Youmko The Treasury Petra: An Impressive Model. A Serious Challenge.

Youmko The Treasury Petra: An Impressive Model. A Serious Challenge.

Youmko's The Treasury Petra is a big set. Nearly 4,000 pieces, a six-bulb lighting kit and a finished model with some serious presence.

It's also probably the hardest building set I've ever completed.

That's going to be important when deciding whether this set is for you. I found it extremely complex, but if you're someone who actively enjoys a difficult build, you're probably going to get more from the experience than I did.

Basic Specifications

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- Set: The Treasury Petra

- Set number: YM012

- Pieces: 3,989+

- Lighting: Six-bulb lighting kit

- Display: Freestanding or wall-mounted

- Recommended age: 14+

- Price: Just over $100 USD.

First Impressions & Packaging

First impressions are excellent.

The entire box is designed around the Petra theme and it looks fantastic. It's really nicely printed, well presented and has some genuine weight to it. It feels like a quality product.

The bagging is fine and everything is organised into stages. My only complaint here is the number of bags per stage.

I've mentioned this before with other manufacturers. I'd much rather have one bag per stage than three, four or more bags containing the parts for the same section. It's easier to organise and means less plastic.

Other than that, the presentation is excellent.

The Instructions

The instructions are very different from what I've been used to with Youmko.

They're complex. I don't mean unclear, because they're not. They're well printed and actually do a good job of highlighting areas where you could easily make a mistake. There are additional warnings throughout and on a build like this they're genuinely useful.

It's the way the build is presented that's different.

Each stage can have multiple stages within it. There are layers to what you're doing and you really need to pay attention.

Do not go into this expecting standard LEGO-style instructions. They aren't.

You need to concentrate and check what you're doing before moving on. Believe me, this is not a model where you want to realise several stages later that you've made a mistake and have to start going backwards.

The Build Experience

Fair warning. This is the type of model where you can enter a genuine flow state. It's involved and challenging. I found myself completely absorbed in it for long periods because you really do have to concentrate on what you're doing.

One thing I found particularly interesting is that the build isn't intuitive.

You start to get comfortable. You think you've worked out where things are going and start anticipating the next few pieces. Ah... no.

There were plenty of occasions where the instructions suddenly had me doing something that felt completely against what would normally be practical or logical.

You can't really relax and start building ahead. You need to follow what you're being told to do.

Normally I'd say a set like this isn't for inexperienced builders, but I think even experienced builders are going to find this challenging.

For me, it's probably the hardest building set I've ever completed.

If you enjoy difficult builds, that's obviously going to work in its favour. It makes you concentrate and there were times when hours disappeared because I was so involved in what I was doing. But it is hard work.

Interestingly, it's right at the end that the build finally introduces some proper delight moments.

You frame the model, box everything in and suddenly the whole thing starts coming together.

And frankly, most of the rest of the build is far too challenging to be delightful. Haha.

Those final stages are really enjoyable though, particularly when you finally get to see what you've spent all that time building.

Brick Quality

The brick quality is excellent.

Historically, I've found Youmko can be a little hit or miss in this area, but I had absolutely no problems here.

Clutch power was great and everything fitted together exactly as it should. I genuinely didn't notice that I wasn't working with bricks from one of the leading brands.

The colour palette is pretty basic, but that's obviously dictated by what you're building. The colours themselves were great and I didn't notice any consistency issues.

A really good performance here.

Design & Display

The design is really nice.

This is a substantial architectural model and I think it would sit comfortably alongside some of the big mainstream LEGO landmark builds such as the Colosseum, Tower Bridge or Big Ben and Parliament.

It's that type of display piece.

I've never been to Petra, so I can only judge the accuracy against photographs of the actual site, but visually it looks highly accurate.

The façade is instantly recognisable and the surrounding rockwork works really well. I'm glad they didn't just build the Treasury itself. Having it sitting within the rock gives the whole model much more presence.

There's not a huge amount of colour variation, so most of the visual interest comes from the architecture, texture and depth. It looks great.

Lighting

The lighting is fine.

The six-bulb system isn't anything particularly special on its own, but it really adds something to the model once everything is finished.

It highlights the façade nicely and makes what is already an impressive model even more impactful on display.

Considering how challenging I found the build, turning the lights on at the end was also particularly satisfying.

It looks good without them. It looks better with them. Simple as that.

Value for Money

This is a massive model.  You're getting nearly 4,000 pieces and a six-bulb lighting kit for just a little over $100 USD. That's excellent value. Obviously piece count isn't everything, but the bricks are excellent, the finished model is huge, the design is good and the lighting is included. More importantly, none of it feels cheap.

The packaging is excellent. The brick quality is excellent. The finished model looks impressive.

For just over $100, I really can't complain.

Scores

Build Experience – 5/10

For me, this is an extremely complex build. The instructions require a lot of concentration and the construction isn't always intuitive. I found it challenging throughout. As a general build experience, it's a 5/10.

Build Experience If You Want a Challenge – 7.5/10

This needs a separate score. If you're actively looking for something difficult, you're going to view this build very differently. It definitely delivers a challenge. For that type of builder, 7.5/10.

Display – 8/10 

It's a really impressive piece. It's big, recognisable and has plenty of presence. The lighting makes it even better. An easy 8/10.

Brick Quality – 8.5/10

Excellent. Great clutch power and consistent quality throughout. I genuinely didn't notice that I wasn't using bricks from one of the leading brands. The palette is pretty basic, but there's not much Youmko can really do about that when you're building Petra.

Overall – 7.5/10

For me, The Treasury Petra is an extremely complex build.

I think it's probably the hardest building set I've ever completed.

I wouldn't recommend it to an inexperienced builder, and even if you've built plenty of large sets before, don't assume you're going to breeze through this one.

If you like a challenge, though, you'll probably have a very different experience.

The finished model is really impressive. The brick quality is excellent, the lighting adds something extra and at just over $100 for nearly 4,000 pieces, the value is very difficult to argue with.

It took some work to get there, but I'm really pleased with the finished model.

Overall: 7.5/10