And yes, for these sorts of sets, you put them on display. I added LEDs to mine:
Started on one side of the engine framing, all the way across, inside through the body then around the round section holding the bottom gun turret, then along the front bottom edge, back into the body and around the top round section of the gun turret, back into the body into the bridge and across the ceiling ending there.
The LED string itself had adhesive backing, so I'd put it in place, remove a section of the adhesive cover, attach it, then do another section. It was probably 3-6" at a time, so not fast or easy. I had to take off a bunch of the ship panels - super easy - to get at some of the portions. My goal was that you couldn't see the LEDs directly from most viewing angles and was mostly successful
The LED string was ~$60 and it was a silly amount of work but I have it sitting over my left shoulder during conference calls and people ask about it constantly so it was fun.
Other pics: https://x.com/CaseySoftware/status/1757069749501018411
Edit: Just realized you can see the string here: https://x.com/CaseySoftware/status/1980269018511794422
I pre-ordered this, though!
Put sets on a wishlist, they send you one of them. You build it, unbuild it and send it back. One set a month.
I think the idea of "Netflix for LEGOs" started where one might expect X but for Y services to start - California.
We used one of these services in the USA somewhere nearing 10 years ago. Looks like they're still around at https://netbricks.biz/ - but I also see https://brick-library.com/ and https://brickdrop.co and wouldn't be surprised if there's more. It worked great. I detected zero incompatibility with my being from the USA. I didn't eat or carelessly throw away a single brick.
From a search it look like Pleygo was the first such startup from 2012 and based in San Jose / Santa Clara, but is no longer around.
If people have a Lego set on display, that is surely a conversation starter for me. Especially if it's a ginormous Minas Tirith or Sagrada Familia set, or an old Technic set.
Not for everyone I suppose.
My partner likes a lot of the botanicals in our living room, on top of speakers, etc. The table has a vase with bouquet. That's our agreement, architecture and other things (Lighthouse, Jazz Quartet, Ship in a Bottle, Grand Piano are my favorite) in my office, botanicals in the living room.
These days I much prefer the large Technic theme sets because they are not so repetitive and require a deeper immersion to actually complete; harder to just space out while building the set. Certainly more meditative for me.
All that is to say that if you're going to consider this set, be aware that the build experience might not be the level of fun that the part count seems to indicate.
When I was younger, I used to own a zoo, and a pirate ship....
Though not at the same time. We couldn't afford that much lego.
Back in the aughts, they redid their philosophy of having large single-purpose pieces and went to having those large pieces be replaced by subassemblies of much smaller pieces that were much more general purpose. That's when SNOT became huge in Lego's official sets.
As someone with multiple decades of experience with Lego, things now are much much better than they were back in the 90's and early aughts specifically because of this pivot that Lego did. There is something to be said about part count inflation, and how many of the parts nowadays are tiny little pieces rather than the big 2x2 or 2x4 bricks. And also, some sets and some themes do require their unique pieces. Friends has their little minifigures that are different from the standard minifigs. The Mario sets might need to have some specific pieces -- there's no standard 'mario mustache' tile. But overall, Lego has done a pretty incredible job of increasing the utility and decreasing the single-use aspect of many pieces.
I love it, knowing about these little details. Also fun to share with friends that inquire about the various LEGO on display in the house. This, and all the fancy mechanics (e.g. typewriter, nintendo), engender a ton of respect and awe for the designers.
I've never had the patience to build those. I think I have PTSD from my childhood, when my dat bought us a "cheap" brand of lego-like toys (called TENTE I think) for which the bottom pieces fell as you plugged the top pieces.
why do Buddhists make intricate sand sculptures only to rake them over when they're done?
Are you asking about the church or the lego set?
Good luck to anyone who builds a lego set and then tries to tell my kids we can't play with it or steal parts from it for another build.
LEGO has a wide audience. Some of these go to adults who build them and put them on display. Others will go to kids who build them and then take them apart to build the next thing.
I wouldn't buy this huge set for my kids because that price tag is crazy, but I like buying some of the mid-size sets for them because it's a nice injection of specialty pieces that they like to incorporate into other builds.
Very well said, and this was exactly my experience (as a child).
^ bizarre thought process tbh. Both building it and displaying it is fun. That's all.
So I kinda wonder, what is the scaling like if you account for the actual build phases. How many pieces would you have to do on each of those 200 days to match the real-life progress of the basilica.
And I think for the actual value you get, scaling by volume would actually be more accurate.
I think scaling linearly works better here
Today when I see a Lego kit is kind of another toy: is designed to build one and only one design, compared to the generic kits that were sold and also popular many years ago.
All these new kits pieces are just to accomplish one build. The Lego spirit of ever combining and creating with same pieces over and over again is gone.
Keep new assembled kits out, let them play with it as built from the instructions. But then as it falls apart with play, and the kids don't fix it the same way it was originally built, it eventually goes into a big box of former kits that are all jumbled together.
We did this, and without prompting to do so, the kids started building their own things out of the box, exactly as you did with your kits.
You just have to learn to let go of the set, and it becomes exactly what you want.
Edit: I'm not sure if a $800 set has that same property, but for the everyday $5-$40 sets, absolutely treat them as temporary collections, and life is great.
I find it particularly endearing how a single system of toys can provide decades of experiences to a single human. I don't think I've ever encountered another toy that is like that on such a massive scale. Yes there's other construction toys out there that strive to do the same, Knex was another one that I was into for a while, but there's nothing that quite scratches that same itch that Lego does.
They only stay on the shelf for a couple years before I take it apart, rinse the dust off, sort it into ziplock bags, and add it to a box in the closet. Then I pick an old one I disassembled before, but hasn't been seen in awhile, or remember having fun building it, and spend a weekend or week building it again.
My favorite part is building them, so I get to enjoy doing that several times per set, often while having the corresponding movie on in the background.
But I found that if the builds are out they will be played with and fall apart and eventually become loose legos and that’s all fine and good.
Loose Legos on the floor making random things is fun. But building with sets and instructions is a different skill set and is entertaining in its own right.
The newer Friends series has a short reward video at the end of some builds which sort of puts the cherry on top of the set builds.
Kids still do this.
I don't know why this idea persists. There have always been sets with custom pieces. My kids go crazy over the custom pieces because it sparks new ideas for their other builds. My kids know every custom piece from every set they've ever built and will describe them in great detail so we can search through the bin until we find it.
> The Lego spirit of ever combining and creating with same pieces over and over again is gone
For you, maybe. The kids are still doing this and having a great time.
I can't but help think that people who assume that the big sets take away that haven't touched Lego in decades.
My sons sets got built "to spec" once, got played with like that for a few hours, and then never looked the same again ever, even though we still have the manuals in a box somewhere.
I'm not very tapped into it, but last month I saw a DIY Lego Rocky from Project Hail Mary going viral. I think this week I saw a very detailed jellyfish model doing the rounds.
Legos releasing single build sets that are clearly targeted for adults (look at the 18+ age statement) does nothing to harm you - it's targeted a different consumer demographic.
It's like Taco Bells now serving alcohol or Costcos now selling Asian groceries. Companies will not stay stagnant and will look at additional opportunities to expand to new buyer demographics.
I swear every lego-related post you see people dooming about this when all they look at are the giant sets clearly targeted towards adults that _want_ this sort of thing and not the plethora of other stuff.
https://rebrickable.com/sets/alternates/
you just enter the number to find alternate builds, some sets can be built into dozens various creations
Would interesting to use a quest and take a tour of the insides.
we bought for son among others some motorbike model for like 10€ in China, same thing grim Lego would cost here in Europe like 50-80€
it's crazy how much ask Lego for few order of plastic, I couldn't believe how cheap rest clones are in China, it's shame they are not that cheap on AliExpress
lego doesn't have patent on brick, so they can be exactly same and compatible, from my experiences only difference is in manual
Could they make a bigger version of this set that is more closely resembling the real thing? More than likely, yeah they can; look at the displays they have at Legoland. But would that more detailed version be accessible for even the well off AFOL? Most likely not. It'd be too big, too expensive, and too unwieldy, and will probably still fail to capture some of the details of the real thing.
Older sets are offered and sold on eBay for substantially more oney that they cost when originally sold.
(This is how the Sagrada Família was built in case folks don't know its history)
its a god damn crime what lego is getting away with
> https://bricknerd.com/home/greed-or-inflation-an-economic-an...
Inflation-adjusted price per piece has actually been declining over the years, dropping from ~$0.25 to a current $0.10 on average. This set is $0.06 per piece, so even less expensive than a median set by that metric.
but you wouldn't believe if I told you how much it cost in China, you can buy sets with hundreds of pieces for like 3-4 euros, I couldn't believe it when I saw the prices, Lego prices are highway robbery for piece of plastic
and don't tell me about paying for their creativity, there are alternate builds made by fans for free which are better than the original sets
Also, is this one even that expensive? It's only 6 cents per piece.
That being said, I love Lego as a company and wish them all the success.
Maybe it’s time to add the weight and the stud count
Bricklink has a wonderful feature that you can take a set and then part it out into a wanted list, and then search seller inventory to find those parts. That's how I built that giant Imperial Star Destroyer set from the aughts for a little over $200 instead of the like $1000 that used copies of the set were going for at that time (it's probably even more now.)
Just for funsies, I looked it up, and you can get the whole 21050 set for about $150 now on bricklink, which is a pretty good $/psc price. Considering what the set is, and the lack of stickers, means it should be easy to wash a used set to get all the pieces nice and clean; a laundry bra bag with a fine mesh works great for this.