The Brick Connection - Best LEGO Sets Part II

Posted by Cori on 6th Oct 2016

The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Happy October, LEGO fans!!

Can you believe it’s almost Halloween? And then it will be almost Thanksgiving, and then almost Christmas, and then it’s a new year and then the Super Bowl comes and goes and then suddenly baseball’s starting up again and then it’s springtime and you’re making vacation plans for the summer and then you’re on vacation and then all of sudden everything’s pumpkin spiced flavor and you’re just like, WHAT IS HAPPENING????

Well today, what’s happening is we are continuing to talk about the best LEGO sets. If you didn’t read last week’s post, which you should, I started talking about the best LEGO sets ever made.

Or at least I tried to figure out which ones are most liked among LEGO fans. I looked over many top [insert number here] lists and using a super complicated (very simple) formula I determined the top 10 LEGO sets.

Like I said last week, I don’t want to put them in a particular order, but I did decide that the Star Wars Death Star 10188 was perhaps the most beloved LEGO set out there. They just re-released it last week with some slight changes as set # 75159.

So I sort of had a #1, and I’m going to round out the top 3 in no particular order with two more sets. I found them on top set lists almost as many times as the Death Star. They just happen to be the two biggest sets (in number of pieces) that LEGO has ever made.

10189 Taj Mahal

LEGO’s description:

The famous Taj Mahal jewel of India is known all over the globe for its incredible beauty and elegance. Now you can recreate this modern wonder of the world for yourself! Designed for experienced builders, the LEGO Taj Mahal model features advanced building techniques, rare elements and colors, and realistic details of architecture. With over 5,900 pieces, the Taj Mahal makes an awesome addition to any LEGO collection!

Amazingly detailed model features the base, minarets, domes, finials, arches and stairs in the front
Assembles in 3 sections for easier transportation
The most elements ever featured in one set!

I like how excited they are to tell you that it has the most elements ever used. That is really cool though and it’s really nice that they designed it to assemble in 3 sections. Otherwise you probably would have been forced to keep this set exactly where you built it.

As you can imagine the size is quite large. It measures over 20 inches wide and 16 inches tall. According to Amazon, the set weighs 15.4 pounds, but that probably includes the box and the instructions. The built set is probably close to that amount though.

So why do people love this set so much? It can’t be just the size, right? Well, for experienced LEGO fans the size can be a cool factor because it makes it a fun challenge. But this big set even has a bit of an extra challenge:

GadgetReview.com said, “What also makes this set a bit more of a challenge for builders is that all the pieces are all generally the same color. This makes it especially difficult for those who like to dump all their Lego pieces into a pile rather than build bag-by-bag.”

The build is also a challenge due to the great attention to detail taken by the designers of the LEGO Taj Mahal. BensBargains.com noted that “the amazingly detailed and realistic set is a challenge for even the most seasoned builders.”

My favorite review of this set though is from cultofmac.com where the reviewer had this to say about the LEGO masterpiece: “If you were ever looking for a Lego set to demonstrate that Lego isn’t simply a kid’s toy, and can be used to build genuine works of art, you need look no further.”

One of the very rare “bad” reviews of this set that I found while searching the web was that it wasn’t big enough. Crazy, right? I think what they meant was that it was smaller than minifigure scale. A minifigure is taller than the windows in this set. I don’t think that’s a big deal. You can still play with minifigures around the building. Who cares if they look a little big? Not everything is about minifigures. (Yes, this is coming from someone who works for a MINIFIGURE accessory company.)

Anyway, I think that person was half joking because he ended his 1-star review with this “How can one be expected to lounge in royalty with maids and servants if they can't even fit inside the building...”

The Taj Mahal set was released in 2008 and was sold out on LEGO.com two years later. It originally sold for $299.99. Unfortunately, if you want to buy one today, you would need $3,250. You know, the type of money that most of us have just lying around. That amount by the way, is the cheapest you can buy it on Amazon, but there are other prices that range up to $4300.

Remind me to get into the LEGO reselling business.

To see just how much work goes into building this beautiful monstrosity, check out this speed-build video:

The other LEGO set in my unofficial top 3 is unsurprisingly another Star Wars set. And, in keeping with the theme of these “best sets,” it is very big. (Bigger really is better I guess).

10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon

LEGO’s Description from when it was released in 2007:

This is it - the biggest, most spectacular LEGO® model ever! Straight out of the classic Star Wars movies comes the Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's famous smuggling starship. Every detail of the modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 freighter is here, all constructed to scale with LEGO minifigures. At almost 3 feet (90cm) long, it's the ultimate centerpiece to any LEGO collection!

With over 5,000 pieces, this is the biggest LEGO set ever made!
Model is built completely to minifigure scale - minifigures can sit inside and man the controls!
Landing gear provides a stable base for model to stand on!
Ship is over 33" long, 22" wide and 8" tall! (84cm long x 56cm wide x 21cm tall)
Radar dish rotates and elevates and boarding ramp extends!
Top and bottom quad-laser turrets rotate for realistic play!
Cockpit top can be removed to access minifigures!
Includes 5 minifigures: Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa!
This special set also includes a display card with detailed ship specifications!

I made a note that the description is from 2007 because a year later when the Taj Mahal set was released, that became the biggest LEGO set ever, at least in terms of number of pieces. (5900 to the Falcon’s 5200.) In terms of the length and width of the set, the UCS Millennium Falcon beats the Taj Mahal. It is 33 inches long and 22 inches wide and an impressive 8 inches tall considering it is a spaceship, not a building.

Most of the sites that listed this set in their “best” lists just talked about how big it was when remarking on it. So I went to brickset.com to find reviews from real LEGO fans.

I took some snippets of different reviews. Here are a few:

To start off I must say that this kit is simply amazing; the level of detail on this model is staggering. This set is not for the casual builder, be prepared to spend 15+ hours putting this monster together.

Let me get this straight ... if you are looking for the best Lego building experience (and you have the cash ...), you can stop looking. Just buy this set and be ready to be amazed.

Now, what really impresses me about this model is the fact that the ship itself is so accurately modeled. It is truly remarkable how the Lego designers are able to create every odd angle and surface of this ship with parts that were originally intended for right angles only. From the center of the ship, every body panel has a perfectly gentle slope downward toward the outer edge.

One thing this set is not going to get many points for is playability. It’s a huge set and very heavy. You’re not going to be able to swing it around too much, and the designers didn’t really make it to do that anyway. There are some parts on top that are not very secure

Here were some thoughts on that from a few different reviews:

Technically, a lot of the sections are loose, or don't quite fit nicely together, it's a bit annoying, but once you get over it you can admire it for what it is.

I'm along with everyone else who pointed out the obvious: THIS IS NOT A TOY! Yes, it's Lego, but that does not automatically make it a toy and, therefore, it should not be used as one.

First off, let's get something straight: this set is not for playing, but for building! All these people saying there is no internal detail and stuff; that's because this is a collector’s item, and you are only supposed to take away parts to see how it looks like on the inside.
And all those people saying you can't turn it upside down because there are so many loose parts; that's because it is not supposed to be turned upside-down. Again, those parts are to be removed only when you want to look at the internal structure of the building!

Of course what really helps this set be so awesome is that it’s Star Wars. Everyone can’t get enough of LEGO Star Wars.

Here is a video of a speed build to get an idea of its size. (If you haven’t noticed, I love these videos.):

Also, never forget this hilariously awful video of Harrison Ford destroying someone’s Millennium Falcon:

And there you have it. Two more of the best LEGO sets ever made. I will finish telling you my top 10 next week when you will find out what other 7 sets I determined are LEGO fan favorites.

In the mean time, I’m still wondering what you think are the best LEGO sets ever made. Or at least, what is your favorite LEGO set that you own?