Review: 21058 The Great Pyramid of Giza

I'm excited! Might have to get two so that I can finish the pyramid lol.

I actually like this! The greenery around it is very well done

Thanks for the review! This is an awesome set! As a fan of the Architecture theme this makes me really happy. Probably this is the last set in this theme we will be getting this year, but in my opinion it is a very good one!

When I heard the first rumours that set 21058 would be a pyramid I was concerned that it would turn out to be very bland (e.g. a tan pyramid on a tan base representing the desert). I am very happy that LEGO went for the historic look and also added interior details and scenery.

By the way, LEGO kept a really tight lid on this reveal!

I mean it's nice and all, but 7327 still reigns supreme.

Very interesting. The ability to lift off the top is quite neat and unexpected. More historical sets in the architecture line would be interesting.

WHAT? Official review? What did I miss?

I think this looks fantastic, I'd never have expected it to be a historical set, let alone one with hidden details. I wonder if we'll get more along these lines...

"GREAT HALF OF PYRAMID OF GIZA"

The printed hieroglyphics aren't centered on the tile. That would bother me greatly if I had this set.

I do think the set looks great and the color palette is very pleasing. I probably never buy it but I appreciate the end result!

Much like Trafalgar, the greenery in front really makes it. That said, I like the lift-off function and details underneath.
Here's hoping for more "small" ancient architecture to go along with Great Wall and this. Would love to see more of the seven wonders, especially as a Civilization player.

Hope they keep going in this direction, looks amazing

"Niche subject matter"? C'mon, it's only one of the most famous buildings OF ALL TIME!

I really love this. Great display model on its own, but then you add the accurate inner chamber layout in the background AND the under construction display option, and that just lifts it to greater heights for me.

Really hope (though it'd be actually niche!) they do a ziggurat in dark blue and gold next, or other famous buildings of the ancient world (Parthenon, anyone?).

Using those ladder pieces is really clever.

It looks amazing - love the village.

I’d love to see more historical monuments brought to life as they were. I’ll be very tempted by this, but if there were a series of Roman monuments in this scale I’d be all over it. In fact I’d love a proper ancient Egyptian or Roman minifig scale theme….. castles first though right?

Possible to flip the white outer and cover the rear with that and have the builder version visible at the front. So a mix of the views could be cool. But still would need a extended base, so 2 sets needed.

Wait, where are the UFOs building it?!?

Seriously, when "closed" it looks like an April 1st joke. I think I'll build mine half open and half closed, to keep it interesting when viewed from the front.
But first I have to choose which side is "front"...

Edit: I am definitively gonna add an UFO. Or even better, a mini Millennium Falcon: in an Indiana Jones scene you can clearly see that R2-D2 and C-3PO visited ancient Egypt.

I have to be completely honest, I’m utterly baffled by the “niche subject matter” comments. The great pyramid of Giza is quite literally the most famous structure ever constructed by mankind. It’s the only surviving seven wonders of the ancient world, attracting nearly 15 million visitors annually. And has been featured in hundreds of films and television shows. I don’t understand how that could possibly be considered “niche”.

Do appreciate the review though.

"I don't know how useful pictures of the unopened bags are, but I know some of you find them interesting"

Having a picture of the unopened bags helps immensely when buying a set that has an opened box but sealed bags. It's nice to be able to find a review with a picture of all the bags to confirm the set is complete. Even just having the number of bags listed is helpful.

From the other release pictures seems that if displayed in a bookcase you would not realize that there was only one half. Maybe like the 1970s they should sell an accessory set of white roof slopes for those who want to have a complete pyramid?

This is really well done! Now we need the Colossus of Rhodes.

Wait, the review came before the press release?
NICE
More bricks(et), less marketing nonsense. At least, today. And the homepage doesn't show the same set three times too ;P

The usage of stair parts (called 'ladders' in the review for some reason) is genius. As is the WIP version underneath. And the decision to depict it in its heyday with the limestone coating and outer buildings is very clever!
No offense meant to Adam Reed Tucker, but the days of Architecture being stacks of monocoloured basic bricks sold with extravagant boxes and instructions are thankfully behind us and they made this one look brilliant despite the lack of intricate detail in the building itself. In fact, it looks all the more visually impressive with the microbuilds around it to give a sense of scale! Truly befitting of what was the tallest manmade building for so long!

I have nothing bad to say about this one. Even the price isn't thát outrageous (I still wouldn't be able to afford it though). The decision to cut it in half feels cheap, but I think it's better for affordability at least. The designers really did their best on this one!

Can we have all the 7 Wonders of the World now? :D

One of the most famous landmarks in the world history is "niche" lmao. Some random US glass building would be more recognizable then?

"I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but it's slightly annoying that instruction books for 18+ sets don't include the set number on them anywhere which will make identifying them in 10 years, let alone 4,500, problematic."
Yes! I recently caught up with sorting and tidying booklets and noticed that too. Really annoying.

"Unlike the ancient Egyptian workforce, we have instructions..." this won the article for me. Well done Huw.

Super excited, this looks phenominal.
I gotta say Huw, great review in general but I take issue with you calling the Great Pyramids of all things out as having a niche appeal. A few weeks back there was a Lego release of "Tallneck" from Horizon Zero Dawn! Everyone knows the pyramids; this far more than most Lego sets is something I can imagine displaying at home.

I must say I really like this. When I first heard the rumours of this set I was worried it would end up being a monotonous jumble of tan bricks piled on top of each other. Delighted to see it's far more vibrant and lively than I expected with the Nile and greenery down the front.

I'd love to see more historical architecture sets like this. Ishtar gate, anyone?

Highly disappointed that the gold statue isn’t breathing fire and bellowing, “Remember me!”.

@Huw:
On the contrary, the first time you get paper bags (and maybe a few times after), people will want to see what the paper bags look like.

The “ladder” trick reminds me of the Home Alone attic, except that didn’t use any of those open stairs.

@sirventricle:
The Parthenon, as it originally looked, all painted up in bright colors, would be very interesting to see, very difficult to design, and very confusing to the masses.

@biffuz:
The first mod will obviously be to fill in the back half. The second mod damn well better be to plunk a Goa'uld mothership on top.

Waw it looks really good and the top that lifts up is fantastic.
The half pyramid could be OK if the photo on the front wasn't so misleading, even though I reckon there are other pictures on the box.
I don't feel like it's any more niche than any other architecture sets though

I really like this. I don't think it suffers from being only half a pyramid... 10253 did fine with only half of the Houses of Parliament. A definite buy once it inevitably drops below £100.

Only thing missing from such a large expanse of pitched roof... a dormer window!

@CapnRex101 said:
" @ArmoredBricks said:
"I'd love to see more historical architecture sets like this. Ishtar gate, anyone?"

Anything from classical antiquity could be interesting too. Petra, the Acropolis, the Circus Maximus, there are plentiful possibilities..."

Petra. This. This is what I want now.

And Machu Picchu, in the way Great Wall is done over the landscape.

At first I was like "what, only half a pyramid?!" then when I saw the cutaway side I was like "Oh that's neat, well played". If they gave you B model instructions for an alternative build that gives you the other side of the pyramid (with the internal structure mirrored) and suitable desert background so there's not two rivers etc that would be perfect.

@Martin_S said:
" @SithLord196 said:
"…I think a hanging gardens of Babylon set could be interesting..."
only problem is, no one knows what they looked like or if they really existed :)

"

Stephanie Dalley argues that they probably referred to the palace gardens of Nineveh, since its palace was built on an artificially-constructed plateau in the city as part of the Neo-Assyrian renovations under Sennacherib. So looking from outside the city to the palace district, you would've been able to see the gardens rising up above the walls. It's likely that this memory survived and was recorded by the various Greek writers who wrote about it, but mixed up with the more famous Babylon after Nineveh was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonians and Medes in the 6th century BCE.

But yes, +1 for Hanging Gardens and Ishtar Gate (which at least we have the remains of!).

@PurpleDave said:
The first mod will obviously be to fill in the back half. The second mod damn well better be to plunk a Goa'uld mothership on top.]]

We need to add a Stargate out front too!

@SithLord196 said:
"I think a hanging gardens of Babylon set could be interesting. Perhaps this should have started a subtheme for the Architecture line"
That's being saved, along with a reissue of the Sidney Opera House, for the 'Views from a Torquay Hotel Window' subtheme.

Great set, great review! Will buy one and put it in front of a mirror.

@graymattr said:
"I like this but really prefer play sets like the Adventurers and Pharaoh's Quest lines.

I find it nauseating that Lego has to put their social justice warrior stamp on so many projects. They actually wrote in the instructions book that the obelisk has been placed within the workers' village 'to acknowledge their broader importance in Ancient Egypt.' The Lego writer is referring to the slave laborers but all of the obelisks in history were specifically created in honor of various rulers and gods, never to the slaves. I don't object to having the obelisk, just to the pedantic description. ¯\_(?)_/¯"

Umm... The obelisk is what they were referring to as of broader importance. I think you need to re-read the sentence again.

@graymattr said:
"I like this but really prefer play sets like the Adventurers and Pharaoh's Quest lines.

I find it nauseating that Lego has to put their social justice warrior stamp on so many projects. They actually wrote in the instructions book that the obelisk has been placed within the workers' village 'to acknowledge their broader importance in Ancient Egypt.' The Lego writer is referring to the slave laborers but all of the obelisks in history were specifically created in honor of various rulers and gods, never to the slaves. I don't object to having the obelisk, just to the pedantic description. ¯\_(?)_/¯"

The vast majority of monumental construction labour wasn't conducted by slaves, but by off-season farmers and skilled labourers, so Lego isn't virtue signalling but correctly assigning the value to skilled workers that ancient Egyptians would've done.

Besides, it's Lego. You can just leave it out if it bothers you so much.

@sirventricle said:
" @graymattr said:
"I like this but really prefer play sets like the Adventurers and Pharaoh's Quest lines.

I find it nauseating that Lego has to put their social justice warrior stamp on so many projects. They actually wrote in the instructions book that the obelisk has been placed within the workers' village 'to acknowledge their broader importance in Ancient Egypt.' The Lego writer is referring to the slave laborers but all of the obelisks in history were specifically created in honor of various rulers and gods, never to the slaves. I don't object to having the obelisk, just to the pedantic description. ¯\_(?)_/¯"

The vast majority of monumental construction labour wasn't conducted by slaves, but by off-season farmers and skilled labourers, so Lego isn't virtue signalling but correctly assigning the value to skilled workers that ancient Egyptians would've done.

Besides, it's Lego. You can just leave it out if it bothers you so much."

And the description of the obelisk is in reference to how important obelisks were in Egyptian society, not a reference to the workers.

Just someone getting worked up over nothing, really.

I like it, and while it's expensive, it's at least regularly expensive and not another insanely expensive set. The half pyramid looks a little off, but up against a wall it should be alright.

Now, for real- why is it taking so long to phase in plastic bags? This was announced september 2020, and at this point it seems like we'll pass the two year mark without it actually happening to any real degree. They're paper bags, what's the problem?

I think the cutaway feature makes up for only having half a pyramid. I'm sure this will be something middle school teachers could use to gain cool points while discussing Egyptian history with their students. Plus the build would just be super repetitive if they included the back anyway. If you really want the back covered I suppose you could bricklink the parts or buy 2 sets.

@MercuryOrbit said:
"I have to be completely honest, I’m utterly baffled by the “niche subject matter” comments. The great pyramid of Giza is quite literally the most famous structure ever constructed by mankind. It’s the only surviving seven wonders of the ancient world, attracting nearly 15 million visitors annually. And has been featured in hundreds of films and television shows. I don’t understand how that could possibly be considered “niche”. "
Reminds me of the review in ‘Blocks Magazine’ of 21033 Chicago Skyline in which the reviewer claimed the set would only be of interest to Chicago natives and visitors as the city of Chicago contained nothing of architectural significance. My reaction: Whaaaaaatttt???

@sjr60 said:
"Only thing missing from such a large expanse of pitched roof... a dormer window!"
Don’t be daft, mate! Everyone knows that the attachment to the e-mail the Ancient Egyptians received from the pyramid’s designers in Billund, Denmark got corrupted and the dormers were missed out by accident. ;~P

"niche subject matter"

Really?

The fact there's a mid-construction version "hidden" is amazing!

"I don't know how useful pictures of the unopened bags are, but I know some of you find them interesting. Clearly I won't need to bother to take them when they are paper!"

I've bought several sets over the years, where the seller doesn't know if they are complete, and I can buy confidently because I found photos or unboxing videos, where I can verify how many bags there are.

Another beautiful set I have no intention of buying! I quite like their solution of only providing half the pyramid. I'm also quite appreciative of them building the pyramids in their original color. It stands out so much better amongst the foliage and sand.

This set screams "Asterix and Cleopatra" to me, even though there they are building a palace and not said pyramid.

As for the set itself, it's at least 30 Euro too expensive for me to get interested, plus not offering the flip open boxes that used to be a staple of the Architecture line is a no go. Cheaping out on everything nowadays is such a sad move by TLG and just helps to make alternative manufacturers' products even more attractive.

@Loerwyn said:
" @sirventricle said:
" @graymattr said:
"I like this but really prefer play sets like the Adventurers and Pharaoh's Quest lines.

I find it nauseating that Lego has to put their social justice warrior stamp on so many projects. They actually wrote in the instructions book that the obelisk has been placed within the workers' village 'to acknowledge their broader importance in Ancient Egypt.' The Lego writer is referring to the slave laborers but all of the obelisks in history were specifically created in honor of various rulers and gods, never to the slaves. I don't object to having the obelisk, just to the pedantic description. ¯\_(?)_/¯"

The vast majority of monumental construction labour wasn't conducted by slaves, but by off-season farmers and skilled labourers, so Lego isn't virtue signalling but correctly assigning the value to skilled workers that ancient Egyptians would've done.

Besides, it's Lego. You can just leave it out if it bothers you so much."

And the description of the obelisk is in reference to how important obelisks were in Egyptian society, not a reference to the workers.

Just someone getting worked up over nothing, really."
After seeing pictures of the instruction book, I see that the phrase is indeed referring to the obelisk and not the laborers. I’m not worked up now. ;-)

Did you try placing it against a mirror? How would that look?

@banzaipinball said:
"Not a fan of the white pyramid, maybe better in person. Would like to see it in Tan"

I think white is more accurate to how the pyramid looked and what material was used. And the internal “under construction” version is tan and matches what we see remaining in present day.

Wait, ancient history is "niche subject matter" now? I wish I was surprised. :P

@graymattr:
1. The claim that the pyramids in specific were built by slaves has been debunked. They excavated the workers’ village, and what they found was evidence of skilled tradesmen, who were not living in poverty. On a guess, the “slave labor” angle was someone’s attempt to avoid doing math. The question has always been how they got stones weighing hundreds of tons all the way to the top of the pyramid. The capstone in particular challenges logic. The Judean tradition holds that the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt, and the easy answer then becomes that slaves built the pyramid. That may solve the accounting problem (i.e. how do you pay for such a monumental project), but physics doesn’t care how many slaves you have ready to pull ropes tied to the stones if there’s nowhere left for ten slaves to stand when it’s time to seat the capstone, never mind the hundreds or thousands it probably would have required to brute-force the stones to the top.* There’s also the problem that there’s no proof the Hebrew people were even in Egypt during the construction of the Great Pyramid. It’s pretty clearly linked to Khufu, while any credible attempts to scientifically place the Hebrews in ancient Egypt (the biblical record doesn’t match anything from the Egyptian historical record, and no pharaoh is cited by name in the Bible) results in a gap of about 1000 years.

2. The text refers to the importance of _obelisks_ in ancient Egypt. There isn’t one right next to the Great Pyramid, but they were very important in Egyptian culture of the time. The workers’ village also wasn’t ten feet away from the base of the pyramid. Artistic license has been used to group together things that were in reality spread over quite an expanse.

* A great example of how big a cheat it was to claim it was slaves pulling ropes is the Moai statues of Easter Island. Like the Great Pyramid, scientists have been puzzling for years to figure out how they quarried them in the center of the island, and then moved them _in_one_piece_ to the perimeter of the island. And put hats on some of them. No slaves, though. What they did have was trees, which are now extinct, so the lazy answer was that they chopped down all the trees to roll Moai to the coast. The problem is, they would have needed every tree on the island to roll _one_ Moai out of the quarry because it tended to turn them into toothpicks in fairly short order. This was demonstrated in a special documentary on TV. Then someone figure out they they actually used ropes to “walk” the statues. This was also demonstrated in a different special documentary on TV, and was really cool to watch.

@Galaxy12_Import:
Chrome parts require new molds because the chrome layer adds bulk to the part. A new mold that produces a smaller part is intended to result in identical-ish dimensions. That said, these are slope bricks for the top ridge of a roof. Chrome them, and it doesn’t really matter (as long as you don’t get much inside the part) because nothing can attach to the top of the part.

@Librarian1976:
It’s been six centuries since the scientific community believed the Great Pyramid was built that recently. It’s currently estimated to be around 4500 years old. The limestone casing stones had probably long been stolen by the time the first Hebrew ever set eyes on it, and nobody cared enough about Khufu anymore to force anyone to replace them.

$h!tty minifigure selection
Where is the PHAroah 2 Clone Commander Cheops??
And the price?! Insane!
[insert the infantile noises of the few (but loud) "fans" here]

Sorry. Jeeze. They are just so easy to troll. And their skin is so damn thin. Sorry.
Kinda.

Not sure why pyramids are considered niche for architecture buffs.