First of all, it should be noted that the idea is not new, I have already seen a few advertisements from individuals on the Le Bon Coin site who offered the same service: The rental with option to purchase LEGO products against a price fixed. Some toy rental sites also exist in France: Between individuals with Zilok or via a professional with monjoujou.com or loca-jouet.fr for example.

The Pleygo.com site develops the concept by centering it on LEGO products and making it professional and attractive. Everything is done to explain to parents that they can regularly offer the latest fashionable novelties or older sets from the LEGO catalog to their children.

The products are cleaned and "disinfected" before dispatch, the postage is free and the customer can even choose to permanently acquire the rented product. A few parts lost by the most stunned do not generate overcharging.

The subscription price starts at $ 15 per month to be able to rent sets containing a maximum of 250 pieces, this price increases to $ 25 per month to have access to sets containing up to 500 pieces, and to be able to access the "Mega Fan" category (Sets over 500 pieces), the monthly fee is $ 39. There is no limit to the number of sets that the customer can rent each month, but it is only possible to rent one set at a time.

If you have children, you know the average lifespan of their interest in a newly purchased toy: It is often very limited ... With this site, the pleasure is constantly renewed without cluttering the children's room and without spending money astronomical prices when buying LEGO products, which are among the most expensive in the construction toys department. The solution is attractive and will allow fans to build a few sets that have already become inaccessible for many parents in these difficult times.

Obviously, as a collector, I don't really agree with the idea of ​​having to "return" a set, but I am not the target of this initiative exclusively centered on LEGO products and articulated around the leitmotif "I praise, I build, I send back ".

And you, do you find this offer interesting? Parents, would you consider renting your LEGOs? Children and teenagers, is being able to access a varied offer allowing you to build many sets an advantage?

I await your opinions in the comments.

A little graphic culture does not hurt, I invite you to discover the work of Albert Co, the artist who works on many licenses on behalf of LEGO, Marvel or even Disney.

His portfolio is very interesting: We discover many preliminary visuals of the different illustrations that we all know, including different versions of the skin of the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO Lord of the Rings video games.

Albert Co is also working on the Legends of Chima, Batman, Harry Potter and The Hobbit licenses and in a few images he reveals the concepts that led to the final visuals. He also briefly explains the reasons that may have led his clients on certain occasions to request substantial modifications to the original ideas.

If you have some time to devote to discovering the work of this artist who masters tools like Maya and Photoshop at his fingertips, you will not regret it. His portfolio is accessible at this address or by clicking on the image above.

Le Store Calendar of the month of August is online with a few offers that may be of interest to anyone who can visit one of the two French LEGO Stores (SO OUEST and Euralille).

We will retain the following offers:

The Friends polybag 30106 Ice Cream Stand offered from August 1 to 31 with any purchase of products from the LEGO Friends range.

The Galaxy Squad polybag 30230 Mini Mech offered from August 1 to 16 from 55 € of purchase.

The 41999 4 × 4 Crawler Exclusive Edition set (See these articles) published in 20.000 copies and which will be on sale from 1 August.

The possibility for VIP clients to enjoy a preview from August 16 to 31 the set 10234 Sydney Opera House (See this article) whose official release is scheduled for September at a price of 299.99 €.

No trace of the 21103 Back to the Future Time Machine set in this Store Calendar, yet its official availability remains scheduled for August 1 on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores. Thanks to the passage to Micky94130 who confirms to me by email that the Store of SO OUEST has received 90 boxes of this set which is not even present on the LEGO Shop at present.

Note that delivery becomes definitely free for any order reaching 55 € on the LEGO Shop.

Click on the image above to download the Store Calendar in PDF format.

Let's keep it simple: If you want to get the polybag 30168 containing the Iron Patriot minifig in Europe, you just need to pre-order the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes set from amazon UK. Availability scheduled for November 15, 2013.

Click here or on the image above to access the game sheet at amazon, choose the platform that interests you, then select the version "Iron Patriot Limited Minifigure Edition"before adding it to your cart ...

The game is also available in PS3 format as a bundle with the Iron Patriot minifigure at amazon.de (Click here)

You can also access many new character visuals from the game released at Marvel by clicking on the image below.

As much to tell you right away, LEGO has NOTHING planned for Celebration Europe.

Explanation: The LEGO booth which stands in the middle of the main hall is in fact a temporary store deported from the LEGO Store in Essen, the city that hosts the convention. Visitors can buy all the 2013 LEGO Star Wars sets there, and pick up a Han Solo polybag (that of May 4) for 55 € of purchase. End of the story.

No exclusive product, no special minifigure, no poster, no to sell or to win. NOTHING.

No new products presented, no announcements, no representative of the brand on site. The temporary workers who supervise the stand are overwhelmed, they know nothing about it and concentrate on trying to explain to you that no one here works for LEGO.

Before the doors opened, the lines were packed with fans eager to see if LEGO had planned an exclusive set, why not the same as at Comic Con in San Diego. Later in the morning, these same fans crossed in the aisles did not hide their immense disappointment, and their feeling of being forgotten by the great family of LEGO fans. 

Only interesting moment of the day: The LEGO Star Wars panel presented by James Burns and Duncan Jenkins. 30 minutes of interesting information on the range from its launch to the present day. The two collectors specializing in the subject know how to capture the attention of spectators who come in large numbers to discover the world of collecting. In 30 minutes, they go around the subject, deliver a few anecdotes and play the game of questions asked by the spectators.

Only interesting news of the day: James Burns reveals that LEGO has in its boxes other sets based on the Original Trilogy of the same size as the set 10236 Ewok Village. He had access to visuals and he announced that nice surprises are on the program with some anthology scenes reproduced by LEGO.

He also announces that there will be other ships from the Star Wars universe that will be reproduced in life size (Like the Times Square X-Wing) and presented by the end of the year.

On a more personal level, a small minute of satisfaction when the two animators present a list of sources of information for fans of the LEGO Star Wars range and cite among the many sites you see in the photo above, hothbricks.com.

At the end of the panel, a visual of a novelty 2014 is presented: The one we discovered a few days ago of the set 75043 AT-AP ... (See this article).

For its part, the Hasbro stand is full and sells exclusive products to the hundreds of people who queue ...

On the side of the stand run by the fans, some really nice MOCs of which I have put you pictures below. Further on, a portion of the 501st Legion parade reproduced with minifigs.

For the rest, great atmosphere, the cosplayers put on a show, radio-controlled astromech droids run everywhere, the children are in heaven, and obviously begging their parents to buy them a box of LEGOs ...