Review: 21013 Big Ben

[Brickington]

This is my first review ever and I hope all of you enjoy it! Big Ben is one of history's most recognized landmark in the World. And now, it's in a LEGO set. Now you don't have to go all the way to London, England to feel the majesty elegance of Big Ben! The LEGO Big Ben set is full of detail and will put you in all at every brick you place on the set. This build is a must get for those interested in the LEGO Architecture series and/or detailed LEGO sets.

Basic Information:

Set Name: Big Ben

Set Number: 21013

Number of Pieces: 346

Price: $29.99 USD / 29.99 Euro

Theme: Architecture (Landmark Series)

Year Released: 2012

Resources:

Brickset

LEGO Shop@Home

BrickLink

The Review:

The Box

The Front:

The typical LEGO Architecture box. I am starting to love the design of it. It is modern, simple, and just lovely.

Side:

Another typical Architecture set picture. However, I always love seeing these sets in this view. The one thing I do not like is the tape on the top of the box.

Back:

The back of the box just shows an overview of this set and facts of Big Ben. The back also shows us that this set is 7.7in. tall.

Instructions Front:

Here's another typical Lego Architecture picture. Just a simple photo, nothing to it. In the instructions there are quite a few pages about the history of the actual Big Ben. These little pages are quite informative and interesting. Also, throughout the instructions you will notice random little clips of the history of this great landmark. Overall, the actual build instructions were pretty easy to follow, in a very step-by-step way. However, I can see a a child having a little difficulty building this alone, due to the type of techniques that are used. But a piece of cake for your average AFOL.

Back:

Just a nice little picture of this set.

Contents:

Mostly contains tan pieces. Which isn't a bad thing, is it? I personally like all of the tan pieces.

Printed Pieces:

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Now here is the printed pieces. You have the usual name of the set, obviously here it is Big Ben. And there is the four clock pieces. I think that they are quite ugly.

The Big Ben Build

The Base:

And I present to you the base of Big Ben (in LEGO version at least)! Here there is just some (LEGO) green grass and some (LEGO) concrete. And then of course, the Big Ben title.

Stage 1:

Just a bird's eye view of the first part of this build. Pretty simple.

Stage 1 (with roof):

Pretty picture, but as far as the build goes, pretty plain.

1x1 Pieces:

For some reason, these 1x1 pieces have always intrigued me. Probably because these 1x1 are quite useful, but it takes a difficult technique to use them.

Stage 2:

Here's stage 2. It looks like the exact same build as stage 1, but as you will notice in the next picture, you can't always judge a book by it's cover. Also, here's where you can see the ingenuity of the LEGO designers. I never thought of using those 2x1's as windows. Amazing work.

Stage 2 (top view):

Do you see? Not the same as stage 1, is it? I think TLG did a good job here. The LEGO Big Ben set is a good example of a SNOT technique in the windows. You can see that in this photo.

Roof:

And now you have the roof. I believe TLG has remarkable job here. It looks very good with the rest of the set. The double-slooped roof pieces are attached to a half-stud offset. TLG had some ingenuity with this part of the build.

First Part of the Tower:

I like to consider this as the first part of the tower. Three more copies of this piece will be made after this. I like the use of the pieces and simplicity of this part.

Clock Stage:

Here's clock tower piece, without the clocks. All I can think is "Man is this such a great set!" You are building with the great SNOT technique and just the ingenuity of the window pieces. This set is instantly recognized in a room.

Start of the Steeple:

Here's the base of the Steeple.

Steeple Stage 2:

Another simple picture of the Steeple build.

Steeple:

And the steeple in all it's glory! Simple, yet majestic.

Steeple with the set:

A picture of the steeple with the set. The Instructions say to put the clocks on after this, so that's what I did.

Pictures of the Final Product

Full View:

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* drum-roll* And we are finally done! I just wanted to show you some pictures that show you the true beauty of this set. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bottom View:

I love this image. It shows how talents the LEGO designers are at using simple LEGO bricks and making them into masterpieces.

Tower View:

Another view of this awesome set.

Clock View:

The actual (LEGO) clock in all of it's glory (well sorta). Here is where the complaining starts. I think TLG could have made a way better clock, after all it's printed in the first place.

Back View:

I love this view. I'll just let the picture speak for themselves.

Real Big Ben Photo:

I just wanted to post a picture of the actual building for everyone to compare to set to the real Big Ben. I believe the LEGO Big Ben set greatly represents the actual building. As I said above, it is instantly recognized in a room. I'll like to thankHoteles Y Alojamiento for the photo.

Totals:

Design: 10/10 The LEGO Architecture sets never seize to amaze me. I love the design of Big Ben. The designers did good here. The way LEGO made simple bricks into this, is just incredible. Thus, this set should be no more than 10 out of 10 in design.

Parts: 8/10 Personally there are not really any rare parts. However, there is numerous of tan bricks. Which is a great plus. But besides that, not really any great pieces, as I said.

Build: 10/10 Big Ben is one of those perfect builds. It is not a hard build, but just a little challenging were it is fun to build. Another 10 out of 10.

Price: 7/10 At $30, this is a pretty good buy, but not great. At 7 cents per brick, not bad.However, I think this set could cheaper. I believe this set could easily be five to ten dollars/ euros cheaper.

Overall: 35/ 40 Overall, this is a very good set. I enjoyed every single brick I put on this amazing set. I think everyone should go out and buy this set, and have as much fun as I had building it. This is such a great build and there is not enough words to describe how great this set is.

[AndyC]

Nice review. I really like most of this model, but I just can't get past how glaringly wrong the clock pieces look. Real shame because otherwise it'd be great. Trouble is I can't think of a way of MODding it to easily fit the clocks in, short of just making the whole thing a lot bigger - at which point it doesn't seem worth buying.

[Kivi]

Very nice model. Perhaps the most realistic feature are the grilles which represent the ornamented facade very well. The only drawback, however, are the clocks, which protrude way too much outwards. The standard printed clock pieces are quite OK in my opinion, it would certainly drive the price even higher had they made custom ones for this set alone.

Nevertheless I like this set very much for two reasons. First, it is a London landmark, and second, it was designed by our fellow countryman.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Kivi

[pillpod]

Nice review. I really liked this set. It's the only Architecture set I have and I wasn't disappointed. I've noticed (in this thread and others) that the only gripe with the set are the protruding clocks. It didn't bother met at all, to be honest. Maybe I'm biased because it was the first set I had built in a long while and I don't want it to be tainted! But the set comes with a good amount of pieces (8 or 9 of which are the 1x1 4 studs) and is sold at a decent price. Some of the other smaller Architecture sets are more expensive; the Big Ben set seemed like a great deal.

Edit: spelling

Edited April 17, 2013 by pillpod

[Brickington]

Nice review. I really liked this set. It's the only Architecture set I have and I wasn't disappointed. I've noticed (in this thread and others) that the only gripe with the set are the protruding clocks. It didn't bother met at all, to be honest. Maybe I'm biased because it was the first set I had built in a long while and I don't want it to be tainted! But the set comes with a godo amount of pieces (8 or 9 of which are the 1x1 4 studs) and is sold at a decent price. Some of the other smaller Architecture sets are more expensive; the Big Ben set seemed like a great deal.

It is a great deal! I don't prefer the clocks but they aren't going to prevent me from buying this set is what I thought.

Nice review.

Thanks!

[theDeanoRama]

This is a great review, thanks

I have to agree that the clock faces could have been a lot nicer, especially considering how nice the original looks and also happens to be in exactly the right dimension ratio to fit a 2x2 tile which could replace the 2x2 round tile married to a 2x2 plate combination presented. A dedicated printed piece for this particular set would have been nice and may have made the difference in purchasing or not (would have for me).

The only other thing I would criticize about this set (I'm nit picking now, I know) is the 1st tier of the roof just above the clock face is too small in the model, it could probably have stood to be one more tile higher I think to keep it in scale with the proportions compared to the top. My guess is due to the 3x3 they were working within that they painted themselves into a corner, not really able to go higher and still have it look like a roofing element vs a different coloured wall.

[Brickington]

This is a great review, thanks

Thanks! You made some really good points. However, this was a Christmas present, so I can't complain about free LEGO. But even if it wasn't a gift, as I said, I would have still bought it.

[ManInATopHat]

Great review Brickington! This is one of my favourite architecture sets to date.

[theDeanoRama]

Thanks! You made some really good points. However, this was a Christmas present, so I can't complain about free LEGO. But even if it wasn't a gift, as I said, I would have still bought it.

Oh, don't get me wrong (or maybe I should have clarified better). I don't think its a terrible kit, I just wish they did the clock face with a little more thought. The tower roof is what it is, hard to do more and have it look right in such a small scale overall.

Edited April 17, 2013 by theDeanoRama

[Javert]

I got this set the other day, and I've modded and added some custom parts to make it look better.

Thank you to Minifigs.me, I've now got printed tiles of Big Ben's actual clocks. Here is a picture:

You may notice near the top I have also added a dark bluish grey 2x2 plate. In my opinion it improves the overall look at the top as I thought it was a bit squat before. :) Let me know what you think!

And thank you to this review. It made my mindup about getting the set :)