Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75381 Droideka, a box of 583 pieces available since May 1, 2024 on the official store at the public price of €64.99 and for a little less elsewhere.

You will have understood this if you were already passionate about LEGO products in the 2000s, this product stamped with the logo celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars range pays homage to the LEGO Technic version of the Droideka then marketed under the reference 8002 Droid Destroyer.

From the initial approach exclusively based on elements from the Technic ecosystem, only a few subassemblies using these parts remain here but the reference to the version of the time is very present.

The Droideka gains here in finish thanks to the balanced mix between beams and more classic parts, it is in my opinion aesthetically very successful if you observe the thing from a certain distance.

Up close, it's visually a little messy in places but the challenge was met and I think the designer is doing quite well. The construction remains fragile in places, it will be necessary to handle it with care, especially when trying to take advantage of THE integrated functionality: the possibility of putting the droid into a ball.

The transformation process is relatively simple but the droid is not fully modular. It is indeed necessary to temporarily remove its three legs to reverse their direction and then fold the arms and the central mane to obtain the desired effect.

We could have hoped for a better integrated solution to reverse the direction of the legs but this is a detail which does not harm the product as the simple possibility of being able to put it in a moving position is appreciable. In the other direction, the Droideka obviously does not deploy automatically, it must be manually returned to the attack position.

We are therefore here more on an exhibition model which offers two distinct variants than on a toy with accomplished functionalities, this Droideka is designed to end its career on the corner of a shelf instead of spending hours rolling on the ground between the hands of the youngest fans.

This bias is reinforced by the presence of a plate distilling a few facts about the droid like the products in the range Ultimate Collector Series. The presence of the small display supporting the plaque, the brick celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars range and the micro version of the Droideka may seem superfluous but it is ultimately this accessory which announces the color and gives its model positioning to the product , while creating a collector's effect which seems rather appreciated by collectors.

The mini thing that sits on the display and which in principle is also a Droideka on a reduced scale is not the best, but we will still appreciate the effort to expand a little on the support delivered in this box with a reproduction of the main model: it is completely in line with the other products which use the same “collector” layout.

For those who are wondering, the plate presenting the droid is pad printed as in the sets of the universe Ultimate Collector Series but you still have to stick a few stickers on the body of the main construction of the set. This Droideka will, however, do just fine without these stickers if you decide not to apply them.

I am on arrival rather convinced by this modernized homage and which makes good use of the complementarity between the elements of the Technic ecosystem and the more classic pieces of the LEGO inventory, it is in my opinion very successful and the possibility putting the Droideka into a ball is a nice refinement.

The few black whips used are annoying because they never fail to come off, the whole thing is a little fragile in places especially when transforming the droid but the construction still looks great.

As is often the case, it will be appropriate to try to pay a little less than the €65 requested by LEGO, unless you take advantage of the May the 4th promotional operation currently in progress on the official online store to offer you some gifts in thank you for your financial effort. I gave in without waiting, this set is worth the effort in my opinion and the products offered more than compensate for the impression of having paid a little too much for what it really has to offer.

MAY THE 4TH 2024 ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 11th May 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

A few hours before the launch of the promotional operation which will allow you to get this product, today we take a quick tour of the contents of the LEGO Star Wars set 40686 Trade Federation Troop Carrier which will be automatically added to the basket as soon as the minimum required purchase amount of €160 in products from the LEGO Star Wars range is reached. In this small box of 262 pieces, enough to assemble a Trade Federation troop transport with its six generic Battle Droids and its two pilots.

The set is part of the celebration of 25 years of the LEGO Star Wars range and pays homage to the set 7126 Battle Droid Carrier marketed in 2001 by taking up some of the ideas implemented at the time on a model which was then cruder and much less accomplished in terms of finish. The and 75086 Battle Droid Troop Carrier of 2015 displayed an aesthetic bias very different from what LEGO offers today with this return to the sources in terms of design and aesthetic refinements to best exploit current possibilities.

The product also benefits from some welcome features with the possibility of removing the rack which accommodates the battle droids and there are moving parts to visually simulate the ejection of the six figurines provided. Nothing crazy, but we're not going to complain that LEGO is making an effort to offer a construction offering a minimum of playability, even if it's a promotional product.

The supply of figurines is correct even if we all already have several handfuls of droids in our drawers from collecting them from LEGO Star Wars Advent calendars and we even get two pilots here with their distinctive torsos. Too bad, the pad printing of these elements is not really up to par with a beige area on a blue background which does not match and which is affected by defects due to the presence of the manufacturer's logo.

We also get a new copy of the brick provided to celebrate 25 years of the LEGO Star Wars range, it is still the same and it would have benefited from being available in personalized variants depending on the subject covered in the box concerned. We'll be happy with that. No stickers to stick here, the product didn't need them anyway.

This promotional product seems to me to live up to what we can expect from a manufacturer who imposes a relatively high minimum purchase on us to receive it, €160 in this specific case, and this box would have could also have been sold without having to blush in the face of other products in the LEGO Star Wars range which are sometimes much less convincing. Taking advantage of the offer will therefore allow you to celebrate two anniversaries with dignity: the 25th anniversary of theEpisode I. (The Phantom Menace) and 25 years of the LEGO Star Wars range.

It will also be possible not to fall for the official online store and to turn to the secondary market to obtain your copy of this little box, there should be many sellers there from the launch of the operation and prices should logically drop as supply increases. It's for you to see. In any case, I'm not going to complain about being entitled to a real product with an accomplished design as part of a promotional offer, it's always better than a simple polybag without much interest or a scrap metal charm off topic.

MAY THE 4TH 2024 ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 10th May 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Today we are quickly talking about a derivative product which will be offered subject to purchase at LEGO during the May the 4th promotional operation, the LEGO Star Wars reference 5008818 Collectible Battle of Yavin which will be automatically added to your basket from May 1 to 5, 2024 as soon as the minimum purchase amount of €90 in products from the range is reached.
The minimum amount required will quickly be reached, for €90 we don't have much left in this range.

It is therefore a metal medallion 5 cm in diameter inserted in a rather successful box. We find in the manufacture of the thing Chinese company RDP which now regularly produces this type of object for LEGO and once again the technical execution leaves a little to be desired. The medallion is rather pretty with its plastic insert which allows you to embody the targeting of the X-wing in the bays of the Death Star by a TIE Fighter, but the whole thing is definitely not up to the level of a derivative product offered by a manufacturer operating in the high-end toy sector. It is barely properly machined and on the back we discover the canopy of the TIE fighter flanked by a very unsightly rivet responsible for holding the piece of floating plastic which is not in the best taste. All that for this.

There remains the pretty box, even if I never tell you about the packaging of LEGO products, which is correctly designed with its opening in two sections to reveal the medallion in its cardboard case. We could have hoped for more aesthetic foam inside, but we clearly shouldn't be too demanding.

In short, we could discuss the usefulness of the thing, its truly "collector" side and the insistence on the part of LEGO to regularly want to offer us derivative products which are only very distantly associated with its flagship product. , especially in this specific case.

Many fans will be satisfied with it and they will undoubtedly be right, you have to cheer yourself up after spending your money buying a few boxes at full price on the official online store.

As usual, it will be up to you to decide whether this little souvenir reserved for members of the program LEGO Insiders and which is not even stamped with the words "May the 4th" really deserves the honors of your wallet.

MAY THE 4TH 2024 ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 29th next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of two sets from the LEGO Marvel range, the references 76284 Green Goblin Construction Figure (471 pieces - 37.99 €) and 76298 Iron Spider-Man Construction Figure (303 pieces - €34.99), which have been available since April 1 on the official online store, in LEGO Stores as well as at some resellers.

It is not necessary to go into detail once again about the concept of these Action Figures in the LEGO sauce with their qualities and their faults already highlighted here on several occasions during other tests, but I must admit that I have the feeling here that the format finds a certain maturity and these two figurines seem to me quite completely acceptable.

There remain the usual "problems" of joints with limited amplitude and pieces whose color does not match the rest of the outfits offered, but there is still something to please the youngest with characters well represented and easily manipulated.

The icing on the cake is that Iron Spider and Green Goblin both come with buildable accessories that take the playability a little further and also make these figures products capable of being proudly displayed between two play sessions .

Everything is pad printed, we don't stick any stickers on these two figurines and that's all the better for allowing them to withstand intensive handling. Each of the two characters can take interesting poses and even if we could talk for a long time about the aesthetic choices at work here, the main thing obviously remains the possibility of really having fun with these figurines.

The assembly process remains, as usual with this type of product, very basic and you will not spend hours building these two figurines which take shape very quickly. The Green Goblin's glider, however, offers some interesting sequences based on elements from the LEGO Technic universe which help to sweeten the pill of the set's public price. The machine can then accommodate the character and the whole thing works quite well visually in my opinion. Same observation for the articulated arms to be fixed on Spider-Man's back, even if the assembly sequence is summarized here in its simplest form.

The back of the two figurines is a little less detailed than the front but the finish is still very acceptable as is for Action Figures in the LEGO version, the faces are far from perfect with still strange angles on the part used, a variant of which with a raised nose is attached to the torso of Green Goblin and the back of the skull of these two figurines is still also cubic and failed. Four fingers on the hands, there is no room to add one to be credible but no one will blame LEGO for this compromise which remains acceptable.

I had fun with these two figurines by trying to make them take dynamic poses, the possibilities are there and the few aesthetic defects are quickly forgotten in the face of the obvious playability of these products without any particular pretension aside from their playful vocation.

It is undoubtedly vain to hope that LEGO will one day produce the parts necessary for the joints of these figurines in the colors which would make them more discreet, we can console ourselves by saying that this choice is voluntary and is part of the "signature" decisions. " of the brand in the same way as the blue pins which often remain clearly visible on products from the LEGO Technic range which would however happily do without this visual distraction.

In summary, these two products do not revolutionize the genre but are a continuation of what LEGO has been offering for several years now in the same format and I even find a certain charm in them.

It is obvious that it is advisable to pay less for them than their public price and to try to offer both so that each of the characters can face the other instead of sitting alone on the corner of a shelf. These two boxes are currently available from Amazon for a few euros less than their usual public price, which is always a bargain:

Discount -6%

LEGO Marvel Buildable Iron Spider-Man Minifigure

34.99 € 32.99 €

BUY

Discount -10%

LEGO Marvel Buildable Green Goblin Minifigure

37.99 € 34.13 €

BUY

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 29th next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75380 Mos Espa Podrace Diorama, a box of 718 pieces which will be available on the official online store, in LEGO Stores and at certain resellers from May 1, 2024 at the public price of €79.99.

This new diorama will join what we now call the Diorama Collection of sets based on the same principle launched in 2022 and which already brings together the references 75329 Death Star Trench Run (€ 59.99), 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training (€ 79.99), 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor (€ 89.99), 75352 Emperor's Throne Room Diorama (99.99 €) and  75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama (69.99 €).

This model logically takes up the principle of the black base on which the scene in question is installed and this is a snapshot of the Boonta Eve podracer race which takes place on Mos Espa. The scene is frozen with Anakin's podracer pursuing Sebulba's through the canyon, Anakin passing under an arch which gives a little volume and depth to the whole.

In my opinion, it is rather well done with a relatively dynamic presentation of the two machines and a sufficiently substantial rock layout to highlight the two constructions. It is difficult to do more on this scale, the two machines already exceed the limits of the base and it was a question of maintaining the legibility of this construction which can obviously be exhibited and observed from different angles.

You have to show a little imagination to see the two pilots at the controls of their machines, it is especially the latter with their respective attributes which allow fans to immediately identify Anakin Skywaker and Sebulba. A few stickers are present to increase the level of detail of the two modules, difficult to do without them even if those who want to avoid seeing these stickers deteriorate over time will undoubtedly consider not sticking them.

The assembly reveals no surprises, with on one side the usual base on which we install the rocky environment of the scene before embarking on the construction of the two micro modules. We remain a little unsatisfied upon arrival in terms of "experience" especially for the 80 € requested by LEGO, but the product still offers a fairly complete and balanced set of techniques that are both a little crude if we does not step back to observe the object and more interesting when it comes to building the two relatively detailed podracers.

The base is flanked by three pad-printed elements: the brick celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars range which I would have liked to be different depending on the product it accompanies, for example a direct reference to the context of the set while maintaining visual coherence of the room and two Tiles including one which repeats a line of dialogue spoken on screen by Qui-Gon Jinn. The latter is once again in English, LEGO does not localize this type of detail according to the geographical area in which its products are marketed and it is a bit of a shame for all those who like this type of reference and remember the dialogues. in question in their own language.

This diorama seems to me to be rather successful on arrival, it will remain to try to pay a little less for it elsewhere than at LEGO or to take advantage of a promotional offer which will make the pill of the high price of the thing, for example during May the 4th operation which will take place from May 1 to 5, 2024 and which will allow you to receive some products along the way.

The collection which brings together all the scenes based on the same principle grows a little more each year and what was initially an advantage with the saving of space guaranteed by these mini stagings can quickly fade if you intend to collect and align all the references offered on your shelves.

However, in my opinion, the whole thing forms a very nice set of tributes to the Star Wars saga and fans who wish to settle for exhibition products that are not too invasive should once again find what they are looking for with this new proposition.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 28th next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.