Well, if you are not an AFOL who follows the news LEGO Star Wars, this title must seem very sybillin to you. For others, I already savor my shameful satisfaction to see Americans deprived of a LEGO Star Wars set because of obscure licensing issues.

It seems that the board game 3866 Battle of Hoth is not ultimately distributed in the USA and Hasbro could be no stranger to this state of affairs ... This is the site boardgamegeek which reveals to have this information from a reliable source. The whole thing is to be taken in the conditional, however, pending further information. It is true that this set was not presented at the New York Toy Fair 2012 while it was in London and Nuremberg.

If this information turned out to be correct, I admit that I would not shy away from my pleasure to see the Americans, always better served than us when it comes to promotions or exclusives, deprived of one of the sets of the Star Wars 2012 range. It's mean, I know ....

This is the other set of this second wave 2012 with the Fury Interceptor of the 9500 set to be directly inspired by the world of video games Star Wars The Old Republic.

If the whole thing seems pretty ordinary at first glance, it must nevertheless be admitted that this set has some nice assets. On the one hand, the ship, which cultivates its family link with the X-Wing from which it takes over the canopy of the cockpit and on the other three new minifigs: Satele Shan (see this article about it), Jace Malcom, the Republic Trooper boss of Havoc Squad and a T7-O1 astromech droid.

On the minifig side, they are still at a preliminary stage but I already like them: Satele Shan is nicely screen-printed even if the minifig remains shyly dressed if we refer to her costume in the game trailerAlso interesting is Jace Malcom with his scars on his face and the coin based droid has the merit of being original. I'm already waiting for the Republic Troopers Battle Pack from Havoc Squad .... These two sets 9497 and 9500 from the universe of SWTOR open up huge possibilities for expansion in future waves of novelties.

I had been the first not to take an interest in these minifigs and to consider them negligible when these sets based on SWTOR. Over time and my peregrinations, I realize that these characters are definitely anchored in the Star Wars timeline thanks to the game and its universe.

The vessel has an interesting feature: The wings can be folded down and deployed at will and the two guns are articulated to allow them to be housed in the axis of the wings. Too bad the opening mechanism was not synchronized between the wings and the barrels. In terms of colors, the Republic Striker is a bit loaded: orange, green, white, two shades of red, gray, that's a lot. But we have to admit that for the youngest, the nice red and white ship against the bad black ship, it works.

Obviously, it is especially the minifigs that interest me here. With a Republic squad leader, an all-new droid, and a new Jedi, that's what I call renewing ....

The photos are from FBTB who also publish a video of the wing opening / closing on his flickr gallery.

We already know that the set 6865 Captain America's Avenging Cycle was not presented in its entirety at the New York Toy Fair 2012 due to constraints related to the confidentiality of the film's script.

But there are still some interesting images on the Superherohype gallery on which we can see the potential enemies of Captain America in this set. The Skrulls (or other aliens), represented here by generic minifigs, will probably be there and armed to the teeth. One of them is perched on a flying machine, a sort of space scooter.

We will find this machine and these minifigs in the set 6869 Quinjet Aerial Battle with Loki also riding a flying machine pulled by the scooter seen above. You will notice the superb Iron Man profile ...

As long as all this is very, very preliminary ....

Following the publication of the video reviews ofartist, many of you have written to me to ask me how this man proceeds to produce these high quality sequences which allow us in a few minutes to go around a set and discover all its secrets.

So I contacted Max alias artist to ask him a few questions which he kindly agreed to answer. I will transcribe my questions and answers below.

This first interview launches a new series of articles on Hoth Bricks which will allow us to have some answers to the questions we all ask ourselves from emblematic players in their field and in the vast universe of AFOLs.

 Hoth Bricks: How did you come up with the idea of ​​producing these reviews as stop-motion videos?

Artifex: The idea came to me while watching videos produced by other directors. I thought it would be more fun to add camera movements and special effects to these sequences to dress them up and make them even more enjoyable to watch.

HB: How long do you need to create a 2 or 3 minute video review, including filming, post-production, etc ...?

AT : This will vary depending on the size of the set, the number of parts and the time required to assemble it. The production of the review can then take from 6 hours to a full day.

HB: What equipment, hardware and software do you use to create these sequences and make them look really professional?

AT : I am using a Canon 5D digital camera and the editing is done with Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects. But hardware and software equipment are not the only important parameters in the creation of these reviews. The different shooting techniques that I experiment with are also very important. If you watch my older videos you will see that they are of poor quality. Over time, you will notice that I try different new techniques. This way of working is very similar to the one that can be implemented in the creation of MOCs. If you try out different techniques and use a wide range of elements, your model design will be greatly improved.

HB: Your concept is really unique, do you think, like some of us, that these videos send the classic photo reviews back to the prehistoric stage in this area?

AT : Ideas and concepts are recycled: What is new sometimes becomes outdated and vice versa. With the evolution of technology, older concepts may be reborn in more modern and varied forms and styles. I think that reviews in the form of photos will remain relevant for a long time to come. It is always interesting to discover a set from all angles before deciding to buy it.

HB: Your website http://artifexcreation.com offers a new section called Comics. Can you tell us more about this project?

AT : This section is intended for my personal creations which I usually present in comic form. I plan to transfer the comics already made since my MOCpages space toward my website. This space is still under construction but will soon be operational.

HB: Will you continue to offer this type of video review in the future? Do you have any other plans to announce to Hoth Bricks readers?

AT :  I will continue to produce these reviews, no doubt about it! It's always great to share these videos of these sets, especially since it's impossible to acquire all the sets that LEGO produces. Thus, everyone can visualize the assembly of the set, see all its functionalities, learn the different new construction techniques implemented and discover the new parts produced. It is particularly exciting and informative for OMCs like me.

The next reviews will be carried out on themes from the LEGO range as varied as Superheroes, StarWars, Ninjago, City, Lord of the Rings & Monsters! I always try to get my videos online within a short period of time after the affected sets have actually been marketed.

Regarding upcoming projects, I am planning a series of stop-motion animations on the LEGO Batman theme which will be broadcast on our youtube channel. A series dedicated to LEGO Star Wars will also see the light of day. The LEGO Ninjago Spinjitzu Battle range will also be in the spotlight.

My MOCs planned for 2012 are: The Batwing from the movie The Dark Knight Rises, a new version of the Tumbler (current version visible here, editor's note) and the Batcave. If I have time, I would also go for a Star Wars-themed creation.

I would also continue to improve my videos by experimenting with different new techniques. Thanks to everyone who supports this project, I hope you will continue to enjoy watching my videos. Max.

It was while going through a gallery of photos relating to the New York Toy Fair 2012 that I came across this general view of part of the LEGO stand.

And in the foreground on the left, we can clearly see that LEGO presented the series 7 (red box) and 8 (black box) of minifigs to collect in the form of neutral boxes crossed out with the mention Confidential.

However, we already know the series 7 minifigs (8831) which is advertised by the merchant Spielwaren Hegmann for May 2012.

To see more photos of the impressive LEGO stand, go to the flickr gallery from Creatacor make it happen.