It's the gift of the moment on the official LEGO online store and we will quickly talk about the set 40355 Year of the Rat which marks as the title of the box indicates the beginning of the year of the rat.

You have to spend 80 € on the LEGO Shop to be offered this little thematic set of 162 pieces and I know that many of you will remain insensitive to this somewhat wacky interpretation of the animal. No mystery, it's assembled in three minutes flat and it will end at best on the corner of a shelf in the company of previous sets on the same theme already marketed: the snake in 2013 (10250), the sheep in 2015 (40148 ), the monkey in 2016 (40207), the rooster in 2017 (40234), the dog in 2018 (40235) and the pig in 2019 (40186).

The rat is staged on a rather well decorated small plinth, that's always taken. The new eyes will eventually serve as a starting point for other creatures and the animal has articulations at the level of the ears and legs. The head is also adjustable so that this rat is staring at you from the dresser in the living room. If you'd rather think this pattern is a good start to getting a cool version of Ratatouille, no one will stop you changing the color of the legs.

As with all small sets featuring the featured animal in the coming year, LEGO provides a "red envelope" in the box which is actually ... yellow on the outside and red on the inside. Tradition has it that in Asia we offer money to our loved ones at this time of the year and you can therefore also comply with this custom thanks to the envelope provided. If you are giving the set to someone, you will need to open the box first, put the money in the envelope and close the set.

In short, this little gift is not uninteresting for all those who love Asian culture and its customs. Unfortunately, the minimum purchase to get it via the official online store, set at 80 €, is frankly too high to make it really accessible to everyone and that's a bit of a shame.

The secondary market should as usual be inundated with copies of this box in the days and weeks to come, and if you wait a bit it will be possible to get it for a few euros without having to pay a few sets at the price. fort on the official LEGO store.

I specify for all intents and purposes that the money you see on the top photo is not provided in the box ...

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 23th January 2020 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 quickly tour the LEGO Star Wars set 75273 Poe Dameron's X-Wing Fighter (761 pieces - 109.99 €), a box that features a very colorful X-Wing seen in the last installment of the Star Wars saga. As with many ships or vehicles in the Star Wars universe, there is always at least one X-Wing, "classic" or from the latest trilogy, in the LEGO catalog.

Each version brings its share of innovations or regressions in terms of design, even if the models of the sets 75102 Poe's X-Wing Fighter (2015) et 75149 Resistance X-Wing Fighter (2016) were almost identical, and we can't blame the designers for not making the effort to offer varied and original finishes here.

It is obviously a toy intended for the youngest and we therefore find on this new version some elements allowing to knock out an enemy ship: two Stud Shooters are placed on the sides of the fuselage and two Spring-Shooters are present under the lower wings. The latter seem at first glance very roughly integrated with the red rod of the ammunition which protrudes frankly at the back but they can be easily removed so as not to disfigure the ship if you just display it on a shelf. It was also the case for those of the set 75218 X-Wing Starfighter marketed in 2018 and it is a choice that seems coherent to me and which makes it possible to satisfy everyone.

The X-Wing took color with the latest trilogy and this new version adds a big orange touch to the white fuselage. It's flashy but I salute the effort made on the transition areas between the orange colored sections and the white ends. It's relatively successful and without the addition of stickers in two shades, well done for that.

For a top-of-the-range toy sold for € 110, I can't help but regret the presence of these four rubber bands that will bring back memories to anyone like me who at one time or another in their youth wore braces. LEGO also only provides what is strictly necessary for the implementation of the main functionality of the product and does not provide for the possible replacement of these rubber bands. It's mean.

When closed, these white bands are a little less noticeable, but when the wings are outstretched, the vessel becomes quite disfigured. The lever which allows to act on the mechanism is also a little too prominent when the wings are unfolded, but this is the price to pay for the toy to be easily manipulated by the smallest hands.

We welcome the replacement of the wheel arches used at the air inlets on the 2015 and 2016 versions by a set of parts which allows to obtain a perfectly round element. I am less convinced by the fixing of the reactors which seem to me a little too thin and poorly integrated into the cabin of the vessel. There are no barrels at the level of the reactors as on the version of 2018, you see me delighted.

For the rest, we find here the pretty usual pad-printed canopy and R2-D2 is in the right direction when it is installed in its housing just behind the cockpit. The latter is basic but sufficiently convincing with a new very successful pad printed element which offers a few screens and several buttons.

Note that the wings close automatically when the X-Wing is placed on the ground thanks to the rod that crosses the ship, but by putting it down gently, it can also be presented in an attack position. The good news of the set: there are only three stickers to stick on this X-Wing, two on the front of the wings and the third on the right side of the front of the fuselage. The model is doing very well with these three stickers.
The assembly is easily manipulated if we have taken care to plug R2-D2 into its housing, otherwise the droid ends up on the ground. Nothing detaches from the ship during the flight phase, young adventurers will find what they are looking for.

On the minifig side, the assortment is eclectic and allows us to obtain the pilot and his astromech droid, Jannah and one of the knights of Ren, in this case Vicrul. It's varied, even if we feel that LEGO has determined the cast to reproduce in minifig format and then distributed the different characters in the boxes of the range to encourage fans to buy all the sets.

Poe Dameron is delivered here in his usual outfit available since 2015 in many sets. the character's helmet is an updated version of the one with integrated visor from 2015, it has a new reference (6289513). LEGO is kind enough to give us hair for Poe, a nice detail that allows us to enjoy the character a little more. R2-D2 is delivered with the new dome also present in the set 75270 Obi-Wan's Hut. The droid's body, on the other hand, is the one we all already have in several copies in our drawers.

Jannah (Naomi Ackie) minifig is very successful. We find all the attributes of the character seen on the screen, up to the transponder on his right arm and the grapple attached to the belt. LEGO has taken the attention to detail to the limit with a different colored right hand to symbolize the archer's glove the character wears. Too bad for the basic bow and quiver which does not really pay homage to the equipment of the young woman, much more elaborate and detailed. The macrobinocular binoculars are integrated into the hair and the accessory works perfectly.

Finally, LEGO delivers us here Vicrul, one of the knights of Ren, who will join those also available in sets 75256 Kylo Ren's Shuttle (Ap, lek and Ushar) and 75272 Sith TIE Fighter (Trudgen). As I assumed in my "Very vite tested"from the set 75256 Kylo Ren's Shuttle, these characters are ultimately only secondary extras without much interest, but the minifigure is interesting with a nice pad printing and a very original helmet that covers the neutral head.

110 € for a product whose main functionality depends in part on four rubber bands is way too expensive for my taste and not providing at least two replacement rubber bands in the box is in my opinion a mistake on the part of LEGO. And it's not the ladder provided that saves the furniture.

But we all know that this set will end sooner or later at a price much lower than its retail price at Amazon and it will be enough to be patient to add this new version of the X-Wing to our collections. This X-Wing will undoubtedly not pass to posterity, but the most complete of us will not be able to miss this new copy and the young fans who have discovered the Star Wars universe with the last films will undoubtedly prefer this colorful version to the more austere one of Luke Skywalker's X-Wing.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 22th January 2020 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 talking about the two new bags of the LEGO XTRA range, marketed since the beginning of the year and that LEGO has kindly sent in several copies to a slew of history sites that we are discussing this range of polybags, with the references 40375 Sports Accessories (36 pieces - 3.99 €) and 40376 Botanical Accessories (32 pieces - 3.99 €) which come to flesh out this series of small packs of more or less interesting thematic accessories grouped under the label XTRA.

The bag 40375 Sports Accessories offers elements related to rather varied sports activities. There is no seasonal theme here, you get both ice or sliding sports equipment and something for rollerblading or archery practice. If you have assembled a diorama on the theme Winter village, you may find here something to expand your scenes and equip your minifigs.

In all cases, there will be only one winner who will be awarded the trophy provided. As is usually the case with XTRA range pouches, there is not much to assemble here. We will be content to mount the two hockey gates and the archery target (pad printed).

The bag 40376 Botanical Accessories offers for its part a fairly complete assortment of vegetation accompanied by two barriers. It will take several bags to really brighten up a street or a park, but it's a good start. The little tree to assemble is hardly better than the mini-gadgets of Advent calendars, but that's not really what the polybags of the XTRA range are. The best product: the possibility of changing the leaves of the tree to switch it to winter mode.

This is not the first polybag on this theme to be marketed in the LEGO XTRA range: in 2018, LEGO put the bag on sale 40310 Botanical Accessories which already allowed to obtain a little greenery.

In short, if you already buy retail parts on the secondary market more or less regularly, including some of the items provided here, you know that the shipping costs usually add significantly to the bill. These two bags therefore make it possible to add them to an order placed on the official online store in order to only pay for their inventory at the right price.

Note: Three lots of the two bags presented here, supplied by LEGO, are as usual put into play. Deadline fixed at 18th January 2020 next at 23pm.

Update : The winners were drawn and were notified by email, their nicknames are indicated below.

Today we finish the series of reviews of the five sets of the LEGO Speed ​​Champions 2020 range with the reference 76898 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing GEN2 & Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY (565 pieces - 44.99 €).

It is in my opinion the least successful of these boxes even if some were content a little quickly to marvel at the presence of many colored elements Medium Azure in this set. If we go a little beyond the inventory and avoid hiding behind the usual excuses, we see that the designer has this time missed the subject a little.

To begin with, I remind you that the Jaguar Formula E Panasonic Racing GEN2 entered in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, that's it:

LEGO offers us a version that does its best to try to resemble the reference model and in general terms we could almost conclude that this is more or less the case. But at 45 € the box containing less than 600 parts to assemble two models, we can also afford to be a little demanding.

The LEGO version really struggles to convince me, it's rude, the front fenders are much too angular, the rear fins are too simplified and there is little left but the cockpit with its roll bar to find favor in my eyes. Some people will appreciate the visible tenons on the wheel arches, I find that at this scale it is rather unsightly. The Slope black used for the nose of the vehicle vaguely does the job, it's a little wide at the end despite the sticker which tries to give us an optical illusion.

It is as usual the sticker fair and the many stickers unfortunately do not help to improve the finish of the vehicle. In the end, it is vaguely similar thanks to the enlargement of the format but not enough for my taste.

The assembly of the chassis based on parts is interesting, but the fun is constantly spoiled by the phases of applying stickers. Fortunately, this first vehicle is assembled very quickly and we can move on to the next.

The other vehicle to build in this box, the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY electric SUV, that's it in real life:

Here too, the LEGO version, which uses the new chassis and the new axles, really struggles to reproduce the curves of the vehicle and we end up with a construction that has little to do with the reference model. It's too long, the flat roof is awful, the rear profile is a mess with its windows that don't follow the curves of the body and the front would be almost passable if the headlights had been a little more elaborate.

The front face, with its far too angular wings, also benefits from an ingenious combination of parts to reproduce the specific grille of the vehicle. This is in my opinion the only element, possibly with the hood, that can be considered really successful.

It is once again the sticker fair with large surfaces to cover. We notice in passing that the background color of the stickers is not the same as that of the parts on which they are placed. It's really very ugly.

Unsurprisingly, the steering wheel is offset but the minifigure fits easily in the cockpit, even with its helmet on its head.

LEGO delivers two characters in this set, including a female pilot in a nicely pad-printed outfit. A gantry is also built with a function that allows you to manually trigger the appearance of colored lights. As for the set 76899 Lamborghini Urus ST-X & Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO, I would gladly exchange this accessory without much interest for 5 or 10 euros less on the public price of the set.

In short, fortunately these are vehicles which evolve in more or less confidential championships because we once again reach the limits of what it is possible to do with square parts when it comes to reproduce vehicles whose body displays beautiful curves.

Complete collectors will probably not ignore this box with a little disappointing content, but they can wait a few weeks for its price to drop significantly at Amazon.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 17th January 2020 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 take a quick look at the other "lifestyle" set from the start of 2020: the reference 40382 LEGO Birthday Set (141 pieces - 12.99 €) which allows, as its title suggests, to assemble a birthday cake.

The idea is simple: We build the cake, we plant the minifigure at the top and we put in his hands two flags dressed in stickers that display the age of the one whose birthday we are celebrating. Not enough to make a ton, it's cute and it works.

The top of this three-tiered cake spins on itself, but there is no built-in mechanism with a crank positioned at the foot of the cake. Suffice to say that no one will really turn the top of the cake, but we know it's possible.

The real plus of the set for those who are too big to marvel at this cake, a dozen centimeters high, is obviously the exclusive minifigure provided which oddly represents the service clown who came to amuse the gallery with his animals. base balloons. No children with interchangeable hair to put on the top, but we get two new elements: a nice torso with its festive patterns and a head in the false air of Elton John.

On the inventory side, we also get four candles, four cupcakes and a copy of the toothed wheel in Medium Azure already seen on other mobile constructions in the Disney, Harry Potter and even Jurassic World ranges.

In short, another small box that will only be used on a few occasions and whose use will be limited by the availability of stickers that will have to be removed from the flags over the years. Not enough to wake up at night, but if you have a young LEGO fan around you, this little set will probably work.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at 16th January 2020 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.