47 replies to this topic

[Piranha]

Thank you for this very nice review of the new Town Hall set.

I myself really like the color scheme they went with. My favorite thus far has been Pet Shop but this is a close second. All the parts are great and some very nice details such as the garage doors for the glass canopy and the front columns, but I am sure there are more that only once you build it yourself you can get the true experience.

Since this is the biggest modular to data and has a price increase I think the value is still very high for what you get being over 2700 parts and that is still a good deal.

This is number 5 on my buy list after Grand Emporium, Pet Shop, the Maersk Train and the Joust.

Overall I would rate this set as 9/10.

[sok117]

Thanks a lot for the review!  I think this will have to go on the back burner because of other themes  

[Pazoozoo]

I had the set just today.

The size of the box is exceptional.

[snaillad]

Dakar A, on 06 March 2012 - 10:14 PM, said:

I'll be hoping/praying for dark blue. That would look sooooooo good.

Dakar

Dark blue would be lovely. Perhaps with a bit of tan mixed in could make a nice combo imo!

Just got mine today and as 'Pazoozoo' says the box is pretty big, seems shorter in length than the GE etc but nearly twice the depth!

[just2good]

Great review, 'unbornchikken'!
I'm glad they still used a baseplate in this set. It seems like baseplates have met their demise this year. I also love the interior of this modular, and the elevator function.

[SilentMode]

This is the only modular building I've even considered buying, and it's mainly for the parts. I also like to think I provided some inspiration for the elevator, even though the one I'd built used an old-school Technic rack. )

Thank you for the great review! I might eventually be swayed...

[Legocrazy81]

snaillad, on 07 March 2012 - 07:17 PM, said:

Dark blue would be lovely. Perhaps with a bit of tan mixed in could make a nice combo imo!

Just got mine today and as 'Pazoozoo' says the box is pretty big, seems shorter in length than the GE etc but nearly twice the depth!

Ooh! That would be an awesome color combo. Someone else mentioned the new olive green color.

just2good, on 09 March 2012 - 03:18 AM, said:

Great review, 'unbornchikken'!
I'm glad they still used a baseplate in this set. It seems like baseplates have met their demise this year. I also love the interior of this modular, and the elevator function.

For the City-esque sets I'm guessing LEGO is going to keep with baseplates so they can meld with the street plates they sell.
---------------------------------------------

Why all the hate for the color choice of the Town Hall? It's a great color and looks a lot better than what the pictures are saying.

[Pazoozoo]

Anybody has an idea of the purpose of the strange orange piece that looks like nothing shipped in the 1st set of bags?

To me it looks like a piece used to disassemble other pieces hardly stuck.

[Dakar A]

snaillad, on 07 March 2012 - 07:17 PM, said:

Dark blue would be lovely. Perhaps with a bit of tan mixed in could make a nice combo imo!

Just got mine today and as 'Pazoozoo' says the box is pretty big, seems shorter in length than the GE etc but nearly twice the depth!

Oh great... I have kept the boxes from all my modulars since the GE (only two boxes, though...), and this will be a bear to store. Oh well. Some day it'll probably be a cash cow (But I'd probably NEVER sell it!).

Pazoozoo, on 09 March 2012 - 08:32 PM, said:

Anybody has an idea of the purpose of the strange orange piece that looks like nothing shipped in the 1st set of bags?

To me it looks like a piece used to disassemble other pieces hardly stuck.

It's a bric seperator, new edition. Like you said, it's really usefull for seperating peices. Most of the larger sets this year have come with the new one, but there's an older one that works really well too!

Dakar

Edited by Dakar A, 09 March 2012 - 08:57 PM.

[SeanM]

I know people have said this before, but pictures do not do this set justice. This set looks better in person. The orange bricks are darker than you would think.

[Pazoozoo]

Dakar A, on 09 March 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

Oh great... I have kept the boxes from all my modulars since the GE (only two boxes, though...), and this will be a bear to store. Oh well. Some day it'll probably be a cash cow (But I'd probably NEVER sell it!).



It's a bric seperator, new edition. Like you said, it's really usefull for seperating peices. Most of the larger sets this year have come with the new one, but there's an older one that works really well too!

Dakar

Cool! This will avoid to break my nails when I separate small pieces.  

[unbornchikken]

Thanks to everyone for your compliments!

I recently picked up and built the Pet Shop and it looks great next to the Town Hall. I think Dark Red and Dark Orange are rather complimentary when used correctly. As for the color I hope for in the next modular: Sand Red, but I'll settle for any rarer color.

To respond to a few other comments:

Apologies for the white balance; the problem isn't the camera so much as the lighting. I build only at night, and so the pictures are mostly taken at night.

As for the brick separator, I must say that I've found it a definite step up from the previous version. Outside of the ability to more easily remove jumpers and tiles (and technic pieces too!), one lesser known fact is that it is smaller than the other brick separator, which admittedly sometimes makes it more difficult to handle, but it also makes it very handy for getting into tight spaces (for example, adjusting tiling/something on the floor when you've already built up some of the walls).

[SwissBrick]

Youhouhou!!!

After a struggle with TLG (ordered the set on March 1st) and after 2 phone calls with the customer services (paid on march 1st and on tuesday march 06th it was still "please contact customer services" on the order status...), I got it tonight..

Ground Floor: 1.2710 KG
Total package weight: 3.750 KG with box, plastic bags and so on...

As said before, no pictures are rendering modulars as well as they look like in real life... And this one is massive (even without "XLargisation")

The colors are great, light grey, dark grey, slight white in the middle and dark orange, just beautiful!!! Thank you Astrid-

One small question, do you think Lego Designers start with computer based software to build a model or they do use real bricks and then optimize with computer technology?

Thanks Unbornchikken for your excellen review!

Edited by SwissBrick, 10 March 2012 - 12:16 AM.

[mrklaw]

Nice first review!

Are the columns built up from normal pieces? Looks like white tiles on the faces of the columns. That has me intrigued - might check out the instructions online to see how they're built up.

Tempted by it, but not in a huge hurry to buy (although 10% off AND double VIP points AND free delivery in the UK is a good deal)

[RoxYourBlox]

Forgive me if this was mentioned before, but what is the purpose of the white window frames and tiles underneath the bottom floor?  They don't seem to serve either the structure or aesthetics.

[unbornchikken]

mrklaw, on 10 March 2012 - 02:36 PM, said:

Are the columns built up from normal pieces? Looks like white tiles on the faces of the columns. That has me intrigued - might check out the instructions online to see how they're built up.

They use these pieces on the inside, and then 1x8 Door Rails followed by the 1x8 tiles for the finish.

RoxYourBlox, on 10 March 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

Forgive me if this was mentioned before, but what is the purpose of the white window frames and tiles underneath the bottom floor?  They don't seem to serve either the structure or aesthetics.

The tile serves as a guide for placing the window frames and the window frames serve as support pieces (they are plated over).

[Mitch2742]

Can anyone tell me how this looks next to the Grand Emporium? I'm leaning toward the pet store just because I think it might be what looks better next to the GE...

[Bricksan]

Mitch2742, on 13 June 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

Can anyone tell me how this looks next to the Grand Emporium? I'm leaning toward the pet store just because I think it might be what looks better next to the GE...

Not sure but the Ge will be discontinued before the pet store, so if you can get that one first.

[kciR]

Bricksan, on 13 June 2012 - 10:04 PM, said:

Not sure but the Ge will be discontinued before the pet store, so if you can get that one first.

I think he means that he already got GE and wants to add either TH or PS.
(I can't provide you a picture as I don't have the TH and GE..)

[Kit Fisto]

Guys, did anyone count how many bags (with parts) in the box?I`ve counted 30.

Edited by Kit Fisto, 14 June 2012 - 08:47 AM.

[Mitch2742]

kciR, on 13 June 2012 - 11:06 PM, said:

I think he means that he already got GE and wants to add either TH or PS.
(I can't provide you a picture as I don't have the TH and GE..)

Yes, this is what I meant.

[BigRedGoat]

I bought this set to help me keep my sanity during my Hurricane Sandy-induced 15 days without power. Despite it being a fun build, there were some serious color issues with it. Being an AFOL, I know to expect some slight color variations, but this was too much for me to accept in a $200 set. Many of the white pieces had varying degrees of yellow/tan tint to them, much like an old/UV exposed part. It is most noticable on the facade of the building, and even the larger white floor plates don't match. It's a shame to see such poor quality control, especially on such a large, expensive, and adult-oriented set.

I'll try to upload some photos later tonight.

[gotoAndLego]

On the Pediment, the triangular shape above the first-floor columns, adding a 1x2 white jumper to the end of that black 1x4 tile helps a lot to close the shape.