I've always had a very mixed opinion of LEGO board games. But we have to admit that this set 3866 Battle of Hoth has something to appeal to Star Wars fans like me: The microfigs provided are really successful and the new visual posted by grogall on Eurobricks confirms me in the idea that I need this box ... Will we see nice MOCs integrating these microfigs? No doubt yes in the coming months. special mention for Chewbacca and Boba Fett.

As a reminder, here is the official description of the game:

The Rebel Alliance is going through a dark period. Darth Vader has discovered Luke Skywalker's secret base on Hoth, the distant ice planet, and the Empire's ground troops are about to attack! The Battle of Hoth has begun. An exciting game of strategy and chance for 2 to 4 players.
Package content: 305 items
Game duration: 20 minutes

You probably remember this set Yavin IV Base never marketed and featured on page 91 of the book LEGO Star Wars The Visual Dictionary (I took a photo of the page for you, above). crabboy329 had taken a modeling under LDD and the .lxf file had been available for download for over a year (see this article).

jonnyboyca has just released a real version of this set based on the work of crabboy329 for the base and those of Brickdoctor for the X-Wing.

The construction is faithful to the model presented in the book except for a few minor details such as the arch under the briefing room or the ground near the left turret. We recognize at the top the final scene of Episode IV with the presentation of medals to Luke and Han Solo in the presence of Princess Leia.

This playset would have deserved a commercialization (at least as much as the 10123 Cloud City ...) with a good endowment in minifigs, a ship in a new format and the possibility of replaying some key scenes of the film.

To see other photos of this reproduction and in particular the Medal Ceremony close-up (without Leia who is finally available in the set 9495 Gold Leader's Y-Wing Starfighter), meeting on the Brickshelf gallery by jonnyboyca.

It had been several months since I persuaded myself not to buy this pack. I still found myself a valid reason to postpone this purchase, but I fell for it.

In 2008, on the occasion of San Diego Comic Con and the launch of the LEGO Batman video game, LEGO released 3000 copies of this exclusive pack containing two minifigs: Batman and the Joker. (I put two photos of the box on flickr)

Only the box is really exclusive, because the Batman minifigure (bat002) is the one released in 2006 and distributed in the sets 7781 The Batmobile: Two-Face's Escape, 7783 The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion et 7785 Arkham Asylum and that of the Joker (bat005) was delivered in sets 7782 The Batwing: The Joker's Aerial Assault et 7888 The Tumbler: Joker's Ice Cream Surprise.

The product is therefore vaguely collector's item, but I'm satisfied with it, after all this limited edition principle appeals to me. I still have to find at a good price the exclusive set of Comic Con 2006 printed in 250 copies and bringing together Batman and the Joker in a nice box. At the opening, the laughter of the Joker (or Mark Hammil) resounds ... At least € 133 on Bricklink...

Moreover, the same year was distributed an exclusive Brickmaster set limited to 500 copies on the Indiana Jones theme, containing the set  20004 Jungle Cruiser and two Ugha Warriors staged in a mini jungle with a mini wall. Everything is still available on Bricklink for the modest sum of 120 €.

X-Wing MOCs, successful or not, are countless, and here is one more to add to the long existing list of reproductions of this iconic ship from the Star Wars saga.

The result is original and largely inspired by the techniques used on older MOCs (SNOT wings, cheese slopes on the fuselage ..) even if we may regret some approximations, especially in the cockpit where it would have been better not to put a minifigure for the photo ... We do not find the endless rolls on the engines and it is a good thing.

In short, it is not the MOC of the century, but it is a beautiful interpretation of the X-Wing. To see more, visit the flickr gallery of 2x4.

It is mutley777 who draws the first with two reviews of the mini sets 30056 Star Destroyer and 30058 STAP. As usual with these mini sets, do not expect too much and they are not UCS ... I would like to point out that for all those who will complain about the poverty of the models even before having taken into account that these are small sets intended to promote the brand ...

Regarding the 30056 Star Destroyer, the final model is well made, rather similar and in my opinion more successful than the ship in the set 4492 Star Destroyer released in 2004. This mini set is available on Bricklink for around 10 euros.

Regarding the 30058 STAP, the machine benefits from a slightly improved design, in particular with the use of a slopes in Brown which replaces several parts used on the model of the set 30004 Battle Droid on STAP released in 2009. This mini set is also already available on Bricklink for around 10 €.

To access detailed reviews of these two mini sets at Eurobricks, click on the images.