Today we are quickly interested in the new LEGO road system offered in particular in the CITY set. 60304 Road Plates (19.99 €), a small box of 112 pieces which will be available from January 1, 2021. The announcement of this significant change to the system in place had also been greeted with more or less enthusiasm depending on the profile of the fans concerned .

Some of those who have spent large sums on classic roadplates take a dim view of the arrival of this new system while others are delighted to see that LEGO is finally trying something a little bit. bolder than simple pad-printed plastic plates to offer something that really looks like a construction toy.

This new system revolves around 16x16 molded plates with a thickness of two studs which will logically have a little trouble accommodating your Speed ​​Champions cars in 8 studs but which will allow the circulation of classic vehicles in 6 studs wide. It will eventually be possible to widen the roadway with flat covered with tiles but it will be necessary to go back to the cash register to afford the necessary elements or to invest heavily in this small box to afford a highway.

These modules can be linked together via tiles and LEGO has planned a relative modularity that allows many combinations. Ramps allow vehicles to access the road and the set 60304 Road Plates provides enough to assemble a large crossing with four 16x16 modules and an 8x16 pedestrian crossing lined with speed bumps, all accompanied by some signage elements, two lampposts and a little vegetation. You will have to pay € 19.99 to afford this set and multiply the sum to change the entire street coating of your dioramas.

LEGO has chosen to offer smooth and shiny pavement elements, I would have preferred a mat and a little more granular coating to obtain a real "road" effect and guarantee minimum grip for vehicles in circulation. The proposed version should not withstand the assaults of the youngest for very long and quickly accumulate scratches.

We cannot really say that the result obtained is of perfect visual continuity, the different locations planned to accommodate the pad-printed floor marking or the parts which fill the holes in the roadway remain clearly visible. This is undoubtedly the price to pay to obtain a product that offers sufficient modularity and let users' creativity express itself.

LEGO also did not force the quality of the pad printing of the floor marking, the white bands are not all correctly centered on the parts concerned. It will not be necessary to go with a cutter or a knife to remove the tiles placed on the roadway, LEGO has provided a hole under each location to push with a rod and eject the part.

If you are considering a hybrid solution that allows you to reuse your old road plates and combine them with this new system, you are going to have to be very creative. Almost nothing sticks together. The plates supplied are narrower than the pavement of conventional plates, the white bands are not the same size and it is impossible to perfectly compensate for the thickness of the new plates hoping to obtain a perfect alignment.

The least worse of the solutions will consist in raising the sidewalk which borders your constructions installed on road plates of the thickness of a plate. Those who align Modulars and install a road just in front of their series of buildings can still place a few flat under the baseplate of the different sets to achieve the same raised sidewalk effect without affecting the finish of the model itself.

While conventional road plates made it possible to move an entire block of ancillary constructions or road signs, this new solution will prove to be significantly more fragile during handling. LEGO will also have to make an effort to come up with a solution that allows you to assemble turns that really look like curves. The traditional plates did that very well, the new system is much less efficient on this point, and that is saying little.

Anecdote: the street lights are powered by solar panels identical to those provided in the LEGO Ideas set 21321 International Space Station and they are both equipped with a phosphorescent piece.

In short, the arrival of this new concept is therefore a small revolution which will undoubtedly not do everyone's business but which should appeal to the youngest. The set presented here is in fact only a simple extension intended to complete a diorama gathering other boxes marketed under the label Connect your City which already provide many elements allowing to assemble these new routes: the references 60290 Skate Park (€ 29.99), 60291 Modern Family House (49.99 €) and 60292 Town Center (99.99 €).

If you prefer to stay on the old system, be aware that the references 60236 Straight & T-Junction et 60237 Curve & Crossroad sold at the public price of 9.99 € are still listed at LEGO even if they are currently out of stock. We do not know how long the two concepts will live together, stock up.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at December 28, 2020 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.

Imminent end of career for a product which will not have won unanimity but which will not have left many indifferent either: the wooden minifigure from the LEGO Originals range (ref 853967) is still available at LEGO but it will be permanently withdrawn from the catalog at the end of the year.

You have to pay the tidy sum of 119.99 € / 159.00 CHF (129.99 € in Belgium) to afford this minifigure which in theory pays tribute to the know-how of the founder of the brand, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, carpenter of his state before becoming the plastic toy emperor. In fact, it is above all a mass-produced product produced at a lower cost in Vietnam, from wood that we are presented with as coming from sustainable forests. Nobody will check.

Still, it's a nice gift to give to a LEGO fan who has already bought the other product you thought you were giving him anyway. Many fans have only placed this showcase product very far down their priority list and they will thank you for allowing them to keep € 120 to spend on new products from their favorite ranges which will be available in January 2021. And it's always better than a pair of socks with their dog's head or a Scorpio box set.

853967 LEGO WOODEN MINIFIGURE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

THE PRODUCT IN BELGIUM >> THE PRODUCT IN SWITZERLAND >>

Good news for fans of the LEGO Harry Potter range who couldn't get their copy of the LEGO Harry Potter set. 30628 The Monster Book of Monsters currently offered in the LEGO Stores from € 75 purchase of products from the range: This small box of 320 pieces is now listed on the official online store, which seems to confirm that a promotional offer accessible via the Shop is imminent.

The offer in question should be similar to the one offered only in the LEGO Stores from December 1 to December 24: you will have to spend at least € 75 on products from the Harry Potter range for the set to be automatically added to the basket.

If the online offer is launched on January 1st, you can take advantage of the purchase of at least three of the four "books" announced at € 29.99 each ( 76382 Hogwarts Moment: Transfiguration Class, 76383 Hogwarts Moment: Potions Class, 76384 Hogwarts Moment: Herbology Class et 76385 Hogwarts Moment: Charms Class) to receive this set as a gift.

For the record, LEGO values ​​this set which allows you to assemble a reproduction of the edgy book which makes its first appearance in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban at 19.99 €.

The new issue of the official LEGO Star Wars magazine is available and it allows you to obtain Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Interceptor. This is a 33-piece micro-version that will not be passed on to posterity but does better than the micro-things from the LEGO Advent calendars. With a few parts, this Jedi Interceptor is similar to that of Anakin offered at the end of 2019 with the magazine.

The next issue of this magazine will hit newsstands in January 2021 and will be accompanied by a 42-piece Tie Interceptor. The proposed version seems to me more successful than that of the set 40407 Death Star II Battle offered in May 2020 at LEGO but I continue to prefer the polybag one 6965 Tie Interceptor dating from 2004.

Today we quickly tour the LEGO Technic set 42124 Off-Road Buggy, a box of 374 pieces that will join from January 1, 2021 all LEGO products that benefit from the Control + motorization ecosystem. The promised interactivity and the presence of the Hub Powered Up (88012) and two L engines (88013) increase the retail price of this product to 129.99 €.

Those who spent long hours outside with their Nikko Dictator or Dominator in the 80s will be able to treat themselves to a nice breath of nostalgia here. The designer did his homework well and we find the aggressive look of the small radio-controlled cars of the time: the big wheels with white rims, the notched tires, the antenna with its white ball, the fins and other spoilers, the colored markings. , everything is there. The comparison and the homage unfortunately stop there.

The vehicle is assembled in less than half an hour, including the installation of stickers, and those who have had a copy of the set in their hands 42109 App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car will quickly understand that this new vehicle equipped with elements of the Control + ecosystem is nothing more than a new version of the Top Gear rally car on which we add front and rear suspensions, all packaged in a different packaging. We therefore quickly understand that this buggy will not stand the comparison with the cars of our childhood from which it is inspired.

As with the Top Gear rally car, LEGO is reworking some overly optimistic illustrative visuals and displaying a description that evokes the "off-road" possibilities of this new vehicle. In fact, it is already so sluggish on flat and perfectly smooth ground that a simple passage over gravel or in the grass is enough to slow the machine considerably. It lacks torque and the 650 gram buggy (batteries included) is too light to really take advantage of the integrated front and rear suspensions when attempting to cross.

The lower surface of the Powered Up Hub which accommodates the six AA batteries necessary for the operation of the vehicle is not protected but the ground clearance of this buggy is sufficiently substantial to avoid friction and scratches during outdoor use. However, this toy remains a product to be used indoors, it will adapt more to a very smooth parquet than a dusty path.

The Control + application will be updated to offer a control interface dedicated to this buggy. The proposed skin is ergonomic and allows a quick grip of the machine. It's no frills but it's within everyone's reach. As usual, some uninteresting challenges will be offered and a few additional buttons allow sound effects to be broadcast via the smartphone speaker. Smartphone under iOS or Android essential as for the other sets which make use of this dedicated application.

In short, if you were hoping to finally get an agile and fast machine, it's once again a failure: this set is far too expensive for the construction experience and the driving sensations it has to offer. The same thing without motorization but with a replica of the vintage remote control, all for 60 or 70 €, I took without thinking to add this buggy with the successful aesthetics on a shelf next to the NES.

There, at 130 € for a joke, I will wait patiently for this box to be taken out of stock at one of the brands that are used to slashing prices on this type of product. Nostalgia is priceless, but a little bit all the same.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at December 27, 2020 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.