The few products planned for the month of December are now available on the official online store, although we know that many of those who had pre-ordered the LEGO ICONS set 10326 Natural History Museum have already received it several days ago.

Personally, I'm not going to fall for the LEGO Ideas set right away 21344 The Orient-Express Train, we know that this product encounters several finishing problems including poorly printed stickers, alignment problems with the gold pad printing on certain parts, errors in the names of the cities crossed by the train pad printed on the wagons and rails which tend to curl upwards and not stay in place on the pieces that accommodate them. So I'll wait a few weeks wisely, hoping that LEGO corrects these minor flaws to avoid having to call customer service right out of the box.

As usual, it's up to you to decide whether to give in without delay by paying full price for these boxes or whether to show a little patience and wait for the inevitable reductions that will be offered in the weeks and months to come at Amazon, on FNAC.com, at Cdiscount, at Auchan and at a few other resellers.

ALL THE NEW RELEASES FOR DECEMBER 2023 ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

(All links to the shop redirect to the version of the official shop for your country of connection)

LEGO today officially presents the LEGO Ideas set 21344 The Orient-Express Train, a box of 2540 pieces which will be available from December 1, 2023 via the official online store and in the LEGO Stores at the public price of €299.99.

This product is inspired by the original creation entitled The Orient Express, A Legendary Train and proposed by Thomas Lajon (LEt.sGO) on the LEGO Ideas platform, it had reached the 10.000 supports necessary for it to enter the evaluation phase and was then definitively validated in April 2022.

The official set which celebrates the 140th anniversary of the real train takes up the idea but with its own twist: the train gains a carriage, it changes color and the locomotive loses a little in length and level of detail but the essential is there. The train here becomes almost a playset with removable roofs for the wagons and some interior fittings which allow the passengers provided to be featured.

21344 THE ORIENT-EXPRESS TRAIN ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

LEGO is once again teaming up with the US Target brand to organize a vote between four projects from a competition on the STEM theme (for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) organized on the LEGO Ideas platform. The winner will see, as is always the case within the framework of this partnership, their creation become an official set.

The initiative therefore leaves a little power to the fans and you must vote for your favorite creation before November 12, 2023 if you want to hope to see it one day end up on your shelves. This time you have the choice between the following four creations: The STEM Ball Machine by Toxiball,  How do we fly? The Evolution of the Airplane by Dani_Fus, Knowledge is Power by Danielbradleyy and Antique Microscope by Jimmy-DK.

To vote, go to this address and follow the link to the voting interface after identifying yourself on the LEGO Ideas platform. Announcement of the winner on March 1, 2024, the set will be marketed one day and will be available on the official online store like any set in the LEGO Ideas range.

Today we are very quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ideas set 40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei which will be offered from November 1 to 16, 2023 on the official online store and in the LEGO Stores from €130 of purchase without restriction of range.

You know if you follow, this product is based on the creation which in June 2022 won a competition organized on the LEGO Ideas platform with the promise made to the winner to convert their idea into an official set. Today we can say that LEGO has largely respected the initial concept, the manufacturer simply integrating a few aesthetic improvements or regressions into the diorama which retains its initial organization.

As for the promotional set 40579 Eiffel’s Apartment offered in 2022 for the acquisition of the set 10307 Eiffel Tower, here we assemble a base on which we will then install the partitions and furniture for the office of the occupant of the premises, in this case Galileo the famous mathematician, geometer, physicist and astronomer. Unlike Gustave Eiffel's office, LEGO here makes the effort to cover the floor with a few Tiles and the overall rendering is greatly improved.

The product also integrates a functionality based on toothed wheels which allows the very simplistic heliocentric system placed on the desk to rotate. The mechanism is hidden in the thickness of the desk base and remains easily accessible via a few teeth protruding from the back of the construction.

For the rest, it's rather well done with two-tone walls which are therefore a little less dull than those of the reference creation, some pretty furniture even if the central office has been simplified a little and a little vegetation around of the balcony whose railing, however, loses an angle. LEGO also provides a copy of the globe in the form of a pad-printed head already seen in several boxes including the sets 21336 The Office et 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum.

The set also includes a small sheet of stickers with enough to indicate the name of the character on the front of the diorama, a poster of the Tower of Pisa, Pisa being Galileo's birthplace but many fans already see a clue about of a hypothetical future set from the LEGO ICONS range, and a reproduction of the drawing of the Moon made by Galileo.

The figurine provided in this box is nothing exceptional, it simply reuses elements present for several years in the LEGO catalog to form a somewhat simplistic interpretation of the character: the head is that of Gandalf, Cornelius Fudge or even Max Shreck, the torso is that of Ross Geller in the set 10292 F⋅R⋅I⋅E⋅N⋅D⋅S Apartments, the legs are neutral, the beard is Marley's (21330 Home Alone House) and the hairstyle has equipped a slew of characters with graying hair since 2015.

This small promotional product of 307 pieces valued by LEGO at €24.99 does not stand out, it should please all those who appreciate that LEGO pays homage from time to time to personalities who have marked history and the construction will look great on the corner of a desk or shelf.

It's up to everyone to see whether they will really have to spend €130 to obtain it or wisely wait until the product is available in volume on the secondary market to acquire it separately at a reasonable price.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at November 6, 2023 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.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

It is via the Australian version from the official LEGO online store that today we discover the LEGO Ideas promotional set 40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei which will soon be offered subject to purchase.

Remember, it is in June 2022 that the creation entitled Tribute to Galileo Galilei submitted by Firecracker_ as part of a competition organized on the LEGO Ideas platform won the right to one day end up as a promotional product at LEGO (see visual below).

No news for more than a year, but the version reworked by LEGO of the initial idea is now ready to be offered in the form of a pretty box of 307 pieces which features the famous mathematician, surveyor, physicist and astronomer in his office, all presented on a base.

Tributes to different personalities are regularly in the spotlight at LEGO and this little creation will therefore join similar references this year 40579 Eiffel’s Apartment (2022)  40530 Jane Goodall Tribute (2022) 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute (2021) or 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute (2020) already offered in the past.