Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[RichardGoring]

5 hours ago, Lion King said:

Exactly. I only follow this modular building series since Police Station (it was my very first modular building to build) and i love it. 

And I find it very hypocritical of others who  don’t welcome new designers, at same time they love Tudor Corner.  

There is also an element of building it too. I wasn't entirely sold on Tudor Corner when it arrived, but I've learned that you gain a new perspective on the sets once you've built them. Tudor Corner (once you got past the tiling on the baseplate) was absolutely terrific and it's one of my favourites, heavily influenced by the build experience, and seeing in-person reflects better than the photos, in my opinion. Boutique Hotel was similar. For that matter, so was Detective's Office and Brick Bank. The build experience for Downtown Diner was also top tier. I love all five of these sets.

(Conversely, Fire Brigade I think is great, but the build is very basic in comparison with modern sets. I just like the way it looks far more than it probably deserves as a set).

[DeanLearner]

On 12/29/2025 at 1:04 PM, Pauolo said:

I'm not sure what you mean by rapidly falling. This set's review situation seems like an exception compared to the past 3 years or so. 

 

Maybe that’s just my perspective, but it feels like while Lego have massively expanded their “Adults Welcome” offering over recent years, the flagship status of the annual Modular (and arguably Winter Village) releases has faded, even just in terms of the associated publicity campaign.

I could well be completely off the mark there, but it does feel like a shame, given that I think the Modular series sits in a sweet spot between the sets you play with as a kid, and what you can afford as an adult, arguably also does more to encourage repeat custom than some of the standalone 4000+ piece sets.

[HibiscusDrive]

I think we need to see more evidence of the series "falling in Lego's priority". Afterall, we're one year removed from a set that many ranked among the best ever.

I certainly do have concerns, as we see more & more sets shrink. Look at some of the City sets like police & fire departments vs. 15-20 years ago. I don't really care about City sets, but they do show the direction Lego is going. Or the Holiday Main Street from a few years ago, that has spawned so many alt builds, including my own, the set's buildings are 6 deep.

Shopping Street is small in terms of footprint used. Is this a new trend? Time will tell. 

Two things people commented on... one, I hate the Diner. It's one of 3 (soon to be 4) modulars I don't own. The architecture doesn't fit the aesthetic of the others at all. I also don't like 1950s-esque design in general. That said, the Diner is a fantastic representation of that era and they absolutely nailed it. So while I don't like it, I objectively respect how they accurately portrayed an era and its architecture, it just doesn't belong in the modular series with the rest, imo.

My other complaint is people comparing sets to Rebrickable mocs like that's an insult. There are a LOT of fantastic MOCs out there that I feel hold their own with the modular building series. 

[Roebuck]

Up at Jay's now, maybe they have saved it for new years eve 
https://jaysbrickblog.com/reviews/review-lego-11371-shopping-street-modular/

Regarding the designer:

"The model designer of this set is Đặng Hoàng (@know.your.pieces on Instagram), one of my favourite new-ish LEGO designers. Among other things, he designed the Retro Radio, a fantastically unassuming model, and was also responsible for developing the functions for 21358 Minifigure Vending Machine among other things."

[Pauolo]

Đặng Hoàng also designed 10362 French Café and, tbh, I have a hard time identifying what he attempted there as art nouveau. Even the color palette choice feels questionable to me. But I'm probably harsh on it because I'm tired with the dumb romantic clichés of Paris...

On the other hand, I feel he nailed the aspect of the music shop in the new modular. That's the kind of building and style you actually can see a lot in Paris and other big French cities. Even the furniture shop looks like small buildings I've seen in French cities. The color palette though is still more colorful than the real buildings (or else there would be a lot more of tan, sand yellow and dirty white), but that's to be expected from modulars. Replace PR's olive bricks with tan ones and you'd get a somewhat more realist yet boring building.

Edited December 31, 2025 by Pauolo

[HibiscusDrive]

Brickset review is finally up. They also explain they were late in getting the set sent to them.