Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Technic set 42160 Audi RS Q e-tron, a box of 914 pieces which will be available at the retail price of €169.99 from August 1, 2023 via the official online store and in LEGO Stores.

Don't get too carried away on the product inventory, there are still more than 400 pins to use during the assembly of this interpretation of the vehicle in addition to the large handful of various and varied black panels. On the other hand, there are several elements of the CONTROL+ ecosystem in the box with 3 L motors and a Hub Powered Up which also serves as batterybox, their mere presence probably explains the relatively high price of this set. The model owes its successful finish only to the two huge sheets of stickers which bring together 47 stickers, it is difficult to do without these stickers if you want to obtain a machine with an aggressive and successful look.

The design of the LEGO version of the vehicle seems pretty decent to me, it was delusional anyway to hope for better, especially since it is a motorized model intended to bump into the living room baseboards and no a model with perfectly interpreted angles. This version, for example, ignores almost the entire front bumper with its air intakes and headlights, which are embodied here by a single large sticker. However, we recognize the reference Audi RS Q e-tron and that is the main thing.

The assembly of the 37 cm long by 19 cm wide and 15 cm high model is quickly dispatched starting with a first section which involves two of the three motors, with a first motor to drive the wheels which take advantage of new hubs, red rims and new tires and a second that manages the direction of the vehicle. The instructions are explicit enough not to be mistaken in the passages of cables and connections.

The second section then connects to the first via two large Technic frames, it uses the third motor to drive the rear wheels. The Bluetooth Hub with its new cover with four screws is installed on the way and I advise you at this stage to test all the functions of the vehicle to ensure that nothing has been incorrectly installed or incorrectly connected. You will thus avoid having to remove the various bodywork elements, the installation of which is sometimes a bit complex to rectify the situation.

The installation of the various body elements could have been entertaining if it weren't punctuated by the placement of numerous stickers. Not a pad-printed Audi logo on the horizon, it's a sticker fair and you quickly get tired of trying to line up the different patterns. One might wonder why a machine presented on the packaging as capable of hurtling down dunes and therefore of being used mainly outdoors is covered with stickers, but make no mistake, this is a simple indoor toy.

The vehicle weighing more than 1.20 kg is rather comfortable on the living room floor, but things get a bit tricky as often happens outside: the slightest obstacle can become a problem despite the generous wheel arches, the very soft independent suspensions and the sufficient ground clearance, the movements of the machine are a little more laborious depending on the terrain, it lacks torque and the turning radius is very limited. This is the case for most of the motorized vehicles offered by LEGO, they are above all children's toys, certainly motorized, but which above all offer various and varied challenges intended to occupy the youngest for a few hours via the dedicated application.

The Audi RS Q e-tron being an electric buggy specialized in rally-raid, it is not moreover a machine designed to offer the best crossing capacities, there are other references in the LEGO range for that like the LEGO Technic set 42129 4x4 Mercedes-Benz Zetros Trial Truck.

The CONTROL+ application available on iOS and Android will obviously be updated by the time this product is marketed and I was able to use a perfectly functional beta version. The interface that allows you to steer the vehicle is pretty, the controls are simple and accessible and you can have fun immediately without going through a laborious phase of acclimatization which would be a little discouraging. One joystick for steering, the other for forwards or backwards, it's simple and effective.

As usual, I tested two types of rechargeable batteries: classic Panasonic Eneloop Ni-Mh 1.2V 1900 mAh batteries and Ansmann NiZn 1.6V 1600 mAh batteries and the result is clear: Ansmann batteries offer more power and the machine moves noticeably faster and stumbles less on certain small obstacles. If you plan to really play with this type of product, do not hesitate to buy this type of battery and the essential charger compatible with the NiZn standard.

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I have to say that for once I am globally won over by the look of this modern buggy with its aggressive lines, and I did not expect to obtain a vehicle with breathtaking performance anyway. I have had many machines powered by LEGO in my hands and I now know that we should not rely too much on the promises made on the packaging of these different products. This Audi RS Q e-tron offers a good compromise which should satisfy all those who have understood that this is not a classic radio-controlled vehicle.

This children's toy is therefore in my opinion not the worst of what LEGO has produced on the same theme over the years, far from it, but you will still have to wait to find it for less than the 170 € requested. The youngest will have fun for long hours thanks to the various activities offered in the application and they will discover some interesting assembly techniques in terms of motorization, differential, suspension and steering, adults will perhaps see a nice show model of a modern vehicle with a very original look.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 12, 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 very quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75361 Spider Tank, a box of 526 pieces vaguely inspired by the second episode of the third season of The Mandalorian series, currently for pre-order on the official online store and which will be available from August 1, 2023 at the retail price of €52.99.

Confusion may reign in the memories of those who watched the third season of the series several months ago as soon as it was made available on the Disney+ platform and the set will then find some indulgent fans who will see it as a beautiful tribute to the concerned scene but all that seems to me all the same very summary and approximate.

The construction oscillates between crab-spider and spider-crab and it is of a relative visual sadness. I will be answered as usual that LEGO has probably worked on very (too) preliminary artworks of the thing but in my opinion this is no longer a valid excuse, especially when you have to pay 53 €.

We therefore assemble here the mechanical spider seen in the episode concerned and which still reserves some beautiful assembly sequences with a body that can accommodate a minifig, a rather correct head, six legs integrating a rubber element which gives them a semblance of cushioning and two movable clamps on Ball Seals. It is however very quickly put together, a little repetitive at times but it is the subject who wants it, and the thing will undoubtedly end up quickly at the bottom of a drawer even among the youngest. Do not look for the mechanism that allows the legs to move when the spider moves, there is none and the six appendages are fixed.

There are two Stud Shooters integrated into the hatch that closes the body of the spider but that will not be enough to save the furniture and justify the price of the product. For the price, LEGO could have at least added some accessories like the cage seen on the screen, just to have a little context around the machine and the characters provided. All it took was a few additional parts to expand the content of the set a little and offer it real playability, not enough to significantly impact the manufacturer's margin.

LEGO could also have made an effort on the color used for the spider, I know that the Star Wars range subscribes to gray but there was perhaps something here to embody the rusty aspect of the machine seen a little better in the caves of Mandalore.

We will probably almost all agree to conclude that this set will only find its audience thanks to the presence of the magnificent new minifig of Bo-Katan Kryze provided. The pad printing of the figurine is very successful and the hairstyle delivered as well as the facial features contribute to perfectly embody the actress Katee Sackhoff, central character of the third season of the series.

The hairstyle used lets the pad-printed headband appear on the character's head, it's perfect. I prefer this version of the character to that of the set 75316 Mandalorian Starfighter which for its part made direct reference to the animated series The Clone Wars, but it's very personal and I need both anyway.

For the rest, the Din Djarin and Grogu minifigures are those already seen many times in sets in the range, and the Darksaber is in my opinion a failure, LEGO contenting itself with using a classic handle and associating a simple black blade. There was probably better to do to embody the weapon in question, but its fate is sealed anyway and we will do with this uninspired accessory.
Those who have seen the episode in question will have noticed that a central character is missing here: the cyborg who controls the spider. One more figure would not have been refused, even if it is a secondary character, to make it easier to pass the pill of the public price of the set.

It is therefore in my opinion not the product of the year, it is too expensive for what it is, the reference to the series The Mandalorian is sloppy and only one of the three figurines is unpublished. Sorry for not crying genius this time, it's much too approximate and summary to convince me to spend the €53 requested. I will make the effort for the superb Bo-Katan Kryze minifigure but I will therefore wait wisely for this product to end up being offered at a much lower price elsewhere than at LEGO, which inevitably will eventually happen.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 11, 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 take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO DREAMZzz set 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van, a box of 434 pieces currently on pre-order on the official online store at the retail price of €47.99 and which will be available from August 1, 2023.

For those who have not followed, the LEGO DREAMZzz universe is the new "in-house" license at LEGO and the manufacturer is once again putting the means to try to demonstrate that it is able to create a complete ecosystem of products without having to s rely on external licenses. Of all the attempts at LEGO, only the Ninjago and Monkie Kid ranges are still in the catalog, the other most recent home universes have all been more or less quickly dropped by the wayside for a long time after a few waves of boxes.

The LEGO DREAMZzz license therefore comes at the right time to try to generate a new long-term commercial dynamic and it is based in passing on an animated series broadcast on Youtube, Netflix or even Prime Video with a dozen episodes already online and a new season to come. LEGO has obviously planned a substantial lifespan for this new universe as well as many products derived from products already themselves derived with, for example, a slew of activity books to be published accompanied or not by various and varied figurines. Everything is obviously aimed at the youngest, so it is important to keep the target audience in mind to form an objective opinion on these products.

In this box, we assemble Madame Castillo's food truck parked a few streets from the home of the two young heroes of this universe, Mateo and Izzy. The version of the vehicle seen on the screen not being based on bricks, that of the set is therefore necessarily a largely simplified interpretation of the thing. We get an 8-stud wide vehicle vaguely inspired by a VW van with a rather basic interior, a few stickers and a removable roof.

The LEGO version looks just like the show, but it's yet to be seen how younger kids will enjoy these simplified, loosely inspired by-products of a series that features minifigs in a classic brick-free cartoon setting.

The van can be converted into a flying turtle or a submarine and therefore LEGO offers two variants of the starting construction. These transformations are rather well documented in the instruction booklet and it is not necessary to disassemble everything to transform the vehicle into Señor Tortuga. Changing from one version to the other only requires a few minor modifications and the process will therefore not discourage the youngest. There are still a few unused parts after each modification, but the remainder is limited.

We can therefore consider that the 3-in-1 aspect of the product is really exploitable here, this is not always the case in the products presented by LEGO as offering the possibility of assembling several variants of the product offered with very often a large pile of untapped coins. The sheet of stickers to stick on the van is substantial but all these stickers are not used, there remains a small handful of stickers (bottom right on the scan above) which will allow you to personalize the vehicle as you see fit. All the patterns visible on the different elements of the set and which are not on the sheet of stickers are therefore stamped.

As for the minifigs delivered in this box, it's a pad printing party. LEGO puts all its know-how at the service of this new range and this is in turn good news for all the other ranges of the manufacturer: the new parts or the variations of certain elements in colors not offered until now produced for the he LEGO DREAMZzz universe will sooner or later end up being exploited elsewhere.

Madame Castillo, for example, is converted here into a unique piece integrating the backpack worn by the character associated with two yellow arms from the Super Mario range. We will once again regret the gap between the official visuals and the "real" minifig, some details of the character's dress are a bit overlooked.

The young Mateo is also delivered in this box, he is the male hero of the series and the minifig is rather very faithful to the version seen on the screen except perhaps for the giant pencil which is here a simple stick with a mine at the end. In the animated series, minifigs break free from the limitations of plastic versions with mobility impossible to replicate in real life and the ability to grasp accessories much larger than real plastic hands allow. The Zoey minifigure is also highly detailed with over-the-top graphics on the chest and legs. We can't blame LEGO for saving money on the plastic versions of the characters seen on screen, it's visually successful.

The two mini-creatures, Z-Blob and Grimspawn share the same main mold which allows them to receive an accessory on the head and possibly wear an element under the arm. These figurines are not completely stable, but they can be plugged into a stud and the heads of each of these two creatures can be removed. The big one missing from this box is Tortuga, Madame Castillo's mini pet turtle in "real" life, which only appears in the set as a simple sticker.

The set is at least as confusing as the series, with a profusion of elements that may seem irrelevant if we ignore the pitch of this new license. Watching the animated series will not necessarily help, the passage into the world of dreams reveals a totally crazy universe which inevitably opens the way to equally crazy derivative products.

This box seems to me to be one of the most "readable" of the range, the transformation of the van into a turtle is a good idea well exploited. The public price of the product, 48 €, however, seems to me a bit high for what it has to offer knowing that the LEGO DREAMZzz license has no liabilities and that it is a simple launch. There is also no guarantee that the concept will go beyond this first wave and a possible other batch of sets already ready but marketed at the end of the year, sales will serve as a judge of the peace.

If the LEGO DREAMZzz universe is an industrial accident, there will be massive destocking and those who want certain pieces present in these boxes will find what they are looking for and if the range is a hit with the youngest, the most interesting elements will then be available in several sets. Everyone will win on arrival. In any case, LEGO will have invested time and money in new elements and new colors that will sooner or later have to be recycled elsewhere and that's always taken.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 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 Technic set 42161 Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica, a box of 806 pieces that will be available from August 1, 2023 at the public price of 52.99 €.

It's not worth making tons of them, with such a small inventory of 806 pieces including more than 250 diverse and varied pins, it is difficult to hope for anything other than this somewhat approximate model of 28 cm long 12 cm wide and 8 cm high. In my opinion, the designer is doing honorably despite the inventory constraints and, as often, he will have to make do with a few somewhat empty spaces and a few somewhat hazardous angles.

This is a children's toy and not an ultra-detailed exhibition model, so the contract seems fulfilled knowing that the vehicle offers as a bonus three essential features on this type of model: doors and a bonnet. front ends that open, functional steering that can be manipulated by turning the remote wheel on the roof (but not via the vehicle's steering wheel) and a V10 engine whose pistons visible at the rear come into motion via one of the rear wheels when moving.

No suspensions on this model, we are talking about a product at 50 €, we should not hope to have access to this type of mechanical refinement in this price range. The doors are fixed to the structure only via a single axis, they take a little play in use but nothing irreparable, it's LEGO and it is enough to push these two sub-assemblies well to restore their rigidity.

The assembly of this Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica with LEGO sauce is logically quickly dispatched, there are indeed a few stickers to stick here or there to refine the level of detail of the construction a little, dress the seats and embody the headlights and the toy the aggressive lines obtained should appeal to the youngest. It's LEGO Technic, so we find the "signature" mix of blue, brown or red colored pines that remain clearly visible on the construction, you have to deal with it as always.

Don't look too much for absolute fidelity to the reference vehicle, that's not the point of this type of toy which above all has the merit of introducing some techniques to the youngest fans before they move on to more advanced products. both technically and aesthetically. We also note that the Lamborghini logo is well stamped on the central part of the steering wheel but that it is not on the front cover. I would have made the opposite choice if I had been asked for my opinion on this point, the front cover deserved to escape the glaring difference in color between the sticker and the room that hosts it.

The problem with this product is elsewhere and you probably already know what it is all about if you have carefully looked at the photos in this article: you have to deal with at least three different shades of green, with two shades for the parts to which is added that of the bottom of the stickers. Those who bought the set 42115 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 (449.99 €) have had the painful experience of these differences in color which slightly disfigure their model, the problem is exactly the same here.

LEGO does not currently provide any detailed explanation concerning the origin of the problem and one is entitled to wonder how a product suffering from this appearance defect can end up on the shelves without the manufacturer wondering if it is better not postpone it or simply cancel it pending an acceptable solution. It is not for lack of reminding the manufacturer on this point which is regularly mentioned at the LAN level in the hope of obtaining a convincing technical explanation but nothing has been officially announced to date. We will talk about it again if the quality department brings technical elements later.

Worse, the official visuals of the product present on the box and on the official online store are extensively retouched to hide this defect and many are those who will be disappointed when unpacking and opening the bags. There is no point in contacting customer service to obtain replacement parts, you will receive parts with the same defect until proven otherwise.

I am willing to admit that the problem is more complex than a simple story of the dosage of color pigments according to the type of plastic used, but the desire to hide this defect, which has been regularly present for several years now at LEGO on the visuals used to promoting the product is a questionable process to say the least.

That being said, those who are willing to put up with these unsightly color variations should have a little fun with a few slightly complex construction steps and the pleasure of obtaining a toy that looks and which is equipped with a few essential functions in this price range. The others will wisely wait for this product, which sails in the soft underbelly of the LEGO Technic range, to be available for less than 40 € at Amazon or elsewhere, the finish defect found confirms that it does not deserve to spend the 53 € requested.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 7, 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.

We are quickly interested today in the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75359 Ahsoka's 332 Company Clone Troopers Battle Pack, a small box of 108 pieces which will be available at the retail price of €20.99 from August 1, 2023 via the official online store and LEGO Stores.

The title of the product is sufficiently self-explanatory, this is a Battle Pack or a pack of minifigs intended to swell the ranks of a battalion or an army of figurines. LEGO is therefore content to coat the content of the product with a few parts to justify the designation of construction toy, but the main subject obviously remains the four characters provided.

We will quickly forget the micro-mortar provided, it necessarily brings a little playability but it is still very basic with this Stud Shooter loosely staged on its four-legged stand. The Swamp Speeder included is correct without being transcendent, you can install two minifigs by storing their handguns on the sides of the rear engine and the machine is equipped with two Stud Shooters which allow you to have a little fun. Minimum service for additional construction but it's always taken.

Un Battle Pack LEGO is above all a handful of figurines which in principle should allow you to build a small army at a lower cost. Here, we can count on three generic Clone Troopers but it will be necessary to deal several times with Captain Vaughn in the case of the acquisition of multiple copies of the product.

The latter can be rid of the visor of his helmet but the stripes stamped on the unique torso will still be there. This small graphic detail will however be easily forgotten in the middle of several rows of Clones, the legs and the helmet of the character being identical to those of the other three soldiers provided.

The pad printing of the helmets is generally successful despite the obvious technical constraints and very faithful to those of the reference accessory, but LEGO still finds a way to miss one of the four Clone heads provided in the copy I received with a big white streak between the two eyes. (see photo below, head of the first Clone on the left).

So we get four nicely executed copies of the new helmet with side holes and LEGO logically recycles the generic torso and legs already seen in many sets since 2020: the squad staged here is above all a company of the 501st Legion. The blue jetpack is not new, it is the one already delivered in 2020 in the set 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers.

I remind you for all practical purposes that the visors and rangefinders are delivered in an individual bag per set of four units of each of these accessories. Only one visor is used here, so you will have enough left to equip other Clones if you feel like it.

This Battle Pack does not deserve it, it will offer fans the possibility of building a small squad and obtaining several very decent Swamp Speeders along the way, given the limited inventory of the product, but it will be necessary to wait for an offer that allows afford these boxes at a price lower than that requested by LEGO. 21 € for that, it is in my opinion a bit expensive even if Star Wars fans have long been resigned.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 7, 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.