Architecture The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Architectural Model Kit, Collectible Building Set for Adults, Build and Display Souvenir, Gift Idea for Lovers of History, Travel and Art（4436PCS）

A triumph of building!
General “not-LEGO” review:As a 90s kid who grew up slightly obsessed with LEGO but hadn’t built a set in almost twenty years until recently, I was blown away by the current state of play in the greater “building brick toy” ecosystem. When my brothers and I were growing up, the options for off-brand bricks were sparse: MegaBloks were noticeably lower quality than the big L, and if we happened to find anything other than those two (dollar store, etc) it was typically so bad that the pieces weren’t even worth adding into our bucket of bricks. I recently stumbled back into this world through Amazon Vine, and was stoked to discover the seemingly endless wealth of off-brand sets available, even if that stoke was a bit tempered pending a general assessment of quality.I’ve now built over a hundred sets of “not-LEGO” bricks found here on Amazon, and I couldn’t be more impressed by the amazing options out there, in terms of set variety, quality, and (especially) price. These sets I’ve received account for literally tens of thousands of bricks, yet I can count on one hand the total number of pieces missing. Sure, the regular presence of extra pieces might be indicative of less-than-stellar quality control practices by these manufacturers, but it seems like the errors are overwhelmingly biased to the side of surplus, and I’m not going to complain about getting a few extra bricks per set. Feel and fit are generally great, I’d say 99% up to big L standards for studded pieces and even a shade better for technic pieces. Colors aren’t always Pantone-perfect between sets (though internally they’re consistent), minifigures are rarely included (and always slightly “off”; this is due to the minifigs being strictly patent-protected, unlike most bricks), and some accessory bits (sails, stickers, etc) are of more variable quality; but the most noticeable difference in my experience is just the lack of a tiny “LEGO” on every single ABS stud. It also seems that many of these manufacturers aren’t beholden to the same copyright restrictions as the bigger western companies, so you’re likely to encounter more unlicensed/unofficial sets from various IP (“Harry Wizard”, “Star Farm”…), as well as MOCs that failed to launch. If you love the look of this set; if you want to maximize your piece-per-dollar ratio to fill out a bucket/chest/room; or if you just want to build for the sake of building, I’m happy to say that this set (or pretty much any other you can find nowadays) is worth the investment.Set-specific notes:This stunning recreation of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is one of the biggest and most impressive sets I’ve ever built. It contains dozens of bags of parts, broken up into 8 sections and mercifully well-organized, and it took me two full days and a handful of shorter building sessions to assemble. The building techniques – including small offsets, studless exteriors, and of course the internal arch structure – are widely useful, and the repetitive steps are great for learning to improve your efficiency while maintaining precise details. Speaking of details, I’m still blown away at the NPU and other ways the designer managed to cram in an absurd level of detail into this display piece. Sure, it might be nice to have another few thousand bricks in my collection for MOCs, but there’s no way I’m disassembling this beautiful model as long as I have somewhere to keep it. I’ve never been drawn to visit the monument in person, but after building this set I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself staring up at the underside on some cloudy Paris morning in the future…

Painful experience
Pieces are not tightened by hand easily and must use rubber hammer, unmatched quality with the amount of the money spent. More, in the middle of build, found out there were at least 30 pieces are missing. So half way stopped. For a Lego product, mistake like this, not quite happy customer experience.

Not for beginners!
If you are not used to building block sets, this is not a starting point. This will take you days.Despite me rating this as 5 stars, there are things I don’t like about it. Let me address those. The building structure of the Arc’s legs is extremely odd and the pieces to not fit together completely. There is about a 1/3 brick thickness gaps between some portions. These parts will NOT push together. My last pic shows one of these spots. It is on every leg. The other thing I don’t love is the instructions for the legs of the Arc. They can be a bit confusing at times. I found myself questioning the construction choice on several occasions.Neutral point: This is something that drives me crazy with divided bag sets (as this one is, more about that below), is when you have to open every bag for a section to do the first or second step in the build. I have only ever had a building block set from one particular company that requires you to only open one bag at a time per section. It would have been great if this set did that due to the extreme volume of pieces. But this is the status quo for building block sets, so I cannot fault them for it.Now that that is out of the way; let’s get to the good stuff. Obviously the final result is big and beautiful. The base is 11 3/4″ x 9 1/4″ and is about 11 3/4″ tall! All white bricks are the same shade. All light grey bricks are the same shade. All dark grey bricks are the same shade. In other words, these are quality bricks with no deformaties. The studs fit in and around the tubes snuggly. All pieces were included and even had some extras.There are these grey tube pieces that go above the doorways (you can see them in my attached pics) that come a little longer than needed. It is best to trim them down to the size indicated in the instruction manual. The manual has a 1:1 depiction of the size recommended, so you don’t need to measure, just lay the piece on the picture in the manual and trim with some scissors.The instruction manual is divided into 8 sections. Each section has at least 5 bags of pieces and I think as many as 8 bags. I forgot to keep track. Since this set requires you to open every bag per section by the second of step of that section, you might have 8 bags of pieces open and laid out in front of you at any given time (as mentioned in my dislike section). However, it is nice that the bags are divided into sections and each bag is labeled with the section it belongs to. That help tremendously.This uses brightly coloured pieces (as seen in my attached pics) where pieces are used solely for structure and won’t be seen. This is great. It makes the instructions easier to follow, makes the pieces easy to locate, and when moving onto the next step in building, it makes it easy to orient yourself in the instruction booklet.I had such a great time building this. It took me days to finish building as I was working on it in my spare time. It gave me something to look forward to for almost a full work week. I am very proud of it and I have already gotten many complements.

Building construction block sets has always been a favorite pastime of mine. It’s relaxing, often challenging, and incredibly rewarding—exactly what I look for in a hobby. This “Arc de Triomphe” set is my second architectural construction set (after the London Bridge), and it did not disappoint.The instructions are top-notch: clear, easy to follow, and equipped with step-by-step part lists. The pieces to place are even highlighted in the illustrations. The blocks come in numbered bags, which significantly streamlines the construction process.What I didn’t anticipate was the number of tiny pieces—around 60% of this set consists of blocks with four pegs or fewer, including several hundred single-piece blocks. This makes the assembly process meticulous but also highly engaging.At $190 CAD, this nearly 4,436-piece set is a fantastic deal. The quality of the blocks is outstanding—well-molded without any visible marks, with consistent, vibrant colors. They’re also compatible with other major brands and fit together securely.One feature I appreciated was the use of brightly colored pieces in structural areas that won’t be visible in the final product. It simplifies locating pieces, following instructions, and orienting yourself in the building process.That said, this set is understandably recommended for ages 16 and up. The abundance of small pieces and the complexity of the design might be a bit much for younger builders. My only minor issue was with a few pieces still attached to their molding templates—some were tiny and could easily get lost if not handled carefully.The finished structure is stunning and substantial, measuring approximately 11 ¾” x 9 ¼” at the base and standing 11 ¾” tall. Building this set with my 18-year-old son was a fantastic bonding experience and a great way to spend time together.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this set and highly recommend it to anyone who loves construction sets or architectural models. It’s an excellent blend of challenge and fun, and the final product is worth every minute of assembly.

This is a lovely set!Pros:1) it looks beautiful! very nice colour and detail on the Arc!2) it’s big and impressive! this will make a lovely desk ornament or mantelpieceCons:?Issues (not exactly “cons” but some things to consider):1) over 4000 pieces?! this is a probably not a set for the younger builders (unless they are overachievers?).2) the final model is big (roughly 1 foot x 1 foot x 7 inches) and will require more space than I had anticipatedVery nice set / gift for Lego fanatics!5/5