Analysis of 2016 LEGO Architecture sets...

tomalphin

I'm really excited about LEGO Architecture, so naturally I was thrilled to see that high-res photos of four of the new 2016 LEGO Architecture sets are here!

The biggest news is the introduction of a third series within the the LEGO Architecture product line! "Cityscapes"  feature several iconic buildings from cities around the world in a single model, joining the existing "Architect" and "Landmark" series.


The four 2016 LEGO Architecture sets (including the new "cityscapes".)


I'm thrilled to try the new sets, and see what additional Cityscapes we have in the future. I'm also excited to see at least one more large-scale model this year - The Burj Khalifa (albeit an updated version of a model from 2011.) 


Lots more analysis, including expected piece counts and prices, more details on the standard base used on all three cityscape models and more at http://brickarchitect.com/2015/lego-architecture-2016-preview/

Sincerely,
---tom


P.S. There is also a rumour of a further UK and New York set this year, I'm personally hoping for a detailed model of the Chrysler building, but One WTC seems like a good guess as well.  

What do you think, what UK or New York buildings should be added to the series?

CCC

The cityscape ones are interesting. The individual buildings are a bit too simplified to stand alone but look great when combined as a cityscape. For UK, I don't see them doing a cityscape outside of London (despite Glasgow making National Geographic's Top 20).

tomalphin

I don't think it is clear if the unannounced UK LEGO Architecture set will be another Cityscape, or a standalone building.  I suppose either is possible.

legogal

I agree that the cityscapes look promising. They could provide a template representing how any city looks, which could be a fun challenge. Thanks for posting this info.

Kevin_Hyatt

Those cityscapes are adorable. Might be what draws me back to architecture theme...

playwell

I thought the UK set was going to be Buckingham Palace and as for the US set I think we can rule out anything that comes with the Cityscapes as two of the same in one year would be odd, I would say it will be something outside of New York but what I don't know. Golden Gate Bridge would be cool and we have not had any bridges yet, I would like a Tower Bridge to go with my Tower Bridge and it to sit next to my Big Ben and Big Ben.

caperberry

The Brickset entries for those UK and US sets say 'landmark' so I doubt they are Cityscapes.

FYI I will be posting a review of the three Cityscapes on New Elementary on Dec 1st. 

tomalphin

I just built the Venice model based on the photo, and I think it is a pretty nice little model.  It's a little smaller than it looked in the photo, but I think it will look great next to other models in the cityscape line.  Look forward to trying NYC next...

Sadly, any photos I share will be in black-and-white to cover up the fact that I used somewhat random colors since I don't have a large LEGO collection.  (I was lucky that I had even one of part# 62361, but for some odd reason not two...)

Bricklover18

For the US it would be interesting if they would do the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. 

theLEGOman

The cityscapes look pretty nice, I could imagine them being pretty expensive though, £60 perhaps.

Huw

I have all four of them and am allowed to publish reviews from 1st December.

The names of the two landmarks is known but the information came from a retailers' list so it would be inappropriate foe me to divulge them.

leetshoe

How much are these sets? They look like they might be more expensive than the regular sets. l collect this series so hope they aren't too much

playwell

Huw said:

I have all four of them and am allowed to publish reviews from 1st December.

The names of the two landmarks is known but the information came from a retailers' list so it would be inappropriate foe me to divulge them.

Can you tell us the prices of the ones you have and also wink if its Buckingham Palace.

playwell

And nod if its Capitol Hill.

Huw

I haven't been told prices. Wink. Nod.

William_Townsley

Huw said:

I have all four of them and am allowed to publish reviews from 1st December.

The names of the two landmarks is known but the information came from a retailers' list so it would be inappropriate foe me to divulge them.

Yeah thats something else to look forward to on Tuesday.

khmellymel

Huw said:

I have all four of them and am allowed to publish reviews from 1st December.

The names of the two landmarks is known but the information came from a retailers' list so it would be inappropriate foe me to divulge them.

Yay, I'm pretty stoked even just to read the reviews!  Now I just need to plan a trip to Berlin so that I can pick up that set...

tomalphin

I also re-created the Venice model using LEGO:

Kevin_Hyatt

I like the custom 'venice' sign Henry!

CCC

Yeah, you really need to work on your decals! :-)

The Venice one is nice, but I think it will look better leaving off the Rialto, and adding the Doge's palace, putting the bridge of sighs round the back. In fact, moving the bell tower and adding the clock tower will make a nice St Mark's square.

tomalphin

Kevin_Hyatt said:

I like the custom 'venice' sign Henry!

I'm classy like that...

CCC

Your pillars look a bit big. Have you used 3L or 4L bars for those? Also the microfig should be a trophy fig, but I guess you don't have one.

nexander

CCC said:

The cityscape ones are interesting. The individual buildings are a bit too simplified to stand alone but look great when combined as a cityscape. For UK, I don't see them doing a cityscape outside of London (despite Glasgow making National Geographic's Top 20).

I was thinking it would be cool to do Glasgow when I saw these but would be bloody hard to pull off. I mean, where would you get a traffic cone that small?

legogal

@henrysunset  I love your Venice cityscape! A great build.... with limited bricks, too! I can smell the canals now, and oops, is that a mosquito biting my hand...again! Actually I first went to Venice at age 16 (in 1803 or so,) and sang in St. Mark's Square with Up With People, so Venice means a lot to me. And it was just as touching when we returned in 2012. But if you are waiting to go, the flooding is getting worse every year. So don't wait too long! Spring and fall are best unless you have no sense of smell or don't mind being blown a the canal.

tomalphin

I just finished building the new Empire State Building.  It's a great model with lots of intricate SNOT work and some complex offsets to work through.

It took about an hour to build. This set will be a great source for LEGO Part #87087 (Brick, stud 1 side), and 2412 (1x2 Grille). I don't have the new #18674 2x2 round jumper, so I improvised.


Tom Alphin @ Instagram

I'm excited to finish the model later tonight.

Pmh

They look absolutely awesome.Its exactly the type of set I wanted from architecture, Other then a big sky scraper. Will get the new York one for sure as that one clearly looks best,bit in doubt about the other 2.

They do seem to have different seizes,the new York one I estimate at around 700 pieces and 100$ retail. The berlin one looks considerably smaller and is to small to my liking.

playwell

I hear good things about the prices so we might be happy. But lets face it 700 small parts should be 50 tops anyway.

Peterborough

The piece counts are:
New York City 598
Berlin 289
Venice 212

BACbrix

Burj Khalifa is the biggest disappointment because I can think of 100 different architectural creations to make before doubling back and redoing the older models. 

playwell

Peterborough said:

The piece counts are:
New York City 598
Berlin 289
Venice 212

Thanks I should have thought to look at the brickset database its all there, so Burj Khalifa is 333.

Ma1234

I think the prices were posted elsewhere. From memory it was $30/35/50 for Venice/Berlin/NYC. 

cody6268

Having been there, and seen pretty much all of the buildings represented in the set (well, Freedom Tower was far from complete in 2011!) I'll have to get the NYC set.   

I really like the use of a Collectable Minifigures trophy to represent Lady Liberty! 

braemar

Huw - any idea of release date for the Architecture series?

William_Townsley

Huw mentioned that he had them for review. And the review would go up on Decemebr 1st. I could only imagine the 1/1/16 or 1/2/16 

Huw

Yes, January 1st I believe.

braemar

Lego Architecture have released images of the Venice skyline
on their facebook page. They also indicate a release date of January 2016.

William_Townsley

These are going to be my first Architecture sets.

Aleydita

I'm loving the cityscapes. I think the Architecture series, on the whole, looks fantastic, but by necessity it offers some boring and repetitive builds. The cityscapes look to be well on the way to solving this problem.

Lego_Nerd98

The review of 21026 just went up. Looks like a lovely set!