the rocks of the surroundings, the walls of constructions and the many decorations "typical" of the period concerned.

It's almost as if the designer tried to bloat the product inventory to the extreme with subsets that might not deserve as much breakdown, but we won't complain, it's still more building fun. I would have added at least a small boat to take advantage of the maritime or lake side of the product, there is nothing provided to exploit the surroundings of the island.

The endowment of minifigs may seem basic at first glance with only four characters, but each of these figurines has benefited from obvious care with very high-flying pad printing and accessories that have not been neglected.

The torsos and legs are lined with pretty patterns, the faces are very detailed and the patterns of the shields provided, both delivered in duplicate, are sumptuous. The supplied helmets are equipped with horns, you can easily remove them if this detail bothers you. This product has no "historical" or educational value anyway, it is a simple adult toy that vaguely evokes Viking culture as it has been popularized since the XNUMXth century. If this explanation is not enough for you, you will only have to consider it as an attraction of Puy du Fou.

For those who have a feeling of deja vu: the torso of the blonde warrior delivered here is also that of the blonde fighter in the set 31132 Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent, that of the village chief also equips a fighter from the same Creator set. Only two of the four faces delivered are new, that of the archer and that of the character with orange hair, the other two are that of Santa Claus and a rather common female face in the LEGO CITY range.

Let's not beat around the bush, this product inspired by the winning creation of a competition organized on the LEGO Ideas platform has been rather well received by fans and I think it is justified.

This set ticks all the boxes, or at least all my boxes: the main attributes of the construction that served as a starting point have been retained, the product offers a very entertaining assembly experience and it embeds a few features that allow you to to make the pleasure last a little, the public price is contained even if the inventory may seem substantial when it is mainly a question of many small elements and the minifigs provided are very elaborate.

There is therefore no valid excuse not to crack, even if the theme addressed will not appeal to everyone.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 15, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO ICONS set 10318 Concorde, a box of 2083 pieces which will be available on the official online store, as an Insiders preview, at the retail price of €199.99 from September 4th.

This product had received a rather favorable reception during its official announcement a few weeks ago, but the latter was then supported by a series of official visuals highlighting the product and it is therefore time to check if the promise is kept. Spoiler : this is not completely the case, you will understand why below.

You have probably already noticed that this Concorde with LEGO sauce is neither in the colors of Air France nor in the British Airways version. It's a bit of a shame, the Aérospatiale France / British Aircraft Corporation livery of the model 002 provided here being a bit too dated.

We can imagine that LEGO and Airbus did not wish to offer a livery in the colors of Air France which would inevitably have recalled the crash of July 25, 2000 and we will therefore do with this vintage version, the main thing being that the LEGO model is relatively faithful to the reference aircraft.

This is the case except for a few details, in particular at the level of the nose which is here in my opinion a little too round and voluminous like an ice cream cone. For the rest, the exercise seems to me generally rather successful for a model of barely more than 2000 parts and 102 cm long by 43 cm wide intended for the exhibition.

The assembly process cleverly alternates between building the internal mechanism that will later deploy the landing gear and stacking white bricks to form the wings and cabin of the aircraft. We don't get bored, the sequences are well distributed and we start with the central section of the plane and then finish with the extremities by installing the engine blocks in passing.

The mechanism for pulling out the gears circulates inside the cabin, it ends up in the tail of the plane which therefore serves as a wheel for a little fun. LEGO insists on the possibility of testing the proper functioning of each section of the mechanism during the assembly phase of the set, it is wise and it avoids having to disassemble everything if an axis has been incorrectly inserted or positioned. Only the central and front axles are concerned by this mechanism, the tail wheel must be deployed manually. One could also have imagined a synchronization of the movement of the landing gear with that of the nose of the aircraft, this is not the case and the latter must be handled separately.

A fun little detail, LEGO has also provided some "accessories" used only during assembly to hold a section in place or allow you to work vertically. All the parts used for these temporary supports are orange in color, you will not be able to miss them or confuse them with elements permanently installed on the model. Over the pages, we install or remove these sections, the process is quite unusual but very practical. On arrival these temporary supports remain unused, you can do with them what you want.

You have already seen it on the official visuals, it is possible to remove a short section of the fuselage to admire a few rows of seats. the functionality is anecdotal but it has the merit of existing and it will impress your friends. The assembly is perfectly rigid, the wings do not bend under their own weight or that of the engines and the model can be removed from its base and easily handled. Watch out for the two little ones Tiles quarter-circle placed on and under the fuselage, they only hold stuck between two tenons and they come off easily.

Don't spoil yourself too much about the different construction stages if you have planned to buy this product, all the fun is once again in the few hours of assembly with some good ideas and an assembly process that is paced enough not to overdo it. focus on the few slightly repetitive phases. The pages of the instruction booklet are embellished with some information on the aircraft, you will not come out much more learned on the subject but it is entertaining.

The real problem of the product is elsewhere and it is not new or reserved for this product: the white parts are unfortunately not all the same white. From certain angles and with the right lighting, I count up to three different shades on the fenders and it's ugly. The official visuals have obviously been extensively retouched to erase this aesthetic defect, in real life the real model will lose some of its luster when it comes to displaying it on the dresser in the living room. It even seems that some parts have slightly yellowed before time, it will be up to everyone to assess their level of tolerance regarding this technical defect but I would have at least warned you.

For my part, I still cannot understand how a manufacturer who has been in this business for 90 years does not know how to properly tint his parts so that they are almost all the same color. This product is no exception, regulars of the Sand green or Dark Red know that it is already complicated with these specific colors but we are talking about white here. Creamy white, off-white but white. The effect is all the more visible on the wings as it is reinforced by the separation between the different parts, with a line that circulates between the different colors and which delimits each of the elements concerned.

The cockpit, whose nose can be more or less inclined like on the real Concorde, benefits from two nicely executed canopies with pad printing (a little too white) on the main glazing and a protective glass installed on the mobile part of the nose which is supplied directly injected in two textures. The latter is delivered in a dedicated paper packaging, the other is simply thrown into one of the bags of the set with the risks that we know.

We will also note some alignment problems at the level of the red line which crosses the cabin horizontally, it is alternately embodied by red parts or by pad printing on white parts which is not perfectly positioned on the elements concerned to guarantee a perfect connection. This detail will probably not be a problem for hardcore fans of the plane or LEGO, but we are still talking here about a white model at 200 €, attention to detail should have been in order.

For those who are wondering: the pad-printed windows are consistent with the reference aircraft, the Concorde was well equipped with smaller windows than conventional airliners.

The small base provided, which takes up the aesthetics of the base of certain classic models of the plane, does its job: it makes it possible to present the device with a slightly dynamic staging and the stability of the whole is at all test thanks to the perfectly balanced positioning of the support. It's up to you whether you want to display the Concorde in the flight phase with the landing gear retracted and the nose straight or in the take-off phase with the landing gear extended and the nose tilted. The small vintage-looking plate placed on the front of the display is pad-printed, there are no stickers in this box. This plate distills some facts about the plane, it's vintage and it's fitting with the proposed livery which is far from being the most recent.

Like many of us, I was pretty excited about this product so far following its official announcement. I once again let myself be convinced by the pretty official visuals which promised a model with a finished aesthetic, it's not the impression I have having this Concorde in my hands. The designer has done his homework and the returned copy is in my opinion frankly very honest, but the main technical defect of the product comes in my opinion a little to spoil the party. Many will however be satisfied with this Concorde which, observed from a certain distance, will do the trick, installed for example next to the Titanic.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 13, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we quickly take a look at the contents of the LEGO Harry Potter set 40598 Gringotts Vault, a small box of 212 pieces which is currently offered on the official online store from 130 € euros of purchase in products from the Harry Potter range. The offer concerned is in principle valid until September 13, 2023, if there is stock remaining by this date.

I'm not making a drawing for you, this is about assembling a Gringotts bank safe in the spirit of those involved in the construction of the set 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors' Edition. And it makes sense, this small promotional product being designed as an extension with the possibility of adding it at the end of the circuit at the foot of the underground part of the large model.

This is well seen on the part of LEGO, those who invest their galleons in the set in question from the first half of September will have on hand a truly complete additional product with a section of rail, a minecart identical to that delivered in the another box, an additional chest and even an additional employee to furnish their diorama.

This chest is also designed like a real piggy bank with a slot on the top and a removable section at the back. You can therefore store the few pieces that remain after your order in the Shop or your other precious objects which will remain easily accessible via the removable wall section at the back.

This small set does not escape a sheet of stickers which nevertheless remains reasonable with in particular two small stickers which allow you to number your safe with for example the number 687 (Harry Potter) or the references 711 (Sirius Black) and 713 (Pierre Philosophical).

If you have the means to place several orders reaching the minimum amount required to be offered this small box, you can even extend the circuit by adding chests as far as the eye can see, the construction is planned to allow other extensions and stickers customizable will offer the possibility of varying the references. The new minifig provided in this box being rather generic, you will also have goblins to put everywhere in the bank.

In short, I think that LEGO takes fans of the Harry Potter universe rather seriously with this nice promotional product which will advantageously reward those who make the effort to pay for the set 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors' Edition at full price without waiting for at least a doubling of VIP points. The €429.99 bill will undoubtedly pass a little more easily with this extension well in the theme and it would be a shame to miss it if the LEGO Harry Potter range is one of your favorites.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 11, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75357 Ghost & Phantom II, a box of 1394 pieces currently on pre-order on the official online store and elsewhere at the retail price of €169.99 and which will be available from September 1, 2023.

This set is a derivative product of the series Star Wars: Ahsoka currently being broadcast on the Disney + platform and it is already the second version of this ship at LEGO: the manufacturer had offered a derivative product of the animated series Star Wars Rebels in 2014, then marketed in two parts under the references 75048 The Phantom et 75053 The Ghost. The Phantom was then entitled to a new version in 2017 under the reference 75170 The Phantom.

At 170 € the toy, it is normal to be demanding and I think that LEGO does not disappoint with this new version of the Ghost if we keep in mind that it is not a pure exhibition model. .

The surface finish is very correct, the adjustments between the different sub-assemblies are acceptable and the object will look great on a shelf while waiting for a hypothetical release Ultimate Collector Series which will undoubtedly not fail to arrive one day at LEGO. We can only regret that the vessel is here equipped with fixed landing gear which will therefore remain deployed in the flight phase.

Regarding the assembly, the designer has not done things by halves with an internal structure made up of Technic frames which guarantees maximum rigidity to the vessel during handling. It's almost academic but this solution is essential so that everything does not fall apart in the hands of the youngest who are the main target of the product. We then plate different sections of the cabin, like the process already used for example on a Millennium Falcon and that's it.

The various interior spaces remain accessible by removing the central section of the vessel and opening the two canopies placed at the front, but the layout is rather basic. If we try to see the bright side of things, there is therefore space to store the figurines provided. The central turret is summarized here in its simplest form with a bubble and a cannon which should protrude a little more from the cabin and which do not pivot on this toy.

It also lacks the large access ramp at the front, LEGO replaces it with two side ramps and only the two cockpits and combat stations remain to offer some interesting details with in particular the use of a saber handle of inquisitor for one of the firing positions.

The transition from the model seen on the screen to the LEGO model is necessarily facilitated by the colorful side of the reference ship: the Ghost is not a monochrome ship and we find the different colors on the surface of the cabin. It's a bit flashier than the stock version of the ship, but we're not going to complain about getting something every once in a while that isn't almost entirely gray or black in the LEGO Star Wars range.

The surface of the ship is covered with a large handful of stickers which refine its silhouette a little, some of these stickers are however on a transparent background which does not offer the best rendering when they are applied on the glass Trans Black.

The bubble placed at the front is pad-printed, it was anyway almost impossible to stick a sticker on it properly. LEGO could also have split a pattern printed on the other canopy placed at the front, the installation of the planned sticker is a bit laborious and the rendering is not very convincing with traces of glue which remain clearly visible against the dark background of the room.

The Phantom II is here rather well integrated into the Ghost, it can be easily removed and put back in place without breaking everything and the visual continuity between the two vessels is perfectly ensured. Two Spring-Shooters are integrated at the front under the cabin of the Ghost, they are actuated by a mechanism incorporating a long Technic beam which is also well concealed and accessible without having to turn the ship over. These two attributes do not disfigure the construction, this Ghost can serve as a provisional model without looking too much like a child's toy.

We could debate at length the proportions of the object, the scale which does not allow to install more than one figurine in certain spaces, the angles of the different panels of the cabin or even the aesthetic approximations and the lack of detail inside the ship, but it should be borne in mind that despite the asking price which could give hope for better, this is a simple toy for children whose parents can afford to spend the amount asked.

This product derived from the series Star Wars: Ahsoka is only an interpretation that takes a few shortcuts and we will have to make do with it while waiting for something better or ignore this toy while waiting for a product intended for the brand's adult customers. As it stands, I consider that the contract is largely fulfilled knowing that it will necessarily be possible to pay for this box a little cheaper elsewhere than at LEGO in the weeks and months to come.

As for the endowment in minifigs, we logically do not find here the original cast of the animated series but a crew based on the cast of the series currently being broadcast. The pad prints are generally successful even though the Chopper Droid loses its print on top of the dome.

Lt. Beyta's New Republic pilot's outfit is nicely executed even though the blue used looks a little light to me, Officer Hawkins' is very accurate even though the legs could have been darker and the various attributes and other details graphics are pretty fitting except maybe the hair color of young Jacen Syndulla, the character with green hair in the animated series. Check it out when it first appears on screen in the currently airing series.

I also have a little trouble with Hera Syndulla's eyes, at least they lack black pupils so as not to give her that slightly too neutral look. On the other hand, I appreciate the offset of the belt from the hips to the top of the legs, it matches the outfit seen on the screen and it seems that the pants go up well above the waist.

This endowment of figurines is generally interesting for a set in this price bracket, even if I think that LEGO could have put a copy of Ahsoka in the box to thank all those who will spend 170 € in this set and who will skip over the other products derived from the series.

This box will therefore largely do the trick while waiting for a more detailed version of the Ghost and those who missed the model marketed in 2014 should not regret having skipped it at the time. This new version is a little more accomplished, a little more detailed and better proportioned even if everything remains a little coarse and approximate in places. It is above all a simple toy for children, but a beautiful well-worked toy with accessible interior spaces, some features and a very acceptable finish.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 9, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO DREAMZzz set 40657 Dream Village, a small box of 434 pieces available exclusively on the official online store at the retail price of €29.99 since August 1st. The product does not deserve a lot of spotlight, it is simply an entry-level box that allows the tightest budgets to taste the LEGO DREAMZzz universe without taking too many risks.

However, this small set with no particular pretensions has a few tricks up its sleeve that should motivate all those who have decided to invest in this in-house license at LEGO. The product inventory makes it possible to assemble three small houses forming a colorful village, why not, it's cute and each of the shops offers a very acceptable level of finish.

More interestingly, the three houses can be combined to form a compact "tower" bringing together all the elements of the separate shops and without having to dismantle everything. It suffices to rearrange the subsets to obtain the promised tower. Even more interesting, LEGO documents the possibility of using these three houses in combination with other products in the range.

Nothing prevents you from doing it without LEGO encouraging you to do so, but I find it appreciable that the manufacturer distills some original ideas involving the association of different products with each other.
We therefore discover in the pages of the instruction booklet that it is possible to integrate without too much effort the construction provided in this box on the back of the turtle of the set 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van, on the branches of the tree of the set 71461 Fantastic Tree House. or even around the central building of the set 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures.

For the rest, we get here three "Dreamlings" which hold the shops to be built with a magician, a baker and a blacksmith. The young Jayden in pajamas is included in the box, it is the only "real" minifig of the product. For 30 €, it's a bit thin in the absence of the real heroes of the range, but the marketing has been there and you will have to go back to the checkout to get Mateo, Cooper Zoey and Izzie.

In short, nothing to get up at night unless you plan to collect all of the products in this range, the other references of which are already available elsewhere at a more reasonable price than at LEGO, but this little set with a colorful inventory is no demerit in my opinion not and it offers some significant playful possibilities. It lacks one or two more "real" miniatures so as not to have the impression of paying too much for the thing for what it is, but the product offers a nice complement to other constructions in the range.

To be added to a basket if necessary to reach the minimum amount required for a promotional offer at LEGO and to make an original gift for the holiday season or a birthday. The fact that this box is exclusive to the official online store will greatly limit the risk of being several to offer the same thing to a young fan who appreciates this universe.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 8, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.