Architecture

Shanghai

The best skyline LEGO ever made, quietly brought back to life.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 21068 · 2025

Pieces597

Minifigsn/a

Year2025

Set number21068

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The verdict

This is a straight re-release of the beloved 21039 Shanghai from 2018, same 597 pieces, same buildings, just a fresh set number and updated moulds.

If you missed the original (it retired years ago) this is a gift, because it was the first Skyline set that reviewers actually called a must-have. The Shanghai Tower and its twisting Technic trick alone are worth the box. Just know it is a China-market release for now, so getting one outside Asia can cost you more than the shelf price.

Best for: Architecture fans who missed the original 21039 and want the best Skyline set on their shelf

The full review

What it is

I have a real soft spot for the Skylines line, and Shanghai is the one I always point people to first. This 2025 set, numbered 21068, is a faithful re-release of 21039 from 2018, the same 597 pieces packing in eight Shanghai landmarks: the Chenghuang Miao Temple, the Longhua Temple and Pagoda, the old Bund buildings like the Customs House and the HSBC building, the Radisson Blu, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Tower. What got me the first time was how each of those buildings uses its own little technique. You never feel like you are repeating yourself, and the finished strip has a proper premium weight to it.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the caveats, because there are a few. First, this is a genuine re-release with no design changes at all, so if you already own 21039 there is nothing new here to justify buying it again. Second, the original launched at 59.99 dollars and was widely called a touch overpriced even then, and because 21068 is a China-market set for now, tracking one down elsewhere usually means paying an import premium on top. Third, like most Skyline models it is built to be viewed from the front. The medium-blue building in particular has a strange back side, and the skyline reads as a bit unbalanced when your eye jumps from the tiny temples to the towering skyscrapers.

Who it's for

So who is this actually for? If you love the Architecture line and never managed to grab the original before it retired, this is a genuine second chance at what many of us think is the strongest set in the whole Skylines range, and I would grab it. City-skyline collectors and anyone with a personal Shanghai connection will adore it on a shelf or a desk. The people I would gently steer away are existing 21039 owners (you already have this exact model) and builders who want a big, meaty, engineering-heavy sit-down build. This is a compact display piece, best enjoyed for its clever little tricks rather than its hour count.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one is a series of small delights rather than a marathon. Each landmark is its own self-contained puzzle, and the star is the Shanghai Tower, where Technic 3x3 half-beam curves and flexible tubes are bent to fake the real building's twisting silhouette. It is the kind of technique that makes you stop and admire it once it clicks together. The Oriental Pearl Tower is nearly as fun, with three legs of stacked 1x1 cylinders holding up its spheres, though the base is a little bare if I am being honest. The Huangpu River runs along the front in trans-light-blue tiles over green plate, a simple touch that pulls the whole scene together.

For parts fans there are some real treats. The two spheres of the Oriental Pearl Tower use 3x3 inverted radar dishes in a bright magenta that was new for that element, and it genuinely pops against the tan and grey. There are thirty-two medium-blue 1x3 tiles with two studs (a new mould at the time) plus four in light-bluish-grey. The base is capped with a single printed Shanghai nameplate tile, the only printed piece in the box, and for a set this size the mix of specialised Technic and curved elements makes 597 pieces feel like better value than the count suggests.

Fun facts

01Set 21068 is a direct re-release of 21039 Shanghai from 2018, with the exact same 597-piece count and no changes to the model beyond an updated set number and mould variants.
02The original 21039 packed in eight separate buildings, more Shanghai landmarks than any earlier set in the Skylines range had managed.
03The magenta 3x3 inverted radar dishes used for the Oriental Pearl Tower's spheres debuted in this set as a brand-new colour for that part.
0421068 launched as a China-market exclusive, giving fans outside Asia a rare chance to own a Skyline model that had already retired everywhere else.