The team in charge of selecting the ideas that will become official products still has as much work to do: 48 projects have gathered the 10.000 supports necessary for their passage into the review phase between January and May 2024 on the LEGO Ideas platform.

As usual, the selection is made up of more or less interesting ideas, slightly eccentric projects which a priori have no chance of passing, various and varied licenses, medieval constructions, projects surfing on current ranges of the manufacturer hoping to benefit from the craze for these boxes, vehicles, etc... All will not be lost for those who see their project definitively go to waste, they will receive a consolation prize consisting of LEGO products of a total value of $500. In my opinion it will be well paid for some of them...

We can also wonder why LEGO keeps some of these ideas which have already been developed into official products before the end of the support phase. In my opinion it would be more judicious to redact the list and leave only truly original ideas that have a chance of being validated. The manufacturer probably prefers to keep them in order to be able to present a substantial list which would be proof of the popularity of the LEGO Ideas concept.

If you want to find out more about all these projects, go to the LEGO Ideas blog, they are all listed there. Result expected for fall 2024.

Today we discover a new reference from the LEGO Star Wars range expected soon on shelves at the public price of €169.99: the set 75394 Imperial Star Destroyer already online at the German retailer Lucky bricks.

In this box of 1555 pieces, enough to assemble the ship concerned which here takes the form of a playset with an accessible interior as was already the case for the reference 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer marketed in 2014 and a large handful of minifigs including Cal Kestis who here takes on the role of exclusive minifig responsible for celebrating the 25th anniversary of the LEGO Star Wars range. For those who don't know who this character is, it's the hero of the video game Jedi Star Wars: Fallen Order.

This box is not yet listed on the official online store, it will be accessible directly at this address as soon as this is the case.

Today we're quickly talking about the contents of the LEGO Star Wars set 75379 R2-D2, a box of 1050 pieces available on the official online store since March 1, 2024 at the public price of €99.99 and for a little less elsewhere.

This new product does not replace the “adult” version of the astromech droid still available since its launch in 2021 under the reference 75308 R2-D2 (2314 pieces - €239.99) with its black box, it is just a more modest and therefore less expensive interpretation of the same subject on the occasion of the celebration of 25 years of the LEGO Star Wars range.

This version of the droid, which only measures 24 cm high compared to 31 cm for the 2021 version, does not stand out, in my opinion it remains sufficiently detailed to be credible and it offers a completely satisfactory assembly experience.

Unsurprisingly, we start with the internal structure of the central cylinder on which we place the four faces, we then add the rotating dome, the two side legs, the third foot and we even have a few accessories to vary the scenarios.

Do not expect to have integrated mechanisms here allowing for example to deploy and retract the central foot or even to remove the tools from the body of the droid, there are none of these functionalities and everything requires a manual addition of the various additional accessories . I'll point this out for those who are wondering: this version of R2-D2 does not drive.

The droid's dome is made of visible tenons but the half-sphere is very correct with a pad-printed dish at the top which helps to visually reinforce the roundedness of the dome. Too bad for the blue color printed on the part which is a little too light and which therefore does not match that of the other elements present on the construction. Same observation for some of the ten or so stickers to be installed, those on a white background stand out due to the difference in color with the white parts used.

For the rest, it's flawless with a droid capable of holding in its emblematic position, very correct proportions, legs detailed enough to be credible and the possibility of exhibiting the thing in several different configurations thanks to the periscope, the third leg and additional tools. Too bad for the two pins visible on the outside of the two feet, we'll make do.

LEGO adds in the box a small display with a figurine of the character and the usual plaque distilling some facts about the astromech droid, undoubtedly just to give a little character to this less ambitious version but just as "collector" as that of the set 75308 R2-D2.

The information present is the same as on the plate which accompanies the 2021 version, only the blue visual changes, logically reflecting the model concerned. The R2-D2 figurine is the one already seen in other boxes with the pad-printed cylinder on both sides.

To celebrate 25 years of the LEGO Star Wars range, the manufacturer is adding a new character to certain sets and it is Darth Malak's turn to make an appearance. This is obviously off topic but collectors will undoubtedly find what they are looking for even if the figurine would have benefited from being in Dark Red with a little more careful pad printing. As it stands, I find it a little sloppy, especially for a minifig which should in principle celebrate the range's anniversary as it should. LEGO also provides the small pad-printed support which celebrates the 25 years of the range as well as the plate which will ensure the connection with the other supports delivered in other boxes.

For less than a hundred euros, I find that this version of the astromech droid ultimately does quite well thanks to an accomplished design, a very satisfactory finish and the presence of accessories which allow for some presentation fantasies. I still have a little trouble with the dome with stairs and visible studs even if we obtain an almost convincing half-sphere at this scale.

If you don't have any of the versions sold so far, this one is probably the one that offers the best quality/size/price ratio. If you can also find it for a few euros less elsewhere than at LEGO, then in my opinion we are close to a very good deal.

Discount -14%

LEGO Star Wars R2-D2 for Kids, Boys and Girls, Buildable Brick Droid Model with 25th Anniversary Darth Malek Minifigure and One

99.99 € 85.50 €

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Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 16th May 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.