A truly beautiful modular: Pantasy Bavarian Tavern 85049 ReviewI
Pantasy Bavarian Tavern 85049 Review
I was really looking forward to this one. Pantasy have produced some excellent modular-style buildings, and the Bavarian Tavern immediately looked like exactly the sort of set I enjoy. I'm a huge fan of detail in my builds, and from the first images it was obvious there was going to be plenty going on here.
This one was also a little different for me because I built it with my son. He is a big fan of LEGO modulars but had never built a Pantasy set before. I thought this would be a great introduction to the brand, and it would also be his first experience of building a set with integrated lighting.
The instructions are split across three books, which worked really well for us. He took the first book and built the entire ground floor while I started the second book and worked on the first floor. I then moved onto the third book, completing the second floor and roof.
It was a really nice way to build the set together, and by the end I think we were both pretty impressed with what we'd made.
Pantasy really do modulars well, and this is no exception.
Build Experience
This was a really steady and enjoyable build from beginning to end. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give it is that it didn't feel like a 3,000+ piece model.
That's not because the finished Tavern feels small or lacking in detail. Quite the opposite. It's an imposing building. The build was simply so enjoyable that I never reached the point where I felt I was working through pieces just to get to the end.
There were tons and tons of little delight moments throughout.
You would regularly build a small section or detail without immediately understanding exactly how it was going to be used, only for everything to come together a few steps later.
Those moments happened again and again.
The instructions were excellent. Everything was clear, the colour matching between the instructions and the bricks was spot on, and I can't remember having any problems understanding what Pantasy wanted me to do.
Everything came together perfectly.
Building the separate floors alongside my son also worked really well. He could concentrate on the ground floor while I worked through the upper sections, and eventually we could bring everything together.
It was also interesting seeing his reaction to Pantasy as someone who mainly builds LEGO. This was his first Pantasy set and his first time dealing with lighting that was actually incorporated into the build rather than added afterwards.
I couldn't really have picked a better set to introduce him to Pantasy.
Building Techniques
There are some really enjoyable techniques throughout the Tavern, but my favourite came towards the roof.
The Tudor-style cross-hatching immediately reminded me of LEGO's Tudor Corner. Visually there are obvious similarities in the style of architecture, but the technique Pantasy use to achieve that effect is very different.
I actually preferred the way Pantasy did it.
I really enjoyed putting those sections together and seeing how the cross-hatching was created. It's a clever technique, but it isn't clever simply for the sake of being complicated. It's enjoyable to build and the finished result looks excellent.
The roof area in general was probably one of my favourite parts of the build. By this point the size and shape of the Tavern are really beginning to become apparent, and all the smaller architectural elements you've been working on start coming together.
None of it felt unnecessarily complicated.
That's probably what I enjoyed most about the build. Pantasy use interesting techniques throughout, but they don't get in the way of actually enjoying yourself.
It's a steady build, but never a boring one.
Interior & Detail
The interior is beautifully done and, importantly, maintains the Bavarian feel throughout.
The ground floor is by far the most detailed section of the building. My son built this entire section, and there's a lot going on.
The main bar is the obvious centrepiece and is surrounded by loads of smaller details. There are also lots of really nice printed elements that help bring everything to life.
I'm a huge fan of detail in my builds, so there was a lot here that I enjoyed.
The kitchen was another highlight. I loved the way it has been set up so it looks like baking is actually taking place. It's not just a kitchen with a few pieces of food sitting around. It looks like somebody is actually in the middle of preparing something.
Those sorts of details make a big difference to me. They make the building feel occupied rather than simply decorated.
The first floor continues the theme nicely, but the second floor wasn't as detailed as I would have liked.
This was probably the one area where I felt the interior dropped off slightly. After the amount of detail packed into the ground floor, particularly around the bar and kitchen, I would have liked to see a little more going on as you reach the top of the building.
It's not empty and it certainly doesn't spoil the model, but there is a noticeable difference in the density of detail compared with the lower levels.
With a building of this size, and considering how much attention Pantasy have given to almost every other part of the Tavern, I think there was an opportunity to do a little more here.
That said, the Bavarian feel is still maintained. The furniture, colours and smaller details all fit the building; I just wanted more of them.
For someone like me who really enjoys detailed interiors, it's probably the only part of the finished Tavern where I found myself thinking they could have pushed things a little further.
Exterior Design
This is probably my favourite part of the whole set.
The Bavarian Tavern looks spectacular from the outside.
The first thing you notice is the size. This is an imposing building and has a huge amount of presence once everything is put together.
But it isn't impressive simply because it's big. The shape is beautiful.
There are changes in height, depth and roofline throughout the building, so it never feels like a large rectangular modular with decoration added to the front. The balconies, windows, timber framing, flowers and roof sections give it a really interesting profile from different angles.
The colours are also amazing. They are rich and work perfectly with this style of architecture. Pantasy have laid the different colours out really well across the building, and nothing feels overused or out of place.
There is a lot happening visually, but it all works together.
The Tudor-style sections towards the roof are particularly good and give the upper part of the building a completely different texture from the lower floors.
For me, the exterior design is one of the strongest parts of the set.
It's a beautiful building.
Lighting
The lighting works well with the exterior and adds some warmth to the finished building.
The light coming through the windows suits the Bavarian architecture particularly well and helps highlight some of the different levels and details across the exterior.
It was also nice seeing my son experience integrated lighting for the first time. Rather than building a finished model and adding a third-party kit afterwards, the lighting is incorporated into the construction, so it becomes part of the building experience.
That said, there's nothing particularly special or unusual about the lighting itself.
It does what it needs to do and it does it well. The Bavarian Tavern already looks great without the lights switched on, and the lighting simply improves the overall display.
It's good integrated lighting, but the building itself is very much the star here.
Brick Quality & Instructions
I had no issues with the brick quality. Clutch was consistent, everything connected properly and the finished building feels solid.
The colour consistency was excellent too. More importantly, the colours shown in the instructions matched the actual bricks extremely well, so I never found myself second guessing which colour I was supposed to be using.
The instructions themselves were excellent throughout. For a large model with integrated lighting and some fairly unusual architectural techniques, everything was very easy to follow.
The printed elements are another big positive. There are plenty of them, particularly around the ground floor, and they add a lot of character to the interior.
Display
The Bavarian Tavern looks beautiful on display.
The size obviously gives it presence, but it's the shape, colours and architecture that keep drawing my eye back to it. The different roof heights, balconies, windows, timber framing and colour changes mean there is always something interesting to look at.
It's an imposing building, but also a genuinely beautiful one.
The lighting adds another layer when it's switched on, particularly with the warm light coming through the windows, but importantly the Tavern doesn't rely on it. I think it looks just as impressive during the day with the lighting switched off.
If you're a fan of displaying modular buildings, this is going to take up a fair amount of space, but it deserves that space.
It's one of those models that I found myself standing back and looking at once it was finished. After spending so long enjoying the build, I was equally happy with what I ended up with on the shelf.
For me, it's a beautiful display piece.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed the Bavarian Tavern.
For a set with more than 3,000 pieces, it never felt like I was building a set with more than 3,000 pieces. I think that tells you a lot about how enjoyable the building experience was.
It was just a really enjoyable, steady build.
There were tons of little delight moments, some great building techniques and plenty of detail to discover as we worked through it.
I particularly enjoyed the Tudor-style cross-hatching towards the roof and actually preferred Pantasy's technique to the approach used for the similar architectural style in LEGO's Tudor Corner.
The interior is really well done. The ground-floor bar is packed with detail and the kitchen is beautifully set up with the baking underway. I would have liked the second floor to have been more detailed, particularly given how good the ground floor is, but that's probably my biggest criticism of the set.
The lighting is good without doing anything particularly special. It complements the building rather than being the reason to buy it.
Then there's the exterior.
It's spectacular.
The size, shape, colours and architecture all work together to create an imposing building that looks beautiful on display.
Building it with my son made this one more memorable for me. He loves LEGO modulars, so being able to introduce him to Pantasy with a set like this, as well as giving him his first experience of integrated lighting, was great.
Pantasy really do modulars well.
For me, the Bavarian Tavern is another excellent example of that and one of the best modular buildings I've built from them.
Scores
Build Experience: 10/10
A really enjoyable and steady build with tons of delight moments. For a 3,000+ piece set, it never felt like one.
Brick Quality: 8/10
Excellent clutch and colour consistency throughout. I had no issues during the build.
Instructions: 9/10
Clear throughout with excellent colour matching. Everything came together exactly as it should.
Interior & Detail: 8/10
The ground floor is particularly good, with a great bar area, loads of printed details and a lovely kitchen. The second floor could have done with more detail.
Design: 8/10
A beautiful shape, fantastic colours and some really enjoyable architectural techniques. The Tudor-style cross-hatching was a particular highlight.
Lighting: 8/10
Good integrated lighting that suits the building and adds warmth to the exterior. It works well, but there's nothing particularly special about it.
Display: 9/10
Large, imposing and beautiful on display. Importantly, it looks great with or without the lighting.
Overall: 9/10
One of my favourite Pantasy modulars so far. A beautiful, imposing building, a genuinely enjoyable build and a set that I had a great time putting together with my son.
PANTASY ANNIVERSARY EVENT
For our official website, the anniversary campaign will run from August 6 to August 31. During this period, we will have several special offers:
* Members can redeem gifts with points, including Pantasy T-shirts and display cases
* Orders will earn 1.6x member points
* Enjoy 20% off sitewide
* Orders over $249 will receive an acrylic display case as a gift
For Amazon, the anniversary campaign will run from August 1 to August 16. During this period, there will be storewide discounts, with selected products up to 35% OFF.
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