It's time to buy the sets from the LEGO Lord of the Rings range that you want or that are missing from your collection: Amazon offers attractive prices on its different European versions. All the same, take into account the transport costs according to the sites and group your purchases for maximum savings.

Personally, I grouped my purchases on amazon.co.uk which offered the best overall price including VAT and postage.

You will find the details of the shipping costs according to the country on pricevortex.com at the top right of the page.

9469 Gandalf Arrives: 12.00 € on amazon.es (Public price 14.99 €)
9470 Shelob Attacks: 20.15 € on amazon.co.uk (Public price 26.99 €)
9471 Uruk-Hai Army: 32.00 € on amazon es (Public price 39.99 €)
9472 Attack on Weathertop: 47.71 € on amazon.es (Public price 62.99 €)
9473 The Mines of Moria: 59.99 € at amazon.de (Public price 84.99 €)
9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep: 88.19 € on amazon.co.uk (Public price 149.99 €)
9476 The Orc Forge: 39.99 € at amazon.de (Public price 49.99 €)

The two French stores of the Belgian brand Dreamland (Leers and Douai) are offering an interesting promotional operation from November 1 to 11, 2012. Buy 3 toys and benefit from a 20% reduction on your overall bill.

The Géant Casino brand is also offering a 50% discount on your LEGO boxes (in the form of vouchers) from November 16 to 18, 2012 if you pay with the store card. 

Note that today is the last day to take advantage of the 15% reduction on the entire catalog at Maxi Toys (except consoles and video games). Discount valid online and in store.

(thanks to BatBrick115, to Amin and to jf mariani for their emails)

Still no concrete information about the actual availability in France of this exclusive Elrond minifigure.

At Micromania, most employees are not yet aware of the offer. I think I will turn to eBay or Bricklink as usual to get this minifigure, I don't really want to pay 49 € with a game that I won't necessarily play ... 

In the meantime, discover the minifig from every angle with this video from Artifex. History to salivate a little more.

It seems that the night brings advice. And I remained perplexed last night facing the impromptu announcement of this takeover of Lucasfilm by Disney, even if it is confirmed that the negotiations had started more than a year ago between the various stakeholders. Georges Lucas therefore becomes one of the largest shareholders of the Disney group. Kathleen Kennedy, hitherto co-president dubbed by Lucas, therefore takes the direction of Lucasfilm which remains a full entity within the Disney group.

An important point needs to be clarified: Disney and Lucasfilm have already been working together for many years. This operation, above all financial, is only the logical evolution of things: Lucas wanted to pass the hand and entrust the future of the Star Wars universe to a new generation of businessmen and directors.

With this acquisition, Disney is also offering ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) and Robert Iger (Chief Executive Officer at Disney) confirms his intention to benefit from the know-how of this pioneering entity in the field of special effects.

Disney obviously intends to take advantage of the Star Wars brand in all possible and imaginable areas: Films, TV series, cartoons, video games, derivative products, etc. As is the case with other franchises, Disney will re -populate in the broadest sense of the term a saga that has become over the decades the preserve of nostalgic geeks. Everyone is going to love Star Wars, young and old, geek or not. All those who proclaimed their difference by relying on their passion for this universe will have to make it clear, Star Wars will become a mainstream brand.

Regarding the next episodes of the cinematographic saga, they will reduce those we already know to a simple family affair in an Adventure with a capital A. Star Wars overtakes Anakin, Padme, Luke, Leia, Han Solo and the rest. And that's good. I want lightsaber and space battles but I also expect novelty, freshness, new stories and new characters. The Original Trilogy is in the end only a piece of an epic of which we know a few slices with the Prelogy and The Clone Wars. 

We can legitimately wonder what the Disney group will do with the Star Wars universe. But we must not mix everything up. Confusing Disney and Mickey is a mistake. The example of The Avengers is the best proof of this. In a 2-hour movie, Disney did more for mainstream popularity of Marvel superheroes than decades of print comics and a few movies no one remembers. Comic book fans have been dispossessed of their world and that's what annoys them. We can always talk about the ultra-simplistic scenario of The Avengers, but after all, and judging by the success of the film, the general public wants simple stories of superheroes who fight against the evil embodied by super bad guys, period. The same is going to happen with Star Wars.

Will the next episodes of the saga be based on theExtended Universe ? Nothing is less sure. The continuation of the saga could make obsolete a whole derivative universe which has so far served as a reference for the most assiduous fans.
Cinematographically speaking, Disney can't be wrong: It'll be hard to get more cheesy than the dialogues of thePart III or more simplistic than the scenario of the Original Trilogy.  

Geeks of all stripes, make yourself a reason: Whether you are fans of superheroes, Tolkien or Star Wars, you are no longer the only ones and even if it annoys you a little, you will no longer have to hide your passion for lightsabers or to share it only with your fellows at obscure conventions.  

And to add another layer, it is obvious that a day will come when a whole generation of kids will know Star Wars without even having heard of the adventures of Anakin or Luke, fifty or sixty years ago in old films with outdated special effects and sluggish dialogues. Such is life. 

I do not know if this is good or bad news: Disney, already owner of Pixar and Marvel, buys Lucasfilm, the company of Georges Lucas which manages the Star Wars franchise.

L'Episode vii is already announced for 2015 on website of the multinational entertainment company. There are also plans to release a new album every two or three years. Obviously, Disney also announces the whole panoply of derivative products, amusement park, video games, TV series, etc ... 

On the LEGO side, we will have to find space to store the dozens of sets that are sure to be released in the years to come. 

In the years to come, Star Wars will once again invade our screens, and I am delighted that. This universe deserves to continue to live and develop, no offense to the nostalgic and to the conservatives who will one day have to face the facts: The original saga will ultimately only represent a small portion of a universe that does not ceases to evolve.

Georges Lucas is therefore retiring with a small additional nest egg of $ 4 billion but he will remain present on the next films as a consultant. I just hope Disney lets him influence the artistic choices regarding the evolution of the Star Wars universe.

The official press release can be found at this address.