D&D General WizKids “The Tower” looks like a ridiculous photoshop. And awesome!

[Stormonu]

Yeesh, that's dwarven-forge level of cost, and that's ridiculous. Honestly, you could buy a Harry Potter Lego set to build the same thing, and it'd probably be a quarter of the price. I'll stick with my MDF tower, thanks.

 

[jgsugden]

Yeesh, that's dwarven-forge level of cost, and that's ridiculous. Honestly, you could buy a Harry Potter Lego set to build the same thing, and it'd probably be a quarter of the price. I'll stick with my MDF tower, thanks.

Maybe with knock off Legos but not a stock set. Those are crazy expensive, too.

It'd be fun to have people compete to make their own homegrown towers with a spending limit of $50 (1/5th the MSRP). Everything you use to make the tower (tools and materials including paint)) has to come out of the $50.

 

[pogre]

Maybe with knock off Legos but not a stock set. Those are crazy expensive, too.

It'd be fun to have people compete to make their own homegrown towers with a spending limit of $50 (1/5th the MSRP). Everything you use to make the tower (tools and materials including paint)) has to come out of the $50.

Cool idea. I am not completely down with the tools restriction - I love my roto tool and foam cutter. Still, I am tempted to try this. The figures at the top could be tricky on that kind of budget.

I could easily do something very similar with Hirst Arts molds I have laying around. However, once I went beyond the first mold ($34) I would pretty quickly break the price limit. It would almost certainly have to be foam instead.

The best solution is probably to design it and print it 3d.

This challenge would make a cool video - too bad I am a terrible videographer!

 

[jerryrice4949]

A couple sites have it for $200 with free shipping. I don’t think that is overpriced as large and detailed as it is. But for as infrequently as I would use it i could not justify the purchase.

 

[Deset Gled]

Maybe with knock off Legos but not a stock set. Those are crazy expensive, too.

For reference, the Lego Hogwarts Astronomy Tower is currently $100 USD MSRP. It's 15" tall, but not as wide around. Two of those kits connected to each other would probably be about the same size as The Tower. Hogwarts™ Astronomy Tower 75969 | Harry Potter™ | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US

If you wanted to build it out of individual bricks, you can get #6082 for about $2 a pop, and #6083 and #6072 for about $1 each on BrickLink. Throw in some other random bricks and you can get an awfully big tower for under $100.

I'd say the statement that the Lego equivalent of The Tower is "a quarter of the price" is hyperbole, but you could definitely recreate this in Lego for a lower price if you were willing to spend the time. Just like you could recreate it cheaper with stuff from the hardware store if you're willing to spend the time. The difference, of course, is that some of us either have a disturbing amount of Lego floating around our homes already, or are looking for an excuse to buy a Lego castle.

 

[Mannahnin]

I love the idea of the $50 challenge.

But I'd also suggest that anyone doing it also track exactly how much time they spent doing it, and then (even if just to yourself) calculate what adding your hourly wage at your job would add to the cost.

Of course, if you like building terrain as a hobby and have such skills, it's enjoyable hobby time, so not exactly equivalent.

 

[Oofta]

Yeah, it kind of has me thinking of buying tool(s) to cut styrofoam to put all the junk we get to good use. Just not sure how ambitious I want to be.

 

[embee]

A couple sites have it for $200 with free shipping. I don’t think that is overpriced as large and detailed as it is. But for as infrequently as I would use it i could not justify the purchase.

GM: Okay, so I have this one shot. There is a tome hidden in this tower...

Player: We did that one.

GM: Okay. How about this... the townmaster's daughter has been kidnapped by orcs and is being held captive in a tower.

Player 2: We did that one too. Twice.

GM: Ummm... there's a wizard trying to summon a demon. He's holed up in a towe--

Player 3: Frank, we get it. You spent a lot on the tower and want to get your money's worth but for once, can we please do an adventure that doesn't involve a tower.

GM: How about a narrow fortress?

Player 1: Let us clarify... Can we please do an adventure that doesn't involve YOUR tower? Answer "yes."

 

[jgsugden]

(I mentioned the idea of the $50 challenge - I'm not really going to organize anything. If you want to run with the idea, feel free.)

 

[jgsugden]

For reference, the Lego Hogwarts Astronomy Tower is currently $100 USD MSRP. It's 15" tall, but not as wide around. Two of those kits connected to each other would probably be about the same size as The Tower. Hogwarts™ Astronomy Tower 75969 | Harry Potter™ | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US

If you wanted to build it out of individual bricks, you can get #6082 for about $2 a pop, and #6083 and #6072 for about $1 each on BrickLink. Throw in some other random bricks and you can get an awfully big tower for under $100.

I'd say the statement that the Lego equivalent of The Tower is "a quarter of the price" is hyperbole, but you could definitely recreate this in Lego for a lower price if you were willing to spend the time. Just like you could recreate it cheaper with stuff from the hardware store if you're willing to spend the time. The difference, of course, is that some of us either have a disturbing amount of Lego floating around our homes already, or are looking for an excuse to buy a Lego castle.

I think you'd need a lot more than the ~1000 pieces of that tower (doubled) to make a Tower the size of this one. It is 8 inches across, and 4 levels tall (including the roof), with about 4 inch tall levels. You'd need at least 3 of those sets, if not 4, and that would already dwarf the tower cost.

If I'm going cheap, I'd likely buy one of the cheap toy options and then repainting and adding features. Or, alternatively, I might buy a bunch of the right type of clay and one of those 'stone pattern' rollers and build it up.

In the end, if I am spending this type of money, I don't want any cardboard, and I want to see stairway holes, not artwork of stairway holes, in the level barriers.