If you have been able to be patient so far and not fall for the very successful LEGO ICONS set 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell sold at the public price of 499.99 € on the official online store, know that Amazon is currently going there with a small reduction on the public price of the product which saves you a few tens of euros. It's not the big discount price party yet, but it's still a little cheaper than at LEGO. Don't forget to select the option "Ship in Amazon packaging" in the basket just before payment to receive your set in good condition:

LEGO 10316 Icons The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, Build the Valley of Middle-earth, Mother's Day Set with 15 Minifigures including F

496.39 €

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Otherwise, if you want it even cheaper, it is currently at 457.06 € on Amazon Germany, postage and VAT adjustment included.

To support the transformation of the LEGO VIP program into a program LEGO Insiders, the manufacturer is announcing today a "treasure hunt" which will allow the lucky ones to win one of the two million prizes at stake. Just that.

We don't get carried away and we drink cold, the prize for this operation which will take place until October 2, 2023 is mainly made up of digital stuff without much interest for which the winners will receive a code to use on the LEGO Insiders center:

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21342 The Insect Collection, a box of 1111 pieces freely inspired by the creation put online by Hachiroku24 (José María Pérez Suero) on the LEGO Ideas platform and which will be available in VIP preview from September 4, 2023 at the retail price of €79.99.

It should probably be recalled once again, the LEGO Ideas platform exists to collect ideas and LEGO then reserves the right to adapt and transform them into marketable products. It is therefore common for the official version of an idea allows itself a few liberties and other more or less justified shortcuts.

Those who had followed the evolution of the project concerned until its arrival in the review phase at LEGO and its final selection have necessarily noticed that LEGO has taken up the initial idea in broad outline but that some of the insects present have been reduced to their simplest expression.

One could imagine that the designer wanted to keep a semblance of scale between the different protagonists of this box, this could then explain that the bee and the ladybug only benefit from a minimal treatment in the official version of the box. 'idea.

This "collection" of insects therefore comes down to three large detailed constructions, a minimalist bee and four ladybugs symbolized by Tiles pad-printed rounds. On the other hand, we obtain three small flat bases decorated with a few plant elements which allow the insects to be presented in good conditions, it is always better than placing them loose on a shelf as presented in the initial project.

These supports are obviously coin-consuming and a large part of the inventory passes into these dead branches, these mushrooms and other flowers which welcome the insects in situation. I finally find this solution welcome, it gives cachet to the three constructions and it allows to expose the blue morpho butterfly, the Dynaste Hercules beetle and the Chinese mantis in a readable and dynamic context.

LEGO provides four instruction booklets in this box, three for the insects to build and a fourth booklet composed of a few pages documenting the species concerned as well as the inventory of the box. It will therefore be possible to assemble the product with several people, it is always a valid argument in favor of a certain user-friendliness.

Whether the subject speaks to you or not, this product at least has the merit of bringing freshness to the LEGO catalog which sometimes tends to purr a little and often to surf on its achievements. The three insects are fun to assemble, there are good building ideas and the result is visually stunning. Don't spoil yourself too much about the different stages of assembly of each of these insects, all the pleasure provided by this product is there and you will probably not be disappointed.

Fans of misuse of certain parts will also find something to have fun here, with bucket handles, pistols or even crowbars used to refine the aesthetics of these different insects.

As you probably already know, I only appreciate these misuses when they are used in moderation and that is pretty much the case here. No stickers in this box, the borders of the wings of the blue morpho butterfly, the look of the Chinese mantis, the ladybugs and the abdomen of the bee are therefore stamped.

In terms of faults that I have been able to identify: the fragility of certain sub-assemblies which can quickly become annoying during construction. But it is not a toy for children and each insect can be moved without breaking everything by catching the support on which it is firmly fixed. I also notice a few scratched parts right out of the box and it's always more annoying on a detailed construction that uses few parts than on a massive ship in which technical faults drown more easily.

Some may regret that the insects are here a little less the "stars" of the product due to the presence of visually invasive plant elements, this was undoubtedly the price to pay to make the initial idea more suitable for a product targeting an adult clientele who wishes to display a beautiful object, not just put a butterfly or a beetle on their shelves.

Entomology is not one of my passions, so I don't see these three pretty constructions being exhibited at home, but I appreciated being able to assemble them between two vessels and other less poetic dioramas.

And it is above all for this variety that the product brings that it should not be neglected, it allows you to change your mind a bit, to discover some rather original construction and finishing techniques and to build something relatively realistic. . The mix of colors used is well chosen, the overall assortment works aesthetically with a fairly satisfactory visual balance.

If you have 80 € to spend at the start of the school year in addition to your usual purchases, do not ignore this product, it provides a few hours of pure construction pleasure with a result with interesting decorative potential, especially if the mysterious world of insects excites you.

It remains to be verified that all those who voted for the initial idea will be there when it comes to checkout, the eventual commercial success of the product will necessarily have an influence on the future choices of the product. team in charge of validating LEGO Ideas projects. For my part, I remain an avid fan of licensed lines like Star Wars or Marvel, but I do not say no to something a little innovative and refreshing from time to time.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at August 31, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

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

We continue today with a new contest allowing the lucky winner to win a copy of the very successful LEGO Technic set 42158 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance put in play.

To validate your participation, as always, simply identify yourself via the interface below and follow the instructions provided. As usual, it is a question of finding information on the official online store and then answering the question correctly. At the end of the participation phase, the winner will be chosen by lot from the correct answers. Participation is free and without obligation to purchase.

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.

The prize in play is generously provided by LEGO through the annual endowment allocated to all members of the LAN (LEGO Ambassador Network), it will be sent to the winner by me as soon as his contact details are confirmed by return email.

As always, I reserve the right to disqualify any entrant who has attempted to defraud or hijack the entry system in order to increase their chances of winning. Grumpers and bad losers abstain, the others will have a better chance of winning.

For information: the name / nickname of the winner is displayed in the participation interface once the draw has been made. I also notify the winners by email, but remember to check anyway.

Today we are very quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Marvel set 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle, a box of 900 pieces which has been available since August 1, 2023 at the retail price of €104.99.

As for the set 76266 Endgame Final Battle which I was telling you about a few days ago, it's about assembling a compact interpretation of a scene taken from a film with the idea of ​​being able to display the thing without invading the living room with plastic bricks.

This film derivative Spider-Man: No Way Home therefore uses the principle of the small black and round base on which the construction is installed, with the promise of being able to enjoy it from all angles. I specify for those who have an overflowing imagination, the base is not equipped with a system which would make it rotary, it will have to be turned by hand. It's also a bit of a shame, the presence of an axis under the tray would have facilitated the exploration of the contents of the product.

We're not going to lie to each other, many fans imagined that the final scene of the film would receive more treatment at LEGO with a construction on the level of the one seen in 2019 in The LEGO Movie 2 set 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg. This is not the case and we have to be content with this very compact version which frankly lacks ambition. With a few details, the head of the Statue of Liberty is similar to that of The LEGO Movie 2 set, but there is only this part of the statue in this box and the diorama is economy.

Everything is very quickly assembled and then a slew of scaffolding is installed which necessarily makes the whole visually a little confusing. It is however in the spirit of the scene of the film, but much tighter with 18 cm high by 20 cm wide and 22 cm deep. the construction can be used from different angles, the finish matches on all sides.

There are a few stickers to stick on the head of the statue, but you can almost imagine doing without them as the construction is hidden behind the scaffolding, knowing that it is only a few bolts and that the background color of these stickers is not perfectly matched with the color of the parts on which they must be installed.

LEGO did not forget to slip some fun details into the heart of the construction, including Sandman's hand hidden inside the head of the statue or a large sticker evoking the contents of the set 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum accessible via the hidden portal at the back of the skull. The portal opened by Ned is there and even if everything is piled up with forceps, the references are appreciable.

The decor being planted, we can then install the large handful of minifigs provided in this box and all the fantasies are allowed with in particular some curved transparent supports and adapted to the installation of characters in a very dynamic pose. The product loses a little in compactness but it then takes on an interesting volume and we almost forget the central construction to focus on the figurines and their interactions.

The endowment in minifigs here is rather substantial with the three versions of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ned, MJ, Electro, The Green Goblin and Dr Octopus. No Lizard in this box, it is the great absentee and there was however enough to add this central character of the scene concerned with a public price fixed at 105 €. LEGO would probably have included a large figurine of the creature and there was not necessarily room to install it on the diorama.

The three Spider-Man figurines seem successful to me, we can clearly distinguish the significant attributes of each of the outfits and the graphic designers have done their homework. Each of the characters comes with a head and a hair that allows them to be displayed without their respective masks, it is an interesting choice knowing that they evolve without their masks in a large part of the scene of the film. Legs injected in two colors for everyone, it is appreciable.

The more observant will have noticed that Tom Holland's minifigure reuses elements already seen in other boxes, it makes sense. Those who have been waiting for LEGO to one day make The Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) version more accessible than the limited edition one offered during San Diego Comic Con in 2013 will finally have the character at hand without having to spend a lot of money.

The Ned figurine is pretty much the same except for the design of the torso: the jacket is the wrong color. Same observation for MJ's minifig with a striped sweater which is also not in the color seen on the screen. On the villain side, the three characters provided are quite successful, they are all equipped with well-designed accessories that add to the dynamics of the scene. Doc Ock has glasses with very slightly smoked lenses on the screen, the minifig is faithful. LEGIO on the other hand could have made an effort on the Green Goblin figurine, the legs and arms of the character lack detail.

We must face the facts, this set is in fact a pretext to offer us a very large handful of characters with enough to stage them without wisely aligning them on a support or in a Ribba frame.

The main construction lacks in my opinion a bit of flavor and one could have hoped for a more ambitious product to represent this scene. It's dense, visually a bit confusing, but we'll have to deal with it and we'll console ourselves by keeping space on our shelves for some larger products to come.

As for the public price of this box, this is not a problem, this product is already available at Amazon at a much lower price, which immediately makes it even more attractive:

Discount -20%

LEGO 76261 Marvel Spider-Man's Final Battle, Recreate the Scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home with 3 Peter Parkers, Green Goblin, Electro, Ned, Dr Str

104.99 € 83.99 €

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Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at August 29, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

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