Review: Assembly Square [10255 – Part I]

This review is broken up into parts, use the links below to navigate:

• Part I (You are currently reading this page)
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV
• Part V
• Conclusion

This week, I am going to stray a little from my usual posting schedule. I have a big review for you. So big, in fact, that I have to divide it into multiple parts just to do the set justice. I will be publishing one part of the review each day this week! I bought Assembly Square back in March to take advantage of Double VIP Points. Because of work, I am only reviewing it now, three months later. I know, shame on me for letting work get in the way of LEGO. But, in truth, I only finished building it this past weekend. With big sets like this, I like to have a solid, continuous couple of hours to sit and build. That way, I can get through one full set of bags in one go, and not have to leave pieces lying loose for who knows how long. This compounded by the fact that my LEGO city is not actually in my small condo means that I did not have much opportunity to work on this set until my summer vacation rolled around. This is an amazing and monster-sized set though. In fact, it ranks among the ten biggest LEGO sets ever produced (click here to read my post on the biggest sets as of 2017). For this reason, I will actually be reviewing it in small chunks, and in a slightly different order from the usual. So, let’s get started!

Set Summary

Name: Assembly Square
Set #: 10255
Theme: Creator
Cost: $339.99 CDN
Brick Count: 4002
Minifigures: 8
Of Interest: You get a baby figurine, a Chihuahua, and a parrot
Release Date: January 2, 2017

Summary of Assembly Square – Part I

VALUE: 100% (Each brick costs $0.08, which is hard to beat.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 98% (You get A LOT of build time, and the set is a keeper.)

Review

VALUE: 100%
Looking at the price tag alone, many would probably turn away from this set. At $339.99, it is certainly not a cheap set, and would break many a budget. This is one of the reasons that I waited and saved up for a Double VIP Points event. That really allowed me to get the most for my money. The points I racked up on this purchase got me another moderately sized set for free. I also like to think of sets in terms of how much LEGO I am actually getting for the price. With 4002 bricks, each piece in this kit will cost you $0.08. That is a value that it hard to beat, and earns this set a full 5/5.

ENTERTAINMENT:
In truth, I lost count of the number of hours that I spent building this set over the last three months. If I look at the time stamps on the photos that I took at various stages of building this set, I would estimate that on average, one set of bags took me 105 minutes to complete. With six sets of bags, that means about 630 minutes (10.5 hours). That is about $0.54 per minute of building. This is a really good build-time value in my book, and earns 5/5.

Will I keep this set built in my LEGO city? Absolutely, without a doubt. I might make some minor changes though. I love the dentist’s office, the café, and the bakery. The flower shop is ok, but I might add one of the refrigerators for flowers at some point. I also like the dance studio, and will probably leave it largely unchanged. The music shop is a little empty, as is the photo studio. I have actually built a custom photo studio that I like more, so I might just repurpose the whole room. The apartment is also nice, but I think I will remove the toys and put more actual furniture. These are all very little modifications, and the overall appearance of the buildings will not change. So, for that reason, I will give it 95% for enjoyment.

Combining the enjoyment score with build-time value gives Assembly Square and overall entertainment grade of 98%. With the set’s amazing value, Assembly square is off to a really strong start. Let’s see if it can keep it up in part II tomorrow, where I will review the Minifigures!

Until next time,

-Tom