Very Quickly Read: LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia New Edition

I finally got my copy of the book LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia New Edition pre-ordered since July 2019 and this is the opportunity to quickly tell you about the book itself and the exclusive minifigure that comes with it.

For those who do not know the principle of this format entitled "Character Encyclopedia", more than an encyclopedia in the proper sense of the term, it is above all a non-exhaustive dictionary of minifigs in a range with very large photos surrounded by some information and other anecdotes on the character concerned.

This new edition of the book based on the LEGO Star Wars range logically leaves a large place for minifigs from content available since the previous edition, which dates from 2015. The characters seen in the films Rogue One, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi ou The Rise of Skywalker which have been declined in minifig format are therefore present in this update, like the protagonists of the animated series Rebellious et The Clone Wars.

With the exception of a few generic minifigs that appear in several contents, you will not find in this book any figurines based on the important characters of the animated series. Star Wars Resistance or from the series The Mandalorian, but the selection of around 200 minifigs obviously includes some great classics from the LEGO Star Wars range.

The information and anecdotes provided in this 220-page book are for the most part interesting, although the most seasoned collectors will not learn much as the pages turn. For each minifig, the author specifies the date of marketing, the first set in which the figurine appears and the film or series that features this character.

The photos are very nice and they are indeed photos of the real minifigs and not digital renderings as was the case in other similar books. The counterpart to the use of real photos of the minifigs: some pad printing defects are really visible on several characters.

Even though the book is interesting, we all know here that most of those who are going to acquire it will be doing it to get the exclusive Darth Maul minifigure inserted in the cover. The character has his unconditional fans and his regular appearances in several contents of the saga (films, animated series, comics and novels) help to maintain his popularity. Darth Maul is here in his Crimson Dawn version, named after the criminal organization of which he is the leader. We therefore find the pendant which takes the logo of the organization on the character's tattooed torso.

The accessory that plugs into the head of this minifigure is not a new and exclusive element to this version, it is the one that already equips the other variations of the character in the LEGO Star Wars range. The head is however new, it ignores here the grimacing smile seen on other versions of the character and is satisfied with a variation around the tattoos and the look. Darth Maul's mechanical legs are here embodied by pad-printed patterns on a classic pair of legs. The pattern is in my opinion convincing with a well-managed graphic transition between the character's tunic and the mechanical elements.

Overall, we get here a version of Darth Maul based on the very brief appearance of the character in the film. Solo: A Star Wars Story and the most assiduous collectors should not hesitate long before spending the twenty euros requested by Amazon for this book.

With a little patience, this English version should as usual finish at a knockdown price within a few months and this exclusive minifigure will not cost you much. It is not yet known whether a French version will emerge, but if so, its public price will be much higher than that of the English version anyway.