There are two new LEGO Architecture sets we haven’t talked about yet, both recreating buildings with great historical significance. The #21029 LEGO Architecture Buckingham Palace, and the #21030 LEGO Architecture United States Capitol Building. So let’s take a closer look. 🙂
➡ LEGO ARCHITECTURE BUCKINGHAM PALACE: Just like all LEGO Architecture sets, this the LEGO Architecture Buckingham Palace comes in a sleek black box, and with a high-quality booklet that talks about the design architecture and history of the building, and also contains the building instructions. This is the smaller of the two new sets, but it includes everything to recreate a mini version of the royal residence in a miniature scale. It also includes a tiny London bus and taxi. Here is the official description: Build a LEGO brick model of London’s official royal residence. This magnificent model focuses on the palace’s east wing with its famous balcony, forecourt and palace gates. A section of the Mall is also depicted, complete with a double-decker bus, black taxicab and the Victoria Memorial. The model has been designed to deliver an interesting and rewarding building experience and is suitable for display in the home and office. It has been developed for all with an interest in architecture, travel, history and design. Measures 3” (10cm) high, 7” (20cm) wide and 7” (19cm) deep. 780 pieces. Price: $49.99 – BUY HERE
➡ LEGO ARCHITECTURE UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDING: This set is quite large and substantial, and contains so many rare sand-green pieces! Here again, the included high-quality booklet contains information about the design, architecture and history of the building, and the building instructions. The model itself is very impressive, taking advantage of advanced building techniques to create the iconic shapes. Here is the official description: Discover the architectural secrets of the iconic United States Capitol Building with this amazing LEGO Architecture interpretation that focuses on the structure’s neoclassical style facade, steps and lawns, finished with a decorative “U.S. Capitol” nameplate. Remove the dome to access the rotunda interior depicting the National Statuary Hall, with columns, 8 statues and tiled floor. This model has been designed to deliver an interesting and rewarding building experience and is suitable for display in the home and office. It has been developed for all with an interest in travel, architectural culture, history and design. The scale of this model matches the #21022 LEGO Architecture Lincoln Memorial. Measures over 6” (16cm) high, 17” (44cm) wide and 5”(14cm) deep. 1032 pieces. Price: $99.99 – BUY HERE
When LEGO states that these models have been designed to deliver an interesting and rewarding building experience, they are not exaggerating. While LEGO Architecture sets are smaller than minifigure scale, they provide some of the most satisfying building experience. The focus is on getting the models as accurate as possible on a small scale. Thus LEGO Architecture sets tend to be parts-heavy, using pieces in very unusual and tricky ways. Lifting up a LEGO Architecture set is always a surprising experience, because they are quite heavy due to the density of small parts. In the video-reviews below, you can see the two latest LEGO Architecture sets in more detail.
If you have never built a LEGO Architecture set, it is kind of hard to explain why and how they are so different than regular LEGO sets. But I would say that they are more like a serious modeling kit rather than a building toy. In my experience, the best LEGO Architecture sets are in the price-range of $40-$60. Anything smaller might still look great, but it is too quick to put them together. With a mid-price set you get a great display model, and you can also have plenty of fun and learning during the building process. So the #21029 LEGO Architecture Buckingham Palace (or similarly priced sets) are excellent if you are new to LEGO Architecture.
Sets that are larger, like the newly released #21030 LEGO Architecture US Capitol Building, can be a tad tedious, and are definitely recommended for older builders. However these are the sets that look the best on display. The LEGO Architecture US Capitol Building is the third largest LEGO Architecture structure to date, after the #21010 LEGO Architecture Robie House released in 2011 (2276 pieces – price $199.99 – see above), and the #21017 LEGO Architecture Imperial Hotel released in 2013 (1188 pieces – price: $129.99 – see below). I’m not saying don’t get them if this is your first time with LEGO Architecture, but just be prepared that they may take longer to build than you might anticipate. And you will definitely learn some very-very interesting techniques.
I do recommend trying out at least one LEGO Architecture set, even if you are not that interested right now. Most LEGO fans are so focused on playsets and minifig-size buildings and vehicles that they forget the very serious modeling capabilities of LEGO. LEGO Architecture actually has a very large following, but they tend to be older builders and professionals. Pick a set that you think would be useful as a parts-pack if you end up disliking it. LEGO Architecture sets are excellent for getting a large number of small parts in very useful colors. The LEGO Architecture Buckingham Palace and the LEGO Architecture US Capitol Building, along with a number of previously released LEGO Architecture sets, are available under the LEGO Architecture section of the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? How do you like these new LEGO Architecture sets? Do you have any LEGO Architecture sets already? Would you like to share your own thoughts and review on them? Feel free to discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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