LEGO today unveils the set 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, a large box of 2354 pieces designed in partnership with NASA which makes it possible to assemble the Discovery orbiter and the Hubble space telescope put into orbit during the STS-31 mission launched on April 24, 1990. Discovery has been retired since 2011, the orbiter is now on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

LEGO had the choice between the five variants of the shuttle used for the 135 missions of the Space Shuttle Program from 1981 to 2011: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor, and some rumors that circulated on social networks at the beginning of the year evoked Columbia in this box. LEGO obviously does not market an orbiter that disintegrated on its return to the atmosphere and focuses on an event that also marked the history of the conquest of space, but in a less tragic way.

This exhibition product which ignores the rest of the elements of the shuttle, the tank and the two lateral thrusters, offers some refinements that should delight fans of the space conquest with the possibility of inserting Hubble in the hold of the l orbiter, to stage the extraction of the thing via the remote manipulator arm and to store the two elements side by side on a shelf, all embellished with relatively elegant supports and two presentation plates highlighting some facts.

The landing gears are retractable, the extractable cockpit well integrates the crew seats with a realistic layout, the balance between visible tenons and smooth surfaces is fairly homogeneous and the finish of the tanks is very correct. There are three barrels at the rear at the level of the reactors, I am not a big fan of this solution, but we will do with it. Dimensions of the object: 55 cm long, 34 cm wide and 21 cm high.

To install Hubble in the hold, it will first be necessary to remove the two solar panels in the deployed version and replace them with the extensions supplied which embody the "rolled" panels visible on one of the official visuals.

Big handful of stickers on the program with enough to dress the outside of the orbiter and above all a whole layer of shiny stickers which reproduce the cooling panels installed on the interior surface of the two cargo bay doors. The Hubble telescope is covered with elements in metallic Silver and the two solar panels are flexible pad-printed parts on one side which must be taken great care to prevent them from deforming.

This set will be available on the official online store from April 1, 2021 at the public price of € 179.99. Members of the VIP program will also be able to afford a reproduction of the Ulysses space probe launched by the same orbiter in October 1990. This bonus will not be offered, it will be necessary to sacrifice 1800 VIP points to obtain the code to enter in the basket during the checkout. 'an order, i.e. the equivalent of around € 12 reduction on a future purchase.

LEGO 10283 NASA SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

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

Amazon is currently offering a flash sale with an immediate reduction of up to 35% on a selection of sets including some LEGO Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, Technic, CITY, Ninjago or Architecture references.

Some examples: The LEGO Harry Potter set 75948 Hogwarts Clocktower is 64.99 € instead of 99.99 €, the set 75969 Hogwarts Astronomy Tower goes to 73.99 € instead of 109.99 €, the LEGO ART set 31200 Star Wars The Sith is 79.90 € instead of 119.99 €, the set LEGO Marvel 76166 Avengers Tower Battle goes to € 68.99 instead of € 94, the LEGO Star Wars set 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship is € 47.90 instead of € 69.99, etc.

The proposed reduction sometimes even exceeds the 35% announced if we take into account the official public price and not the price usually charged by the brand which is already well below the LEGO price.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE OFFER AT AMAZON >>

The rumor of the opening of a fourth European LEGOLAND park located in Belgium had already been circulating for many months, but no official statement from the main party had so far really formalized the existence and progress of this project.

This is now the case with a 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 a few kilometers from Charleroi.

Merlin also confirms that the project has received a favorable reception from the various regional managers and that negotiations will begin with the Walloon investment fund SOGEPA specializing in the reconversion of former industrial sites and owner of the land on which the park would be. implanted.

The park would initially occupy only part of the land of Gosselies used in the past by the Caterpillar company and the unused area could possibly be used for a future extension or more simply be converted into green spaces.

Nothing has yet been signed, the Gosselies area near Charleroi is the one that remains a priority on this issue, but it will be necessary to wait for the various stakeholders to come to an agreement, in particular on the financing of the project. Merlin Entertainments announces that the final decision will be made when the health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions are behind us.

If this new LEGOLAND park were to open one day, it would be the fourth in Europe after Billund (Denmark), Windsor (UK) and Günzburg (Germany). Elsewhere in the world, the opening of the new New York park is expected to take place within the year and locations are planned in South Korea and China by 2023.

We continue the tour of the 2021 novelties of the LEGO Monkie Kid range with a quick glance at the contents of the set 80020 White Dragon Horse Jet, a box of 565 pieces sold at the public price of 39.99 € since March 1st.

Once again, this set which allows to assemble a ship with a resolutely futuristic look draws cheerfully from traditional Chinese culture and from the legend of the Monkey King by directly referring to the White Dragon Horse (Bai Long Ma), a major character of the popular tale of which Mei is a descending wave for the needs of the very free adaptation in LEGO version.

The ship she is piloting here is therefore a machine that appropriates some attributes of dragon and horse with an aesthetically rather interesting result. Scales on the wings and on the back, nose vaguely reminiscent of a horse's head, two Spring-Shooters with their ammunition hidden in the wings, two Stud Shooters sides at the front, a sword tear already seen in other colors in several sets of the Ninjago range at the back, it's consistent and this jet has allure.

The assembly of the jet is very pleasant with interesting techniques to form the nose which is in two parts with a colored band in the center and a nice overlap of Nexo Knights shields on the two steerable wings which are neither too thin nor too loaded. The few golden touches bring a little tinsel to the fuselage, it is successful.

We will also remember that Mei is piloting her ship a little blind, she is quite simply lying under the canopy in Transparent Bright-Green, here in reverse position compared to the more classic use of this element, which will perhaps bring back memories to the fans of old ranges which put this shade in the spotlight. For those who would ask the question, the Tile the pad printing with vintage accents used for the cockpit is the one already seen in 2020 in the sets 10273 Haunted Houses et 10274 Ghostbusters ECTO-1.

Mo also has a flying machine with a platform in colors matching the animal's fur and crest. The character really finds his place in this box thanks to this small flying machine which will allow him to truly take part in the action imagined by the happy owners of the set and not to find himself confined to the role of simple pet.

As in several other boxes in the range, the designer here tries to create a little context by adding a piece of sidewalk with a floor lamp and a drink dispenser. This additional construction is very interesting, it is even functional with a very simple mechanic identical to the one seen in the LEGO Ninjago set 70657 City Docks : All you have to do is insert a Tile 2x1, here Si's smartphone, in the slot provided to release a can. The spider web attached to the machine serves to create the stake of the product with Mei tumbling down to free the friendly civilian from the clutches of Spider Queen's henchman and the accompanying spider drone.

The drink dispenser is decorated with several stickers but the lids of the different drinks are pad printed. This mini-scene would have in my opinion deserved to be associated with a few other street elements with for example a longer sidewalk with a more successful finish, a bench, or even a shop but it will unfortunately be necessary to be satisfied with this modest setting. situation.

As I said a few days ago, I find that this range lacks a bit of urban elements that could have been used to create a real context. In my opinion, we are not immune to a Monkie Kid's City in the years to come in the manner of what LEGO did very well in the Ninjago universe. There is potential.

In front of Mei and Mo, we therefore find a Spider Queen henchman and a spider drone. Not really enough to balance the clash between the forces of good and those of evil, but it will still be possible to have a little fun while waiting to be able to be offered something more consistent to put in front of the jet.

The character endowment here is pretty decent despite the absence of the main hero of the range with Mei and Mo on one side, the Spider Queen henchman with his drone on the other and a civilian who had nothing asked in the middle. As I said above, Mo takes here a real foreground dimension thanks to his flying machine which allows him to really participate in the fight.

The pad prints are as usual in this range overall very successful with a level of detail to make some of the characters of external licenses regularly offered by LEGO fade. If you have a feeling of déjà vu with the civilian's torso, this is normal: this element is far from unheard of and it has already been used in the CITY sets. 60290 Skate Park (2021) 10273 Haunted Houses (2020) and Hidden Side 70435 Newbury Abandoned Jail (2020)

The double-sided head with its (very) scared expression on one side and rocker hair are common items in the LEGO inventory. Mei's minifig, delivered here without her helmet, is an assembly of items seen in many other sets in the range and that of Spider Queen's henchman is also available in sets 80021 Monkie Kid's Lion Guardian et 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter marketed from the beginning of the month.

I think we have here a reference that brings together the best of what LEGO can do: in my opinion, it is a creative product with a slick design, solid, equipped for fun and which offers as a bonus some challenges interesting in terms of assembly. All this for € 39.99 with a handful of minifigs, we're not going to complain too much, LEGO doesn't always do as well in this range or in others.

A small update concerning the animated series which serves as context and marketing support for these derivative products: The first season is now available online via various video on demand services but you have to go through a VPN to be able to watch the 12 episodes and it is essential to master a little English. I tested a viewing via New Zealand service TVNZ going through NordVPN with location in New Zealand, it works.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at April 4th 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.

It is the shopping center in Strasbourg which announces it on his facebook page : It is only a matter of a few weeks for the effective opening of the LEGO (Certified) Store which will be located in the heart of the Place des Halles shopping center in Strasbourg.

The confusion of genres is also generally maintained by forgetting the word "Certified" in the name of these shops which regularly open all over France and it should be remembered that this new space will not be a LEGO Store. "official" with the services that go with it, including the VIP program.

LEGO had vaguely promised that these Certified Stores would one day be affiliated with the program, but nothing has ever been done to allow customers of these franchised shops managed by the Italian company Percassi to accumulate points when they make their purchases and then use them to obtain a reduction.

Regarding the actual opening date of this shop, it will obviously be necessary to wait for a relaxation of the sanitary measures in force, in particular those concerning commercial areas of more than 10.000 m2.