It is tradition, each year LEGO offers all of its employees, partners and other groups of fans a product specially designed for this occasion. This year, the manufacturer is offering a festive set with a box of 1464 pieces bearing the reference 4002023 Gingerbread House which features a gingerbread house flanked by numerous decorations on its facades which also serves as a reusable Advent calendar on the back with small extractable and numbered drawers.

Why not, the set is currently selling for a little over a hundred euros via bricklink and for much more expensive via eBay but its price should further drop significantly with the constant arrival of new announcements.

It should be noted that in certain countries where LEGO is established, employees see this product offered each year as an opportunity to earn a little money on resale to supplement their end of December and there are already numerous announcements in from the USA, Hungary, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. This year will not be the best of all for these employees with a product that is a little less attractive than others offered in the past, but those who want to add a copy of this set to the estimated circulation of 30.000 copies will be able to do so without spending too much on showing a little patience.

Like all members of the LAN, I received a copy of this product, it is a gift and I am therefore not putting it into play here out of respect for the attention and energy spent by LEGO, which I thank in passing , to include us in the endowment.

Notice to cardholders Wow!!! : Auchan is currently offering its usual offer, undoubtedly the last of the year, which allows you to obtain 25% reduction on a small selection of LEGO sets in the Technic, CITY, Friends or even DUPLO ranges in the form of a credit on the brand's loyalty card. This time the offer is valid until December 18, 2023.

For information, the map Wow!!! is a loyalty card from the Auchan brand to which you can subscribe for free online. With each transaction, you accumulate euros thanks to the discounts offered, which you can then spend in store or on the auchan.fr site.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE CURRENT OFFER AT AUCHAN >>

Notice to all those who always postpone what they have planned to do that day: the offer, the last of the year 2023, which currently allows you to benefit from the doubling of Insiders points on the official store in line ends today and there is still time to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, the two promotional products whose planned dates overlapped with that of the current operation are already sold out and we must therefore be content to accumulate points to exchange for a reduction to be used on a future purchase via the official online store or in the LEGO Stores.

As we have said and repeated, this is not the offer of the century, it only allows you to accumulate twice as many points to use on a future order and it is not an immediate reduction. For each product purchased, you will therefore accumulate double points during the period indicated and you will then have to exchange these points for a reduction voucher to be used on a future purchase via the rewards center. 750 Insiders points accumulated entitle you to a reduction of €5 to be used on a future order on the official online store or during a trip to a LEGO Store. You can also use your points to get a copy of the very successful LEGO set 40585 World of Wonders available in exchange for 2700 points, or approximately €18 in equivalent value.

It's always better than nothing, especially if you buy products exclusive to the official LEGO store. Otherwise, there is always cheaper elsewhere.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE OFFER ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

The December 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 Yoda's Jedi Starfighter of 36 pieces.

In the pages of this issue of the magazine, we discover the figurine which will accompany the next publication announced for January 31, 2024, it is a Mandalorian Pilot, identical to the one seen in the set 75348 Mandalorian Fang Fighter vs. TIE Interceptor (957 pieces - €99.99) under the heading Mandalorian Fleet Commander.

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 912312 for the Yoda's Jedi Starfighter supplied this month.

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.

Today we are very quickly interested in the content of the LEGO DREAMZzz set 71455 Grimkeeper the Cage Monster, a box of 274 pieces which is available at the public price of €37.99 on the official store.

This product is in the soft underbelly of the first wave of sets based on the "home" LEGO DREAMZzz license, it modestly showcases the imposing Grimkeeper ou Keeper of Nightmares seen from the first episode of the animated series which serves as marketing support for derivative products.

The brick interpretation of the monster seen on screen is hardly more convincing here than that of the set 71461 Fantastic Tree House which I spoke to you about a few weeks ago, but this time the creature is really at the center of the product, it logically benefits from a little more attention from the designers. The head, however, remains reduced to its simplest expression with a pretty pad-printed part used on both versions but a half-jaw without an upper row of teeth. The two gray shoulder pads are not pad printed, although they would have deserved to be to flesh out the overall look a little.

The main functionality of the product: the cage placed in the thorax of the creature with the possibility of enclosing the young Cooper there, who will have to be rescued, with the help of the Mateo figurine perched on his flying machine. It's very well executed and the playability is obvious.

The mobility of Grimkeeper is ensured by a few points of articulation but the limbs based on macaroni elbows necessarily remain a little rigid. The whole thing is stable on its supports and the construction can take a few poses but we obviously do not achieve the flexibility of figurines of the same style available for example in the Marvel range. I'm pointing this out because it's nice: there are no stickers in this box, all the patterned pieces are pad printed.

Facing Grimkeeper, we have a flying machine which is the only part of the product concerned by the usual possibility of varying the pleasures by choosing one of the two variants proposed in the last pages of the instruction booklet. Nothing crazy, the differences between the two versions are symbolic and this box is not the one which makes the most of this good idea which is much better exploited in other sets in the range.

Two figurines are provided, Mateo and Cooper, it's enough to have a little fun and start assembling the main cast of this universe without spending too much. Z-Blob is also present in the form of a green dome with pad-printed eyes.

The version of Cooper delivered here without his super-outfit seen in other boxes (71458 Crocodile Car et 71459 Stable of the Dream Creatures) is only present in this set, it will undoubtedly interest those who want to complete a collection of characters with all their variants. The Mateo figurine and the dome embodying Z-Blob are also delivered identically in the set 71454 Mateo and Z-Blob the Robot.

In the end, this box currently available for a little less than €30 from many merchants constitutes a nice gift for a young fan of the LEGO DREAMZzz universe, it offers enough content to have a little fun and Keeper of Nightmares is an interesting villain whose LEGO version, although a little economical, retains the look and main functionalities of the character.

This is a constant in this range anyway, there is a real gap between what we see on the screen and the LEGO versions of the vehicles, ships and other creatures present in the derivative products, this will have to be addressed to do, LEGO having decided not to limit itself to the possibilities offered by its own product to develop the animated series which then makes it possible to sell these boxes.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at December 20, 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.