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Set Review: 21020 Trevi Fountain
 Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 at 9:52pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager[Source: Zatth] Today Forum Assistant Zatth gives us his first set review on the front page. He's decided to take a look at 21020 Trevi Fountain from the LEGO Architecture theme. To see whether this set should flow into your shopping cart or sink back on the shelves, read on! Presentation
Like many of the other LEGO Architecture sets, you get the beautiful image of the set along with basic info like the name, set number, and age range. The contrast between a white set and a black background works well for the LEGO Architecture boxes, but this set combines white pieces with trans blue ones, and both of these colors on the black background creates a very aesthetically-pleasing effect. On the back, you get a picture of the original Trevi Fountain, along with information about it printed in different languages.
On the sides of the box, you get images showing how the finished product will look from a bird’s eye view, and from sideways. It adds a nice touch as if to suggest that this set is worth it just for its aesthetic beauty.
Like other Architecture sets, the instruction booklet is bound, and includes the instructions as well as information on the Trevi Fountain and its architect, printed in English, Italian, and Spanish. It’s nice to study these pictures up close, as it makes it even more worthwhile when you’re building the set and you notice how well it matches up with the original fountain. Building
A very pleasing aspect of this build that, unfortunately isn’t present in many other LEGO Architecture sets, is that the build isn’t 100% repetitive. Unlike the Eiffel Tower where the four sides are built the same or the White House where the front and back are very straightforward builds, this set reminds me more of the Fallingwater set. Both include nature within its build, and this is very clear in the Trevi Fountain. Not only does the trans blue build differ from side to side to make the water seem more natural, but many of the jutting rocks have cheese slopes facing different ways, ensuring that not only will the set look more natural, but it won’t be as boring. It also has some interesting uses of jumper tiles, especially towards the end of the build. Apart from that, however, it’s an advanced, but straightforward build. Set Design
Apart from many tiles, white, grey, and trans clear pieces, this set shines through because of its trans blue pieces. There are many 1x2 and 1x1 plates, as well as some 1x1 trans blue bricks, that will be very useful for landscaping a MOC. Also of note is the masonry piece that appeared in brown in the Bag End set, and appears here in grey. I also thing we haven’t seen the LEGO Games micro fig in white before, but it’s used very nicely in this set. Otherwise, you get a good amount of clear trans, white and grey plates and bricks. Of especial importance are many grey cheese slopes, which create the appearance of natural rocks and can give you ideas on how to landscape your system-based MOC.
As soon as you snap the last part in place, you have to step back and admire the set in awe. It all comes together to create the mesh of man-made and natural wonder, culminating in the model of the Trevi Fountain. It’s large enough that you can notice specific details like the tritons, the water, and the jagged rocks, but small enough that you can still get the big picture. Again, when others look at it they will be taken aback by how beautiful it is, but by taking a closer look they can really appreciate how the simplicity of the color palette and the piece selection creates this set. It was fun to build, and it will be fun to look at. Playability
This set is more to look at, rather than play with. Unless you want to add it to a larger diorama of other LEGO Architecture sets or a micro-Rome, it doesn’t really serve much of a playable purpose. The exception is, of course, if you can re-create that one scene from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, or you can make your imagination rein free. Will the real Chris Pratt please stand up? Final Thoughts
While this set costs $50 and doesn’t have as many colours/interesting new pieces as one would hope, the interesting build and end result are more than enough of a reason to get it. A faithful representation of the Trevi Fountain that beautifully recreates the water, rocks, and sculptures, it will not only look great for others to admire, but it leaves you quite satisfied by the end of the building process. Please join me in thanking Zatth for putting this review together - hopefully you found it enjoyable and informative. As per usual, you can leave questions and comments in the Talkback thread on the forums. And of course, stay tuned to BZPower for more set reviews and LEGO news!
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