Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO ICONS set 10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter, a box of 1369 pieces available since February 1, 2024 on the official store at the public price of €164.99. As usual, there is no question of revealing too much about what this product has in store for you; you have to give everyone who spends their money in these boxes the privilege of discovering the techniques and surprises that they offer. Just know that this model from the LEGO ICONS range has a little more to offer than a simple static construction destined to collect dust on the corner of a shelf.

We could indeed have been satisfied with a relatively faithful but static reproduction of the machine flying across the desert of Arrakis seen on the screen, many fans would not have been choosy. The designer has gone a little further here in treating his subject and we are not going to complain about it with on arrival a real pleasure in the assembly process and a real satisfaction in the discovery of the reasons for the complexity of certain construction sequences.

It will also be necessary to remain vigilant during certain phases so as not to be disappointed at the end of the thick instruction booklet, but we can say here without having the impression of being in the emphasis that the assembly of the product offers a truly unique experience for a product in this range.

This is indeed a set intended for adult customers looking for a model with an accomplished design, but the model intelligently combines bricks considered "classic" and numerous elements from the LEGO Technic universe to offer a little more than just a tasteless ornithopter.

My advice: take your time, enjoy the successful integration of the built-in mechanisms and don't hesitate to test how well they work along the way. Don't worry about the wing moving function, it will seem almost inactive during the first few editing sequences and you may wonder if you have made a mistake at some point. other, you will understand what makes it so satisfactory at the end of the process when it comes to attaching the flexible wings to the cabin.

The amplitude of the movement is in fact very small at the fixation points and it is the extension of the different appendages which causes the expected movement. You have an overview of the different functions in the reel below:

 

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The mechanism which synchronizes the deployment of the landing gears with that of the access ramp to the ship is also perfectly designed, the offset wheel on the side of the machine makes it easy to handle and we will have fun for a few minutes with just for the pleasure of enjoying the elegance of the solution used which allows you to obtain a quite stunning effect.

The cockpit glazing is packaged separately and this is the assurance that the large panels will not be too scratched on arrival even if it is not perfect in my case. As usual, do not hesitate to contact the brand's customer service if the condition of the parts you received does not seem to meet your requirements in relation to the price paid for this box.

I know that some will consider that this model leaves too many studs visible to really convince, I myself had this impression, particularly at the level of the tail of the device which seems to me almost a little too basic compared to the rest of the model. the model. You end up getting used to it after a few hours and the smooth wings visually compensate a little for this impression of a too pronounced presence of tenons in certain places.

Same remark for the numerous red colored elements which remain clearly visible on the body of the device: some fans will consider that it is an almost essential "signature" effect of the LEGO Technic universe whereas others will only appreciate moderately this visual “pollution” on a high-end model. Everyone has their own perception and tolerance regarding the limits of realism in LEGO products.

On arrival, the 57 cm long and 80 cm wingspan model with its wings extended is strong enough to be handled without losing parts, so it is also a toy for adults that will hold up without any problem. to repeated activations of integrated mechanisms. The product is obviously reserved for a category of fans of the treated universe who also like LEGO sets but in my opinion it sets a new milestone by redefining what a LEGO model can be which really takes advantage of all the possibilities offered by the ecosystem of available elements combined with the know-how of the most motivated designers.

If Dune is not your cup of tea, don't look away, the assembly of this machine remains in my opinion one of the most accomplished experiences to date of what we find in this range and you might be missing out on a few very entertaining and satisfying hours.

The supply of minifigs in this box is relatively substantial with 8 characters but it seems almost anecdotal to me, we discover each of the characters through the bags and we quickly put them in a corner to take advantage of the machine. The casting is well chosen, fans of Zendaya (Chani), Timothée Chalamet (Paul Atreides) or Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho) will be served but I personally remained focused on the ornithopter more than on the presence of this handful of figurines which are graphically very well executed.

You already know since the announcement of the product, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is perched on a transparent support which allows the toga which covers the minifig made up of neutral pieces to be lowered. It's visually interesting although I'm not a big fan of these capes and other clothing attributes that aren't made of plastic.

The pad prints are all very accomplished, we feel the care taken in the creation of these figurines and the result seems very convincing to me except for Lady Jessica whose "real" rendering is a little less flamboyant and contrasted than in the very promising official visuals. but obviously retouched.

What is perhaps missing is a small display stand to place the figurines on and not be forced to simply line them up around the model. No one will play with them and they would have deserved a real highlight with, for example, a colored support Tan (beige) reminiscent of the dunes of the Arrakis desert. Some will also regret the absence of an identification plate giving some facts about the machine, just to give character to this toy for older children.

You will have understood, I am nevertheless really won over by this proposal which in my opinion brings together the best of both worlds when it comes to LEGO models: A very acceptable finish based on "classic" bricks and the integration successful elements of the Technic universe which makes it possible to offer some real functions to a machine which could, for example, have been satisfied with a manual wing deployment system without anyone being offended.

This product risks making me even more demanding in the future, especially with the LEGO Star Wars range which would cope well with some creations of the same barrel, it sets the bar very high and embodies in my eyes what a set should be for adults in 2024, without compromise or shortcuts.

I'll say it again, if you intend to fall for this box, keep the pleasure of discovery and don't spoil too much which is the whole point of it. Take my word for it, you will not be disappointed with both the assembly process and the final result, the 165 € spent will seem justified to you. This is not always the case at LEGO.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 14th February 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we take a very quick tour of the content of the LEGO Marvel set 76280 Spider-Man vs. Sandman Final Battle, a small box of 347 pieces available since the beginning of January at the public price of €37.99.

The question will quickly become clear, this construction is in reality only a minimalist extension of the contents of the set 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle. The problem you suspect: mixing the two will not make the whole thing more readable and even less more successful. Here we find the principle of the black base and a few accessories piled on top to create a relatively dynamic scene designed to be admired from all angles.

On this specific point, it's successful, we can actually enjoy the scene from all angles without faulting the construction except perhaps at Sandman's back, an area which only benefits from a very basic finish. compared to the rest of the product.

The articulated half-figure of Sandman is also content to use the codes of the others Action Figures of the range, but without the hips and legs. The character's trunk is simply inserted into the base, it can be easily removed to integrate the diorama of the set 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle.

The single moving scaffolding, the inclined yellow beam and the portal add a little volume to the model and contribute to the overall staging by hiding the aesthetic shortcuts of the central character.

As you can see in the photos above, the sticker sheet provided remains relatively reasonable and Sandman's face is pad printed. This face seems totally ridiculous to me in the LEGO context, even if we can see an almost faithful interpretation of the features of the character seen on the screen.

However, I personally find the pattern completely unsuccessful with a carnival mask effect which, in my opinion, lends itself more to smiling than to credibly embodying the expression of the sandman. The few gray pieces that remain clearly visible at the level of the character's arms or neck only reinforce the impression that everything was a little botched.

The Spider-Man minifig is the one already seen in the sets 76185 Spider-Man at the Sanctum Workshop (2021) et 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle (2023). The Electro figurine also comes in the set 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and only the Lizard remains to bring a little novelty to this product.

Was it absolutely necessary to make it a minifigure or rather move towards a BigFig like the Hulk? I lean towards the second proposition and with a suitable molded head, in my opinion the character would have had some character. As it stands, it's Legends of Chima with a Marvel twist, it's tasteless and far too generic to convince me even if I readily agree that the subject requires a graphic treatment in the spirit of that proposed.

So in my opinion there is no reason to get up at night and rush to the nearest toy store to buy this simple extension which should have been integrated from the start into the other box that it completes.

I understand LEGO's strategy which aims to dissociate certain elements which only deserve to be supplied in the same box to maximize its margin and encourage purchases but in this specific case it is, in my opinion, frankly far-fetched. and this separation of the two constructions is not justified.

Moral of the story: if you have already purchased the set 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and you find certain advantages in it, this extension will undoubtedly seem essential to you to finish visually fleshing out the thing and making it a compact but complete diorama in homage to the film No way home. Otherwise, you can skip it without regrets, the only new minifig delivered in this box does not necessarily justify spending €38 in my eyes.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 3th February 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we are quickly interested in the contents of the LEGO Jurassic World set 76964 Dinosaur Fossils: T-rex Skull, a box of 577 pieces available since January 1, 2024 at the public price of €39.99.

You already know if you follow me, I had expressed my interest in this derivative product as soon as it was announced, the proposal seemed to satisfy my desire to reduce the quantity of products that I display at home and to concentrate on emblematic constructions worlds that attract me. I have not changed my mind after assembling the proposed construction, this product totally meets my expectations taking into account its limited inventory and its price positioning.

We know that LEGO is now putting lifestyle in all its ranges with proposals which ultimately boil down to more or less successful exhibition products depending on the subjects covered. This seems very convincing to me and it demonstrates that it is not always necessary to overbid pieces to obtain something presentable capable of attracting an audience of demanding collectors keen to exhibit only their prettiest pieces. .

The contents of this box are quickly assembled and the six bags are shipped in less than an hour. We start with the base decorated with the black support on which we will install the skull, we continue with the imprint and we finish with the skull of the T-rex.

There is only one sticker to stick here, that of the small plate which gives a "collector" side to the product and which distills some facts about the fossil. It's graphically very well executed, the sticker really gives character to the whole thing.

The fossilized impression is perfectly designed, the result is astonishingly realistic and only a few visible tenons are preserved with a perfectly managed visual balance. This very neat sub-assembly really contributes to the atmosphere of the product and is not just a slightly sloppy showcase, it is appreciable.

The skull is also detailed enough not to appear sloppy. Even if we remain on a LEGO product which does not necessarily seek to become a museum piece by tracking realism down to the smallest details, we see that the designer of the set has done his homework and that the skull reproduces the known bones rather well of the T-rex.

Assembling the skull remains entertaining with a logical and very satisfying progression. We finally install the skull on the support and finally obtain the expected object in its entirety. Fans of fun details will also find a piece of amber placed on the back of the print, the detail is interesting and it will fuel conversations between friends around this model.

To summarize, there is frankly no reason to ignore this nice derivative product which allows you to demonstrate your affinity with the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World universe without making a ton of it by cluttering up more imposing products. . The price charged by LEGO seems relatively reasonable to me given the potential of the product, the assembly experience is interesting with a nice effect for the imprint and a very successful skeleton of the skull, it's mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned Concern, I am seduced.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 27th January 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we very quickly go around the content of the LEGO DREAMZzz set 71472 Izzie's Narwhal Hot-Air Balloon, a small box of 156 pieces sold at the public price of €14.99. The selling price of this product is reasonable enough so that this box is not a major issue in terms of purchasing decision and I even think that its contents will largely meet the expectations of those who purchase it.

Once again, the LEGO brick version of the hot air balloon seen on the screen is quite simplified and we don't really find the crazy ball on top of the boat that transports Izzie. Everything here is reduced to its simplest expression, we will have to make do. The fact remains that construction remains fun and playable, so young ones should find what they're looking for.

As with all sets in the LEGO DREAMZzz range, this product offers two variations of the main construction, the narwhal balloon, by attaching a basket or a sled to it. Nothing complicated here, there are a small handful of parts left when choosing the desired version and it is easily possible to go back to assemble the other variation. It is in fact not even a real variant but simply a modest adaptation of the gondola depending on its attachment to the balloon.

As for the characters provided, nothing very exciting, you have to make do with Izzie in her usual outfit, Bunchu and a Grimspawn which has a little difficulty standing without additional support that LEGO does not provide. It's enough to have a little fun, but we could have hoped to obtain an additional minifig in a "home" licensed set sold for €15.

In short, there is no point in making tons of them, this little box will probably please a young fan of the LEGO DREAMZzz universe for a birthday or a good report card. Everything is assembled very quickly, we cannot say that the experience is really extended significantly via the variants offered but the whole thing remains a pretty product with a colorful look and a very acceptable finish. For €15 at LEGO, it's already very good.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 26th January 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the set that everyone is currently talking about, on social networks in particular, the LEGO ICONS Botanical Collection reference 10328 Bouquet of Roses. This box of 822 pieces has been available at the public price of €59.99 since January 1, 2024 and in my opinion it has everything to very quickly become an absolute bestseller as the subject is treated with care and delicacy.

I have already written it here, yet I am one of those who have a little difficulty with the concept of plastic flowers, it is undoubtedly a question of generation because I knew the ugly but imperishable flowers which adorned many interiors in the 80s and I have very bad memories of it. It has also always been explained to me that if the flowers fade, it is because they are sacrificing themselves to remind us that it is time to offer them again and the concept developed by LEGO therefore goes a little against the grain of my approach to the subject.

That being said, this bouquet of 12 red roses decorated with a few sprigs of gypsophila offers a real construction experience and is not content to be a simple lifestyle product intended to collect dust on a sideboard or a shelf.

The bouquet is divided into three subsets of four roses in different stages of flowering and blooming and each type of pink rose offers a completely different assembly process. Don't spoil too much the techniques used, they are part of the pleasure and even if we reproduce each flower in four copies, we never really get tired of seeing the final bouquet take shape.

You see in the photos, the designer used a lasso to embody the center of one of the three roses and the accessory fits perfectly here. I'm not always a fan of the principle of misappropriation of a play, but when it's done intelligently and appropriately as is the case here, I applaud with both hands.

Same observation for the shoulder pads of Action Figures Marvel or Star Wars which here become very elegant petals and for the stems strands of gypsophila which discreetly integrate saber handles in Sand green.

You already know if you also follow me on social networks, the set offers the possibility of assembling this box with several people with separate instructions in three small booklets, one for each type of rose. This opens up interesting possibilities, such as a couple's building session for the next Valentine's Day.

You can obviously improve the dynamics of your composition by distributing the different types of roses according to your wishes, by neatly integrating the gypsophila sprigs and playing with the length of the stems. The bouquet therefore retains a certain modularity which allows different shapes and heights of vases.

On arrival, we come close to the perfect trompe l'oeil if the bouquet is observed from a certain distance, and it is in my opinion by far the most successful of the different creations of the Botanical Collection LEGO.

I also think that you don't need to be both sensitive to flowers and a fan of LEGO to appreciate this bouquet, the whole thing obviously remains a construction based on plastic bricks, but the thing is sufficiently elegant that each of the roses can be appreciated individually and the bouquet effect is reinforced by the graceful and accomplished side of each of the three versions offered.

However, don't let this stop you from offering real flowers to try to keep in shape for as long as possible, taking care of a real bouquet means maintaining the memory of the moment when it was given to you.

IF you don't want to fill your interior with LEGO lifestyle products and only had to keep one, this pretty, reasonably priced bouquet is at the top of my podium. I find it more easily integrated than many other compositions in this range of constructions on the theme of botany, it will stand out for its bright colors but also for its relative sobriety and the absence of too striking a reference to the LEGO universe such as visible studs or intelligently diverted but poorly integrated pieces.

This product therefore ticks all the boxes in my opinion and perfectly embodies the maturity of LEGO's foray into the world of purely lifestyle products. You will still have to dust these 12 roses regularly, for example using an air spray.

Don't forget that it's not because you like LEGO that the person to whom you are going to give these flowers, thinking you have found a good idea, will necessarily be receptive, nothing replaces a real bouquet for many people. When in doubt, take both.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 23th January 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.