Lego Sears Tower Set – Lego Architecture

The Lego Architecture Series was the brainchild of former ‘normal’ architect (now Lego architect!) Adam Reed Tucker and includes a number of landmark building including Chicago’s iconic Sears Tower.   The Lego Sears Tower set was released in 2008 to mixed reviews within the Lego community.

Now not living in Chicago I hadn’t realized that the Sears Tower had actually been renamed in 2009 as the Willis Tower.   Not to be outdone the set was re-released in 2011 as the Lego Willis Tower set.

Now to me (and I suspect many others) the tower will probably always be referred to as the Sears Tower because it was under this name that it became the tallest building in the world.   Let’s face it the Willis Tower is only the fifth tallest building in the world!   Should Lego have re-changed the name when the Lego Architecture series was all about great landmarks and the architects behind them – let me know what you think -

Now if you collect the different models in the Lego Architecture series, which is a great series to collect by the way, does this name change mean that you now have to buy both the Sears Tower and the Willis Tower.   A mere money grab from Lego perhaps???

This set (which ever name you end up buying) contains 69 pieces and is a fairly easy build.   Some members of the Lego community appreciated the sentiment behind the Lego Architecture Series and embraced this set whereas others didn’t.   The complaint was that anyone could build the Lego Sears Tower with their ‘normal’ bricks, but can you really blame the set when it was the shape of the actual building that it was replicating that looked pretty simple to copy?   I think not!

One of the cool things about this set (the same goes for all of the sets in this series) is that it comes with a booklet about the building with history and little trivia titbits thrown in.   That means that if you’re buying this for an older child/teenager (it’s to be put on display, not to be played with) you can ‘pretend’ it’s for educational purposes only!

The bottom plate of the completed Lego structure contains the name whether it says Sears Tower or Willis Tower depends on which one you buy.    I just know lots of people will end up with both as they will not want to have an incomplete collection.   Speaking of collection, you can check out the rest of the series of Lego Architecture sets below -

Lego Architecture Series
Explore some fantastic architectural buildings including Falling Water, the Empire State Building and the White House with this range of Lego sets.