23 replies to this topic

[Adam the Ant]

10214: Tower Bridge

Ages 16+. 4,287 pieces.
UK. £204.99, US. $239.99, DE. €219.99, CA. $299.99

This is my first review, so let's see how this goes

With 4,287 pieces, this is the largest model I have bought, so I was definitely looking forward to building it. The artwork on the box is great, some great shots of the model used.

Link to my thread with pictures of the unboxing and the bags upon bags of pieces. I spent most of my first day of building just sorting them all, I ended up using several tupperware boxes to keep the pieces separate.


So the first part was to build the bridge.


And with the bridge up. My biggest issue with this set is with this section. The join that allows the bridge to move was a pin join, so there isn't much choice in how you position the bridge, it's either fully up or fully down, maybe a different joint could have been used?


I decided early on that I would build both towers at once, I just prefer finding double the pieces needed, rather than going back and doing it all again once you've finished the first.


Plenty of side studded bricks required in the tower build.


Lots of tan wedges. These are for both towers, but you have to make parts like these on 4 different occasions during the build.


And with them in place. I noticed only today that I put them on different ways up


The towers at end of the 2x build.


Inside of the tower.


The high level walkways, with printed shield.


The tower tops. Nice use of gold pieces for the very top.


The finished model. Onto the dining table now, the model is too large to photograph in my lighting cube.


Looking down on the bridge. You can see the final tower tops and the vehicles driving across.


The bridge in the upright position.


The vehicles. It's a nice selection and great that you get the London Routemaster and black cab.


The spares. I haven't had anyone else to compare to, so I don't know if these are what should be left over or not.



Summary Review

Playability: 7/10 - This is definitely a set built to look at and it isn't minifig scale, but that hasn't stopped by brother playing with it and using to it stage Jedi duels It isn't intended to be played with, but that shouldn't stop you

Design: 9.5/10 - Overall I love the design, the towers are the stand out point, with great detail and some nice building techniques. The only problem that I have is the moving bridge, which due to the join, can't be positioned very well.

Price: 10/10 - The overall price may be a hit to the wallet, but price per piece works out at 4.7p/5.5c. Not to mention that you get over 500 tan wedges, around 100 windows and a large quantity of tan pieces, I would say it's worth getting.

Build: 8/10: Generally it was lots of fun building the model and seeing it take shape, however there are a number of times when you have to repeat the same thing over and over again, but when you put them on the model I think it's worth it.

To conclude I love this set, there are a few things that I think that could have been better, but overall it's great. Visually, it's stunning, which I think is the most important thing, I always enjoy looking at it and it will be a shame when I dismantle it for parts. If you are a fan of architecture or city models, although not minifig scale, I think it's still worth getting.

Thanks for reading.

I've made this into a separate thread, but if a mod feels it could be merged with my unboxing thread, feel free to do so.

[kostasm13]

Very nice Adam the Ant!
I was really looking forward for this review. Nice job!  
But now I've read it, it only made me more jealous that I can't afford it.  
Anyway, it's a great set, I hope you enjoy it before you dismantle it.

[Masked Builder]

Great work!  The review looks great to me.  The set is even bigger then I thought it would be.  While I won't be getting it it's nice to see a good review of it.

[Brickus]

Thanks for the review, it is a really nice set, also with the spares I had all of what you had apart from the bley 1x2 tile, you might have missed it in the guttering of the towers.

[Fonzy]

Thanks for the review. Your photo's show lots of details of the bricks. Many I could use in future MOC's. I will surely get this set (someday).

[Topsy Cret]

Thanks for the review, though a few more detailed shots would be appreciated. There's no doubt that I intend on getting this set: it's only a matter of finance.

[prateek]

Great review, and just look at all those spare 1x1 tan slopes!

[Mrlegoninja]

Great review!
This is a gigantic set, with lots of detail.
I think the spares are also just   !

[Baylego]

Nice review! This is a really cool set, but I won't be getting it because it is really expensive.

[The Soup Nazi]

Baylego, on 27 October 2010 - 01:24 AM, said:

Nice review! This is a really cool set, but I won't be getting it because it is really expensive.

*In Helen Lovejoy's voice*

"What about the tan cheese slopes?! Won't somebody please think of the tan cheese slopes!?"

[DLuders]

Matcham11 posted this YouTube video of the 10214 Tower Bridge being built in a stop-motion, quick time-lapse version.  The first 30 seconds of the video starts out slow, but then the pace picks up considerably.  There sure are a lot of those "cheese slopes" !

    

[Adam the Ant]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

@ Topsy Cret are there any shots in particular you would like?
@ DLuders Nice find, but they mixed all the pieces together and built it on carpet

Edited by Adam the Ant, 27 October 2010 - 04:52 PM.

[KielDaMan]

Very nice review Adam! It's actually great to see a closer view of this majestic set. It really looks like an excellent display model. Oh, and lots of tan cheese slopes, I love it!

[Locutis]

Nice review of this very large set.

I kind of like the set, but it is way too big for me to get to put anywhere in my house.  I do like a lot of the pieces, and some of the architecture in it, and may pick one up to rob it for it's parts and some of the design features for a modular building or two.

[KMO]

Currently building this, and just came across one big "yuck" - it came with the wrong type of 1x6 arch brick. Some sort of ugly new design (92950) that doesn't extend the arch all the way to the bottom of the brick like the traditional one (3455) we've had since the 70s.

They're clearly not what the set was designed with - the box photos, instructions, and part list all show the original arch design, and the model needs that part to hold the 2nd-floor windows in place. With this new arch, their top studs are unsupported and they can just be pushed into the model. You can see that in the pictures above.

What's the story with this new arch? Is it replacing the old design? What's it for - I can't see any obvious advantage to the new style. Is there some other new part it's designed to fit against?

Hmm, having written that, and having a closer look, maybe the new arch is actually better for this purpose. Perhaps if the window was raised up a plate from its sunken position, it would lock, and possibly better than the original design, and it would line up with the adjacent windows. (Update - nah, just tried it in LDD - the new arch is raised enough to not lock properly, but doesn't add enough clearance for an extra plate.)

Edited by KMO, 11 February 2011 - 01:26 PM.

[Arigomi]

KMO, on 11 February 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

What's the story with this new arch? Is it replacing the old design? What's it for - I can't see any obvious advantage to the new style. Is there some other new part it's designed to fit against?

It is replacing the old design. I can't remember where it was discussed but the new arch is made so that they can sit flush on top of curved slope bricks.

[alois]

Arigomi, on 12 February 2011 - 02:07 AM, said:

It is replacing the old design. I can't remember where it was discussed but the new arch is made so that they can sit flush on top of curved slope bricks.

That doesn't make sense, since the opening of the arch is 4 studs and two slopes are 2 x 3 = 6 studs, so that won't fit anyway.

[ghenne]

Here's the Tower Bridge, built by a 6 year old - she did every brick herself!

Attached Images

• 

[WhiteFang]

ghenne, on 17 March 2011 - 11:13 AM, said:

Here's the Tower Bridge, built by a 6 year old - she did every brick herself!

That is some good high level building for a 6 years old even though it was based on instructions.

[MetroiD]

Phew, good thing to know I wasn't the only one left with quite a few tan cheese spares All the more reason to love this set, I guess!

Actually, before buying it I thought I'd add 1 or 2 levels of bricks to the first floor to make it possible for minifig-scale vehicles to pass underneath the arches without a problem, but after building it I threw that thought out of the window. The set looks so symmetrical and perfect as it is, it would really be a stupid thing to try and mod it by making it 'more' minifig-scale. Besides, bearing in mind how big this one is, it can easily sit in the background of almost any Town scene and look perfectly believable.

[Trent]

I finally finished building this set.  

I thought it was a really enjoyable build, although as I built the towers concurrently, the cheese slopes got a little bit maddening.  My favourite part was building the suspension links; even though it was a bit repetitive, I found it really calming!  

I understand why the smaller towers weren't included, although when you see a full picture of the bridge, it does seem a little odd that they're not there!  Although I hate to think what the cost would've been if they had been added on!  

One of my favourite parts of this set was seeing the towers grow.  A lot of the building seemed to be done 'off' the model - so you'd put together multiple cheese slopes and then attach them all to the building...so one minute the towers were quite small and bare, and seemingly 'in an instant' they'd shot up into something much more recognisable.  

The colours are fantastic, and I'm so glad that I bought the set.  I would highly recommend it to other people!

[Lowrent]

KMO, on 11 February 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

Currently building this, and just came across one big "yuck" - it came with the wrong type of 1x6 arch brick. Some sort of ugly new design (92950) that doesn't extend the arch all the way to the bottom of the brick like the traditional one (3455) we've had since the 70s.

I had the exact same feeling.
I immediately went downstairs and found 4 tan arches in my bin (from Market Street 10190) to replace them.

I wrote an email to Lego this morning explaining the problem (piece not matching instructions/box picture/inventory, windows falling) with a picture.
Just to inform them about the mixup...

They replied 1 minute later, saying they were shipping the right pieces.
Wow, really good service.

[petero]

Could anyone tell me how many sealed bags there are in the set?  I have a chance to buy an open box set with sealed bags, and there are 28 bags and 13 loose plates.  Since the bags aren't numbered, the instructions don't help to see how many there should be.

Thanks!

Peter

[AncientDayz]

Thanks for the review. I would love to get it, but I am still looking for the right excuse. I have no room, and I have no idea what to do with so many cheese wedges. Give me a little while to be creative. I'll figure something out to tell the wife why I need it ...lol.