Le Store Calendar US of March 2021 is now available online and it allows us to know a little more about the various promotional offers planned for next month with the products that will be offered, the minimum amounts to spend to obtain them and the validity dates of these offers knowing that the stock is generally sold out well before the announced deadline.

Assuming that the offers will take place on the same dates in Europe and applying the usual euro / dollar conversion at LEGO (1 for 1), we get three offers, one of which should only be valid in LEGO Stores (the real ones , not the Certified Stores:

There will be one more set within the new wave of products in the Monkie Kid range to accompany the seven boxes already announced : the reference 40472 Monkie Kid's RC Race has been added to the official store and this small set of 57 pieces will be sold for € 12.99.

In the packaging, the minifigs of Monkie Kid, Mei and Bob, accompanied by two mini-models reproducing the machines of the sets 80015 Monkie Kid's Cloud Roadster (64.99 €) and 80011 Red Son's Inferno Truck (99.99 €) marketed since 2020.

This small set will be available from March 1, like the whole of the new wave of Monkie Kid 2021 sets which we will talk about in more detail in a few days on the occasion of "Review ".

I remind you that this range is sold only at LEGO and that the products offered at Amazon at prohibitive prices are sold by marketplace resellers who make a small ticket in the process.

The planned sets are now all online on the official store:

It's time to take a quick tour of the LEGO Star Wars set 75298 AT-AT vs. Tauntaun Microfighters, a very small box of 205 pieces sold € 19.99 which allows you to assemble a machine and a creature as the sets already did 75265 T-16 Skyhopper vs. Bantha Microfighters (2020) et 75228 Escape Pod vs. Dewback (2019). After the Dewback and the Bantha, this year it is the turn of the Tauntaun to switch to the Microfighter top rope.

The tastes and the colors do not discuss and it is up to everyone to assess whether this brick Tauntaun is too crude to convince or if on the contrary it is cute enough to judge the exercise successful. Personally, I much prefer the cast figure last seen in 2016 in the set. 75098 Assault on Hoth, although I readily admit that this version Chibi of the creature is nevertheless well in the spirit of the Microfighters range.

Even if this Tauntaun is satisfied with a single real articulation at the level of the tail, that its head is not orientable and that its two legs are fixed, it could be exhibited next to the Dewback and Bantha already marketed to form a bestiary with a very original design. This Tauntaun is obviously not at the AT-AT scale, this range is not intended to respect this type of constraint.

The AT-AT delivered in this box is quite successful. It is also well in the spirit of this range which declines since 2014 various machines and vessels with more or less success according to the subject of reference. The pad printed part placed on the head of the AT-AT and the pilot's seat flanked by a control screen largely contribute to the finish of the machine and this new version of the AT-AT seems to me to be much more convincing than that of the set 75075 AT-AT Microfighter (2015) from which she borrows the design of the legs by inverting the color of the legs.

It should be noted that LEGO provides two identified bags and two separate instruction booklets in this box, which will allow two young fans to share a friendly moment without fighting around the single booklet usually provided or having to watch the other enjoy of the assembly produced while waiting its turn.

The imperial pilot provided is the one seen since 2020 in the set 75288AT-AT, it is fitting and this is the opportunity to afford a copy of this pretty figurine without having to pay 160 €. The minifig of Luke Skywalker is for its part new, it is his first appearance in this form in the LEGO Star Wars range. The pad printing is successful and the beautiful effect of crossed seams on the clothes extends to the lower legs. The character's head topped by the must-have cap with removable and oversized glasses already seen on other rebel soldiers is also very faithful to the outfit of the film with his white balaclava.

The white glasses do not shock too much when placed on the cap, but the effect is much less convincing when placed on the face of the character. Another effort and the same minifigure with a white cap on which the glasses would be pad-printed would be perfect. Luke is equipped with his lightsaber but he also has a Stud Shooter which allows him to fight on an equal footing with the AT-AT pilot. So much the better for the playability.

In short, this small box does not demerit, the exercise of style around the Tauntaun and the AT-AT is successful and respects the aesthetic codes of this range, and the two minifigs provided are of an excellent level. 20 € for 200 pieces and two minifigs, it's probably a little expensive, but for once I agree to reward the creative effort without complaining.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at March 4, 2021 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

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 quickly go around the LEGO Disney sets 40456 Mickey Mouse (118 - 17.99 €) & 40457 Minnie Mouse (140 - 17.99 €), two new references from the Brick Sketches range which, like the other sets based on the same concept, are directly inspired by the work of Chris McVeigh, a long-time AFOL at the origin of the idea that has since been 2020 become a designer at LEGO.

The product packaging does not change and the box is still too big for what it contains. We understand LEGO's desire to try and showcase these small sets of just over a hundred pieces, but we could easily halve these cardboard boxes without detracting from the appeal of the product.

There must be a few complete collectors who plan to collect all the portraits offered in this format and we are already there. with six different references, these two new boxes joining the sets 40386 Batman, 40391 First Order Stormtrooper, 40428 The Joker et 40431BB-8. The disappointment of some will undoubtedly come one day from an exclusive model at a convention that will have to be paid at a high price on the secondary market, the format seems to me particularly suitable for making some exclusive creations with a more or less limited edition.

The assembly mechanics here are the same as for the other references already on the market: You must both assemble the white 12x16 frame of 29 pieces which will serve as a support for the 3D work concerned and work in successive layers to obtain the promised result. the two portraits are almost identical in their construction, it is very very quickly assembled and we cannot say that we are spending a moment of pure creative madness with these two products. But it's the result that counts and these portraits sold for € 17.99 per unit cost much less than the mosaics in the set 31202 Disney's Mickey Mouse sold for € 119.99.

If you look closely at the photos below, you will notice the flaws in some parts that tend to wavy slightly or where the lower tenons are seen transparent. These flaws have been more or less present at LEGO for years but I still have the impression of noticing them more often in recent months.

I'm not going to be a bad language, you recognize Mickey and Minnie at first glance and the two small pictures to hang on the wall or to put on a dresser will be an illusion from afar. Up close, I'm much less convinced by the designer's choices: the eyes of the two mice seem a bit empty and in my opinion a touch of red is missing in the mouth. The superimposed pieces also produce a "carnival mask" effect, the four studs visible under the nose resemble teeth and the cheeks based on large ones. Tiles rounds remind me of Jigsaw for those who can see what I'm talking about. In my defense, I've always found that there is something scary about Mickey and Minnie in their historic white-skinned version and these two portraits won't change my mind.

I understand despite everything that these are simplified and figurative reproductions of the two characters and that it is up to everyone to assess whether the proposed "artistic" interpretation is convincing. I also know that many fans of these two characters will pay little attention to the finish or the "artistic" choices of the designer and that they will not hesitate to pay the 35.98 € requested just because it is Disney by LEGO.

Good luck to the children who will have to sleep with these things on a shelf in their bedroom. Mickey and Minnie are watching you kids, think about it. Even in the dark.

Note: The lot of two sets presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at March 3, 2021 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

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.

If you like LEGO BrickHeadz minifigures and more specifically those that reproduce pets, here are two new references that will be released on March 1: sets 40442 Goldfish (186 - 14.99 €) and 40443 Budgie (261 - € 14.99).

On the one hand, it will be necessary to assemble a goldfish and its "fry" (it is written on the box), on the other it will be a question of building a parakeet and its chick.

These two boxes join the other sets already on sale which feature pets, the references 40440 German Shepherd (14.99 €) and 40441 Shorthair Cats (€ 14.99), using the principle of the adult accompanied by a younger animal and the presentation base dressed with a sticker to choose from among the two stickers included in the box.

Note: the products are online on Malaysian version from the official store.