Things get complicated for sneaker collectors who want to line up the entire collection resulting from the collaboration between LEGO and adidas on their shelves: six new models of the ZX-8000 range are announced for April 23.

As usual, it will be necessary to be quick to be able to obtain a pair, hoping to beat the bots set up by the dealers who will then be sure to offer you these models at double the public price on the secondary market.

These new colored pairs which take up the principle already declined on the pair launched in September 2020 with visible studs and tongue adorned with the Danish manufacturer's logo will be available at adidas and the usual retailers including 43einhalb.com. Advertised public prices: € 99.95 from 36 to 40 and € 139.95 from 40 2/3 to 47 1/3.

Today we quickly go around the set LEGO Marvel 76199 Rampage (546), a new head to assemble and display on a shelf that will be available from May 1st at the public price of € 59.99.

The LEGO collection of helmets / heads launched in 2020 is regularly expanding with new creations and after the two new Star Wars references announced this year, it is therefore the turn of this set that allows you to assemble the head of Carnage and the set 76187 Venom (565 - 59.99 €) to join the ranks of the Marvel branch which until now consisted of only one reference, the set 76165 Iron Man Helmet (480 - € 59.99).

The heads of Carnage and Venom in the LEGO version are logically similar in many ways and it cannot be said that the building experience varies significantly between the two products. If we forget the language of Venom and the smooth finish of the temples, the major difference between the two construction lies mainly in the presence of a large handful of stickers used to texture the face of Carnage.

The assembly of this head is quickly shipped with a hollow skull on which we just apply finishing elements that give the final volume of the construction. Once again, the model's appearance is really based on an optical effect that only works from certain angles: the lower jaw is frankly forward and in profile, Carnage looks a bit silly. The set also looks a bit like a motorcycle helmet with its mention on which we would have painted a pattern. From the front and three-quarters, it's a little better with a mouth that seems better proportioned.

The designer has chosen to integrate here a black toothing which is a little difficult to exist without adequate lighting. The pink background of the mouth does what it can to make the teeth stand out but I am convinced that white or beige teeth would have been more suitable. The contrast between the red skull and the black mouth is interesting but Venom is doing much better on this point with its beige teeth which really stand out.

The character's eyebrows are also too prominent to convince me, with a relief which obviously reinforces the aggressive side of the gaze but which seems too coarse to me. The scale used and the desire to maintain a certain aesthetic consistency between the different products in the range is once again responsible for this finish which can appear very coarse in some places, it will be necessary to live with it.

Finally, the eyes of Carnage are here far from occupying a sufficient surface on the skull to be really faithful to the reference character. Depending on the comic book, the era and the artist, all these details vary, but there is still a general aesthetic that the LEGO version struggles to reproduce.

The stickers bring their share of details, it would have been difficult to do without these characteristic patterns. The background of the stickers is more or less in line with the color of the parts to which they must be glued, it was the union minimum for a pure exhibition product, due to the lack of pad printing.

Overall, I think the style exercise is not totally missed, although there are a few details that I think are a bit rough or too rough. The same product with white or beige teeth could have really convinced me and as it is I find that the mouth is visually too "drowned" in the rest of the construction. If we add the look a little too "slick", I think we miss out on what makes Carnage such a threatening creature.

LEGO will sooner or later offer us the Spider-Man mask by taking the top of the face of Venom and Carnage and possibly associating it with an assembly similar to the one seen on Iron Man's helmet for the bottom, the effect of collection between the three models will be there and fans should be happy with it. The visual consistency between these different models will save the furniture and make you forget the faults of each of these products.

With the arrival of each new reference in this range of exhibition products, the limitations of the format defined by LEGO become more present and the solutions used to respect the imposed scale and general aesthetics are not always at the service of the subject treated. It is up to everyone to see if this "collection" deserves to invest in it without restraint or if it is rather necessary to make choices and be satisfied only with the models which seem the most convincing.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 23th 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 are quickly interested in the LEGO Marvel set 40454 Spider-Man vs Venom & Iron Venom, a small blister pack of 64 pieces sold at the retail price of € 14.99 with four minifigs and a buildable mini-vehicle.

The packaging confirms that one of these four minifigs is exclusive to this product, it is Pork Grind, a member of Swinester Six from theAniverse (Earth-8311), a parallel universe where everyone is an animal in which we also find Spider-Ham (Peter Porker), a character whose minifigure is delivered in the set 76151 Venomosaurus Ambush. The Pork Grind figurine reuses the torso of Venom, which is therefore delivered here in two copies, and the mold of the head of Spider-Ham.

The minifig of Iron Venom takes on its side the torso of the figurine seen in the set 76163 Venom Crawler (2020) but here it inherits a helmet with a superb original pad printing which this time is in direct continuity with the patterns of the torso. The head used here is the seen and revised version with the HUD on one side. The minifig is not presented as exclusive to this blister pack, so it is very likely that it will one day be available in this form in another set in the LEGO Marvel range.

 Venom and Spider-Man are delivered here in rather common versions: The Venom figurine is the one seen in the sets 76115 Spider Mech vs. Venom (2019) 76150 Spiderjet vs. Venom Mech (2020) et 76151 Venomosaurus Ambush (2020), that of Spider-Man with his pad-printed arms is already delivered in the sets 76172 Spider-Man and Sandman Showdown (2021), 76173 Spider-Man and Ghost Rider vs. Carnage (2021) et 76174 Spider-Man's Monster Truck vs. Mysterio (2021)

All four minifigs are equipped with neutral legs, which is a bit of a shame. LEGO had to compensate for the exclusivity with a little technical laziness, we will do with it. The vehicle that accompanies the minifig is assembled in one minute flat, it is only used here as a pretext for the name "construction toy" of the product. For those who love LEGO hot dogs, know that this blister pack allows you to get two copies.

I collect Marvel minifigs and the arrival of every new character, no matter how obscure, is always good news to me. Pork Grind remains an anecdotal villain but the minifigure is successful and we will probably never see it again in this form in another box. The argument is therefore sufficient for me to add this product to my collection.

Note: The set presented here, purchased by me, is as usual put into play. Deadline fixed at April 21th 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.

The LEGO Speed ​​Champions set 76904 Mopar Dodge // SRT Top Fuel Dragster & 1970 Dodge Challenger T / A is already available in at least one US Target store and we therefore get some visuals of this new box which features two Dodge brand vehicles.

On the one hand, a dragster currently competing in competitions organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and on the other, a reproduction of the 1970 Challenger Trans Am which participated in the races of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans American Sedan Championship Trans Am.

Dressing the dragtser with the stickers promises to be epic and this box of 627 pieces will be available next June at a public price rumored to be around € 60.

Other sets are obviously planned in this new wave of products stamped Speed ​​Champions and the latest rumors to date evoke the following references: 76900 Koenigsegg Jesko (280), 76901 Toyota GR Supra (299), 76902 McLaren Elva (263), 76903 Chevrolet Corvette C8-R & 1968 Chevrolet Corvette C3 (512) and 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition & Bronco R.

If you follow the evolution of Bricklink Designer Program 2021, you have undoubtedly noticed that the three projects of Robert Bontenbal alias Robenanne, Boat House Diner, Boat Repair Shop and The Dive Shop were now with absent subscribers, the platform indicating that these three creations were "archived" because of "other obligations" which forced the designer to withdraw them.

The explanation for this early withdrawal is very simple: Robert Bontenbal had already signed an agreement with the German company Blue Brixx which currently markets five creations by the designer in question under its own brand.

Too bad for all those who hoped to be able to afford some MOCs in the same vein as the fishing store from the LEGO Ideas set 21310 Old Fishing Store marketed in 2017, it will be necessary to ignore or resolve to buy products made from "alternative" bricks which are sold between 120 and 140 € by the German brand.