It's hard to escape the mini-buzz of the moment: on March 24, the official LEGO account on Twitter published a short message accompanied by the #NFT and the video sequence below that many have interpreted as the upcoming arrival of the manufacturer on a very controversial market, that of NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens. The tweet was taken down very quickly after a flurry of backlash.

April Fools' Day published too early by mistake or attempting to ride a trend that is not new but which is currently regaining popularity? Difficult to say even if I lean more for the joke published too early than for a late arrival of LEGO in this market which many consider as a digital scam that only really benefits those who have the keys such as for example the platforms of certification and the resale marketplaces of these virtual tokens.

For those who don't know what NFTs are, they are non-fungible digital assets that can be used to identify, authenticate, and make digital or physical content unique. These digital tokens do not constitute a cryptocurrency but they rely on the blockchain, this space used to document and store the list of transactions carried out between the different holders of cryptocurrency units. The NFT can be considered as an unfalsifiable digital title to a virtual or possibly material content that is valid as long as the content itself remains available in its initial form, an important detail since the token and the product it represents are not physically not related to each other.

The arrival of LEGO in the NFTs business would be a surprise for all and a questionable approach for some, in particular because of environmental considerations linked to the large amount of energy consumed by the creation and management of these digital assets and the deviation of the principle by many opportunistic sellers. The NFTs market has indeed become a real catch-all which ultimately only benefits the organizations responsible for validating the assets in question and a few sellers who are surfing this trend and who find clients with a sufficiently well-stocked portfolio to collect drawings of virtual cats.

Anyone can try to sell an NFT of their cat's photo, a neighbor's cat photo, or a drawing of a cat seen on the street, as long as they have someone to pay for it, the system will work. The turkey of the farce will therefore be the one who will have invested his money in the thing last and who will no longer find anyone to redeem him.

This is the easter egg of the day: the new version of the astromech droid R2-D2 which will be available in May under the reference 75308 makes a very brief appearance today in the presentation video of the LEGO Star Wars set 75306 Imperial Probe Droid uploaded to the official store.

Voluntary teasing or global shooting of the novelties of the moment whose editing was a little awkward, we will never really know if the presence of this product which has not yet been officially unveiled is linked to a marketing decision or to an error on the part of the trainee. .

While waiting to know more about this new version of R2-D2 which will take over this year from that of the set 10225 R2-D2 marketed in 2012 at the public price of 199.99 €, we must therefore be satisfied with this brief overview of the dome which confirms that the designers have worked on the curves of the thing.

For comparison, here is the dome as it was offered on the 2012 version:

Update : the above video footage has been removed from the official online store.

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Star Wars set 75306 Imperial Probe Droid, a box of 683 pieces which is currently available for pre-order at the public price of 74.99 € with the two new helmets available in the sets 75304 Darth Vader Helmet (834 - 69.99 €) and 75305 Scout Trooper Helmet (471 - 49.99 €). Delivery promised for April 26th.

In the pretty box which takes the format and dressing of the helmets already marketed in the Star Wars range, enough to assemble the LEGO interpretation of the Viper Probe Droid seen for about fifteen seconds in theEpisode v.

Some will wonder if this droid that self-destructs after being hit by a blaster shot really deserves a reproduction of this size in a dedicated set, but fans of the Star Wars universe will tell them that everything that appears in Star Wars, even for half a second, is bound to be passed on to legacy at LEGO. In more than 20 years of the Star Wars universe in the catalog, anything that is not a remake or a reissue is generally welcome.

Over the years, the Probe Droid has obviously been the subject of many MOCs, more or less successful, on a scale similar to that of this version and it was necessary that one day LEGO seized the file to finally propose a "official" interpretation of the thing. It is now and I think the designer is doing honorably when it comes to the overall aesthetic.

The idea of ​​the snowy base is excellent and the small promontory placed just under the droid somewhat masks the presence of the inevitable transparent support from certain angles. The integration of the small presentation plate with its edges covered with snow which distills some facts on the subject dealt with is also very successful. The droid is therefore perched on a stack of round transparent bricks crossed by an axis and at the end of which there is a square brick. This brick is there to ensure the stability of the model when it is plugged into the base and even if the construction is indeed not likely to fall, the whole shakes a little. Come to think of it, a white thru-axle would undoubtedly have allowed the support to melt a little more into the model.

The Probe Droid is assembled very quickly, you will not spend hours on it. Since this is a LEGO brick-based model, you won't have to be too careful about the finish of the robot's body with really widely spaced side bricks. The five appendages of the droid seem to me rather well reproduced, they remain of a relative finesse without losing in level of detail and articulations. The robot's "head" is undoubtedly the most successful element of the model with many growths which wonderfully reproduce the machine seen on the screen. The two antennas are not retractable but you just have to remove the gray rods and plug in the candles directly by turning them over if you want to vary the pleasures.

If the contents of this box are quickly assembled, the assembly of the droid remains very interesting by the different techniques implemented to achieve the final result. As is often the case with models that are almost monochrome in their external appearance, the designer does not hesitate to bring a little variety in the colors for the bowels of the construction. The presence of these elements, the color of which has little to do with the product itself, also makes it easier to locate through the pages of the instruction booklet. I'm not making a Prévert-style inventory of the solutions used to obtain the final result, the photos speak for themselves. If you prefer to avoid spoiling the pleasure of assembly, simply hover over the thumbnails without clicking on them.

Some might have preferred a black droid, LEGO has chosen the Dark Gray. I prefer the color chosen by the manufacturer, it allows to effectively manage the contrast with the few black pieces and the metallic elements coming from the small bags of accessories used and this color will be a little less sensitive to dust when the construction is exposed on the corner of a shelf.

The model is satisfied with four stickers in addition to the one to stick on the presentation plate, it is reasonable and these stickers contribute to the general aesthetics. I'm not sure that if LEGO had chosen to pad print the orange areas, the rendering would have been better given the dark shade of the parts on which these graphic details would have had to be printed. Significant bonus, the background color of the different stickers matches the color of the parts.

Those who have been waiting for a very successful model of the Probe Droid may be disappointed by some of the somewhat rough finishing details on this model. But it's LEGO, and it's just a brick-based interpretation with its constraints and aesthetic approximations. One should also not seek consistency between the scale of this Probe Droid and those of other existing droids in the LEGO Star Wars range, there is none.

A clarification for those who regret that this model is not accompanied by a mini-version of the droid as is the case for BB-8 or R2-D2: the designer has confirmed having deemed it superfluous to add one of these micro- constructions alongside the model because the Probe Droid does not exist as a "real" minifigure at LEGO.

In the end, I think that this original and new product in this form in the LEGO Star Wars range has serious arguments to make: its retail price of 75 € seems reasonable to me, the assembly phase is very entertaining and the positioning aesthetic. between model and LEGO seems to me here rather balanced.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 8th 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.

JB Spielwaren opens today and with a lot of advance the ball of offers May the 4th with a "Mystery Box" offered to the first 750 customers who will spend at least 175 € without restriction of range on the online store of the German brand.

JB Spielwaren specifies that this "Mystery Box" was imagined in partnership with the publisher Dorling Kindersley (DK for close friends) and that there will be inside a LEGO Star Wars set, a DK book, a Star Wars polybag , a limited edition minifigure and a collector's surprise for an estimated overall value of € 45.

To take advantage of the offer, you must reach the minimum required amount of 175 € and enter the code MaytheForce2021 in the basket before validating the order. The offer is also valid on pre-orders of products such as LEGO Star Wars novelties expected for the end of April.

Small precision: the sign delivers in France with a fixed rate of postage fixed at 12.99 €. The amount is a little high, so you will have to consider grouping your purchases or spending enough to dilute these shipping costs in your order, knowing that the prices charged are often very interesting. Delivery is made via DHL.

If you are a fan of polybags, consider taking a look at the section dedicated to sachets, the prices are very attractive on many references, even the most recent.

Start of hostilities at 14:00 p.m. If the offer interests you, don't delay too long.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE OFFER AT JB SPIELWAREN >>

Last January, the LEGO CITY reference 60278 Crooks' Hideout Raid made its first appearance on the last pages of the LEGO Friends set instruction booklet 41444 Heartlake City Organic Cafe and this reference had since been missing.

This set which features a den of villains stormed by the police had not been marketed with the other boxes of the same wave and no information or official visual had emerged since the availability of this illustration.

We now know that this product will ultimately never be marketed and it is LEGO who confirms this on the LAN in a very short statement:

LEGO therefore affirms that this product did not reflect the values ​​developed by the brand, which intends to offer products anchored in a fun, positive and appropriate reality for the youngest. Of which act.

There is however a host of sets that feature police officers, thieves, robberies and escapes in the LEGO catalog, but we can imagine that the manufacturer did not want to be noticed this year with yet another product that highlights the police, their interventions and a very large stick of dynamite. This is undoubtedly only postponed.

For those who would ask the question, the instruction booklet page which presented this box has been modified, it now only highlights the four sets currently available in the ecosystem "Connect Your City"which uses the new road plates.