LEGO has finally released the promotional set online 40575 Year of the Rabbit, a box of 194 pieces that will make it possible to assemble an interpretation of a sign of the Chinese zodiac in the spotlight in 2023: the rabbit.

As every year, the product will include a "red envelope" which will allow us to respect tradition: in Asia we offer money to our loved ones on the occasion of the New Year celebrations and you can therefore also comply with this custom. thanks to the envelope provided which is not red on the outside but whose interior is the traditional color. The box even allows you to personalize the thing with a label on which it is possible to indicate the name of the recipient and the origin of the gift. Only problem, the envelope being in the box, you will first have to open the set to deposit the money and offer everything afterwards. The flap packaging is well resealable, but there will always be the cut-out transparent sticker.

This promotional product will be offered from January 15 to 25, 2023 from €85 of purchase without range restriction.

Today we take a quick look back at a year 2022 which will have been very rich in products targeting in a totally uninhibited and assumed way an adult clientele who can afford plastic toys. Like each of you, I have been seduced, enthusiastic, annoyed or disappointed by some of these products, but tastes and colors are not to be discussed and the sets that I consider to be successful or unsuccessful will probably not be so for everyone.

The set that I remember this year is the reference LEGO ICONS 10302 Optimus Prime (179.99 €), an almost affordable box which really caused a big whiff of nostalgia in me and which highlights all the know-how of the manufacturer.

The construction is really transformable without having to go through improbable techniques or an endless and tiresome learning phase and the product keeps all its promises in my opinion with a very acceptable finish and satisfactory playability for an adult fan who simply wants to find the essence of this license in this derivative product. I really found the toy of my childhood, the contract is fulfilled.

LEGO markets many licensed products, but a large number of them are content to lazily surf on the popularity of the universe concerned without really bringing any added value linked to the extended possibilities of the LEGO concept itself beyond the 'assembly. In my opinion, this is not the case here, and it is therefore my favorite product of the year 2022.

The LEGO ICONS set 10497 Galaxy Explorer (99.99 €) also deserves the honors of my top and yet it is a product on a theme about which I feel no particular nostalgia. This product has been marketed to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the brand and pay tribute to a universe that many adults today knew during their young years and, even if this range does not evoke anything particular in I welcome LEGO's desire to make a successful product accessible to as many people as possible and thus invite a large number of fans to the party.

Sold for a hundred euros, this emblematic vessel with a vintage look but which benefits from modern construction techniques is in principle within the reach of all those who do not have an excessive LEGO budget but who still wish to immerse themselves in the space of a few hours in their childhood memories. Too bad LEGO did not choose to decline its other anniversary product, the LEGO Icons set 10305 Lion Knights'Castle (399.99 €) in a similar format and price range so that fans of the Castle universe are also invited without having to pay several hundred euros.

The LEGO Marvel set 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum (€249.99) also ends up in my 2022 top. young public passionate about superheroes and concerned about accumulating figurines.

The adult fan that I am finds here a dense and interesting construction challenge with a construction that has the luxury of being the ideal complement for all those who love the format Structure very popular at LEGO. I don't line up restaurants, bookstores and jazz clubs, but this Sanctum Sanctorum allowed me to take advantage of all that LEGO knows how to do in terms of detailed buildings while integrating various and varied references to a universe that seduced. The crossover is of quality, so this product deserved to be mentioned because LEGO was able to put some of its abilities at the service of a universe usually treated with much less respect.

The LEGO Star Wars range has both thrilled and disappointed me this year with two examples of which one is a success story and the other a spin-off product of shame. The LEGO Star Wars set 75331 The Mandalorian Razor Crest (599.99 €) embodies in my eyes what all products in the universe Ultimate Collector Series should be: finished and detailed toys, offering an entertaining building experience and meeting the price requirements of the manufacturer. In my opinion, this is the case with this reproduction of the Razor Crest, which brings a little freshness to a range that still purrs a lot.

At the other end of the spectrum, I can't resist mentioning the set 75334 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader, a small box that didn't even give me any for my 50 € with a distressingly sad content that betrays the desire to fill in a tariff box and surf on the popularity of the subject concerned without making any particular effort. This is just one example among many others, but it is emblematic of what I call the spin of license until more thirsty. No matter how hard I try to see the bright side of things, at €50 it's difficult.

My 2022 flop is the LEGO Ideas set 21337 Soccer table (249.99 €). I haven't changed my mind since my review posted a few months ago, this product is the symbol of broken promises and LEGO's ability to appropriate a product to try to work on its image by disappointing many potential customers who do not find the original idea in the official product.

I wanted a foosball table, I was probably a little naive because I got an uninteresting micro-toy flanked by a slew of minifigs that didn't add anything to the original concept. LEGO has made the passage of this botched product a tool to promote its approach to inclusiveness, it is laudable in absolute terms but it was not the subject, at least not during the selection of the basic idea that was to serve as a reference for the official product.

Basically, the proposed miniature table football is simply ridiculous, it has no relation to what it tries to represent and which was nevertheless at the center of the initial idea and I still wonder who can " have fun" with this $250 thing. Maybe Thierry Henry.

The LEGO Ideas set 21332 The Globe (229.99 €) is also a disappointment for me. I find it old-fashioned and rude, it's very personal, and there was probably better to do from the original idea. Products lifestyle can seduce me but they still have to be sufficiently accomplished for me to agree to pay the asking price.

I can understand the desire to deliver a globe with a "vintage" finish, but in my opinion the designer had a little trouble finding the right balance to keep the spirit of the original idea without offering a dated product to very rough finish. Not everything deserves to be put through a LEGO mill, or it takes a lot of talent to convince me that a particular object gains something from it, as is the case, for example, with the typewriter in the set LEGO Ideas 21327 Typewriter or the two 2023 references of the Botonic Collection announced a few days ago.

Finally, the last big disappointment of 2022 for me is embodied by the LEGO Marvel set 76210 Hulkbuster (€549.99). Once again, it's not so much the product itself that disappoints me as the fact of having discovered as soon as it was announced that my imagination had gone too far and that I was going to have to settle for a product that was too dear to the Japanese robot look that no longer has much to do with the reference armor. This is the daily lot of LEGO fans: the first leaks that reveal the title of upcoming products let us imagine a lot of possible things and the first visuals always put us off a bit.

For lack of anything better, many fans will find their account and some may even cry genius, but I expected something more aesthetically successful, especially at this price. This product leaves me with the feeling that LEGO does not always make the necessary efforts and relies both on the indulgence of its loyal customers and on the power of the licenses concerned to make the pill go more easily. I am often like many of us the ideal victim of these marketing manipulations, but not at 550 € the joke which consists in putting an Iron Man doll in a samurai armor.

As you will have understood, the current profusion of sets intended for adult customers requires making choices and mine are more and more often guided by both form and content. I remain an assiduous fan of the LEGO universe but I have to raise my standards a little more each year to only offer myself products that appeal to me because of what they really have to offer. A few bricks and a pretty box are no longer enough, even if there are still several ranges of which I buy almost all the products without discernment (the collection...), and when it comes to digging into other universes I want to at least get my money's worth and be able to tell myself that the LEGO-style interpretation of the subject concerned was ultimately a good idea.

I repeat like every year: there will be as many opinions as fans and the LEGO offer was so varied this year that everyone will have found at least one product considered to tick all the boxes. My selection of successful or unsuccessful products is therefore far from being exhaustive, I mainly base myself on the impressions that these different sets leave me several months after their marketing. Other sets will have left me quite simply indifferent, it does not matter, they will necessarily have found their audience among other fans who will have been sensitive to the proposal.

Do not hesitate to mention your favorite sets of 2022 in the comments, also indicate those which will have left you hungry, there was plenty to do last year and it is finally the good news: the offer proposed by LEGO for its adult clientele has never been so varied, everyone finds something to enjoy even on a limited budget.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Marvel set 76244 Miles Morales vs. Morbius, a small box of 220 pieces which has been available at the public price of €24.99 since January 1, 2023. This set raises in me, and no doubt in others, some questions concerning the consistency of its content: Why Miles Morales leads- he a supercar? What is Morbius doing in this box? Two questions that probably find their answer in the office of the marketing department of the Danish manufacturer more than in the Marvel universe itself.

Miles Morales obviously does not need a vehicle to move around and even less a supercar with an aggressive and not very discreet look. But LEGO knows that to sell its products, rolling or flying vehicles are a strong argument when children wander the shelves of toy stores.

We are not going to complain about having something a little substantial to build in this box, the vehicle in eight studs wide is in the spirit of those of the Speed ​​Champions range, the ultra-accomplished finish less. There are still some good ideas to achieve the proposed result, the youngest should find some inspiration there to create their own vehicles. There are no stickers in this box, the pretty symbol on the front cover is therefore stamped.

The vehicle is flanked by two Stud Shooters not exactly discreet, but you can remove them without dismantling everything if you intend to display this supercar alongside other models. Miles Morales carries two paint cans in the trunk, they are easily accessible and the wink is appreciated. The blue flames on the back can also be easily removed if you feel the build is taking up a little too much space on your shelves as it is. Everyone knows it, Miles Morales drives alone, he never has a passenger and the minifig is therefore centered in the cockpit of this vehicle which is a little too big for a figurine.

What is Michael Morbius doing in this set? Someone at LEGO will have felt that the character did not deserve a dedicated box and that it would be wise to discreetly associate it with a popular superhero to offer collectors the possibility of obtaining the minifig without risking being accused of market a children's toy based on an ultra-violent character. The recently released film will not have marked the history of cinema, but it has restored popularity to this pissed off vampire who until now was not really a leading character.

The two minifigs provided in this box do not seem very inspired to me: Miles Morales is content with a pair of neutral legs and the head already seen in the sets 76171 Miles Morales Mech et 76178 Daily Bugle around a very correct new torso but which breathes the minimum service. As it stands, the minifig still doesn't compete with the exclusive and detailed version offered by Sony in 2021 on the occasion of a competition.

Morbius does not benefit from a finish up to what the official visuals promised us with a white area that becomes gray on the chest. The problem is recurrent, LEGO should not even try to solve it anymore because I see no other valid explanation in the face of so much negligence. The head of the character is well executed with its two faces but it still borders on the generic vampire of the defunct LEGO Monster Fighters range.

The hair provided, already seen in the set 10292 F⋅R⋅I⋅E⋅N⋅D⋅S Apartments on Gladys' head, is not in the best taste. LEGO could have done something more successful by integrating, for example, the character's pointed ears. It's not Jared Leto anyway and collectors will have to settle for this "juniorized" comic version, they will probably never get better. For those wondering, the two vials provided embody the human blood and the blue synthetic blood that the character consumes. LEGO also throws two bats in the box, it's always taken.

In short, this box is a small tote set that allows you to fit a nice car and two characters, one of which is very popular with the youngest and the other was briefly in the cinema news a few weeks ago. . The recipe is confusing but it brings together enough arguments for sales to be there. Not enough to get up at night, but at 25 € all, we will make the effort.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 16th January 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.

For those who are interested, know that the two novelties of the Botanical Collection LEGO are now referenced on the official store and it is now possible to pre-order these two boxes with an availability promised for February 1, 2023: