Go ahead for a new contest which will allow the lucky winner to save the modest sum of 229.99 €. : This is a copy of the LEGO set 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System (2646 pieces) which is in fact put into play this month, with in the box what to reproduce the Nintendo NES console and a vintage television on which it is possible to animate a level of the Super Mario Brios video game.

To validate your participation, simply identify the interface below and follow the instructions provided. At the end of the participation phase, the winner will be chosen by drawing lots from the correct answers to the question asked.

Your contact details (name / nickname, email address, IP) are only used within the framework of this competition and will not be kept beyond the drawing of lots which will designate the winner. As usual, this no-obligation competition is open to all residents of mainland France, DOM & TOM, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

A big thank you to Nintendo Europe which is a treat this time via the endowment provided. The prize will be sent to the winner by me and by Colissimo followed with insurance and signature on delivery (and suitable packaging).

As usual, I reserve the right to disqualify any participant who has attempted to defraud or hijack the entry system in order to increase their chances of winning.

Good luck to everyone !

We continue to tour the expansions planned in the LEGO Super Mario range to accompany the starter pack 71360 Adventures with Mario with the set 71377 King Boo and the Haunted Yard Expansion Set (431 pieces - 49.99 €).

As with each of the announced expansions, this one immerses the player in one of the many worlds of the Super Mario Bros. saga. with its theme and its creatures to beat to progress through the level. It will also be necessary to provide space to install your starter set and any extensions that you have chosen to acquire from the launch of the concept on August 1st. It will also be useful to install the entire game board in a place where you can leave it between two parts, the different modules being difficult to move without disassembling them first.

This extension adds a rather original thematic atmosphere to the game board but it is a little fishy with the playful possibilities offered and LEGO sums up the potential of this € 50 box: "... To reach the hidden Super Star, players must jump on Goombas and a spider web, flip a tree, then jump on the Swoopers who are spinning to topple King Boo ...A whole program on paper, a few seconds during which you just have to type everywhere with the interactive Mario figure in reality.

The construction of the level offers a slightly higher challenge than other boxes in the range with the integration of the mechanism of the King Boo hut which allows the figure in question to be raised via an endless screw to free access to the Super star hidden behind the ghost.

To activate the mechanism, you will have to tap like a deaf person with Mario on the Swoopers and turn the lateral axes. The rest of the game board is no big surprise with a simple spider web to turn over to reveal a barcode to scan and get some coins. Here too, you have to type. This is the concept of the product: we type with Mario, we scan, we get parts, we retype, etc ...

MOCeurs who love to get into Halloween-themed dioramas may find a few pieces in interesting tones reusable here within their designs, but nothing in my opinion justifies spending $ 50 in this box. We will therefore wisely wait for this set to end up in destocking somewhere, I have the feeling that it will end up happening one day.

As for the characters to be recovered to feed a collection, King Boo will have to be tinkered with a little to allow him to stand up as desired by removing the rod that circulates on the worm of the hut or by adding a part behind it as on the photo above.

The four bats provided must be removed from the two pins Technic which connect them to the lateral axes of the mechanism and even if the wings of these Swoopers are not completely faithful to those of the animals seen on the screen, they are small characters that can easily be staged in the middle of the other collectible figurines . You also get two Goombas which will also be easily integrated into a collection. The more we advance in the discovery of the different sets, the more we see that it is the main character who is missed and who will have trouble finding his place in the midst of relatively successful figurines.

As usual in this range, everything is pad printed, there is no sticker on the horizon.

It is neither the most expensive nor, in my opinion, the least interesting of the various extensions that will be marketed around the starter pack. The atmosphere here is much more immersive than in other clubs, even if the fun possibilities are still minimal.

Note that the essential application to be installed on a smartphone or tablet to be able to "play" with these products is now available on the App Store (iOS), on Google Play (Android) and on the Amazon App Store (FireOS), so you can already download it to get a feel for what it actually does. Do not get too carried away by the promises made in the description of the application, especially regarding the "weekly challenges" that will be offered and which in theory should extend the life of the product, we all know here that monitoring the Long-term application will strongly depend on the commercial success of the range.

I remind for all intents and purposes that the interactive Mario figure is not supplied in the box presented here, it is only an extension of the game board which does not contain the starting sticker to be scanned to launch a game. game nor the finish allowing to validate the progress within the time limit.

If you want to read or re-read my test of the concept itself published last June:

I tested for you: LEGO Super Mario

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at August 2, 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.

Without transition, we jump back into the LEGO Super Mario universe with a quick glance at the set 71369 Bowser's Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set (1010 pieces - 99.99 €), the largest box in the range which in principle allows you to complete the adventure and face the ultimate boss of the game: Bowser.

As for all the sets in the range, the assembly of the main module of the castle and the platforms which flesh out the staging a little is done via the instructions in digital format accessible only via the dedicated application to download and install on a smartphone or tablet.

Each step of the assembly is punctuated by a short video that allows you to better understand the features of the set. Do not expect to find here something to learn new techniques, we are more in the spirit of sets stamped 4+ with large meta-pieces and some slightly more creative sequences such as the base of the main structure based on beams Technic or the mechanism that allows the castle's drawbridge to be tilted. The finished product is ultimately only a castle because the main module is visually surrounded by a few platforms with walls or turrets.

If you plan to exhibit the model in order to stage your collection of characters, you can structure it in such a way that it offers a satisfactory rendering without occupying too much area: All the small modules with the walls or towers can be more or less close to the main structure with the statue and the walkway on which Bowser stands.

Once again, the lack of real rules of the game makes the experience disappointing and it is in fact not possible to lose the game except by going over the allotted time. The confrontation with Bowser comes down to milling like a deaf man to slide (very) slowly the big figure on the ramp until it tips over. You will first have to have tapped very (very) hard on the two side platforms to collect the two bonuses present and in the process raise the arms of the statue which will have the effect of tilting slightly forward the platform on which is standing Bowser. All that for this.

None of the expansion packs really overcome the limitations of the concept, regardless of the price or the number of pieces in the box. Here, we are always so bored after a few tries, except that we will have spent a hundred euros to obtain this "castle" with the correct aesthetics but not really faithful to the version seen in the different video games. from which the range is inspired.

In view of the operations to be carried out on this level, to type very hard and to reel without stopping, one is entitled to wonder when the interactive figurine of Mario will give up the ghost. Be careful to hit flat on the various obstacles and bonuses so that the costume's feet take the blow. If you tap on the edge of a part, you risk damaging the sensor placed between the two feet and it is not known at this stage what the reaction of the after-sales service will be on this precise point.

If you only buy this expansion to extract the different characters it contains, you will get here a big Bowser figurine, a Skelerex and a Boo, all three available only in this box and a Lava Bubble which is also present in the sets 71364 Whomp's Lava Trouble et 71376 Thwomp Drop.

Bowser, Skelerex and Boo are quite successful and will easily integrate a small collection of characters. All the patterned pieces are pad printed and it will suffice to replace those affublished with bar codes by neutral elements to obtain figurines with an irreproachable finish. I wish I could have gotten a club for Bowser and a clear mount to "levitate" the Boo, but the designers didn't see fit to force the props.

This extension, however more consistent than the others, does not make me change my mind about the relevance of the concept. We have five minutes of fun and get bored very quickly when we understand that despite all the efforts made by LEGO to offer an immersive experience in the universe of Mario are in vain. We even wonder who these products based on a 30-year-old video game with multiple reissues that appealed to the dexterity and perseverance of the players are aimed at, two qualities that are not really in question here. .

Do not be influenced by the overplayed enthusiasm of certain "reviews" which explain to you that all this is VERY fun, when the products are offered and that as in some cases the publications are sponsored and therefore paid, it is always easier to oversell a concept on behalf of a brand. Do not give too much credit either to those who tell you about their "experience" with children who "had fun" with these products, I had my own panel and I can confirm that the kids in question are. very quickly moved on and a good collective battle of Nerf guns easily replaces a laborious part of LEGO Super Mario.

Optionally buy the starter pack 71360 Adventures with Mario at 60 € and make up your own mind before investing in extensions that do not add much more and do not really extend the life of the product. Keep the box in a corner, having spent a lot of time on the subject, I promise you that you will not be long in trying to resell it all on Le Bon Coin.

I might be speaking a bad tongue, but I'm starting to understand why LEGO has chosen to launch the entire range in one fell swoop instead of spreading out the availability of the different expansions in multiple waves: Customers in the most rush will be tempted to immediately buy several boxes before having had time to really realize the emptiness of the thing.

If you want to read or re-read my test of the concept itself published last June:

I tested for you: LEGO Super Mario

I remind for all intents and purposes that the interactive Mario figurine is not provided in this box, it is only an extension of the game board that does not contain the starting sticker to be scanned to start a game nor that of arrival allowing to validate the progression within the time limit.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at July 30, 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.

You already know almost everything about this new box, but LEGO still has a proper announcement: The LEGO set 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System (2646 pieces), the visuals of which are already available since yesterday on social networks, will be on sale from August 1 at the public price of 229.99 € / 239.00 CHF on the official online store and in the LEGO Stores. This is a temporary exclusivity that LEGO reserves for itself until the end of the year and it is therefore only in 2021 that other retailers will be able to market this product in turn.

In the box, enough to assemble a reproduction of the NES console (for Nintendo Entertainment System) released in 1987 on which many players at the time discovered the universe of Super Mario Bros.

The console will be accompanied here by its essential rectangular controller, a reproduction of the cartridge of the game Super Mario Bros. and a vintage television which displays one of the levels of the game. Even if the insertion mechanism of the GamePaks has been reproduced down to the smallest detail, the console and the joystick are obviously simple reproductions of the reference models without internal electronics.

The crank placed on the side of the TV will add a touch of interactivity to this set by animating the level present on the screen. You will discover all the intricacies of the internal mechanics of the TV in the presentation video available further down in the article.

A Brick action similar to those seen in the different parts of the LEGO Super Mario range will be provided in this box, it will allow you to use the interactive Mario minifigure available in the set 71360 Adventures with Mario to take advantage of some sound sequences relating to the progression in the displayed level which will be broadcast via the speaker of the figurine.

For those who would already like to plan a space for this product on their shelves, know that the CRT TV has the following dimensions: 23.5 cm wide, 22.5 cm high and 16 cm deep. The NES console measures 20.8 x 7.5 cm (12.6 x 5.1 cm for the controller).

I can understand all those for whom this box does not represent much, but I am from the NES generation and I know in advance that I will have a hard time bypassing it even if I would have gladly contented myself with the console alone with a lower public price. Others, younger, might also have preferred a Super NES, let's hope that LEGO will take up the idea in another set with perhaps one day a second box featuring the console marketed in 1992.

Below you will find a complete gallery of "lifestyle" visuals of the product followed by two videos: A presentation sequence of the set and the traditional announcement of the product by the designer. We will talk about this box again in a few days on the occasion of a "Review ".

71374 NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

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

You can pretend you haven't seen anything yet, but it's hard to escape the current social media leaks: LEGO gears up to unveil the set 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System which will allow from August to assemble a reproduction of the NES console and a television with a vintage look. Probable retail price of this set of 2646 pieces: € 229.99.

The set will be compatible with the interactive Mario figure available in the set 71360 Adventures with Mario.

We are obviously talking about it again as soon as the official announcement is made. The "Review "will follow quickly.