Following the presentation from Darwin316 mod allowing a better integration of the Rancor Pit in Jabba's Palace, Alex has just sent me by email his modified version of these two sets together.

Same principle as the previous mod for the extension of the Rancor cellar with here an exterior cladding of the most beautiful effect.
It's clean, simple and the rendering of the exterior in Tan with C-3PO and R2-D2 arriving in front of the palace gate is really nice.

If you too have managed to credibly integrate the Rancor Pit, please send me your photos by email.

After the Iron Patriot custom, which I also ordered from minifigs4u just to get an idea of ​​the quality of the work of David Hall alias Solid Brix Studios, here are two new creations that will undoubtedly join my other custom super heroes ...

This version of Flash, significantly different from that of Christo (see this article), I really like it.

The silkscreen printing directly on the head of the minifig with the fins on the sides is much more convincing than the helmet offered by Christo, which is however faithful to the version of Flash seen in the LEGO Batman 2 video game.

I definitely have a problem with the helmets.

The other custom minifigure, Martian Manhunter, also looks great, at least on the digital version above.

I am waiting to see the quality of the impression provided by Solid Brix Studios to form a final opinion. Christo remains for the moment the undisputed reference in this field.

To be expected: No Orthanc or UCS Star Wars at Brickfair 2013, but the official presentation of the 10232 Palace Cinema set.

I'll give you the short version: The set consists of 2196 pieces and it will be offered at the price of 139.99 € at the beginning of March 2013.

On the menu: 2 floors, 6 minifigs, a limousine, a red baseplate, Dark Tan, Dark Red and Gold coins.

No details in the LEGO press release concerning the elements that will be equipped with stickers or screen-printed. We will have to wait for the designer's video or the first reviews to be fixed.

For the photos, we have already seen them ten days ago, so there is nothing new. Appointment on this article if you want to view the different images provided by LEGO.

Adam Dodge aka Dodge_A is currently participating in the contest LEGO Olympics Middle-Earth (MELO) which takes place on MOCpages.

Here is one of his participations with a reproduction of the scene in which the Fellowship of the Ring tries in vain to cross Caradhras before turning back and passing through the mines of Moria, all in decorative wall panel version ...

It's practical and it frees up shelves ...

I let you discover the other views of this MOC on his flickr gallery. You will also find a Balrog and Smaug ...

Other nice MOCs are to be discovered among the many entries of the LEGO Olympics Middle-Earth competition.

This is the news of the day and it comes to us from Austria where representatives of the Turkish cultural community announce that they are suing the Danish manufacturer LEGO for inciting hatred and racial discrimination in Austria, Germany and in Turkey.

In question, the set 9516 Jabba's Palace released in the summer of 2012 and which, according to the complainants, would be a perfect reproduction of the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul or the Jami al-Kabir mosque located in Beirut (Lebanon).

Representatives of the Turkish cultural community in Austria then equate the Gamorrean Guard minifig delivered with the set to a religious representative in his minaret, presented by LEGO as an overarmed criminal.

Jabba the Hutt, notorious criminal of the Star Wars universe and owner of the premises, also takes it for his rank in the analysis made by the complainant of the content of the set. Jabba would be the materialization of racist insinuations towards Eastern and Asian communities: He is a slave criminal who uses drugs, and sacrifices his subjects without any mercy.

The dressing of the box is also implicated with the presence of the scary and evil Darth Maul.
On the strength of these arguments, the complainant therefore accuses LEGO of engaging in acts of racial discrimination and incitement to hatred towards certain communities, but also of marketing toys that are unsuitable for the target audience: children.

The set 9516 Jabba's Palace is intended for an audience aged between 9 and 14 years according to the indications provided on the box and the complainant considers that this product containing a building representing a combination between a "temple" and a "bunker" n ' is not suitable for this young audience.

LEGO is then questioned about its relationship to religion, war and ethnic diversity, including requests about the psychological damage that these toys could cause to young audiences.

You can read the full arguments developed by representatives of the Turkish cultural community in Austria at this address (Translation from German to English via Google Translate).

Thank you all to avoid slippage in the comments ...