Stop hurting yourself with the bad English recordings of the first episodes of the Legends of Chima TV series (briefly) available on YouTube.

Fans of minifigures with animal heads and caterpillars of all kinds, please note that the animated series will be broadcast on the youth channel Channel J from the Wednesday February 6 2013.

The first episode will air at 9h and the second from 9h.

The pitch of the series for those who do not know it yet: The kingdom of Chima is a magical land where very advanced species dominate. These creatures speak and act like people. They use vehicles and machines and live in incredible castles and fortresses. They have claws, teeth, tails, and some are equipped with wings. Now they are at war with each other ...

It's Bjarke Schonwandt, the "quality" man at LEGO who confirms the info on the very secret forum reserved for "LEGO Ambassadors" and I will sum it up here in a few words, because after all, we are all entitled to the info:

The arches delivered so far in the set of the range The Hobbit 79003 An Unexpected Gathering are ALL defective (See this article).

Explanation: A dark story of the bad graphics file used to cast the part, I'll skip the details. LEGO made a mistake.

ALL boxes sold to date are affected, and LEGO has stopped production of the affected set to correct the problem.

The solution: Contact LEGO customer service without delay to have the two arches delivered in this set (LEGO reference 4114073) replaced with the same reference, but with the correct dimensions.

Moreover, this same Mr. Schonwandt had promised earlier in 2012 that LEGO would take care of bringing out in new sets the 10 most expensive pieces on Bricklink, just to break the effect of shortage and speculation ... He also confirmed that LEGO keeps track of requests to replace missing or defective parts in order to unmask "the profiteers of the system".

I know that many of you here are fond of LEGO key chains, and often for a variety of reasons.

Fundamentalist collectors consider them to be an integral part of a range, and do-it-yourselfers buy them to take the pin out of their heads and thus obtain a particular minifigure at an unbeatable price.

The Daily Brick reveals the list of keychains planned for 2013 in the different ranges (except Star Wars for now):

Super Heroes: White batman
Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit: Frodo Baggins & Bilbo Baggins
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Leonardo, Rafael, Michelangelo & Splinter
The Lone Ranger: Tonto & Lone Ranger
Legends of Chima: Cragger, Eris, Worriz & Laval
Ninjago: golden ninja

I give you below the excellent video of thebrickblogger.com which explains how to remove the pin from a minifig in seconds using a soldering iron.

The and 10221 UCS Super Star Destroyer whose public price is 399.99 € is currently for sale on cdiscount.fr for only 290.70 €.

I know that many of you have not always been completely satisfied with Cdiscount, especially in terms of packaging, but at this price, I say that it is trying ...

Click on the image above to order this set from cdiscount.fr.

If you are used to taking advantage of the sales to expand your collection or your bulk, you have probably noticed that this year LEGO sets are rather rare in the shelves of large distribution chains dedicated to the large annual destocking as well as among online merchants.

 As a preamble, we can recall that all analysts are unanimous: After three years of significant increases, the toy market shows a slight decline of 2% in 2012. However, this decrease must be weighted: 2011 was an exceptional year thanks in particular to the Beyblade license.

2012 also saw the arrival in force of digital tablets for children and connected toys on the shelves of toy stores.

Regarding LEGO, it is difficult for the moment to draw conclusions about the noticeable absence of their products in the shelves devoted to sales. However, we can mention several tracks:

- Merchants may have better anticipated their sales volumes and better managed their supplies. But we can also think that LEGO has not been able to supply enough merchandise to retailers, which probably explains why stocks are at very low levels after the holiday season.

- Availability (and prices) are significantly better at online merchants than in neighborhood stores. Amazon, to name but one, is a big seller of LEGO and the manufacturer cannot do without this distribution channel, undoubtedly to the detriment of smaller merchants who thus suffer the full brunt of the shortage of boxes.

- LEGO products sell well all year round, no need to cut prices to sell boxes. The brand is on the rise, its ranges are popular and the competition is struggling to find its place. In addition, ensuring that LEGO products do not invade the shelves during sales periods, it is also to avoid devaluing the products.

- LEGO, like other brands, also takes back unsold goods after the end of the year holidays. Everything is not systematically settled. It depends on the agreement between the merchant and his supplier. This approach is understandable. You might as well take back unsold sets from a merchant who has not done the job and allocate them to another who is capable of making volume outside the holiday season rather than selling off high-end products.

- There are obviously sales on LEGO products, but you have to be quick. Professionals (or amateur sellers forgetting to declare their activity) scour the supermarkets as soon as the sales open to collect the boxes sold at reduced prices and resell them later on eBay, Priceminister, Bricklink and others.

LEGO remains one of the rare toy brands (don't tell me here about the manufacturers of collectors' products printed in a few dozen copies), some products of which see their price increase on the secondary market without having to wait half a century. This no doubt partly explains the storming of the LEGO department during the sales period.

Small clarification: When you meet Grandpa and Grandma at Carrefour who fill their trolleys with LEGO boxes, tell yourself that it is not necessarily the ideal grandparents who prepare the birthdays of small children. They may also be on a mission ...

 (Illustrative photo of empty LEGO shelf received by email, thanks to BFLV)

Below, the direct links to some merchants offering LEGO on sale (or not, or more ...)