Just to make it clear, we have met some of the Brick'em Young family and think they are wonderful! Their goals to share the experience of the temple with as many families as possible is genuine. They are not in this to make money, although, I would assume that would be a pleasant surprise were it to happen. We have agreed to work on a collaboration with them and hope to design something fun with them in the future to share with all who want. How cool will it be to design that brick that just doesn't exist to make it perfect!
This review, however, is not commissioned by them. They don't even know about it. Fair enough?
Instructions. 4 stars
While the instruction book is not as clear as a LEGO instruction booklet, it is pretty darn good. We for sure could not have done as well. High quality, color, glossy paper, booklet. Our kids were able to follow them easily enough.
Bricks: 3.5 stars
The custom bricks themselves would get more than 5 stars! Do you know how many times we have started to build the San Diego temple, but couldn't find the right bricks to complete it? We finally finished a mini version, but the steeples on all Brick'em Young Temple sets are what make these temples practically perfect! The bricks are manufactured specifically for Brick'em Young, and make no mistake, they are not the same as LEGO. They fit with LEGO and are the same scale. They look great, but are not as pliable or easy to assemble. We only took one and a half stars off for this. However, they still work, even if it takes more effort at times. This may improve with more usage. A hard building surface is a must and helps a lot with this.
Design: 4 stars
The final design of each of the temples is beautiful. Last Sunday Mr Brick and I came home from choir practice to a finished Nauvoo temple. The kids were mad and so glad it was done. That lasted for about 30 minutes and then Legolas said, "This really is an awesome temple. It looks real," followed by their explanations. Their frustration was in the last steps when they were assembling the roof and placing the steeple. There is no support for the steeple, so when you try to put it on, the roof caves in. Again, they are picky, used to making their own support structure, and then being able to press on the steeple with ample force. This can be easily remedied by using some of your own bricks to build a support underneath. You could also put the steeple on the roof plates before you put them on. This is what we did with the San Diego temple. If you are like our children, though, you would rather just figure it out and complain! Love them.
Overall Experience: 4 Stars
I wanted to make this 5 stars but if we gave each area less than that, I guess I should make it 4. 5 years ago I was searching the internet for plans to build a temple out of LEGO. Here it is! Our kids like to make a never-before seen creation. However, this is a good change up for them. As you can tell, they got burned out of building LEGO temples for a time. It only takes us 2-4 hours to build them. I also know from the emails we get that MANY of you are looking for a product just like this for your family. Go check them out at brickemyoung.com. Also, follow them on facebook so you can see their new releases as they create more designs. Hint: The more they sell of the temples in stock, the quicker they will be able to manufacture more designs. So buy what they have! Then make sure to send them a photo of yourselves with the temple so they can highlight you as a builder of the month!
