Ar Sparfel continues to advance on its diorama Tatooine for which he already presented a few months ago his Cantina from Mos Eisley with its bar filled with diverse and varied creatures ...

It is the turn of the Sarlacc pit to be presented in a staging including the infamous Jabba's barge and two Desert Skiffs patrolling around the pit housing Bounty Hunters' terrible devouring creature.

I particularly appreciate the relief around this pit, commonly called Great Pit of Carkoon, located not far from Jabba Palace, and used to make rebel prisoners disappear in long (very long) suffering.

Check out all the views of this MOC on Ar Sparfel's flickr gallery.

And, for what it's worth, Boba Fett did not die in the bowels of Sarlacc ... Ask Dengar ...

Train fans will be happy: LEGO announces exclusive set 10233 Horizon Express in the all new LEGO Creator range Expert Series. 

This is obviously a train reproducing the 1st generation French TGV, with the TGV mention less on the sides of the drive unit. LEGO also mentions in its press release that it is an interpretation of a passenger train, electric and modern ... (... this highly detailed LEGO® interpretation of a modern, high-speed electric passenger train ...)

On the program: A motor with two passenger cars (the whole is 79 cm long), 6 minifigs including a woman driver, a steward and 4 passengers (two women and two men) and the possibility of motorizing everything with the Power kits Functions 8878 (Rechargable Battery Box) 8887 (Transform 10V DC) 8884 (IR Receiver) 8879 (IR Speed ​​Remote Control) and 88002 (Train-Motor) and 8870 (Lights).

This set of 1351 pieces will be marketed in January 2013 at a price of 99.99 € (In Germany, no price for France) and $ 129.99 in the USA.

Click on the images below to view the different visuals in large format.

It's via a post on LEGO Kocka facebook page, a mono-brand store (Only LEGO) in Budapest, that the universe of the Legends of Chima range is revealed a little more. I'll give you a quick summary:

It is therefore the kingdom of Chima, a sort of enchanted land where creatures live who walk and speak like human beings, move with vehicles, live in castles, in short, races endowed with advanced technology and who coexist in an ideal world.
But this once paradisiacal kingdom is now in the grip of terrible battles, the best friends have become the worst enemies and the once sacred temples have been destroyed. the different factions compete for Chi, a natural resource with powerful powers (undoubtedly a source of life, etc, etc ...).

Nothing very original: Several factions, battles, gear, crystals, heroes, villains, fights, etc ...

The range will be introduced in January 2013 via a 22-minute animated short that will likely air on Cartoon Network, and 14 sets will hit shelves for the launch.

If you follow Hoth Bricks, which I thank you by the way, you probably remember Francisco Prieto, the artist who modeled in 3D the stop-motion assembly of the Millennium Falcon UCS (see this article).

He puts the table back on, this time with Death Star II from the UCS 10143 set released in 2005. His technique has improved: More clipping effect, better light shows, parts stamped with the LEGO logo and the all without cutting the video. This new video was produced using 3D Studio Max 2011 software associated with V-Ray and Adobe Premiere.

The figures are impressive: more than 7.000.000 polygons, 3422 virtual parts in action, 1511 hours of calculation required to obtain this 3D rendering and 3 minutes and 14 seconds of visual pleasure ...

I was telling you about the bonuses offered with the LEGO Lord of the Rings video game by a New Zealand merchant site, namely a replica of the Ring and a Characters Pack containing 6 characters to unlock:

- Mini Balrog
-Glorfindel
- Father Magotte
- Faramir (in Gondor armor)
-Corsair Pirate
- Prosper Poiredebeurré (owner of the Pony Fringuant)

FNAC offers the same offer, the Ring less, and offers this DLC for any pre-order of the game in the PS3 or XBOX 360 version with a delivery date set for November 21, 2012.

(thanks to Goonies for his email)

Below is a video on the modeling of Middle-earth with commentary by the developers of the game.

(thanks to Mandrakesarecool2 and stanousmith for their emails regarding the video)