A few weeks ago, Tommy asked if anyone on the Bricknerd Team wanted to do a review of one of the new LEGO Architecture sets. Yes! I volunteered for Venice. My wife and I went to Venice on our honeymoon, and I had been there a few times before. Tommy informed me that I should be on the lookout for a box from Billund, so I waited anxiously by the mailbox. But since it’s February in Vermont, my wife suggested I come inside. Good thing too, it was almost two weeks before it arrived.

This was actually my first Architecture set. My son has received several of them as gifts over the years, so I was somewhat familiar with the line. If you don’t know the whole history of this particular LEGO theme, check out this link to my fellow VLUGer Adam Reed Tucker.

On to the set. First off, the box looks great. It looks serious. Clearly not a toy. Although it still has that unmistakable LEGO noise when you shake it. And I bet I could make an alternate build spaceship if I put my mind to it.

Three bags of parts, check. Instruction booklet, check. But I immediately notice the thickness was way beyond what I would expect considering the 212 parts count. I was pleasantly surprised by the photographs and history of Venice in the introductory pages. High quality stuff. Not sure how they got all those pics without any pigeons.

Assuming the sets are marketed towards teens and adults, I found the instructions somewhat simple. That leads me to believe they may be meant for novice builders, or people who haven’t built a LEGO set in twenty years, and may not be familiar with all of the modern parts. I offer exhibit A from the instructions.

“Use the one hole Technic brick, not these other two, otherwise you’re going to have to take the whole thing apart and start over.” Wish they put those in the book for the Technic Space Shuttle set back in the 90’s. The building experience was straight forward and moved along quickly without a hitch.

Each landmark is unmistakable, and as a group, immediately obvious as Venice. On top of that, there’s the printed black tile that says, “Venice.” A few pieces were new to me, like the four sided slope on top of St. Mark’s Campanile, but most of the set I probably could have scrounged up on my own. But that’s not really the point.

It seems to me, at a MSRP of $29.99, the set would make a thoughtful gift to remember a trip to this historic and romantic city. The booklet, in my opinion, is nearly as important as the bricks. The quality of the photographs remind me of the Eyewitness Travel books, and the interesting facts along with them are like a mini tourist guide. So, if a friend or loved-one has been to Venice, consider this as a classy and artistic souvenir. Nobody needs another snow globe…

I give it five out of five Nerdlys