It's a revolution! The world has been waiting impatiently for this product and it is finally available: the LEGO reference 5007289 Brick Scooper Set is on sale on the official online store for the modest sum of 17.99 € and it allows according to the official description to win "up to 40% less time compared to storing by hand".

In the box, two storage shovels and a brick separator, nothing more, but there is therefore in principle enough to pick up bricks without getting tired and optimizing the time devoted to this tedious task. The larger of the two, the blue one, measures 19 cm long by 13 cm wide. The smallest, the red one, measures 12.5 cm long by 9 cm wide.

In use, we cannot really say that it is convincing: the lip which should in principle pass under the bricks that we are trying to pick up is too thick and not beveled enough. It is therefore necessary to constantly "help" the bricks to fit into the space provided by pushing them by hand. The only significant gain in productivity is linked to the possibility of picking up more bricks at the same time than by taking them by hand and watching the smaller ones fall which will then have to be picked up.

It also lacks an important element directly related to the principle of the product but the visual on the packaging does not lie about it: something to gently push the bricks towards the container, like a small brush. Even if it means innovating in such a disruptive way, I would also have added a handle to the bottom of the shovels to be able to hold them properly.

But the experienced designers behind it will no doubt have imagined that it would then be impossible to use these two shovels as lockers for storing pens and mail. The secondary use of the product following the disappointment linked to its manifest ineffectiveness was planned from the start, it is well seen.

It is clearly indicated on the packaging, it is not a product manufactured directly by LEGO, it is the company Room Copenhagen which is responsible for producing these shovels under official license and everything is made in China. note that the name of the product on the box indicates that three "pieces" are present in the packaging, there are actually only two shovels and the separator counts as an element in its own right of the product. The public price pill of this box, 18 €, will therefore probably go a little better this way.

In short, it is in my opinion a product whose usefulness is frankly questionable, but the presence of the LEGO brand logo on the packaging will be enough to make it an original gift when it comes to pleasing a fan. unconditional who considers that because it's LEGO, it's necessarily the most beautiful thing he's seen in his life. Otherwise, with 18 € on hand, there is still enough to buy a real set which will undoubtedly also be very pleasant.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at February 16, 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. Bricks and other accessories used for the test are not provided.

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

We continue today with a quick overview of the contents of the LEGO Star Wars set 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet, a box of 766 pieces which will be available from March 1, 2023 at the retail price of €69.99 and which is already available for pre-order on the official online store.

As for the helmet of the set 75349 Captain Rex Helmet which will be marketed at the same time as this one, the LEGO-style interpretation of the accessory worn by this second character was eagerly awaited by fans of the animated series The Clone Wars. Cody, or CC-224, is a much-loved Clone Officer, so his arrival on the shelves of those who have grown or aged with the show's seven seasons is welcome news.

As with Rex's helmet, fans will immediately recognize the owner of this helmet where others may see it as just another Clone Trooper. The small pad-printed presentation plate may therefore seem superfluous to some, but it will be useful to others. I haven't changed my mind on this specific point since the launch of this range of derivative products in 2020: I think that the huge logo of the LEGO Star Wars range present on these plates is a bit superfluous or at least too prominent.

The aesthetic approximations are once again numerous and even if the general look of the product leaves no doubt on the subject treated, it will be necessary to accommodate these adjustments imposed by the format of this range of derived products.

It is also especially at the level of the lower edge of the helmet that things get a little tricky with stacks of parts that struggle to embody the curves and angles of the object. The top of the product is more faithful even if we find the inevitable dome based on stairs and visible tenons that we can choose to consider as the signature of this range or as an aesthetic shortcut that lacks finish.

The assembly process offers some interesting techniques that allow to obtain the final result and we do not get bored except perhaps for the first few steps which give the impression of building the heart of a large figure in Brickheadz format .

We even take a little pleasure in then building sub-assemblies which seem completely irrelevant at the time and which then find their place on the construction, there is something very satisfying in seeing the black zone being gradually framed by the structure of the helmet over the pages.

The only moving part of the product is the side antenna attached to a Ball joint, pity that this area remains gray. We can also wonder if it would not have been wise to fill the hollow of the cheeks with darker pieces to reinforce the relief effect on these areas as is the case at the back of the helmet, it will be it may be possible to obtain an acceptable result by adjusting the lighting of the exhibition site.

Once again, this derivative product is not a top-of-the-range model which would be intended to allow a perfect replica of the helmet to be displayed, it is just a very stylized interpretation which tries to remain in the format imposed by the exercise while remaining easily identifiable. The goal is therefore achieved, Cody finally has the tribute he deserves in a range of exhibition products undoubtedly considered by LEGO as "accessible" and "affordable".

There are only 9 decals on this model, 8 less than Rex's helmet, and these decals blend in a bit better with the landscape than the ones used on the reproduction of the other Clone Officer's helmet. The background of these stickers does not match the color of the parts on which they are placed, but the surfaces here are less exposed and more reduced and we quickly forget this defect.

The two helmets exhibited together form a nice combination of derivative products which should satisfy fans, but the bill will still be steep: you will have to pay 70 € per helmet, this is the new price set by LEGO for these models of a twenty centimeters high which offer only a very short assembly experience and which are only intended to end their career on a shelf. With a little patience, it will obviously be possible to get them for much less from the usual retailers, so it's up to everyone to see if the desire takes over the potential savings.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 9 February 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 Star Wars set 75349 Captain Rex Helmet, a box of 854 pieces which will be available from March 1, 2023 at the retail price of €69.99. We have already spoken a lot here about these reproductions by LEGO of helmets from the Star Wars universe, some are more successful than others and all suffer more or less from the limitations of the format imposed by the exercise.

That of Rex uses the usual recipe with an interior made up of an assortment of colored parts, a black base flanked by an identification plate identical to those already offered in the rest of the range and a more or less convincing finish depending on the areas concerned.

As for other references, this product of about twenty centimeters high, moreover sold in a box too big which can give hope of something more voluminous, is designed to be observed from a certain distance in order not to not focus too much on the gaps that remain visible between certain sub-assemblies.

However, we cannot blame the designer for having been lazy on this file, he did his best to try to reproduce all the curves and other angles of the reference helmet using ingenious sub-assemblies even if the result final will not please everyone. The assembly remains very pleasant and entertaining even if the whole thing only takes less than an hour.

The interior of the helmet is hollow, LEGO uses a few window frames in passing so as not to inflate the inventory too much and preserve its margin. There would be a thousand ways to fill the helmet, the use of a larger number of parts would, in my opinion, have made it possible to weight the object a little more and to reinforce the feeling of having in the hands a higher quality product. range.

This product does not escape the usual problems that LEGO must no longer seek to solve too much: the 17 stickers to stick on the helmet are printed on a white background which is not really in line with the off-white color of the parts, unlike this that the official visuals of the product suggest, which are often heavily retouched to reduce this contrast. 17 off-color stickers for a display product presented as high-end via its sexy-looking packaging is a lot but no one really seems to be complaining about it.

LEGO frankly "revisits" the aesthetics of the helmet by removing a column of "kills" on the dome and reducing the number of black stripes on the sides. We find the welding marks between the Phase I visor and the lower part of the Phase II version of the helmet, but the stickers concerned struggle to blend into the overall design of the product. them Jaig Eyes are more discreet, they are composed of pieces on the outside and a sticker in the center.

On arrival, the LEGO version of the accessory lacks in my opinion a little finesse to really match the slender look of the reference helmet. We obviously immediately recognize the product but the identification plate will not be too much here to allow someone who has not been an assiduous spectator of the animated series The Clone Wars not to confuse the object with a vulgar Stormtrooper helmet from which it logically takes up certain techniques. the range finder is rather successful and well integrated, the stem on which it rests can be oriented as you see fit.

In short, it is once again a very reworked interpretation of the reference accessory and we cannot really consider this product as a pure faithful and accomplished model. From the launch of this collection in 2020, many fans hoped that Rex and Cody would one day end up on their shelves, they are now served but it will now be necessary to pay 70 euros per helmet, and still without the slightest minifig to accompany the thing and do take the pill. The fact remains that the object will look great on the corner of a shelf, Rex well deserved this tribute.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at February 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.

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21338 A-Frame Cabin, a box of 2082 pieces which will be available at the retail price of €179.99 as a VIP preview from February 1, 2023.

This new product from the LEGO Ideas range, freely inspired by the creation A-Frame Cabin submitted by Andrea Lattanzio (Norton74), is at first sight rather respectful of the work of the fan designer, but as often with LEGO everything is played on the details and the manufacturer does not deprive himself of some shortcuts and other savings.

Before going into detail, it must be admitted that the assembly experience of this product is quite interesting. It comes close to what the best offer Modulars with an intelligent alternation between the most repetitive sequences and those which allow you to vary the pleasures a little by focusing on the interior fittings.

The result is a modular product with different removable structural elements that allow easy access to interior spaces. the 2000 pieces are there, the construction using many small elements including a slew of Tiles which dresses the walls and the roof of the chalet.

The theme of the wooden cabin lost in the middle of the forest is therefore generally respected, but LEGO gets rid of the original context which featured a somewhat dilapidated construction populated by trappers and flanked by deer antlers above the entrance door. entrance to make it a second family residence with a "cleaner" appearance. Too bad for the atmosphere "RMC Découverte" which goes a little by the wayside, the official version of the product loses in my opinion a little of its cachet.

You don't have to be a keen observer to see that LEGO has also reduced the density of the surrounding vegetation. The bushy pines, and probably a little too fragile, of the initial project give way here to trunks with sparser foliage. It's a bit of a shame, we go from a slightly more austere forest context to a Disney atmosphere with its birds, butterflies and leaves in shimmering colors. This aesthetic choice will undoubtedly appeal to many fans, you have to know how to please the majority of potential customers. A family space, the cabin is equipped with everything you need to spend a long weekend there without depriving yourself of the amenities available in any modern home.

The various fittings are convincing and largely of the level of what one finds in a Structure and it is the rustic nature of the premises that limits the level of detail of certain equipment here, particularly in the kitchen. The shower installed at the back of the hut is nicely executed with its showerhead, tap, soap and towel. We can possibly see in the white door a roll of toilet paper, the presence of the shovel hanging right next to it also goes in this direction...

The hut being in the shape of an A, the floor logically offers a very limited space which simply allows you to pile up a bed and some furniture. the designer has not spared a staircase that allows you to navigate between the levels, it is appreciable.

The two roof sections are well designed, they are thick and sufficiently reinforced not to deform. It is possible to remove them and reinstall them easily, they are not fixed to the framework of the premises, but there remains an implausible ridge with a channel that would have deserved to be covered with a gutter. LEGO has logically chosen to play only on the alternation of the different lengths of Tiles and their positioning more or less set back from the treated surface to create a texture with a wood effect, impossible on an official product to leave a few pieces half sunken to reinforce the dilapidated effect. As a result, it's very smooth and a little too clean not to evoke a well-maintained Center Parcs chalet. No shutters on the roof windows and these are fixed.

The two islands of vegetation to be built can be attached to the main building or grouped together to obtain an independent display element. Why not, the possibilities that arise from this choice are interesting, I am thinking in particular of those who want to integrate the chalet into a diorama without necessarily wanting to encumber themselves with the trees provided or of those who would like to have fun reaching this small island by canoe .

The most observant will have noticed, there are only two rows of hammers left at the base of the chalet, the creator of the reference project had installed three. The railing of the exterior staircase disappears, the brick chimney is replaced here by a simple black pipe and the front door is now embodied by the most commonly used basic element. This is also the case for the windows on the ground floor, I would have rather seen sets of four small openings rather than the usual large elements. There really isn't a bad choice, but in my opinion it's all of these aesthetic decisions that significantly change the mood of the product. We'll do with it.

In the radius of easter eggs, these more or less subtle references scattered throughout the construction, we note the nod to the nationality of the fan designer at the heart of the foundations of the chalet, the presence of a micro-version of the tree from the LEGO Ideas set 21318 Treehouse in the upstairs bedroom, the use of the colors of the fictional Octan brand at the back of the house or the painting on the first floor inspired by the Blue Cottage, another project imagined by Andrea Lattanzio (Norton74). The typewriter reference from the LEGO Ideas set 21327 Typewriter is a little more subtle: the object installed on a desk on the ground floor is black and it is therefore the color of the table top that makes the link with the color Sand green of the €250 version.

There are also no stickers in this box, all the patterned elements are stamped such as the doormat stamped with the LEGO logo, a Tile 2x4 originally delivered in the LEGO ICONS set 10290 Pickup Truck, the blacksmith's sign from the LEGO Ideas set 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, the treasure map of the LEGO CITY set 60355 Water Police Detective Missions, the vinyls from the LEGO ICONS set 10312 Jazz Club or both front pages.

LEGO also takes the opportunity to reuse the canoe seen in the LEGO set 10292 FRIENDS Apartments, it's in the theme. As for the animals provided, the squirrel is the one already seen in several boxes since last year, the only otter provided is also delivered this year in two copies in the LEGO CITY set 60394 ATV and Otter Habitat, birds are very common, and oversized butterflies are from the set 80110 Lunar New Year (2023) Display. No net to catch these butterflies in this box, it's a shame, we had to go through with the idea.

The four minifigs provided let you imagine a family on a weekend at Center Parcs, nothing crazy, but the endowment is sufficient to bring a little life to this diorama and possibly vary the staging. The pad prints are correctly executed, I do not note any particular defect on these different figurines with common heads and two of which inaugurate torsos that we will obviously see elsewhere later in the year.

A subtle detail: on the official visuals of the product, LEGO encourages fans to swap haircuts between the different minifigs, it's up to you who will pay the black raspberry on the head, that's also the inclusiveness.

To conclude, I think that this product is a relatively convincing conversion of the original idea which it more or less respects the spirit of, even if LEGO changes the atmosphere of the initial project a little. This Structure forester is interesting to assemble, it is correctly laid out, its various interior spaces remain easily accessible and even if we lose a little of the dilapidated side of the chalet, the exercise seems successful to me. In any case, the potential customers of this product are more likely to have spent a relaxing weekend in a themed lodge than a few months hunting otters in Alaska.

This toy is sold for 179.99 €, we can't even conclude that it's a little expensive or too expensive or much too expensive, we all know here that the brand's products are sold at public prices that are difficult for everyone to access. fans and you regularly have to choose between one set or another to stay within the fixed or imposed budget. I would have appreciated the presence of a luminous brick which probably easily fit into the budget, but it's not me who decides.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at February 5, 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 look back at a year 2022 which will have been very rich in products targeting in a totally uninhibited and assumed way an adult clientele who can afford plastic toys. Like each of you, I have been seduced, enthusiastic, annoyed or disappointed by some of these products, but tastes and colors are not to be discussed and the sets that I consider to be successful or unsuccessful will probably not be so for everyone.

The set that I remember this year is the reference LEGO ICONS 10302 Optimus Prime (179.99 €), an almost affordable box which really caused a big whiff of nostalgia in me and which highlights all the know-how of the manufacturer.

The construction is really transformable without having to go through improbable techniques or an endless and tiresome learning phase and the product keeps all its promises in my opinion with a very acceptable finish and satisfactory playability for an adult fan who simply wants to find the essence of this license in this derivative product. I really found the toy of my childhood, the contract is fulfilled.

LEGO markets many licensed products, but a large number of them are content to lazily surf on the popularity of the universe concerned without really bringing any added value linked to the extended possibilities of the LEGO concept itself beyond the 'assembly. In my opinion, this is not the case here, and it is therefore my favorite product of the year 2022.

The LEGO ICONS set 10497 Galaxy Explorer (99.99 €) also deserves the honors of my top and yet it is a product on a theme about which I feel no particular nostalgia. This product has been marketed to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the brand and pay tribute to a universe that many adults today knew during their young years and, even if this range does not evoke anything particular in I welcome LEGO's desire to make a successful product accessible to as many people as possible and thus invite a large number of fans to the party.

Sold for a hundred euros, this emblematic vessel with a vintage look but which benefits from modern construction techniques is in principle within the reach of all those who do not have an excessive LEGO budget but who still wish to immerse themselves in the space of a few hours in their childhood memories. Too bad LEGO did not choose to decline its other anniversary product, the LEGO Icons set 10305 Lion Knights'Castle (399.99 €) in a similar format and price range so that fans of the Castle universe are also invited without having to pay several hundred euros.

The LEGO Marvel set 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum (€249.99) also ends up in my 2022 top. young public passionate about superheroes and concerned about accumulating figurines.

The adult fan that I am finds here a dense and interesting construction challenge with a construction that has the luxury of being the ideal complement for all those who love the format Structure very popular at LEGO. I don't line up restaurants, bookstores and jazz clubs, but this Sanctum Sanctorum allowed me to take advantage of all that LEGO knows how to do in terms of detailed buildings while integrating various and varied references to a universe that seduced. The crossover is of quality, so this product deserved to be mentioned because LEGO was able to put some of its abilities at the service of a universe usually treated with much less respect.

The LEGO Star Wars range has both thrilled and disappointed me this year with two examples of which one is a success story and the other a spin-off product of shame. The LEGO Star Wars set 75331 The Mandalorian Razor Crest (599.99 €) embodies in my eyes what all products in the universe Ultimate Collector Series should be: finished and detailed toys, offering an entertaining building experience and meeting the price requirements of the manufacturer. In my opinion, this is the case with this reproduction of the Razor Crest, which brings a little freshness to a range that still purrs a lot.

At the other end of the spectrum, I can't resist mentioning the set 75334 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader, a small box that didn't even give me any for my 50 € with a distressingly sad content that betrays the desire to fill in a tariff box and surf on the popularity of the subject concerned without making any particular effort. This is just one example among many others, but it is emblematic of what I call the spin of license until more thirsty. No matter how hard I try to see the bright side of things, at €50 it's difficult.

My 2022 flop is the LEGO Ideas set 21337 Soccer table (249.99 €). I haven't changed my mind since my review posted a few months ago, this product is the symbol of broken promises and LEGO's ability to appropriate a product to try to work on its image by disappointing many potential customers who do not find the original idea in the official product.

I wanted a foosball table, I was probably a little naive because I got an uninteresting micro-toy flanked by a slew of minifigs that didn't add anything to the original concept. LEGO has made the passage of this botched product a tool to promote its approach to inclusiveness, it is laudable in absolute terms but it was not the subject, at least not during the selection of the basic idea that was to serve as a reference for the official product.

Basically, the proposed miniature table football is simply ridiculous, it has no relation to what it tries to represent and which was nevertheless at the center of the initial idea and I still wonder who can " have fun" with this $250 thing. Maybe Thierry Henry.

The LEGO Ideas set 21332 The Globe (229.99 €) is also a disappointment for me. I find it old-fashioned and rude, it's very personal, and there was probably better to do from the original idea. Products lifestyle can seduce me but they still have to be sufficiently accomplished for me to agree to pay the asking price.

I can understand the desire to deliver a globe with a "vintage" finish, but in my opinion the designer had a little trouble finding the right balance to keep the spirit of the original idea without offering a dated product to very rough finish. Not everything deserves to be put through a LEGO mill, or it takes a lot of talent to convince me that a particular object gains something from it, as is the case, for example, with the typewriter in the set LEGO Ideas 21327 Typewriter or the two 2023 references of the Botonic Collection announced a few days ago.

Finally, the last big disappointment of 2022 for me is embodied by the LEGO Marvel set 76210 Hulkbuster (€549.99). Once again, it's not so much the product itself that disappoints me as the fact of having discovered as soon as it was announced that my imagination had gone too far and that I was going to have to settle for a product that was too dear to the Japanese robot look that no longer has much to do with the reference armor. This is the daily lot of LEGO fans: the first leaks that reveal the title of upcoming products let us imagine a lot of possible things and the first visuals always put us off a bit.

For lack of anything better, many fans will find their account and some may even cry genius, but I expected something more aesthetically successful, especially at this price. This product leaves me with the feeling that LEGO does not always make the necessary efforts and relies both on the indulgence of its loyal customers and on the power of the licenses concerned to make the pill go more easily. I am often like many of us the ideal victim of these marketing manipulations, but not at 550 € the joke which consists in putting an Iron Man doll in a samurai armor.

As you will have understood, the current profusion of sets intended for adult customers requires making choices and mine are more and more often guided by both form and content. I remain an assiduous fan of the LEGO universe but I have to raise my standards a little more each year to only offer myself products that appeal to me because of what they really have to offer. A few bricks and a pretty box are no longer enough, even if there are still several ranges of which I buy almost all the products without discernment (the collection...), and when it comes to digging into other universes I want to at least get my money's worth and be able to tell myself that the LEGO-style interpretation of the subject concerned was ultimately a good idea.

I repeat like every year: there will be as many opinions as fans and the LEGO offer was so varied this year that everyone will have found at least one product considered to tick all the boxes. My selection of successful or unsuccessful products is therefore far from being exhaustive, I mainly base myself on the impressions that these different sets leave me several months after their marketing. Other sets will have left me quite simply indifferent, it does not matter, they will necessarily have found their audience among other fans who will have been sensitive to the proposal.

Do not hesitate to mention your favorite sets of 2022 in the comments, also indicate those which will have left you hungry, there was plenty to do last year and it is finally the good news: the offer proposed by LEGO for its adult clientele has never been so varied, everyone finds something to enjoy even on a limited budget.