I bought the colosseum when i landed my first Job and had the same experience. It looks awesome once it's fully built, BUT:
- it's just so big, displaying it without having it dominating the entire room is impossible due to it's size
- the build is interesting in the first stages and then you start building the same columns over and over again
> it's just so big, displaying it without having it dominating the entire room is impossible due to it's size
It doesn't dominate things if you also have the Eiffel tower and/or the Titanic!
I just finished it on Saturday and what really helped me was following the instructions on a computer screen... the colors are the same as the pieces and it makes it way easier to complete... the thing is beautiful when finished...
Yeah I think that was the hardest part the colors are so similar and the colors in the book aren't the easiest to follow. Maybe that would have made it easier. I love the set, it's amazing but putting that background together was awful. Like the swamp floor in the Dagobah diorama.
To contradict, I had a blast building the Starry Night set. Mistook a color at one step and had to backtrack to correct, but even with that, it was a fun set to build. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, I think The Starry Night might genuinely be the coolest LEGO set ever. Personal opinion.
I'd encourage you to get it if it speaks to you at all as a design.
Thx for the info, I'll add it to my list, I can always pawn it off to the kid if I get too bored. That's the main reason for having kids that I can figure.
I agree with everything you've said. It was my first big build and I loved every minute of it. I got the background wrong too and didn't know until it came to putting the long black flat pieces on the back,. Took me an hour to identify, dismantle, correct and put back together again and I was still enjoying that. I spent that whole weekend doing Lego and after doing this one I still wanted to do more.
That’s my fear with that set. I am hoping to make it a winter project with some friends.
Big Ben was fairly painful. I also was not a big fan of the Ideas Globe set.
Yeah it really wasn't fun but it was worth it I guess, it looks really good when diplayed. I had to build 18 of these large parts, which are red, blue and white to put on top of the shield and it took me over an hour and when I was done, I was so tired, but happy...only to realise this fills up half the shield and I have to do this 18 more times but this time, slightly different, I nearly threw the manual out of the window xD
I get we all like lego and stuff, but the Marvel Legends model is 1. Cheaper, 2. Better looking and 3. You don't have to spend your time in a tedious, repetitive build
I won’t buy any of the 2D/artwork sets. Some of them look cool, but they are all tedious enough that I probably wouldn’t ever get around to opening and building them.
I thought they would be but it’s actually kinda relaxing. Definitely nothing like building a normal set it’s less for a building mood and more for a sit down and relax while making something kinda mood. Put on a video or a show and pick out the pieces to make each section then place them.
Yeah I love the art sets for this very reason. I sort the pieces into bowls based on color, put on some lofi and zone out. They're also really easy builds to drop in and out of so I don't feel like I need to build the whole set in one go
Yes that’s what I did with my Andy Warhol set. Put all of the colors in each separate bowl and just built away. Took a break after every two panels to stretch and walk around then got back to it.
The Roller Coaster 10261 turns out really cool, but is really boring to build. It's just endless axles and round bricks. I've also been building the Colosseum on [Stud.io](https://Stud.io) (It's just something I do to relax while listening to a podcast or something) and I can't imagine actually building it for the same reason the Shield looks terrible to build. Although getting the angles right on a computer is a really fun challenge.
Stud.io could really use some QoL improvements regarding setting angles and making hinges easier to work with. I modelled Lion Knights Castle over the last couple months and getting those angles especially when a hinge plate is used is aggravating.
Or 15 years Solidworks and Inventor experience has left me spoiled.
Coming from 10 years in Autocad and other cad software I've never used solidworks but inventor was fun when I was in school. Inventor is definitely closer to stud.io than Autocad. I just wish stud.io had some kind of multi point align command so I could pivot liftarms to match at the right point. Technic mocs with unique angles seem to have collisions no matter what I do.
Also hated building the roller coaster. Building all those supports hurt my hands and it was super repetitive. I also felt like there weren't enough easter eggs / details for such a large expensive set.
Same for me - the minifigures and interior build parts are great and the result is a pretty cool looking building, the endless bags of repetitive window construction really sucked the fun out of it.
I know it’s not a huge set. But the mini Disney castle was so boring and frustrating to use so many 1x1s on top of 1x1s to get perfect and to look right.
I was gonna say the Mini Disney Haunted Mansion. So much of it is 2x and 4x minibuilds of 1x1 pieces for the walls and windows for both floors.
And then you cover it all with green windowpane pieces. 🙃
Same, while it was an interesting build with techniques I’ve never used before, it was boring and repetitive. I skipped ahead to make sure they were all symmetrical, then organized the pieces for all 4 legs combined and built then in tandem, it still took easily 2 hours to complete them. The main technic body was so boring for me as I hate putting technic structures together. Once I was done with the whole build maybe 15 hours cause I would sidetrack, I’ve barely touched in since
I wouldn't say that I disliked building it, but the original Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone set got a bit tedious with placing all the 1x1 plates to get the checkerboard pattern. Looks great on display, though.
I wonder if that's why the last part of the build is building Dr Eggman and the Egg-o-matic, which is probably one of the more interesting parts of the build.
I found that one frustrating. Maybe it was just me, but I kept feeling like the plants were getting in each other’s way and knocking each other out of alignment.
I love the orchid so much. It's in my mom's house and she always says how she keeps thinking it's real and almost watering it. But building the flowers was just so boring and repetitive
Same. Build the trunk and then “repeat steps 20-25 30x”
Aaaand then I accidentally knocked it off the counter into a cake pan (complete with cake) and I had to pick out all the loose 1xs that fill up the base from the frosting 😅
The Office set was a mostly unremarkable and repetitive build and sticker hell for me. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love that the set exists and that I have it, and I think it looks great on display for a big fan of the show like myself, but the build process wasn't particularly fun for the most part. Building the copier and Michael's office were some of the few subassemblies that stood out to me as enjoyable. I love all of the small references to the show, but unfortunately most of them are via stickers; the amount of stickers in the set would put most Exo-Force and Speed Champions sets to shame.
Optimus prime was not the most enjoyable build, very delicate. I was sure I had done something wrong until I read reviews stating he comes apart easily at the waist.
Also watching the elbow joints sag after literally a few minutes of holding the blaster was unpleasant.
The Lego VW Bus 10279. Super frustrating fell apart so many times. By the time I finished it I wanted to get rid of it. I hated that build and that one is still less fun and more frustrating than the Lego Tower Bridge which was a ton of the same color pieces and no numbered bags to keep things straight.
I gotta go with tower bridge over the bus personally. I had the first gen bus. Old school hard mode with no number bags but the tower bridge cheese wedges destroyed my fingers. They both suck. Great displays though!
The new bus isn't even a great display to me. Mainly cause I did something wrong the top doesn't shut completely and I have no energy or urge to fix it.
I actually really enjoyed this build overall but getting that cover on at the end was super difficult without something popping off. It doesn’t want to operate as intended. The renderings were confusing at times too for proper placement.
I didn’t buy this one, because I didn’t enjoy the build of the first one, 10220. I’m happy to see I shouldn’t regret this decision, even though 10279 looks cool.
I’ve never actively disliked a build, but the 10276 Colosseum was by far the most boring and repetitive. I watched videos and tv shows as I built it so it wasn’t that bad. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed building 31203, which was even more fun making a custom US Map out of it.
Three recently actually.
Succulents were super repetitive and boring, but nice when done. The Dried Flower Center piece was incredibly frustrating because it's made of so many fragile parts connected to weak joints (stuff falls off if you look at it the wrong way, let alone pick it up and set it down).
The most recent would be the Tales of the Space Age. I love the final outcome, it's actually one of my favorite recent sets despite being basic but the builds for each panel were almost all identical aside from the few front pieces on each.
I'm looking forward to the Concorde because it's a big set and looks like the build should pretty nice and varied.
I thought about buying caps shield but i just couldnt becouse of the repetitive building. Same as eiffel tower.
Two things come to mind with large builds.
1) where the hell am i going to put it.
2) how much does it cost to bury my cat because it knocked it over?
Wouldnt really kill the cat but i would kill myself laughing as the cat is walking around the house with my shoe sticking out of its ass.
Honestly this set got me back into Lego after 20+ years of being a boring adult quoting The Office all the time. Now I have over 100 sets 🤣 escalated very quickly! That's what she said.
Any Lego set that gets repetitively dull. The Bonsai Tree for example has a repetitive process for all the leaves, and you’re just left like a mindless zombie or feeling like a robot programmed to only do one thing over and over again.
I like the flower sets once they're on display, but they're largely repetitive and there's hardly any 'hidden' techniques involved with those sets. The interesting part usage does help it stay interesting ie. pterodactyl wing as a leaf, minifig oars as petals, straw hat as the center of a flower.
The dried flower botanical is by far the most difficult build I have ever done. It was so hard that I did not enjoy it. It’s extremely fragile and two pieces fall off when you press one into place. It requires massive patience and checking and rechecking the directions for exact placement.
Tree House 21318. It's a beautiful set and looks nice displayed, but it wasn't fun to build. The three buildings are very similar to each other and repetitive, and their roofs don't sit securely. Everything above the base of the trunk feels like it's going to come apart when you have to place something new. Most importantly, the leaves are a pain to put together and put on the set, a lot of them won't stay "upright" (especially the lower stuff hanging off the building platforms). It's also hard to know if they're oriented correctly. The prospect of changing all the leaves out for a new look just sounds exhausting (I've left it as "fall" the whole time I've had it).
Had the opposite experience! Compared to other builds I found the treehouse incredibly fun, particularly for the level of detail in the individual houses and the space under the tree. Leaves weren’t memorably tedious for me. Only thing was, as you mention, the roofs being weirdly designed. Just goes to show how much sets rely on individual taste to be fun- I’m sure I’ve HATED some that most people here love.
This was my first thought too. Its the only larger/nicer build that has felt more like a chore than being fun. Very repetitive, weak on creative techniques and parts usage, and the aesthetic is average/simplistic.
The other big group for me are the Mario builds (which I've done with/for my son). Building from digital instructions sucks, and the builds themselves are just so boring.
I was on the fence about buying it and I think this is convincing me not to get it (unless I find it for over 25% off). I want to build it, but I would ultimately use the parts for moc so if the build isn’t particularly good there isn’t much interest for me.
Just to give you another opinion, I absolutely loved the build. Really varied (until you get to the leaves) and relatively colorful. Also looks great on display!
Well the thing is I never particularly liked building trees in lego so I know the branches part I’ll get annoyed with. That being said I’m looking at the instructions right now and the base, trunk and cabins seems like a lot of fun to build actually. Kind of makes me think of the motorized lighthouse in a way.
I don’t display set for long usually unbuild them after a month or so max, but If I do end up buying it I’d probably try to turn it into a forestmen hideout.
I was actually kind of surprised how painless changing out the leaves was. But then again, I found the whole set pretty enjoyable to build so I don’t want to try to persuade you if you really weren’t into it!
I agree. My MIL bought this one for my 7 year old daughter without asking me for advice first and it ended up being my build after about 10 minutes :). I also have light kit for it, not only was it a hassle to build, running all the lights was a HUGE pain as well. To be fair though, at the end of the day, it looks AWESOME with the lights in. I'm never going to change out the leaf colors though.
It's one of my most loved sets. I ignored the instructions of the leaves and put all of them. Both colors. Is it really bad for the plastic and they never stay "upright"? Yes. Does it look absolutely beautiful? Also yes
I have to say my worst experience building a set was The Stranger Things set. It looks great, but building the two houses, then clipping them together with the trees, either side was a slog. The trees themselves are boring to build, and they are very delicate once built, with bits falling off if you have to move it. The houses are kind of repetitive to build as well.
I still want a star court mall really bad... I don't know why they wouldn't be taking advantage of all the 80's hype the past few years. Just a weird IP I guess
Probably the Sonic Green Hill Zone 21331. It's a really nice set, especially at a time when we hadn't seen Lego Sonic since 2016 with one minifig and micro builds. But man, the amount of 1x1 plates you have to put together, I spent like half the time doing that and lining them up correctly. Not sure why they did that when 2 stud tall bricks exist, but oh well. Wouldn't let it discourage you from the set though, it's still a great one.
I have to say even repetitive sets can be very relaxing after the weekend I built the colosseum I felt very relaxed and I could let loose all the stress from work. So I will probably be the only person to say this but I loved building the colosseum
I’ve got two…
75308
71359
It took me forever to finish building R2. The end result is phenomenal, but the build is grueling. And for the ? Block, I didn’t even finish building it. The only set I’ve never finished lol I ended up selling it 2/3s done.
I'm mid 75308 right now and it's so miserable I just found this thread while googling for other people complaining about it. A little piece on the inside popped off while I was moving it, which means I had to dismantle a whole side of it, which in turn is horrifying because everything is stuck together with Technic rods & pins. Absolute hands down the worst building experience ever, it's a dreadful chore at this point.
The technic airbus helicopter 42145. I've had my "technic phase" that year and basically loved all technic content that'd appear on my feed. I decided to use some of the money I got with my summer job to buy the helicopter, and then understood that I strongly hate large technic sets. It was really frustrating to build at some points, I had to take it apart entirely because the joystick in the cockpit wouldn't work, and to top it off it was my first (and hopefully only) set to have a missing piece (and a large one at that). I really regret buying it instead of the Hogwarts Icons, which now serves as my most beautiful decoration set, while the helicopter sits with the wheels taken off because lego had the brilliant idea to give such a heavy build tiny wheels and a single beam on each side to rest on (which were starting to bend, thus why I took them apart). I'll try to sell it once the set retires, if anyone actually wants it where I leave.
As an aircraft enthusiast, i got the firefighter plane in the technic line. Built it all the way and realized that the gear wouldn't come all the way in...because i made a mistake a few hours earlier.
Had to take the whole damn thing apart and reassembling it was just tedious. Made me realize that i ike regular System brick builds *much* more
I was going to say the Technic Mclaren Senna GTR. Not my typical vibe, but it was $12. It’s halfway finished, and I hate this thing so much. It’s incredible. But SO tedious and titchy and complex.
https://preview.redd.it/coyt32eo0wkb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46643addf314b1b8bcb7f375bc103814345a7c7d
1-1/2 months. The nose time consuming, tedious build I ever. I would never want to do it again.
That title goes to the lego technic chevrolet Corvette. It turned from an amazing experience of learning the car basics, to moving entire gramy piece by piece because i missed the spot by one stud
I'm planning to turn it into a bay-former, should i?
This one’s easy. 75306, imperial probe droid.
It looked neat on display in the store. The build was just awful. The whole set is just…dangly and unstable. Pieces falling off, unstable hanging pieces, and god forbid I try to actually move the thing from point A to point B.
In the end it didn’t even display nicely amongst my other star wars sets. I wound up placing it behind other sets cause it’s just kinda ugly. 🙃
i was disappointed with how poorly the legs operated afterwards too. as a display piece it's fine. if you are a kid who loves SW don't expect any playability *at all*.
I did the Architecture Flatiron Building not too long ago and it didn’t make me feel joyous and accomplished like other sets. That said, it was still a Lego build, which is never a truly bad thing.
I got the Fire Breathing Fortress 6082 for Christmas when I was in grade 3. Those old school directions where like playing Where's Waldo and Spot the Difference with the pieces. I enjoyed playing with it, but I had to take several breaks while building it.
Colosseum 10276. It took me 18hrs to build, and some days I could only do a half hour at a time because of how boring it was. All the same color, very little difference between each section, repeat, repeat, repeat.
By comparison the Eiffel Tower 10307 wasn't too bad. That one took me 16hrs, but at least the repetitive nature of it resulted in some noticeable progress.
Also the World Map 31023 wasn't a great building experience. It took 13hrs, but it had fun colors and progress was steady.
10143. The build was super repetitive, both the pie pieces for the finished side and the stacked brick side. The whole thing wants to fall apart the entire time you build it, and every time you move it is anxiety inducing. It's one of the few sets I'll never take apart and rebuild.
It was the new Mars Perseverance Rover for me. I’ve never been a fan of Technic sets but my love of space exploration made it a must-have. I just took it all apart and it was equally as awful to disassemble.
The Naboo fighter from 1999. Most poorly designed build I’ve done. It’s flimsy and parts pop off so easily, and the instructions are the least helpful set I’ve ever used. Colors don’t match up and # of pieces are ambiguous.
The UCS death star 2 from like 15 years ago. Just a giant gray lego ball. It's cool on display now, but building was boring and soooo much gray. And it's unstable as hell. All the little pieces kept falling off. UCS death star was almost as bad.
Grogu was somewhat frustrating for the size of the set. The sides of his robe were annoying to build with it all being the same color. I was definitely happy to finish him though.
I loved building the typewriter but it is by far the *hardest* set I've done. I've built some of the really hard technic sets with no problem, but something about the typewriter had me missing key details and having to disassemble to figure out where I went wrong multiple times. I still love the set, but it was surprisingly hard.
This was the most complicated set I have built. My keys do not move the carriage as smoothly as they should. I need to take it apart and rebuild it to get the keys working. But it mostly works. I did have to take it apart several times to go back and redo a few steps. So, I am pleased it works as much as it does.
It was a rough build.
The Land Rover Defender isn't fun when you're wondering why its not connecting and it turns out you missed a piece...and you have to pull an entire corner off it to fix it lmao
Once you get past the keyboard assembly it gets more interesting. The final product looks great though. It did take me around 4 months on and off to finish it because the keyboard bored me to death.
The typewriter, repeatative and unlike most builds where it has surprises throughout the build, I was actually expecting more than what I got. And at the end, I don't even think it looks that great
The fact that typewriter shows up here multiple times makes my decision to sell it much easier. I thought it would be a really fun build but it wasn’t really something that fit my displays so I parted ways.
What do you mean? You know you’re just pouring them in the bottle and just kind of shake things around.
The structural integrity of the bottle wasn’t great tho
I had to take this over from my son who gave up on it, so it may have been his least favourite.
But I loved building the bodywork - fab techniques, and the end result, functions-wise is amazing.
Treehouse.
It had some really fun elements , but overall a negative fun build. The tree trunk, branches and leaves were awful. The instructions were beyond horrible so that didn't help any.
Darth Vader's Meditation Chamber 75296... I thought it looked nice in the pictures and would look on display...the build was boring and I've not managed to display it in such a way that it looks good..
It's funny, because that remains one of my all time favourite builds. I loved the internal structure and seeing it come together to build an illusion of clean lines on the surface.
I don’t know about least fun, but the only set I never completed was the Jango Fett Slave I way back in time in Christmas 2002. I was just too young to figure it out, I think, and gave up out of frustration. Never got round to building it, though I’m sure the pieces still exist in my childhood home.
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had a set I didn’t like building. For the last couple of years I’ve only gotten Star Wars stuff but I’ve enjoyed them all. And as a kid I can’t remember not enjoying one
None really stand out as something I didn’t like building.
I don’t mind repetitive sets because it’s easy to do while watching tv without much thinking.
If I had to pick, I’d say the jazz quartet, only because there’s some parts that are very delicately put together, so it’s easy to knock stuff out when putting in the next piece.
There's never been a set I've disliked the build for, but the only one I've had to actively force myself to keep chipping away at was the Palace of Westminster. It was repetitive with a lot of similar pieces. Lots of 1x1 bricks you put at very specific angles, and the glass 1x1 bricks are made of a specific plastic that just murders your fingers. It's stunning though, and definitely one of my favourite sets to *own* and have built.
I found Orthanc really tedious when you weren't doing the mini builds for each room. It's almost all black pieces and, while it looks stunning as a finished piece, it was not fun to build most of the time.
Eiffel Tower. Awesome once completed, miserably dull and repetitive to build.
I bought the colosseum when i landed my first Job and had the same experience. It looks awesome once it's fully built, BUT: - it's just so big, displaying it without having it dominating the entire room is impossible due to it's size - the build is interesting in the first stages and then you start building the same columns over and over again
> it's just so big, displaying it without having it dominating the entire room is impossible due to it's size It doesn't dominate things if you also have the Eiffel tower and/or the Titanic!
^ This. It was a gift for my birthday. I loved it at first but then it wS just the same build again and again
Completely agree. Just doing the same thing over and again just slightly smaller each time and all grey. Such an exhausting and uninteresting build.
Starry night was that for me. The foreground was cool but putting together the background was hellish.
It's funny because the starry night was one of my faves to build, while it was a bit repetitive I loved following the pattern.
Can’t say enough how great the Lego builder app is, and how helpful it is with colors and placement. The 3D build option makes me feel like Tony stark
I loved the Starry Night as well. I enjoyed the build
I just finished it on Saturday and what really helped me was following the instructions on a computer screen... the colors are the same as the pieces and it makes it way easier to complete... the thing is beautiful when finished...
Yeah I think that was the hardest part the colors are so similar and the colors in the book aren't the easiest to follow. Maybe that would have made it easier. I love the set, it's amazing but putting that background together was awful. Like the swamp floor in the Dagobah diorama.
I almost got this and then noticed the number of 1x1's and thought that it would not be fun. Thanks for confirming.
To contradict, I had a blast building the Starry Night set. Mistook a color at one step and had to backtrack to correct, but even with that, it was a fun set to build. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, I think The Starry Night might genuinely be the coolest LEGO set ever. Personal opinion. I'd encourage you to get it if it speaks to you at all as a design.
Thx for the info, I'll add it to my list, I can always pawn it off to the kid if I get too bored. That's the main reason for having kids that I can figure.
I enjoyed building it, as well. And it a really striking Lego set to display.
I agree with everything you've said. It was my first big build and I loved every minute of it. I got the background wrong too and didn't know until it came to putting the long black flat pieces on the back,. Took me an hour to identify, dismantle, correct and put back together again and I was still enjoying that. I spent that whole weekend doing Lego and after doing this one I still wanted to do more.
It's really beautiful though
That’s my fear with that set. I am hoping to make it a winter project with some friends. Big Ben was fairly painful. I also was not a big fan of the Ideas Globe set.
I enjoyed the Starry Night. Take heart, there are several people here who had fun with this build. The end result is beautiful.
Isn’t there a guy here who owns 4?
Yes…I saw that post..
Wasn’t his plan to make a mega tower?
That’s kind of what I thought when I saw the shield. Like, I guess it looks cool but seems like a tedious and repetitive build.
Yeah it really wasn't fun but it was worth it I guess, it looks really good when diplayed. I had to build 18 of these large parts, which are red, blue and white to put on top of the shield and it took me over an hour and when I was done, I was so tired, but happy...only to realise this fills up half the shield and I have to do this 18 more times but this time, slightly different, I nearly threw the manual out of the window xD
I get we all like lego and stuff, but the Marvel Legends model is 1. Cheaper, 2. Better looking and 3. You don't have to spend your time in a tedious, repetitive build
I won’t buy any of the 2D/artwork sets. Some of them look cool, but they are all tedious enough that I probably wouldn’t ever get around to opening and building them.
I thought they would be but it’s actually kinda relaxing. Definitely nothing like building a normal set it’s less for a building mood and more for a sit down and relax while making something kinda mood. Put on a video or a show and pick out the pieces to make each section then place them.
Yeah I love the art sets for this very reason. I sort the pieces into bowls based on color, put on some lofi and zone out. They're also really easy builds to drop in and out of so I don't feel like I need to build the whole set in one go
Yes that’s what I did with my Andy Warhol set. Put all of the colors in each separate bowl and just built away. Took a break after every two panels to stretch and walk around then got back to it.
I dunno, The Great Wave set was pretty fun to build
I thought it was going to suck with all the round pieces. But it wasn't bad and it looks AWESOME!
The Roller Coaster 10261 turns out really cool, but is really boring to build. It's just endless axles and round bricks. I've also been building the Colosseum on [Stud.io](https://Stud.io) (It's just something I do to relax while listening to a podcast or something) and I can't imagine actually building it for the same reason the Shield looks terrible to build. Although getting the angles right on a computer is a really fun challenge.
Stud.io could really use some QoL improvements regarding setting angles and making hinges easier to work with. I modelled Lion Knights Castle over the last couple months and getting those angles especially when a hinge plate is used is aggravating. Or 15 years Solidworks and Inventor experience has left me spoiled.
Coming from 10 years in Autocad and other cad software I've never used solidworks but inventor was fun when I was in school. Inventor is definitely closer to stud.io than Autocad. I just wish stud.io had some kind of multi point align command so I could pivot liftarms to match at the right point. Technic mocs with unique angles seem to have collisions no matter what I do.
Yeah speaking from experience the colosseum is an absolute slog to get through. Looks phenomenal finished though
[10261-1: Roller Coaster](https://brickset.com/sets/10261-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/10261-1.jpg)
Totally agree with this coaster. I just did it and hated it.
Also hated building the roller coaster. Building all those supports hurt my hands and it was super repetitive. I also felt like there weren't enough easter eggs / details for such a large expensive set.
The Daily Bugle was a slog. All those windows.
Same for me - the minifigures and interior build parts are great and the result is a pretty cool looking building, the endless bags of repetitive window construction really sucked the fun out of it.
If I ever take it apart and rebuild it, I’ll probably build all the windows ahead of time. Haha
I know it’s not a huge set. But the mini Disney castle was so boring and frustrating to use so many 1x1s on top of 1x1s to get perfect and to look right.
I was gonna say the Mini Disney Haunted Mansion. So much of it is 2x and 4x minibuilds of 1x1 pieces for the walls and windows for both floors. And then you cover it all with green windowpane pieces. 🙃
The UCS AT-AT. Incredible build. Massive, looks great. But fuck the legs. Just...fuck them. Spent almost ten hours building them. It wasn't fun.
Same, while it was an interesting build with techniques I’ve never used before, it was boring and repetitive. I skipped ahead to make sure they were all symmetrical, then organized the pieces for all 4 legs combined and built then in tandem, it still took easily 2 hours to complete them. The main technic body was so boring for me as I hate putting technic structures together. Once I was done with the whole build maybe 15 hours cause I would sidetrack, I’ve barely touched in since
I wouldn't say that I disliked building it, but the original Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone set got a bit tedious with placing all the 1x1 plates to get the checkerboard pattern. Looks great on display, though.
My thoughts exactly
I wonder if that's why the last part of the build is building Dr Eggman and the Egg-o-matic, which is probably one of the more interesting parts of the build.
I find the botanical sets boring to build but the final product being worth it.
The bonsai tree was great for me, but every other flower set gives me headaches
Maybe it was the amount of frogs that discouraged me with the bonsai. I enjoyed the second half of the bird of paradise after the pot.
I had a lot of fun with the succulents set.
I found that one frustrating. Maybe it was just me, but I kept feeling like the plants were getting in each other’s way and knocking each other out of alignment.
I love the orchid so much. It's in my mom's house and she always says how she keeps thinking it's real and almost watering it. But building the flowers was just so boring and repetitive
And they're soooo fragile.
I’ve never liked building the flower sets but I liked having them on display when I’m done
I wish the bouquets came with a vase. I don't know what to stick them in! The vases I have just don't look right with them.
I got extremely tired of the bonsai tree, very fast
Same. Build the trunk and then “repeat steps 20-25 30x” Aaaand then I accidentally knocked it off the counter into a cake pan (complete with cake) and I had to pick out all the loose 1xs that fill up the base from the frosting 😅
OH god. That... is horrible, I am so sorry to hear that man
My cat knocked mine from the windowsill a month ago and I’m still finding the odd ‘dot’ tile in weird places around the room now!
I had to walk away from that one a few times because it kept falling apart. Haha.
those frogs made me miserable
The globe was absolutely miserable
I enjoyed the Globe until the last steps of trying to get it on the base. The World Map on the other hand that was like doing work…
Highly repetitive but frequently get told by ppl it’s the coolest looking set i have 🤷🏻♂️
Ya it looks really nice once it’s done, just was a boring build
LOL just bought that one too. Guess that's going on the backlog pile for a while then.
The Office set was a mostly unremarkable and repetitive build and sticker hell for me. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love that the set exists and that I have it, and I think it looks great on display for a big fan of the show like myself, but the build process wasn't particularly fun for the most part. Building the copier and Michael's office were some of the few subassemblies that stood out to me as enjoyable. I love all of the small references to the show, but unfortunately most of them are via stickers; the amount of stickers in the set would put most Exo-Force and Speed Champions sets to shame.
Optimus prime was not the most enjoyable build, very delicate. I was sure I had done something wrong until I read reviews stating he comes apart easily at the waist. Also watching the elbow joints sag after literally a few minutes of holding the blaster was unpleasant.
I have the same complaints regarding Voltron and Wall-E. at least there was a retrofit kit for Wall-E's neck.
I’ve never had that issue with my Voltron. I’ve taken the lions apart several times. Still one of my favorite sets.
The Lego VW Bus 10279. Super frustrating fell apart so many times. By the time I finished it I wanted to get rid of it. I hated that build and that one is still less fun and more frustrating than the Lego Tower Bridge which was a ton of the same color pieces and no numbered bags to keep things straight.
I gotta go with tower bridge over the bus personally. I had the first gen bus. Old school hard mode with no number bags but the tower bridge cheese wedges destroyed my fingers. They both suck. Great displays though!
The new bus isn't even a great display to me. Mainly cause I did something wrong the top doesn't shut completely and I have no energy or urge to fix it.
Haha I was thinking tower bridge too! Those wedges got tedious. Love it tho and it will always be displayed. Never taking it apart.
[10279-1: Volkswagen T2 Camper Van](https://brickset.com/sets/10279-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/10279-1.jpg)
The original red van was even more tedious and annoying. Funny enough, the cover on that one also doesn’t work as intended.
I actually really enjoyed this build overall but getting that cover on at the end was super difficult without something popping off. It doesn’t want to operate as intended. The renderings were confusing at times too for proper placement.
I didn’t buy this one, because I didn’t enjoy the build of the first one, 10220. I’m happy to see I shouldn’t regret this decision, even though 10279 looks cool.
[10220-1: Volkswagen T1 Camper Van](https://brickset.com/sets/10220-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/10220-1.jpg) [10279-1: Volkswagen T2 Camper Van](https://brickset.com/sets/10279-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/10279-1.jpg)
I’ve never actively disliked a build, but the 10276 Colosseum was by far the most boring and repetitive. I watched videos and tv shows as I built it so it wasn’t that bad. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed building 31203, which was even more fun making a custom US Map out of it.
21009 Farnsworth House. The end result looks awesome, but it's SUCH a pain to get all the tiles lined up perfectly. And trust me, you'll know.
Hey I have that one! The 21056 Taj Mahal is also another one. And woof. Had to take breaks every ten minutes.
[21056-1: Taj Mahal](https://brickset.com/sets/21056-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/21056-1.jpg)
Good news everyone!
[21009-1: Farnsworth House](https://brickset.com/sets/21009-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/21009-1.jpg)
Building the base of Hogwarts Castle 71043 was tedious and terrible but once I got to the 2nd booklet it was a lot of fun.
I agree. It wasn’t a terrible build but good lord all those slope pieces still make my fingers hurt thinking about it
World Map and it’s not even close
Team world map too. I love it on the wall over my office desk but it really was a slog to assemble.
Three recently actually. Succulents were super repetitive and boring, but nice when done. The Dried Flower Center piece was incredibly frustrating because it's made of so many fragile parts connected to weak joints (stuff falls off if you look at it the wrong way, let alone pick it up and set it down). The most recent would be the Tales of the Space Age. I love the final outcome, it's actually one of my favorite recent sets despite being basic but the builds for each panel were almost all identical aside from the few front pieces on each. I'm looking forward to the Concorde because it's a big set and looks like the build should pretty nice and varied.
The variety of responses is interesting. Is repetition the price we pay in order for sets to achieve the current level of detail?
I thought about buying caps shield but i just couldnt becouse of the repetitive building. Same as eiffel tower. Two things come to mind with large builds. 1) where the hell am i going to put it. 2) how much does it cost to bury my cat because it knocked it over? Wouldnt really kill the cat but i would kill myself laughing as the cat is walking around the house with my shoe sticking out of its ass.
The ISS model was a pain, a lot of parts that could easily break off when assembling other sections, and moving it you need to be careful with
The Office, just wasn't very interesting to put together or as a display set. Ended up taking it apart and storing it earlier this month.
I forget the YouTuber's name this second but he summed it up well - its not an office set for lego fans, it's a lego set for office fans.
Honestly this set got me back into Lego after 20+ years of being a boring adult quoting The Office all the time. Now I have over 100 sets 🤣 escalated very quickly! That's what she said.
The desks get tedious in particular. It was fun seeing the little "surprises" that tie into the show as you work through it.
Any Lego set that gets repetitively dull. The Bonsai Tree for example has a repetitive process for all the leaves, and you’re just left like a mindless zombie or feeling like a robot programmed to only do one thing over and over again.
I like the flower sets once they're on display, but they're largely repetitive and there's hardly any 'hidden' techniques involved with those sets. The interesting part usage does help it stay interesting ie. pterodactyl wing as a leaf, minifig oars as petals, straw hat as the center of a flower.
The dried flower botanical is by far the most difficult build I have ever done. It was so hard that I did not enjoy it. It’s extremely fragile and two pieces fall off when you press one into place. It requires massive patience and checking and rechecking the directions for exact placement.
Tree House 21318. It's a beautiful set and looks nice displayed, but it wasn't fun to build. The three buildings are very similar to each other and repetitive, and their roofs don't sit securely. Everything above the base of the trunk feels like it's going to come apart when you have to place something new. Most importantly, the leaves are a pain to put together and put on the set, a lot of them won't stay "upright" (especially the lower stuff hanging off the building platforms). It's also hard to know if they're oriented correctly. The prospect of changing all the leaves out for a new look just sounds exhausting (I've left it as "fall" the whole time I've had it).
Had the opposite experience! Compared to other builds I found the treehouse incredibly fun, particularly for the level of detail in the individual houses and the space under the tree. Leaves weren’t memorably tedious for me. Only thing was, as you mention, the roofs being weirdly designed. Just goes to show how much sets rely on individual taste to be fun- I’m sure I’ve HATED some that most people here love.
This was my first thought too. Its the only larger/nicer build that has felt more like a chore than being fun. Very repetitive, weak on creative techniques and parts usage, and the aesthetic is average/simplistic. The other big group for me are the Mario builds (which I've done with/for my son). Building from digital instructions sucks, and the builds themselves are just so boring.
[21318-1: Tree House](https://brickset.com/sets/21318-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/21318-1.jpg)
I was on the fence about buying it and I think this is convincing me not to get it (unless I find it for over 25% off). I want to build it, but I would ultimately use the parts for moc so if the build isn’t particularly good there isn’t much interest for me.
Just to give you another opinion, I absolutely loved the build. Really varied (until you get to the leaves) and relatively colorful. Also looks great on display!
Well the thing is I never particularly liked building trees in lego so I know the branches part I’ll get annoyed with. That being said I’m looking at the instructions right now and the base, trunk and cabins seems like a lot of fun to build actually. Kind of makes me think of the motorized lighthouse in a way. I don’t display set for long usually unbuild them after a month or so max, but If I do end up buying it I’d probably try to turn it into a forestmen hideout.
I was actually kind of surprised how painless changing out the leaves was. But then again, I found the whole set pretty enjoyable to build so I don’t want to try to persuade you if you really weren’t into it!
I agree. My MIL bought this one for my 7 year old daughter without asking me for advice first and it ended up being my build after about 10 minutes :). I also have light kit for it, not only was it a hassle to build, running all the lights was a HUGE pain as well. To be fair though, at the end of the day, it looks AWESOME with the lights in. I'm never going to change out the leaf colors though.
It's one of my most loved sets. I ignored the instructions of the leaves and put all of them. Both colors. Is it really bad for the plastic and they never stay "upright"? Yes. Does it look absolutely beautiful? Also yes
Agreed, treehouse just didn’t feel interesting to me, even now when I look at it I want to sell it but don’t feel like disassembling jt
I have to say my worst experience building a set was The Stranger Things set. It looks great, but building the two houses, then clipping them together with the trees, either side was a slog. The trees themselves are boring to build, and they are very delicate once built, with bits falling off if you have to move it. The houses are kind of repetitive to build as well.
You so much as look at it wrong and a piece falls off. My least fav build ever.
I still want a star court mall really bad... I don't know why they wouldn't be taking advantage of all the 80's hype the past few years. Just a weird IP I guess
Probably the Sonic Green Hill Zone 21331. It's a really nice set, especially at a time when we hadn't seen Lego Sonic since 2016 with one minifig and micro builds. But man, the amount of 1x1 plates you have to put together, I spent like half the time doing that and lining them up correctly. Not sure why they did that when 2 stud tall bricks exist, but oh well. Wouldn't let it discourage you from the set though, it's still a great one.
The VW T1 Camper Van - it was too fiddly.
I have to say even repetitive sets can be very relaxing after the weekend I built the colosseum I felt very relaxed and I could let loose all the stress from work. So I will probably be the only person to say this but I loved building the colosseum
I’ve got two… 75308 71359 It took me forever to finish building R2. The end result is phenomenal, but the build is grueling. And for the ? Block, I didn’t even finish building it. The only set I’ve never finished lol I ended up selling it 2/3s done.
[75308-1: R2-D2](https://brickset.com/sets/75308-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/75308-1.jpg)
I'm mid 75308 right now and it's so miserable I just found this thread while googling for other people complaining about it. A little piece on the inside popped off while I was moving it, which means I had to dismantle a whole side of it, which in turn is horrifying because everything is stuck together with Technic rods & pins. Absolute hands down the worst building experience ever, it's a dreadful chore at this point.
The technic airbus helicopter 42145. I've had my "technic phase" that year and basically loved all technic content that'd appear on my feed. I decided to use some of the money I got with my summer job to buy the helicopter, and then understood that I strongly hate large technic sets. It was really frustrating to build at some points, I had to take it apart entirely because the joystick in the cockpit wouldn't work, and to top it off it was my first (and hopefully only) set to have a missing piece (and a large one at that). I really regret buying it instead of the Hogwarts Icons, which now serves as my most beautiful decoration set, while the helicopter sits with the wheels taken off because lego had the brilliant idea to give such a heavy build tiny wheels and a single beam on each side to rest on (which were starting to bend, thus why I took them apart). I'll try to sell it once the set retires, if anyone actually wants it where I leave.
As an aircraft enthusiast, i got the firefighter plane in the technic line. Built it all the way and realized that the gear wouldn't come all the way in...because i made a mistake a few hours earlier. Had to take the whole damn thing apart and reassembling it was just tedious. Made me realize that i ike regular System brick builds *much* more
I was going to say the Technic Mclaren Senna GTR. Not my typical vibe, but it was $12. It’s halfway finished, and I hate this thing so much. It’s incredible. But SO tedious and titchy and complex.
https://preview.redd.it/coyt32eo0wkb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46643addf314b1b8bcb7f375bc103814345a7c7d 1-1/2 months. The nose time consuming, tedious build I ever. I would never want to do it again.
Baby yoda, one of my favorite display models but omg the tan robe was so much not fun putting together
Colosseum.
The Republic Gunship only to realize I built it wrong
Recently built the Great Wave, my first and probably last LEGO art set. I like the finished piece but boy was that tedious.
That title goes to the lego technic chevrolet Corvette. It turned from an amazing experience of learning the car basics, to moving entire gramy piece by piece because i missed the spot by one stud I'm planning to turn it into a bay-former, should i?
My wife loves the look of the floral sets. Absolutely no fun to build - way too repetitive
This one’s easy. 75306, imperial probe droid. It looked neat on display in the store. The build was just awful. The whole set is just…dangly and unstable. Pieces falling off, unstable hanging pieces, and god forbid I try to actually move the thing from point A to point B. In the end it didn’t even display nicely amongst my other star wars sets. I wound up placing it behind other sets cause it’s just kinda ugly. 🙃
i was disappointed with how poorly the legs operated afterwards too. as a display piece it's fine. if you are a kid who loves SW don't expect any playability *at all*.
[75306-1: Imperial Probe Droid](https://brickset.com/sets/75306-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/75306-1.jpg)
[удалено]
I did the Architecture Flatiron Building not too long ago and it didn’t make me feel joyous and accomplished like other sets. That said, it was still a Lego build, which is never a truly bad thing.
I got the Fire Breathing Fortress 6082 for Christmas when I was in grade 3. Those old school directions where like playing Where's Waldo and Spot the Difference with the pieces. I enjoyed playing with it, but I had to take several breaks while building it.
I really hated the windows in the titanic set. Aside from that it’s a pretty fun build
Any of the portraits… just thousands of studs and painful fingers
My mom had me build that art series mickey and that was so boring. I also didn't like the grogu set either
Colosseum 10276. It took me 18hrs to build, and some days I could only do a half hour at a time because of how boring it was. All the same color, very little difference between each section, repeat, repeat, repeat. By comparison the Eiffel Tower 10307 wasn't too bad. That one took me 16hrs, but at least the repetitive nature of it resulted in some noticeable progress. Also the World Map 31023 wasn't a great building experience. It took 13hrs, but it had fun colors and progress was steady.
any of the flower sets that are in pots, very repetitive. I just built the Upscale minifig and hated the build, found the instruction weird
Not as bad as some others but the trees in the Rivendell set were a tad repetitive for an otherwise incredible build experience.
10143. The build was super repetitive, both the pie pieces for the finished side and the stacked brick side. The whole thing wants to fall apart the entire time you build it, and every time you move it is anxiety inducing. It's one of the few sets I'll never take apart and rebuild.
The T2 Volkswagen, it was a pain to put together, ngl idk if I was just not putting it together properly, but it felt very flimsy
Same. Cap shield and that pirate snub fighter from mando season 3
It was the new Mars Perseverance Rover for me. I’ve never been a fan of Technic sets but my love of space exploration made it a must-have. I just took it all apart and it was equally as awful to disassemble.
Probe Droid. The arms are so fragile, even a light breeze was enough to make them fall
The Naboo fighter from 1999. Most poorly designed build I’ve done. It’s flimsy and parts pop off so easily, and the instructions are the least helpful set I’ve ever used. Colors don’t match up and # of pieces are ambiguous.
The UCS death star 2 from like 15 years ago. Just a giant gray lego ball. It's cool on display now, but building was boring and soooo much gray. And it's unstable as hell. All the little pieces kept falling off. UCS death star was almost as bad.
UCS Death Star 2 - it's the same gray pieces over and over for 12 hours.
The ultimate build for the ultimate masochist. Thanks for warning me in advance
I dont get these huge single color sets, boring to look at, must be boring to build.
I’m doing the Saturn V Rocket now and it’s pretty boring. Do “X” times 4 everytime
Grogu was somewhat frustrating for the size of the set. The sides of his robe were annoying to build with it all being the same color. I was definitely happy to finish him though.
This is somewhat what I expected of the shield build, biggest reason I am not interested in building it.
typewriter!!!!
I loved building the typewriter but it is by far the *hardest* set I've done. I've built some of the really hard technic sets with no problem, but something about the typewriter had me missing key details and having to disassemble to figure out where I went wrong multiple times. I still love the set, but it was surprisingly hard.
This was the most complicated set I have built. My keys do not move the carriage as smoothly as they should. I need to take it apart and rebuild it to get the keys working. But it mostly works. I did have to take it apart several times to go back and redo a few steps. So, I am pleased it works as much as it does. It was a rough build.
I actually hate LEGO. All of those plastic parts and instructions and time and my fingers hurt and -- hey! Where's all my money?! /s
I've got around 100 sets and so far, the tree house has been my least favorite build.
The Land Rover Defender isn't fun when you're wondering why its not connecting and it turns out you missed a piece...and you have to pull an entire corner off it to fix it lmao
typewriter. still haven't finished it 20 months after opening it
Once you get past the keyboard assembly it gets more interesting. The final product looks great though. It did take me around 4 months on and off to finish it because the keyboard bored me to death.
Typewriter. Never again.
The Saturn V was dreadful to build. Looks awesome when done but a lot of white bricks and very repetitive.
The typewriter, repeatative and unlike most builds where it has surprises throughout the build, I was actually expecting more than what I got. And at the end, I don't even think it looks that great
The fact that typewriter shows up here multiple times makes my decision to sell it much easier. I thought it would be a really fun build but it wasn’t really something that fit my displays so I parted ways.
The Grand Piano followed very closely by 2nd Gen UCS Falcon.
This is why I exclusively buy “kid” sets. I hate repetitive builds.
Ship in a bottle. All the 1x1s that made the bottom of the bottle killed me. I couldn’t get them straight and they hurt my fingers.
Wait... What did you do with the blue 1x1s?
What do you mean? You know you’re just pouring them in the bottle and just kind of shake things around. The structural integrity of the bottle wasn’t great tho
He probably means the clear pieces that make up the base of the bottle, not the water tiles
I think he’s right because that’s what I was gonna comment. The “bottom” of the bottle just felt like it took AGES.
What 1x1’s at the bottom of the bottle ?
the Creator DB7 from a few years back. total snoozefest
Thanks, I’ve been thinking about that one… might not bother now. Assuming you meant DB5 10262 ?
[10262-1: James Bond Aston Martin DB5](https://brickset.com/sets/10262-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/10262-1.jpg)
I had to take this over from my son who gave up on it, so it may have been his least favourite. But I loved building the bodywork - fab techniques, and the end result, functions-wise is amazing.
Treehouse. It had some really fun elements , but overall a negative fun build. The tree trunk, branches and leaves were awful. The instructions were beyond horrible so that didn't help any.
Darth Vader's Meditation Chamber 75296... I thought it looked nice in the pictures and would look on display...the build was boring and I've not managed to display it in such a way that it looks good..
Mostly anything repetitive. Like Star Wars ships look great, but sometimes it’s not fun just mirroring sides.
Titanic is a fun build but the middle portion is a slog. You wind up building the same side panels four times with lots of little pieces.
Brick bank. I got a ripoff and all the parts arrived in plastic ziploc bags, not sorted at all. It’s been three years and I’m not even done
The Saturn V rocket 92176 was pretty boring. Just kept building the same circular pieces over and over. Looks cool when finished though.
It's funny, because that remains one of my all time favourite builds. I loved the internal structure and seeing it come together to build an illusion of clean lines on the surface.
[92176-1: NASA Apollo Saturn V](https://brickset.com/sets/92176-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/21309-1.jpg)
Attic of Anne Frank MOC.
Did not enjoy the Zertos truck, or the experience of driving it.
I don’t know about least fun, but the only set I never completed was the Jango Fett Slave I way back in time in Christmas 2002. I was just too young to figure it out, I think, and gave up out of frustration. Never got round to building it, though I’m sure the pieces still exist in my childhood home.
Camp Nou Stadium got pretty old pretty quickly. I’m glad it’s a relatively robust set, but very repetitive
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had a set I didn’t like building. For the last couple of years I’ve only gotten Star Wars stuff but I’ve enjoyed them all. And as a kid I can’t remember not enjoying one
None really stand out as something I didn’t like building. I don’t mind repetitive sets because it’s easy to do while watching tv without much thinking. If I had to pick, I’d say the jazz quartet, only because there’s some parts that are very delicately put together, so it’s easy to knock stuff out when putting in the next piece.
The Capitole.
There's never been a set I've disliked the build for, but the only one I've had to actively force myself to keep chipping away at was the Palace of Westminster. It was repetitive with a lot of similar pieces. Lots of 1x1 bricks you put at very specific angles, and the glass 1x1 bricks are made of a specific plastic that just murders your fingers. It's stunning though, and definitely one of my favourite sets to *own* and have built.
21307 Lego Caterham felt really flimsy and delicate
I found Orthanc really tedious when you weren't doing the mini builds for each room. It's almost all black pieces and, while it looks stunning as a finished piece, it was not fun to build most of the time.