LEGO continues to recycle rejected creations as part of the Bricklink Designer Program by inventing the MOC Pop-up Store, a virtual store which allows you to purchase some of these constructions obviously by prioritizing the stock of the platform's parts sellers.

On the program for this test phase, 41 creations selected from among the entries which had not been selected during the first two phases of the reboot of the Bricklink Designer Program and which are therefore now available for purchase, instructions in PDF format included, with a mix of Bricklink stores and parts supplied directly by LEGO through its Pick a Brick service.

The ordering process is necessarily a little laborious, it begins with the automatic selection of Bricklink stores having the parts necessary for the assembly of the construction in question depending on your geographical location and the system then possibly combines the purchase in certain of these stores with an additional order of parts from the LEGO Shop via the Pick a Brick service.

You then have the choice of the least expensive combination or the one that requires placing fewer separate orders to bring together the entire inventory of the product. In all cases, the bill is rather steep from the start with big price fluctuations depending on your choice of stores and that's without taking into account the shipping costs invoiced by the different sellers which will be estimated before ordering and adjusted After validation. These creations are obviously delivered in bulk, without box or paper instruction booklet.

LEGO specifies that the selected creations have been checked to ensure that the entire inventory necessary for their assembly is available via Bricklink or the Pick a Brick service but specifies that these constructions have not been controlled by the designers of the brand to adapt them to LEGO quality standards as is the case for the products of the Bricklink Designer Program.

This temporary offer, which has a test value, will be available until mid-November 2023.

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Today we take a very quick look at the contents of the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set. 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, a large box of 5374 pieces which will be available on the official online store and in the LEGO Stores as an Insiders preview from October 1, 2023 at the public price of €649.99.

I'm not making a drawing for you, this is a stamped product Ultimate Collector Series and this novelty therefore takes up all the usual attributes of the label in question: a high price, a pretty box, a substantial inventory, a rather long assembly process with here around ten hours on the clock, a result with measurements which will require making space on your shelves and obvious exhibition potential. We all already know the exterior appearance of the ship offered here via the official visuals available since the product was put online on the Shop, so we still have to discover what lies beneath the gray and red surface of this Venator.

Unsurprisingly, the designer uses the usual recipe which consists of creating a solid internal structure based on Technic beams and various pines (there are nearly 400 pins in this box) and we can wonder at certain stages of the assembly if LEGO doesn't overdo it with a structure of almost surprising density. We will see later that the whole thing is extremely rigid and that the solution used was perfectly justified.

As is often the case, the internal structure is colored, failing to offer some more accomplished arrangements than the inevitable tangles of beams. It is practical to have some visual cues during assembly and these shimmering colors will fortunately no longer be visible when the vessel is fully assembled.

As you can see in the photos, the set also uses around sixty orange-colored pines. Those who hoped that LEGO would include at least one internal space, even symbolic, will be disappointed because this is not the case. The manufacturer also did not deem it useful to offer us a mechanism for opening the long central red strip to access an internal hangar, as on the ship seen on the screen.

The Venator rests on two relatively simple feet which allow them to be discreet when the model is on display. Difficult to do more sober than these two black constructions which are installed at the end of the assembly of the internal structure to then be able to work comfortably on the rest of the construction, possibly moving it in complete safety between two sessions. On arrival, the Venator is perfectly stable on its supports, there is no risk of it tipping over, and no time is wasted trying to figure out how to attach it to its support after handling it. If you ever want to remove the two legs of the model to, for example, stage it in a space diorama, all you need to do is remove the four upper panels to access the pins that hold them.

The construction process includes some slightly repetitive phases and it is the subject matter that requires that. I still note an effort on certain sequences whose result will be identical or at least mirrored but whose progression is slightly different so as not to create too much weariness.

For the rest, those who are used to assembling ships bearing the label Ultimate Collector Series will be on familiar ground with large panels made up of two layers of plates which clip onto the construction frame. The adjustments are, as is often the case, a little rough in places but we will observe this Venator from a certain distance and the whole thing still looks great.

We will also salute LEGO's effort concerning the finishing of the lower surface of the ship, the manufacturer does not hesitate to highlight this detail on the official visuals as if to show that it has taken into account past criticism, although this Venator deserves better than the third top shelf in your display space. The satisfaction of knowing that this area has not been neglected will be enough to keep most fans happy and that is already very appreciable.

We could also debate the presence of numerous studs visible on the exterior surface of the ship: some will consider that it is a LEGO product and that the studs are the signature of the brand while others will regret that the surfaces are not more smooth. This debate is endless, I am one of those who prefer fewer tenons for a model appearance but tastes and colors are not up for debate.

The weak point of the product is in my opinion on the side of the Venator reactors. The latter use rims and giant wheels which are usually the delight of ranges like Legends of Chima, Ninjago or Monkie Kid connected together by a few pins and the whole thing lacks a little rigidity. Nothing serious for a pure exhibition product, but some of these reactors seem to bend under their own weight and you will have to ensure that you have secured the elements that compose them as best as possible to limit the effect. We will salute the nice contrast between the engines in Pearl Dark Gray and the cabin is always better than tone on tone or shades that are too close. No noticeable difference in color on the different parts in Dark Red, that's always what it takes.

The set does not escape a few stickers and it is frankly disappointing. They are imposing, their background color does not perfectly match that of the pieces on which they are placed and I still cannot understand how in 2023 we can offer this type of aesthetic shortcut on a high-end product at €650.

This model deserved the effort of at least pad printing the two symbols of the fleet Open Circle Present on the sides of the ship at the front, these two stickers are directly exposed to light and dust and their lifespan will be affected.

LEGO had in 2020 in the set 75275 A-Wing Starfighter tried to provide two sheets of stickers for those of these stickers which require a certain dexterity during installation, thus offering the right to make a mistake, for lack of anything better, it would be time to think about also offering the right to extend the lifespan of a product aesthetically.

The support which allows you to display the two figurines provided, the usual plate decorated with a few facts and the pad-printed brick which pays homage to 20 years of the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars is not attached to the feet of the model and it is without frills: we make do with two plates black ones on which we install all this. We have seen LEGO more inspired on this point.

The pad printing of the plate which presents some information about the vessel is well done but as usual it reveals the large injection point placed right in the middle of the element concerned. It will be difficult for LEGO to find a solution to this technical detail, the injection of this type of large part must allow uniform distribution of the material in the mold and the positioning of the injection point is strategic. The solution proposed here is nevertheless still more interesting than the large sticker that is difficult to position correctly and which has been supplied until now and which ages very poorly under the effect of light and heat.

The two new figurines, and undoubtedly exclusive to this box, are well executed, with Captain Rex on one side and Admiral Wullf Yularen in his younger years on the other. The pad prints are correctly applied, I do not note any major technical faults on these figurines. At the risk of getting booed, I would have preferred LEGO to develop a plastic shoulder pad for Rex rather than the usual piece of dust-collecting cloth. The manufacturer knew how to do this for the Batman and Doctor Strange capes, there must be a way to create an element adapted to these Clones.

This is obviously not a matter of trying to convince you or dissuade you from investing €650 in this plastic vessel weighing around ten kilos, this type of high-end product cannot be described as "good deal” or “must-have product”. It is aimed at a clientele of fans who can afford this category of sets and in my opinion they will get their money's worth if the subject fascinates them.

This Venator is indeed a pretty model with an accomplished aesthetic, and with a little patience it will be possible to find it for much less expensive than at LEGO as is the case every year for references of the same type. Think about it, check whether you really need a 109 cm long Venator in your home and take your time.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 25, 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.

Today we are talking about the LEGO set again 40655 Play with Braille - French Alphabet, a box of 287 pieces available since September 1 on the official online store at the public price of €89.99.

I am not going to claim to have "tested" this product sent by LEGO, I am not blind or visually impaired and it would be inappropriate to claim to know what this set is really worth which only pretends to offer the possibility of have fun with the family through activities based on the six-point tactile writing system that we all know as Braille.

Many people were offended by the public price of this box when it was announced and I think we need to put this product in context: the kit has already been available free of charge since 2020 for associative or educational structures which have a real project around braille and who make a reasoned request from the VOIR association mandated to ensure its distribution in France. LEGO is therefore today only making a product available to the general public that is already widely distributed free of charge elsewhere.

We must also not see this set through the usual prism of LEGO fans, who often seek to establish a ratio of content/price, pieces/price or weight/price, and keep in mind that this initiative is not based solely on on a handful of bricks and two base plates. LEGO offers many educational or fun activities associated with the use of the product on a dedicated site and the VOIR association does the same for its part with content in French which brings together 45 activity sheets.

For €90, it is therefore above all a matter of having access to a whole fun and educational ecosystem using the few bricks provided. That being said, if an individual wants to obtain this box to share with their children at home, they can now do so and exploit the inventory in more detail thanks to the associated content accessible free of charge.

For the rest, the bricks provided are simple 2x4s obviously compatible with classic LEGO bricks, with however one technical restriction: the Clutch Power (brick interlocking capacity) logically varies depending on the number of tenons present on the Braille brick concerned. I am not qualified to judge the relevance of the use of very large and equally spaced tenons to create a Braille alphabet which therefore requires a significant movement of the finger, those who practice the subject on a daily basis will certainly have an opinion on this point accurate.

The attached cardboard inventory sheet lists all the bricks supplied with an alphabet with raised tenons as on the "real" bricks and the quantity of each of these bricks is indicated in Braille just above.

I remind you for all intents and purposes that in all cases this is only a fun product which does not claim to allow advanced learning of Braille and to replace traditional teaching. LEGO describes its toy as “designed to develop the motor skills of visually impaired children and introduce braille into daily family games". The set was therefore designed to allow each user to participate in fun activities using braille on one side and colors associated with letters, numbers and available punctuation on the other.

If you think that this product could be really useful to you on a daily basis, do not go straight to the checkout complaining about the price and get closer first of the association VOIR to check if you can obtain the kit distributed free of charge, for example through the contact person of an association or school with which you are in contact. If you simply want to learn braille, this box will obviously allow you to do so at your own expense.

This box is for once not put into play, I gave the two sets that I received (French alphabet and English version) to a family where one of the young members is the direct target of the product. His smile was enough to convince me that this was the best possible use of these sets provided by LEGO.

The September 2023 issue of the official LEGO Star Wars magazine is available on newsstands at the price of €6.99 and as expected it allows us to obtain a Stormtrooper with his blaster, equipped for the occasion with a female face.

In the pages of this magazine, we discover the figurine which will accompany the next publication announced for October 11, it is C-3PO who will for the occasion be assisted by a Gonk Droid. The C-3PO minifigure is the one already seen this year in the sets 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor et 75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base.

For those who are interested, I remind you that the instructions of the different mini-models delivered with this magazine are available in PDF format on the publisher's website. Simply enter the six-digit code on the back of the bag to obtain the file, for example 912309 for the bag provided this month even if the associated PDF file confirms that there is no need for special instructions to assemble the Stormtrooper.

Finally, be aware that it is always possible to subscribe for a period of six months or a year to the official LEGO Star Wars magazine via the abo-online.fr platform. The 12-month subscription (13 issues) costs € 76.50.

LEGO today officially unveils the new reference in the LEGO Star Wars range stamped Ultimate Collector Series some visuals of which were already circulating on social networks: the set 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser with its 5374 pieces, its two minifigs and its public price set at €649.99.

In the box, enough to assemble the ship measuring 109 cm long by 54 cm wide and 32 cm high, a micro Gunship, a display flanked by the traditional plaque distilling some facts about the subject covered, a brick celebrating 20 years of the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and Captain Rex and Admiral Yularen figurines. For comparison, this Venator is 1 cm shorter than the Star Destroyer in the set 75252 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer (110 cm long by 66 cm wide).

Availability announced for October 1, 2023 in Insiders preview followed by global marketing planned for October 4.

75367 VENATOR-CLASS REPUBLIC ATTACK CRUISER ON THE LEGO SHOP >>