Today we quickly tour the LEGO DC Comics set 76117 Batman Mech vs. Poison Ivy Mech (375 pieces - € 39.99), a box that seemed promising to me when it was announced in June 2018 at the San Diego Comic Con but which ultimately seems disappointing to me on closer inspection.

If I always appreciate having to build a mech or two regardless of the range, here it is the relative fragility of all the constructions that seems prohibitive to me. Everything is fragile here, and some parts come off at the slightest manipulation. Even Firefly, which is perched on a slightly wobbly support, has trouble standing up because of the weight of the various elements of the jetpack grafted onto the minifig.

Batman's mech looks pretty good (from a distance) but it's very messy when you look at it closely. Here too, it is really too fragile to be playable and you quickly get tired of putting the different elements back in place, which do not fail to come off during the simplest manipulations. The designer also wanted to overload the robot with a whole series of Bat-symbols to the point of overdose rather than polishing the finish by filling certain empty spaces or hiding certain joints.

The robot's posability is very correct thanks to the numerous notched joints and to those based on Ball Seals, but it really takes a lot of patience to find the balance point of the whole. It is very annoying and I dare not imagine the disappointment of the youngest who may not have the patience of an adult.

Poison Ivy's organic mech isn't really one. It is rather a plant on which the character takes place and there too, the balance of the whole is very precarious. LEGO has provided a function to tilt the whole backwards for a little more playability, but the stability of the thing suddenly becomes very relative.

The BatMech is equipped with two Stud Shooters, a circular saw to cut the branches of the Poison Ivy mega-plant, and a manual net launcher to try and capture Firefly. The latter does not actually throw much, the fault of a simple mechanism without a spring that you just have to push to eject the net. It is without interest, the net does not leave very far and does not even have time to deploy ...

Poison Ivy is also entitled to a Stud Shooter placed on the right branch of the monstrous plant. The simple fact of trying to put it into action accidentally and almost always causes the structure to tilt backwards, which is only held in place by the effect of gravity.

This set sold for 39.99 € will probably not go down in posterity for the constructions it offers and I would not be surprised to see it in destocking everywhere in the months to come.

The idea of ​​providing content that allows you to play without having to check out is laudable, but in my opinion it is poorly executed here. Poison Ivy's plant is no match for BatButton's mech and I pity the one who loses in the toss and will have to grapple with the plant to face the big mech.

The minifig endowment is however very correct in this set: four major characters in a box of this type, it is rather well served.

Unfortunately, Batman's torso is already available in a few other boxes released in 2018/2019 and The Flash was delivered (with all red legs) in the set. 76098 Speed ​​Force Freeze Pursuit (2018). There are still Poison Ivy and Firefly to bring a little novelty to this set.

Unpublished but minimalist torso for Poison Ivy, with the added bonus of a significant difference in color from the flesh color on the upper part which should in principle ensure the junction with the character's head. Only the torso of Firefly saves the furniture with a nice pad printing on both sides. The new helmet delivered here in yellow can only give regret to all those who would have liked to see it on Ant-Man ...

There isn't much to say about the legs of the various characters provided here, about three of them are hopelessly neutral and not pad printed and Flash's legs are those of the granny in the vintage swimsuit from the LEGO set. CITY 60153 Fun at the Beach (2017)

The issue LEGO faced with printing flesh color over dark shade is also very present on Flash's face. It's darker pink than Flesh and it's ugly ...

In short, this set is only valid because it offers collectors two "new" minifigs and at 39.99 €, it's far too expensive for the "construction experience" offered. I say no, except in promo at a much more reasonable price.

The set shown here, supplied by LEGO, is brought into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before April 2, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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 take a quick look at the set 75247 A-Wing Starfighter (62 pieces - € 14.99), one of three boxes stamped "4+" marketed since the beginning of the year in the LEGO Star Wars range.

Without unnecessarily prolonging the suspense, we can say that it is a little better than the calamitous X-Wing of the set 75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trech Run, but much worse than the Tie Fighter of the set 75237 Tie Fighter Attack which we will talk about in the next few days.

As the title of the set indicates, it is therefore a question here of assembling an A-Wing, or in any case a vessel that resembles an A-Wing, whose design has been simplified to make it accessible to the most young fans. And we can say that LEGO has indeed simplified the thing to the extreme.

The base of Yavin is also vaguely suggested via the piece of wall and the element of foliage delivered in this box, your imagination and your stock of parts will probably do the rest. It's ultra-minimalist, but we'll have to live with it.

As is usually the case for the sets of the "4+" range which takes over from the range Juniors, there is nothing to stick in this set, everything is pad printed.

The A-Wing is based on a gray metapiece which reproduces the lower part of the fuselage and onto which the various elements are grafted which allow the vessel to take (vaguely) shape. From an A-Wing, only the overall shape, colors and a few characteristic attributes of the ship remain here. It's already that.

No unnecessary frills, this mini-vessel goes straight to the point with a spacious cockpit closed by a canopy that can accommodate the pilot, two ailerons and two basic nozzles at the rear. We note the absence of various launchers, no doubt to prevent the youngest from injuring themselves or their friends.

This will be enough for young fans who can play with the ship without sowing too many coins. The rear fins and the two side cannons, however, are elements whose connection is relatively fragile and I am not sure that they stay in place for long in the hands of a child of 4 or 5 years ...

Nothing new or exclusive concerning the two minifigs delivered in this box. You have necessarily already added this version of C-3PO available since 2016 to your collections and the pilot was already present in the set 75175 A-Wing Starfighter (2017)

On the copy I received, C-3PO at least has the merit of having the eyes correctly centered. It's not always the case...

14.99 € for about sixty pieces and two lambdas characters, it's a bit expensive. For the same price, many Battle Packs do better and I don't think this ultra-simplified A-Wing is convincing enough to justify buying this set at its retail price.

To get something out of it, you have to at least associate it with the set 75237 Tie Fighter Attack which offers some opposition to the vessel provided here. In short, it is you who see.

Note: The set of sets shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before April 2, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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 interested in a very small box, the set The LEGO Movie 2 70822 Unikitty's Sweetest Friends EVER! (76 pieces - € 9.99), which will appeal to Unkitty fans and anyone who loves sweet food with LEGO sauce.

Chocolate, an ice cream cone, a strawberry cake, a muffin, there is something to feast on in this little set which features the friends of the pink unicorn, including one of two possible combinations of pieces ( with eyes closed) here makes the character exclusive to this box.

But the two stars of the set are obviously Ice cream cone, the butler of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, with its cone, whipped cream and sprinkles and Chocolate Bar with its new ingots in Reddish brown which are really delusional.

Everything is pad printed in this set, no stickers and that's good. The ice cream cone is an assembly of parts that will therefore not be really useful to you to build something else, but the figurine is so successful that it deserves to be enthroned on your shelves or in your urban dioramas to serve as a sign for a merchant. .. ice cream for example. Same thing for the chocolate bar with its false airs of Mixel. We would eat.

Note that Unikitty's face with open eyes is also delivered in the set 70833 Lucy's Builder Box (29.99 €). It is therefore the combination with the other face provided that is exclusive to this box.

No need to make tons, this small unpretentious set, sold at a reasonable price, which allows to obtain a nice version of Unikitty exclusive to this set and some very original secondary characters seduced me. It's colorful, it's creative, I say yes.

Note: The set shown here, supplied by Warner Bros., is included as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before March 31, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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 ordered the last Surprise box by Minifigure Maddness, you have most certainly already received it and you are therefore familiar with its contents. For the others, here is what contains this small parcel sold for 46 € including postage of which Conor sent me a copy.

You already knew that the LEGO Star Wars polybag 5000063 TC-14, difficult to find under 25 €, is part of it. This bag was initially offered on May 4 and 5, 2012 on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores from 55 € of purchase. He then made an appearance again in October of the same year on the same terms. The minifigure is really very successful, even if we can blame it for its matt gray hands and its rough finish at the junction between the torso and the arms.

In the box, there is also a copy of the LEGO Star Wars polybag 40300 Han Solo Mudtrooper (7.50 € excluding shipping costs to the cheapest French seller on Bricklink) offered on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores in October 2018 from 30 € of purchase. the minifig is delivered with a small display to assemble which allows to complete a series of characters all delivered with this type of base.

The polybag 5005376 Darth Vader Pod (€ 9.99 excluding shipping costs from the cheapest French seller on Bricklink) is also in the package with its pretty metallic capsule, its Darth Vader minifigure and some parts to reproduce the corridor of the Tantive IV. The minifigure is not exclusive, it was also delivered in set 75183 Darth Vader Transformation (2017).

This capsule was offered on the LEGO Shop and in the LEGO Stores in April and May 2018 from 55 € of purchase.

Finally, Minifigure Maddness also delivers two minifigs from the collectible series in sachet and I received the hot dog vendor and the retro space hero from series 17 (LEGO ref. 71018). These minifigs aren't very expensive in the aftermarket, but that's always a catch.

In the end, this Surprise box is not a bad deal. I know that each of the elements that make it up can also be purchased at retail at a very attractive price, but this is often without counting the shipping costs that add to the invoice, whether on Bricklink, eBay and other marketplaces.

As I said when announcing this new box, it is therefore not a question of doing the business of the century but rather of being surprised by a few well-chosen products. I think the goal is achieved.

The offer for the box of March remains valid until the end of the month or within the limit of available stock. To benefit from free delivery via DHL, you must enter the code Hoth54 in the basket.

Note: The contents of the bundle presented here, provided by Minifigure Maddness, are as usual in play. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before March 31, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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.

As I indicated to you a little earlier during the official announcement of the box in question, we follow directly with a quick test of the LEGO Ideas set 21317 Steamboat Willie (751 pieces - 89.99 €).

I know in advance that many fans who will acquire this set will probably never open it. It's hard to blame them, this is a rather collector's product with its pretty box with silver reflections which will expand the collections of fans of all kinds of Disney merchandise.

The animated film Steamboat Willie has never been as popular with LEGO fans as it is today and you have to be an unconditional fan of the Walt Disney universe to remember having watched this little film in black and white one day.

You got it, this is about building the black and white steamboat on which the action of the animated short takes place Steamboat Willie. As you may have discovered during the official announcement of the set, LEGO ultimately only kept the general idea of ​​the project which was able to bring together 10.000 supporters and successfully pass the evaluation phase, two stages that allow it to become an official product today and to use Mickey's 90th birthday to get noticed. So much the better, even if the significant increase in the number of parts, from 156 to 751, necessarily implies a relatively high retail price.

When you open the box, however, there are some good surprises that give a little color, in every sense of the word, to this somewhat drab looking set. We start by assembling the heart (or the hull and the hold) of the boat, with a very colorful inventory and a mechanism that will activate various functions.

Discovering these many colorful pieces in a set that pays homage to black and white content is a pleasant surprise in every way. The inventory only becomes more interesting and the construction a little less boring.

LEGO has chosen to add a few functions to the product which, not to mention playability, are an opportunity to complicate the assembly phase a little and provide movement to the boat. I think that those who will actually play with this product are not many, but it is LEGO and we are logically entitled to expect a minimum of fun features even on a pure exhibition product like this.

The additional base that accompanies the boat is nice but not essential. It allows the minifigs to be displayed next to the boat and reminds us that the two characters were born in 1928. Why not.

So that everyone understands that this is a collector's tribute, LEGO is also adding some pad-printed pieces with the name of the boat and the year of broadcast of the animated short in question on the Steamboat Willie. . These elements are not in the film, but it shines and it is therefore collector's item.

By pushing the boat, the four wheels in contact with the ground set in motion the two chimneys which rise and fall alternately and the two paddle wheels which rotate.

The crane placed at the rear is functional, the wire can be unwound and wound up. Too bad that LEGO does not decide to provide something other than a poor quality sewing thread, a flexible plastic cable would be more in line with the collector side of this box.

These are functions that will probably remain anecdotal for the collector of Disney merchandise, but they will appeal to LEGO fans who expect little more than a static model.

On arrival, I much prefer the LEGO version to that of the original LEGO Ideas project. The general aspect here is really in the cartoonish spirit, it is much more detailed and the finish is better. In my opinion, there is no reason to regret the fact that LEGO has decided to completely revamp this project, if we forget the public price of the set.

Only the boat's cockpit remains accessible with its removable roof. No lower deck, no bilges, everything is full of parts or stuck in the build finish.

Note that the white of the boat is not really white. Rather, it is off-white with some subtle differences in color depending on the room. Nothing serious, anyway the whole will inevitably end up turning yellow on your shelves ...

I say this even if I think everyone has understood: the boat is not waterproof and does not float.

As for the two minifigs provided in this box, it is rather approximate: we can regret that Minnie's outfit is not fully consistent with that worn by the character in the film: LEGO has removed the two white dots on the chest of the character and added polka dots on the skirt which is immaculate white in the cartoon.

The same goes for Mickey whose outfit is gray instead of white. I understand the desire of LEGO to make these two minifigs a little high-end and collectors products, but it is here at the cost of a very approximate fidelity of the reproduction.

The finish on the minifig feet is barely correct and on Mickey's right foot looks like hand painted with model paint. Mickey's legs are made in matt gray / black bi-injection and the gray part is then covered with a silver tint on three sides. At the junction between Mickey's thighs and lower legs, the silver overlay cracks slightly. Nothing really prohibitive but we can see that LEGO still has some big progress to make in the field of pad printing.

In conclusion, I think that this really overpriced box that pays a nice tribute to Mickey and his universe will easily find its audience among fans of the Disney universe, even those who are not absolute fans of LEGO products.

For the others, the tribute to a black and white animated film dating from the 20s and the inevitably a little dull rendering of the whole will undoubtedly be enough for them to convince themselves to save 90 €. It will be my case.

Note: The set of sets shown here, supplied by LEGO, is included as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before March 31, 2019 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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.