I have been wondering for a few days if I should post this MOC here ...

At first glance, I had not been thrilled by this representation of the Batcave. And then coming back to it, I found myself taking a closer look at the many details that populate this MOC. I then realized the obvious: You just have to take a little time and go on fianat's flickr gallery to appreciate this compact Batcave which is full of details and winks ...

The good news of the day is the announced presence of Ian Mc Darmid alias Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious at the New York Comic Con 2012 which will be held from October 11 to 14, 2012. Note that the actor was already present during of Celebration VI a few days ago.

Among the other guests announced at the moment, Adam West and Burt Ward (Batman and Robin in nananananana, Batman!), Christopher Lloyd (Doc Emmett Brown in Back to the Future) or Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings saga).

One more reason to be impatient to go to the show, where I hope that LEGO will have the good idea to present us something new and unheard of ...

As much to tell you right away, I am not even sure that this photo posted by hawk2009 on flickr (and on which I inserted the visual of the box) is indeed that of the contents of the exclusive tin can sold for $ 40 during Celebration VI: It's a little mounted upside down at the wings and on the less one part is of a different color if we refer to the visual on the box (green part which turns gray on the fuselage).

In short, we will have to be satisfied, the volunteers to open their ultra-collector's box are not legion, and at $ 100 each on eBay, I understand them readily ...

Eurobricks publishes an interview interesting from the designers in charge of the LEGO Friends range (Fenella and Rosario), and without relaunching the controversy about the sexism manifested or not by LEGO with this range, I must say that the answers to the questions asked are unequivocal: LEGO has made numerous tests with young female audiences before offering this range for sale and concluded that the girls liked friendships, animals and family ... Through the responses (probably validated in high places) of these employees, LEGO takes responsibility for its choices and that's good. 

You will tell me that from an early age children are conditioned to learn to love what a priori corresponds to their sex: A boy is told that pink is a color for girls and to a girl that backhoe loaders are for the boys. LEGO only confirmed these educational consequences to draw the conclusion that the Friends range, clearly aimed at girls, had to respect certain codes to function in a very competitive market.

The idea for the Friends theme had been in the making for 4 years, and (intensive) studies by LEGO have shown that girls love animals, families, friends, etc. It has also been shown that girls love animals. need characters they can relate to, which explains the 5 minidolls in the range with a different look.

We also learn that the LEGO designers had planned to use the classic minifigs, but tests with a panel of girls showed that the standard minifig did not really appeal to them. The compromise was found by creating these pretty minidolls which however retain some attributes of the classic minifigs.

It is also clearly confirmed that LEGO wanted to attract a female audience thanks to the new colors which make it possible to create more models "girly"therefore more attractive to girls.

In short, LEGO has done its homework, drew conclusions, and came up with a range whose target is unequivocal: The young female audience.

The LEGO Friends range is set to continue and should become a long-term range as is already the case with the LEGO City range.

This should end the debate about the manufacturer's sexism with this range. In one way or another for that matter ...

Read the interview at this address.

For anyone who wants a Series 8 minifig review without unnecessary frills, infuriating comments or overplayed exclamations of admiration at each prop, here is the Artifex video review.

As usual, each minifigure is presented from all angles and you will have plenty of time to see, review and re-watch the ones you like the most before going to be noticed feeling the bag like a psychopath at Toys R Us from the corner.

If you've ever been kicked out of your favorite store and the cashier threatened to call the police because you've been kneading the red bags for a good two hours with a vague look and an ominous smile at every find , you still have the option of purchasing a box of 60 minifigs, keeping the 16 constituting the complete series and reselling the rest on eBay.

It will cost you just over 119 € at amazon.de for a complete box.