Review: 854011 Eiffel Tower Magnet
Posted by Huw,
Last year, LEGO pledged to stop releasing regional exclusives and, true to its word, items that would otherwise only be available in specific brand stores are shortly to be available at LEGO.com, including 854011 Eiffel Tower Magnet.
Now, while I totally agree that widely sought-after sets like the Chinese New Year ones should be available to everyone, I'm not so sure about things like this.
Of course, it's great that you can buy it should you wish to, wherever you are, but now there's no incentive to visit Paris brand stores to get something that can't be bought elsewhere. Personally, I think that LEGO is missing a trick by not having more small mementos like this available only in certain brand stores to encourage people to seek out and visit them.
Anyway, let's take a look at the mini model of the Paris landmark...
It's packed in an odd-shaped box, with the actual 4x4x1 magnet brick visible at the top.
Inside the box you'll find a polythene bag of parts indicating, I believe, that it was packed in China, the instruction sheet, and a sticker.
It doesn't take long to put the 29 pieces together but I think the end result is a reasonable representation of the tower given its scale. I particularly like the green blade piece being used for a micro scale tree and the Unikitty cloud behind it.
The magnet attaches to the back so is completely optional.
It's the sort of thing that I would definitely enjoy seeking out and buying in Paris, but probably wouldn't bother otherwise.
It'll be available from shop.LEGO.com from 1st March.
Thanks to LEGO for providing this item for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
68 likes
45 comments on this article
On the one hand I agree with your viewpoint. It makes sense to have regional memorabilia. On the other hand, LEGO did make a bold promise in response to consumer requests/demands, so I'll be quite happy if they actually hold themselves to it.
I disagree on your point about this set deinsentivizing visits to Lego Brand stores in France. I feel like visit to such store in a foreign country is a novel experience within itself, and there are other benefits to rip such as different piece selection in BAM bins, taking benefits of regional pricing a, and so on. Whereas a small set like this would just end up on eBay being sold tenfold.
Yeah, no more regional exclusives. Except for sweepstakes, BaM minifigures, polybags, etc...
Not everything available at a Brand store is available on LEGO.com, thereby making them exclusives to the regions where there are Brand stores. Thus, regional exclusives.
There is a difference between a SET and a SOUVENIR - I don't think the incentive should only be getting a stamp in the LEGO passport and looking at a nice interior. Just like the printed tiles from NY, Lester in London and so on, brand stores in major cities should have something to offer.
The CNY sets are different ballpark and TLG did the right thing releasing them worldwide.
I'm intrigued by the magnet tho - how it will interact with the City one...maybe worth exploring. (look up Ryan Harkin's amazing spaceport!)
NO regional exclusives.
Most fans will go I suppose to the local LEGO stores anyway, so reserve a special pleasure for a small minority isn't worth blocking it for everybody else in my opinion. :-)
This should definitely be a store specific item. I’d love to buy this in a Paris store, but no chance off the website.
Very clever parts usage in this small set. :-)
I know I'm nitpicking hard but that cloud is way too low
Regional exclusives, as most Lego sets, are only out for a limited time. Some of us in other countries/continents aren't wealthy enough to visit other countries annually just to get access to the latest tchotchkes.
I would have loved to have had the Lego Architecture set from Dubai, but I never will because while I could have avoided the price of the set itself, adding onto that thousands of dollars in travel expenses would have been out of my reach.
Lego just made the stade de france already... or the stade de velodrome as creator sets!!
@OscarGuy said:
"Regional exclusives, as most Lego sets, are only out for a limited time. Some of us in other countries/continents aren't wealthy enough to visit other countries annually just to get access to the latest tchotchkes.
I would have loved to have had the Lego Architecture set from Dubai, but I never will because while I could have avoided the price of the set itself, adding onto that thousands of dollars in travel expenses would have been out of my reach."
The Dubai Architecture set is available worldwide, mate...
I am going to Paris in a few months, and I was looking forward to picking up some exclusive items at the Paris Lego stores. I still will, but some of the magic will be lost I suppose. There is a difference between a "set" and a souvenir.
Lots of debate on this, I for one wanted one, assumed it would only be available in France, and so started to make one up form spare parts. I wonder if @OscarGuy is referring to the Marina Sands set from Singapore which I thought was only available in the Hotel ? I am also building one of those as I have always wanted one and £1000 on ebay seems a little steep, as does £150 for a copy. They should make all sets available as I don't think anyone with an exclusive is happy as "no one else has one" They are happy because they do.
@The_Toniboeh said:
"I know I'm nitpicking hard but that cloud is way too low"
If most of the French movies I've seen are true, I'd guess it is a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Now, if only they started selling Polybags at Lego.com instead of being semi-regional, or tied to X stores.
They already sell Xtra but no regular Polybag sets.
And I don't mean those rare ones from events, just the regular City/Friends/Creator/Hidden Side etc.
I guess my main issue with regional-exclusive sets isn't necessarily the model itself being exclusive, but the exclusivity of some of the rarer/unique elements within the set itself. The Lunar New Year sets had so many lovely recolored parts in red/gold/dark red, and an absolute abundance of them at that.
If those sets remained exclusive, it'd render most of those elements, along with the model as a whole, impossible to obtain for a reasonable price. The move to broaden the range of these international-themed sets must mean growth of the supply available to meet international demand, making the set and parts easier for everyone to obtain as a whole.
Basically, I don't necessarily mind regional exclusives as long as they're made from relatively easy-to-obtain parts so it's at least possible to Bricklink it yourself.
Wow. Never though I'd see lego being criticized for making products available.
I'm very happy to see this, the lunar new year and any other previously exclusive sets available worldwide.
Interesting review and debate, my POV is that being able to order online is a nice convenience - and useful for collecting or restocking lost items, but “true” souvenirs are bought on have hat tangible memory.
Bigger sales hopefully lead to more items available in more locations, so wins all around in my book.
And a big yes to polybags, with BR and TRU gone, no regular supply in Norway
@TeriXeri said:
"Now, if only they started selling Polybags at Lego.com instead of being semi-regional, or tied to X stores.
They already sell Xtra but no regular Polybag sets.
And I don't mean those rare ones from events, just the regular City/Friends/Creator/Hidden Side etc."
Amen! There are so many great little polybags that I never see in the wild. I wish they were all available on S @H so we could easily scoop up whichever ones we wanted.
As for this little souvenir set, it's cute and I may buy it if it goes on sale, as 9.99 for 29 pieces is not good value - even w/the magnet piece. I also wish the "Bonjour" were printed, but then they'd want 15.00 for it lol. If I can grab it for 6.00 or less it will make a lovely sign for one of the far too many cafe's in my city. What kind of city runs on coffee and pizza? I suppose a pretty good one.
It still works as a souvenir. If you go on a trip to Paris and visit the lego store and buy this and put it on your refrigerator, you’ll think about your trip to Paris when you look at it. Just because other people can buy it off a website doesn’t take away the experience you had.
It’s also nice for people that love LEGO and the city but visited years ago. Now they can use this magnet to hold a photo from their 2012 trip on the refrigerator.
I'd be all over that tile if it wasn't a sticker.
I really wish LEGO had exclusive magnets for every city and town that they had stores in, for example a Bullring magnet for Birmingham UK, a Golden Gate bridge magnet for San Francisco, US etc.
It would be an incentive for someone to visit every LEGO in their area or country or If they want too the world.
Either that cloud is very low or that tree is very tall
I wouldn't mind this set being limited to Paris only, yet I'm happy that the Statue of Liberty is available everywhere.
Creative use of the tow hitch!
I agree, HUW, that was my reaction as well. It is indeed maddening when they release exclusive parts and figures in impossible-to-acquire-firsthand sets (regional sets, third party retail exclusives, comicons, employee gifts, etc), but there's also thrill in the hunt. I agree that small things like these magnets are where they could have maintained regional exclusivity and they're small enough that trying to acquire them second-hand or part them together should be more satisfying than difficult. As for retail store incentives, those are few and far between anyway. There's an opportunity here for each store to do more special event builds that people can take home. LEGO may have to stick by their promise to not sell regional exclusives, but that shouldn't include giveaways. I guess I can otherwise expect to be disappointed that I won't find anything new or different in other LEGO stores as I travel around.
Reads packaged in China, yeah they can keep it for now and now I see the parts so thanks.
Making little sets like this available worldwide can only be a good thing. Is there anything more infuriating than wanting to purchase something online but being informed, “this item isn’t available for purchase in your country”?
These mini-models should only be available at local Lego Brand Stores. Now it’s not funny anymore to go after them in the specific Brand Stores.
" I think that LEGO is missing a trick by not having more small mementos like this available only in certain brand stores."
Totally agree. I never agreed with the decision to stop doing regional exclusives. Where's the fun in collecting something if you can just order the whole collection online?
Generation snowflake. Entitled to everything and without any effort.
@jnscoelho said:
"Yeah, no more regional exclusives. Except for sweepstakes, BaM minifigures, polybags, etc...
Not everything available at a Brand store is available on S @H , thereby making them exclusives to the regions where there are Brand stores. Thus, regional exclusives. "
But they should then be available at ALL their Lego brand stores therefore making them available in ALL regions rendering them non regional exclusives. Online is not a region. Locations are. Alas I am sure there will always be SOME sort of regional exclusives though. I am curious if the NY Torsos releases last year (or early this year not 100^% sure) were available everywhere?
Once upon a time there were things called "Post Cards". You bought them in the areas or cities or monuments you were visiting and mailed them them to whomever. Souvenir Lego sets should be treated / available accordingly. They should be sold reasonably close to the area, city, or site they represent. An exception, selfishly, are sets that don't necessarily represent a city or monument should be sold universally. Otherwise, sadly, that's why there's sites such as ebay.
I see zero disincentive here. If I were in this country, I’d still want to go to the Lego store. Seeing as I’ll likely never make it to Paris, this is a nice keepsake to have.
I'm going to disagree with you Huw on the regional exclusive element. For people who want to make a trip out of getting something they still will, even if it's available elsewhere. For example, I have the London skyline which was bought purposefully from the London store, and the Sydney one bought purposefully at the Sydney Opera House. That way I have a nice little story and memory to go with the pieces, even though I could have got them both on Amazon or such like.
@Duq said:
"" I think that LEGO is missing a trick by not having more small mementos like this available only in certain brand stores."
Totally agree. I never agreed with the decision to stop doing regional exclusives. Where's the fun in collecting something if you can just order the whole collection online?
Generation snowflake. Entitled to everything and without any effort."
It's completely unreasonable to ask for people to go to a different country to get something they want. And I feel the high price of lego is already enough "effort", traveling is expensive and saying you need to go on a potentially expensive trip just to get a lego set is dumb.
Also" snowflake" lol
@Sethro3 said:
"I see zero disincentive here. If I were in this country, I’d still want to go to the Lego store. Seeing as I’ll likely never make it to Paris, this is a nice keepsake to have. "
keepsake: "something that helps you remember a person, place, or occasion"
So you'll have a nice souvenir of a place you never visited....
Great review and set!
I agree with your opinion. While exclusive sets for a region are desirable, these mementos should be exclusive to the regions and there should be more of them.
The keychains, magnets, photo holders and even the photo mosaic only available at the London store could remain local and create the incentive to visit the local store. It is true that this is being missed at many stores. I'd love to have an exclusive set for each city I visit.
One of the regional sets that should have been made available globally, in my opinion, is the Marine Bay Sands Hotel from the Architecture series.
There are so many exclusive sets at the Lego House that you cannot get anywhere else *sigh*
If i believe TLG, no more regional sets ! It sounds great... waiting for Lego ComicCon's release in Europe ! :D
lego rebuild the world
Pretty nice, but that Bonjour sign really should've been printed for something like this.
^ And it should have said 'Paris'...
I'm surprised at the discussion here. When you have a magnet that you got in Paris, which probably brings back nice memories, does it matter that someone else bought that same magnet online?
Making it available worldwide is probably also a simple business decision on LEGO's end as well. I honestly can't see people pass up on this when they're in Paris simply because it's available online. Most people probably aren't even aware it's available online when they're in the Paris LEGO store anyway.
1 day before start, the lady liberty magnet disappeared from shop at home, under european sub-sites.
Another thing to take into consideration is some of us don’t travel, by circumstance or choice (personally I’m part of the reduce your carbon footprint from flight as much as possible group) & having this accessible via LEGO.com just makes sense. Some of these components are probably travelling from China, or other factory locations so it’s “bad” enough the shipping impact involved, let alone more of us jetting around to get just a small little set. Juste mes deux cents.
I'm still annoyed at people feeling they have LESS of a product if more people can get it.
Enjoy your souvenir, dammit. Even if poor people who can't travel can buy it online. Demanding that poor people can't get your €5 gadget for your personal sense of entitlement is a brick move.
TLG promised they would stop regional exclusives, and it was a nice gesture.
If you get to travel to Paris (disclosure: I live in Paris), then come visit the stores (the three of them), get the stamps, and there are real exclusives in the Paris stores anyway: the local staff puts together special sets with PAB bricks (like a typical Parisian guy with a baguette) that's not available anywhere else.
Just to focus a second on the actual set: that's maybe the 4th Eiffel Tower that's released by TLG, and oddly that's the best one. All the other ones are bulky, and lack the curves of the original. This one gets one's imagination working, and that does the trick.