MACTANO The Great Wave Micro Building Blocks Set for Adult Kanagawa Surfs Waves Home Decor Model Toys Building Kit -2296PCS

I'd bought this for myself, but my adult son, who lives with me, beat me to it! He just finished it today & it is stunning,,,,& surprisingly "hefty", & solid as least for what it is.Usually we will share projects, in that after he finishes one, he will 'unbuild' it & then I take my turn. But today, he said there is no way he will dismantle that project, as it would be way too easy to lose pieces, with them maybe popping off & flying away! I agree totally!The smallest pieces are incredibly small, requiring the use of tweezers & sometimes a magnifying glass.He has is set up next to our fish tank (not using the included background in this case), & it looks pretty cool butted up to it for an interesting effect! We also have a tiny led changing color 3-light, light strip behind it, so it shows nice different effects!He/we found the instructions to be pretty good, since already being so familiar with the picture type instructions from Lego. We thought it was quite similar to those. He likes to sort pieces from any project into storage box containers that have mulitple sectioned off parts. In this case he sorted a bag at a time, & assembling that, before going onto the next bag.This is not recommended for a beginner! But if you like challenges that result in a very neat final product, this one is highly recommended.We had no missing pieces & all pieces fit together nice & snugly.This particular subject is a very popular one, with several different mediums having been used to display it. Originally it was a wonderful painting done by an accomplished artist, of this actual tsunami event: "The Great Wave of Kawagawa" which devastated an area of Japan a long time ago. (I forget just when it happened.)I have it in 2 of many versions of Diamdond Dot art, as well as a couple different versions of machine enbroidery, which I have yet to accomplish. I'm also now working on a 20"x30" 1000 piece puzzle of it! I hope to put all versions into some type of display eventually!

I have built 6K piece Lego sets, wood and paper 3D puzzles, mini figs and more, but this build took me a month working on it for 2 hours/night. Other reviewers are correct. Not for first time micro builders, novice Lego builders, or for people with bad eye sight or arthritis. Also not for kids.The instructions are incredibly different than Lego. The best advice I can give is, do not try, like me, to do it like Lego where you build on top of the previous piece by piece. You will put pieces where you think they should go, and inevitably be wrong and have to start over. Instead (photo referenced) build the base layer, then build the sections they show hovering over the base separate, then put that build it the base layer. Once I started reading the instructions that way the rest of the build went faster.I thought I was missing pieces like other reviewers claimed but ultimately realized I just built it wrong. However, there are not duplicates of what I call “unicorn pieces”.Even though I organized everything it would take 10+ minutes to find the 1 unique piece that they didn’t bother giving two of, like Lego would even though it’s essential to the overall look.All and all, it’s cute, it looks like the painting, and displays nicely, just maybe try a different build for your first time with micro blocks (just built the Eiffel Tower and it was worlds easier than this smaller micro, only took a couple days).

If you want a challenge this is a great one. First off I am a lego junkie. Second the great wave is one of my favorite pieces of art.This build is something else. The pieces are small and there are thousands of them. I spent four hours a night for about five days building this. Some days I felt like I was getting nowhere. Then I would see the curl of the wave develope. Then the break Then the boats and the mountain. In the end it is a masterpiece.You have to pay attention to the directions. At times there appears to be some ambiguity to them, especially when you are tired. Get up and walk away, come back to it and you will get it.With a the pieces being so small I thought it might be a bit fragile, trust me those pieces lock in and are pretty thought to remove even with the provided puller.If you buy this don't expect the simple lego build. This isn't lego this a master build. One that is pretty satisfying. Especially when you see the final results.Don't worry about pieces. There were tons of them left. Why? I don't know.

box came damaged but the set is great for the price and my boyfriend loves it !

Looks beautiful. When we looked inside the box at all of the bags we realized that it is not for someone 8 years old. You would need to be very experienced to put it together. Never even opened the bags of pieces. Will be returning it.If you are an expert I think it would be great like the wave!