25 replies to this topic

[TheBrickster]

Creator.  CREATOR.  -Definitely a creative endeavor by LEGO.  In the past few years, we've seen LEGO return to their roots in offering a revised Basic/Universal set (in the shape of a modular house) to encourage building and promote the imagination, fundamentals of the LEGO brick.

Creator sets; specifically house sets, are certainly a long way away from the Exclusive Modulars, yet more detailed than the backless structures of Classic and New City sets.  

FLASHBACK: some of the earliest building history that I remember involved cars and houses. In fact, I recall building elaborate two and three-level homes with a multitude of doors and shuttered windows.  Unfortunately, these vintage 70s homes didn't allow much play in the way of minifigures as they're roofs were sealed tight.  The LEGO solution was the introduction of the 'open back' structure save an occasional hinged structured Town House or Vacation Home. Later, I and a good friend found ourselves creating open roof houses for the additional play.

Here's a picture of my earliest Floorville.  Note the yellow and white houses in the  upper left hand corner of the image.



Now we have the CREATOR home, modular in its liftable 2nd floor, yet closed to dust and dirt; no minifigs to inhabit their stylish walls and pleasant furnishings, but appealing to the eyes in their basic designs.

I must admit that I have only the Yellow Beach House, but will soon find myself enjoying the engrossing build of the Apple Tree House.  So where am I going with this topic? you might ask.  Let me elaborate...

For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes?  
If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns?
Do Creator Homes offer play not found in standard City sets?  
What do you do to spruce up a Creator Home 'City-Sizing' it to blend in with the architecture and inhabitants of your LEGO Cities?
Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely?
Is the scale of the Creator Homes made more for Pirate 4+ or Jack Stone minifigs?

These are just some of the questions in 'City-Sizing Your Creator Sets'.
Discuss your thoughts here.

[Brickus]

Yeah, I buy city sets to go with my creator houses, I usually just add minifigures from vehicle city sets. I like to incorporate my creator houses into my city display. Although I have very little city sets, I think they look good with each other.

[dr_spock]

I go for the smaller Creator Houses to go with my Town sets.  The Beach House doesn't look too out of place next to my old yellow house MOC from the 1980s.  

[vladoniki]

I like Creator houses for town  layout and I use them in my Lego town:





You just have to add minifigs and interior and then they get a great houses for your Lego town.  

[TheBrickster]

Great images guys!  The Creator homes look good in your towns.

[Eilif]

For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes?  
Though not a "collector" I do purchase some of the creator homes.  I've picked up Building Bonanza, House, and Villa.

If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns?
I enjoy building the sets, but being primarily a MOC'er, theire ultimate end will be as pieces

Do Creator Homes offer play not found in standard City sets?  
It's a different experience.  Creator homes are more about interesting architecture and open-ended play and City sets are more about action and swoshability.

What do you do to spruce up a Creator Home 'City-Sizing' it to blend in with the architecture and inhabitants of your LEGO Cities?
Lots of folks use Creator houses side by side with their city buildings, but if you really wanted to "city-size" them, then it would not be a matter of "sprucing-up".  Rather it would be a matter of simplifying and making the structures smaller.  

Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely?
Entirely depends on what look you're going for.  If you don't mind houses that are larger than fire stations or hospitals, then they're probably just fine.  They also offer the advantage of being 4 sided, so they can be placed in the center of a layout without losing playability or having sides open to the street.  

Is the scale of the Creator Homes made more for Pirate 4+ or Jack Stone minifigs?
Not at all.  In fact, they are much closer to proper scale for minifigs than City structures. Truthfully, even most creator homes are still smaller than they should be to represent minifig size homes.

It's my suspicion that since Town/City sets are already so minimized and stylized, that most folks have already suspended their disbelief to the point where creator sets fit just fine as-is into their table towns.  Also, the medium scale of Creator sets, can be a sort of visual linkage for those who want to have Town sets and CC style kits on the same layout.

[prateek]

I would like to start collecting these, but the only thing I'd change about them is to add furniture and make proper driveways, instead of the two stripes of plates.

[lightningtiger]

having only the family house from last year, I say it's minifig scale, but the playability is low, unless you MOD it with tiles and hinges so the top and/or side of the house can open up.
Keep on bricking everyone !

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

I haven't been into City that long, but do have the Beach House and the Family House.  They do blend in really well with the rest of the sets, and I would assume they certainly add the much-needed civilian look that so many layouts have missed in the past.

What's interesting about them are the alternative building methods-- it's very different from building a traditional City set, most likely because they seem to focus more on structure than playability.  And they're quite time-consuming.

My biggest beef with them is furnishings, really.  They're almost bare inside.  I actually had some blocks left over from the Pirate Block set (the one with the cool torso featured in my avatar), and used some of those pieces to build some furniture, a kitchen counter, etc.  But the colors are obviously a little wild.

I'd love to see them do a big time furnishings set with maybe a few figs.  They could REALLY push the inventive and simple builds used in the interiors of some of the big sets to create furniture, a refrigerator, appliances, etc.  Think of the simple yet effective builds of the water cooler in the Police HQ or the drill press in the garage.  That's the level of detail I'd like to see them go after here, and just build all the modern conveniences we have in our homes so they could furnish one of these houses.

Sure, I could just build 'em all myself, but I'm not just much of a Pick-A-Brick guy.

[legitimatealex]

I bought the beach house and the apple tree house for two reasons: aesthetics and pieces. To put it quite simply they were all pleasing to the eye. They were beautifully designed and I made all of the alternate builds that they had on the back of the boxes, which I absolutely LOVE because I used to do the same thing for the sets I had when I was a child. I miss those days.

The second reason is definitely for the pieces. The roof tiles are always in short supply for me, so when sets have a lot of them I tend to jump on it. Same with the windows. The baseplates are always a plus.

Beautiful sets get bought, true story.

[Scorpio]

For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes?
I have collected all of the ones pictured above. I keep one as a set and buy multiple ones for parts.

If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns?
I have them sitting aside from my layout and that is only because my layout is a modular-based city and the houses don't fit in just yet. Maybe when I expand out to a suburb. I own six of the Family Houses and that is just for the tan brick and the fact that Toys R Us likes to have buy one get one 50% off sales.

Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely?
I wouldn't say that they are too different but it depends on what your city is like. I have created more of a downtown area and therefore these sets don't fit in just yet.

[Rick]

I am a fan of the Creator Houses series. I really like that they aren't open-back and can easily be placed in any spot in a town layout. In my view they go relatively well with the vehicles that are out in the City series (even though they don't fit in most of the houses' garages and the modular buildings. Buildings in the City theme are severely undersized compared to these, but also compared to the vehicles and ideally shouldn't be placed to close to either the modulars or these Creator houses.

[Rapseflaps]

I don't think I'm really a collector of these, although I do own three of them and have a fourth on my wish list. I bought them to add to my town and I think they really fit in nicely. My last city had all sorts of buildings ranging from the modulars to a tiny old post station on an 8x16 baseplate. You have to kind of put the same-sized sets together or it'll look weird (imagine a Green Grocer right next to the pizza restaurant from City Corner), but that usually works out okay. As for play, I don't think the Creator line is really aimed towards that (at least not in the way the City line is) and the absence of any minifigs, despite the structures' minifig-scale size greatly limits the playability of the house as a standalone.

[MetroiD]

My thoughts in one sentence: Creator houses = best parts pack evAr!

I must admit that I'm not too thrilled by the theme's latest designs though, or its compatibility with regular Town structures. I wouldn't consider putting Creator sets in a layout comprised of original Town sets, just like I wouldn't combine Modulars with regular Town, even though they definitely have a nice feel/look to them (or at least their exterior).

That said, after the Beach House I haven't bothered actually building any more Creator houses. I still buy them for the parts they contain, although truth be told, I feel that it would have been a much better move if TLG were to keep their Creator House sets for a tad bit longer. I just don't see this line as having the need for constant "fresh supplies". For example, the yellow Beach House is a brilliant set and it's only right that it should enjoy the longevity it does - and that could have been the line to follow with other obvious fan favourites as well. Speaking of which, I definitely didn't see a good reason for last year's introduction of a new white-wall-house which is not much different from the one that (to my knowledge) started the entire Creator House line. At least with the Apple Tree House we did get new rooftiles... Not to mention that I still can't get over how quick LEGO stopped production of the brilliant Model Town House, which was arguably the best parts pack of them all, and introduced the Family Home that has a significantly worse price-per-piece ratio.

[Rick]

MetroiD, on 26 June 2010 - 11:44 AM, said:

the one that (to my knowledge) started the entire Creator House line.

It wasn't called Creator back then, but this is the first to my knowledge.

[MetroiD]

Ah, precisely! For one reason or another I couldn't find it even though I knew I saw it on the pic up there, thanks for the correction :] Guess I owe you yet another beer then?  

[Eilif]

Yep, that's the first one, back when "Creator" was called "Designer". That set was released just as I came out of my dark ages. I was so thrilled to see a set that reminded me of the "BASIC" sets that I grew up with.  For a while it was hard to find, because it was quite popular.

I definitely agree that Model Town House ( I think it was called Villa in some markets) was the best of the batch.  Huge amounts of tan brick and black roof tiles, and arond 6 cents a piece! It also was the Creator house closest in style to the CC series of buildings.

[TheBrickster]

Interesting thoughts all.

Seems I snuck in a 'Designer' house by accident (4886 Building Bonanza).  I couldn't find the set on LSAH, so Googled "Creator".  This popped up, and I thought I had it.  The tan and black house, while not too ornate, was an outstanding parts pack.  Never picked up one of these bad boys.

I just finished building the Apple Tree House last night, and while it looks nice in design, I was a tad bit disappointed with the closed interior and closed back/side walls, especially compared to the Yellow Beach House; which in contrast, offers more interior playability.  The lawn mower and basketball hoop are certainly nice details, but an old NBA basketball would have made a better piece - probably would have gotten stuck in the toilet seat though.

I think what many of these sets needs are some standard flowers and trees, or trees similar to those contained in newer City sets (like that from the Town Plan).  Interior furnishings would certainly spruce up the houses, as well as a few figs (but then again, that would make it a City house, wouldn't it?  -but then again, what's wrong with that?

So it's great to see Town/City fans adding these Creator homes to your layouts.

[MetroiD]

TheBrickster, on 26 June 2010 - 04:06 PM, said:

I think what many of these sets needs are some standard flowers and trees, or trees similar to those contained in newer City sets (like that from the Town Plan).

Actually, with that first Bonanza set I thought they pretty much nailed it - a simple building in terms of bricks included, which however also offers lots of fence pieces. If you put that one, the yellow Beach House and the big bad Model Town House side by side, you'd have a perfect line-up - a cheap set which offers lots of playable feature in the Beach House, a medium-priced set with a 'meh' kind of build but great if you need bricks, and then at the top - a superbly designed set AND the best parts pack possible.

[TheBrickster]

What about the new blue roof Apple Tree House?

[MetroiD]

Personally, I haven't really found too much use for the blue rooftiles yet, but I don't think that those rooftiles alone provide sufficient grounds to introduce an entire new set... Dunno, it may just be me, but I'd really have loved it if TLG had released the new Apple Tree House in some colour other than white.

[TheBrickster]

MetroiD, on 26 June 2010 - 07:26 PM, said:

I'd really have loved it if TLG had released the new Apple Tree House in some colour other than white.

I actually like the color combination.  It's been a long time since I built anything in white (esp. since the introduction of tan).  

Finding space in ones' Tabletown is the challenge:

[peterab]

MetroiD, on 26 June 2010 - 07:26 PM, said:

Personally, I haven't really found too much use for the blue rooftiles yet, but I don't think that those rooftiles alone provide sufficient grounds to introduce an entire new set... Dunno, it may just be me, but I'd really have loved it if TLG had released the new Apple Tree House in some colour other than white.

I have exactly the same opinion of this set. I can see future uses for the roof tiles, but find the tan windows a bit odd or perhaps too few in number, and the other parts not a good enough reason to buy this set.

Most of what I buy is with a mind to extend my train layout, so I buy for parts but I do think the creator houses make a good transition between city and modular buildings. I'd like to see one/some of the smaller brick sets (like the fire, castle and pirate sets) include perhaps a female minifig and some furniture designs, ideal for adding to your creator/modular buildings to citify them.

I bought a couple of the tan townhouse when I saw them reduced, and have now bought 3 of the tan family house, the first on sale, and the secound when they were reduced for clearance. I thought the family houses were too expensive at full price, given I didnt really like the design, and was not too keen on the red roof. Had it had a dark red or dark blue roof it would have been very desirable.

In the future I'd like to see perhaps a dark tan house, or maybe one of the newer colours from PoP, with a novel roof colour, and high ratio of windows to wall space, like the beach house. I dont really mind what size the set is since if its small and cheap I could buy multiples, as long as the price per peice is OK.

[SalvoBrick]

For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes?
Yes, I've bought all of them :)

If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns?
They started to be included in my town, but after some time I've recycled the pieces to build other structures.
Currently I have the latest three saved because my layout has been dismantled (I had to move suddenly, so almost all my bricks are in my parent's apartment).
I did some modifications for possiblme future integration in my layout


Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely?
I think that Creator buildings fit almost perfectly (with some modifications) with the Modular buildings, but I don't think they fit with city-style open back ones. That's the reason because I dont' buy anymore city buildings, or I modify them to fit in a "closed back" town :)

Is the scale of the Creator Homes made more for Pirate 4+ or Jack Stone minifigs?
No, because it's the same of the modular buildings, and those have regular minifigs :)

[Night City Dream]

First of all, I'd like to emphasize the fantastic name of the citym the thread's author told us - "FLOORVILLE". Absolutely stunning!


I'm continuing to by Creator houses to my city as well as they really fit there. I've got 2 Beach houses and 3 Family houses so far. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't manage to purchase the Villa, red and white house and some others before.

And thanks everybody for your pics.

Well, actually, I've decided to give a more thought-out answer as the subject is worth elaborating.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes?

Yes, I'd say so. There are several reasons for this. First of all, nearly all of them are beautiful and nice. They are different. They contain lots of pieces and much detail.
Moreover, the CITY series lacks residential buildings very much - if not to say doesn't have any... except coming 8403.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns?

Sure, the first goal is to put incorporate them into my layout. But as I've got several similar sets (6754), I'll probably use some of them for my MOCs. The strong point to CREATOR sets is that they are way cheaper and offer much more pieces in comparison with CITY sets. Like 6754, for instance, contains a bit less then 1000 pieces - 976, which is more than any other CITY set including the Police station (7744) or the Garage (7642). And 6754 is much cheaper.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

Do Creator Homes offer play not found in standard City sets?  

Sorry, I didn't understand the question.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

What do you do to spruce up a Creator Home 'City-Sizing' it to blend in with the architecture and inhabitants of your LEGO Cities?

To me, the don't look ill-timed or weird. You just go out and look around. The buildings are TOO different in terms of size, really. I don't care how much floors they have, but let's say they imitate bigger structures and from this point of view they are well incorporated.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely?

Three cathegories of LEGO buildings to me, and in my opinion, they all can co-exist successfully.

TheBrickster, on 25 June 2010 - 05:24 AM, said:

Is the scale of the Creator Homes made more for Pirate 4+ or Jack Stone minifigs?

Definitely, for minifigs.
Here in Russia we see some residential buildings (usually old, or new, outside cities made by those who live in them) that can have floors up to 5 - 6 meters high. No standards for the size, so, no standards for LEGO buildings!