LEGO explains 10307 Eiffel Tower’s potentially frustrating piece count

The LEGO designer behind 10307 Eiffel Tower has explained why the set is just one brick away from having arguably the perfect piece count.

The latest mammoth LEGO Icons release comes in at 10,001 pieces, which is agonisingly close to a perfect, rounded 10,000 pieces. That five-figure milestone has only ever been breached once before by an official product, 31203 World Map, which comes in at 11,695 pieces. Most of those are tiny 1×1 elements, though – so in the eyes of most fans, it doesn’t really count.

10307 Eiffel Tower is therefore the first set of serious volume to shoot into five-figure territory, but it does so by perhaps one piece too many (at least for those of us who enjoy LEGO sets with rounded piece counts, like 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama’s 1,000 elements). According to designer Rok Žgalin Kobe, that specific part count was entirely intentional.

“It’s a nice symmetrical number, and goes well with the Eiffel Tower which is very symmetrical,” Kobe told Jay’s Brick Blog. “It looks good on the box. It’s also a funny number. I do have some leeway when designing to decide on things like that.”

At the end of the day, the part count for 10307 Eiffel Tower is – of course – completely trivial. What really matters is just how those elements are used to bring the iconic Parisian landmark to life in bricks, and given 10307 Eiffel Tower is the tallest set of all time, it’s safe to say Kobe has succeeded in using his limitless design budget. Check out our full review of the 18+ set for a closer look.

10307 Eiffel Tower is available now, complete with 40579 Eiffel’s Apartment until December 31 (or while stocks last).

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