Icons Eiffelturm Paris (10307)

Product Information

I did take the Rok Zgalin Kobe’s advice (I’ll share my interview with him soon!), and had a few Eiffel Tower documentaries, videos and podcasts prepared for the build. Plate Special 2 x 2 with Only 2 studs in Sand Yellow/ Dark Tan (6396392 | 33909) was introduced in October in 21336 The Office. My least favourite part of the build are these arches, which like the real Eiffel Tower, have no load bearing capabilities and are just there for decorative purposes. However, transporting the model is relatively simple, as it is designed to disassemble into three main sections. Furthermore, the cupola is removable and you can split the tallest section in half for storage, if necessary. Even though the four sections shown below are not actually connected when assembled, their weight alone provides stability.

Yet at the same time, as we say, through its size and the number of repeated steps (x72 of this action, x144 of that, x4 of all of it again), it does mean that in various stages the LEGO build experience also becomes tedious –so much so that you may wonder if 10307 Eiffel Tower will also require two years to complete. The legs themselves area also nearly identical in styling, connecting to both top and bottom plates via clips. Eiffel Tower was such a pleasant surprise, and I liked it a lot more than I initially thought I would. After seeing it in person in Billund, I was of course impressed by the height and scale, but came away fearing that the build would be bland, torturous and repetitive. Despite receiving initial criticism for its design, it has since become a global, cultural icon and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.Eiffel’s Apartment is an interesting way for LEGO to expand the 10307 Eiffel Tower without directly ratcheting up the already high price and part count of that set. It recreates a minifigure-scale view of a part of the tower and considering the almost urban-legend quality of the hidden apartment, it’s also a conversation piece. The build itself is interesting, if not particularly complex. The included minifigure is a good likeness for Gustave Eiffel, although it doesn’t contain any unique elements. Because yes, a half-metre square of floor and 1.5m clearance in height is quite the space for anything to demand, let alone what is ostensibly still at its core a LEGO set. It’s a good thing the holiday season is upon us, because this is equivalent in size to an average height Christmas tree – maybe you could put some lights on it and hope nobody notices. It’s hard enough as it is to convince loved ones that we don’t have too much LEGO, and that this hobby is under control, without having to now convince them that they don’t need that item of furniture in the living room anymore because you’ve got something better (yes, fragile and all dark grey, but way better), or that the dining room table would now look great with a centrepiece on it that leaves no space for the dinnerware and reaches all the way up to the ceiling. This clearly isn’t the case, and a lot of effort has been put into the building experience to make it quite intuitive, seamless and as pain-free as possible. The outside of the apartment has some necessary-feeling railings and a couple of telescopes. I wasn’t able to find anything to indicate how true-to-life these details are, but they seem pretty reasonable.

At long last we’ve reached the top of the tower. A small ring of windows is fleshed out with transparent 1×1 and 1×2 plate. And…if you want to get extra creative – and have the parts on hand – well, there’s no reason you can’t make the whole thing just a little more…super. The Eiffel Tower is split up into 3 main sections, and each box is fully self-contained, so this is technically a “Build Together” set, and you can share the joy of building with up to 2 other friends, which I recommend as it drastically cut down the build time, and mount of repetition by sharing the load. There are about 12 parts that come in quantities in excess of 100, including 704x of the badly damaged 1×1 clip mentioned below, and a potentially ‘evil’ 666x 1×6 plates. Naturally, almost all of these high-volume parts are 199 Dark Stone Grey Dark Bluish Gray. The exception is 1×1 Round w/ 5 petals (part 24866) which you get in large quantities in both 37 Bright Green and 28 Dark Green Green. Injection Moulding Quality Issues Approaching this review, I expected 10307 Eiffel Tower to impress, although doubted whether its unprecedented size was truly necessary. Fortunately, I was wrong. The designer has definitely taken advantage of the scale to include extensive detail, but more remarkable is this model's outstanding display value, through its combination of size and intricacy.Real Value [4]– It’s expensive but good value, especially if you factor in the Eiffel Apartment GWP Moreover, the complex network of braces and beams casts shadows throughout the model, so it never looks bland. The projecting terrace around the second level is accurate and I applaud the use of dark bluish grey sausages, recreating the fence posts which surround the outdoor terrace in reality. The modern glass-fronted structure on this floor is omitted, matching the first level. To make it easy to transport (it’s not recommended to carry the entire Tower in one piece… although you can), and to clean or move around, the LEGO Eiffel Tower can split into these 3 parts, allowing you to reposition it with ease if you must. With over 10,000 pieces, the experience of building the Lego® Creator Expert 10307 Eiffel Tower Paris is unlike any other. There are 74 numbered bags in the Lego Eiffel Tower set. And while there are plenty of repetitive sections, the level of detail in this set is incredible, and it's clear that a lot of time and effort went into creating it. The first temptation with LEGO Icons 10307 Eiffel Tower is to try to compare it to something that has come before and to that end there are a couple of sets that come to mind. This begins with the previous, large-scale version of this same building –10181 Eiffel Tower – that released in 2007 and, for LEGO design standards of the time and across 3,428 pieces, credibly captured the wrought-iron appearance of the tower and came in at a pretty impressive 108cm tall.

Box two contains the base level of the tower. Looking at the box art, you can see the small slice of the overall construction covered. But when you open it up, you realize there’s a LOT of building in this portion. There’s no denying it – this is a massive set and a huge investment. The model’s dimensions are 58.5 in. (149 cm) high, 22.5 in. (57 cm) wide and 22.5 in. (57 cm) deep, so you’re going to really have to plan out where to display this as it’s almost as tall as an adult. Construction starts with a x2 assembly of the tower’s leg. As we saw in the base, the north/south and east/west legs are color coded red and yellow. This means that rather than a x4 slog, you have to go through two sets of x2, with the only difference being the accent color on a few plates and tiles. There is no question that the Lego® 10307 Eiffel Tower is a beautiful set. It's an impressive build that captures the iconic structure perfectly. But is it worth buying? If you are still undecided, then read on. Unboxing the Lego® Creator Expert 10307 Eiffel Tower Paris And for a better frame of reference that hopefully more people can relate with, here it is next to the LEGO 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn which is just over 100cm tall.For the curious, since the real tower is 1083′ tall at the tip, a minifigure scaled version would have to be about 1:44, or over 24′ tall. Reducing all the way down to the nanofigure (the tiny minifigure trophy/statue) scale of about 1:165 results in a tower about 6.5′ tall. Some might argue that LEGO could have gone for that benchmark with this set, but c’mon. This one feels big and expensive enough already, thank you.

In the current day, the base of the Eiffel Tower has plenty of fencing and structures (and crowds!), but this version has sprawling open spaces, with mini trees, bushes, benches and lamp posts on the esplanade at the base.

Box 2 (of 3)

On the inside are plenty of fun facts about the history of the Eiffel Tower, and Gustave Eiffel who was primarily responsible for bringing it to life (although he didn’t contribute the design!), and how this 324m wrought-iron marvel came about and ultimately became one of Europe’s most well-known landmarks. Parts that caught my eye in this box were these Roller Coaster ramp pieces. This the their first appearance in dark grey, and you’ll get 8 of them. Finally, a word on color. Did you notice anything about all the sets above? They all use either light or dark grey to portray the tower. And that’s not correct! In fact, it’s never been grey ! Since 1968 the tower has been painted in what’s called “Eiffel Tower Brown”. I get why LEGO has needed to opt for grey elements, but it does downgrade the accuracy of every model a fair bit. As mentioned above, the Eiffel Tower has undergone changes during the last 133 years. These include several paint schemes, varying between shades of brown and bronze. Today, the tower is painted in three shades, none of which are grey. Dark tan would be the most accurate colour available to LEGO, but dark bluish grey looks bolder on display and contrasts nicely against the base.