LEGO Ultimate Building Set – 405 Pieces

5 Comments

1. Beabea says:

   September 5, 2010 at 3:47 pm

   Review by Beabea
   Rating:
   I bought this for my children and to relive my days of playing with Legos in the 1970s. The kids really enjoy playing with them. I like this generic collection of mult-purpose bricks better than the sets that are designed to build one unique item. For the price (normally around twenty five dollars), you get a reasonable amount of stuff. On the down side, there are a lot of the smaller bricks (1 x 2 and 1 x 1). After playing with this for a few days I found that my kids wanted plates, bricks (2 x 4 and 2 X 8), and wheels (my son loves to make cars). I went to lego dot com where I was able to buy these specific things separately. Also, if you want to find some odd parts from old sets (even going back to the 1970s) try bricklink dot com. It takes awhile to navigate the site, but you can buy whatever individual pieces you want used.

   In summary, buy this set first from Amazon and then go to lego dot com or bricklink dot com to buy wheels, bricks and plates.
2. Rocco says:

   September 5, 2010 at 4:05 pm

   Review by Rocco
   Rating:
   No they are not cheap. No the box isn’t full to even half capacity. But these toys are still around for a reason: they rock. More specifically, they are indestructible, offer immense replay value, encourage creative quiet and thoughtful play, promote fine motor skill development, and they are just plain fun.

   Think about the countless cheap $3.99 and $4.99 soft plastic throw away toys you’ve bought over the years: invariably imported and with unknown lead content, cost pennies to make, including the polly pockets, fairies, mermaids, bratz, little ponies, strawberry shortcakes, littlest petz, etc. All of those toys are very restrictive in the type of play they permit, fall apart, and lose your child’s interest after a few days.. until you buy another worthless set for their next “fix.”

   In the case of legos i would argue that if you just refrain from buying those cheap blister packed toys for a few months you will have saved more than enough to get this or another “flexible” set of legos. I don’t care for the elaborate lego sets that have you follow intricate instructions to build a pirate ship, or harry potters house, or a star wars backdrop,etc. Those are just as restrictive and inflexible in their play.

   So get this set or something similar as soon as you are sure your kid won’t choke on a brick. It is something they will play with now and in the future. You’ll beat inflation, you’ll have it for future kids you might have, or those who might visit, and it will always have excellent resale value on e_bay.

   As for the merits and value of this particular set, i think it is fairly reasonable relative to prices for used, bulk collections you might get on an auction website, or compared to the more expensive, larger, thematic sets – such as the “townhouse”, lunar lander, or whatever. It has 4 wheels, 2 axles, 1 figure (a mechanic dude), a set of mini tools for the figure, 1 door, 2 windows, some clear pieces for windshields or windows, a propellor/windmill piece, a radiator grille, a cute mini steering wheel, and assorted bricks including some long ones. The base unfortunately isn’t even standard height, but sort of a cheap 1/5 or 1/4 height. So that’s a little lame. So it isn’t perfect but i can’t find a better variety pack for the price. Although the Lego 4+ Basic Bulk Set might be a good second set to consider.

   We got this set to augment the pink little girls set with the jump rope on the box. Together they are a reasonable set but its still a small collection. I would contend that similar to the defense department maintaining an army that can fight a war in 2 theatres at once, you should have enough legos to build 2 houses at once. That is unless you have more than 2 kids…
3. Suzanne says:

   September 5, 2010 at 4:39 pm

   Review by Suzanne
   Rating:
   This big “ultimate” lego box looks so big but once you open it and the bags they are in, it ends up being about 1/4 full which is disappointing. It is a good starter set but I think you need at least 2-3 of these boxes to make anything interesting over a few inches.

   Update: My daughter likes these legos but has gone back to her trusty duplos since they offer more variety, height and ease of use. I will try and get a bulk set to add to these but legos are very expensive for what you get. Within the 405 pieces, many are only one tiny square big or half the depth as a basic lego – meaning you have to stack 2 on top of each other to get a basic lego height. They seem very hard to put together too. Overall I am very disappointed in the purchase.
4. carolyn says:

   September 5, 2010 at 5:31 pm

   Review by carolyn
   Rating:
   This is such a fabulous starter set for Legos. It has all the right “boy” parts in it including airplane propellers, race car steering wheels, etc. This set is very well loved in this house and has built everything from race tracks to helicopters. Great, great fun and provides HOURS of entertainment. If you are getting these for a true Lego afficionado, be sure to pick up a couple of them. It has quite a few pieces but to truly build a bunch of stuff, you’ll need more. Wait for a sale, however, Easter and Christmas usually provides a great sale at the giant toystore with an r in the name. Watch Amazon too – they knock ten bucks off the price every now and then! Highly, highly recommend!
5. M. Briggs says:

   September 5, 2010 at 6:13 pm

   Review by M. Briggs
   Rating:
   I have been searching for a nice box of good old fashioned legos for my 6 year old. To our disappointment, there are very few pieces in this roomy box. Kids can only really build one or two things at a time as there are not enough peices to do more. I would recommend buying a few other sets of legos to add to this kit…