As a preamble, I remind you that I only collect the Star Wars, Super Heroes and Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit ranges.

So I am only giving my opinion here on these ranges, but you are of course free to mention your tops or your flops for 2012 in the comments.

It's no secret that my favorite set of 2012 is obviously the 9500 Sith Fury-Class Interceptor and this for many reasons :
- This set is proof that LEGO is still capable of innovating in the Star Wars range with new creations. The universe of the saga The Old Republic, allows an appreciable refreshment in the middle of the remakes of existing sets or the sets taken from the animated series The Clone Wars.
- The minifigs in this set are brand new, and I remember being amazed when I discovered them for the first time, which had not happened to me since the announcement of Amidala's minifig delivered in the set 9499 Gungan Sub.
- The ship is also a success because it preserves and respects the spirit of its successors (or predecessors in the chronology of the range).
- Sold by LEGO at a slightly excessive price of 99.99 €, it can however be found around 70 € by searching carefully. (68.99 € currently on amazon.fr)

The other set that got me excited this year is the 6857 The Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape released in the LEGO Super Heroes (DC Universe) range.

Arrived from nowhere when no one expected it, this box represents to me what every LEGO set should be: A playable product, with many features, delivered with enough minifigs and marketed at a fair price which is the case here.

This exclusive set, always on sale at the LEGO Shop at a price of 49.99 € and difficult to find elsewhere at a reasonable price, allows you to obtain five key characters of the DC / Batman universe: Batman, Robin, the Joker, Harley Quinn and The Riddler. Enough to start a collection in good conditions and have fun with the functions offered by the "Laughter Palace"as LEGO calls it.

On the flop side, I would put two sets for which I expected something else without really knowing what: the 9516 Jabba's Palace which, even if it is chock full of interesting minifigs, lacks finishing and ambition: The palace is reduced to a hut in which the characters come cram like in an overcrowded Christmas crib.
The retail price of € 144.99 is clearly exaggerated. Fortunately, it is possible to get this set for less than 100 € (97.99 € currently at amazon.fr).

The other disappointing set this year is the 9497 Republic Striker-Class Starfighter with a failed ship for my taste, you ancestor of the X-Wing disguised as a Christmas tree. It's ugly, barely faithful to the versions seen in the game or in the webcomics based on The Old Republic and it's a shame. The three new minifigs in this set (Satele Chan, T7-O1 and the Republic Trooper) go a little unnoticed by fans and they deserved to be better accompanied.

Do not hesitate to talk about your favorite sets for 2012 in the comments, even and especially if they are products from other ranges than those mentioned above.

And it is via the Whitefang review on Eurobricks that the suspense is over and that we finally discover the 16 minifigs of series 9.

From my side, I fell in love with the Alien Trooper and the Mech Galaxy Squad. The rest is not too much in my favorite themes.

Click on the image to access to the review on Eurobricks.

Note that the series 9 minifigs are also visible on the official LEGO website dedicated to the different series of this range.

amazon.fr offers an interesting operation until December 5 if you still have some LEGO purchases to make.

I give you the details of the operation below, so that it is clear:

LEGO: 15 € discount voucher from 50 euros of purchases *
From December 2, 2012 to December 5, 2012 inclusive, buy 50 euros in a single order from the selection of LEGO toys below and benefit from a 15 € reduction voucher.

How to benefit?

1. Select at least 50 euros worth of games from the selection of LEGO toys, sold and shipped by Amazon.fr, below.
2. Confirm your purchases by clicking on the "Add to cart" button.
3. Once your order has been fully dispatched, your 15 euros reduction voucher will be sent by email. A maximum of two days may elapse between the date of dispatch of your order and the date of receipt of the email.
4. The delivery note is valid from December 2, 2012 to March 31, 2013 on all the LEGO selection.

* Offer valid until December 5, 2012 inclusive, within the limit of available stocks, within the limit of 6000 reduction coupons, once per customer, see conditions at the bottom of the page.

Two new polybags will soon be available in the LEGO Galaxy Squad range: 30230 Mini Mech et 30231 Space Insectoid.

This current trend of getting out of polybags all the time suits me pretty well.

I like this format which commercially allows the manufacturer to discover its ranges with bags sold at an affordable price or offered during promotional operations, but which offers collectors the opportunity to add some references to their inventories. They will all tell you: A collection is only complete when it brings together all the products that are part of the range concerned.

Seeing these two nice polybags, I almost regret that LEGO is not more ambitious on Galaxy Squad with for example a cartoon that would launch the range and present the adventures of the factions in presence as is currently the case with the Ninjago range and in 2013 with the Legends of Chima range.

Unless you fell into the Dark Age during the night, it's impossible to miss it today: it is December 1st and the entire AFOL community shivers (or rather shuddered) at the idea of ​​discovering the content of the first case of the inevitable set 9509 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar.

My morning visit to the various sites or blogs devoted to the LEGO universe reassured me on one point: Most of them left as planned for 24 days of increasingly serious posts that will dissect in length, width and depth. through the starving contents of the plastic boxes.

I love this period during which abound the various reviews of the micro-content of this Advent Calendar where there is nothing to eat. Each blog goes there with its analysis of the five pieces of the day, and on flickr the LEGO galleries become alignments of photos taken with Instagram of the micro-thing from the box opened that same morning.

I don't know if this set should really be given so much importance. I think that I will not recede like last year to the urge to discuss the contents of this box daily. I don't marvel at these micro-vessels every morning and I prefer to say nothing than to criticize for 24 days.

Despite everything, I think I would do regular stitches, just to send a few spades to the manufacturer. In the meantime, I'm going back to my Kinder calendar. The gifts are just as shabby as in the LEGO calendar boxes, but there is chocolate.