Every few years or so, Lego decide to go big and release another of their world landmark sets. We’ve had sets like the Sydney Opera House, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower and another London landmark, Tower Bridge. This year it is the turn of Big Ben, or more accurately, part of the Palace of Westminster and Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben just being the name of the bell inside the tower).

This 4,163 piece set retails for £169.99, coming in at a remarkable 4p per piece. Once finished, the model is about 43cm wide and the tower stands at an impressive 60cm. There is no doubt that this is a set designed for display, as there’s not really anything in here for a kid to play with. This is certainly not minifig scale, with the front entrance to the building only being two blocks high.

When you open the large box you will find 7 sets of numbered bags inside, with anything from 3-5 bags of each number. The bag 2’s are all in a separate box, which I’m told by Lego is because those are packed separately and it makes the final assembly of all the different bags easier if some are already pre-packed. There are 300 steps to follow in the manual over 207 pages, so this is not a build for the faint hearted. Coming from working my way through a number of City and super hero sets over the past few weeks, there is a noticeable difference in the number of bricks required in each step. While a City set may only have you putting one or two pieces in place at a time, this turns into a series spot the difference games between the pictures on each page – even with the highlight line around the changes. Be prepared to concentrate.

My problem with the build is the repetition. This is an obvious side effect of making a model out of the Palace of Westminster, which in real life has lots of repetition in it’s architecture. Whether it’s the columns, the windows, the spires, or even the roof – this is a build where you’ll find yourself doing the same thing over and over again. It’s not unusual for a page in the manual to ask you to build 25 of something, or place 50 identical parts into place, which can quickly feel very laborious. Even after the satisfaction of finishing the second set of bags, you suddenly realise that the next floor of the palace is just the same again, and that means the next round of bags are going to make you do it all over again. Just look at the main clock tower, that’s 5 almost identical sections, 3 of which have four identical sides. I recommend a production line process just to make it palatable.

Then there’s those pieces. The reason why this set is so cheap is that the majority of the pieces involved are 1×1 bricks and plates in a single tan colour. Pouring out some of the bags you just won’t believe how many of them are the same, whole bags just filled with the same two pieces repeated. This means that the plastic involved from Lego’s point of view is much less, and that’s why the price has been kept so low. Plus, I assume, no brand rights to negotiate.

It took me just under 9 hours to build the whole thing, which I don’t think is too bad considering the size and fiddly nature of the pieces required. You will end up with numb finger tips by the end, simply by the very nature of getting all of these tiny parts to stick together. I managed to put two 1×1 plates together that I still haven’t managed to get apart. If you’re looking for small tan parts for your own creations, then look no further.

Despite all this negativity, let me be clear, it looks brilliant when finished. It really does. All those tiny parts mean the intricate detail is as good as you’ll get on any production set. As a showcase model to put up somewhere in your house or with the rest of your collection, or alongside the other world landmarks that Lego have released, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I just think you’ll have more fun building something else.

Amusement Parks are good fodder for Lego. The Creator Ferris Wheel from last year is one of the best sets currently available. But it’s Lego Friends which this year gets a complete range of sets in that theme, even including a roller coaster, something Lego fans have wanted for years.

There’s sets in the range to suit all budgets, and this is one of the cheaper sets, the Amusement Park Hot Dog Van. It has 243 pieces, goes for £24.99, and is available now. But despite being one of the cheaper sets in the range, that price means it’s more than 10p per piece, which is expensive for an unbranded set. I’d like to see Lego do better than that for their own brands.

You can watch our video review, then read on…

There are various parts to this model, the van itself, two minidolls, two stools, a hot dog outfit, a sign pointing in the direction of the van, and a camera along with one of those things that you stick your head through and get your photo taken (which I have hunted for a name for, but can’t seem to find one).

Most of these are made from just a few parts, with some foil stickers providing the detail. But while they do all match up with the style of the van itself, I do find the camera and head in hole thing an odd choice of item to include. I would have thought that something like a mobile hot dog cart would have been more fitting with the rest of the set. Anything else food related would have been a better choice.

As for the van itself, it looks really nice. On the box, the colours look really garish, which is a problem a lot of the Friends sets seem to suffer from. But once you’ve actually built it, the colours all work well together, and with just a small number of pieces it does a good job of actually looking like a hot dog bun and sausage. There are nice details throughout the inside of the van itself, with a griddle area, sauces, steering wheel, and two hot dogs. There’s even a ramp at the back to let the minidolls get inside.

Speaking of minidolls, you get Stephanie and Nate – and neither of them are very interesting, with fairly dull printing on each and uninspired designs and hair. The hot dog costume is a bit of fun, and fits either of them when the hair is taken off. The actual piece was also included in a previous set of minifig blind bags, which means it fits minifigs as well as minidolls.

Despite the downsides, the nice thing about a set like this is that it pairs up with so many other play sets. The minifigs from the police station can eat hot dogs. So can those from the fire station. Captain America loves them. Kids don’t care. Take a chance and introduce a different colour palette into your Lego life.

If there’s one thing that defines the Lego City range, it’s the police and fire station sets. They’ve been doing them forever, even way back in 1972, before the advent of minifigures, they were doing police themed sets. It’s now 44 years later and we have this, set 60047 Lego City Police Station. The retail price is £79.99 (but you’ll get it 25-30% cheaper through Amazon), it has 854 pieces, and therefore comes in at about 9.4p per piece.

Watch our video review to see the build and hear some of our thoughts then read on…

The set consists of a large police station, which is made up of three discrete sections – a control tower with vehicle bay, a two level prison cell block with parking area underneath, and a two level office block. You also get a police car and police motorbike, a red tow truck that’s being used for a prison breakout, a helicopter, six minifigures, and a police dog.

The build is split up into 10 numbered bags, an 11th bag containing some longer pieces which are used at various points in the build, and three small dark grey base plates. The build itself was very enjoyable, with each set of bags producing a different part of the model, firstly the vehicles and then each of the three sections of the station itself. These are connected together by Technic pins, so you can easily disconnect them for storage or transportation.

The box says this is for ages 6-12, and that would be a good age for putting this together. Nothing is too complicated, but there is quite a bit of repetition on some of the sections, especially in the two floor prison where both floors are essentially identical, and on the office block as well which is much the same. There’s also a lot of stickers, most of which are just the word POLICE over and over again. For those that may break apart the set later and build something of their own, there’s lots of very useful wall pieces, windows and plates that should be very usable in the future.

The minifigures are all very detailed and filled with character. There’s a police man and police woman, a helicopter pilot, motorbike rider, two criminals in jail with ball and chains and finally the driver of the tow truck trying to break them out of jail. The facial expressions on the criminals are especially good.

“Squirrel!”

There’s so many things going on in this set, it’s going to be a massive hit with any kid who enjoys Lego. From the trap door toilets in the prison cells, the escape route in the ceiling, the multiple places for minifigs to sit across the offices and control towers, the helicopter landing pad, entry barrier, the shutter door for the car garage, satellite dish, lamp posts… there’s more opportunities for play in this than I think I’ve ever seen in a Lego set. An imaginative kid is going to love creating their own prison break outs, emergency situations and car chases. And since it’s police, it easily lends itself to any other sets you might have, whether that’s fire, superhero, Star Wars or Ninjago – Lego Police can arrest them all.

Noah has been desperate for me to finish this review so he could get his hands on the set to go play with it, and as soon as we finished the video he was away doing just that. Criminals were captured, Iron Man was in the prison, fire engines crashed outside. You may think Lego is all about brands, but it doesn’t need to be. Highly recommended.