Set Review - Porsche 911 GT3 RS - #42056 - Technic - Part 2

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

In case you missed it, I purchased the LEGO® Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056).  In my last post, I showed the awesome packaging design.  Now it's time to get into the build.  

Box 1 is the largest parts box in the set.  It contains 11 parts bags.  One of them is some of the orange outer covering pieces to the car that isn't used in the instructions for box one (so if you purchased one of these, don't open that bag right away).  This set doesn't include a piece separator like many of the brick based sets do, but if you're like me, you have a bunch of extras to use if required.  Also, the instruction booklet gives a brief explanation of what you'll be building along with a picture of the engine on the box.

The picture above is all of the open parts packs.  To be honest I haven't built a Technic set in probably over 20 years.  Even then the last one was much smaller.  This one is monstrous and it was an adjustment for me to not be looking for bricks or plates.  Instead it was looking for pins, axles, or how many pin holes a part has.  I'm not saying it was a bad thing... it was just something I'm not used to when building.

Here it is at step 92.  For those of you keeping track, box 1 has 323 steps.  You can see the start of the transmission, the floor of the seating area and lots of gears.  

Here's instruction #203 (above).  Whew!  I'm starting to work on the front end to include where the front wheels go as well as the steering mechanics.  If you're really sharp you can pick out the building error that I made and didn't catch until the end (whoops!).  Also, they may be hard to pick out in this picture, but there are some stickers in this set.  There is one on what will be the dashboard and the Porsche logo is on the steering wheel.  I'm not a fan of stickers, but these seems to fit in okay.  The stickers aren't huge and are pretty easy to apply.

The steering column is in process here.  If you've built the set, you can see where my mistake came in.  

Not too much to point out in this picture other than if you can see where there passenger sits, there is a white 1x4 tile.  Each set has its own printed identification tag on it.  I had heard about this prior to getting the set and I assumed it was a sticker, but was shocked to see it was a printed tile.  Definitely an awesome touch to the set!

All for attachments for the wheels are in along with the axles for the wheels.  

Finally we get to the end of box one and 323 steps later.  It's been a great build so far.  I didn't keep track, but I probably spent about 8 hours on the build (not all at once)  As mentioned, I'm not as familiar with Technic builds so it's been a real challenge for me.  I have made a number of mistakes by either building too fast or mistaking where a part was supposed to go.  I had a number of instances occur where I had to figure out how to tear it apart to make the fix without tearing the entire set apart from scratch.  

My opinion so far... Wow!  I'm impressed to see the number of details and the functionality.  The steering column, shocks on the wheels, transmission, engine with pistons... it's all pretty impressive.  I'm excited to get into the next box and to make this set become a final reality.  Stay tuned for more.  

Set Review - Porsche 911 GT3 RS - #42056 - Technic - Part 1

Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Dear LEGO® Company,
     I saw a number of blog postings online about the Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS.  I was intrigued and then after seeing the set designer video I think I was sold.  But the $299.99 price scared me away some.  I wasn't sure that I was ready to pay that much for a set.  After seeing it at one of your stores, I was sold.  Thankfully I had a bunch of VIP points and got a nice discount.

Opening this set was pretty exciting.  After seeing the care that was taken to package it up I took the plunge and carefully opened the box.  The Porsche set was smartly placed inside the box with extra padding on the side to make sure it didn't shift around during shipping.  The top of the box looks very dignified.  The sleek picture of the car, the Porsche logo and then some of the standard LEGO® set info like that it contains 2,704 pieces.  Let me tell you, my NLS is a communications designer and even she was impressed.  Trust me, that means a lot coming from her.   

After opening the box, once again I was blown away.  It wasn't plastic bags thrown into a box with an instruction booklet packed in.  Your designers really took the time to place together a high class product.  Numbered boxes, an instruction booklet that contains history of the actual vehicle and the LEGO® vehicle design, and the impressive layout of the rims in the box.  All very well done!

I opened the large box that FedEx dropped off and found another box as well as set 40220 - London Bus.  The other box and packaging material smashed the London Bus set up quite a bit.  Please train your team better on packaging.  The second box impressed me.  Given the price of the set, seeing the separate packaging and warning to not use a razor to dive into the box showed that you understand folks pay a lot for this set.

The details on the box for this set are also incredible.  I won't spoil it for others with tons of pictures, but the sides of the box have the different sides of the vehicle.  The inside of the box top has a timeline of Porsche designs.  In my non-designer opinion, this packaging rivals Apple's product packaging.  Who did you hire to do this work?

The contents are like no other set I have built.  The elements are in numbered containers with pictures of the set on them.  They look like mini-sets on their own.  There are stickers again which I am not a fan of, but at least it is not a ton of them. The 856 steps in the instruction booklet that looks nicer than my manual to my car (granted I don't drive a Porsche... maybe those are nicer).  The rims are displayed in the box they come in and then the wheels are inside the box with the rims on the outside.  All I can say is that I am super excited to get building on this set.  It's been nothing but amazing so far and I haven't even opened any bags of parts.  Well done LEGO®!!!!

Bricks for Bricks August 2016 Update

Just a quick update to let everyone know where I'm yet.  As I've posted previously, the store closed in order for me to move from NM to FL.  Have I moved?  Yes.  Unfortunately I had to shut down my NM business and I need to start a new business in FL.  Part one of the process is that my main employer has to agree to my business venture.  They want to make sure there is no conflict of interest between what I'm doing and my main job (there isn't, but the approval process is taking a while).  After that is done, I need to work with FL to start the business up again.  If anyone has ever done this, you'll know that it's not easy.  The government doesn't make it easy to set up a business.  There are multiple agencies you need to contact to get various approvals.  There are tax documents, approvals to use your doing business as name, registering with your county, etc.  I apologize to anyone who has an interest in purchasing something from the store, but has to wait.  A few items have been favorited on my Brick Classifieds store... don't worry it will open up again.  Thanks for your patience!  If there is something you are interested in, please contact me and I can take it down and hold it until the store is open again.  

There are a few items I'd like to buy personally that haven't been easy.  The Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056) is on my list, but it seems to always be out of stock.  Over the weekend I saw it available briefly, but I failed to make the purchase right away.  I have a number of VIP points that will help to cut down on the price so that will be a bonus.  Now I just need to actually place the order.  Also, Series 16 Collectible Minifigures are out.  They are sold out as well.  

Is there anything else I should post on the blog or that I should add to the store when it opens up?  Post in the comments or send me an email with your thoughts.  

UPDATE: 15 hours after I wrote this post, I checked LEGO® Shop at Home and the Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056) was listed as in stock.  I dumped all of the VIP points that I have been saving for quite some time on it to get a sweet discount.  The order has been placed and I'm looking forward to the shipment arriving and writing up a set review for it.  SWEET!!!!  My NLS gets questions from friends about her tolerance for the excessive amount of LEGO® in the house.  The usual response is that it could be wrose and I coudl be into sport cars or something more expensive.  What happens when I buy a sport car made of LEGO®?

Store Review - LEGO® Brand Store - Tysons Corner Center - McLean, VA

I was in the Washington DC area this past weekend with my family and with some downtime decided to stop at a nearby mall (mainly for the air conditioning on a hot day).  As it turns out this mall had one of my favorite stores in it.  The LEGO® brand store in the Tysons Corner Center happened to be open while we were there so of course I hadto check it out.  In walking around the mall it seemed that the bags you saw people carrying most were either Victoria's Secret or yellow with a red 2x4 brick on it.  We followed the bags and ended up at the store.  It was busy.  Lots of kids all over the place building in the various free build areas and running around excited to see all the sets.  A store worker was near the entrance to greet people.  I'm not sure they appointed the right person as this worker was rather quiet and didn't give a smile.  We got "have you been to a LEGO® store before?" and "your kid's outfit is cute."  Great.  Whatever.  I wasn't there to chat with the employees.

The store seemed to be pretty well stocked with all of the different themes.  I didn't inspect each and every one, but I didn't see holes on the shelves either.  One of the items on display in the front of the store was the new Creator Expert - Big Ben #10253.    

As my NLS (non-LEGO® Spouse) commented, it looked beautiful.  I've seen the pictures and designer video, but seeing it up close and personal was pretty cool.  They did an amazing job with the design.  Here's the box on the shelf.

Another set that I finally got to see in person was the LEGO® Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056).  First off, it looks incredible and very sleek!  Secondly, it is definitely a lot bigger than I expected.  The picture I took is pretty bad because it's behind glass so you get a reflection and some of the paint on the window, but it's still an impressive model.  The set was on the shelf, but the box was listed as "for display only."  I didn't pick it up to see if it was just the box or the actual set.  My guess is that if you wanted it you had to request it from the workers.  I didn't ask to see if they had them in stock or if you had to order them.

Other things to note about the store... Collectible Minifigures Series 16 releases on 1 August 2016 (I believe), but they were on sale at the store.  I saw at least one AFOL trying to feel through the bags to get the ones he was looking for.  Also, it was a good mix of people buying different items.  Lots of families with kids walking out with smaller bags including Angry Birds sets and Friends.  We also saw someone walk out with a Tower Bridge (#10214).

Did I make a purchase?  Yes!  My NLS did let me or maybe I pressed ahead without asking before she could say no.  Either way, I am a big fan of the Pick-a-Brick wall in the back of every LEGO® brand store that I have been in.  They have 2 size cups that you can pick from and fill as you want.  I picked the larger cup that cost $16.95 in Virginia after tax.  They had a range of parts in different colors and sizes.  I tend to stick to the smaller pieces so you can fit more in and I pick the colors that are not as prevalent.  I have yet to open my container, but I was impressed that the store worker used packaging tape to make sure my container didn't explode so that was good (I'm sure it's from experience and having to clean up messes in the store).  My cup is below:

My favorite by far is the sand green parts that were available.  They had 1x1 bricks and 1x2 plates.  That's not a common color that I tend to see often so I was glad to grab a few.

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Update (August 9 2016):
2 pictures below of the bricks I picked up from the Pick-a-Brick Wall.  I didn't merge them together, but hopefully you can see where the pictures match up.  You'll notice I went for most of the smaller pieces to try and fit more pieces into the container.  In the end I counted 753 pieces from the container.  With the Virginia tax the final came out to be about $0.02 per piece.  I can't complain about that.

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My favorite by far is the sand green parts that were available.  They had 1x1 bricks and 1x2 plates.  That's not a common color that I tend to see often so I was glad to grab a few.

I called it a review so I should give my opinion.  Should you go to this store?  Or any LEGO® brand store?  The selection is great and the additional benefits are useful such as the Pick-a-Brick wall and minifigure creation station.  Plus you get store workers who understand LEGO® and can help you get sets you don't have if they aren't in stock.  They also have some of the harder to find sets that aren't typically in your average retail store.  Finally you can get and use VIP points for your purchases.  The downsides... you don't get the discounts that you can find at places like Target, Walmart, or Amazon.com.  Everything is at the full retail price.  So should you go, I recommend going if you're looking for a harder to find set or price is not your main driver.  The Pick-a-Brick wall is useful if you stack the cup right too.  It's a fairly decent way to get pieces.  Once I open up the cup I purchased, I'll give an update to this post with the number of pieces I got and the different types.  

Do I wish I had a LEGO® brand store closer?  Yes!  Maybe it's better that I don't when it comes to my credit card bill.  What are your thoughts of the LEGO® brand stores?

10 Tips for Moving your LEGO® Collection/Business

As I mentioned on my post back on 25 May, Bricks for Bricks is moving.  I'm not at the point where this business is my full time employment so the other job that I have decided to move me.  Thankfully, the move came with movers that packed and shipped for me.  That makes life a lot easier, but still creates some challenges.  Today I'll be sharing what I learned through the process.  Oh and by the way, yes I did make it in one piece.  I have not opened up my stash yet, but it all appears to be there.

Okay, so maybe 5 or so of these boxes do not have LEGO® in them.  

1.  Make sure you have a good inventory
Part of having a moving company haul your stuff from one place to another is that if anything goes missing, you have to prove it's missing.  Having an inventory of what you have is important for tracking.  For the business side, I already had a list of the items I had to include minifigures and unopened sets so that was easy.  For the personal collection side, not so much.  I decided to take the risk on loose bricks (business or personal) and no inventory them so that make it a bit easier.  If you are a Bricklink seller, then you might already have an inventory of your bricks and this won't be an issue.

2.  Take pictures
Another step to proving you own it is taking pictures.  This is what I did with a lot of the sets in my personal collection.  For some of the smaller sets, I just took a picture of the large box they were all in, but for some of the larger sets I took pictures of the set separately or in the case of modular buildings, pictures of each floor.  For the business side, I took pictures of the conditions of the unopened sets that I am selling.  The last thing I want is a damaged modular building or Star Wars set.  If the packers or movers destroyed an unopened box and I have a picture showing that it was good before it was packed, I should be able to claim it with the moving company.

3.  Use boxes from LEGO® where you can
Some sets are oddly sized and movers come with specific sized boxes that may not line up.  I placed some of the larger boxed sets that I had in some boxes that I had saved from the LEGO® company.  This made packing easy.  For those that have never had movers come in and pack their stuff, you are supposed to let them pack everything.  That means you can't use your own packing material and tape boxes shut and then claim damages after they are shipped.  I placed sets in the boxes I had and then let the movers tape them shut.

4.  Bag up loose and sorted bricks ahead of time
When the packers showed up at my house they just start opening drawers and putting stuff in boxes.  I can't imagine what would have happened if they had to sort through my loose bricks that are separated by type and color.  I took the time ahead of the packers arriving to dump my sorted bricks into plastic bags.  The bad part is that I need to replace them in all of the drawers that I had, but the good news is that I don't have to re-sort all of my bricks.

5.  Transport anything yourself that you just can't bare to lose
If you have a set, piece, minifigure, MOC, or whatever the case may be and you don't want to lose it, transport it yourself.  During this move I decided to let the movers take everything.  In a past move, I had an unopened Emerald Night set that I decided to transport on my own.  During this move I decided to let the movers take everything.  What would you want to transport yourself?  Do you have an unopened Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon (#10179)?

6.  2 Gallon plastic sealable bags are your friend
If you want to keep your built sets partially assembled or at least keep the parts together the 2 gallon bags are great.  I was able to put floors of the modular buildings that I have in them and also some of the other larger sets that I have.  I highly recommend getting a bunch to help you pack.

Some bagged up modulars...

7.  Be prepared for ridicule
Why do you have all of these LEGOs®?  Another box marked LEGO®, huh?  YOU play with LEGO® still?  I think they are just jealous.  People knew I had a big collection, but when it was all put together and in boxes it looks much bigger.  

8.  Know where to get rid of cardboard boxes
Please recycle if it is an option in your area.  With that being said, you need to either put some out for your weekly collection and space it out for pick ups or you need to find a place to bring them all.  I was lucky to have a place in my new area that had bins for cardboard collection.  It has worked out great to dump all of my boxes and get them out of my house (to make room for LEGO® sets of course).

9.  Have a plan before you unpack
I have a large stash of LEGO® sets, bricks, and pieces.  While it's exciting to open everything up, it's not a good idea to just open them up and stash them wherever.  Put some time in planning ahead of time as to where you will put everything.  If you have a NLS (non-LEGO® spouse), make sure he/she is on board with your plan ahead of time.  Hopefully you moved to a bigger place that allows you to have your own brick cave.  I sadly do not have a cave in my new place, but I was allotted some space.  I hope to have my own cave someday.

10. Get ready to build
If you were like me and had to take lots of things apart, you can enjoy putting them all back together again.  And if you're like me and enjoy building, you're actually looking forward to it.  

Good luck!

How to Create Your Own LEGO® Based Event

(Post thumbnail from http://events.brickfestlive.com)

If you're a LEGO® fan, you're probably familiar with some of the people who have started businesses associated with their favorite brick based building materials.  A few weeks back I posted about Brik Book.  Where you can buy covers for your Mac Book laptops and build designs on them.  There are many others out there to include customized bricks and minifigures, renting sets, and then your standard sales of LEGO® items.  

Today I have another LEGO® based business to share.  The company is called Learn with Bricks LLC and its founder is Chad Collins.  I heard about this company from a podcast I listen to called Entrepreneur on Fire.  Chad was episode 783 and you can find the link to get more about him and his interview here.  

Chad started Brick Fest Live.  In short it is a weekend long event revolving around LEGO® geared towards younger fans.  They have a good intro video on You Tube that shows the highlights of the event.  The event features a derby race (kids build cars out of bricks and race them down a track), free build areas, a chance to build a piece of a LEGO® mosaic, a mini golf course made out of bricks, models on display, a chance to play LEGO® based video games, and more.  The site lists 8 upcoming events between August and December.  Most are in bigger cities, but they are fairly spread out with events in NY, CA, CO, FL, VA, and MD.  Looking through their social media it looks like they've had shows elsewhere to include PA and TX.

Until hearing this podcast, I had never heard of this event before.  I'm sure it's a lot of work to put on an event like this, but I'll bet the attendance is pretty good at these events.  The link for tickets on the website lists prices at between $22 to $27 depending on location.  It sounds like an interesting and fun event to attend.  If you've been to one of these events, let me know.  Either post in the comments or send an e-mail to let me know what you thought of it.  

Set Review - Fountain - #40221

The Fountain is was a free set with purchases of $75 or more from 1 to 15 June 2016.  It also goes great with the Fun in the Park - City People Pack #60134.  The set contains 105 pieces with 2 minifigs (one minifig is a statue).  If you want to get the set, you'll have to look on the secondary market.  As of late June 2016, the set is going for around $15.  Should you spend that money?  

Here's the set.  It's the standard box front with the graphically designed background.

The back the different elements of the set along with the alternative build of the statue with a female hair piece and a flag. 

The contents are simple to include 2 parts bags and an instruction book.

The build is pretty simple.  The female minifigure has a different torso and hair piece.  The basic head design with 2 dots for eyes and the smile could have been better, but we'll take it.  The statue is done well and it includes a second sword.  The wings match those of the Flying Warrior from Series 15 Collectible Minifigures.  The dog is a nice addition to the set.  The design of the fountain and the benches aren't anything too special, but I'm sure they would fit into a park MOC.  The bike doesn't include a reflective light or anything which I thought LEGO could have included.  The good part is that they give lots of extras in other sets so finding a piece is easier.  

If you're interested, here is the hair piece and flag that can be used on the statue.

Overall, it's a great free set.  Having planned to purchase items anyways, it's always great to get more LEGO sets at no additional charge.  Would I buy this one on the secondary market?  No thanks!  There isn't really anything that makes this set stand out as one worth investing in.  I'd recommend making up your own fountain MOC instead.  What are your thoughts?

Set Review - Fun in the Park - City People Pack - #60134

There was some media hype about this one well before it came out (but not before the LEGO Blogs caught it).  The main reason was the minifigure in a wheel chair.  I found a number of articles and friends sent me links to articles about this one.  There was a lot of anticipation about this set, but is it worth all the hype?

I'm going to switch things up this time and give the final recommendation first and then follow it with the review.  Should you buy this set?  If you are a LEGO CITY fan or a minifigure fan, YES!  Besides the wheel chair and the baby minifigure, there are some new hair styles, torsos, and pants.  It's a great addition to any City build that you're working on.  I highly recommend it.  Did I mention LEGO's first hot dog bun?   Let's get into the details...

This set was released in the US on 22 May 2016.  The cost is $39.99 for 157 pieces which works out to $0.255 per piece.  Is this high?  You betcha!  Compared to most sets definitely.  The key thing for this one, there are 15 minifigures.  That works out to $2.67 per minifigure.  Is that a good deal?  Yes!

So here's the box.  The front is similar to most showing all of the contents in a park with a Photoshopped scene.

The back shows the different minifigures in action and the different minifigure parts.

The contents are 3 bags with 3 instruction books.  

The first bag includes the much talked about wheel chair with minifigure.  The chair rolls quite well which surprised me.  It's also done to scale quite well in my opinion.  Not a lot special about the hot dog cart other than it includes a bun that a hot dog actually fits into.  The hot dog has been in the inventory for a while, but this is the first bun.  The bicycle isn't new, but the biker suit is new to the inventory. They've done a smaller version of the merry-go-round before.  The kid minifigure has some new parts to include the blond short hair.  Also there haven't been too many businesswomen types in minifigure land either.   The bus stop sign and tree are nice additions too.

Bag 2 is also full of some new figures as well.  The 2 children playing soccer are new.  I wouldn't mind a LEGO SPACE shirt like that!  There's an older couple and a park bench for them to sit on.  The woman's hair is new and I don't recall seeing sweaters like that before.  The woman painting is new too.  There's been a few painters in the inventory, but I think this is the first female one.

Bag 3 has the family having a picnic or maybe based on the amount of food they have (a hot dog and a biscuit) they are just having a snack.  It includes a mother (the picture shows her with shades, but the head is dual sided), a father figure, a girl figure, and then the baby in the stroller.  The stroller is very simple, but definitely works for the new baby minifigure.  The baby bottle is also a new and interesting design.  I'm curious to see if they will add more in the future or not.  The set also includes a dog and a female minifigure mowing the lawn.  The lawn mower has appeared in other sets.  I'm not sure if it's the same design or not, but it's pretty similar.  It also includes a small tree and a picnic table.

I haven't been able to put a town scene together in a while, but am hoping to do so soon.  These will definitely be a great addition.  The last city minifigure set that I'm aware of was 9348 - Community Minifigures.  While it was another great addition to the collection, the diversity of figures and parts was pretty basic.  It included fire, police, and some other basics, but not the creative figures in this set.  At LEGO Shop at Home it's currently listed as out of stock with an expected ship date of 3 July.  The good part is that it's not going away anytime soon as it's brand new so be patient and place your order when it's back.

How to Brick Up Your Mac

I was supposed to be doing more set reviews right now, but sadly everyone else ordered the same sets and they are back-ordered at LEGO.  Fun in the Park - City People Pack (#60134) and Fountain (#40221) are currently on their way after being ordered a week ago.  Vacation Getaways (#31052) is still back ordered.  Sad...

I did stumble across something that I haven't seen before on any of the other LEGO fan blogs and sites that I regularly look at.  The back story is that I listen to a number of podcasts and one of them is Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income blog and podcast.  The podcast released on 8 June 2016 was an interview with Brett Miller.   Brett is one of the founders of Brik Book "THE LEGO™ COMPATIBLE MACBOOK CASE."  The podcast interview with Brett by Pat Flynn goes through Brett's journey to bring his idea to reality.  So what was Brett's idea?  Here's a screen shot from the company's web site:

www.brikbook.com

The product is a LEGO compatible case that clips onto the back of MacBooks.  You can then use LEGO elements to build designs onto the case.  As you can see by the screen shot I took at the website, the cost is $49 for the case.  They come in grey, blue, and clear and you can pick the size of the MacBook as well.  As you can see, the case comes with enough bricks to build the Apple design as shown.  Similar to LEGO, you can also purchase pre-made designs with the corresponding bricks and instructions.  They can be found here.   They also sell 1x1 plates to help you make different designs on your own.

As a PC owner (go ahead and sneer and jeer at me now if you are a Mac fan) it looks like Brik Books does not sell PC compatible products yet.  The site does say they are working on it so we'll see what happens.

So what do you think?  Is this a cool idea?  Do you have one already and I'm just late to the game in hearing about this product?  Let me know when you think in the comments.  

If you'd like a 20% discount, listen to the podcast for how to get the deal.  

www.brikbook.com

Set Review - #21023 - Flatrion Building, New York

While I enjoy the LEGO Architecture series and I think some of the buildings they recreate are great, I don't often purchase the sets.  This one is a bit different.  The Flatiron Building is regularly $39.99 in the US.  With 471 pieces, that's $0.085 per piece.  This set has been discounted on Amazon.com in the US for a while, but I recently caught it at $25.60 or $0.054 per piece or roughly 36% off.  I'll take it!  This set was released on 2 May 2015 and can still be purchased at LEGO Shop at Home for full price.

To the build... First off, the box looks like most LEGO Architecture set boxes  Here are pictures of the front and back.

The contents include a detailed instruction book with information about the actual building as well as the LEGO instructions.  It also contains 5 bags of bricks and a brick separator.

The build starts with the standard base for the LEGO Architecture series with the name of the set on a tile.

Next up in the internal structure of the building.  It's nothing too special and you can tell that the detail comes from the SNOT (Studs Not On Top) build to come.

The details of the building are formed by putting the various pieces on mostly 4 x 8 plates.  Some translucent tiles are used as windows and then some grill pieces are used to capture the small windows on the actual building.  The pictures below are the one side and then the back of the building.  As you can see at the corners, the connections aren't exactly smooth.  There are definitely some gaps, but I can't complain based on the size and scale of the model.

The SNOT designs continue around the building to complete the details of the building.  Then some plates and bricks are placed together to capture the top of the building.  The top leaves a bit to be desired in my opinion, but when I look at pictures of the building I don't tend to focus on that area so maybe that's why they didn't put a lot of detail there.

It's not a hard build.  The SNOT techniques aren't too challenging, but it's just a lot of 1x1 tiles and plates to put on along with a bunch of 1x2s.  From a design standpoint, I think LEGO did a good job at capturing the essence of the building.  The corners are not smooth, but I think that's a challenge given the scale of this building and the curves that they are trying to replicate.  In terms of price, it's not too bad in terms of price per piece, but the pieces are rather small.  I don't think I would have purchased it if I didn't get it for 36% off.  The build wasn't super exciting and the pieces aren't really anything out of the ordinary.  Would I recommend this set to someone at the full retail price? Unless they are really into NY City or Architecture or this building, I would not.  If it interests you check Amazon.com or elsewhere for discounts.