LEGOCreator Expert Roller Coaster 10261 Building Kit (4124 Pieces)

My husband bought this to give himself something to do as he recovers from a long illness and hospital stay. He loves working on it and has kept himself occupied with building it and modifying it for more than a month. He's still working on adding features. I don't know if it will ever be complete in his eyes, but working on it is keeping him busy and happy. LEGO is not just for kids!

This thing is huge... and expensive... and rated for 16 year-olds. But, when my 5 year old son (at the time) saw it, he decided he had to have it. For the next year, he saved everything he had, every dollar he was gifted and every penny he earned to put toward this set. Since it would have taken him pretty much forever to save this much money, we decided to split the cost with him. We bought the set early (because AMZ and Lego both said it was rare) and surprised him with it when we knew he had enough to cover half. It was awesome in many ways: 1 - it was great to see him so committed to saving for something he really wanted. 2 - it was fun to build this set with him. 3 - it helped teach him the value of money and what it takes to earn it. The set is great! It's complicated, but even my 6-year-old was able to piece together the gear system. The only trouble he had was with all of the pillar assemblies - it was a little tough to slide the Lego onto the posts for him.

Back in the day I was a LEGO fanatic, and would stay up all night building. I was also played a lot of the original Roller Coaster Tycoon. Recently I got back into LEGO’s collecting the Toy Story 4 sets, but they are not challenging, more of a novelty. In fact, they have this one set where you build a small roller coaster (Ages 4 & up). Then I spiraled down a curiosity rabbit hole of the best selling LEGO sets of all time, like the $800 millennium falcon. I stumbled onto the item in question and was fascinated by the product, and slowly began obsessing over it, watching videos on line. The price was steep, but I thought it would be fun to treat myself. I was so excited I expedited the shipping and order the battery pack and motor separately. I came home from college last night at 10pm worked on it until 1am, woke up at 7am and spent the whole day building. By 9pm I had assembled the whole thing, all 10,000 + pieces. Granted there was probably no need for that, but my personality refuses to back down. It was certainly complicated at times, especially towards the end when you’re expected to assemble the chain piece by piece. It took me a while to connect the 200 + little black pieces that create the pulley system for bringing the roller coaster up the first hill. Also the landscape was tedious, as I was anxiously awaiting my first test run. There are so many small details which really enhanced the project. My only suggestion would be to be careful with the stickers, because I accidentally placed them in the wrong direction. Overall, this item was such a pleasure to construct and play with. It really brought me back to my youth and early adolescence. Fun tip, if you have the Toy Story roller coaster, the cars are interchangeable and you can send Woody and the gang for an exciting ride. I’m glad I bought the battery and motor separately, not one to make recommendations but a YouTube video suggested it to me. I did see this was voted ‘Toy of the Year’. I don’t know how official those rankings are but I’d bet money this will be a hot item come Christmas and holiday season.

This is a big build and you need a dinning room table in order to assemble it. I love how it all came together and it does work. The mechanisms and parts you assemble will make the roller coaster cars make one revolution once the cars are cranked to the top of the hill. I was told by a Lego worker to shim the corner where the cars link to the chain drive so that it happens on its own the linking to the chain that is. Otherwise you will find yourself coaxing the cars to the chain with your hand to engage the lead car. You will understand what I am saying after you build it, perhaps you will be luckier and won't need to shim the particular corner. The build itself is very sturdy and can be carried anywhere by its base without collapsing even though looking very vulnerable.

This was a fun project to assemble. The end result was definitely worth it. The only drawback was that the chain that pulls the cars up the track easily comes apart. I had to reassemble it many times. Otherwise it was super easy to assemble despite the expert level. After I was finished with it, I went back through the book and placed each section in large ziploc bags to easy reassembly. A large price to pay but the results are worth the price.

My 8 year old son saved up his money for a year and a half so he could buy this lego set. It took him a week, but he was very careful and built it. He loves it and it's the first thing he shows off when people come to visit. I even upgraded him to the battery set so it could go automatic too because I was so proud of him.

This is our favorite Lego set. One of our kids had a nice time putting it together, and it's just a lot of fun to watch. The details feel pretty authentic, and it's a nice physics demonstration. You should know that it *doesn't* come with a motor. We happened to have one from another set, but I was a little surprised, given the expense of this one. Watching it run without having to crank it is pleasurable. :)

The media could not be loaded. I am not the Lego builder in the house, my husband is. I purchased this for him for Christmas has he mentioned it a year ago. He spent two days of his vacation working on it and when he completed it the look on his face the first time he ran it made it all worthwhile. I did purchase the accessory battery and motor kits but since it comes with a handcrank they aren’t required.Lego did a great job with all the little details, including a “lost baseball cap” on the ground under the coaster. Well done!