Today we take a very quick look at the contents of the LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog set. 76995 Shadow's Escape, a small box of 196 pieces which will be available from January 1, 2024 at the public price of €20.99.

And the guided tour will indeed be very quick as this little box is almost content to be a simple extension of the more global concept developed in the already very extensive Sonic the Hedgehog range : there is in fact not much to build and only one minifigure is provided.

We will note in passing that the inventory of this box is delivered in two “paper” bags, LEGO having recently recalled that the shift announced for a long time will eventually materialize in 2024 in Europe. I mention the word paper in quotation marks, the material being abundantly coated with plastic inside to prevent the pieces from tearing the packaging and we still find in these bags the usual small plastic packaging containing the smallest elements of the inventory.

LEGO promises an “infinity of stories” to invent with the contents of this product, however you will need to have a little imagination to get something out of it. Shadow can be imprisoned in the "cryogenic tank", he can escape, he can confront the Badnik Rhinobot in passing and then escape on his motorcycle. Why not, do it once before posting the thing in a corner to amortize the investment.

The motorcycle is very decent considering its limited inventory, Shadow can be installed in a seated position on the seat, this is not always the case with LEGO motorcycles, and can even really take hold of the roller-based handlebars paint. The machine is not unworthy, it is neat knowing that there are no stickers in this box and that the motorcycle therefore benefits from pad-printed elements.

The other construction of the set brings some functionality to the product with the possibility of ejecting the glass from the tank by pressing on the two-tone edge of the base so that Shadow sets sail. The barrier placed behind the tank is synchronized with the ejection mechanism of the canopy, Shadow can then smash it with his motorcycle. the bottom of the tank is furnished with a very successful pad-printed piece (see photo below).

The Rhinobot is correct even if it struggles a little to embody the creature with its shell and its central wheel seen on the screen in video games where the villain makes an appearance, it is missing at least one yellow band which crosses the shell of the evil robot. the Clucky provided is symbolic, the idea is there and the little figurine will do the trick even if the hen's crest would in my opinion have deserved a plastic excrescence instead of being satisfied with a simple printed pattern.

We cannot therefore say that the product is crazy playable and exceptionally creative and for €21 LEGO is clearly content with the bare minimum to encourage us to buy the new Shadow figurine delivered in this box.

The latter is rather well executed even if the white pad-printed area on the black background of the torso is too dull compared to the more "intense" white of the legs, which is a shame. The legs and arms benefit from particular care and these nicely pad-printed elements are successful.

For the head of the figurine, some will perhaps only see an interpretation that strays too far from the initial concept of the LEGO minifig, others will find that the mold is frankly successful, everyone has their own appreciation of the liberties taken by LEGO in this range to offer credible characters resembling their digital alter egos.

In short, this little additional pack which could possibly flesh out a diorama made up of a few boxes from the Sonic the Hedgehog range doesn't have much to offer but it only costs €21 and we all know here that the motivation will come from the presence of a new figurine that many fans of this universe were waiting for in a LEGO version.

That's already good, we learn not to be too demanding over time and to be satisfied with what we are offered if the price seems acceptable to us. In my opinion, this is the case here, the motorcycle saving the furniture in the process concerning the constructions provided.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at December 10, 2023 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 LEGO ICONS set 10318 Concorde, a box of 2083 pieces which will be available on the official online store, as an Insiders preview, at the retail price of €199.99 from September 4th.

This product had received a rather favorable reception during its official announcement a few weeks ago, but the latter was then supported by a series of official visuals highlighting the product and it is therefore time to check if the promise is kept. Spoiler : this is not completely the case, you will understand why below.

You have probably already noticed that this Concorde with LEGO sauce is neither in the colors of Air France nor in the British Airways version. It's a bit of a shame, the Aérospatiale France / British Aircraft Corporation livery of the model 002 provided here being a bit too dated.

We can imagine that LEGO and Airbus did not wish to offer a livery in the colors of Air France which would inevitably have recalled the crash of July 25, 2000 and we will therefore do with this vintage version, the main thing being that the LEGO model is relatively faithful to the reference aircraft.

This is the case except for a few details, in particular at the level of the nose which is here in my opinion a little too round and voluminous like an ice cream cone. For the rest, the exercise seems to me generally rather successful for a model of barely more than 2000 parts and 102 cm long by 43 cm wide intended for the exhibition.

The assembly process cleverly alternates between building the internal mechanism that will later deploy the landing gear and stacking white bricks to form the wings and cabin of the aircraft. We don't get bored, the sequences are well distributed and we start with the central section of the plane and then finish with the extremities by installing the engine blocks in passing.

The mechanism for pulling out the gears circulates inside the cabin, it ends up in the tail of the plane which therefore serves as a wheel for a little fun. LEGO insists on the possibility of testing the proper functioning of each section of the mechanism during the assembly phase of the set, it is wise and it avoids having to disassemble everything if an axis has been incorrectly inserted or positioned. Only the central and front axles are concerned by this mechanism, the tail wheel must be deployed manually. One could also have imagined a synchronization of the movement of the landing gear with that of the nose of the aircraft, this is not the case and the latter must be handled separately.

A fun little detail, LEGO has also provided some "accessories" used only during assembly to hold a section in place or allow you to work vertically. All the parts used for these temporary supports are orange in color, you will not be able to miss them or confuse them with elements permanently installed on the model. Over the pages, we install or remove these sections, the process is quite unusual but very practical. On arrival these temporary supports remain unused, you can do with them what you want.

You have already seen it on the official visuals, it is possible to remove a short section of the fuselage to admire a few rows of seats. the functionality is anecdotal but it has the merit of existing and it will impress your friends. The assembly is perfectly rigid, the wings do not bend under their own weight or that of the engines and the model can be removed from its base and easily handled. Watch out for the two little ones Tiles quarter-circle placed on and under the fuselage, they only hold stuck between two tenons and they come off easily.

Don't spoil yourself too much about the different construction stages if you have planned to buy this product, all the fun is once again in the few hours of assembly with some good ideas and an assembly process that is paced enough not to overdo it. focus on the few slightly repetitive phases. The pages of the instruction booklet are embellished with some information on the aircraft, you will not come out much more learned on the subject but it is entertaining.

The real problem of the product is elsewhere and it is not new or reserved for this product: the white parts are unfortunately not all the same white. From certain angles and with the right lighting, I count up to three different shades on the fenders and it's ugly. The official visuals have obviously been extensively retouched to erase this aesthetic defect, in real life the real model will lose some of its luster when it comes to displaying it on the dresser in the living room. It even seems that some parts have slightly yellowed before time, it will be up to everyone to assess their level of tolerance regarding this technical defect but I would have at least warned you.

For my part, I still cannot understand how a manufacturer who has been in this business for 90 years does not know how to properly tint his parts so that they are almost all the same color. This product is no exception, regulars of the Sand green or Dark Red know that it is already complicated with these specific colors but we are talking about white here. Creamy white, off-white but white. The effect is all the more visible on the wings as it is reinforced by the separation between the different parts, with a line that circulates between the different colors and which delimits each of the elements concerned.

The cockpit, whose nose can be more or less inclined like on the real Concorde, benefits from two nicely executed canopies with pad printing (a little too white) on the main glazing and a protective glass installed on the mobile part of the nose which is supplied directly injected in two textures. The latter is delivered in a dedicated paper packaging, the other is simply thrown into one of the bags of the set with the risks that we know.

We will also note some alignment problems at the level of the red line which crosses the cabin horizontally, it is alternately embodied by red parts or by pad printing on white parts which is not perfectly positioned on the elements concerned to guarantee a perfect connection. This detail will probably not be a problem for hardcore fans of the plane or LEGO, but we are still talking here about a white model at 200 €, attention to detail should have been in order.

For those who are wondering: the pad-printed windows are consistent with the reference aircraft, the Concorde was well equipped with smaller windows than conventional airliners.

The small base provided, which takes up the aesthetics of the base of certain classic models of the plane, does its job: it makes it possible to present the device with a slightly dynamic staging and the stability of the whole is at all test thanks to the perfectly balanced positioning of the support. It's up to you whether you want to display the Concorde in the flight phase with the landing gear retracted and the nose straight or in the take-off phase with the landing gear extended and the nose tilted. The small vintage-looking plate placed on the front of the display is pad-printed, there are no stickers in this box. This plate distills some facts about the plane, it's vintage and it's fitting with the proposed livery which is far from being the most recent.

Like many of us, I was pretty excited about this product so far following its official announcement. I once again let myself be convinced by the pretty official visuals which promised a model with a finished aesthetic, it's not the impression I have having this Concorde in my hands. The designer has done his homework and the returned copy is in my opinion frankly very honest, but the main technical defect of the product comes in my opinion a little to spoil the party. Many will however be satisfied with this Concorde which, observed from a certain distance, will do the trick, installed for example next to the Titanic.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 13, 2023 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 LEGO ICONS set 10321 Corvette, a box of 1210 pieces which will be available via the official online store and in LEGO Stores from August 1, 2023 at the public price of €149.99. You already know since the official announcement of the product, this involves assembling a reproduction of the 1 C1961 version of the Chevrolet Corvette, with its four rear lights which then replaced the two optics installed on the wings, its overhead valve V8 engine and hardtop.

Might as well mention it right away: all this frankly lacks chrome or, failing that, metallic parts. The reference Chevrolet Corvette gives pride of place to chrome equipment and this LEGO version does not pay homage to it on this point, while the retouched official visuals highlight reflections which are non-existent on the "real" product at the level of the different elements. very light gray.

Once again, this model aimed at an adult collector audience takes some aesthetic shortcuts with much less curvy curves and not-so-curvy curvaceous lines. The wheel arches are also a little strange, it lacks roundness especially when the vehicle is observed in profile. We're starting to get used to LEGO, even if the designer does much better here than when it came to reproducing James Bond's car with the set, for example. 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5.

The solid floor of the vehicle is as often made up of a few plates and other Technic beams, we then attach the various bodywork elements and the interior equipment. It's quickly put together and immediately realizes that the retouched official visuals promised us a shade a little darker than in reality. This Corvette C1 is bright red, yet I would have tried the Dark Red (dark red) just to give it a little more cachet at the risk of having to deal with the usual color differences.

The grille based on sausages, handlebars and gray bananas seems to me much too simplified and here we have to be content with a very symbolic representation of this yet emblematic detail of the vehicle. Same observation for the four front headlights, simply composed of a Tile pad-printed round and a transparent piece, it lacks a bit of volume and it's a bit too flat to really look like the real ones.

The doors are on the other hand well designed, they use two new elements which make it possible to reproduce rather faithfully the white zone, set back by half a tenon on the LEGO model, present on the sides of the reference vehicle. The upholstery is relatively simple but sufficient and well executed, as is the driving position with its counter, pedals and gear lever.

There is obviously a small sheet of stickers in the box, I scanned the thing for you, and everything that is not there is therefore stamped, such as the "chrome strips" which circulate on the bodywork, the contours of the seats or the Corvette logo on the front of the hood. It should be noted that LEGO has progressed when it comes to aligning a pattern printed on different elements, it is not yet perfect but it is for example much better than on the lower body of the Mustang of the set 10265 Ford Mustang. It suffices here to interchange the four plates struck in a straight line until an acceptable alignment is achieved.

The rims are a little dull, here too it lacks shine to perfectly reproduce the contrast between the bodywork and the wheels. The white rims used nevertheless make it possible to obtain the desired vintage effect, but the very light gray of the rims is disappointing.

In terms of functionality, it is necessary to be satisfied here with the openings, doors, front bonnet and trunk, and a direction brought back to the steering wheel. No complex mechanism for the steering but the function has the merit of existing and the engine is also reduced to its simplest expression. The supplied hardtop can be easily installed or removed, it will be up to you to see how you wish to expose the vehicle and the opening of the trunk whose bonnet is flush with the rest of the bodywork is managed by a part placed under the vehicle which serves as push button allowing it to be half-opened so that it can then be grasped with the fingers. It's ingenious.

The two identical windshields are packaged separately in paper bags and that's great news. LEGO is thus freed from the plastic protection applied directly to the parts attempted in the past in a few boxes and these two bags finally make it possible to obtain elements in perfect condition upon unpacking. Well done for that.

This Corvette C1 is probably not the best vehicle in the range at LEGO but it still looks great in my opinion. It will undoubtedly help to highlight the other models displayed on a shelf: a little red will ultimately not hurt in the middle of the black Camaro of the set 10304 Chevy Camaro Z28, the blue of the Mustang from the set 10265 Ford Mustang or even the white of the Porsche of the set 10295 Porsche 911. It will probably quickly be possible to find this Corvette C1 a little cheaper than the price charged by LEGO, so there will be no reason to skip this box.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 21, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. 

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

As announced in the pages of the previous issue released in December 2022, the March 2023 issue of the Official LEGO Batman Magazine is available on newsstands today for €6.99 and comes as expected with a "biting tire" Batcycle. with space to install a minifig not included. This magazine is also switching to laminated paper bags from this issue.

This magazine seems to resume a normal periodicity after the winter break and the next issue is announced for April 28, 2023, it will allow you to obtain a minifig of...Batman with his "Jet".

For those who are interested, I remind you that the instructions for the various mini-models delivered with the magazines published by Blue Ocean are available in PDF format. on the publisher's website. Simply enter the code on the back of the bag to obtain the file, 212325 for assembly instructions for the Batcycle delivered with this number.

Today we go very quickly around the contents of the LEGO set 40648 Money Tree, a box of 336 pieces sold since December 25 at the retail price of €24.99.

If you are interested in Chinese culture, this money tree which should in principle bring money and luck will seduce you, it will not take up too much space on the dresser in the living room with its 16 cm high. He may also possibly complete a set of sets from the Botanical Collection LEGO, even if the finish of this little tree is a little less accomplished than that of the other products in the range.

The object is in principle decorated with tangerines, red envelopes intended to accommodate cash donations and coins. In fact, he is satisfied here with about twenty pumpkins which therefore serve to symbolize the fruits concerned, 14 red micro envelopes and a dozen nicely executed coins. All decorative elements are stamped, there are no stickers in this box. Still no paper bags in this new addition to the LEGO catalog. The manufacturer could have inserted a real red envelope in the box, as is the case in the annual sets on the theme of the Chinese zodiac: in Asia we offer money to our loved ones on the occasion of the New Year celebrations and you could also have complied with this custom thanks to the envelope provided.

The set is composed of just over 330 elements but it still has the luxury of being very repetitive, the fault of the subject matter. The pot that hosts the tree may bring back memories to those who assembled the bonsai from the LEGO set 10281 Bonsai Tree, it is a simplified version of the black pot present in the set of the Botanical Collection marketed since 2020.
The two golden "boats" attached to the pot are in fact not boats: they are school, gold or silver ingots once used in China as currency.

Each of the branches of the tree includes at least one pumpkin, an envelope and a coin, the whole is fixed on a plush trunk itself fixed on the base of the product. You don't have to be an avid LEGO fan to assemble this little tree, there's nothing very complex here.

This lucky tree could, in my opinion, have become a pretty decorative product offered on condition of purchase, it does not necessarily deserve that we spend 25 € on it unless you are already familiar with the tradition concerned and wish to replace the one you already have with a plastic version or plan to give someone a copy. So money actually grows on trees, but especially for LEGO.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 5th January 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion.

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