One more more! If I had been told a few years ago that the Hoth Bricks adventure would continue this far, I probably wouldn't have believed it. This past year has seen the arrival of new LEGO fans, like every year, on the site, whose global audience has continued to grow. Parents keen to learn about their children's sudden passion for little plastic bricks, adult fans who closely follow the news of their favorite product or teenage fans who are looking for the best options to optimize the management of their pocket money , the site welcomes more than ever all fan profiles, without restriction or elitism.

It is a real satisfaction and I obviously thank all those who by their comments, their emails or their contacts via social networks contribute from near or far to animate this space. A site without interactions is a one-way street and that's not what I want to offer. My opinion is only valid because it is shared or disputed, I do not pretend to serve absolute truths throughout an article or review. Without being a discussion forum as such, the site generates more and more interactions today and that is its raison d'être. Without you, Hoth Bricks would ultimately have little interest and just one more blog in the already crowded little world of LEGO.

Useful advice that is close to my heart and that I will never tire of repeating: don't sacrifice anything for a box of LEGO. Don't go into debt to buy LEGOs. Plastic cannot be eaten, and it does not sell for as expensive as some people would like to believe, especially when it is urgent to act. If personal constraints force you to put this passion aside temporarily, don't worry, nothing is final, you can come back to it later.

Next year, I hope that you will continue, as you have been doing for nine years already for some of you, to come and interact with other fans in these pages. A passion only really makes sense if it can be shared with others, even if they don't agree with you.

I wish you all a Happy New Year 2020.

Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Star Wars set 75267 Mandalorian Battle Pack (102 pieces - € 14.99), a small box that features characters more or less inspired by the series The Mandalorian whose first season has just ended on the Disney + platform.

Fans of the Star Wars universe will obviously be delighted to be able to add a few colorful Mandalorians to their collection, but beyond that I think a closer look at the set misses its point a bit.

If you haven't seen the first season of the series and that you prefer to wait for the availability of the Disney + platform in France, scheduled for March 2020, before you start watching the eight episodes, do not read on.

This box makes a priori direct reference to the third episode of the series, with a scene in which the one who is in fact called Din Djarin escapes from the city of Nevarro carrying the one we now nickname "Baby Yoda" . Surrounded by a small army of Bounty Hunters, the hero is supported by his colleagues who land in "mode"Mandalorians Assemble!"to allow him to set sail.

Where the set misses what it tries to reproduce a little, it is by the absence of jetpacks for the minifigs delivered in the box. The Mandalorians who arrive as reinforcements disembark by air and we do not find this accessory in the set.

Instead, LEGO delivers us a Speeder-Bike almost identical to the one seen in the set 7914 Mandalorian Battle Pack marketed in 2011 and which has little to do there. The machine is only used as a pretext to confirm the designation "construction toy" of the product, as is always the case for Battle Packs.

Another slightly annoying detail, the presence of coarse blasters which offer a certain playability to the product but which really struggle to reproduce the weaponry of the characters seen on the screen. Those of Speeder-Bike are sufficient and LEGO could have provided classic blasters to enhance the "realism" of the set. After all, no one is going to stage a battle with red pieces between Mandalorians who are normally on the same team.

The four characters provided are all unique by their pad printing, both in terms of design and colors. And it's very well done with a really impressive level of detail. The same goes for the helmets which are also unique and really successful. Since there are no small savings, one of the four characters does not benefit from a detailed pad printing on the legs. We will do with it, it's not dramatic.

Under the four helmets, we get neutral heads, it is in any case not the point here to give a face to these Mandalorians. Two of the helmets benefit from a design with a visor of a shape identical to that of Bo Katan (The Clone Wars, Rebels) and Sabine Wren (Rebellious), we can therefore deduce that these are possibly female characters. The balance is respected, LEGO thus avoids possible criticisms of the type "and why women can't be mandos, etc.."

If there was one version to reproduce in this set, it was that of the over-armed Mando-Commando which landed in Iron patriot to spray the Bounty Hunters troop with their heavy machine gun. Bad luck, LEGO may not have had the information when creating this Battle Pack.

In short, it's a nice little set more or less "inspired" by the series with four official minifigs really unique from head to toe to line up in our Ribba frames or to stage in a diorama based on the scene from the Episode 3. Too bad for the lack of classic jetpacks and blasters.

Below, another possibility of staging ...

Note: The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is fun to play. Deadline set at 4th January 2020 next at 23pm.

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

Today we talk very quickly about the LEGO set 42109 App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car, a toy from the Technic range sold for 140 € which is not necessarily intended to introduce you to the principles of automobile mechanics in a LEGO version and which is above all a vehicle that can be controlled remotely via the elements and the application from the 'Control + ecosystem.

Speaking of the Top Gear license associated with this product, there is also little more than the large sheet of stickers and the packaging of the set to be concerned. Everything else is a lambda product that could have been sold for less than 80 € without problem.

We also reach here the limits of the license concept associated with a LEGO product. Top Gear is a car show that takes a bit of the usual codes with scrapping, fast cars, more or less funny modifications which lead to visually spectacular situations, etc ... When the first rumors of a product using this license invaded the small world of LEGO, I naively believed that we would be entitled to a little of this madness seen on the screen.

With 463 parts in the box including the Smart Hub and the two motors (1 x L and 1 x XL), it is assembled in 20 minutes and we can not say that the result is aesthetically very successful. I tried to convince myself that the machine looked like a car tinkered with for stock car, but the vehicle is rather shapeless, the body is sketchy and the stickers that insistently shout the Top Gear license (STIIIIIGGGGG !! !! ....) enjoyed by this set does not really help matters.

Thinking about it, I definitely don't see the connection between the license and the product, except perhaps to seduce the dads who wander in the department of a toy store and convince them to spend 140 € in this box.

On a technical level, what I retain is that we cannot say that the new differential delivered here is at the service of the incredible performance of the vehicle. And that's the least we can say.

As the pretentious visual of the packaging where the machine is staged on a dusty country lane suggests, I expected this rally car, stripped of unnecessary elements and covered with sponsors, to be a real adventurer . It is not so. It's slow, sluggish, and without any sensation: on a very smooth surface, it does not really advance and on a less smooth surface, it is even worse.

The Control + application which was recently updated to incorporate this new product does its best to save furniture, with a nicely done interface and the ability to switch between automatic mode or "manual" piloting which allows " change speed". This relative acceleration of the motors as a function of the stage chosen does not bring anything convincing.

One will also retain the piloting with one hand via the gyroscopic interface. As usual, the most patient will be able to try the different challenges offered by the application. Smartphone under iOS or Android essential as for the other sets which make use of the dedicated application.

On a purely recreational level, the ground clearance of the vehicle is far too limited to make it a real outdoor toy and the battery box, which is easily accessible, is not really protected by the chassis. You risk damaging the latter by insisting on the roughest coverings and you will have to be content with the parquet in the living room or the lino in the hallway. We are really bored, and that's saying something.

And that's not to mention the few pieces that are sure to come off during your outdoor adventures: I isolated the ones that tend to stay on the asphalt, you can remove them before going outside to play.

In short, put away your smartphone and go your way. This overpriced rally car is not the one that will finally offer a level of performance enough to really have fun, even for a child of 9 or 10 years old. Almost all of what is touted on the box is exaggerated and is not in reality. I won't go so far as to talk about misleading visuals and off-topic licensing, but it's just like.

For all intents and purposes: The video below is obviously non-contractual in terms of sound ...

Note: The set shown here, which I bought myself, is happy to play. Deadline set at December 31, 2019 next at 23pm.

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

Today we take a quick look at the LEGO Star Wars set 75270 Obi-Wan's Hut (200 pieces - 29.99 €), a small box that allows you to assemble Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut lost in the sandy desert of Tatooine.

At 30 € the box, you shouldn't expect a version Structure of the thing and it is not surprisingly a mini-hut that LEGO offers us here. We are far from the relatively spacious construction seen on the screen, but almost everything is there with quite extensive play possibilities as long as you like to "replay" more or less memorable scenes.

This hut can also serve as a starting point for a more fleshed out Mos Eisley diorama. By purchasing two boxes, you can eventually expand Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut, but it still lacks a moisture vaporizer around the building to really feel like LEGO has made an effort.

To obtain a sufficiently large mini-diorama, you will also have to buy the set 75271 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder (236 coins 29.99 €) which allows to obtain a character present in the hut during the scenes concerned: C-3PO.

The interior of the cabin is not a layout model but it contains the essentials to install the minifigs and allow Obi-Wan Kenobi to remember that he has something lying in a chest to give away to Luke. The small central table on which R2-D2 displays Leia's hologram is there too.

I'm not sure Obi-Wan had an open-plan kitchen, although I understand the designer's intention to dispense with all of the overhanging construction that leads to the kitchen. and in the bathroom. Extending the walls to make it a rectangular house would have been interesting, but the public price of the set would then have been higher. The objective being to make us buy two boxes sold at a "reasonable" price to obtain a more complete one, the marketing department will have judged that the few dozen bricks necessary for the extension of the construction did not fit in the budget.

We are in the holiday season and I still want to be positive: even if the set is ultra-minimalist in form, in substance, it brings together a lot of "playability" elements that make it a rather full. My collector's soul is of course a little disappointed by this half micro-cabin.

On the minifig side, the endowment does not take the risk of really innovating and we see the version of Luke Skywalker whose outfit was in the LEGO Star Wars Advent calendar in 2014 and in a few other boxes since. Luke's Head is also a recurring version of the range since 2015.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's torso is the one delivered in the set 75246 Death Star Cannon earlier this year. The character's head is far from unheard of, it has been scouring the range since 2014 and the set 75052 Mos Eisley Winery.

The Tusken Raider benefits from a head bearing a new reference but really similar to the one already seen since 2015. The torso is here still dressed with shoulder straps but no more crossing of the accessory as on the previous torsos. This will always be useful for varying appearances in a thematic diorama.

R2-D2 is here equipped with a dome whose pad printing has changed a little since the previous versions, the body of the droid remains the one usually delivered in the sets of the range since 2014. No more bubbles in the lightsabers, which are d 'elsewhere now more opaque than previous versions. We can not have everything.

The training droid (Marksman-H Training Remote) is unpublished and it is very well done. The pad printing of the accessory here delivered with a transparent support is really successful.

Finally, the monochrome hologram of Princess Leia is of course new, it is similar to that of Palpatine seen in several sets since the reference 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer released in 2014. The mold is convincing and we can easily guess the appearance of Leia who came to ask Obi-Wan for help. It is probably the fault of this new room that the cabin has a barbecue on the terrace.

In short, this is not the set of the year, the box is not filled with new or exclusive minifigs and it is only half of the content necessary for a convincing staging. The fact remains that there may be enough here to satisfy a Tatooine fan keen to add a construction and a few characters to their diorama. I say yes, but only when the set is around 20 € at Amazon.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at December 31, 2019 next at 23pm.

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 make a little detour to the LEGO BrickHeadz range with a quick overview of the reference 40436 Lucky Cat (134 pieces - 9.99 €) which will be available from January 1st. I don't need to draw you a drawing, this set allows you to reproduce, as its name suggests, a Lucky Cat or lucky cat or maneki neko in Japanese.

You know, I usually have little indulgence for the more or less successful minifigures in the LEGO BrickHeadz line. I'll try to be a little more positive here, so that this cat doesn't bring me bad luck ...

The aesthetic is there, no doubt about it. It is assembled in three minutes flat and we find on the LEGO minifigure all the attributes of the Lucky Cat traditional with its red collar decorated with a green bib on which is fixed a bell, the yellow background of the eyes, the inside of the red ears and even the Golden coin pad printed which promises us 10 million ryo, an ancient Japanese currency.

The principle of this lucky bauble is that his left or right arm is raised or moving as a sign of welcome to luck, which if all goes well must smile at you as soon as possible as soon as you install the thing on a shelf. Or not.

The cat here is white, in accordance with Japanese tradition. Elsewhere in Asia, it is not uncommon to come across golden, red or green cats depending on the theme to which they are affiliated (money, health, love, etc.). You will also have noticed that in the photo above, my cat on the left has his right arm raised.

The salesperson then explained to me that the version with the right arm in the air is geared towards considerations such as happiness, health or money and that the version with the left arm raised, like that of LEGO, is rather supposed bring success in business and commercial relationships. This is only one theory among others, I had the right to contradictory information on the subject thereafter.

On the LEGO version, it's up to you to greet the luck by manipulating the small part that protrudes in the back and there is no automatic return of the arm in the lowered position, you have to do everything yourself. It's basic, but the symbolism is there. I kinda regret that the animal's arms are so short, although that's in the spirit of what is done for the majority of BrickHeadz figures.

Inside the cat, it's like most BrickHeadz figures: beige colored innards, a brain, and parts around it. The animal is placed on a nicely decorated standard plinth thanks to two side extensions that you can always remove if you lack space.

In short, there are not many questions to ask yourself with this little box, it will be a nice gift to offer to all lovers of Feng Shuiwhether they are LEGO fans or not.

I have already brought back several copies of this lucky cat from my travels in Asia and I will add the LEGO version without hesitation on January 1st on a corner of my desk. You are never over-equipped when it comes to inviting luck.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at December 30, 2019 next at 23pm.

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.