Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO set 70436 Phantom Fire Truck 3000 (760 pieces - 69.99 €), a box that allows us to obtain a nice partially transformable fire truck and some characters from the Hidden Side universe.

As for the set 70434 Supernatural Race Car, it is especially the vehicle that interests me here and the possibility in this specific case of transforming part of it into a robot is a significant bonus. As is often the case in the LEGO Hidden Side range, each set is a more or less subtle mix of diverse and varied influences and this one is no exception. The result is generally rather original even if the identity of the range sometimes loses a little legibility in passing. Here we can't help but think of the universe Transformers even if we quickly understand that the mech resulting from the transformation of the truck does not make use of the entire vehicle.

We first assemble the part of the truck that will not be used by the robot with the driving position, a space at the back of the cabin with some screens and a keyboard, the multicolored wheel to scan to take advantage of the contents of the set in the game in augmented reality and the back of the chassis on which we will insert the robot.

The interior spaces are easily accessible by removing the roof of the truck and the machine can eventually be stripped of its attributes specific to the Hidden Side universe to make a more classic version. The upper part of the robot can in turn be removed and replaced with a large ladder or a fire hose, it's up to you to see what you want to do with this truck.

An interesting detail: the designer of the set, Niek van Slagmaat who is also the designer of the LEGO Ideas set 21311 Voltron Defender of the Universe, has uploaded some preliminary sketches of the truck and its different conversion possibilities. These are only working drafts, but we discover the different avenues envisaged to integrate this truck into the somewhat crazy universe of the Hidden Side range (see below).

This same designer did not hesitate to stuff the set with more or less obvious references to other LEGO universes or ranges: LEGO Racers, Bionicle with Tahu's mask or even a reference to the Res- theme. Q of the LEGO CITY range (1998/99) on the stickers and even a more or less obvious connection with the world of the Japanese film Promise released in 2019. This animated film for a rather confidential audience stages the adventures of firefighters at the controls of mechs including a MATOI-TECH to which the text of the sticker placed at the front of the cabin refers directly (M4T01). We also find the number 3 on the legs of the robot delivered in this set, as on the red baggy pants of Galo Thymos, the hero of the animated film.

As I said above, the accumulation of references and nods to different licenses or universes is not a bad thing, but sometimes we have the impression that the Hidden Side range draws a lot elsewhere and forces a little too much on fan-service, losing a little of its own identity in the long run.

The mech that can be deployed from the rear of the vehicle is rather well integrated if we admit that the LEGO Hidden Side range offers vehicles with original capacities that go far beyond what one would find in more classic universes. The truck body unfolds to form the legs and feet of the robot, and the large cannon then becomes the cockpit.

The mech is not foolproof stability, it will be necessary to find its point of balance so that it stands up, especially when minifigs are installed at the controls. The big advantage of the relatively simplistic modular system used here: the robot can be deployed in seconds and reintegrated into the body of the truck just as quickly. This is a real plus for the playability of the product, we avoid tedious handling and we play without losing patience.

The mech also allows and above all to stage a balanced confrontation with the villain of the set, Nehmaar Reem (the Harbinger), who needs an opponent at his height, even if there is no coin thrower. in this box and that it is therefore impossible to knock out this villain with some ammunition launched for example from the arms of the robot. I have the impression that the designers have deliberately ignored this functionality to favor virtual action in the associated video game rather than making this set a playable product without having to use the parents' smartphone. It is kind of a shame.

The truck is covered with stickers which really help give the vehicle its final appearance. If you intend to make it a "classic" one day, some of these stickers will be more or less superfluous.

As for the characters delivered in this box, the Jack Davids minifigure is identical to the one seen in the set 70430 Newbury Subway, that of Parker L. Jackson is a combination of elements seen in many boxes of the range and that of JB is also in the set 70432 Haunted Fairground.

JB is here accompanied by her assistant TeeVee, a little robot about which we don't know much except that it looks strangely like the robot delivered in 2011 in the 6775 Alpha Team Bomb Squad set. His presence in this new box seems above all to be yet another fan-service operation wanted by a designer anxious to integrate his favorite character in at least one of the boxes in the range. The little robot will doubtless remain exclusive to this box and it comes with two interchangeable screens depending on the mood you want it to display.

The ax is used to sets from the LEGO CITY range which feature fire soldiers and we get here three different smartphones that will expand your collection or feed your SFR store MOC. In the LEGO Hidden Side range, we hunt the ghost with our smartphone and LEGO insistently reminds us once again.

The torso, head and legs of the unique Shadowwalker delivered in this box are also included in the sets 70434 Supernatural Race Car et 70437 Mystery Castle. The minifigure is generic enough to be used again in a diorama of your own.

Nehmaar Reem (the Harbinger) is delivered here in a different version from that of the set 70437 Mystery Castle, he displays an allure that will eventually refer to Jack Skellington or the Slenderman with a very slender body and menacing upper limbs that are connected to the torso via Ball Seals. As usual, you will understand that everything that is not on the sticker sheet, of which I give you a scan at each of my reviews, is therefore pad printed.

In short, I think this set deserves your attention. It offers a nice vehicle with a transforming ability that may seem anecdotal to some of you but that will appeal to anyone who played with Optimus Prime or other Transformers in their youth. The assortment in minifigs is not very original especially for those who already have Jack, Parker and JB in multiple copies but we already find this box less than 60 € elsewhere than at LEGO and it will undoubtedly one day be destocked around 50.

Knowing that the death knell has sounded for the LEGO Hidden Side range and that we will therefore not see any new sets coming to expand the twenty boxes already on the market, I think it is time to add to our collections the few sets from the range that offer interesting models. As far as I'm concerned, this box is one of them.

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

Today we make a quick detour to the Dursley family with the LEGO Harry Potter set 75968 4 Privet Drive, a box of 797 pieces sold 74.99 € which offers a new interpretation of the suburban pavilion already seen in 2002 at LEGO in the set 4728 Escape from Privet Drive.

For those wondering what it's all about here, the 4 Private Drive is the address of the Dursley family pavilion where Harry Potter spent his childhood, confined in a cupboard under the stairs before his uncle moved him upstairs in his cousin Dudley's second bedroom. Please note, this is a reproduction of the "false house" installed in the Leavesden studios and not of the one that actually exists in the town of Bracknell. The LEGO version is therefore entitled to a large fireplace and two windows above the porch.

The house comes together as a Structure of the best vintage with an entertaining alternation between walls and furniture. Those who love to assemble micro-beds and mini-sofas will be in heaven, the set offers some very successful pieces of furniture which, even if they fill the different rooms as often, leaving no room to turn around, are little nearly consistent with the furniture seen on the screen.

Too bad the staircase leading to the first floor and which is not in the right direction on the LEGO version is not covered with Tiles pad printed (or stickers) with the slightly kitsch motif of the place. As it is, it's a bit rough and flashy and a more pastel blue would have been perfect for the carpet in the entrance hall and for the stairs.

The front door and the interior of the pavilion are dressed in different stickers but there are also some pad printed pieces in this set: Three envelopes already seen in 2018 in a Disney set, in 2019 in several sets of the Friends range and available this year in several sets of the Harry Potter range and a copy of the Daily Prophet available since 2018 with the title "The Boy who LIVED!"on the front page.

The big feature of the set is the possibility of passing the three envelopes from the outside wall of the pavilion to the fireplace in the Dursleys living room by turning the black knob visible to the right of the sofa. You won't flood the room with the three included Hogwarts Admission Letters, but the nod is interesting.

Under the stairs, there is a broom cupboard to kidnap Harry and easily accessible by deploying a section of the exterior wall of the house. There is also a small door that is difficult to access inside under the stairs, the best solution to open it is to push it from inside.

The exterior appearance of the house is rather convincing and the texture obtained on the roof by the offsets of the different Slopes 1x3 black offers a really satisfying rendering. The result is not exactly faithful to the roof of the building in the film, but the solution used by the designers really has style. The insertion of bricks in the walls and the presence of gutters provide a nice finish to this suburban pavilion in front of which we also find the large hydrangea.

We may also regret the absence of wire mesh on the windows, even if it means providing us with stickers, LEGO could have taken the trouble to add a few stickers on a transparent background which allow this detail to be taken up and to hide the transparency of this half. construction.

Even if we can regret the absence of the adjoining garage, the few aesthetic approximations or the "movie set" aspect of the construction, I think the designers are doing pretty well on this issue.

As in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it is planned here to help Harry escape from his room with the help of Ron, Fred and George all installed in the flying Ford Anglia. Almost everything has been designed to have fun reproducing the scene, with one exception: Fred and George are absent subscribers in this box.

LEGO still provides a chain installed in the trunk of the car, it will be enough to connect it to the bars of the window of the room and to pull to eject the latter. We will have as much fun as we can by then passing Uncle Vernon through the window.

The Ford Anglia delivered in this box is not the one seen in the set 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow marketed in 2018. The designers kept most of the good ideas of the previous model but the characteristic shape of the rear windows is now defined by two stickers. Ron and Harry can be seated in the vehicle, but they will have to stay upright because of their short legs and the white stripe on the doors is a bit too dull to really mesh with the rest. Was it absolutely necessary to provide this vehicle here rather than the Dursleys station wagon? While this is arguably better for the playability of the product, I'm not sure.

As for the minifigs, the continuity between the different sets which reproduce the chronology of the action of the different films is respected: The torsos of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are those already seen in the set 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow.

Dobby's minifig is a variation of the one seen in one of the bags from the first series of collectible characters (LEGO ref. 71022), the head is made of soft plastic, the legs are injected in two colors and the pad printing is flawless . The character has at his disposal the cake that ends up on Mrs. Mason's head in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the construction is also placed on a transparent support to give an effect of levitation.

Pétunia, Vernon and Dudley Dursley complete the inventory here. The patchwork of outfits between the different family members is a bit confusing: Dudley is in the outfit he wears on his birthday in Harry potter and the sorcerer's stone, I'm still looking for Vernon's sweater in my memory but I don't seem to have seen it in this outfit and Petunia is wearing the floral shirt seen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Vernon's sister swells like a balloon. The three minifigs are however very convincing and we will have to do with it for a few years at least.

The owl is the one delivered by LEGO since 2010 and the Hedwig owl with its wings outstretched has also become common in the various sets of the range released in 2020.

In summary, this set deserves your full attention if you are a fan of the Harry Potter saga, the house of the Dursleys is sufficiently iconic to deserve its LEGO version and it will easily find its place in a diorama. The interior of the pavilion would have deserved a little more finishing but the pretty furniture largely compensates for the aesthetic shortcuts taken by the designers.

I often say that this type of licensed set only wreaks havoc on the fan service, but this one does it pretty well with some interesting construction techniques, a nice build that remains very accomplished even if it does. is only half a house and a nice assortment of minifigs. I regret the absence of Fred and George a bit, especially for 74.99 €, but there is no room to install them in the Ford Anglia anyway.

As usual, we will wait for a significant drop in the price of the product before cracking, this box being already sold for just over 50 € at Amazon Germany, which immediately makes it more attractive.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at July 25, 2020 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.

Today we are very quickly interested in one of the many LEGO Super Mario expansions that will be available from August 1 to accompany the basic set. 71360 Adventures with Mario (231 pieces - 59.99 €): the reference 71367 Mario's House & Yoshi Expansion Set (231 pieces - 29.99 €).

You already know if you have read my presentation of the concept, to really try to have fun with this new range of products, you will not only have to buy the starter set which is the only one to contain the interactive Mario figure but possibly also invest in the wake in one or more of the planned extensions which allow to assemble a game board a little more substantial.

I'm not going to give you a whole presentation on what I think of the playful interest of this vaguely interactive board game, you probably already know that I'm not really convinced by the concept:

I tested for you: LEGO Super Mario

The box in question here will allow you to assemble Mario's house with his piece of garden and his hammock. LEGO does not provide instructions in paper format, you will have to go through the dedicated application to assemble the model. Fortunately, it is not necessary to have the Mario figure on hand to access the application and instructions for the various expansion packs.

This set can then be connected to the rest of the game board via the different green platforms to be placed at the end of the circuit. As in the other sets in the range, the three stickers to be scanned with the sensor placed between the legs of the Mario figure free up parts or make you temporarily invincible. We will also remember that if you put Mario in the hammock and rock him by turning the dial, he falls asleep snoring ...

If the interactivity and the lifespan of this concept are in my opinion all relative, on the other hand there are still many boxes in many boxes to please collectors, no doubt a little disappointed not to have a few minifigs to put under the tooth, who might want to try and collect all the iconic locations and other characters delivered in these boxes.

This box is the only one that allows us to obtain a Yoshi figurine, so it will be difficult to ignore it. The house could possibly be separated from the game board to brighten up a thematic exhibition diorama even if the construction proposed here is not on the level of the more opulent house seen in the game Paper Mario. The tree that supports one end of the fabric hammock can also be reused in a staging, just to make the investment a little more profitable.

You know, in this new range, everything is pad printed. This will therefore be an opportunity to obtain some pretty pieces such as the nameplate fixed above the door of the house, the Super star hidden under the roof of the house or the directional sign.

Those who want to keep only the characters present in the different boxes of the range will have here at their disposal Yoshi and a Goomba with a facial expression different from that seen in other sets of the range. The most complete collectors are warned.

Yoshi is a rather successful buildable figure. It was either that or a molded figure and I'm more and more convinced that most of the buildable figures that come in these boxes can make a nice collection. There is really only the figurine of Mario which denotes with his head too cubic to seduce me.

In the end, spending € 29.99 for Yoshi, a Goomba and a few pad-printed pieces is not necessarily the idea of ​​the century.

If you intend to try creating custom levels and playing around with the purchase of the € 59.99 starter set as well, this expansion won't add much in terms of interactivity but it will help flesh out the very minimalist decor of the set 71360 Adventures with Mario.

I remind for all intents and purposes that the interactive Mario figurine is not provided in this box, it is only an extension of the game board that does not contain the starting sticker to be scanned to start a game nor that of arrival allowing to validate the progression within the time limit.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at July 20, 2020 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.

Today we are quickly interested in the LEGO Marvel set 76152 Avengers: Wrath of Loki (223 pieces - 69.99 €), a box whose construction process is designed to be accessible to very young fans of the Avengers universe. To each their version of the headquarters of the fine team of super heroes this year, here it's 4+ and we will therefore be satisfied with an ultra-simplified "experience" and a few very large parts to assemble.

As usual in the 4+ sub-range, we quickly realize that everything has been thought out so that those who do not yet know how to do much without the assistance of an adult can learn without waiting for clashes between Super hero. The fact remains that this box is very expensive for what it has to offer. A bit like the products in the DUPLO range which capitalize on the wishes of parents "to offer the best to their children"especially when they are still young.

Young parents who would blame themselves for not spending crazy sums on their offspring will find in LEGO something to avoid feeling too guilty. I have two children and I covered the subject a few years ago between high-end baby bottles from space technology, overpriced clothes, branded mini-shoes for babies whose soles do not fit. will never wear out since they do not work, etc ...

The different constructions offered are, as usual in this range which targets the youngest, all based on very large pieces that define their final appearance and on which you have to hang some decorative elements. Aesthetically, all that will remain very approximate but the playability will be maximum and almost immediate.

The Avengers tower is assembled in a few minutes and it offers various playable spaces that are very accessible: a control center on the ground floor with a lab area to analyze Loki's scepter and a space to store the Tesseract, a cell for Loki on the first floor and a pod on the roof for Iron Man. There is even a section of wall on which the Hulk can let off steam, everything is there.

Everything is pad printed in this box and the big sign or the control screen will perhaps interest MOCeurs who want to DIY a real diorama on the theme of the Avengers.

The Avenjet provided here is a simplified version of the ship already seen in the set 76049 Avenjet Space Mission based on the animated series Avengers Assemble (Avengers Gathering on France 4 or Disney XD) and marketed in 2016. Captain Marvel can lie down in the cockpit and the wings can be folded up to transform the plane into a spacecraft. Nothing crazy, but that's always what it takes. The nose of the device is obviously pad printed, it's up to you to build a more accomplished version of the vessel around this part.

Loki has a flying machine that allows him to throw a few coins at his enemies, who will not be able to really retaliate: this big, rather coarse hoverboard is the only element of the set to be equipped with coin throwers.

LEGO is rather generous in minifigs in this box with as often the new and recycling. All the pad prints are impeccable, I just regret that LEGO has not yet found a way to print its parts to the brim so that the continuity of the patterns is better assured, especially here on the Captain Marvel minifigure.

The Captain Marvel minifig provided in this set is also delivered in the set 76153 Helicarrier and here she takes the features of Princess Leia seen in 2019 in the sets 75244 Tantive IV et 75229 Death Star Escape. The character comes with a helmet and hair. Handy for varying situations.

Note that the helmet is a molded part in two colors which reveals the character's white eyes and that the crest can be removed. We should find this helmet on the heads of other characters very quickly, I doubt that LEGO embarked on its design just to equip Captain Marvel.

Iron Man's torso, legs and helmet are in many sets released this year: 76140 Iron Man Mech, 76153 Helicarrier, 76164 Iron Man Hulkbuster Versus AIM Agent et 76166 Avengers Tower Battle. The head with the blue HUD on one side is the one that LEGO has been providing us in a slew of boxes since 2018.

Loki's never-before-seen torso is inspired by the animated series Avengers Assemblee, the head is also that of Lex Luthor or of several officers of the First Order and the character's headdress has not changed, it is the version marketed since 2012. This new torso is currently only delivered in this box.

Thor's torso is also delivered in sets 76142 Avengers Speeder Bike Attack, 76153 Helicarrier, the head is the one provided in many sets since 2017. I am not a fan of the resumption of the folds of the cape on the back of the torso: if the character is wearing his cape, we no longer see this detail and if he do not wear it, this motive has nothing to do there.

New version for Hulk, this time again in Olive Green rather than flashy green and that's good. I find the tear on the bottom of the pant legs a bit too regular to be really believable, but the effect remains interesting. The character is currently only delivered in this box, but I'm not sure that this variant, whose exclusivity is probably only temporary, deserves to spend the 70 € requested by LEGO.

In short, this set only reinforces in me the impression that parents who have LEGO fans at a young age are prime targets for LEGO, as if they had to be charged a high price for the transition from the DUPLO universe. towards classic products.

Collectors will find Iron Man, Captain Marvel and Thor in the set 76153 Helicarrier which also offers more consistent content and they will have to decide if Loki's torso and Hulk's bigfig are worth spending € 70 in this box. As I often say: it's you who sees.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at July 19, 2020 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.

Today we quickly tour the LEGO set 75939 Dr. Wu's Lab Baby Dinosaurs Breakout (164 pieces - € 19.99), the smallest box of the new wave of licensed Jurassic World sets.

We're not going to lie to each other, at the point where we are in the LEGO Jurassic World range, the interest of the new sets loosely based on the animated series LEGO Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar responsible for furnishing while waiting for the next installment of the cinematographic saga scheduled for 2021 lies mainly in the presence of new species of dinosaurs.

As is often the case with LEGO, the marketers have done their job of putting together a very pretty staging of Dr. Wu's lab on the box. But we all know here that the reality is sometimes disappointing at LEGO and this mini lab all to its advantage on the packaging of the product will not impress many people when it is placed on the living room table.

We can always gargle with the incubator, its eggs and its robotic gripper or on the "functionality" which allows "to break" the large blue window via a black lever that no one has made the effort to really integrate into the construction, there is frankly nothing "... play to create new species of dinosaurs and help Owen Grady stop the dinosaur escape ..."as the official description of the product pompously indicates.

The escape of the dinosaurs is also purely theoretical since LEGO does not provide an enclosure, cage or closed space from which the two creatures could possibly escape. Looking more closely, we see that the designer has chosen to put the lab on one side of the building and the enclosure on the other. The triceratops therefore have access to a bowl of water and a little food. Nothing prevents him from also having fun with the joysticks and other buttons placed on the console visible to the right ...

On the lab side, Dr. Wu has at his disposal a slew of control screens all based on stickers graphically very successful but whose installation is laborious and the rendering very average. It should be noted above all that the designer did not even bother to complete the construction, for example leaving the tenons visible on the central control screen.

When the content of a set is a little too simplistic to really convince, all that remains are the micro-things or the good ideas that the design of the product can conceal even if the microscope with its Tile used upside down to make a Petri dish, the "robotic" arm of the incubator and the pad-printed amber block will not really save the furniture. Especially for 20 €.

Let's face it, LEGO charges us two baby dinosaurs for € 20 and adds a few handfuls of parts so as not to tarnish its reputation as a manufacturer of construction toys. If you collect the different molded species offered by LEGO, here you will get a baby ankylosaurus and a baby triceratops.

The ankylosaurus could have found its way into a Kinder egg and it is hardly the post on its back that reminds us that it is indeed a LEGO product. I predict the confusion among many parents who will one day want to get rid of their kids' LEGOs on Le Bon Coin and who will put the minifigure in the bin for "cute stuff but probably not worth much".

The triceratops is a little more consistent and there is no doubt that it belongs to the LEGO universe: it has a notch on the back in which you have to install two pieces to give it its final shape, or a minifigure "because it fits".

If the ankylosaur is composed of a single injection molded element of two colors, the triceratops is the result of the assembly of two elements with a somewhat rough fit in places. Purists will see a minifigure in the LEGO spirit, others will regret the spaces visible on the side of the animal while the minifigure is not removable. For the rest, the pad prints of these two baby dinosaurs are very correct and the injection in two colors on the head of the triceratops is perfectly carried out without burrs.

The two minifigs provided are made up of reused parts and a few new elements: Dr. Wu's torso was already in the set 75927 Stygimoloch Breakout (2018), the character's head is unpublished. We could find the character's outfit a bit simplistic, but it is perfectly in line with the one worn by BD actor Wong on screen. A head in Light Flesh would have been sufficient.

Owen Grady's torso is a novelty based on the character's look in the animated series and also featured in sets 75940 Gallimimus and Pteranodon Breakout et 75942 Velociraptor Biplane Rescue Mission. As often, the official visuals are a little too optimistic and the flesh-colored area of ​​the neck here turns pink because of the color of the torso.

The character's head is the one already seen in several boxes marketed since 2018 with here a misalignment of the whites of the eyes on one of the faces, the legs are a slew of sets marketed from then 2018 and are even reused in the set Lego city 60266 Ocean Exploration Ship for the helicopter pilot.

In short, LEGO applies here the recipe well known to fans of other licensed ranges with something to attract collectors and a few pieces to coat it all. The two baby dinos will therefore easily find their audience and the laboratory will probably end up in the toy box unless the one who obtains it has some of the other boxes in the range to compose a diorama a little plush.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at July 16, 2020 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.