21006 The White House -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Set Details:
(Architecture) Released July 2010
560 Pieces with 0 Minifigs
Retail Price: $49.99 USD
Price Per Piece: $0.09
Brickset Description: Replicate the home to the nation's Head of State.
There are few structures in the United States with the history and reverence of The White House, designed by James Hoban. On July 16, 1792, President George Washington chose this James Hoban design from six competing designs from renowned architects. This six-story Sandstone structure was meant to command respect for the nation from citizens and foreign visitors. Construction took place from 1792 - 1800 and it was rebuilt by Hoban following the fire of 1814. The assembled White House model stands 9" (22 cm) wide on a base with printed name label and includes a booklet with facts about the building, its construction and its history. Architectural replica of the real-world White House Booklet included with details on design and history (English language only) Measures 9" (22cm) wide
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So I knew about the Architecture theme, but never saw it in stores, only online, and never for any sort of discount. I generally don't buy sets that are not discounted, unless they are about to be discontinued. I also never knew that B&N carried Legos in their stores! Thanks, once again, to viewforum.php?f=6 for spotting the wonderful Barnes & Noble "Roulette" sale. Also big thanks to our resident deal hunter, gabriellee11, I was able to "Beat the House" and get a wonderful 50% off after scouring the local Barnes and Nobles to find one last White House set, hidden at the bottom of the display, behind several different sets. :twisted: (I Find You!)
I bring the set happily to the register, knowing they won't realize the prize I was taking from them, almost stealing with the discount. The clerk rings up my purchase, asks me about their B&N Membership...suckering me into the $25 card. 10% off every purchase in addition to any discount/sale...already paid $5 of itself, knowing I'm going to hit up a few more B&N's, and now knowing they sell Legos here with many future additional discounts... it also seemed almost unfair to them. The clerk then rings up the "roulette" discount and says, "Wow! You're only the second person I've seen Win Roulette!" Of course, I acted surprised, shocked, and thrilled about the "luck."
Thanks again gabriellee11, you rock... discount and a fun experience for a great set... priceless.Nice clean box. I like how it almost seems professional. It looks like it will be a sweet collector piece that you can display at work! Instead of your alternate builds, it gives different ways of looking at build which is interesting. Its the White House... respect. No alternate builds for sets for to replicate a real building.
Minifigs
Nadda, Zip, Zilch, Zero. None. It's an architecture set... what do you expect? :P
Parts
So this set has 560 pieces... and such as small box. :? I have much bigger boxes for sets with less pieces...after opening the box (which is nicely packaged), you realize that most of the pieces are 1x1, 1x2, 2x2 pieces. Lovely. I can never get stacks of 1x1's straight. It doesn't have many unique pieces, but it uses them very smartly to create a very good replica of the White House. It has a semi-unique piece for light fixture, as well as a pre-printed flat slab. Nice. No stickers. Even better. Polys are not numbered. This is definitely a set/theme aimed at older Lego fans... I like it a lot.
Instructions The instruction manual is extremely nice. It has a soft binding, and begins with a brief history of the White House and some facts as well. Instructions to build the house are like normal instructions, but actually go one step above and highlight the pieces put in place in a red border, clearly indicated where the pieces were placed that are new. Nice touch. At the end of the instructions there is more White House information, along with the list of parts in this set. Overall very nice instructions. I wish they ALL came this way.
After opening the box, you see this before you pull out the pieces. Very nice.
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Construction: The build starts off by constructing a nice, solid base. Already off to a good start.
The foundation of the house have finally begun. I'm curious at this point as to why there are so many spaces between the bricks, but we shall see. The outer border is lined with smooth flat top narrow bricks, giving the build a nice border. The set has a pre-printed "The White House" smooth flat top narrow brick right up front, definitely a nice show piece.
Wow... 16x putting together a bunch of 1x1 stacks... not fun. At least you can kind of edge them to make them even =)
After putting them into the 2x1 with 1 dot on top... again, hard to align them properly, but i think I see what's going to happen next since there is still that space...
There we go... it's finally coming together, and makes the 16 pieces before align a little easier. It still looks odd, like a checkerboard... we'll see though. I put up half of the front Columns as you normally see at the White House entrance.
The back porch of the White House. Also the columns going up. Very nice way of putting them there Lego.
Starting to put the roof together. As we can see, the house if finally starting to come together. We see that the checkerboard look was to divide it so the White House has many windows.
Back to the front entrance. We have the full columns up, the overhang with the unique chandelier type piece.
Closed in structure. Putting more of the roof and its gated look at the top together. Now we move on to the roof.
We put up the roof, looks very nice in the black slopes. If you notice, we also put up bushes in front of the White House... wouldn't you know it... there's a Democrat in office, but still a Bush at the White House. Ok, ok, I know that was bad. All Done. Looks outstanding! Great replica of the real deal. I will love to display this.
Here are a few more close-ups: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Summary:
Building: 3 / 5
Appearance: 5 / 5
Pieces: 3 / 5
Value: 4 / 5
Playability: 0 / 5
Overall: 3 / 5
Building this set was not very difficult, other than making sure you line up the 1x1 pieces when they are stacked. The way they include the columns to keep within the size ratio was cool. Other than that, not much to say other than maybe 3 is even too high? I think the appearance is awesome. It looks great, it's colors pop, and I'd be happy to display it at home or work. This is obviously a show piece, and as such, I wouldn't expect anything less from Lego, and they came through. The pieces are nothing special. There are a lot of them, all small, which is good for those who like to deconstruct and alternate build and need small pieces. 2 special pieces in the set of over 500 with no minifigures leads to the low pieces rating. The issue with no minifigs also lowers the value, but since it is a unique set which delivers what you expect: a great look, I personally think it was worth $50 and $0.09 PPP, even better with a discount. I had to give the playability a 0, as I don't think your gonna see someone actually 'play' with this set. It might be included in your Lego Town for your President/Mayor, but since minifigs are not to scale, its doubtful it would be used other than display even then. The lack of playability (because it's a display set!) really brought the overall score down, otherwise it would have been decent. In my opinion this is a set for the more mature fans of Lego who enjoy a show-piece or two. The Architecture theme is also a good set for all the smooth pieces, and smaller pieces you get in them as well for alternate builds. Do yourself a favor, get a B&N card, wait for a sale, and go nab this set. You won't regret it.