Modular Town Buildings Vs. Classic Style

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a great and very interesting topic, TheBrickster!

For me modular Town buidlings do not go with classic Town/City buildings since they are much too detailed in comparison to the regular Town/City buildings and because they are much bigger than them.

I do not buy any modular Town buildings but bought, buy and will buy many of the (at least civilian) Town/City buildings.

The modular Town buidlings really look awesome (at least from the outside) - that can't be denied. But I don't like them because of four reasons:

1. They are much too expensive.

2. They need too much space.

3. Since they are so detailed they don't go with the regular City buildings since they are less detailes.

4. They have backwalls.

For me open backwalls are a quality criterion of a City/Town. Although I play only very seldom with my Lego sets I really like it too look at the exterior but even into the interior of my buildings. And when you build up a huge City layout it's much nicer to be aible to look into the interiors of the buidlings without having to put away the roofs (which has nothing to do with laziness ).

TLG has done a really great job with releasing buildings in the City and the Castle theme - namely the awesome 10184 Town Plan :wub: and the brilliant 10193 Medieval Market Street :wub: - which are a compromise between the regular City sets and the modular Town buildings. They offer a lot of awesome details for those which like it too be a bit more detailed than the regular sets but they even offer a lot of playability for those who simply want to play with these sets. For me these amazing compromises between regular and modular sets are the best sets ever and I hope that TLG will offer more of them to us in the future, too! :thumbup:

Klaus-Dieter

[Er!k]

About the backwalls,

In case you do not like them, you can remove them of course. This will also save you some bricks which you can use for other projects

[Klaus-Dieter]

About the backwalls,

In case you do not like them, you can remove them of course. This will also save you some bricks which you can use for other projects

That's indeed a good idea, Er!k!

But I don't like it to change official sets as well as I don't like to combine MOCs with official sets.

I really like to build own creations, too, but imo they shouldn't be add to official sets - but that's of course only my opinion.

Klaus-Dieter

Edited April 9, 2009 by Klaus-Dieter

[Lockt]

I voted yes. I believe that with a little bit of thinking you can combine the sets. I am working on a town to do that (although I have only cafe corner atm). The more modular buildings you have the easier it gets.

The modern city sets also have difficulties with the tiny classic sets. I have for instance a post office set, which is very small compared to any building lego has now on the market.

I also combine the creator houses in my city, which are a nice "bridge" between modular and classic/city buildings.

Finally I love cafe corner, since it finally justifies my ladder engine in the fire brigade :D

[Eilif]

I also combine the creator houses in my city, which are a nice "bridge" between modular and classic/city buildings.

Very good point, Creator houses deserve a mention as well. As minifig-scaled houses, they have a place in many LEGO towns. I find that for the most part, they are more in scale with the Modular size buildings, but some of the alternate models for the other sets do lean a bit toward the classic town side.

[maiq the liar]

Well, i think they can fit together, if done well enough.

And i like both equally, just like how i like Macs and PCs equally.

[BlueBard]

I voted No, as I consider them as two different Lego lines. Anyway the "Classic" sets are not so difficult to modify to go together with modular ones, I think. Me, for example, I'm already plannning to convert the Summer City Corner set into a modular

Edited April 10, 2009 by BlueBard

[MarcusV3]

I think it's possible to pull it off but not many people can. I don't think they look very good as are but with a little modding it will look fine. They usually need walls and a sidewalk like the other CC buildings and probably a few more floors. I don't suggest trying to mod them to fit in because usually you'll have to work on it so much it's more of a moc than a mod. Personally I don't like modding them I usually just look at them and try to make a modular town building with the same purpose without destroying the other building. This way I have a modular section and a normal section.

[blueandwhite]

This is a bit like comparing apples to oranges (assuming you like both).

Both lines are wonderful, but they are incredibly different too. Unfortunately, most of the sets don't mix well together. Certainly there are some sets that bridge well between the two lines (the creator houses are a perfect example), however I don't find that the two lines as a whole mix particularly well. The modular buildings were obviously built with older (wealthier) fans in mind. The sheer cost and size of these sets makes them far too exotic for many purchasers. That being said; the modular sets are incredibly beautiful! The City sets are great for variety and price, and offer alot of great models. The real catch is that they have a very different aesthetic that doesn't work particularly well with the modular sets. Both are great, but at the end of the day they don't look great together (IMO).

I prefer the modular sets simply because they are more in tune with what I find interesting as a MOCer. I've always loved the idea of building fully-realized structures (complete interiors and exteriors). The modular line fits well with that vision.