[REVIEW] 21054 The White House

[JackJonespaw]

- A Review -

Well, it’s been about a decade since I started writing reviews for Eurobricks. In that time I’ve tackled topics such as giant spiders, Owen Wilson, and the entire noir genre. But I’ve always felt like something was missing. Something intangible, something that would fill my soul and make me a more complete person. Then it came to me - like a bolt of lightning into a kite, or the ignition of tons of fuel underneath a rocket. 

It was time to get political.

This review is part of Revember - a massive collaboration between EB Reviewers and LEGO. So massive thanks to LEGO for providing these sets for all of us. And sorry in advance.

This is the second LEGO White House, the first coming out way back in 2010, and not really holding up today. I’m always a fan of LEGO remaking older sets, because it’s so interesting to see how far we’ve come in a fairly short period of time, considering LEGO’s long history.

I’m an American, which means I hate political parties. Except mine. But even that one I kinda hate. Just less than the other side. And due to the turmoil that American politics seems to be in, it takes a special kind of set to center me and make me reflect on the political climate. Of course, I’m referring to a replica of the White House.

WHAT IS IT: THE WHITE HOUSE
WHAT’S THAT NUMBER: 21054
HOW’S THEM PIECES: 1,483
WHAT’S THAT PRICE: £89.99 / $99.99 / 99.99€
TELL ME ‘BOUT THAT THEME: ARCHITECTURE
HOW ARE YOU, JACK?: I’M OKAY I GUESS

The White House is a long-standing building that represents that best of America, and has since the very birth of the nation. Except - wait - for that one time it caught on fire. Or the other time it caught on fire. Let’s not count those times. Other than that, the insides tell a tale of American history reaching all the way back to George Washington. Except that everything but the outer walls were renovated in 1952. OH MY GOSH THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING.

Okay, but that’s okay. That’s okay. Because you know what White House won’t catch on fire? Or have interior renovations? Or otherwise be damaged in any way? The LEGO one. That’s right, because LEGO is forever. So the next time the White House burns down (which isn’t a threat, let me make that abundantly clear), the LEGO version will be standing tall in my second story apartment building.

Enough goofing, let’s move on to the actual set. Because just like the actual White House apparently, these things aren’t special and are a dime a dozen. Nothing’s sacred, screw it!

  

This is my first Architecture set in years, and the box is designed just like the adult LEGO sets. Kids, stay with your Monkie Kid or Creator sets. These sets are for Dad. Or Mom. Or whatever parental noun you’d like. That’s further exemplified by the 18+ emblazoned almost proudly on the box. 

I do want to point out how nice it must be for the designers of these boxes. While the Star Wars sets require artwork and assets and particles and all sorts of mess to really sell it, here you can just slap a black background and a reflection on there and call it a day. You could bust out fifteen of these bad boys a day with a method like that.

We’re also treated to our first glimpse of the actual White House. Although it’s covered by trees, so it’s not maybe the best comparison of the model. Could we maybe have waited until Winter to take this picture? The side of the box shows a wireframe model of the set, which is a cool detail these Architecture sets have been doing for a while. Gives it that “blueprint-y” feel. Also - shoutout actual size American flag. I would have thought it was larger.

Enough about the box! Let’s bust open this bad boy and breach in there! Side note: this picture was really hard to take with one hand, because I had to press the shutter on the camera with my other hand. I was really worried I was going to cut my thumb. Not worried enough to, like, remember that I can set a timer on my camera, but enough to point it out in this review.

 

What, you thought we’d start talking about the set? No, no, no! There are more surprises within. Namely two quotes from America’s 35th President, John F. Kennedy. I do like the quote about the White House, although I’m sort of curious about the intent behind the other JFK quote: “the greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.” He was talking about the space race as the time, not the White House. So, like, what am I supposed to think here? Is the quote referring to America? To this LEGO set? To me? Seriously, I puzzled over this quote for, like, 5 seconds.

   

Okay let’s actually get into the set. 5 bags in here. The first three build the main section of the White House, with Bag 4 reserved for the East Wing, and Bag 5 making up the West Wing. As you can see, there’s a lot of white bricks. I bet you’ll never guess as to why that is.

   

My manual got a little beat up in the box, just a heads up. As I’ve noticed LEGO doing with these more adult-themed sets, we get some info and history before the actual instructions. For a big history nerd like me, this stuff is great. The instructions themselves are nice and clear, which is good because we’re about to enter into a whole new world of repetition.

This seems like a good time to bring in my favorite White House anecdote. So Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of America, was given this giant wheel of cheese, and he didn’t know what to do. So he stuck it right in the main foyer of the White House for a calendar year before letting his guests at a party go to town on the cheese. And go to town they did. From a newspaper correspondent back in the day:

"For hours did a crowd of men, women and boys hack at the cheese, many taking large hunks of it away with them. When they commenced, the cheese weighed one thousand four hundred pounds, and only a small piece was saved for the President’s use. The air was redolent with cheese, the carpet was slippery with cheese, and nothing else was talked about at Washington that day.”

I don’t know what my legacy is going to be once I’m gone, but I want the phrase “slippery with cheese” to be involved.

      

The build process of bags 1-3 is pretty simple. Lots of white, lots of straight lines. You’re not going to get any fun angles in this set. One fun little thing I noticed: the interior bricks are red and blue, which, combined with the white, are the three colors that make up the French flag! This must be LEGO’s way of referencing France’s contribution to America throughout the Revolutionary War of the 18th Century. What a cool detail!

Another thing I noticed: this build is repetitive as heck. The instruction manual is full of “4x”, “6x”, and “8x”, especially when it comes to the walls of the White House and its wings. So just be aware, this is probably one of the worst build experiences I’ve had in quite a while. The walls are primarily made up of 1x1 plates, too, which are just so hard to align correctly. Ironically, I probably would have liked building this set more when I was younger, because my time was less valuable. 

To someone in his mid-20s, building this set almost felt like a job.

But undeniably, the model looks really good once it’s done. The cool thing about this set - which I’ll show off later - is how you can split the model into three, essentially removing the East and West Wings. So if you’re good with this main block of the White House alone, there’s no need to continue. You can call it a day.

  

But, of course, we don’t get to do that, do we? We have to build the East Wing. This wing is the “softer” side of the White House, where the First Lady’s office is, along with more social aspects of the White House staff, like the Graphics and Calligraphy Office. However this wing also goes hard as hell, sitting on top of the emergency operations center. You know, the place the President goes if a bomb is dropping. Looks can be deceiving, I suppose. 

The build itself isn’t much different than in the first three bags. More 1x1 plates, more white bits, and more greenery outside. 

  

Oh ho ho, this is the good one. The West Wing, This is where the nation is run, and, if the TV show is anything to go off of, it’s where people endlessly yell at each other with clever dialogue.

Same as the East Wing in terms of the build, though - really not very fun. But I will admit, I quite enjoyed building the oval office itself. I imagined a little LEGO president in there, doing little LEGO things. But then I frowned. Did this little LEGO president have as much controversy as the last few real American presidents? Did this little LEGO president have scandals? Did this little LEGO president uphold the Constitution? I stopped, and then realized that the Oval Office isn’t even hollow in this set, so there isn’t a little LEGO president at all. Rest easy.

   

So there it is, in all it’s currently-unburnt glory: The (LEGO) White House. It’s wider than I was expecting - wider than my posterboard background will allow. I have to admit: this is a good looking model. LEGO Architecture sets have always been pretty good, but we’ve come a long way from the Burj Khalifa made up of, no joke, over 100 1x1 round bricks.

I think a top view gives a nice look at how long this thing is. It’s more than twice its depth.

So like I mentioned earlier: you can split the three pieces up, and reattach them pretty easily. It’s not the most secure of connections, so I’d recommend breaking it up before moving it.

You do get a real sense of scale looking at this thing - for instance this little covered entrance here. This thing has to hit 10 feet in real life, so you can sort of extrapolate that to see how large this building is.

The only thing I really have to critique is the roof of the northern facade. It’s made up of a 2x4 and 1x4 tile, and these tiles are very insecure. I couldn’t really ever get them to lay flat nor align properly, as you can see in the picture. 

But this is really a stupendous model. If you can push through the extremely monotonous building process - as, to be fair, most LEGO Architecture sets have - you get a neat little set that’s instantly recognizable. 

I hope LEGO finds a resurgence in Architecture sets in the future. So far only one set has been released in 2021: the Taj Mahal - which looks great, by the way - but I’d love to see more. I think LEGO’s been doing a really great job of this, but as I get older, I appreciate a good model way more than a good playset. And I think LEGO Architecture is a great theme to use for models.

I give this set, overall, a 8/10. You can pick it up right now on Shop at Home.

Plus, this one’s not going to burn down, or break or anything. Nothing's going to happen to this White House -

Crap.

[Guyinaplaguemask]

Looks cool enough. Can we get a comparison with the old one?

[jimmynick]

File this one under "sets that didn't need remakes" :eyeroll:

[Jack Sassy]

A good review as always. With all this power in your hands, there is no question about running for president.

 

JackJonespaw for president!

[mostlytechnic]

I don't think the old set was bad - it's certainly instantly recognizable - but this one is so much bigger. And the trees are way better. I'm not a big architecture line fan, but I do love seeing the creative part usage. The 1x2 plate with bars to make the pillars along the outside walkways is pretty well done here. 

Nice review too BTW - always fun to read yours!

[Jim]

Thakns for the very enjoyable review! I love the write-up. Made me laugh on a couple of occasions. I love how you setup this review.

And I do love the set. Having multiple architecture sets, I really need to add this one to my collection.

On 11/5/2021 at 4:34 PM, mostlytechnic said:

always fun to read yours!

Absolutely

[Pirean_Grammaticul]

sir how are you the single best reviewer on this site

[Jim]

On 10/5/2022 at 1:13 AM, Pirean_Grammaticul said:

sir how are you the single best reviewer on this site

While your compliment is very nice (at least I think it's a compliment), please don't bump a year old topic without adding some information. Thanks.

[Pirean_Grammaticul]

On 10/8/2022 at 7:27 AM, Jim said:

While your compliment is very nice (at least I think it's a compliment), please don't bump a year old topic without adding some information. Thanks.

my bad! thanks for the heads up; hadn't realized it had been a year. absolutely meant as a compliment but i should probably refrain from further statements

[Jim]

17 hours ago, Pirean_Grammaticul said:

my bad! thanks for the heads up; hadn't realized it had been a year. absolutely meant as a compliment but i should probably refrain from further statements

Cool. No worries