Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Disney set 43186 Bruni The Salamander Buildable Character, a small box of 96 pieces sold at the public price of 12.99 € which features a character from the film Frozen II (Frozen 2).

Bruni the Salamander is one of the many characters created especially to fill the shelves of toy stores, like the Ewoks or the Porgs. It's often small, it's sometimes cute, it's always funny and it easily turns into a plush or figurine. But Frozen is not Star Wars and LEGO was content with a modest reproduction of the salamander rather than offering a more imposing minifigure of several hundred pieces in the style of a Porg or a Grogu.

From the publication of the first visuals of the set, I was one of those who found this little figurine rather successful. Looking at it more closely and from other angles than those offered by LEGO on the packaging or on the product sheet, it is a little less obvious.

Comparing with the creature from the animated film, it's confirmed: the LEGO version is only a very rough adaptation of the creature. She loses in the process what makes all her charm on the screen: the cute and mischievous side of the character. But it is LEGO under the Disney license and we can therefore count on the indulgence of fans who will be content with this reproduction with the tail a little too straight and the head a little too flat.

There is no miracle, with an inventory of 96 pieces of which a large handful is used to build the campfire and the marshmallows, the little salamander therefore remains a little rough. There are, however, some good ideas such as the car hood that dresses the head or the shell that forms the lower part of the jaw and everything is nicely pad printed.
To quibble, I think that LEGO could have considered lengthening the tongue to make it protrude and pad a flake on it. The large snowflake provided is indeed not to scale, but at least it has the merit of being there.

Let's see the bright side of things, this small set sold for 12.99 € remains affordable and it will please Frozen fans who already have all the other boxes based on the franchise and who accumulate mini-dolls.

I still believe that LEGO could have been a more ambitious in this file by offering a larger and more detailed creature. The public price would have inflated as well, but we all know that is only a side issue when it comes to successful franchises around which derivatives sell like hot cakes.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 18th February 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.

As planned, LEGO is launching today the second phase of the vote imagined to designate the theme of the set which will have the honor of celebrating the brand's 90th anniversary in 2022.

LEGO had announced that the three most popular themes would be retained following the first phase of the vote, but ultimately four themes are in the running. Among the thirty themes listed during the first step, LEGO had proposed many sub-ranges of the Castle universe which had obviously led to a fragmentation of the votes. To save the furniture, LEGO is therefore reintegrating the universe in question in the MCQ put online today under the global name Castle. So you have to choose between four themes instead of three: Bionicle, Classic Space, Pirates and Castle.

For those interested, in the initial vote it was the Bionicle universe that won with 24.799 votes. The Classic Space universe finished in second place with 18171 votes and the Pirates theme finished third with 15884 votes. By grouping together the votes directed to the different subcategories of the Castle universe, the theme would have won the day with 33489 votes out of the 77000 votes cast ... (see the summary of votes on the LEGO Ideas site)

The result of this new stage of the consultation carried out by the manufacturer with the fans will not be made public before the announcement of the commemorative set, which is obviously not for now.

If you want to make your voice heard, it's at this address it happens. You have until February 10 to come forward.

If you like small seasonal LEGO sets, the Easter one, the reference 40463 Easter bunny (293) is now available on the official online store at the public price of 14.99 € /18.90 CHF.

As for the teddy bear in the set 40462 Valentine's Brown Bear (245 - € 14.99), the bunny is placed on a buildable base and is here accompanied by two colored Easter eggs. Under the plates that close the support, you will find a slightly coarse carrot that you can possibly remove to hide a few small chocolate eggs. Nothing crazy, but the bunny is pretty cute.

It is one of the most coveted boxes of the beginning of the year 2021: After being out of stock almost from its launch, the LEGO set 80107 Spring Lantern Festival (99.99 €) can be ordered again with a shipping date announced for February 10th.

If you plan to add to your collection this beautiful box of 1793 pieces that I told you about last December on the occasion of a "Review ", now is probably the time to take action.

If you fall for it now, know that you get a copy of the LEGO set 40417 Year of the Ox (167) which is offered from € 85 purchase without range restriction and the LEGO Friends polybag 30411 Chocolate Box & Flower (75) offered from 40 € of purchase without restriction of range. These two products will be available until February 14 if stocks are not exhausted before that date.

Update : shipping date now announced for March 3, 2021.

80107 SPRING LANTERN FESTIVAL ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

THE SET IN BELGIUM >> THE SET IN SWITZERLAND >>

Today we discover one of the next sets offered by LEGO on the official online store and in the LEGO Stores with the visual of the reference 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute briefly put online then withdrawn by the South African brand Great Yellow Brick which manages several LEGO Certified Stores.

As for the set 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute, this new box pays tribute to a historical figure and it is the turn of the aviator Amelia Earhart to pass into posterity at LEGO. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane in 1928, a feat she repeated alone in 1932 aboard her red Lockheed Vega 5B.

The aviator disappeared in 1937 during an attempt to travel around the world via the equator. Since its disappearance in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, several hypotheses have circulated and some even claim that the crew engaged in espionage activities on behalf of the American government by photographing Japanese military installations. Following a fuel exhaustion and ditching near Saipan Island, Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan were reportedly captured by the Japanese and executed.

LEGO therefore pays tribute to this aviation pioneer by reproducing the Lockheed Vega 5B used for her solo Atlantic crossing in May 1932. The set will be offered by LEGO under the condition of purchase, we do not yet know how much minimum it will be necessary to spend in France to obtain this small box. We do know, however, that we had to spend at least 150 € to be offered the set. 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute during Black Friday 2020.

This is not the first tribute to this aviator, one of the 21 series collectible minifigs (ref. 71029) already featured the red plane and its pilot, difficult not to make the connection: