[sizzzzlerz]

Once built, what does one do with this? Generally, these are fragile in the sense that moving them can cause parts of it to become disconnected or fall apart so you don't want to be moving it around to much. It's going to take up a whole lot of space. Your kids can't actually play with it. And if you intend to show it off, you aren't really showing any real skills except for the ability to follow pages and pages of instructions. I don't even want to think about what would be involved in disassembling it such that it could be rebuilt per the instructions.

[leipert]

In Germany there is a Lego subscription service.

Put sets on a wishlist, they send you one of them. You build it, unbuild it and send it back. One set a month.

[b473a]

I feel like if I were just a little deeper on the Autism Spectrum I would really like Germany.

[rc-research]

feel free to test here: https://german.millermanschool.com/

[sdwr]

The only people I've ever met who get excited filling out forms were German

[pyuser583]

This is one of the funniest things I ever read

[progforlyfe]

that sounds awesome. sad that something like that probably would not work well in USA. don't have the culture for it. too many pieces would get lost.

[furyofantares]

> that sounds awesome. sad that something like that probably would not work well in USA. don't have the culture for it. too many pieces would get lost.

I think the idea of "Netflix for LEGOs" started where one might expect X but for Y services to start - California.

We used one of these services in the USA somewhere nearing 10 years ago. Looks like they're still around at https://netbricks.biz/ - but I also see https://brick-library.com/ and https://brickdrop.co and wouldn't be surprised if there's more. It worked great. I detected zero incompatibility with my being from the USA. I didn't eat or carelessly throw away a single brick.

From a search it look like Pleygo was the first such startup from 2012 and based in San Jose / Santa Clara, but is no longer around.

[fluoridation]

I would assume it'd be pretty easy to have a system to count pieces and replenish lost ones. Actually, I'd be surprised if the German scheme doesn't already work like that. I don't see why it couldn't work.

[sushid]

This can only work in Japan and Germany, I imagine. Maybe in Korea/China/Singapore with severe financial penalties and deposits.

[frakkingcylons]

Sounds amazing. I build and unbuild but then just put the box back in storage (my closet).

[ragebol]

Why do people put up flowers? No skill (I think...?) involved in getting a bouquet and putting it a vase on a table. Or buying (not creating) art. Some people just like the look and it;'s hard to argue about taste.

If people have a Lego set on display, that is surely a conversation starter for me. Especially if it's a ginormous Minas Tirith or Sagrada Familia set, or an old Technic set.

Not for everyone I suppose.

[FireBeyond]

I have shelving behind me that gets a lot of conversations between the Lego Architecture and bonsai and botanicals.

My partner likes a lot of the botanicals in our living room, on top of speakers, etc. The table has a vase with bouquet. That's our agreement, architecture and other things (Lighthouse, Jazz Quartet, Ship in a Bottle, Grand Piano are my favorite) in my office, botanicals in the living room.

[nly]

It's not about the result. Most people who build these sets get satisfaction from the build process itself. It's a form of therapy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect

[genocidicbunny]

With that said, as someone who put together the Big Ben set back in the day and had raw fingers for a week after, I have a somewhat PTSD-like reaction to this set. It looks like there are going to be a lot of steps dealing with making many of a subassembly that is itself made out of a bunch of tiny pieces that you need to make sure line up well.

These days I much prefer the large Technic theme sets because they are not so repetitive and require a deeper immersion to actually complete; harder to just space out while building the set. Certainly more meditative for me.

All that is to say that if you're going to consider this set, be aware that the build experience might not be the level of fun that the part count seems to indicate.

[nkrisc]

Enjoy its presence. If that doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy, then it’s not the right set for you. Not something I’d ever buy, but I’m sure many will.

[pickleglitch]

For me, when I was into legos, the answer would be: take it apart and add the pieces to my larger collection, from which I can build whatever I want.

[seanhunter]

Me too. Reminds me of the Milton Jones joke:

When I was younger, I used to own a zoo, and a pirate ship....

Though not at the same time. We couldn't afford that much lego.

[raffael_de]

when you were into Legos, the bricks used were of universal shape. modern sets like this are mostly of a shape that is highly specific to the intended outcome. which is basically orthogonal to the original appeal of playing with Lego. I'm saying that as someone who grew up with two large boxes full of Lego bricks and pieces.

[genocidicbunny]

This is actually not particularly true. In fact, the problem of unique pieces almost ended up sinking Lego because they were spending so much on molds and manufacturing of a single piece that was only used in one set. If the set didn't sell well, Lego could potentially lose money on the set overall because of all the tooling costs.

Back in the aughts, they redid their philosophy of having large single-purpose pieces and went to having those large pieces be replaced by subassemblies of much smaller pieces that were much more general purpose. That's when SNOT became huge in Lego's official sets.

As someone with multiple decades of experience with Lego, things now are much much better than they were back in the 90's and early aughts specifically because of this pivot that Lego did. There is something to be said about part count inflation, and how many of the parts nowadays are tiny little pieces rather than the big 2x2 or 2x4 bricks. And also, some sets and some themes do require their unique pieces. Friends has their little minifigures that are different from the standard minifigs. The Mario sets might need to have some specific pieces -- there's no standard 'mario mustache' tile. But overall, Lego has done a pretty incredible job of increasing the utility and decreasing the single-use aspect of many pieces.

[claytonjy]

With a lot of the adult-oriented sets (ICONS and others), especially anything plant-based, they go out of their way to point out how they're using existing pieces in an unusual way. One example is the cherry blossoms on the bonsai tree are actually frogs, but cast in a pink color for the first time, called out in the instruction manual as you're building it.

I love it, knowing about these little details. Also fun to share with friends that inquire about the various LEGO on display in the house. This, and all the fancy mechanics (e.g. typewriter, nintendo), engender a ton of respect and awe for the designers.

[genocidicbunny]

I've talked with a Lego designer before, and for some themes they're not allowed to even request new molds. Even new colors of existing pieces can be contentious. My own head canon about the bonsai set is that the reason they made such a big fuss about having the recolored frogs is because it probably was a big fuss internally too. "Who'd ever need pink frogs?" sort of thing.

[pickleglitch]

It's been many years. But today I just wouldn't buy a set that had too many single-use pieces. If I were still Legoing, I would probably just hunt craigslist or facebook marketplace for people selling lots of random bricks.

[f4c39012]

It's an impressive model and I'd like to see it in the Lego shop - but I wouldn't like to own it. When it comes time to use the pieces for something else, that's ten thousand beige blocks. Its like some of the Star Wars Lego, for instance the AT-AT is a fantastic creation but its just all the same colour, and to me isn't interesting for more than a few minutes. I like the larger builds that are minifigure-scaled e.g. the bookshop or Hogsmeade or Ninjago city gardens, there's much more detail and variation and fun

[card_zero]

This cathedral would make a very fine intergalactic battlecruiser.

[electrosphere]

You could probably make Rocky's ship from Project Hail Mary with this cathedral model.

[zem]

when I was into legos (as a kid; I've sadly had too many hobbies and not enough time as an adult) I would jump directly to step 2. I only bought (asked my parents for :)) specific models if they had a lot of interesting new piece types.

[varun_ch]

> Once built

If the LEGO are truly accurate to the real thing, that might take a while!

[vaylian]

Over a century, as a matter of fact.

[olyjohn]

Sometimes the build is the fun part. Haven't you ever put together a puzzle?

[sizzzzlerz]

Of course. I do jigsaw puzzles all the time but they aren't meant to be permanent nor is it difficult to take them apart and redo them. I even did the Saturn 5 Lego kit 8 or so years ago. It's why I asked the question. While the rocket was much smaller in scope (and price), it took maybe 5 evenings to complete. It was, and continues to be, very fragile. I have it sitting on a table on its stand but I honestly get no real pleasure nor satisfaction in seeing it. It, and the table, require occasional dusting so moving it is a challenge to not cause pieces to fall off or to replace such pieces that do fall off back where they belong without causing further damage. If something happens that does cause major damage, it's pretty much toast as trying to recreate the initial assembly is nearly impossible. I was just asking to see what others do with such things. To me, they're like visiting a museum that has a very steep entrance fee that hasn't changed an exhibits since it opened. Why go back?

[xtracto]

My wife took on building the plant inspired lego sets several months ago. They are OK in that they don't look that ugly scattered around the house. I like it because it is a hobby she enjoys a lot and it makes it easier for me to buy "the right" gifts haha.

I've never had the patience to build those. I think I have PTSD from my childhood, when my dat bought us a "cheap" brand of lego-like toys (called TENTE I think) for which the bottom pieces fell as you plugged the top pieces.

[scrollaway]

> Once built, what does one do with this?

Are you asking about the church or the lego set?

[stronglikedan]

you don't build with legos expecting it to not fall apart. it's kind of the whole point, really...

why do Buddhists make intricate sand sculptures only to rake them over when they're done?

[binary132]

People treat giant lego sets the same way they treat other complex model sets, it’s not really for disassembling as much as it is for the fun of building and then having / being proud of, I guess, mostly. I mean you can never really speak for everyone but generally speaking.

[lovich]

Just put it up for display. Me and my wife built several sets just to have an activity to do together, and then the resulting displays are memories of those fun times.

[lowbloodsugar]

kragle!

[jjkaczor]

Came for this - happy to see it here...

[Aurornis]

> Your kids can't actually play with it.

Good luck to anyone who builds a lego set and then tries to tell my kids we can't play with it or steal parts from it for another build.

LEGO has a wide audience. Some of these go to adults who build them and put them on display. Others will go to kids who build them and then take them apart to build the next thing.

I wouldn't buy this huge set for my kids because that price tag is crazy, but I like buying some of the mid-size sets for them because it's a nice injection of specialty pieces that they like to incorporate into other builds.

[Rebuff5007]

> I wouldn't buy this huge set for my kids because that price tag is crazy, but I like buying some of the mid-size sets for them because it's a nice injection of specialty pieces that they like to incorporate into other builds.

Very well said, and this was exactly my experience (as a child).

[binary132]

$800 Lego sets with 12,000 pieces are for adults, mostly.

[rjh29]

What's the point of a colouring book? Once you've coloured your drawing you can't do anything with it. You can display it but you're not showing any real skill.

^ bizarre thought process tbh. Both building it and displaying it is fun. That's all.

[bartread]

I genuinely think there are people who don’t “get” hobbies or, if they do, don’t get that other people might like hobbies other than the ones they like. As you say, the point is to enjoy it and that’s all.

[esafak]

Coloring books give you some freedom; to pick your own colors and texture. If we were to draw an analogy, it would be using the LEGO pieces in this kit to build something else. But nobody is going to do that, so it is like a color-by-numbers book, which exercises little creativity. It's a mindless activity to pass the time.

[rjh29]

Yeah, what's wrong with that exactly?

[exssss]

You must be fun at parties.