164 replies to this topic

[LegoDad]

iluvmyelement, on 28 January 2012 - 02:16 AM, said:

Gone already.  They said someone called (they took the call) and ordered the last 150.  Bummer!

Yeah, not surprising, when I got mine, they said there were only like 300 left in stock.  So that didn't take long, I ordered mine about 5 days ago.  That white panel is going to be a pain to find, but I want mine to be 100% correct, i'm not the MOC'ing type.  I'm not so sure though that they will keep producing them.  Just because they are selling them on S@H, doesn't mean they are still producing them.  For the others still working on this project, I hope they do see the demand for the part and make a batch.

[Stefano]

so what, can you just call to Lego Shop@Home and buy almost every brick needed for a custom Cafe Corner or is it really for a certain kind of brick ... or would you guy recommend other places ?
sorry i don't get it maybe its because its almost 23.00 hours and i just had the worst experience with the belgian public transport xD

[Lord Insanity]

slovakiasteph, on 28 January 2012 - 12:38 AM, said:

Instead of using the two panels together (for the four windows on each side), has anyone tried the 1x2x3 windows?  I realize that would be a simple look and not like the original, but it seems like it would be an alternative.

I have actually done this with my Cafe Corner. (I bought the set back when it came out.) It actually looks better with the 1x2x3 windows with "glass" swapped in place of the panels. The open hole windows were the only minor complaint I had with the set. Once those 1x2x3 windows showed up on Shop at Home pick-a-brick I ordered some to swap the Cafe Corner windows out.  That frees up the panels and several 1x2 light blue tiles as well. Those parts are much more useful to me for use in non-window related MOCs.  

[Darkdragon]

I finished building mine today. The two major changes I made (because of cost) are the white panels - I used a newer version, and the barred door - I used a yellow version.

This is the panel I used, it looks almost the same as the original panels.
http://www.bricklink...90232&colorID=1

Having nothing to do with cost, I also gave the first floor an interior. With those large window, I thought it looked really silly to be viewing just green baseplate through it.

[Flickr]

[Legobrandon]

It looks wonderful 'darkdragon'. I don't think anyone would know it was custom made. I hope you don't mind me asking but, approximately how much did it cost to create this set?

[Darkdragon]

Legobrandon, on 30 January 2012 - 01:53 AM, said:

It looks wonderful 'darkdragon'. I don't think anyone would know it was custom made. I hope you don't mind me asking but, approximately how much did it cost to create this set?

Thanks.

It cost me around $80. I had all the basic parts and the dark red slopes I got extras and so was able to resell 40 to cover the cost of the ones I kept.

[Lorentzen]

Wow - just 80 dollars

You must've had many of the bricks in your collection. It looks magnificent :)

Have any of you tried to build 'Town Plan' this way? Do you know If there are any rare bricks in that set?
It could be fun to build 'Town Plan' through Bricklink

[dede_la_fee]

ibecks, on 09 October 2011 - 09:38 AM, said:

I spotted Cafe Corner in the Bluewater Lego shop soon after it was released, thought 'Wow. That's amazing - look at the way they've used those pieces.' then thought 'I'm too old for Lego'. I saw the light a year or two later and just missed being able to get Cafe Corner. I did manage to get the Green Grocer, which is also brilliant, and I have plans to get Grand Emporium and the Pet Shop (not too bothered about the Fire Station or Market Street).

Needless to say, I still really want Cafe Corner but there's no way I can afford the £350-£400 price tag of the full set (at least not in one go). Therefore I've been looking at getting all the parts separately. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on this. I've got my wanted list sorted out and I will be doing a spreadsheet to keep track of it all. I'm particularly interested to know which parts of it are the most difficult to get hold of and whether you had to do colour replacements for anything. Also, if any of you have done it before, how much did it end up costing you?

Thanks
Becks

(off to build the camper van now - excited!)

Hello, I did build the CC using Bricklink. Actually, it's more a MOD than the real thing. I switched a few colors (no dark blue bricks, no dark red slopes). I first looked what I had in my drawers, and was surprised that I had most of them, save the dark blue and red pieces. So in the end, it only cost me around 20€ in BL-ordered stuff. In comparison, building the Carrousel almost from scratch (I had to order almost all the technic pieces, the 8 cloth parts and the music box) cost me around 180€... And I made a tan MOD of the main building of market street...

[Legogal]

The sky high prices of the new and used modular sets is just blowing my mind! We picked up several after they first came out and built all of them except one or two spares. They are fabulous sets, but it makes me physically ill to see the rip off prices for these sets now.

I guess the lesson is to get them when they are introduced if you can manage it. Another way to cut your costs on these huge sets is to attend an annual Lego convention where they offer the 30% discount at nearby Lego stores. Then stock up on the big sets buying an extra one if you can... for spare parts or for expanding the original.

Our family enjoys building these sets over the holidays...we have a fun time over several days and then have a lovely finished product. Much better than going to the movies or out to eat or doing something else that is expensive and not as creative. Maybe we have to view these sets as a building experience rather than just as a large fixed cost of being Lego addicts.

[Toadtorrent]

Stefano, on 29 January 2012 - 11:05 PM, said:

so what, can you just call to Lego Shop@Home and buy almost every brick needed for a custom Cafe Corner or is it really for a certain kind of brick ... or would you guy recommend other places ?
sorry i don't get it maybe its because its almost 23.00 hours and i just had the worst experience with the belgian public transport xD

No...you cannot buy all of the bricks, as some of them are not available anymore like the dark blue arch, or the white hose in the Market Square...hence the $23 price tag on BL.  

I got all the dark red parts off of a combination of Lego customer support, and BL (many parts are MUCH cheaper on BL...it just takes a lot of time to do the research).  The other thing to note is, that if you are buying a lot of parts that can be had on the Shop@Home Pick A Brick thing, they will tell you to go there instead of going through the phone service.  They will also only allow for something like 10-15 items searched on the phone, unless you have the element IDs handy (not the BL part numbers).  Going by email, they have no facility to confirm what you ordered if you have a big list, so it's a bit of a crap shoot what you'll get, given you're sending them just element IDs for larger orders.

[iElkie]

I'm also in the process of building Cafe Corner through BL and PAB purchases. For the dark red slopes, I went through Lego Direct (replacement parts service). I ordered 36 of them (so I wasn't the greedy one ordering more than a hundred at once  ), which cost me approximately 15 EUR including shipping. So that's not too bad, considering the average BL selling price is 1.27 EUR per piece.

I also used this service for a few other parts, like the dark blue 1x4 bricks and dark red headlight bricks. I'm still using BL for the majority of the parts though, since common parts are usually much cheaper there.

[Locutis]

Lord Insanity, on 30 January 2012 - 12:24 AM, said:

I have actually done this with my Cafe Corner. (I bought the set back when it came out.) It actually looks better with the 1x2x3 windows with "glass" swapped in place of the panels. The open hole windows were the only minor complaint I had with the set. Once those 1x2x3 windows showed up on Shop at Home pick-a-brick I ordered some to swap the Cafe Corner windows out.  That frees up the panels and several 1x2 light blue tiles as well. Those parts are much more useful to me for use in non-window related MOCs.  

Could you post/send pics of this, please?

I'm very interested in seeing what this looks like.

Locutis

[Brickmamba]

darkdragon, on 30 January 2012 - 01:57 AM, said:

Thanks.

It cost me around $80. I had all the basic parts and the dark red slopes I got extras and so was able to resell 40 to cover the cost of the ones I kept.

Must give you props for doing it for that ridiculously low expense even if you had to substitute parts, most of it is there and it looks great, well done!

[ibecks]

iluvmyelement, on 28 January 2012 - 02:16 AM, said:

Gone already.  They said someone called (they took the call) and ordered the last 150.  Bummer!

I've just put the last order in for my Cafe Corner.  Just in case anyone else is looking for them, I ordered from Lego today (via the replacement brick service) and the dark red slopes are back in stock.  I only got the 36 I needed, so there should be plenty left for everyone else. ;)  I also got most of my dark blue bricks from there.

The only thing I had to start with was a couple of baseplates and the leftovers from GG and the VW camper.  I bought everything new from Bricklink wherever possible and it ended up costing around £135.  Off the top of my head, the swaps I made were:

White 1 x 2 x 3 panels replaced with the side support version
Dark Blue 1 x 6 Supports replaced with dark bley (or maybe reddish brown - I've ordered both and I'll see what they look like)
Dark Blue 1 x 8 x 2 Arch replaced with dark bley (sorry but £21 for a single brick is where I draw the line!)
Dark Bley Birds replaced with Dark Red scorpions as a temporary measure/in-joke.  
Reddish Brown 2x10 bricks replaced with 2x6 and two 2x2 (Lego said these were showing as 'due in stock 17th Feb)

The process was made a lot easier by finding a great Bricklinker, Gizmocom, who managed to find all but a few of the parts I needed.

Now I'm really looking forward to being able to build it and have it on display next to my GE and GG.  

[LegoDad]

ibecks, on 03 February 2012 - 07:58 PM, said:

I've just put the last order in for my Cafe Corner.  Just in case anyone else is looking for them, I ordered from Lego today (via the replacement brick service) and the dark red slopes are back in stock.  I only got the 36 I needed, so there should be plenty left for everyone else. ;)  I also got most of my dark blue bricks from there.

The only thing I had to start with was a couple of baseplates and the leftovers from GG and the VW camper.  I bought everything new from Bricklink wherever possible and it ended up costing around £135.  Off the top of my head, the swaps I made were:

White 1 x 2 x 3 panels replaced with the side support version
Dark Blue 1 x 6 Supports replaced with dark bley (or maybe reddish brown - I've ordered both and I'll see what they look like)
Dark Blue 1 x 8 x 2 Arch replaced with dark bley (sorry but £21 for a single brick is where I draw the line!)
Dark Bley Birds replaced with Dark Red scorpions as a temporary measure/in-joke.  
Reddish Brown 2x10 bricks replaced with 2x6 and two 2x2 (Lego said these were showing as 'due in stock 17th Feb)

The process was made a lot easier by finding a great Bricklinker, Gizmocom, who managed to find all but a few of the parts I needed.

Now I'm really looking forward to being able to build it and have it on display next to my GE and GG.  

Seems like i'm the only person that Lego told they didn't have 1x4 dark blue bricks.  Oh well, already bought them on Bricklink.  I also BL'd some 1x2x3 panels with supports, but will still try to track some originals down piece by piece to make the set accurate.

[typo]

I've started "Bricklinking" 10182 and 10190 and so far it's cost me $350 and I only have 30 parts left after also using my spare parts. Waiting on an order from LEGO to complete this project. The instructions may never be mine seeing as they are going for more than the cost of the sets when they were in production...

[ibecks]

One very minor point which someone might find useful - you can only claim VIP points through online PAB, not through the replacement parts service.  If this is important to you, it might be worth ordering the stuff you can get through online PAB before you do a replacement parts order... although P&P was £3.75 for online, £2 for replacement parts service.  

Also, I was told that each replacement part order has a 15-lot limit with 200 items per lot.  Since I'd bought most of my lots through Bricklink, I'd got it down to a list of about 13 lots to get from Lego.

[LegoDad]

ibecks, on 05 February 2012 - 11:35 AM, said:

One very minor point which someone might find useful - you can only claim VIP points through online PAB, not through the replacement parts service.  If this is important to you, it might be worth ordering the stuff you can get through online PAB before you do a replacement parts order... although P&P was £3.75 for online, £2 for replacement parts service.  

Also, I was told that each replacement part order has a 15-lot limit with 200 items per lot.  Since I'd bought most of my lots through Bricklink, I'd got it down to a list of about 13 lots to get from Lego.

The 15 lot limit is if you order over the phone.  I ordered about $175 worth of replacement parts for CC with no problems(along with a PAB order too), I just hope all the right parts show up.  On the topic of getting VIP points, I asked about it on this particular order, and by playing dumb the guy said he'd make a "one time" exception for me, so you can get the points if you work at it.

[fyrmedhatt]

typo, on 04 February 2012 - 02:22 AM, said:

I've started "Bricklinking" 10182 and 10190 and so far it's cost me $350 and I only have 30 parts left after also using my spare parts. Waiting on an order from LEGO to complete this project. The instructions may never be mine seeing as they are going for more than the cost of the sets when they were in production...

I'm trying to be a completionist in recreating these sets, but I have completely given up on the instructions, the new listings showing up are up to $200 (!) for each of the sets. That is a hideous price for these instruction leaflets that honestly aren't that rare, and I'm surprised that more people (non-collectors especially) aren't selling their copies given that it could pay for several modular buildings.

[ibecks]

I just finished building my Bricklinked CC. The only issue I found was that the window frames I ordered from Lego using the part number in the instructions PDF are a tiny bit too small to fit the windows, so I've left those out for the moment.




The zookeeper seems to be drawing quite a crowd (maybe it's that leg-sized banana she's holding)


Pepe Le Mime thinks the crowd appreciates his performance, but he's sadly mistaken.


Oh yeah, that would explain the crowd - the cheeky monkey's escaped and is trying to throw a scorpion off the roof!

[JupiterTwo]

ibecks, on 15 February 2012 - 12:52 AM, said:

I just finished building my Bricklinked CC. The only issue I found was that the window frames I ordered from Lego using the part number in the instructions PDF are a tiny bit too small to fit the windows, so I've left those out for the moment.

Awesome work, that really does look excellent!

[L@go]

Haha, nice job with the monkey :) the whole thing turned out great. Regarding the windows, you've probably got the wrong kind of glass - I'm guessing you'll need these if you're going to make them fit.

[The Dutch Guy]

I love what you,ve done to CC. It looks very pleasing. It makes me tend to make some ajustments to mine as well. I loke the windowos very much. I always disliked toe 1x2x3 Panels for the windows. replacing them with the ner 1x2x3 windows is an excelent idea. Great work.

By the way. How much did it cost you to build it. Was it a lot cheaper than buying the extreemly high priced CC's on Bricklink?

[LegoDad]

The Dutch Guy, on 15 February 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

I love what you,ve done to CC. It looks very pleasing. It makes me tend to make some ajustments to mine as well. I loke the windowos very much. I always disliked toe 1x2x3 Panels for the windows. replacing them with the ner 1x2x3 windows is an excelent idea. Great work.

By the way. How much did it cost you to build it. Was it a lot cheaper than buying the extreemly high priced CC's on Bricklink?

Mind you, I'm in the states, but it cost me around $350 to build this from scratch.  The only pieces I am missing are the correct 1x2x3 panels for the windows, I have found everything else that is correct to the instructions.  Ebay has been my friend for the dark blue arch and bley door, got them pretty cheap compared to bricklink, just looked for lots that had them in them, and gave the extra pieces to my son.  Bought all the general pieces from Lego, as they had about 98% of the parts needed for the set.  If you want instructions, they are going to run you about $100 it looks like from Bricklink, pretty outrageous.

[The Dutch Guy]

LegoDad, on 15 February 2012 - 03:39 PM, said:

Mind you, I'm in the states, but it cost me around $350 to build this from scratch.  The only pieces I am missing are the correct 1x2x3 panels for the windows, I have found everything else that is correct to the instructions.  Ebay has been my friend for the dark blue arch and bley door, got them pretty cheap compared to bricklink, just looked for lots that had them in them, and gave the extra pieces to my son.  Bought all the general pieces from Lego, as they had about 98% of the parts needed for the set.  If you want instructions, they are going to run you about $100 it looks like from Bricklink, pretty outrageous.

I was fortunate enough to buy a set for about 250 euro here in Holland. It was juist discontinued by the Lego Group. Had i known sooner about these special sets, i would have bgun to buy them earlier. The can't be bought in the regular toy shops and can only ordered on Internet. (No special Lego shops here, we have to go to Germany to find one).

The price you payed for it seems resonable. Never pay $100 for instructions, you can get them in PDF format on the Internet for free. Great work and hope to see an MOC from you soon.