First of would like to start by saying that I have been a Lego fan since I was at the age of 2 with their Duplo sets. Over the years I graduated from Duplo to their more complicated sets and now, 30 years later, I no longer play with Legos or buy them but I still admire them. It has been well over a decade since I have last bought a Lego set. Many of the Star Wars, Harry Potter, Creator sets seemed nice but being that I don't really "play" with Legos as I used to as a child, they never really got me interested enough to purchase them. Until I saw this Tower Bridge set. The picture of the box instantly caught my eye and after reading the details for it, I knew I had to buy it.
When the box arrived, I didn't realize just how big it was! I knew there was going to be a lot of parts involved but upon opening the box, I was surprised to see just how many separate bags they were. I must admit, at first I was a bit intimidated. This for sure was going to be the biggest Lego set I have ever worked on.
The build time took a total of one full day with me working on and off throughout the day. I would imagine someone who has the patience and determination could get it done in half a day, though half of the fun was building it little by little and taking a step back to admire how the build progressed. I would also imagine any child above the age of 13-14 shouldn't have too much trouble with the set as well, as long as he/she makes sure to keep track of the many pieces.
I found during the build that the key is making sure you pre-sort the parts before building. Since there are just so many small pieces, you actually spend half of the time just looking for parts! I eventually started to sort out the pieces by color, relative size and piece style in small bowls and baking pans/sheets. It took me about 10 to 15 minutes to sort everything out but after doing so, I notice it made my build considerably faster.
After reading some of the reviews posted, I was a bit worried at first that I too might have some pieces missing, especially since I no longer have any other Lego sets/pieces to cannibalize from. I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the end, I actually had some extra pieces left over. I went through the directions with a fine tooth comb to see if maybe I missed a step but I it looks like these are just extra pieces.
The two towers can get repetitive when putting together but one great tip is to build both towers together at the same time, instead of completing one and then going back to make another. The same method could be done for the other repetitive parts of the bridge as well.
The build itself isn't very challenging, as long as you follow the directions, you'll be fine. The directions are also very clear and easy to understand, just how I remember Legos to be. The directions come in three separate booklets, so you know you're in for some real building!
The end result? Holly cow! Boy does it look good! I really admire how Lego was able to pull this off using much of the old Lego pieces that I am familiar with from many years ago. There are a few new pieces that I haven't seen before but they do look like pieces that could be used in other Lego sets already. The bridge looks amazing, the architecture, the attention to detail is superb (for a Lego set) and the engineering factor of how Lego was able to put together a set like this is exceptional. I am however a little disappointed in the fact that much of the interior of the tower is hollow and non-functional. It would have been even better if the interior was designed, though having only seen the real Tower Bridge from the outside, I would imagine the interior of it wouldn't be that interesting either. Then again, I could be wrong.
The scale of the bridge isn't the same as the typical Lego sets so compatibility with other Lego play sets are quite limited. This surely seems more to be a display set and half of the fun really is in the build process. Despite the smaller scale, the bridge is still huge! Now I just need to find a place to display it in my house!
Long story short, this set surely was an awesome build and it sure made me reminisce on my old Lego building days. It's sure worth the money and I would highly recommend it to any Lego fan, or even any bridge fans, architects, engineers, British fans out there. Lego pulled off a great one with this set and I find myself a fan again. I surely will be keeping my eye out for future Lego sets similar to this.
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From the manufacturer
Tower Bridge
Stretching over the River Thames since 1894, the famous Tower Bridge of London, England is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. Now you can add this timeless classic to your LEGO world buildings collection!
Designed with advanced building techniques and rare colors and elements, the Tower Bridge is complete with its iconic paired towers and a drawbridge that really opens. Fun to build and display, it locks together solidly but can be taken apart in sections for easy transport. Includes four miniature vehicles: a black London taxi, a traditional red double-decker bus, a yellow truck and a green automobile.
Completed model measures 40 in (102 cm) long, 17 in (45 cm) high and 10 in (26 cm) wide. Ages 16+. 4,287 pieces.
Build London's famous Tower Bridge!
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Reviews with images
The symmetry creates repetition, but it's a beautiful finished product
This was a straight 4.5 stars for me. The finished product is great -- it's large, striking and unique. The build was interesting and engaging, although note that this is a completely symmetrical piece. Draw a line down the middle and it is identical on each side. Furthermore, each individual tower has only minor variations on each side, so in most cases you're doing the same thing at least twice on a layer of the tower, and then doing it all over again for the other tower. That didn't bother me, but it made this more like a 2000 piece puzzle than a 4000 piece puzzle.You will learn to hate piece 4516055 -- I included a picture. There are 556 (!) of these little buggers, used mostly for the exterior flashing of the towers. You'll spend a lot of time attaching 16-24 of these 1x1 pieces to larger pieces...and then repeating that same thing 8 times.Overall, this was probably a 10-12 hour project, if you take your time. I built each tower separately. You could speed things up doing them at the same time, but why rush? Take your time and enjoy it (although it is exciting when you at last get to join the two halves together).Noting those caveats, I think any Lego fan would enjoy this project and be delighted by the end result. Happy building!NOTE: I included a couple of pictures: the finished build (with a soda can for scale), and a picture of my nemesis, 4516055!
Top reviews from other countries
Didi
Superbe Lego
Reviewed in France on January 4, 2023
Didi
Reviewed in France on January 4, 2023
Il est magnifique.
Images in this review
Annemarie
Top Qualität zu einem vernünftigen Preis
Reviewed in Germany on January 24, 2022
Annemarie
Reviewed in Germany on January 24, 2022
Ich hatte viel Spass beim Zusammenbauen und es war jeden Cent wert.
Images in this review
kevin
Highly recommend it. Well done Lego
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2018