Here we go again for a period during which VIP points are doubled for any purchase made on the LEGO Shop. The offer is valid until April 20, 2021.

We cannot stress it enough, this recurring offer at LEGO is not really competitive with the prices offered by many other brands on most of the sets in the catalog. However, it can be interesting for the acquisition of an exclusive box, temporarily or not, on the official online store: 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery (€179.99), LEGO Ideas 21326 Winnie the Pooh (109.99 €) or 10295 Porsche 911 (139.99 €) for example.

For each product purchased, you will accumulate double points during the period indicated and you will then have to exchange these points for a reduction voucher to be used on a future purchase via the rewards center. 750 VIP points accumulated give the right to a reduction of 5 € to be valid for a future purchase on the official online store or in a LEGO Store.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE OFFER ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

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

Without transition, we continue today with the LEGO set 75550 Minions Kung Fu Battle, a box of 310 pieces which in principle was to accompany in 2020 the theatrical release of the animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru, release postponed to July 2021 at first and then postponed again, this time to summer 2022.

Last year, LEGO had nevertheless marketed two of the five boxes planned around the film, the sets 75549 Unstoppable Bike Chase (19.99 €) and 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair (49.99 €) and had chosen to postpone the launch of the other three references announced. These three sets will be available from May 24, so it's still missing to be in sync with the release of the film.

That being said, if you like Minions and Asian atmospheres, this little box sold for € 39.99 should probably please you: it allows you to obtain the figurines of Kevin, Stuart and Otto, all staged in a Chinese temple with its training dummy, her traditional dragon, a few lanterns, lots of bananas, and a built-in feature that allows you to eject a minifigure. Of them Stud Shooters are placed on the edges of the roof, they allow to launch "fireworks". Why not.

The "Chinese temple" is a relatively basic construction but still offers the luxury of pretty details. The designer must be a big fan of LEGO bananas, he has put them everywhere and in several colors. As you can imagine, the assembly of the whole is quickly dispatched and we are close to the 4+ classification.

As for the figurines, the collection of Minions in Kung-Fu outfit launched with Bob in the set 75551 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair Two new characters are added here: Stuart and Kevin who are dressed in the same orange-colored outfit and who have pad-printed arms with a black band. The reference to Uma Thurman's outfit in the Kill Bill saga is obvious, it's always taken.

Otto makes his first appearance in this box and he serves here as a foil: LEGO explains on the box that the character can be ejected into the air via the catapult integrated in the temple. The functionality is not incredibly creative but it has the merit of existing and we will have to wait to see the film to check if the scene is compliant.

We will also have a little fun with the training dummy that it is possible to face by manually operating one of the two notched wheels placed to the right of the temple. Finally, LEGO provides a dragon that allows you to celebrate the Chinese New Year as it should. The four stickers of the scale-based set take place on the sides of the creature.

In short, we are here facing a product derived from content that we will not see for a long time and by the time the film is released in theaters, we will probably all have forgotten the existence of this box. There are three remaining collectible figures for fans of the franchise, a few colorful bananas, and a few items that can eventually help flesh out an Asia-themed diorama. Is that enough for € 39.99? It's up to you to judge, it will be without me.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 8th 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.

Today we are quickly interested in the series of LEGO characters 71030 Looney Tunes Collectible Minifigure Series, a collection of 12 minifigs that features some iconic members of the Warner Bros. bestiary.

The more observant will have noticed that there are only 11 of the 12 characters in the photo above and this is not a mistake on my part. LEGO has sent a box of 36 sachets to many blogs and other media and in some of those boxes the breakdown doesn't even get a full set. There should have been three complete sets in the box I received, but Bip Bip is present in 6 copies instead of 3 and Coyote is missing. There is therefore no complete series in the box that I received.

LEGO didn't really try to provide us with the missing character until the reviews were released and invokes an isolated issue that should be fixed by the time the boxes go on sale on April 26th. My advice: wait for the first buyers to confirm that the distribution of the boxes makes it possible to obtain several complete series before investing in a packaging of 36 sachets.

That being said, I therefore have 11 of the 12 characters left to form an opinion on this series of minifigs. First observation, except for Lola Bunny, we cannot say that LEGO has forced on the pad printing and it is logical: the original design of most of these characters is minimalist and the LEGO version only reproduces the few graphic details present on the screen.

I will not describe to you through the menu what you can see in the photos of each character, I have tried to offer you something to give you a very precise idea of ​​what each of the 11 sachets I have allows you to obtain .

Despite the relative simplicity of some pad prints, LEGO still finds a way to spoil some of them with white or pink areas printed on a dark background which remain very bland and which do not match the color of the other associated parts. This is the case for the torsos of Grosminet, Bugs Bunny or even Porky Pig, Vil Coyote being affected by what I have seen elsewhere. At 3.99 € the figurine, I think we are however entitled to be demanding on the finish, with real minifigs which correspond to the very optimistic and misleading official visuals.

Another observation: many of the parts in these bags are damaged as soon as they are unpacked, for example with several torsos whose edges are slightly scratched. When these parts are abundantly pad-printed, these defects are less visible but the minimalist aesthetic of these figurines requires to provide parts with an irreproachable finish.

We could also discuss the difficulty of wanting to convert characters whose physical appearance does not really lend themselves to it into minifig format. The heads here are generally faithful and they save the furniture but Bip Bip, and to a lesser extent Titi, have a little trouble getting used to a pair of classic legs. Some will see it as an adaptation respecting the usual LEGO codes where others may find that we are moving a little too far from the reference designs. Each his own.

Taz (The Tasmanian Devil) is offered here with a stand that loosely mimics the acceleration of the character's legs, with the front piece a bit bulky when it comes to wisely lining up the minifigs in a frame or on a shelf. A cast as a replacement for the legs, in my opinion, would have been a better choice to reinforce the dynamics of the character as it is portrayed on screen as the character moves.

LEGO could also have made an effort regarding Marvin the Martian by molding a part for the green skirt with the raised edges. The manufacturer knew how to do it for Minnie's skirt or here for Petunia Pig, so it was possible to avoid the simple piece of fabric provided and to really improve the appearance of this character. Marvin also combines bad technical choices with a pad printing of his pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars which lacks bite and which would have deserved to be directly molded in its final shade.

For the rest, lovers of Cheese Slopes will be delighted to be entitled to a literal interpretation of the term provided in triplicate, the panel with the inscription "That's All Folks"would probably have deserved a colored background identical to the one on the exit screen of the cartoons and LEGO could have made an effort to make Lola Bunny's accessory really look like a basketball.

Finally, it is difficult to ignore the great absentees of this series of minifigs: Sam the Pirate (Yosemite Sam), Elmer Fudd and Pépé le Putois (Pépé Le Pew) were notably not selected. One can imagine that this is because the first two are carrying around weapons, the current era being the avoidance of anything that can potentially trigger a controversy in one way or another. Regarding Pepe the Polecat, the character was simply banned by Warner Bros. because the French-accented skunk is accused by some of "perpetuating the culture of rape". Of which act.

In the end, I am divided about this series of collectible minifigs which we do not know for the moment if it will be supplemented one day by other collectible figures. There is no indication that this is a first series and LEGO adds the mention Limited Edition which confirms that it will probably be necessary to be satisfied with this non-exhaustive casting.

I imagine that the buzz around the movie Space Jam 2, scheduled for July 2021 and which features some of these characters, will have fallen off a long time ago anyway and it will then be difficult to offer 12 new figures later without having to go look for a big handful of second-class characters to furnish.

On the one hand, this collection of 12 characters takes me back to my young years lulled by hilarious cartoons and on the other it seems too incomplete to really satisfy my nostalgia. Elmer Fudd and Sam the Pirate seemed to me to be inescapable though, I watched them for hours trying to shoot Bugs Bunny.

I'm not insulting you to explain to you how to find each character by feeling the bags, there is no risk of confusion here, a little common sense is enough and I think that it is not necessary to specify that need "look for this or that element or accessory"... You print the leaflet provided in every sachet I scanned for you a few days ago, it is intended for that, and you will have to try and find a toy store that still allows this type of activity.

Otherwise, I remind you that you can pre-order now the box of 72 sachets at the price of 232.99 € at Minifigure Maddness (use the code HOTH92 to benefit from a € 4 reduction on the initial price of € 236.99). Distribution is not guaranteed.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. 2 winners, 2 lots of 12 minifigs distributed as best as possible. the 3rd prize will be up for grabs on Instagram. Deadline set at 7th 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.

Almost everyone has seen the new series of 12 Looney Tunes characters to collect, but LEGO is still splitting a few visuals to formalize the announcement of this collection of minifig in sachets which will be available at the end of April.

You can pre-order now the box of 72 sachets at the price of 232.99 € at Minifigure Maddness (use the code HOTH92 to benefit from a € 4 reduction on the initial price of € 236.99). The distribution is not guaranteed at this stage and the box of 36 sachets that I received from LEGO does not bode well on this point.

In the sachets which will be grouped in boxes of 36 or 72 units:

We will speak again tomorrow about these different characters on the occasion of a "Partially tested".

Anything that can help make a LEGO product even more interesting is worth taking and LEGO has posted an "alternative" set of instructions for the LEGO ART set online. 31202 Disney's Mickey Mouse (2658 - 119.99 €). On the program, enough to assemble two new mosaics which feature Mickey and Minnie in a configuration different from that provided by default by the manufacturer.

You can download the instruction file in PDF format which will allow you to assemble any of the above visuals at this address. These variants can be considered as "official" versions, they were imagined by Kitt Grace Kossmann, designer at LEGO who is at the origin of several of the products marketed in the LEGO ART range.

For those who would have missed it, LEGO offers the same for the set 31201 Harry Potter Hogwarts Crests (4249 - 119.99 €) with an instruction file in PDF format which allows you to assemble three alternative mosaics to those provided by default with Hedwig, a Snitch or the King's Cross lane number. The file is available for download at this address.

If you have the courage to dismantle the mosaic or mosaics that you have already assembled, then you have something to occupy yourself for a few hours. In the worst case, grab the instruction files and store them somewhere until you have the will to jump into a teardown / reassembly operation, it's unclear how long LEGO will keep them online.