The July 2021 issue of the official LEGO Star Wars magazine is available on newsstands and allows us, as planned, to obtain the Rey Palpatine minifigure with BB-8.

The two figurines that will be supplied with this new issue of the magazine are not unseen, that of Rey is available in sets 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase (2019) 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship (2020) and it was even included in the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar in 2020 (ref. 75279).
The BB-8 figurine with its larger photoreceptor than on the 2015 model is for its part delivered in the sets 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase (2019) 75242 Black Ace TIE Interceptor (2019) et 75297 Resistor X-wing (2021)

In the next issue to be published on August 11, two minifigs: a Sith Trooper already seen in the sets 75256 Kylo Ren's Shuttle (2019) 75266 Sith Troopers Battle Pack (2020) et 75279 Star Wars Advent Calendar (2020) and Finn in a version dating from 2015 and first seen in the set 75105 Millennium Falcon, then in sets 75139 Battle on Takodana (2016) 75178 Jakku Quadjumper (2017) et 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon (2017). This minifigure had already been offered with the magazine in April 2018.

Note that it is now possible to subscribe for a period of six months or one year to the official LEGO Star Wars magazine via the abo-online.fr platform. The 12-month subscription (13 issues) costs € 65.

New promotional offer on the LEGO Shop with the possibility of obtaining your choice of a LEGO CITY polybag 30568 Skater or LEGO Friends 30414 Emma's Magical Box from 40 € of purchase without restriction of range.

In order for the chosen bag to be added to the basket, you must enter the corresponding promotional code before validating the order: SK10 for the CITY bag or MG10 for the Friends bag.

Not enough to get up at night for this new offer valid until July 25, but it can be combined with all the other offers of the moment: VIP Points X2 until 18/07, a copy of the LEGO set 40486 adidas Originals Superstar from 95 € of purchase without restriction of range until 20/07 and the LEGO polybag 30387 Bob Minion With Robot Arms from 40 € of purchase in products from the Minions range until 31/07.

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Today we quickly tour the LEGO Star Wars set 75309 Republic Gunship, a new box of 3292 pieces stamped Ultimate Collector Series which only owes its appearance in the LEGO Star Wars range to its success during the consultation organized in January 2020 on the LEGO Ideas platform.

Let's get rid of the error made by LEGO on the packaging of the product and on the instruction booklet: the logo of the Galactic Republic has been replaced by that of the Empire. The manufacturer readily admits his error but is satisfied with a laconic press release in the form of a vaguely humorous pirouette:

The manufacturer also warns that the correction will not take place at best until the end of 2021 or early 2022 and that the first batch of sets already manufactured will be sold as is. It's up to you to see if this error justifies waiting for the modification. Regarding the collector's potential of this "alternative" edition of the product which will be available in volume for many months, it will undoubtedly be necessary to wait a few years to capitalize on this error.

I have to say I'm a little surprised that a mistake like this could have crept up on the packaging and the instruction booklet without anyone noticing it in time. We know that the design and production of a set involves the participation of many employees of the LEGO group, multiple validation stages as well as regular consultation of the beneficiaries of the license concerned. Absolutely no one, from designers to marketing geniuses to Star Wars themed specialists at LEGO / Disney / Lucasfilm, has seen a thing.

That being said, was this UCS version of a ship that was already available by LEGO in system format in 2002 (7163 Republic Gunship), in 2008 (7676 Republic Attack Gunship) and then in 2013 (75021 Republic Gunship) really essential? ? To believe the fans who voted overwhelmingly for this ship, it is. However, I think that many of them already saw themselves having a slew of Clones or Cody in Phase 2 armor, they will be at their expense because this is an imposing model to exhibit that is not accompanied by only two minifigs.

The ship's scale is determined by the two bubbles that serve as canopies and the rest is built around. This Gunship is obviously not on the minifig scale, although we can install Mace Windu and the Clone Trooper Commander on the two seats which seem almost to scale and which therefore seem to me a little undersized compared to the rest. of the ship.

The internal structure of the model is well thought out, it is the upper part of the vessel that supports the floor and this solution ensures a certain rigidity to the whole without imposing too many beams crossing the empty space on the back. The different panels of the hull are a little less solid and it will be necessary to be very vigilant when moving the model. The two movable side doors are for example fixed on a single white beam via a single row of tenons. These two doors also lack in my opinion a little finishing and the gray areas around the slots would for example have benefited from being covered with Tiles to really reproduce the visual effect seen on the screen.

The finish of the cabin is quite correct even if we do not escape ten 6x6 matt plates with their central injection point clearly visible on the wings and on the ramp that leads to the cockpit. There was undoubtedly better to do than to be satisfied with these elements which smell a little the ease. The designer, on the other hand, did his best on the front of the vessel, with a good effort to integrate the green curves in the cabin which compensates for the staircase effects and the front of the transparent canopy which protrudes a little.

The wings and the two reactors are firmly fixed to the cabin, via a Technic axis for the two wings and via a few blue pins for the engines. These are crossed by a Technic axis over part of their length, their strength is assured.

The fenders are heavy, but they are effectively supported by the Technic element assemblies designed to prevent them from sagging and the stacking of plates gives them maximum rigidity. The two wings take a little volume at the junction with the body of the vessel, we avoid structures that are too flat and a little bland often present on the models in System format. All the armament usually carried by these vessels is present with rockets placed under the wings and inside the two side doors and two missile rollers, rotating via a few gears, integrated between the engines.

You will have noticed, the two mini-shaped mobile bubbles Death Star with their firing position normally occupied by a Clone Trooper are not perfectly round. The addition of a series of elements allowing the bubbles to be fixed on their respective supports and the integration of a ring of parts between the two hemispheres deform these two constructions a little. I still welcome the pad printing effort on the eight hemispheres provided in this box, even if I imagine that LEGO would not have dared to impose stickers on us to stick on these elements.

The sheet of stickers is also a little petty for a high-end product at 350 €, knowing that it is mostly satisfied with stickers on a transparent background adding some visual details to the shell and two symbols of the Galactic Republic which they are in conformity with the difference of those present on the box and on the instruction booklet. The other sticker provided is the one that distills some facts on the ship with an error on the length of the thing: Starwars.com gives 17.69 m, LEGO writes 17.4 m.

The product presentation support is well designed, it knows how to be discreet and it allows to expose the Gunship in a relatively dynamic way, slightly leaning forward. The vessel is not integral with the support, it is content to rest on a white piece which fits into the rear floor which therefore remains immaculate. Knowing that it will be necessary to free up a space of approximately 80x80 cm to expose the model, I think that LEGO could have split a rotating support that would have allowed to enjoy the ship from all angles without having to grab it by its central part and lift it up.

The two minifigs provided are simple decorative elements of the presentation medium, and even if they are unheard of in this form, we must therefore be content with Mace Windu with his traces of dust on his chest and a Clone Trooper Commander Phase I a little more detailed than that of set 75019 AT-TE (2013) but dispensable.

From August 1, it will be up to everyone to assess whether this ship really deserves the investment requested by LEGO. The model is imposing, it is relatively detailed even if the subject imposes a lot of internal vacuum with a cabin around and we obtain an imposing exhibition product 68 cm long by 74 cm wide that we will have to manage to fit on a shelf.

I imagine that some of those who voted for this set in the initial consultation were instead expecting a smaller, cheaper ship full of Clone Troopers, the UCS set. 75098 Assault on Hoth having officially opened the door to this type of playset in 2016. It will not be, it will be necessary to pay 349.99 € for this globally successful exhibition model and be satisfied with the two minifigs provided.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 30, 2021 next at 23pm. For newcomers, know that you just need to post a comment to participate in the draw.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21328 Seinfeld, a box of 1326 pieces inspired by the project by Brent Waller who had been able to unite a large public and bring together the 10.000 supporters necessary for the examination of the "idea" by LEGO. The rest was just a formality, the project having been definitively validated by LEGO, and the final product will be on the shelves in a VIP preview from July 21.

As with the other boxes of the same barrel regularly marketed in the LEGO Ideas range, this set is above all a pure fan service product. The studio's recipe for a popular sitcom has already been widely spun off by sets 21302 The Big Bang Theory (2015) et 21319 Central Perk (2019) and more recently by the set 10292 F⋅R⋅I⋅E⋅N⋅D⋅S Apartments, we use here the same principle adapted to the treated subject.

Here, the scene is to the glory of the sitcom Seinfeld, a very popular series on the other side of the Atlantic in the 90s which had a bit of trouble to meet the same success with us for various reasons including a dub in French just passable.

More than an exhaustive reproduction of the filming studio, this is clearly a product very inspired by the official model of the tray marketed for nearly $ 500 and which does not include either the bathroom of which only the door remains, nor the bedroom which is in principle accessible through the passage where the green bicycle is stored.

First finishing detail that is obvious: the floor of the apartment is completely covered with Tiles which form a nice floor. The designer who took over the project made sure to leave tenons available to install the furniture and position a few minifigs in the places and the effect is frankly successful. The and 10292 F⋅R⋅I⋅E⋅N⋅D⋅S Apartments with its floor while exposed tenons suddenly seems really lacking in finish next to the simple but effective aesthetic work done here.

We could argue about the color of the upper part of the walls, with a white that does not really match the hue seen on the screen. In the sitcom, the walls are rather gray, even very light blue, but they are in any case not immaculate white. The contrast however benefits the product with a floor and furniture really highlighted by these walls which are a little discreet.

The furniture to assemble in this box is also very successful with pretty techniques that should appeal to lovers of Modulars and elements all really faithful to the accessories that populate the studio. I will spare you the countless references to different episodes of the series, I will not pretend to remember each of the episodes that I saw in the 90s and that I have never seen since. I still remember the Commando 8 air conditioning installed by Kramer on the office window and Frank Costanza's "Festivus Pole", two elements included in the set.

As with other LEGO products that feature a popular sitcom, fan service is provided down to the smallest detail and fans of the series should be well served. The big sheet of stickers provided comes in reinforcement to add a big ladle of fan service, difficult to imagine the fridge without the many magnets, sticky notes and decorations seen on the screen. Too bad for the very imprecise cutting of some stickers that must be shifted by placing them to compensate for the uneven borders.

As usual, everything that is not on the sheet of stickers that I scanned for you (see below) is pad printed. This is particularly the case of Tiles that form the pattern of the living room rug.

Each of the episodes of the first seasons of the series began with a sketch that served as the theme of the episode concerned and the main construction is accompanied by a small module that reproduces the scene of the Comedy Club on which Jerry Seinfeld performs. No curtain, we will be satisfied with a red brick wall and the element is independent of the rest of the studio, it will be necessary to find a place for it on the shelf.

On the minifig side, it's frankly more mixed with figurines that struggle a bit to embody the actors seen on the screen. Luckily Jerry Seinfeld has got a new haircut that paired with the blue shirt immediately brings the character to mind. It is also the outfit of each member of the cast that guarantees the association of ideas more than the face or the hairstyle. I'm not a fan of the blue background on George Costanza and Newman's glasses, we lose a bit of the usual codes of LEGO minifigs.

To choose, it is still Elaine Marie Benes who seems to me the most successful with her outfit and her hairstyle and despite her generic face. George Costanza is wearing his iconic red jacket and the skull / hair piece works quite well, as does the smirk on his face. The character almost deserved a pair of short legs to really mark the size difference with the rest of the cast. Cosmo Kramer's shirt is fitting, but the 60s thug hair isn't convincing. Newman is totally missed, nothing goes except the outfit and LEGO insists with this hair that I find unsuitable and yet already seen on the head of Dennis Nedry, another cult character played by actor Wayne Knight.

The pad prints are very correct, except for the flesh-colored areas which vary in hue depending on the color of the part on which LEGO has applied the ink. The legs are neutral but this is not a criticism, the subject treated did not necessarily call for pad printing at this level.

As for references 21302 The Big Bang Theory (2015) et 21319 Central Perk (2019) et  10292 F⋅R⋅I⋅E⋅N⋅D⋅S Apartments (2021), this box is intended only for fans of the treated sitcom. Seinfeld is not a cult series in France but it is indeed across the Atlantic. The goal here is for LEGO to provide fan service to the hilt and to please everyone who enjoys the series, which this new set does quite well. It has also benefited from a particular care on the finish and the furniture, we feel that the designer has really tried to offer something entertaining in terms of construction techniques.

Too bad for the projectors which are once again different from those of the other sitcoms sets offered by LEGO, there was however material to try to maintain a kind of common thread between the different boxes by keeping the design of these accessories as it is. appears in the set 21319 Central Perk.

If you liked Seinfeld, you should like this box despite its few flaws and minifigures that look very rough when taken out of context. The public price of the set is set at 79.99 €, it is the price of nostalgia.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 29, 2021 next at 23pm. For newcomers, know that you just need to post a comment to participate in the draw.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.

It's time for the official announcement of the LEGO Star Wars set 75309 Republic Gunship, a new reference in the range Ultimate Collector Series which will be available from August 1, 2021 via the official online store and in the LEGO Stores at the public price of 349.99 €.

In the box, 3292 pieces to assemble the Gunship and its display, all accompanied by two minifigs: Mace Windu and a Clone Trooper Commander Phase I. The ship measures 68 cm long, 74 cm wide and 33 cm on arrival. from above.

The set hits shelves because the Republic Gunship won the vote on the LEGO Ideas platform in January 2020. He then won hands down with more than 30.000 votes in his favor, or more than 50% of the votes cast, against the Tie Bomber and the Nebulon B Escort Frigate.

Those who hoped to get a squad of Clones or a Commander Cody Phase 2 in the process are at their cost: with a few exceptions, this is not the point of the range. Ultimate Collector Series than to provide a large handful of minifigs.

We will talk about this box again in a few minutes on the occasion of a "Review ".

LEGO STAR WARS 75309 REUPBLIC GUNSHIP ON THE LEGO SHOP >>