Review: 21013 Big Ben

We finish the week with a set I picked as being a "Good Set For Parts".   Is it odd that all three sets this week started with the letter "B"?

This set retails for $29.99, which yields a price per piece of $0.09.

The instruction book once again contains more information than a usual one.  It's also thicker than the ones from the last two sets I reviewed combined.  Not surprising since it's older than both locations combined.

Parts 1.  Two big plates, a bunch of 1x1 Round Plates, one 1x1 plate, and a bunch of 1x1 tiles.

Parts 2.  A few 1x1 Cones, 1x1 Bricks w/Studs on 2 Sides, a lot of 1x2 Plates, and a bunch of Small Jumper Plates.

Parts 3.  57 1x1 Round Bricks, a bunch of 1x2 Grille Tiles, some 1x2 Tiles, 1x1 Tiles, and 1x1 Plates.

Parts 4.  Down in the lower right, Travis Bricks!  The 2x2x2 Cone Brick is pretty neat.  Then you have a bunch of Plates and Bricks.  Not a bad selection in this bag.

The Questions:
Can you build a frame, or frames, right away?  You might be able to, but it would be very blocky.  You definitely should be able to make some terrain and a decent Station right out of the gate.  (+0)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At retail price, below.  (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)

If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)

Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes.  (+5)
Score: +15 (A).  It's a good a set.  It has a lot of Tan pieces and a handful of Travis bricks.  You could make a building for use as terrain in your game if you're going for a Giant Robot scale game.

Review: 21008 Burj Khalifa

Here we go with another Architecture set review.  This retails for $24.99, which means the price per piece is $0.12.






Like my review earlier this week, the instruction booklet is longer than the one for a regular set.

Parts 1.  A bunch of plates and tiles, including the name plate, and those funky tri-lobed plates which can make fun mecha feet.

Parts 2.  Another bunch of plates and tiles, along with two Technic Half Bushings, a bunch of Antenna 1x4, and two Bar 6.6L w/Stop Ring.

Parts 3.  That is a count of 112 Round Bricks, 1x1.  This is the main reason I bought this set.

The Questions:
Can you build a frame, or frames, right away?  No, but you should be able to make some okay terrain right out of the gate.  (+0)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At retail price, above.  (-10) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)

If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)

Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? No, not really.  (-5)
Score: -10 (C+).  It's not that great a set.  It's expensive for what you get.  You could make a building for use as terrain in your game if you're going for a Giant Robot scale game.

Review: 21011 Brandenburg Gate

Let's change gears a little this week and switch over to Architecture sets from the Lego Company.

This has a MSRP of $34.99 putting it at $0.10 per piece.  Also, it has a fairly sturdy box that can be used to hold the pieces after you're done.









The instructions.  These are a little different from the instructions in regular sets.  They feature a background section on the building featured in the set and a small interview with the set's creator.

Parts 1.  A bunch of plates and a couple of bricks.

Parts 2.  Look at all those Sand Green cheese slopes.

Parts 3.  Four Taps, and a bunch of 1x1 plates -- both round and square -- and tiles.

I see one Travis Brick, one Plate 1x2 w/ Arm Up, a bunch of 2x2 jumpers, some normal jumpers, lots of tiles in multiple sizes and colors, and a lot of 1x1 Round Bricks.

Yeah, that's a lot of parts.



The Questions:
Can you build a frame, or frames, right away?  No, but you should be able to make some nice terrain right out of the gate.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At retail price, at the ratio.  (+0) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)

If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)

Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  I'm not sure.  There's a lot of small parts you can use, but there's also a lot of medium and large parts you might not use right away.  I'll be generous and say yes.  (+5)
Score: +15 (A).  It's a nice set.  There's a lot of Tan and Sand Green which you don't see that often.  You could also make a nice building for use as terrain in your game if your looking for a slightly larger scale than the normal 7P.