One of the interesting small sets that became available this month is the #854011 LEGO Iconic Eiffel Tower Magnet set. You may remember that last year, due to the high demand for the LEGO Chinese New Year sets that were initially only available in Asia, LEGO made a promise to make even regional sets available globally. The most visible result of this change is that the later LEGO Chinese New Year sets were released at all markets, but there are also some smaller sets that were originally meant to be regional that you can now purchase easily at the Online LEGO Shop.
Although this is not confirmed yet, my understanding is that the #854011 LEGO Iconic Eiffel Tower Magnet set is the first in a series of small commemorative sets that will be depicting tourist locations and attractions. In the past, such small sets were only available at local markets, and they were popular with collectors of niche LEGO sets.
The #854011 LEGO Iconic Eiffel Tower Magnet features a small scene, depicting the Eiffel Tower and a bit of skyline on a 4×8 plate. It’s remarkable that even such a small set that teach us some interesting building techniques. The whole scene is built studs up, but then turned on its side to reveal a forced-perspective scene.
The red 4×4 magnet is merely an additional accessory that you may or may not attach to the back of the 4×8 plate. If you do attach it, the whole build can be used as a fridge/locker magnet, and if you don’t attach it, the little scene can still stand up on its own. And, of course, the magnet can be used on its own as well.
Amongst the 29 included parts, none of them are unique or rare. The cloud, which was originally a stand for the LEGO Unikitty Collectible Minifigures, is a nice addition, the rest are very basic parts. The single sticker that is meant to be applied to the 1×8 red plate is good quality, and could be used in other settings as well.
Just looking at the parts, the $9.99 price tag of the #854011 LEGO Iconic Eiffel Tower Magnet is high. But if you consider that this is not a regular set, but more like a commemorative gift item or impulse buy, it’s not that bad. The nice and sturdy packaging emphasizes this even further. It would have been better though if a minifig, or couple of micro-figures are also included.
In summary, this set (and whatever other sets will be released in this series) is not something to buy for the build or the parts, rather it’s a small gift item or collectible. If you want to check it out, it’s available at the Online LEGO Shop. (The other set pictured below, is the #40373 LEGO Fairground Minifig Accessory set – another interesting little impulse buy that was released this month.) To purchase, visit the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Do you collect commemorative and region/event-specific sets? And how do you like the idea that they are now available worldwide? What do you think of the LEGO Iconic Eiffel Tower Magnet? What other locations would you like to see in the collection? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
I feel that small impulse buys like these should have remained regional. It was great to find them when visiting a lego store in another country. But I understand why some people want them to be globally available.
The forced perspective feature looks great, but it seems the cloud is a bit too low? I would be interested to expand on the scene. It seems to be a decent set.
Ha! So they are bringing back the magnets? Cool! I use them on my magnetic board. I assume they will also make these sets for London, New York, and other locations in the Architecture Skyline series.
If they would include a special, place-specific minifig, I would be all in. And a printed tile. As is, I think this is more for the generic touristy crowd.
Does the set include the postcard? Or is that just decoration on the box?
The postcard is just box art. There is no postcard in the box. Only the pieces, the instruction sheet, and the single sticker.