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Set Review: 21030 United States Capitol Building
 Saturday, October 29th, 2016 at 5:04pm by Benjamin, BZPower ReporterIn a row of monuments and museums that make up the DC Mall, one building stands at the end to make all the rules: The Capitol Building in Washington, DC, United States of America. This iconic landmark is finally realized as a LEGO Architecture set, with plenty of details to keep even the fastest builder busy for a while. But is it worthwhile? Is the Capitol Building worthy of joining other DC sets, like the White House and Lincoln Memorial? Check out the review to find out!
A big thank you to LEGO for sending BZPower this set so I can share my opinions on it. It's a big set, something I usually avoid, so it's nice to have the opportunity to build it. It has 1032 pieces and retails for $100 USD. Presentation
The box is big. It has to hold all those parts. It also has the fancy design to open up with flaps and close nicely too, though unlike other Architecture and Ideas sets, this one will not fit back inside its box upon completion. The box boasts that it is 445 millimeters long, which comes out to about a foot and a half. This is a European box, as it has no piece count, but I wonder if the American box will have that measurement in inches. The back of the box shows off the Statuary feature in the set, compares the look of the build to the real thing, and gives a fact about the building, one of many that follow in the instruction booklet. Building
The set took me about three hours to build, and my non-LEGO-building boss built one and it took her about five hours. Why so long? Well... There are A LOT of little parts! And the agonizing part is the Architecture sets don't come in numbered, step-by-step baggies like most sets. Here, you have to dump it all out at once and sift through all the different piles; thank goodness for sorting tubs. One polybag was solely about 100 white washing machine bricks! Luckily you start to remember where certain parts or types are, but it still takes a while. The build is strictly studs-up, with all the little parts making up lots of details from the windows, the statues, and the stairs and other slopes. It is a lot of layers, building one or two bricks high over the surface, and then continuing on the next level from there. Once you get to building the roof things pick up in speed, but until that the build feels like it will take forever. But despite the time commitment, it looks great! It is a satisfying build that really comes together. Set Design
There are some pretty cool parts in here. Some new, some old but great to have. Lots of sand green and some olive green. Lots of fancy white parts, like the 2x2 corner tile. Six of each the white and the grey statue figs. And of course the fancy label tile with the set name on it.
As far as I can tell, the building itself matches up pretty accurately to the real deal. There are colunms, round and square windows, stairs, slopes, and everything else all in the right places. It even has a tiny statue on the top. Playability
This set is not a “for play” toy. It is more of a “for display” model. That said, you have some options: 1) The Statuary Hall can be viewed by easily removing the center dome, which is a nice reason to take it off the shelf and show it to any house guests that need to be impressed with your collection. 2) Toss some minifigs on it to rampage through the Senate. So, a little fun can be had. Final Thoughts
LEGO has really outdone themselves with this set. The Architecture line keeps getting better and better each year, not just with the selection of models but with the details put into each one. I wish the build could have gone by a little faster, but a slow, methodical build is nice once in a while. The part selection is great, which lead to a fantastic-looking model for display. Or...to be sorted into your collection to make use of that sweet sand-green. The set offers a lot, making it a worthy addition of the LEGO Architecture line.
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