unbornchikken

REVIEW: 10224 Town Hall

Recommended Posts

gallery_2351_18_164.gif

dsc0110uh.jpg

Set Number: 10224

Name: Town Hall

Theme: Town (Modular Buildings)

Year: 2012

Piece Count: 2766

Minifigs: 8

Price: $199.99 US (7.2 cents/piece)

Set Description (from shop.lego.com):

Keep the wheels of commerce turning with the authentic Town Hall!

Build the authentic 3-story Town Hall, the latest addition to the LEGO® Modular Buildings series! This highly detailed model features large entranceway columns, a coat of arms, a tall bell tower with clock and a large skylight that lets you see inside! On the ground floor, the large hall, tax office and auditorium have everything you need to run the town. Take the working elevator up to the secretary and mayor’s offices on the second floor, realistically furnished with desks, chairs, paintings and even a frog sculpture. Hold a meeting and address the town’s citizens at the podium! On the third floor, a spacious meeting room features a large conference table, chairs, globe and plants.

  • Includes 8 minifigures: mayor, secretary, bride and groom, press woman, janitor and 2 children.
  • Includes 8 minifigures: mayor, secretary, bride and groom, press woman, janitor and 2 children
  • Accessories include a painting, desks, chairs, sculpture, lamp, conference table, globe, plants and bench
  • Functioning elevator features space for 2 minifigures and ladder access to roof
  • Bell tower features bench and maintenance ladder
  • Roof features skylight with view of inside the building
  • Address the citizens from the balcony!
  • Collect and build an entire town with the LEGO® Modular Buildings collection: 10211 Grand Emporium, 10218 Pet Shop and 10197 Fire Brigade
  • Measures 10” (25.5cm) wide and 20” (50cm) high

The time is now; time for me to stop lurking and time to start contributing. This may not be much; I can't say I'm a great photographer, or picture editor, or an experienced reviewer (or experienced AFOL, for that matter), but I hope that I can provide this great community some insight to this great new set.

The Town Hall was released on March 1st, 2012, and I picked it up the day after, after much debate. Like many, the price increase of $50 to $199.99 was a little tough to swallow. Then again, like many, I was tempted and eventually gave in because of the offer of double VIP points (from March 1st to 15th).

The Box

As you can imagine, the set comes in a big box. I believe the box is just slightly thicker than the boxes for the previous modulars, and for me it was tricky to bring from shelf to the check out counter (and I have big hands/long fingers).

dsc0038kt.jpg

Nothing too special as far as the box front; at least, not compared to the glitz and glam of the Friends sets. But that's not needed here; we just get a great shot of the front of the building, a smaller shot of the back, some dimensions and an illustration of how the levels of the Town Hall split up.

dsc0048qx.jpg

As my kids know very well, the back of the box is where the good stuff is found. Here we get a few different scenes set in the Town Hall, as well as a nice shot of the Town Hall lined up next to the Grand Emporium and the Pet Shop. And here we whisper a silent prayer for the Fire Brigade. May it remain on store shelves for as long as possible.

dsc0039pw.jpgdsc0040vm.jpgdsc0041xe.jpg

The top of the box highlights the various minifigures of the set, as well as some of the furniture. The side has a parts list as well as an image of the clock tower to illustrate the actual size/scale of the pieces.

The Instructions

dsc0042d.jpg

Enough with the box! Let's move on and get inside! As has become a welcome trend lately, the instructions come in a plastic sleeve and with a cardboard backing. The set comes with 3 booklets, each addressing one of the levels of the Town Hall (with the 3rd handling the 3rd level and the roof).

dsc0044cmr.jpg

The instructions themselves have a nice new feature (new to me anyway). In addition to the typical piece count for each step, the instructions now also highlight the pieces that have been added in the step. If you look closely, you'll see a red outline on the pieces added in the picture above. The outline changed between red and yellow depending on the colors used for the step.

dsc0046eic.jpg

The instruction booklets ended with the typical LEGO survey, as well as ads for a few other sets (like the VW Camper Van), and this wonderful print of the 3 most recent modulars for all to ogle over (and if not all, then at least those, like me, who don't have those other 2 sets yet).

The Parts

On to the parts. I'll save you the trouble if you don't want to read through this section: there are a lot of them.

dsc0050mi.jpg

dsc0063np.jpg

dsc0082fy.jpg

The bags are numbered from 1-3 to correspond to the 3 instruction booklets.

dsc0049is.jpg

Also included is a 32x32 Tan baseplate (loose in the box) and an unnumbered bag containing all the large plates.

dsc0065vb.jpg

The large plates themselves are of some interest. You get six 6x24 plates in this set; two light bluish gray, and four white. According to Bricklink, it has been 10 years since LEGO last released this piece in a set.

dsc0055ki.jpg

I won't highlight each piece in each picture, but suffice it to say that I took a snapshot of each piece I found interesting, unique to the set, or at the very least hard to come by. Some pieces of note in the picture above include the printed shield, various printed pieces, the new 1x1 round tiles, and also the new vehicle Mudguards (the curve of the Mudguard is shorter on these new ones, found only in 2012 sets). The set also includes a good amount (12 + extras) of Bright Green 1x1 flower pieces.

dsc0083pl.jpg

But of course, what most people would be interested in would be the printed dish that represents the face of the clock tower. You also get a printed globe that was first featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean set The Captain's Cabin (4191).

dsc0070ig.jpg

You get a few (and I quote from Bricklink) "Slope, Curved 4 x 1 Double No Studs" pieces in this set. These have been around since last year, but this is the first time we've been able to get the piece in Tan, at least until the Sydney Opera House (21012) is released.

dsc0084kt.jpg

For the skylight, the set includes plenty of Garage Door pieces in Trans Clear and Black.

dsc0054qk.jpg

It was a pleasant surprise to me also to get a good chunk of Dark Green pieces in the set. The ones pictured are just the ones found in bag 1; you get a few more bricks and tiles later on in the build.

dsc0067wn.jpg

Finally, as we all know, we get a ton of lovely Dark Orange in this set. For me personally, this was one of the biggest selling points of the set (since I will eventually recycle these pieces for MOCs). Pictured above are just the Dark Orange pieces from bag 2.

The Minifigures

dsc0109bk.jpg

Most of us don't buy Modulars for the minifigures, so I won't spend too much time here, but there are a few neat items to highlight. The first of course is the Popsicle, which isn't easy to come by. There are a couple Torsos of interest as well, namely the Mayor's and the Photographer's; both, as far as I can tell, similar to the Civilian Torsos previous only available from Alien Conquest sets. Finally, note the Dark Orange hair found on the girl. This is the same hair piece that Ginny Weasley (from a couple Harry Potter sets) used to call her own.

The Build

It took me approximately 7 hours over 3 nights to build this, but factor in the time to arrange pieces and take photos. I'm normally a pretty swift builder, but I slowed myself down for this set to enjoy the build, and also give a little something back to the community.

dsc0052oi.jpg

The shot above captures a very early stage of the build where you can see some of the extravagance of the set, even if only in the pieces used as part of the support structure. The White 2x2 Round Grille Brick and the two window pieces are eventually covered up by plates, and never seen again. How many of us can afford to do that in our MOCs? :)

dsc0060cj.jpg

Oddly enough, just a little bit further down the road, we have this oddity: a Black 1x1 Round Plate where a Dark Bluish Gray 1x1 Plate would so much rather have been. In the end, this section gets covered up when you connect the Town Hall with another modular, but it just seemed funny to me that LEGO was willing to put Grille pieces and windows in the supporting structure, but not a properly colored 1x1 plate on the side wall. Anyway, I digress...

dsc0056mi.jpg

Alright, time for a full disclaimer: I'm a relatively new AFOL (little over a year since coming out of my Dark Ages), and, besides the Town Hall, can only claim ownership of the Fire Brigade in terms of Modulars. That said, I've built my fair share of D2C exclusives (my favorite being Diagon Alley), so I do know my way around these larger sets.

dsc0058et.jpg

Point being, I've experienced enough to know a dull build from an interesting one, and this one starts out very nicely. You start by building the steps up to the first floor of the building. Within the building, there are steps down to the little auditorium where the Mayor makes his announcements.

dsc0057mg.jpg

The back of the building, like all the other modulars, isn't near as interesting as the front, but the construction of the elevator shaft adds some intrigue.

dsc0059ow.jpg

The construction of the pillars is a definite highlight in the build. They come together really nicely, and the simplicity of it all makes yours truly wonder why I never thought of doing that first, but that's why they pay Astrid (and other LEGO Designers) the big bucks, and why I pay LEGO for these sets.

dsc0062lc.jpg

Book 1 finishes the first level, and we've barely used any Dark Orange, but the front of the building looks great. Forgive me for the misplaced Grille piece; a mistake made in the excitement. ;)

dsc0071bnd.jpg

Book 2 starts up as expected: you build the base and start piling on pieces. Thankfully, those are the Dark Orange pieces we've been waiting for.

dsc0072dc.jpg

The build gets understandably less exciting here, but there's still moments of brightness when you construct the furniture...

dsc0073re.jpg

And various parts of the facade.

dsc0077ps.jpg

Book 2 is the thinnest of the 3 instruction booklets, so this portion of the build was also the quickest. Alright... NEXT!

dsc0085jf.jpg

Book 3 has you building the 3rd level and the large conference room. The instructions are a little hard to decipher here in terms of where LEGO intends for you to place each of the chairs, but it really doesn't matter too much where you put them.

dsc0086lr.jpg

Aside from the little balcony and the interior, the 3rd level isn't all that different from the 2nd, but you do have a few 1x1 Round Tile pieces to add to the charm of the building.

dsc0088bn.jpg

Having finished with the 3rd level, we move on to the roof. Here, things start to spice up again. The skylight is very well constructed. The ends of the Garage Door pieces are guided in place by 1x2 Bricks with Grooves on the side, and held in place by tiles (making it so you can't lift the Garage Door up). With the curved pieces in place, the Garage Door doesn't wiggle and jiggle and holds in place quite well.

dsc0089zk.jpg

The roof also features some upside down SNOT work involving 2x3 Plates with holes and Curving Bricks as seen above.

dsc0091qxz.jpg

This isn't anything too special, but it does have a nice look and teaches less experienced builders a new trick.

dsc0092nf.jpg

Moving on to the Clock Tower itself, we see yet more LEGO ingenuity. Note the white border around the clock face and the grille background. Again, nothing too special (outside of some well-calculated SNOT work), but little touches like this are what makes LEGO building so special. We also get to do some SNOT numbering like in the Fire Brigade.

dsc0112rs.jpg

A hop and a scotch

Is another notch...

And voila, after carefully arranging 2000+ pieces, we have a Town Hall!

dsc0098g.jpg

The back of the building isn't quite as fancy, and in fact, is somewhat awkward with the gap in the wall for the elevator function. That said, in LEGO's defense, I can imagine the elevator being one of the best kid-friendly play features in any of the modular building sets.

dsc0099zt.jpg

Here it is; not the prettiest thing, but it serves a function and does it well.

dsc0103dq.jpg

And considering how the only other way down is to make this jump... Well, let's just say that the elevator has its place in our Town Hall.

dsc0108jw.jpg

The top of the building may seem dull on first glance, but there are quite a few features that make the construction of this roof one of my favorites. Note that the detailing isn't just in the front of the building, but even on the insides (same is true for the other levels, namely the window detailing). The skylight as previously mentioned is a great feature, and of course the Clock and Bell Tower is one of the hallmarks of this set. They even thought to throw in a tiny bench in the tower for the Caretaker to have his lunch...

dsc0087ua.jpg

Though he usually prefers to have it here. :)

Conclusion

As is true with most larger sets, it is hard to convey in pictures and word, the true beauty and value of this set. Is the piece count worth the price? Yes, especially considering the sort of pieces you get. Is the build worth the price? That is trickier, as the cheaper Modulars offer similar building experiences. But in the end, what you're getting here is a classic LEGO Modular Building experience, and still at a reasonable average piece price.

When it comes to Modulars, the question isn't so much "should I get this?" as it is "which should I get first?" You may want to go for one of the older sets before they run out in stores, but there's no reason, presuming you're a fan of the series and you have the money, that you shouldn't get the Town Hall at some point.

Design: 8/10

Build: 10/10

Keep in mind once again that my only other Modular is the Fire Brigade. With that disclaimer aside, I thought the build was very good, and rarely dull, oddly enough, partly because of the same thing that lowers the score for the design: the elevator shaft. Building-wise, that little gap made for some interesting construction, and it actually teaches a lesson in how you can make something stable without it having to be fully connected. Design-wise though, it also leaves a strange mark on the already typically boring back-side of the building.

Parts: 10/10

Price: 9/10

I can't see anyone who has done their proper due diligence complaining about the pieces in this set. You get a TON of Dark Orange; a color that was hard to come by before this release. There are a good number of pieces that are currently exclusive to this set, and the price per piece is comparatively lower than the Pet Shop's.

Overall: 9.25/10

In the end, I can see the community's love of this set coming down to the elevator. It adds playability and a unique building experience, but also adds an odd gap in the wall of the back of the building. I'm sure someone will eventually come up with some system that hides the feature a little better, but that may have not been in the cards because of the need to keep the piece-count and price in the range LEGO intended. The other major factor of course is the price increase, but I've found that it doesn't at all take away from the value or the building experience. That extra $50 is $50 worth of parts and good old fashioned LEGO design.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, Finally a nice review! thanks unbornchikken!! :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the review 'unbornchicken', great looking modular with very interesting build tricks....a bit of SNOT on top eh ? :wink:

Though my only issue is....a computer, we have old fashioned cash registers in the stores (GE and GG) plus a 1930's fire truck in the FB but a modern computer in TH ? :look:

Pity I don't collect modulars anymore, I would buy this one for sure. :wink:

Brick On Review On 'unbornchicken' ! :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review of a beautiful set. I can't wait to pick this up. You've definitely made me more eager to pick it up. Now do you have any advice on how to get the wife to not notice $200 missing from the account? ;)

Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review!! I got the Town Hall and Friday and built it over the weekend. Love the set, love the color!

My only negative about this set and I hope that this does not continue is the red outline in the instructions. Back 10 years ago you needed to look at the previous picture to see what had changed, nowadays between the piece call out and the red outline it seems as if TLG might as well come build it for us! :laugh:

Now I do know that with a set of this magnitude and detail piece call out may be required but I am really against the red outline; it threw me off more tan helped me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review!!! We bought one last saturday but my wife hasn't built it yet :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review! You really made me warm up to this set. The interior is definitely the best of all the modulars, and the dark orange is an odd yet very nice colour :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great job with the reveiw, and great set! If I can't win one, then I'll have to buy one! :wink: Love all of that dark orange!

Dakar

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mine is on the way, im pretty excited to build it as at present there isnt much else this year that I am looking forward to. The dark orange looks great, even if pictures will never do it justice.

I wonder what colour the next modular will be? Is a sand yellow too obvious?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good review. One quibble I have with this set is the PotC globe. This globe is supposed to resemble a historical one, but as such it is wildly inaccurate (for instance, California is depicted as an island). I suppose a historic globe could have its place in a town hall, but I'd much prefer if they had sprung for a new print.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review. You did a great job of covering just about every inch of the set. Wonder where the decision to add new prints and a new torso came in? I was surprised at the size and bulk of this set as well.

The back of the box gave me a little giggle. Is the secretary embezzling money there? :tongue:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great set, good review. I'm about halfway done building mine. But you should check your white balance settings :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review. It makes me want this set more than ever. I am a great modular lover and ever sinds i have come out of the dark ages, i am building these with a lot of pleasure. This one will have a speciale place in my town.

Thanks unbornchicken

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review! And I can say I enjoyed building my XL version from 2 sets (pics to come soon), too...

Oddly enough, just a little bit further down the road, we have this oddity: a Black 1x1 Round Plate where a Dark Bluish Gray 1x1 Plate would so much rather have been. In the end, this section gets covered up when you connect the Town Hall with another modular, but it just seemed funny to me that LEGO was willing to put Grille pieces and windows in the supporting structure, but not a properly colored 1x1 plate on the side wall.

It must be significantly cheaper: Grille bricks and windows are used elsewhere, so the automated packing process just lets another two drop into the bag, whereas the 1x1 plate would have been the only one, requiring accessing another item container...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very nice review!

I have the first and second floors completed and so far the biggest problem I've come across yet is that the front doors don't open fully and there is barely enough room for a minifig to pass through. Each door bumps into the inside face of the nearby pillar. Urg...

Also, the printing on one of the 2 shields in my set is off-register, resulting in the printed pattern being off-center on the part. I used that one on the lectern.

Edited by VeganGuy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the review, it is very nice and gives a lot of useful information.

I don't like the dark orange color so I'm not that excited about those bricks and I would like if Lego didn't use that color, but the design of the building is fabulous. I love the columns (I haven't noticed how nicely they are built until you pointed that out) and love the windows, I noticed them the first time I saw Town Hall pictures. There's not much to say about the clock tower and skylight except: perfect.

The only thing is that I'm not really sure I'll be buying this one since the other modulars were very expensive for me and this one goes through the roof.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mine is on the way, im pretty excited to build it as at present there isnt much else this year that I am looking forward to. The dark orange looks great, even if pictures will never do it justice.

I wonder what colour the next modular will be? Is a sand yellow too obvious?

My educated guess is that the next one will prominently feature some shade of green - I'm really hoping for a restaurant in the new olive green color.

Anyway, nice review! The piece outlines in the instructions are actually pretty helpful, I think. They've been doing this for a few years as far as I know, but only for builds that have a lot of one color - it was in the instructions for 21005 Fallingwater as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder why they put in 1891 instead of the obvious choice of the 1930's, I mean, if you think about it, it is the perfect 1930's style building. But, the building is a true keeper, the minifigure's are fantastic, their are numorous play-feautures, and the parts have fantastic pieces in the building. This has got to be the set with the most dark orange ever in Lego history. What a brilliant set to make, and sure to rake in money for LEGO. :sweet:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder why they put in 1891 instead of the obvious choice of the 1930's...

IRC, it was explained in the release video, check the other thread.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for this review! After seeing first leaked photos and then the official video for TH, I like the set even more. After going through the review, I know for sure I'm getting it! It's a nice architectural design and it seems that building it can teach me some new tricks. On the other hand, if opportunity comes I'm hoping to get another one, for part out and MOCes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

...and it seems that building it can teach me some new tricks.

I bought Fire Brigade soon after my darkages and it taught me a lot about modern techniques.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder why they put in 1891 instead of the obvious choice of the 1930's, I mean, if you think about it, it is the perfect 1930's style building. But, the building is a true keeper, the minifigure's are fantastic, their are numorous play-feautures, and the parts have fantastic pieces in the building. This has got to be the set with the most dark orange ever in Lego history. What a brilliant set to make, and sure to rake in money for LEGO. :sweet:

1891 was the year LEGO's founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen, was born.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

While building mine, I noticed that some white jumper plates have a groove (like the tiles).

The inventory lists 15 white jumper plates, without discerning groove or non-groove.

Anyone else noticed that ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mine is on the way, im pretty excited to build it as at present there isnt much else this year that I am looking forward to. The dark orange looks great, even if pictures will never do it justice.

I wonder what colour the next modular will be? Is a sand yellow too obvious?

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

Dakar

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.