Today we are quickly interested in one of the three novelties expected in the LEGO Monkie Kid range from July 1: the set 80025 Sandy's Power Loader Mech, with its 520 pieces and its retail price set at 44.99 €.

As with the rest of this range vaguely inspired by the popular legend of the Monkey King and tailor-made for the Asian market, you will have to go through the official online store to afford these three new products. LEGO does not allow resellers to market these products in France and it is only available elsewhere than in Asia because the manufacturer has one day made a commitment to no longer offer geographic exclusivity.

The purpose of the set is here to assemble an exoskeleton piloted by Sandy while the cat Mo plays the DJ at the top of the machine. Why not. The robot, about twenty centimeters high, is obviously in the colors of its pilot and the level of detail is very satisfactory. The points of articulation are numerous, rather well integrated and the members of the "loader robot" are sufficiently dressed not to look too rickety. The stability of the machine is exemplary, and the Sandy figurine does not look ridiculous under its support hoop.

The exoskeleton is equipped to go and knock out Spider Queen's men with a large combat stick on one side (Crescent Staff) "held" by three pliers but which is in fact fixed on a rotary axis via a Technic pin, and on the other a fist which can be extended to strike the enemy with a rubber band which ensures the return of the fingers towards the rest of the hand. The mechanism is basic, the designer has not made any particular effort to hide the white elastic, but the functionality is fun.

I was recently able to talk to two designers about these elastics that I find a little petty, they replied that their presence is often linked to the age group targeted by the product concerned and that their role is to offer a functionality that is easy to assemble without the need for a more complex part-based mechanism. Of which act. I also logically asked the question of the absence of a replacement copy in the box. I was simply told that these silicone rubber bands are strong and durable enough that they do not need to provide extra copies.

The back of the exoskeleton is often less detailed than the front face but we still have a retractable reactor which confirms that the machine can also fly. The two pairs of loudspeakers placed on either side of Mo's console and mounted on ball joints can be turned over to also become reactors.

In the camp opposite, the two henchmen of Spider Queen are a little under-equipped with a very small robot which is only used here as a foil to have fun with the elastic fist. The designer has added something vaguely to retaliate with a Stud Shooter but this relatively stable mini-robot will not convince many people and will encourage the acquisition of other sets with more extensive content to have enough to face Sandy with more or less equal weapons.

We stick a large handful of stickers on the two exoskeletons, difficult to escape these stickers which are graphically very successful here.

As with the sets launched at the start of the year, these new boxes feature the various heroes of this universe struggling with the minions of the evil Spider Queen. We therefore logically find two nasty henchmen in this box, Huntsman and Syntax, characters already seen identically in other sets.

The figurine of Sandy is also the one already seen in other boxes and there is only Mo the Cat who is unseen here with a satchel on the chest which replaces the white fur seen since 2020 on the previous versions of the animal.

In the end, it is beautifully executed and Sandy's exoskeleton imposes it with sufficiently bushy limbs to hide a little the different points of articulation, even if the duo of villains is struggling to find a place in this box.

We can't really blame LEGO for offering almost balanced content that invites the acquisition of other sets to improve the balance of power. As it is, it's playable, but you will have to go back to the cash register so as not to have to draw lots who will have to deal with the slightly ridiculous mini-robot. Business is business.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 27th June 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.

LEGO today launches a new teasing sequence for a product whose official announcement is imminent: the LEGO set 10282 adidas Originals Superstar, a box of 731 pieces which will allow, from July 1, to assemble a reproduction ... of an adidas shoe.

This product derived from the collaboration between LEGO and adidas will be sold at the public price of 89.99 €, and there will be only one shoe in the box ...

The May 2021 issue of the official LEGO Star Wars magazine is available on newsstands and allows us as planned to obtain a mini Jedi Starfighter from Obi-Wan Kenobi of 29 pieces.

After several mini-things to build, return to the minifigs in the next issue which will be available on newsstands from July 12 with Rey Palpatine accompanied by BB-8. The two figurines that will be provided with this new issue of the magazine are not unseen, that of Rey is available in sets 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase (2019 - €49.99), 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship (2020 - € 69.99) 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 - €49.99), 75242 Black Ace TIE Interceptor (2019 - 49.99 €) and 75297 Resistor X-wing (2021 - € 19.99).

LEGO today unveils the set  LEGO Ideas 21327 Typewriter, a product of 2079 pieces inspired by the project Lego typewriter by Steve Guinness. The official designer in charge of the file has taken some liberties with the original creation and we get here a crossover to the hull Sand green between a Silverette II type machine and a portable Remington that vaguely resembles the Erika-10 model used by Ole Kirk Kristensen in the 30s.

The machine is "functional" with a character bar placed in the center of the basket which begins to move when one of the buttons is pressed. It is possible to insert a sheet of paper around the roll, the carriage moves over the keystrokes and the lever placed on the left allows you to perform a carriage return. The ribbon color selection button only has an aesthetic function, the machine keyboard keys are pad printed and the two model identification plates are stickers.

Finally, LEGO provides a letter written by Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, great-grandson of the founder and chairman of the group's board of directors, translated into 43 languages. These different letters in A5 format are gathered in a notebook, you just have to detach the one you want to display with the machine. Dimensions of the object: 26 cm long, 27 cm deep and 12 cm high.

The set will be available as a VIP preview from June 16, before global availability announced for July 1, 2021. Retail price: € 199.99.

We will talk about this machine again in a few days on the occasion of a "Review ", the innards of the thing house a rather impressive mechanism.

LEGO IDEAS 21327 TYPEWRITER ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

(The link to the shop redirects to the version of the official shop for your country of connection)

It's signed: the Docks Brucksel shopping center in Brussels will host a LEGOLAND Discovery Center, the opening of which is in principle scheduled for summer 2022.

This is not a LEGOLAND park, the Discovery Centers are indoor versions of the concept managed by the company Merlin Entertainments, with a reduced surface area but which offer the same type of models and attractions. The one that will be installed in the aisles of this shopping center should benefit from a surface area of ​​3000 m², it will occupy the former premises of the MediaMarkt brand which has moved elsewhere in the center.

This establishment has been completed, but we will have to wait to find out more about the installation of a "real" LEGOLAND park in the Gosselies area near Charleroi. At this stage, we must be satisfied with the press release published by the company Merlin Entertainments which confirms that the group is seeking to expand its European presence and is very interested in setting up in Belgium.

(With The Echo, thanks to David for the alert)