In the year 2000, I was fortunate enough to take a trip of a lifetime and go to France for 2 weeks, including spending several days in and around Paris. I was able to see the Eiffel Tower firsthand and went up to the second level observation deck to take in the sights of the city. It was truly amazing.

Fast forward to over 20 years later, when I've gotten back into LEGO and they release this absolutely massive, 10,000 piece replica of this modern marvel. Once I saw how amazing it looked, I knew I needed to find a place for this set in my home. Here is my review of this absolutely bonkers huge set.

When completed, this set will stand nearly 5 feet tall and almost 2x2 ft length/width. The entire build took me roughly 3 weeks to complete. That includes longer build times during weekends (3-4 hours) and then several weeknights, for 1-2 hours each. I was a 1-man show building this, so it took a while. If you are one person alone, building this - it will wear you down. It's so very repetitive! Lots of x2 or x4 during the process. This would make a tremendous set to build with 2-4 people, because you can easily divide up the process. Either by doing each step altogether or by building each of the 3 sections at the same time.

Unboxing and building. First large box creates the base. This build goes along rather quickly.... UNTIL you hit the "build a tree" marathon. Then you come to a grinding and frustrating (at times) halt. There is definitely no way to quickly build all of these trees, so it becomes quite a slog.

This is about the only time you will find colors, other than dark grey, dark grey or dark grey as you go. Also, there isn't really much in the way of technic pieces and parts throughout the entire construction. Just a few minor connection points at each level of the build, for strength.

The second box is the start of the infinity of the same dark grey parts. This isn't a set for multiple diversity of parts. It feels like you are constantly dealing with the same 20 parts for the rest of the build. Given the look of the structure, this shouldn't be a real surprise. I started to sort each bag up as they were opened, much like I would a technic set, because it was easier to grab parts from the same pile, than to fish around for them. In the second box, you construct the first set of legs and then add in the fancy upside down curves, created using roller coaster track! Great use of parts, as it really look fantastic once you have those curves attached.

As you move your way up the build, you create "bases" that will simply sit on top of the already completed section. There is no true connection point - they simply are slotted into the pieces below them, like tongue in groove and held there by gravity. This makes the entire set much easier to break down and transport into several sections.

Onto the final box - which contains the last of the 74 bags. Almost all of the bags are numbered, though there are times where 2 bags are used at the same time for the build. There are several unnumbered bags that contain the larger pieces and base (newer road plates) used.

By this point in the build - you will feel that the task is endless. You will be very familiar with the same type of girder building that you have already done 20+ times by now and still a long ways to go. It varies slightly, but not nearly enough that the whole build really starts to feel like a chore. I love LEGO and I love building - but this set is downright TEDIOUS!!

Almost to the top! The end is near! You can see that the elevators have been hidden in the inside and provide the tiniest flecks of color, buried deep inside the set.

WHEW! Its done and you feel a sense of extreme accomplishment and relief. And the end result is truly spectacular.

For scale - here's the latest technic Ferrari

A quick pros/cons list:

Pro: Looks AMAZING, truly. My hats off to the designer. I feel they really captured a wonderful version of this amazing structure.

For 10,000 pieces, this isn't outrageously expensive. Don't get me wrong, a $600+ set IS expensive and even after saving up a LOT of discounts, it's still a luxury purchase for me.

Neutral - depending on your particular interest - building it could be good/bad. If you want a mental challenge and something to keep you busy for a while - this is it. If you want to avoid repetition - this is NOT the set for you.

Cons: This build will wear you down. And definitely not a lot of variety to the pieces, which is understandable. If you NEED a ton of the same dark grey pieces, then this will do wonders to your collection. Its not a set that really can be played with - its a showpiece/dust collector, for sure.

Having said all of this - am I glad I bought and built this set? 100% yes. Would I tear it down and build it again? At this point, I honestly doubt it!