21018 - United Nations Headquarters

[jaxman]

If you are buying sets at B&N and don't have the 10% membership discount you are playing not to win.

Edited January 15, 2016 by jaxman

[elkolonel]

21 hours ago, dcdfan said:

UN is worth it even at full price...

Agreed, take a look at the rate it's going for on ebay.co,uk. (rrp was £49.99).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=lego+76023&_sop=13&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.Xlego+21018.TRS0&_nkw=lego+21018&_sacat=0

A good start straight after retirement, allied with other Architecture models doing very well I would say a damaged box at rrp is a good buy. Whether it's the best use of your capital compared to other retiring sets in this price range like Birds, I am not sure.

[jaxman]

Much prefer an Architecture set to Birds.

[nolanfan34]

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

[jaxman]

29 minutes ago, nolanfan34 said:

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

I agree with that point, but I don't think it's a building that will likely be remade anytime soon.  The blue bricks make it stand out from some of the blander grey colors of other sets in the Architecture series.  Good reviews for it too.

[Veegs]

42 minutes ago, nolanfan34 said:

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

I think anyone that is going to pay 2x MSRP or more probably knows what it is supposed to look like  

[Loghamel]

1 hour ago, nolanfan34 said:

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

I'm not much of an architect fan, but it would take me one guess to figure out what building this is.  Actual architectual fans?  Fuggedaboutit.

[Sozial]

This is almost 2 RRP on amazon....UN should have wide appeal. I will keep this baby long term for all the successful ones who will work at the UN in the future

[Roy vd M.]

The Lego United Nations set is simply a great build. Beautifully designed and much fun. Nice display piece, too. 

If this is how 21018 will be remembered, it will be a classic in a few years from now and every architecture collector will want to have one. 

[Roy vd M.]

8 hours ago, nolanfan34 said:

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

Speaking for myself as a guy from the Netherlands interested in architecture and looking at New York city, it's in the same league as Trump tower, Flatiron building and Rockefeller center. Of course we Europeans know Chrysler building, One World Trade Center, Empire State building and Statue of Liberty better. 

United Nations headquarters is an important building from an architectural point of view, being an early (massive) example of modernism. Originally designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the same architect who co-did the ground plan and government buildings of Brasilia (Brasil's capital), thus linking it to South American Lego architecture fans. Niemeyers plans were amended in close collaboration with Le Corbusier (famous Swiss architect), thus linking this Lego set to European Lego architecture fans as well. Le Corbusier also designed Villa Savoye by the way. 

More info:

- Oscar Niemeyer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer

- Le Corbusier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

- United Nations building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations

- Brasilia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras%C3%ADlia

[tractorboy]

1 hour ago, Roy vd M. said:

Speaking for myself as a guy from the Netherlands interested in architecture and looking at New York city, it's in the same league as Trump tower, Flatiron building and Rockefeller center. Of course we Europeans know Chrysler building, One World Trade Center, Empire State building and Statue of Liberty better. 

United Nations headquarters is an important building from an architectural point of view, being an early (massive) example of modernism. Originally designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the same architect who co-did the ground plan and government buildings of Brasilia (Brasil's capital), thus linking it to South American Lego architecture fans. Niemeyers plans were amended in close collaboration with Le Corbusier (famous Swiss architect), thus linking this Lego set to European Lego architecture fans as well. Le Corbusier also designed Villa Savoye by the way. 

More info:

- Oscar Niemeyer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer

- Le Corbusier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

- United Nations building: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations

- Brasilia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras%C3%ADlia

I believe Niemeyer's Brasilia work is considered to be an ill conceived architectural disaster. Saw a documentary on it recently. It looked impressive, but never took into account the people who would live and work there.

Looks like this set will do well though. Everyone knows the UN building as it's on tv so often. I think all the modern architecture sets will do well as its a style that lends itself well to being built in Lego. I'd love to see more modern architecture sets in the future, but I'm not hopeful.

[Val-E]

12 hours ago, nolanfan34 said:

The only hesitation I have on this set is if you cover up the title, is it really that recognizable of a building to Architect fans? Is this well known overseas? Doesn't matter now because I have a few of them which is my usual target, just curious.

Yeah, I have that issue with this set too. On the upside it represents great value for money as the buyer will need at least 6 hours build time to align all the antenna exactly straight.

[Veegs]

24 minutes ago, valenciaeric said:

Yeah, I have that issue with this set too. On the upside it represents great value for money as the buyer will need at least 6 hours build time to align all the antenna exactly straight.

Hmmm, in my descriptions in my listings I should highlight the 'hours' of play that could involve  

[Val-E]

Exactly. We know it´s better not to mention the part count of Architecture sets (luckily EU boxes don´t) but dividing 120 USD by 6 hours makes it seem quite good value for money, especially for OCD´ers.

Edited January 16, 2016 by valenciaeric

[Seal Cutter]

The aligning of the antennas on 21018 is not a finite task that can ever be truly completed. Like tidying the horse statues on Trevi Fountain. It's an ongoing situation!

[dcdfan]

26 minutes ago, Seal Cutter said:

The aligning of the antennas on 21018 is not a finite task that can ever be truly completed. Like tidying the horse statues on Trevi Fountain. It's an ongoing situation!

On the upside, I hear there's medicine for that now...

Edited January 16, 2016 by dcdfan

[inversion]

This is an excellent gift for people working in diplomacy. They earn well. I leave the conclusion to you.

[Calli]

I bought 6 of them so far. Maybe I will take some with me to Germany when I visit my family next time. They sell for 99€ on ebay.de already. :-)

[Ma-gic]

Bought mine at €53. Should have gotten more as I was not convinced of the potential of Architecture sets. Price keep climbing up.

[kobus]

Bought mine at 30Euro, sold two already for 75Euro each. Definitely should have bought more!

I like the architecture series, the sets can usually be bought with nice discounts and sell quickly. And no need to cherry pick since basically every set does well and some do exceptionally well (like robie house, falling water, guggenheim, sungnyemun, marina bay sands).

The new cityscapes look very attractive to me.

[jaxman]

Still available at retail here in the US.

[ZULU]

1 hour ago, jaxman said:

Still available at retail here in the US.

Stock them up. Excellent set. 

I wrote a blog on architecture a couple of years ago on this site. Glad it's working out. Far better than i expected. 

Afols have really adhered to this collection. And the new editions will onmu add to its appeal. It's the best of two worlds: design with bricks

[ChristopherJB]

6 hours ago, ZULU said:

Stock them up. Excellent set. 

I wrote a blog on architecture a couple of years ago on this site. Glad it's working out. Far better than i expected. 

Afols have really adhered to this collection. And the new editions will onmu add to its appeal. It's the best of two worlds: design with bricks

Talk about a sleeper. The reviews of this is great. Built one myself. I'm looking for ways to add flags to the flag poles.
Architecture series in general do well EOL. I thought the Rockefeller was junk when I bought it, bunch of brown bricks looking like jenga blocks. Look at the price of that now. UN has been out for a shorter shelf life (correct me if I'm wrong). This will move like the Guggenheim.

[ChristopherJB]

8 hours ago, jaxman said:

Still available at retail here in the US.

Don't wait too long. Limit of 2 at Amazon.com. This one is flying under the radar. Watch what happens once it goes sold out.

[jaxman]

2 hours ago, ChristopherJB said:

Don't wait too long. Limit of 2 at Amazon.com. This one is flying under the radar. Watch what happens once it goes sold out.

I still find them at B&N stores.  Good way to get 10% off retail.