With a few days in advance of the launch date of Operation May the 4th, LEGO announces the effective availability of the two new helmets and the Probe Droid from the LEGO Star Wars range, not forgetting to specify that the stocks of these different references are limited.

Almost everything has already been said about these three new products which have their qualities and their faults, it is now up to you to see if they deserve to join your collections if you had not already pre-ordered them.

If you have any doubts, you can always read or re-read my reviews of these three boxes (75304 Darth Vader Helmet, 75305 Scout Trooper Helmet & 75306 Imperial Probe Droid). I am only giving my opinion on these different products, but I hope you will find some arguments there that will help you make up your mind.

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Marvel set 76187 Venom, a box of 565 pieces that allows you to assemble the Venom head with a construction process almost identical to that of the set  76199 Rampage (546  - 59.99 €) that I told you about a few days ago.

The heads of Carnage and Venom in the LEGO version are indeed logically similar in many ways and it cannot be said that the building experience varies significantly between the two products. If we forget the smooth finish of the temples of Carnage, the major difference between the two construction lies mainly in the presence of the tongue for Venom and a large handful of stickers used to texture the face of Carnage.

Even though the two builds share the same techniques and aesthetics, I still come to the conclusion that Venom is more successful than Carnage. Where Carnage's mouth was a bit drowned in the overall model with its black teeth, Venom is doing much better with a nice contrast that really highlights this part of the character.

We almost forget the many striped black pieces that dress the rest of this head whose surface oscillates between visible tenons and smooth surfaces, with an alternation that seems balanced to me. I am less convinced by the pink gums which soften the edgy side of the symbiote a bit and which lack consistency with the red tongue.

I said it above, the assembly process is here similar to that of Carnage with an empty skull on which we come to attach some sub-assemblies. The "motorcycle helmet" effect is a little less present on arrival than on Carnage's red head (my review of the set), the black chin guard finally blending in better with the background and the focus being on the character's mouth.

Like Carnage, Venom has a very advanced lower jaw, and again it's a somewhat haphazard attempt at trompe l'oeil that aims to give volume to the character's mouth from certain angles. In profile, the rendering is a little ridiculous, even if you will inevitably find on Google one or more illustrations that go in the direction of the aesthetics of this product. It will therefore be necessary to find the right angle of exposure and the adequate lighting to obtain the effect imagined by the designer.

The eyebrows seem a little too prominent to me to convince even though I understand the desire to make the character's gaze look aggressive. Here too, the monochrome side of the model, without pad printing or stickers, helps to slightly attenuate the rendering of surfaces that are a little too coarse. The eyes lack volume, the white surface should in principle be larger to really match the image of the creature and we feel the respect of the format imposed in this collection of heads / helmets and the desire not to get lost too much in creative digressions to stay in the assortment and the collection.

Another originality of the model, the presence of a few drops of venom which only drips on the presentation base. It's a good idea, well executed with a discreet detail that gives a little cachet to this model without going too far out of the imposed framework.

A detail that seems important to me: this collection is presented in boxes that are much too large for what they contain and the half-full bags can be walked freely inside. On arrival, there are no more scratched or scratched parts and the black elements bear this degradation very badly. Please do not hesitate to contact customer service if you feel that a high end display product like this deserves a flawless finish. If no one says anything, LEGO won't react.

Everyone will have an opinion about this collection of heads / helmets / masks launched by LEGO and we could discuss for hours on the limitations of the chosen format and the approximations that result from it. Fortunately, these products are marketed at a price that does not require you to think too long before making a decision.

At 60 € the exhibition model, the compromise is allowed without having to regret having paid too much for a box that was a little missed to complete a collection launched in 2020 which already has nine products and which should regularly expand with new references. . Also keep in mind that these boxes very quickly find themselves sold well below their usual retail price at Amazon.

Finally, I think that this Venom face is much more convincing than that of Carnage even if the two models are affected by the same aesthetic compromises. The contrast between the mouth and the rest of the face is much more convincing here and the beige teeth look better than the same mouth with black teeth.

Both sets will be available from April 26, 2021 at 01:00 a.m. on the official online store. It's up to you to decide whether to absolutely align the two on your shelves or if Venom will suffice.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 9th May 2021 next at 23pm. 

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.

I received my copy of the book LEGO Star Wars Yoda's Galaxy Atlas, pre-ordered a few months ago from Amazon with the goal of adding Yoda's exclusive space traveler minifig to my collection. Unsurprisingly, the book itself is uninspiring with a few dozen pages filled with very large illustrations and a few lines of English text. I will give you photos of the proposed editorial content, you will find examples of pages on the product sheet at Amazon.

It is obviously for the Yoda minifigure that I agreed to spend around fifteen euros, it is presented as exclusive and there will therefore in principle be no other opportunity to review this torso later in a set or a polybag from the LEGO Star Wars range. The map of the Exterior Border is also supposed to be exclusive to this book, time will tell if this is the case or if this nicely pad-printed piece will one day make a new appearance.

The torso is very successful with its straps which match the backpack delivered with the figurine and its logo of the Rebel Alliance in the form of a badge. We wonder a little why there are two straps in the back of the character but we are ultimately not going to complain about having a pad printed element on both sides. Publisher Dorling Kindersley is not stingy with accessories, we even get a camera in addition to the stick, map and backpack.
The character's head is not exclusive or unseen, it is the one already seen in 2013 in the set 75017 Duel on Geonosis then in a handful of boxes including the set 75255 Yoda marketed since 2019.

at 15 euros per minifigure, it is obviously my collector's soul that takes over and pushes me to invest in this version of Yoda which is inspired by nothing other than the story presented in the associated book . The character will remain anecdotal and a little off-topic, but at least it has the merit of being new and sufficiently accomplished for me to be satisfied.

The book itself will end up at the bottom of a drawer, it doesn't add anything and in this precise case it's almost more a waste of paper than anything else.

Keep in mind that these books usually end up in clearance at Amazon and its subsidiary Book Depository for a few euros after several months of marketing, if this version of Yoda tempts you but you can sleep until you have it. not, wait.

[amazon box="0241467659"]

The other offer planned for Operation May the 4th at LEGO will provide a copy of the LEGO Star Wars polybag 30388 Imperial Shuttle from 40 € of purchase in products of the range. This offer will in principle only be valid in LEGO Stores and we can legitimately worry about the difficulty of being able to obtain this bag in France.

The good news: this sachet of 85 pieces is not exclusive to the official store and it is already available in mass on the secondary market for just under 5 €. It will also be available from several other brands specializing in toys this year.

As the title of the product indicates, it is a question here of assembling a mini-version of The Imperial Shuttle which takes over from the very minimalist polybag. 30246 Imperial Shuttle (2014) and version brick master a little more fleshed out from the bag 20016 Imperial Shuttle marketed in 2010.

This new model seems to me rather successful with the possibility of obtaining acceptable angles for the cockpit and the wings which are simply clipped on the body of the vessel. LEGO does not provide enough to display the thing in flight position, it will be necessary to manage to make it take a little height and spread the wings downwards.
No miracle on this scale, it is necessary to ignore the characteristic curvature of the wings at the junction point with the body of the vessel. Nothing serious, it is above all a mini-model which remains immediately recognizable despite the simplification of certain details.

The fuselage is consistent, we find the volumes present under the central aileron which is also rather faithful to the reference vessel and the cockpit composed of a few parts is an illusion. No stickers or pad printing here, the few details and color variations are embodied through the choice of appropriate parts.

To put it simply, this polybag allows in my opinion to obtain the most successful mini version to date of the Imperial Shuttle and there is therefore no reason to ignore this small bag with the substantial inventory. . However, you will have to find a LEGO Store open between May 1 and 5, 2021 to be able to be offered this polybag, unless LEGO reacts by then and decides to offer this promotional offer online.

Note: The polybag shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 6th May 2021 next at 23pm. 

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 has put online details of the offers planned for the May the 4th promotional operation which will take place from May 1 to 5, 2021. Three offers are planned, they will all be valid for the duration of the operation or in the limit of stocks available for products offered under the condition of purchase: