Well, I fell in love again, and I'm pretty happy to have been able to find an available copy of a Christo Custom Tauntaun inspired by the first Star Wars Saga video game opus released in 2005 and made long before LEGO was released. decides to produce his version.

In fact, the LEGO version only appeared for the first time in 2009 in the set 7749 Echo Base and we find the creature in another set released this year: 7879 Hoth Echo Base.

To be honest, even if the version of Christo, which must however be put in its temporal context, is not so cartoon than the LEGO model, it represents in my eyes the fruit of an incredible effort of creativity and know-how.

I have never hidden that I consider the customs of Christo (See his eBay store et CAB & Tiler's flickr gallery) as real artistic achievements that compete without problem with the official minifigs, and fill the gaps of LEGO especially with regard to super heroes.  

For the anecdote, it is this Tauntaun Custom which was staged in Brickplumber's incredible Hoth diorama I told you about in February on Hoth Bricks. So I am very happy to be able to add this piece "HISTORY"to my collection.

 Finally, to finish, Calin took a picture of hers and posted it on her flickr gallery. Definitely, this Tauntaun is still more in the LEGO spirit than the official version.

I know, I know, the title was a bit easy .... But I come back to a subject that titillates me: A possible LEGO game based on the Lord of the Rings license.

The rumor persists, no one is vehemently denying it, but no one is confirming it either. in 2010 Warner Bros. announced that the partnership between LEGO and TT Games Publishing (Which is owned by Warner) would run until at least 2016.
The year 2011 was rich in releases with LEGO Star Wars III The Clone Wars, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame et LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7.

For 2012, we already know that Lego batman 2 et LEGO Superheroes: The Videogame are on the program.
And why not a game LEGO: The Hobbit ? After all, the theme lends itself to it: Endearing characters for children, a legend that is part of the culture of adults today, an extended, varied, mysterious universe, populated by strange creatures ...

In 2010, producer Loz Doyle (TT Games) refused during an interview to answer on the subject: "I can't say anything about it", but admitted that the Lord of the Rings franchise meets the necessary criteria for a video game adaptation:"It's [Lord of the Rings] got three films - well, plus one if you add The Hobbit. It's got a lot of cool characters. It could definitely work. There are very few things that wouldn't work, don't you think? There is an age limit, and Lord of the Rings is aimed younger in terms of appropriateness. So in that respect they work. Yeah, it would definitely work. "Which means that with the three films, plus The Hobbit (2 films planned) and as many characters, it could work ....

The Lord of the Rings license is no longer in the hands of Electronic Arts, and New Line Cinema is now part of the Time Warner group, allowing the group to regain control of the LOTR licensed games, as long as they are based on movies only. Tolkien Enterprises retains its rights to anything adapted from the books.

There is a persistent rumor that Peter Jackson himself was treated to a presentation of a LEGO LOTR game demo .....

LEGO's strategy could be as follows: Announce the license in July 2012, release the game LEGO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey just after the film's theatrical release in late 2012, and providing a first wave of sets in early 2013, between the two films, building on the Blu-ray / DVD release of the first opus.
Same timing for the second installment of the game LEGO The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies which would be available after the theatrical release of the second film in late 2013 with another wave of sets in early 2014.

Wait & see ....

After Lego universe which will close its doors in January 2012, it's the turn of the service Design by ME to put the key under lock at the beginning of next year.

In his press release LEGO tells us that the service to design a model under LDD and then order it online was far too complex for children ... It's obvious. And it would therefore be taking into account the opinions of users that LEGO decided to stop the costs. 

The service HERO Recon Team Hero Creator he remains available for the moment. My son also created his own Hero Factory character on this service and he received it within a good week, in a vaguely personalized box, and he was especially happy to have been able to obtain a character for which he had been able to choose every part, every color and even its name.

LEGO seems to refocus its activities, eliminate the less profitable and concentrate on the essentials: Producing licensed ranges supported by communication at a lower cost for TLC (Movies or cartoons produced by Warner / Marvel / Lucas / Disney) and generating large volumes and high margins. In short, a real business logic.
We too often forget that it is not because we make toys that we should believe ourselves in the land of Care Bears. The crisis is here, and LEGO, like the others, must back it up while waiting for the return to better days.

The debate is animated within the various communities which try to guess what will be made of the second wave of DC sets for 2012. We already know the DC sets of the first wave and they are based on the comics, and largely inspired by the 2006/2008 Batman line.

Many believe that this second wave will be based on the upcoming July 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. Personally I am not convinced: LEGO made no mention of the film in its press release as was the case for The Avengers about the Marvel range.

But let's admit that's the case, then we should be able to get a few vehicles from the movie, like this (s) Tumbler(s) with a nice camouflage effect seen on the set or the batwing frankly nice design. A Tumbler in Tan and Dark Brown, why not after all ..... It also seems that the scenario of the film incorporates a story of stolen technology allowing Batman's enemies to reproduce chain Tumblers to better destroy Gotham City .. ..

And all this without counting the batpod of Catwoman who, it must be admitted, really has something to end up in a LEGO set with her forms .... I digress, but it will take a lot of imagination to make a Catwoman minifig fit coherently on this batpod...

Make no mistake, I would of course be delighted to be able to afford these machines without having to spend a few hundred euros on bricklink to invest in 2008 sets like the 7888 The Tumbler: Joker's Ice Cream Surprise which is sold over 400 € in MISB ....

I would be happy with a set of the type Tumbler chase with an Tumbler black one Camo Tumbler, Batman, Bane and some extras .....

At the start of the evening, I am posting here a good quality visual that I had not seen until now of the Wonder Woman minifigure which had been presented holding her lasso at San Diego Comic Con last July. 

I paired it with a visual from the Wonder Woman animated series, which shows that the LEGO minifigure is clearly inspired by this version of the character.

This minifig will be available at least in one confirmed set from the new LEGO Superheroes range: 6862 Superman vs. Lex Luthor, alongside Superman and Lex Luthor.

Note also that this successful minifig has a silkscreen print on the legs, like that of Superman on the preliminary visual of the set, while Superman's exclusive minifigure from New York Comic Con did not have screen-printed legs.