After the "announcement" of the set by the US Target brand which will have the exclusivity of this product on the American market, today it is the turn of the official store to reference the set. LEGO Marvel 76199 Rampage (546) which will be available from May 1st at the public price of 59.99 €.

Putting the set online on the LEGO Shop allows us above all to be able to observe Carnage's head from all angles thanks to the small video sequence below and the profile view that follows below reconciles me a little with this interpretation of the character in LEGO sauce.

It will also be necessary to stick a large handful of stickers to give this sculpture its final appearance, and I can already see the inevitable difference in color between the red background of the stickers and the color of the parts tinted in the mass. Hoping to be wrong.

It was thanks to an alert issued via the application of the US Target brand that some customers were able to discover the first visual of Carnage's head (ref. LEGO 76199) scheduled for March 2021. The set has since been added to the brand's website.

The American brand will have the exclusivity of this product for the territory, but this box will be available directly from LEGO anywhere in the world.
Pre-orders will be open tomorrow in the US and we will probably have access to better quality visuals than the screenshot above.

We can assume that the public price of this box of 546 pieces will be 59.99 € with us, as is already the case for other products based on the same format marketed so far. We also know that another reference to assemble the Batman mask is planned this year in the LEGO DC Comics range.

Everyone will have an opinion on this new variation of an emblematic character from the Marvel universe in the format of the "helmet collection"LEGO. I personally am not convinced.

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Monkie Kid set 80022 Spider Queen's Arachnoid Base, a large box of 1170 pieces sold at the public price of 109.99 €. This product allows us to assemble the very imposing and colorful mobile headquarters of Spider Queen, the service villain who takes over from the Iron Bull King this year.

And this is precisely what is wrong here: the mobility of the imposing machine (44 x 34 x 25 cm) that we have to assemble. Before looking more closely at the contents of this box, I had imagined a spider with interesting possibilities. It is (almost) nothing, this mechanical spider with rather well-matched colors is unfortunately content with the minimum union in terms of integrated features.

After a few minutes of assembly, we quickly realize that the designer has not provided any mechanism to put all the legs in motion when moving the machine. Even though the Technic beams with their casters placed on under the spider's body sell the wick from the first pages of the instruction booklet, I expected something in the spirit of what LEGO was offering in the sets. 76163 Venom Crawler (2020) et 76114 Spider-Man's Spider Crawler (2019)

Here it is only possible to set in motion two of the eight legs of the mechanical spider via a central lever to be moved in the desired direction to lift one leg, the other or both and two of the remaining six legs can loosely be oriented to reinforce the impression of movement. It's a little thin for a toy at 110 € which features a necessarily mobile device.

Aesthetically, the structure that holds this heavy spider on its legs is not in the best taste, but it was undoubtedly the price to pay to be able to offer a machine of this size which remains stable on its legs and does not bend under the weight. piece weight. The beast's abdomen hides a laboratory in which Spider Queen makes its robot-spiders, a cell and some arrangements that will undoubtedly amuse the youngest and allow them to store their minifigs there between two sessions. This is rather well done even if the two movable portions do not clip together to keep the abdomen closed.

The balance of power is embodied by the micro glider piloted by the Monkie Kid and which takes the design of the stick seen in the hands of the mech of the set 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech (2020). The wink is appreciable and the consistency of the entire range is only reinforced.

This secondary machine is probably only there for reference and it will be necessary to associate this product with a strong opponent like the drone of the set. 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter to really have fun. I had also hoped to be able to associate in one way or another the container with the assorted colors delivered with the giant drone to this spider, but nothing is planned to hang or embark the accessory.

There is no escaping a gigantic sheet of stickers in this box and some of the stickers are to be stuck on curved pieces. The youngest or the most clumsy would be well advised to get help so as not to disfigure their large mechanical spider.

The endowment in minifigs is interesting here even if it will be partly redundant in the eyes of those who will invest in the other sets which allow this year to obtain a copy of Spider Queen. We can at least count here on the presence of Pigsy with a torso decked out in a tactical vest of the most beautiful effect, derived from his outfit seen last year in the sets 80010 Demon Bull King et 80013 Monkie Kid's Team Secret HQ. Pigsy is on foot in this box, a flying sausage would have been welcome but you can't have everything for 110 €.

The rest of the inventory reunites the Monkey King without his armor and as he also appears in the set 80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain, the Monkie Kid with his new jacket, the Spider Queen and one of his henchmen already seen in the set 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter and a civilian in a colorful shirt who is there to be imprisoned and then released.

Once again, it is difficult to really immerse yourself in the context developed by this line of derivative products. The animated series is not broadcast in our regions, it will be necessary to show imagination even if the good guys and the bad guys are easily identifiable.

In the end, I want to use the usual expression "All that for this"and I am not sure that this box is of the level of what one would have hoped for in terms of functionality in a toy at 110 €.

This big mechanical spider is too static for my liking and the front of the model is a bit too messy to convince me with an interesting trio of colors a bit confused by the addition of a lot of gray pieces. The fact remains that this is a rather attractive big colorful toy that begs to be paired with other products in the range to really have fun with.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at March 25, 2021 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

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.

LEGO presents today its financial results for the year 2020 and the trend that emerged when the publication of the interim results for the first half is confirmed: all indicators are green for the whole year.

LEGO announces a 13% increase in turnover and a 21% growth in sales volume in all markets where the brand is present. The operating result recorded an increase of 19% and the net profit increased by more than 19% compared to the year 2019.

In addition to these figures which confirm that LEGO has definitely found color since 2019 and despite the current health crisis, the manufacturer announces that double-digit growth has been recorded in all markets and that the establishment of the brand in China continues to advance with the opening in 2020 of 91 new official stores in the territory. 43 new stores were opened elsewhere on the planet for a global network which now reaches 678 units. LEGO intends to continue to install more points of sale in 2021 with 120 openings planned, including 80 in China.

For the rest, LEGO stresses that the launch of the Super Mario range is its biggest success to date but does not communicate on the number of units sold. The only indicator provided is the number of digital instruction downloads: 6 million.

Like many other brands reacting to the current health situation and its consequences on the retail market, LEGO intends to strengthen its digital offer and will expand the teams concerned in 2021. The manufacturer also announces that frequentation of its store official online doubled this year with more than 250 million visits.

Finally, on the side of the successful ranges, we find the usual "home" universes: Technic, CITY, Friends and Classic and the LEGO Star Wars license. The Harry Potter range is not in the top 5 for the year as a whole, although it was mentioned when the interim results for the first half of the year were published.

You can download the full annual report at this address.

A few days ago a screenshot posted on facebook by a customer of the official store seemed to confirm that LEGO is on the verge of definitely ditching the black background for the pages of its instruction booklets. The customer service operator then replied to the customer in question, indicating that the manufacturer had taken into account the complaints made to his services on this subject and that LEGO is currently working on the subject, without giving a specific deadline.

I then asked those in charge of the LAN (the platform that brings together LUGs and other RLFMs) present on the forum for a little more "official" confirmation of the manufacturer's intentions and the decision is now confirmed directly by LEGO via the one of the speakers:

There is currently no question of a precise deadline or detailed information on the technical changes that will be made to the instruction booklets and it is not known whether the booklets of products already on the market and which are available in format. digital via the dedicated download platform will also be affected by this change.

The definitive abandonment of the black background should satisfy all those who had difficulty deciphering certain construction stages bordering on tone on tone, despite the efforts of LEGO who tried different techniques to highlight the parts or the assembly stages. by adding for example a white or colored outline.

I know that some fans appreciated the "luxurious" side of these black pages, that others found that we left too many fingerprints there, in any case it will be necessary to do with this announced change. Less ink (in the event that LEGO flips over to a plain white background), more contrast, everyone will find their way there.