Architecture

Statue of Liberty

Lady Liberty in tan and sand green, and honestly she pulls it off.

Brick Rated Score

4.1/5

Set 21042 · 2018

Pieces1,685

Minifigsn/a

Year2018

Set number21042

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The verdict

This one grew on me the more I looked at her.

The tan and sand green pairing is spot on for that weathered copper look, and at 44cm she's the tallest set the Architecture line has ever done, which counts for something on a shelf. The blank face is a real love-it-or-hate-it call, so go in knowing that. If you want a display piece with genuine presence and you don't mind a repetitive pedestal, she's an easy yes.

Best for: Architecture collectors who want a tall, recognizable centerpiece

The full review

What it is

The Statue of Liberty (21042) is the third time LEGO has tackled Lady Liberty, and it's comfortably the best of the three. This is a 1,685 piece LEGO® set that stands nearly 44cm tall once she's finished, which makes her the tallest thing the Architecture line has ever produced. What really sells it isn't the height though, it's the color. Designer Rok Zgalin Kobe built her out of tan and sand green, and that combination does a lovely job of capturing the way the real statue's copper skin has oxidized to that soft mint green over the decades. She sits on a proper pedestal with columned balconies and shield detailing, and that base is honestly what turns her from a figure into a monument. The torch is raised, the tablet is tucked in her left arm, the seven-ray crown is up top, and from across a room she reads instantly as who she's meant to be.

The catch

Now for the honest bits. The pedestal, which is a big chunk of the parts, is symmetrical on all four sides, so you're building the same section four times in a row. It's relaxing if you're in the right mood and a bit of a slog if you're not. The bigger talking point is the face. Rather than try to sculpt her features, Kobe used a single smooth curved element and left it blank, and the LEGO community has argued about that choice since day one. Some people find it elegant and abstract, others think she looks a little eerie up close. I've landed on liking it, but you should decide with your eyes open. The last stretch of the figure is also the fiddliest part of the whole build, the kind of section where you'll want to slow down and follow the instructions carefully or you'll be undoing work. And at the original 119.99 US price she was never a bargain on paper, though the finished size softens that a lot.

Who it's for

So who should grab her? If you collect Architecture sets or you just want a tall, recognizable landmark that holds a shelf on its own, she's an easy recommendation and one of the strongest models the theme has done. If you build for clever engineering and surprising techniques, know that a good portion of this is patient repetition rather than aha moments. And a heads up on timing: after a long run since 2018, this set is retiring, so if she's been on your list the window is closing. For a display-first landmark with real height and a color palette that just works, she's very much worth it.

The parts story

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

Building her happens in clear stages. First comes the pedestal, which is the easiest and most repetitive part of the whole thing, four matching sides with columned balconies and shield detailing that go together quickly. Then you move up into the body and robe, where things get more interesting as the flowing folds start taking shape with layered slopes. The final stretch, the upper body, raised arm, torch, and crown, is by a wide margin the fiddliest, the kind of delicate assembly where a little extreme attention to detail saves you from redoing it. It's a 16+ build and it earns that label toward the end.

The parts choices are where the design really shows off. Liberty's flame is a minifigure hairpiece in warm gold, freshly recolored from the black version made for Captain Salazar in the Pirates of the Caribbean Silent Mary set. The crown's seven rays are Unikitty-style horn pieces standing in for the seven seas and continents, and the broken chains at her feet are represented with cut handcuff elements. Parts nerds get a genuine treat too: the set brings back 1x2 grille tiles in sand green for the first time since the early 2000s, adds three sand green hinge tops in that color, and debuts the 3x3 wedge brick in white. At 1,685 pieces for the original 119.99 price you're paying around seven cents a part, which is fair for Architecture, and you're getting real height for the money.

Fun facts

01At around 44cm tall, this is the tallest set LEGO has ever released in the Architecture line.
02Liberty's golden flame is actually a minifigure hairpiece, recolored into warm gold from the black version first made for Captain Salazar in the Pirates of the Caribbean Silent Mary set.
03The crown's seven spikes are built from Unikitty-style horn pieces, matching the real statue's seven rays that represent the seven seas and seven continents.
04This set revived 1x2 grille tiles in sand green, a color that had not been produced for that part since the early 2000s.