Review: 21028 New York City
Posted by Huw,
The 598-piece set 21028 New York City is the third Architecture cityscape to be released in January.
If features the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Flatiron Building and One World Trade Center: landmarks that are known throughout the world.
Box and contents
It comes in a bigger box than the other two, 26x19cm.
A bigger box means more pieces!
Inside, sIx bags of parts, a perfect bound manual and an ubiquitous brick separator.
Construction
The base is the same size as that of the other two models, 4x32, with a bit sticking out the back. The bars on the right are used to mount One World Trade Center.
As with the others, a layer of plates and tiles finish off the base in preparation for constructing the landmarks.
The Statue of Liberty is simple but effective. I had missed off four 1x1 tan plates when I took this picture; it's been corrected in the picture at the end.
The Empire State Building makes extensive use of 1x1 bricks with studs on one or two sides to provide fixing points for the 1x2 grill tile 'cladding'.
The Chrysler Building is a much simpler construction, being just alternating layers of white and clear plates, plus a few jumpers to provide half-stud offsets at the bottom.
Here's a close-up of its silver terraced crown:
The Flatiron Building is simply a stack of wedge plates and 1x1 rounds on the front edge but nevertheless it's very effective and instantly recognisable.
So far construction has been straightforward but things get interesting for the One World Trade Center, which makes extensive use of SNOT to form its distinctive shape.
The core of the base section has studs facing every which way:
It's entirely clad in tiles and clips to the bars built into the base. This provides a very secure fixing that prevents it toppling over.
For some reason the lower mid section uses 1x1 Technic bricks with pins for SNOT parts. I can see no good reason for this other than in one case where the hole is used to fix the handle of a 'Function Element Female' which runs up the centre of it.
The third section uses 32 sand blue 'Roof Tile 1X2 45° W 1/3 Plate' to form its diagonal sides, which are new in this set.
The rod sticking out the bottom mates with the aforementioned Function Element Female to affix this part to the lower section.
Finally, the top section comprises a core of 1x1 bricks with one stud on the side, clad with sand blue 2x4 tiles.
The complex shape of the OWTC building has been captured exceptionally well in my opinion given the scale of the model.
The completed model
Unlike Venice and Berlin, this one looks as good from the back as it does from the front.
Here's Lady Liberty, with all tiles present and correct on her base. LEGO is certainly making extensive use of micro-figures in these sets!
Verdict
Of the three cityscapes I think this one is probably my favourite, for several reasons. It provides a greater variety of techniques used for constructing the buildings, some of which are very simple, while others are quite complex. Also, the height of the buildings help make this a far more impressive model, especially at first glance.
I don't suppose there are many landmarks in the world that are better known than those represented here (except perhaps some London and Paris ones) so its appeal will be universal, which might not be the case for the other two.
If you fancy dipping your toes into the Architecture line this would be an excellent set to start with. It's a fun build and makes a fantastic display piece. If you live in NYC buying it will be a no-brainer!
It will be interesting to see whether this Architecture line continues and what the next subjects will be. We may have to wait until 2017 to find out...
Thanks to the LEGO CEE team for providing the sets for review.
We will be taking a look at the new Burj Khalifa model early next week.
Update: how the Empire State Building compares with the first version
The original Empire State Building 21002 was one of the first four Architecture sets released in 2008/9. They were very basic and vastly overpriced but nevertheless proved that there was a market for such things.The images below compare the new version with the old. I think we can all agree that the theme has come a long way in the intervening years.
34 likes
41 comments on this article
Still not majorly in love with the cityscapes, but the likeness of the Empire State Building here is much better than the standalone model. That being said, the Chrysler Building is a poor representation of the actual building. Maybe it's the use of white bricks.
That empire state looks absolutely beautiful, I also like this small version of the statue of liberty.
Impressive how they also captured the complex structure of the Chrysler building on such small scale but the color choice is a bit add indeed... Maybe a small version of the brooklyn bridge would have been nice here too...
^^I agree; the Chrysler Building really stands out as the ugly duckling here thanks to the brick choice. Too bad, because the other models look amazing.
Love the Empire State, but I think the Chrysler building is a fail.
I really like the look of this newer version of the Empire State Building compared to the original 21002 model. I'm looking at that set now as I write this, and the two seem to be quite similar in size. The appeal of this newer one to me is the effect of the 1x2 grilles on the side of the building, giving a better feel for the cladding.
Having just visited NYC last May and seeing these buildings, I think this set will be on my birthday wish list for next year! :)
Oh, I'm in love already! This now is really a definite buy!
I assume these are to scale relative to each other? I think I'd have liked a larger Statue of Liberty which incorporated the CMF figure. Using minifigures-as-minifigures seems to be a no-no with these architecture sets, so oh well.
I'd personally like a Philadelphia set with City Hall, One Liberty Place, and maybe the Ben Franklin Bridge, but I don't see that happening.
Do we know if there's gonna be a London set?
Love NYC and love this set, by far the best of the three cityscapes. Agree that the Chrysler building is pretty poor, although I don't think its the white plates but rather the trans clear plates that are part of the problem but the bigger issue is the silver top, lose the bottom row of 4 cones and it would be infinitely better. Find a way to incorporate a white point on each side in its place and it could be great.
And yes, a section of brooklyn bridge would be an excellent addition.
I generally don't like microscale, but that's definitely something. There was something lacking in all those little stand-alone buildings and I finally realized what it was... after looking at those reviews.
I hope there will be some even larger cityscapes in the future!
Very impressed with the construction of the World Trade Center. Would have thought that a single peg could have attached it, like the building in Berlin; but the clips are very clever. This one is my favorite so far!
I absolutely love the OWTC!!! They captured the look of it amazingly! This is the whole reason I want the set!
Now you mention it the Chrysler building doesn't compare that favourably with the real thing, does it, but I'm not sure how it could have been improved at that scale.
The ESB in this set is 15 bricks high give or take so a couple higher than the standalone model. I've not built my original one to compare them side by side (perhaps I should) but as you say, @LoobsterB, this one looks far better.
This looks great. Can't wait to buy it
The Chrysler Building colors are accurate, it's just that the building is rarely photographed to show the contrast between the white concrete and the metal top. (The sides of the building are also a good deal dirtier now, which makes the building look grey.)
I love all of these skyline sets and can't wait to get them on January 1. Hopefully they do well and LEGO keeps this concept going.
^^^ Later... comparison images added to the end.
I like how they put trans-clear tiles around the SoL for water. But I would have put trans-blue tiles.
Chrysler should have been light grey. Just doesn't work in white. And I prefer the old ESB.
(EDIT: And no, the Chrysler isn't that creamy white in real life - unless the evening sun is on it.)
This looks absolutely stunning. Definitely plan to buy this model of the architecture series even if it's the only one I end up getting next year.
Just wanted to point out you link to the wrong model in the first sentence of the review (21029 instead of 21028).
I love all three cityscapes and plan to get all three. They'll be fabulous to display at the office.
sIx bags of parts hehe.
"The 598 piece set 21029 New York City..." Think that should be 21028.
What's the rrp on these?
^Yeah. The link is for Buckingham palace.
I wonder if it would have been better to have the World Trade Center closer to the Statue of Liberty, since they are the closest buildings here in real life.
Agreed with Huw, London and Paris are obvious choices for future waves. Seattle, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, and a few others could be good to see in set form too... (I'd like to see my hometown area Salt Lake City but that would be best for me to MOC sometime)
I agree with xboxtravis, but would like to add my suggestions of Tokyo, San Francisco, Istanbul, and Rome.
"For some reason the lower mid section uses 1x1 Technic bricks with pins for SNOT parts."
I've noticed lots of odd brick or colour choices in Lego sets recently. I have a feeling it's some kind of efficiency thing. It's easier to use lots of the same brick than lots of different ones, each only once.
I actually think this is the by far the worst one of the three and the only one I wouldn't consider purchasing. Only the Empire State Building looks good to me, the others either being too small or too generic. If you saw the Chrysler Building and WTC models out of context, would you recognize them as being those buildings? I don't know if I would.
Liking the variety of building techniques used in this one!
Would love to see San Francisco done at some point - Transamerica Pyramid, Ferry Building, Coit Tower, and Golden Gate Bridge are essential. Maybe also Embarcadero Center or Sutro Tower.
I can't wait to get this set, looks like one of the best sets so far.
As you say Huw, one technic brick was needed to accommodate the friction cylinder lady thingy. Therefore all the SNOT in that section of the tower had to match because there is a minute difference between the height of a technic hole and the side stud on a SNOT brick. It isn't legal to mix the two.
Empire State Building and OWTC look really good. Not convinced on the rest of 'em.
I don't get their thinking with these cityscapes. They aren't cityscapes, just famous buildings. I would prefer the less detailed silhouette they originally used for the standalone series and a more general representation of the cityscape/skyline with lots of smaller simple structures at the base rather than flat empty space. Perhaps in greyscale or even black silhouette. This does not look like NYC. It looks like buildings from NYC. They could then continue to make detailed standalone buildings also.
^^^ Good call, Tim, thank you.
Great models. Rok and the team made a great job designing them.
@Tim Johnson, you've sparked my interest. Can you elaborate please? Many City set have a 1x1 with studs on 2 sides connected into a technic 1x1 with hole, using the side stud going in to the technic hole. (The other exposed side stud is use to connect a cheese wedge as the wing mirror.) Trying to find an example.
Found an example. See how the build the section for the mirrors and gear shifter:
http://brickset.com/sets/7990-1/Cement-Mixer
Dallas would be a good one too. The buildings wouldn't be as famous, but the design would be quite unique. Dallas has a very different looking skyline compared to other major US cities.
@Atbricks, yes good example - from my understanding, the connection of SNOT bricks and Technic brick on page 21 would be considered illegal by TLG. I can think of a couple of reasons as to why they might have used this in an official set. It is a set from 2007 - they may have deemed this connection illegal more recently than that. Or more likely, although the blue grille tile on top covers the two styles of element and therefore doesn't sit perfectly level, it wouldn't be placing stress on the element in the same way than say a 1x3 brick would. So perhaps they judge illegal connections in shades of grey. The difference between the two bricks is really tiny, less than a millimetre, so it's nothing that AFOLs would worry about; perhaps TLG don't either 100% of the time.
By the way you can read a presentation by Jamie Berard about illegal connections here : http://bramlambrecht.com/tmp/jamieberard-brickstress-bf06.pdf
It is old but much still applies.
I just wanted to know if your building instructions for LEGO Architecture set 21028 New York Skyline has confusing instructions. On page 36-37 have the base plates and tiles in one formation and then on page 38 in a different location. This is mainly for the formation of the base plates and tile pieces that will hold the Chrysler Building in place. As the set just came out today I am unable to download the instructions. On multiple pages it changes position again. page 41, 42, 44 and on page 51 goes back to where they should be. 53 in place and then from page 54 through page 65 all show incorrect location. page 66 correct location. Please could you advise if you found you had the same problem. My partner loves building with LEGO and bought these today and was quite shocked that he has now rebuilt the base section four times to get it right for the next building. It should look like how you have it in your second construction picture.