You know what I think of Jabba's palace in the set 9516 Jabba's Palace : The palace looks more like a maid's room in the 12th arrondissement than the den of the foul villain whose figurine is otherwise exceptional.

LEGO may have come to the same conclusion and is running a contest where participants can win gift cards worth $ 100. You just have to build an extension to this palace, take a picture of it and mail it back to the address given. Don't get carried away, the contest seems open only to Americans.

Evil tongues will join me in thinking that LEGO has held back the complaints of some fans about the stingy side of this palace, and wants to know what fans are dreaming of to expand it a bit via a complementary set, or two ... The others will see it only as a lambda competition intended for the youngest. Everyone has his point of view.

Hopefully an inspired fan will suggest a pit at Rancor, just to send a subliminal request to LEGO on the expectations of some of us ...

The scan of the LEGO magazine page was provided by AC pin, that he be thanked.

This year, I had decided that I would go and see with my own eyes what a gathering of LEGO fans looks like, in this case one of the most important in France, Fana'Briques 2012.

So departure with the whole family for Rosheim, or rather Obernai a few kilometers from the place of the exhibition where we had found a guest room. On Saturday morning, head to Fana2012 with the desire to impress me and meet all those who bring LEGO to life in France, gathered for a weekend.

Upon arrival, I noticed that the organization is up to the task. Almost everything has been thought out correctly, and it smacks of a job well done. Head to the BrickPirate stand to meet LEGOmaniac, Lyonnais who provides the atmosphere, Stephle59, Alkinoos, 74louloute, R5-N2, Domino, Icare, Captain Spaulding and many others, they forgive me if I forget here ....

Nice atmosphere in the room, it's hot, people arrive, crowd around the stands, and that of BrickPirate is full: It is ideally placed and the MOCs presented are of quality. Quick tour of the exhibition as a whole, and it's quite uneven, the best meets the worst ... Lots of trains, the children love it, me a little less, and the theme Public Works moderately appeals to me. I pass quickly on excavators, cranes, graders etc ...

Some stands are impressive by the size of the MOCs staged. Others are a little less so, the MOCs presented are in fact a network of rails in the middle of which are gathered without really any logic various and varied machines, some minifigs and some small houses without great coherence. I pass there also quickly.

What strikes me during my wanderings is the contrast between the enthusiasm of the BrickPirate team or the SeTechnic team, eager to meet the visitor, to show their work, to chat with the kids who only dream of of one thing, to touch, to handle, to play ... and certain other stands where the gloom mixed with undoubtedly a little complacency and nonchalance are in order. I get annoyed to see certain exhibitors sprawled behind their tables, impassive.

Beautiful things to see also for Technic enthusiasts with the SeTechnic stand with the presence of the very chrome UCS of the Naboo Royal Starship. There is also a detachable chairlift (I had to have someone explain to me what that meant) and some gigantic cranes in front of which Joe Meno, the author of LEGO Culture and editor of the BrickJournal, was ecstatic.

Lots of medieval creations on the show, including the superb Archenval de Stephle59, and this theme that I don't particularly like is suddenly more sympathetic to me. It is only imbeciles who do not change their minds, it is said in authorized circles ...

Meanwhile my 9 year old son is gargling in front of the tables full of Hero Factory, Bionicle and others figures. My other 3-year-old son is desperately trying to get a car across a railroad track trying to open the barrier after the train has passed. I explain to him that he cannot touch, he gets annoyed, and I tell myself that it is a huge paradox: An entire exhibition of toys that cannot be touched. Fortunately, the organizers had planned a few corners with tables, benches and a lot of pieces for the youngest.

A few very cold beers later, a little chat with the very nice guys from Muttpop, Nicolas and David, who are at the origin of the LEGO Culture project and who had the good taste to bring us back Joe Meno, who came to visit the exhibition and dedicate the book in question. I picked up my autographed copy and was excited. The operation was carried out smoothly, the book is a success and I hope that the success of this book will open the door to other achievements of the same ilk.

One thing is certain: When I see what the French community is capable of, I tell myself that we are lucky to have talented MOCeurs, able to come together and at least to iron out their possible differences of point of view. the space of a convivial weekend.

What I saw in Rosheim were passionate people, ready to make many sacrifices to share their passion. And for that, they all deserve the respect and support of French fans. And LEGO too, but that's another story ...

Special mention to the BrickPirate team, with whom I had a great time, and thank you to LEGOmaniac, Captain Spaulding and 74louloute for their welcome, their kindness and the memories I brought back from this nice getaway.

There would be a lot of other things to say about this event and I will come back to it here on occasion, with the necessary hindsight.

No surprise with the arrival of the LEGO Lord of the Rings range on the French Lego Shop : The prices are very high ... It's nonsense, all those who already regretted the disappearance of the Kingdoms range in favor of this new license have only their eyes to cry.

Public prices are excessive, judge instead:

9469 Gandalf Arrives €14.99
9470 Shelob Attacks €26.99
9471 Uruk-Hai Army €39.99
9472 Attack on Weathertop €62.99
9473 The Mines of Moria €84.99
9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep 149.99 €
9476 The Orc Forge €49.99

Obviously, it's not LEGO's role to devalue its product by slashing the prices, but what image do these prices convey to fans? 

In short, you will therefore understand that it is better to get these sets elsewhere than at LEGO, the VIP program will not help pass the pill ... You can alwayss you decide to order your sets in Germany where the prices are still much more realistic with regard to the number of mnifigs / pieces per set ...

We already know almost everything about this set scheduled for August 2012 and which will allow us to add three very successful minifigs to our superhero collections. Here are some official visuals offered by GRogall.

And apart from the minifigs, the rest of the (play) set doesn't get me too excited. Another lab, with a small vehicle equipped with flick fire missiles and two or three functions to ensure the playability alibi.

But LEGO must have achieved excellent results with previous playsets in the Super Heroes range like the 6860 The Batcave or 6868 Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout, to insist and offer us exactly the same type of set ...

Side minifigs, nothing to say, I love the Spider-Man in Ultimate version, Iron Fist will go very well with his other a little more famous friends, and even if Doc Ock looks fake Harry Potter with his glasses, I m 'would be satisfied.

Confirmation just arrived via Brickset and Kevin Hinkle: There will be many exclusive minifigs at San Diego Comic Con 2012 (SDCC) and New York Comic Con 2012 (NYCC), as was the case last year with Batman, Green Lantern and Superman minifigs. This also confirms the presence of LEGO on these two events.

And the first exclusive 2012 minifigure we know of is Shazam's unveiled by   ksitetv.com :  ... Join ever-informed, fancentric WAC Podcast hosts George Feltenstein, Matthew Patterson, and DW Ferranti as they give fans a look at the upcoming DVD release of the popular 1970s series Shazam! The series' own Billy Batson, Michael Gray, will be on hand, and an exclusive, limited-edition Shazam! Lego figure will be awarded to a lucky number of fans in attendance ...

Kevin Hinkle (North American Community Coordinator for LEGO Group) explicitly posted on the Brickset forum : ... There will be exclusive! 🙂 The LEGO Group will have an official presence at both San Diego and New York Comic Con this year ...

Like last year, these minifigs will apparently be distributed randomly via a raffle. We will have to wait for their availability on eBay or Bricklink to get them at an undoubtedly unreasonable price ...