If you wondering whether or not to buy this set, I hope that my review can be of assistance to you!

Box/Instructions

The box is very big for this set, as are all LEGO boxes for products over $100, and it is probably oversized for looks to make people buy it. The instructions are fairly easy to follow, and consist of 3 instruction packets.

Parts

This set has a very wide variety of parts. From the flowers out in front of the store to the giant "glass" skylight on the roof it sure seems like this set has it all. Even inside the store there is merchandise such as wine glasses and some toys.

Minifigures

This set includes 6 mini figures:

- A female worker

- A female shopper

- A male shopper (That appears to have no pants on in the changing room!)

- A male kid

- A bride display

- A groom display

This set has a pretty good variety of mini figs that increase the playability of the finished set.

The build

Be prepared to work a while on this one. It usually takes me only one or two hours to complete a "hard" LEGO set so I thought maybe this set would take 4 or 5 hours to complete. Boy was I wrong. The detailing in this set was amazing, but in turn it took me three days to complete this set. (Working about 3 to 4 hours a day.) Alas, it was well worth the finished product.

The completed model

The completed model reminds me of a corner shop in New York City. It is amazing to look at on the outside, and just as intricate with detail on the inside. With cool details such as escalators and a chandelier just below the skylight, this building is really complete with no loose ends to make you ask, "What in the world did they include this for?"

Overall opinion

Overall, this set captures exactly what it's name suggests. It certainly is grand, and simply calling it a store doesn't do it justice; it is an emporium. You get a lot for you money with this set in my opinion. I believe my money was well spent!

Box/Instructions

The box was so much bigger than I imagined it would be and has great artwork on it showing the shuttle from all different angles. The instructions were very easy to follow and consisted of two instruction packets.

Parts

This set has 1230 pieces and just a few "special" parts just for this set. The parts are mostly just ordinary LEGO pieces.

Minifigures

This set includes 3 mini figures:

- A female astronaut

- A male astronaut

- A service worker

The build

The build, I thought, was very fun. It was cool to see the shuttle taking shape throughout the building process. In some ways, this could be educational in that kids get to see the different parts of the shuttle like the CanadaArm, main engines, and the crew area.

The completed model

The completed product just looks amazing, not to mention the overall sturdy structure to make it very playable. (More so than the Shuttle Adventure.) The only problem would be that the cargo bay doors have a very slight gap where they meet up to close. This is only a VERY minor defect and does not take away from the overall beauty of this completed set.

Overall opinion

As an avid NASA fan, I believe LEGO certainly did there homework on this set. Obviously, this model isn't perfectly like the real NASA shuttles, but I believe LEGO did everything that they could to capture the image of the space shuttle and its legacy. They did a very good job of making this set more sturdy than its predecessor, the Shuttle Adventure. The subtle changes that LEGO made, like making the wheel mechanisms better and adding bars to the fuel tank to better hold the SRBs, defiantly made this set. If you are deciding whether or not to pay a little more than face value for this set, because it has been retired, I believe it is well worth the money!

I hope my review is of assistance to you!

Box/Instructions

The box is an average sized City box, so not to big and not to small just about the right size for the product. The instructions were fairly simple to follow.

Parts

This isn't a huge set, so you get some rare-ish parts like the pieces for the actual fuel tank trailer, but most pieces are just average parts.

Minifigures

This set includes one minifigure;

- An Octan male worker

The build

The build didn't take me too long, maybe 30 - 45 minutes to fully assemble this set. This product is just like any other City sets for the most part in terms of the building process.

The completed model

The completed model is a nice piece, although it's probably going to be used more for play than display. The playability is increased through the little gas tank that could be used to fill up a LEGO car. The little gas tank can be "filled" up by the big gas tank's fuel line that has a nozzle on the end.

Overall opinion

This set, overall, is a nice little set. Like I said before, this set is probably more for play than display. I hope LEGO comes out with a new version of the old gas station so that collectors have a reason to buy this product. In the mean time, this set will "fuel" the imagination of tomorrow's builders!

I hope my review can be of assistance to you!

Box/Instructions

The box is actually pretty cool. It includes facts and pictures of the real Empire State Building. I actually kept my box and used it as a backdrop for the model itself. The instructions are pretty straightforward and very easy to follow.

Parts

This set has most parts in the iconic Empire State Building's tan color. Of course, this model isn't the real thing, so there aren't that many parts and to the best of my knowledge there are no specialty parts for this set.

Minifigures

This set includes no mini figures.

The build

The build really took me only 15 to 20 minutes, so it was a nice little build like most other Architecture sets.

The completed model

The completed model does look like the Empire State Building and the scaling was done almost perfectly. I think the parts used were very appropriate for the scale at hand.

Overall opinion

Overall, this product is mainly going to be a nice little display piece. It is nothing huge but is a must have for LEGO Architecture collectors. The only thing I wish LEGO would have done is make the Empire State Building into a model making series set. Still, this is a fitting model of the State Building.