The official LEGO Store update continues with the effective availability of many new sets.

The five new sets in the range The LEGO Batman Movie are now available, as are the new features Star Wars, Creator, Ninjago, Brand, Minecraft, Classic (incl. Buidling Bigger Thinking) and Juniors.

Note also the availability of the following sets:

• Four figurines BrickHeadz based on the movie Justice League
• Two Disney Princess packs (40307 Castle Interior Kit et 40388 Mini-Doll Dress-Up Kit)
• Two Training Pods Ninjago (8.99 € per unit)
• 40197 Wedding Favor Set 2018 (9.99 €) and 40187 LEGO® Flower Display (5.99 €)
• 40270 Valentine Bee (BrickHeadz)

We will remember the absence of the LEGO Architecture set 21038 Las Vegas (487 pieces) whose marketing has been postponed due to the shooting which took place last October with a sniper in the Mandala Bay hotel. The hotel in question being represented in the skyline of the set, this explanation seems consistent.

LEGO has not officially confirmed whether this was simply a postponement or cancellation of the marketing of this box.

The set is always pre-order from amazon, without visual or description, with a sale date announced on January 1, 2018:

[amazon box="B075GWX146"]

In the wake, Pricevortex is up to date with public prices, direct links to the product sheets on the LEGO Shop and direct links to the sheets of the same products at amazon.

Bonus: Otherwise, there is also this for 4.99 € (it's not a joke):

It is the comeback of the end of the year, the big comeback of a set considered as "cult" by some fans which was negotiated so far at indecent prices on the secondary market and which emerges in a version identical to the original model of the set 10189 Taj Mahal marketed in 2008.

The new benchmark LEGO Creator Expert 10256 Taj Mahal will allow those who have long regretted not being able to add this box to their collection to eliminate the price excuse once and for all. This new set is sold € 329.99, i.e. an identical price (including inflation) to that of set 10189 sold at the time at the public price of € 299.99.

As of this writing, the set is out of stock on the LEGO Shop but LEGO promises shipping by December 21 to all those who place their order.

In the box, an additional brick separator and a few axes that change color. Everything else is identical to the 2008 model. However, LEGO claims to have it "brought up to date"in the official product description. It must be the box ...

It therefore remains to judge the interest of this Taj Mahal, both in terms of the pleasure of construction and that of the space needed to exhibit this bulky model. And don't count on me to go into ecstasies all the time on these two criteria.

I am not one of those who until now idealized this set which has become overpriced on the secondary market and its surprise reissue is therefore no relief to me. The Taj Mahal, even made from LEGO bricks, is not a monument for which I am willing to sacrifice a significant chunk of my living space (and my LEGO budget).

Let's be honest, and those who have been able to put this set together will have a hard time contradicting me, the feeling that dominates throughout the assembly phase is ... boredom. We stack, we do four, eight, sixteen or thirty two times the same thing, and we finally decide to put the set aside to space the repetitions.

We come back to it later and start over. At first, I sometimes felt like I was putting together a dummy wedding cake, but I also said to myself that this monument is above all a geometric structure and that LEGO should not be blamed for trying to reproduce it as best as possible.

This set is an identical reissue of a 2008 model, so we find the same parts, the same construction techniques and the same somewhat outdated look. Some will consider that this is what makes the charm of this reissue.

In the product description, LEGO refers to "the intricate tiling around the base". It is in fact to place more than 200 copies of the lower part of a Turn Plate 2x2 ...

However, from time to time we think that with the new parts produced by LEGO since then, the end result could probably be better. But we also understand why this box contains more than 5900 pieces. We stack hundreds of 1x1 pieces over and over again. Walls, windows, towers, etc ...

The domes with exposed studs have a vintage look and a rough finish. The nostalgic LEGO fan too happy to finally be able to afford this box will be satisfied. Those who expect a more complete finish from a model on this scale marketed in 2017 will no doubt be a little disappointed by the final rendering.

The real Taj Mahal is a monument covered with engravings, textures, decorations. On the LEGO version, the walls are hopelessly empty and smooth. The four minarets are a little too bare for my taste, in the end we can only see the joints and the notches of the parts that make up the walls. So much the better for the "immaculate" look of the thing, so much the worse for the architectural richness of this monument which is somewhat by the way here.

The LEGO Creator Expert version Taj Mahal is also modular. And that's good for transport and storage. It is in any case impossible to move it in a single block. The minarets sway dangerously, the base platform made up of six sections only holds in place via a few Technic pins and the central mausoleum is right in the heart of the construction.

This modularity is therefore welcome and LEGO has thought of everything. The assembly can be broken down without having to dismantle everything. the minarets are only fixed on a few studs, as are the five domes of the mausoleum.

Was it absolutely necessary to reissue this set identically? I am not sure. The 2008 (cardboard) box will remain the 2008 one for collectors. Those who had not bought this set a few years ago might have appreciated some improvements on this new version with for example parts in Pearl Gold instead of the garish yellow, smoother domes, a mosaic around the base, some pad printed elements, etc ... The impact on the price of the 2008 set on the aftermarket would have been the same: a more modern version of the Taj Mahal would have made the previous model obsolete anyway.

This set LEGO Creator Expert 10256 Taj Mahal will therefore have finally left me unmoved (!). I will long remember having worked on the line to simultaneously assemble the many sections to be reproduced in multiple copies, pushing aside repetitive assembly sessions every day, and I will wait patiently for LEGO to come up with a more compact version of this monument in the Architecture range. The latter will better suit my budget and the space I have to display a few sets.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is put into play. To participate in the raffle, all you need to do is post a (constructive) comment on this article before the December 22 at 23:59 p.m.. The "I participate", "For my little loulous", "For my grandson" and other things of the same style will be automatically disqualified.

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 Architecture set 21039 Shanghai has been unveiled, it will allow fans of this type of set to reproduce a skyline of the city with the 597 parts provided.

In order from left to right: The Longhua Temple, the Radisson Blu Shanghia New World Hotel, The Pearl of the Orient (television tower), the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Center Building.

This set will soon be joined by a second reference on the same principle featuring some emblematic buildings of the city of Las Vegas (LEGO ref. 21038).

Small foray into the LEGO Architecture range with a set that will inevitably speak more to the public of this blog than the usual reproductions of buildings located on the other side of the planet.

The reference 21036 The Arc de Triomphe makes it possible to reproduce a well-known Parisian monument with just over 380 pieces.

It's a LEGO Architecture product, with the scale to go with it and the opportunistic symbolism of some of the pieces used to represent the different elements of the monument. And that's where the microfig, a very practical LEGO element for designers, comes into play.

The four artistic high reliefs are here replaced by microfigs and the LEGO designer has chosen to place them in a niche that absolutely does not exist on the monument. I understand the approach: to create some semblance of volume around the minifigure using depth and a different color, but the effect falls a bit flat.

The six bas-reliefs disappear altogether and are embodied by the underside of gray pieces. It will take some imagination to visualize them.

It is precisely the purpose of this range to reproduce monuments on a scale which requires diverting the main use of certain pieces to make them embody architectural details, but here we obviously reach the limits of the concept and the symbolism becomes a little cartoonish.

To console ourselves, we can judge that the flame of the Unknown Soldier in LEGO sauce is rather successful ...

Everything is assembled in fifteen minutes flat. Due to the architecture of the monument, some sub-assemblies have to be reproduced in several copies. Inevitable but not really exciting. Some interesting techniques to discover, in particular to reproduce the upper cornice.

If you like the hinge bricks (LEGO ref. 393701), rejoice, you will get 30 copies in this box.

From a certain distance, the one that separates you from the shelf on which you display your sets, the whole will create an illusion. Despite its approximate proportions and the liberties taken by the designer, we recognize the monument at first glance. It was already less obvious with Eiffel Tower from set 21019...

As for the public price, 34.99 €, it is much too expensive for this souvenir to assemble yourself. And LEGO has not even made the effort to integrate content in French in the instruction booklet contrary to what is indicated in the very emphatic product sheet on the LEGO Shop. The only words in French are Arc, de et Triumph... For a set that honors a French monument, it's a shame.

Note: We do as usual, you have until September 5, 2017 at 23:59 p.m. to manifest yourself in the comments.

Update : The winner was drawn and 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.

Ninjago City is the other main actor of The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The vertical metropolis in the streets of which the young ninjas, Garmadon and Godzichat clash, therefore deserved an adaptation worthy of the name in LEGO sauce, even if it was condensed and necessarily caricatured.

I built the set 70620 Ninjago City sold at the public price of 299.99 € on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores and I give you here some thoughts on what I retain, that I like or that I like less. This is not a guided tour, it is just my opinion.

Ninjago City is running out of space. So we build up and we end up with three distinct levels that stack up over the years called the Old World, the Street and the Skyscraper (It's LEGO that says it). Everyone will find there a resemblance or an inspiration coming from the universes that they know: Blade Runner, Total Recall, the 5th Element, Star Wars, etc ... Each overcrowded urban environment made up of social and architectural layers flanked by illuminated signs will do the trick to draw a parallel with this set.

The LEGO version of this city takes the characteristics of this cartoon Hong Kong to the letter, compressing spaces and themes in the process, and the whole set of more than 4800 pieces fits on a gray 32x32 base plate. So much the better for those who lack space on their shelves. So much the better also for those who will want to make the thing enthroned within their city based on Modulars. LEGO has also thought of these by integrating the necessary connection points.

No question of making here the usual comparison between the set and the film from which it is inspired. The set does not claim to reproduce Ninjago City, it offers a selection of what is there, arranged to put as much as possible in the available space. It's a best-of.

It's really Ninjago for grown-ups. And this is the marketing stroke of genius of this box: to bring teenage or adult fans to a world where they would not necessarily have set foot via a box that meets their requirements and that uses the codes and format to which all those who collect Modulars for years are now accustomed.

For once, we can really say that there is fan service on all floors. Winks to the Ninjago universe developed in the TV series, references to old ranges that only the oldest will have known (M-Tron, Galidor, Adventurers, Fabuland), parts diverted from their usual function, etc. .. The designers have conscientiously set out to seduce the adult fan, even to the point of overdose. The set becomes a tailor-made product to appeal to a very specific clientele. Whether it is a Ninjago product becomes almost secondary.

I am not going to make you a Prévert-style inventory here of what you will find in each area of ​​the set. It is the privilege of those who will offer it to themselves to discover all this during the assembly. I could also tell you that it is an exceptional product, that you absolutely must buy it, that your life will not be the same after assembling it and that it is the product of the year, end Of the history. But no, you know that I like to go there with some very personal remarks on the weaknesses of the sets that I have the opportunity to test.

For those who will not buy it and who will therefore be content to watch it from a distance, the reviews which spoil you all the content abounds. As the other would say, at € 300 a set, it can be eaten in small slices to make the most of every detail and every reference that the designers have disseminated to the four corners of the set. The real fun is there. We come to the end by telling ourselves that it is unfortunately already over and that we would like more.

Ninjago City will pass some of your others Modulars for simple suburban pavilions with its 63 cm high. It's up to you to see how to combine all this so that the whole retains an acceptable aesthetic appearance, especially at the level of the canal that circulates under the city that will have to be extended in one way or another.

This set is also a real Structure, it really has all the attributes: removable floors, access to each of the rooms and systematic filling of each of the available spaces with a multitude of furniture and accessories. Some fun features to wrap the whole thing up and the fan of Modulars will not be disoriented despite the specific theme of this construction.

The only notable difference with the Modulars usual, it is in fact a miniature city and not a single building. Everything is compressed to the extreme with inevitably some freedom in terms of surface area allocated to the different spaces to force everything to fit on a 32x32 base plate. When a bathroom is bigger than an apartment, you have to deal with ...

The pleasure of construction is very present, we quickly get caught up in the game of discovering ingenious techniques (roof tiles, visual rendering of the depth of the canal) and there will always be something acquired for future creations.

Take your time for assembly, this will be the only opportunity you will have to take full advantage of certain details of the set ... This is also the principle of Modulars : the fan will be content to know that this or that detail is there, even if it is no longer really visible or easily accessible after assembly.

You will have at your disposal three thick instruction booklets, one for each level, embellished with some preliminary sketches already seen online a few weeks ago and a few blurbs of the city and minifigs (in English). You will soon be able to download the French version of these instruction booklets in PDF format at this address.

As is often the case with this type of construction at LEGO (and in real life), the front is much more dressed than the backyard. Nothing annoying here, the whole forms a street corner and the rear has some interesting features, especially for navigation (acrobatic) between the different levels. However, the elevator would have deserved better than an apparent rack (Unless it is a faithful reproduction of the one in the film) and a simple platform that must be moved by hand.

This set lacks lighting and mobility elements to make it a product offering a minimum of interactivity. Pushing a joystick, turning a crank, moving an elevator by hand, it's like being in one of those playsets from the 80s with its rubber bands that maintain basic mechanisms.

I read a lot of fiery statements regarding the integrated cash dispenser next to the comic book store. Calms you. A manual pull tab pushes each coin from a stack of 13 bills recessed into a wall. You will withdraw 1300 legodollars once to verify that it works.

The famous "sushi conveyor belt" only moves if you activate the large lamp-shaped wheel above it and the crab oven which unleashes passions is satisfied with a mechanism that turns on itself to present two crabs of different colors depending on the degree of doneness. These functions at least have the merit of existing, but you will not play cook for long. Not a replacement rubber band, it's petty.

Two or three bright bricks would have been welcome, this condensed and colorful representation of Ninjago City and its many signs deserved better than a few stickers. Being able to light up restaurants and shops without having to go back to the cash register would have been a real plus. Like all cities of the same type, overcrowded and overcrowded, Ninjago City reveals itself after dark. Here, it's pitch black.

As for the stickers, you will have to be patient, there are more than fifty in this box. Impossible not to paste them, the general appearance really depends on these illustrations, which are otherwise very successful. Some stickers are printed on a transparent background and that's good even if they are still a little more difficult to apply due to their extreme finesse. The advantage: no difference in color between the support and the sticker.

In the end, I understand the general enthusiasm for this box. It is visually very attractive, there are a multitude of more or less obvious references to other LEGO ranges, some of which date back to Greek calendars and above all it is a Crossovers successful between a popular range (Ninjago) and a successful concept (Structure).

It does not take more for this set to be unanimous, at least on the internet. As to whether those who cracked on the first visuals will go to the checkout after reflection, that's another story.

This set is indeed a product of the Ninjago range, but it is above all a Structure moreover disguised in the colors of the film. It is only intended to flirt with adult fans and it is not a playset that can be manipulated by the youngest. The cash machine, sushi conveyor belt, and crab oven aren't very exciting features for epic adventure seekers anyway ...

Those who would like to make it Chinatown of their LEGO city will have to deal with the surreal side of construction. It is a 32x32 digest of the imaginary city from the animated film. It will therefore be a question of refining the thing to reduce its caricature side.

The few "integrations" that I have been able to discover so far are not really convincing, the set is placed in the city without taking into account any visual or technical transition. I'm waiting to see the creation of the one who will have been inspired by this condensed neo-Japanese-futuro-ninjagesque architecture to create a whole city on the same theme.

On the minifig side, this set is well supplied. Lots of civilians, a little less ninjas (Jay, Kai and Lloyd) is also good when it comes to populating a city. LEGO is providing a Neutral Head Ninja Outfit for Lloyd and the mannequins in the store will give you two sets "Spinjitzu Training"extra. Only one villain in uniform.

Among the "civilians", we get Misako (Lloyd's mother), young Tommy and Sally, Guy the guy who likes to show off, Juno who likes fashion and Ivy Walker.

You also get Konrad the crab fisherman, the old frog trader villager, Severin Black the chef who gets confused all the time with his brother known as the king of sushi, officer Noonan who rules the law, Mother Doomsday who sells comics and Sweep the maintenance robot that keeps the city clean.

If you want to meet Severin Black's brother, you will have to lift Garmadon's bathroom. Understand who can.

The endowment in minifigs is excellent, there is something to liven up the city. Ninjas, Sensei, Garmadon and other villains are anyway provided en masse in the other sets in the range.

Should we invest € 300 in this set? If you are looking for a nice display product with a maximum of references that will flatter your longtime fan ego in a minimum of space, I say yes. You will get what you pay for and you will really have fun putting it together. As a bonus, you will have a souvenir set really representative of the atmosphere of The LEGO Ninjago Movie that does not take up too much space.

If you have kids and are looking to treat them to a few boxes based on the movie to have fun with, go your way and instead look to the mechs and other gear available in the same range.

For the rest, you know what it is with LEGOs. We only really get excited about what we have not yet added to our own collection. As soon as a set hits our shelves, we already look to the next one. It's up to you to see if this box really deserves your 300 € while waiting for the next sets that LEGO prepares for us.

Note: We do as usual, you have until September 3 at 23:59 p.m. to manifest yourself in the comments.

Bonus: Following a comment, here is a photo made with the means at hand which highlights the different elements trans neon of the set under black light.

Update : The winner was drawn and 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.