Modular Town Buildings Vs. Classic Style

[WesternOutlaw]

I don't own any of Lego's official Modular buildings (eg. Cafe Corner, Market Street, or the Green Grocer). While I admire them greatly, I haven't brought myself to buying any; but continue to look closely at all the fine details of these fantastic sets.

As I look at some of the preliminary images of the new town sets, like 7641 City Corner, 7642 Garage, and older "Open Back" Classic Town style buildings, I compare the two distict styles closely.

Looking at the two types of styles (Modular vs. Classic), I can't help to wonder, do the sets fit well together?

For those of you with a big tabletop collections of City/Town sets, how do you feel about displaying the sets side-by-side?

Do the modular buildings dwarf the classic "open-back" structures?

Are the modulars too detailed to blend in nicely with classic buildings?

Or since the sets are all City, do you interchange them within your layouts?

I've added a poll for voting. Share your thoughts.

[Ricecracker]

I went with No, and Modular. I had to say no, as yes, the modular buildings do dwarf the classic style, as well, the classics aren't as detailed. It makes it look like a half-a$$ job to me. I voted Modular as I think that the buildings are very realistic, and full of great details, and that's what I personally want.

[Section8]

I voted no, mostly because of the differing sizes. Granted, you could make the modular buildings your downtown and everything else on the edges of the city, but there's not enough modular sets to do that yet (assuming you aren't making your own).

I also said I'll only be getting the classic sets. They have more variety in the types of buildings (or at least used to and they are getting better again in recent years), have a larger range in prices to fit differing budgets, and have a scale that I do not feel is overwhelming. I also like LEGO sets to be representative of the original inspiration, not an exact copy. I don't see buildings lacking staircases, bathrooms, or large realistically proportioned rooms as being too simple.

The modular buildings are fantastically detailed and well designed, but I grew up during system-style's heyday, and I'm old enough now to be afraid of change

[Skinny Boy]

I haven't had the privelege to buy any City sets recently, with the modulars being too expensive, and the classic's, well, where are they?

I voted no, since I really prefer playability in the Classic style. Then again, I have no idea if they fit well together or not!

[Etzel]

I also voted no, I think the amount of detail in the modular buildings makes the classic ones look too simple and boring. I'm not a Town-fan and only own some small sets but I've certainly been drooling over pictures of the modular buildings. IMHO they have brought a whole new and fantastic level of LEGO sets

[jaredchan]

I think the styles don't match for reasons mentioned by Ricecracker and Section8. My loyalty lies with the modular sets, but I am gonna get the city corner (for the bus) and vehicle sets as supplement.

[Carbohydrates]

I'm very hesitant to pick up any City set with a building in it because the modular buildings have just completely won my heart. Voted no, modular. Now if only I could afford another to compliment my Green Grocer!

[Mr Hobbles]

I voted no, they don't fit well together. They are in a completely different league to the City sets.

I'm also more likely to buy modular (As I LOVE them). I currently own all three sets, and I'm about ready to order a MOC I built in LDD which I hope will go along well with them (Just waiting for the money to buy it now!).

However, I will also buy City. Mainly for the vehicles, although some of the buildings are quite cool too (If not as detailed).

[Freddie]

That's another "no" from me as well. The modular buildings have a style and presence that sets them leagues apart from the classic city sets.

But they're not stopping me from collecting both classic city and modular buildings!

[Eilif]

I voted for no for fitting together. However, the particular set you used for classic is one of the few classic styled kits that might not look too bad along side modular buildings.

I love the modular buildings, and have them all, but for building a whole layout I find them a bit cost prohibitive in terms of how many pieces they use. That's why I do MOC my layout in modular, but it's almost all Market Street styled 16x16 based buildings. I find it's a nice balance between classic town, which tend to be too small and simple, and CC size modular buildings which -while impressive- are just to expensive for me to build en'masse.

I also like the way MStreet modules allow you to access the insides by virtue of having separate floors without having distracting open backs.

All that said, if I did build "Tabletowns" of official LEGO sets, I would not be able to resist having modular and classic buildings on the same layout. Sure they don't look quite right, but 4 and 6 wide cars don't look quite right either, and why limit yourself just to "old" sets (though they are very nice) when there are so many great new city and city'ish sets available now.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Eilif

[Brickthing]

I voted No and City.

Although I prefer the Modular buildings a lot more because they can be viewed at from any way and are easily adjusted, the price and availability of them make it unlikely for me to get them. However, the city sets that I do get are typically for the accessories, minifigs and cars, and I use the building as based models for MOC Modular buildings in my Bed-Town. For example, when it comes out I'll be getting the new City Life set, I'll keep the bus and bus-stop, but I'll modify the Pizzeria and Bike Store into Modular buildings.

[MetroiD]

No, I don't think they look well side by side, there's a difference in their design that's way too huge.

However, I LOVE both themes.

I don't own any Modular Town buildings, mostly because their price is a bit too steep. But surely, in time, I will also buy up all of those sets as well. On the other side, classic style City sets are a fun and simple build which offers all you'd need at an affordable price. Since I haven't kept any one of my classic style sets in their original state and don't plan on rebuliding & displaying them, I do believe those are a priceless source of city-themed parts. Furthermore, there are sets such as the Service Station which are more or less crucial for any future MOC Gas station - so in that sense classic city structures also provide a foundation you really can't do without. I mean, just like you wouldn't want your city to be made up only of semi-realistic police stations, fire stations and construction sites, you wouldn't want it to feature exclusively huge gaudy structures such as the Modular Town buildings either, now would you?

All in all, both have their place under the sun - and in our house, for that matter! However, seeing as we would rather build our OWN town with as few "original" buildings as possible (preferably, none), I see both as a good source of bricks and ideas - in the first case both are bigger, better and more exclusive - but on the other hand, with the classic city sets those bricks and ideas come at a very reasonable price, so that you could always purchase more of the ones you find particularly useful.

On a sidenote: the florist we had announced for the Town Community Build (which seems to have all but died down) is "somewhere in the middle" between Modular and Classic buildings... well, actually it's quite a bit more on the "modular" side, but I do believe that's the better option if one plans to build their own town plan, like we do. Anyway, what I mean to say is that every builder is able to find their own level at which they're satisfied with the outcome, and that level shouldn't necessary be one of those two options.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Asya & Bobby Otters

[tedbeard]

Funny how this topic keeps popping up every six months or so ever since the introduction of the Cafe Corner.

No, they don't fit together. Of course, they are not intended to fit together. One is for children who want to play with them and the other style is for those who wish to build more realistic buildings. You might as well compare Duplo Trains to the new Emerald Night set. They are simply intended for different audiences.

That said, I am likely to pick up sets in both series for different reasons. As noted above the vehicles in particular can be very good in the "classic" sets. I will certainly pick up the one set for the new bus. The rest of the set will be for parts but I know that bus will stay together for a long time.

I am just grateful they make MH sets. I look at it this way: the classic-style are bread and butter, the MH sets are gourmet offerings.

[Zarkan]

As others have said, the Modular and Classic styles just don't fit together well. There's such a vast difference between the two of them that you really can't combine sets from both styles in a good looking way.

As it stands, I always have bought classic style sets, as the Modular sets are far too expensive for me to even consider buying them - it would cost a fortune to make even a small layout comprised of those kinds of buildings, as well as a ton of time spent building extra ones to go with the official lego sets. The Classic style is much easier (and IMO better) for making large layouts with lots of buildings, as sets in this style cost far less and don't take up as much room.

However, despite my love of City, all the buildings in my town layout are actually either custom or from Classic Town. I would love to someday make a layout with all the recent City buildings, but I simply don't have the money to do that while still pursuing other themes like Castle, Pirates, and Bionicle. But I don't mind, as my current layout is still a lot of fun.

[dhaas06]

I think that they can fit well together if done properly. They never match well if completely mixed together, but I have a way of incorporating both types on one street.

One personal rule in creating my town layout is that all buildings and structures must be complete where facing into the scene. That means that any classic-style buildings (like the current or past train stations) are placed on the edge with the open end facing out. This creates an effect where it looks like "the hand of God" has sliced my display right through some unfortunate buildings, and it also lets viewers easily peek inside. So, I have my modular buildings together in a city block in the middle of my display, with some classic style buildings at the end of the same street. The effect works fairly well, as real-life cities also have varying building styles on one street depending on the block.

[Derek]

I voted both. Both have their pros and cons, but I do think that they can coexist.

I do wish that Lego would release a more realistic and mature line of town sets, with pricetags of varying degrees. They could do realistic vehicles, buildings (small shops, restaurants etc.), and other misc. things without being too expensive. A nice 1:1 ratio of women to men would be nice as well.

[WesternOutlaw]

It's great to see that some of you think the two types of sets can co-exist in the same town/city. I think this shows imagination and creativity.

I'm mixed on the subject; although after reading some of the responses "for", I'm more likely to say "yes" now. Isn't this what Lego is all about?

Years ago, I remember castle and town being mixed - that's even two different themes.

[Ricecracker]

Years ago, I remember castle and town being mixed - that's even two different themes.

But they were in the same scale, whereas the classic style and Modular aren't.

[Svelte]

Yes, they can co-exist if put together properly. It's Lego, people!

I've picked up a few of the older Classic Town houses and have been impressed by how well they stand-up, design wise. I think sets in this series are definitely suitable for the outskirts or suburb of a city. Cafe Corner and Green Grocer are clearly designed as dense, inner-city constructions at the heart of an urban centre so I don't really see a conflict. You wouldn't see the 2008 Beach House next to a Cafe Corner in real life, and for the same reason, you wouldn't see an old skool Holiday home either

For a story a few months to show off the City construction sets, I wanted to add a streetscape so threw in a few modular-style buildings with the pre-assembled shop from 7635 Construction Site and I think the street turned out pretty well:

I actually think the new 7641 City Corner will look fine amongst the modular buildings with a few small changes - moving the bus stop to the front and expanding the pizzeria, for example.

Here's a third option: I actually think Classic Town sets often work better with the new modular sets than some of the new standalone contemporary City sets.

I like the new Farm set, 7635, but the blocky, enormous buildings and barn don't really work with anything else style-wise. The 2005 Police HQ and 2006 Hospital, both built on mountainous baseplates, would also look more odd next to a Cafe Corner than something like the Classic Town bank:

So, really, it's not the size of the building, it's what you do with it. My ideal is a dense urban city centre with a mix of modular buildings and the new multi-storey City buildings, with a suburban edge of Classic Town houses and cinema, garage and town hall from 10184 Town Plan - and out even further, room for the new Farm lines and some of the construction sets. I wish I had the space to set everything up the way I liked it to show waht I mean... one day....

[WesternOutlaw]

Yes, they can co-exist if put together properly. It's Lego, people!

...

So, really, it's not the size of the building, it's what you do with it.

Well said SV. I agree with you. Also, that's a wonderful looking modular city you've created there.

[prateek]

no they wont fit together. for the other poll though, if the question was which onedo you like better, then id say modular but since its which one are you most likely to buy i put classic because its waaaay cheaper

[WhiteFang]

Brickster, this is a great discussion and looking at our members' views are truly interesting. However, I am kinda like an odd ball in this discussion.

Firstly, I voted, Yes, they can be done together and Yes, I am both Modular, Classic Town and City collector.

I had this vision where modular buildings and Classic style buildings could be placed together in my ideal tabletop town set up. With some good town planning in your City, it is defintely possible to place all of such sets together as one. It depends on how you like to be arranged. I own all of the modular town sets, but I have not started building yet. In most cases, I will line them up together with the 3 modular sets released so far, on one side of the street which could be my City Center, whereas, other residential buildings from my Creator lines (including the use of alternate designs) can be placed as the residential areas. Retail shops, such as my Pizza to Go, upcoming City Corner, Town Plan, Police Station, Airport, and etc will still be able to place together as well. This is LEGO, and it's really up to our very own imagination to determine its outcome. There is no hard and fast rule such as we must build this in order to look nice. Although modular buildings used much complex building techniques and detailed and Classic Town looks simple in their build, but these are still under the City/Town line-up, and I strongly believe there are meant to complement each other instead of dividing themselves.

[Athos]

Do the modular buildings dwarf the classic "open-back" structures?

Are the modulars too detailed to blend in nicely with classic buildings?

Or since the sets are all City, do you interchange them within your layouts?

Yes.

Yes.

No.

I don't have many/any of the classic town style buildings. I'm sticking mostly with the CC style and building some of my own CC style buildings. I hope to create a little city scene of them. I think they are too different from the classic sets to go together well. It'd be like putting a UCS set into a minifig Star Wars display. Just doesn't look right.

Steve

[Cavannus]

Do the sets fit well together?

--> Yes

I lived for several years in a neighbourhood that mixed six-floor buildings (built around 1920) and individual houses (like the Model Town House). I could see both just facing my apartment! As you can see, some buildings have a "rich" architecture (with corner bricks, etc.) while some others look very basic.

Furthermore there is a corner café at the beginning of this street, close to my apartment!

So, I voted yes because I think both high and small Lego buildings and houses can coexist, as they do in my street. They all respect the minifig scale. Of course, as previously said, some Town/City sets don't fit together.

Which type of set are you most likely to buy?

--> Both

I like modular buildings because they are very detailed and designed for adults, as I like City sets because the open rears reminds me the 80's sets and these sets offer a lot of funny details.

Edited April 8, 2009 by Cavannus

[Er!k]

Well, in my opinion the buildings will fit together. I do agree that the style is different, but when you place them in a smart way, it can look very nice