Late to the modular game *update pg 3!*

[Aaryana]

I certainly don't have the bricks for a MOC. However, I do have a lead on the pet shop at a local place!! Just gotta get off work and get there! Yay! I guess I'm buying a modular building! Here we go! 

[Withacee]

On 12-1-2017 at 11:56 AM, SollX said:

i think you do not need the older sets.

Oh, yes you do!

Your setup looks great by the way. Is that house on the right your own design? It does not look familiar.

23 hours ago, Wesley D said:

I must warn you: collecting modulars is indeed addictive!

I simply could not resist completing the whole series, although I don't own the original CC, MS and GG. You can save money by making some modifications and substitutions, so you don't have to pay those crazy prices. Making my version of the Town Hall wasn't easy and I ended up buying an original one.

I couldn't agree more. My wife and I started with Pet shop. Bought every one since.
First three modulars were already retired, so we ended up bricklinking those three with some minor modifications.
Once we got going, there was no stopping us. Around 25 Modulars in total in our collection at the moment. And counting...

24 minutes ago, Aaryana said:

I certainly don't have the bricks for a MOC. However, I do have a lead on the pet shop at a local place!! Just gotta get off work and get there! Yay! I guess I'm buying a modular building! Here we go! 

Yes! You know it makes sense. Welcome to the club.
The Pet shop is a terrific starting point. Two separate buildings, great to build, nice designs. It is still in our top three.

[SollX]

1 hour ago, Withacee said:

Oh, yes you do! 

I am not such an addict...... yet haha

And yes it is my own moc. i posted it here on EB some time ago

Link: 

 

[Aaryana]

On January 13, 2017 at 0:56 PM, Withacee said:

Yes! You know it makes sense. Welcome to the club.
The Pet shop is a terrific starting point. Two separate buildings, great to build, nice designs. It is still in our top three.

Hahaha! Thank you! So, the pet shop is sitting in my living room. New in box but has some shelf wear. Still sealed. Paid a little over retail but reasonable, still less than what I would've paid to get the set plus shipping from other sources. I haven't even started it yet, but I also have the Palace Cinema on order! I noticed it went to backorder and it seems like it's near the end of its run, so I thought why risk it going away too? I've turned into a monster! 

[monkles]

I'm a new user retuning to Lego with decades of hand-me-downs recovered from the attic. I recently bought both the Parisian Restaurant and the Brick Bank on sale, which jump started this return to Lego, but I'm unsure where to go now because almost all my legacy Lego is in the bright primary colors (bright red, bright yellow, bright blue) or the regular grey and black from a few 90s/early 00s castles.

Lots of Red Red...

Not much Pastel Sand...

I'd like to start building a MOC city around the modulars but my collection is kind of 1980s creator sets + castle grey and black + about 30 years worth of vehicles for males in the family when they were growing up.

Has anyone on the forum built an attractive modular city with a similar collection that is mostly bright creator parts from 15 or more years ago?

[koalayummies]

25 minutes ago, monkles said:

I'd like to start building a MOC city around the modulars but my collection is kind of 1980s creator sets + castle grey and black + about 30 years worth of vehicles for males in the family when they were growing up.

Has anyone on the forum built an attractive modular city with a similar collection that is mostly bright creator parts from 15 or more years ago?

That's tough, I'm sure some have but as you've noticed the modulars use newer and more subdued Lego colors. I too have a lot of those old colors but they're not completely useless, you can use them hidden inside objects and features (like supports for a raised floor as found in the Pet Shop townhouse side, underneath beds and tables, hidden under plates and tiles for stairs). I'm sure if you got creative you could come up with something or leave them all in the sun for a while.  

Grey and black are still very useful. 

[Faefrost]

There is no reason not to jump into the Modulars. And yeah the completionist in you (and me) may have to accept that a few of the earlier ones may be out of reach, short of bricklinking parts and building it yourself. That mainly applies to Cafe Corner, Market Street and Green Grocer. Anything after that was produced in high enough numbers that you will eventually find one at a price you can live with. There are also some wonderful third party plans out there so your city doesn't have to look like everybody else's. 

[deraven]

On January 12, 2017 at 1:15 PM, koalayummies said:

The OP already stated in so many words that they are against the scalpers. This tactic would result in becoming one of them, or part of the problem. 

You're reading into what I wrote.  My point was simply that he wouldn't lose money if he chose to sell them later.  He wouldn't have to inflate his prices later if he has a moral issue with it; he could sell the sets in the blink of an eye if he put them up at around original retail cost when everyone else is selling them for 2-3x.

To your comment on the "problem":  whatever opinion you and/or the OP hold is fine and you're entitled to it, but these aren't scalpers- there was a fair, unconstrained, open market for these sets when they were sold and these people chose to buy them and hold them and now have them available at a market-determined prices, so they're not "scalping" them any more than a coin collector is scalping when they sell a rare $1 coin for $10K.  Now, is there some degree of price-fixing going on along with market stagnation based on those inflated prices?  Yes, I think so.  

[deraven]

3 hours ago, koalayummies said:

That's tough, I'm sure some have but as you've noticed the modulars use newer and more subdued Lego colors. I too have a lot of those old colors but they're not completely useless, you can use them hidden inside objects and features (like supports for a raised floor as found in the Pet Shop townhouse side, underneath beds and tables, hidden under plates and tiles for stairs). I'm sure if you got creative you could come up with something or leave them all in the sun for a while.  

  That could be one way to go about it!  I've seen some folks do renders of re-colors of the modular buildings in LDD and they can still look good with primary colors, but the key seems to be that it needs to be buildings with plenty of other stuff going on.  The Green Grocer, for instance, looks OK in bright red since it's just the middle section and part of the top, but plenty of surrounding detail in other colors that still complement the red reasonably well.  Things like the Palace Cinema, Grand Emporium, and Town Hall wouldn't look as good since a big part of their exterior is that one color (in my opinion).

Of course, it also depends on the style you go for overall.  You could have a section of Amsterdam row houses in mostly primary colors and I bet they'd look nice. 

[Huaojozu]

I am in a very similar position with lots of primary colors and after trying to build a few modulars myself, I must say that it's really not ideal. Even with plenty of flourishes and little details and decorations, a primarily bright red building still looks very out of place in the current modular line; same with other primary colors. The only thing I can see working would be a blue-white-grey police station. Think Parisian Restaurant but with blue instead of olive.

[deraven]

21 hours ago, Huaojozu said:

... Think Parisian Restaurant but with blue instead of olive.

That could work, and then you'd have some olive for another build.  

[monkles]

23 hours ago, Huaojozu said:

I am in a very similar position with lots of primary colors and after trying to build a few modulars myself, I must say that it's really not ideal. Even with plenty of flourishes and little details and decorations, a primarily bright red building still looks very out of place in the current modular line; same with other primary colors. The only thing I can see working would be a blue-white-grey police station. Think Parisian Restaurant but with blue instead of olive.

I was thinking if one were to buy something like this Creative Builder Box (10703) then they would have a decent selection of more muted colors and windows for a decent price.

https://shop.lego.com/en-AU/Creative-Builder-Box-10703

Simply intersperse the brighter colors with the more muted ones or keep them limited to smaller areas that you might expect to be painted in bright colors.

On 1/15/2017 at 9:42 PM, deraven said:

The Green Grocer, for instance, looks OK in bright red since it's just the middle section and part of the top, but plenty of surrounding detail in other colors that still complement the red reasonably well.  Things like the Palace Cinema, Grand Emporium, and Town Hall wouldn't look as good since a big part of their exterior is that one color (in my opinion).

Of course, it also depends on the style you go for overall.  You could have a section of Amsterdam row houses in mostly primary colors and I bet they'd look nice. 

Grand buildings of a certain function like the GE and PC are more ambitious than I could do just starting out in the modular game, I don't suppose a Pet Shop or similar row house would look too out of place in yellow or red if the flourishes are still grey or natural colors though.

[koalayummies]

That set you linked has 502 pieces and about half are the bright colors you don't want and a limited random selection of windows with odd glass colors. Better options are Pick a Brick wall if you have a local store or even better Bricklink-ing the exact colors and bricks you want in larger quantities instead of paying $40 for a handful of random bricks. You'll be lucky to get one wall of a 16-wide modular from that set. You've been given a plethora of good suggestions. 

Since money is a concern you should also seriously consider building digitally first (LDD, LDraw etc), which is free and then you'll have a list of exactly what you'll need and can build endlessly. And again you can use the bright pieces you have in creative ways hidden inside/under/behind items as support bricks thereby making use of your current selection.

Here's an example of using the old standard bright colored bricks for modulars. It does look, different > umr3tdzfxis7.jpg

Edited January 16, 2017 by koalayummies

[Actor Builder]

On 1/15/2017 at 11:26 AM, monkles said:

Has anyone on the forum built an attractive modular city with a similar collection that is mostly bright creator parts from 15 or more years ago?

I built a modular in the bright red color, and it looks nice in my opinion.

[monkles]

The only one I really regret not buying is the Green Grocer. That's a truly spectacular building and the most impressive size. Unfortunately it's also impressively expensive now.

 

[kungpo]

2 hours ago, monkles said:

The only one I really regret not buying is the Green Grocer. That's a truly spectacular building and the most impressive size. Unfortunately it's also impressively expensive now.

 

Me too - it's the only one I haven't got. But not going to pay £1K for one now. Might build a Blue Grocer one day I suppose.

[AFOLguy1970]

If you are willing to substitute certain parts/colors, then the older ones can be recreated for the most part without too much difference.  Like the example with the Green Grocer, some people have made a sand blue building instead.  If you want to keep it in sand green, you could use two 1x4's in the place of the highly expensive 1x8 and you could substitute the 56 grooved bricks with masonry bricks.  Those two subs alone will save you a pile of money.  

[gotoAndLego]

You can use the primary colors for the side walls which you never see from the outside.

[broomhandle]

12 hours ago, monkles said:

The only one I really regret not buying is the Green Grocer. That's a truly spectacular building and the most impressive size. Unfortunately it's also impressively expensive now.

 

Has anybody Bricklink-d this set? or any other Modular sets? Has anybody done a cost comparison? I would think the GG has some rare colors... 

[Follows Closely]

In response to the original post. If you have any interest:

* Buy the oldest two or three NOW.

* Don't overspend on the oldest five. I have all of them and in all honesty, I don't display them for many reasons.

* If you want the original three/four, go used or bricklink with substitutes. 

* Don't be afraid to buy multiples. 

This series is my favorite by far. The only sets I still purchase actually.

[koalayummies]

6 hours ago, broomhandle said:

Has anybody Bricklink-d this set? or any other Modular sets? Has anybody done a cost comparison? I would think the GG has some rare colors... 

C'mon 2010er!

https://www.google.ca/search?as_q=brick+link+old+retired+modular&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=www.eurobricks.com&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

 

 

On May 18, 2013 at 2:59 PM, TheLegoDr said:

It seems this topic pops up every couple of months [every week]. Everyone that has missed out on the early Modulars constantly lust after them. They are great looking buildings, but I don't see the need to rehash everything just because some people missed out on them. That is including me. I don't own the first 3 that were released, but I'm not crying about it.

So to capture the most money from the fans, TLG will continue to release new and exciting Modulars instead of redesigning/re-releasing older versions. That is how it will be. I don't know why people can't grasp that.

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by koalayummies

[broomhandle]

haha... 2010er....

I have seen the Cafe BL'd. But I have not seen GG's. I would image the price would be high. It was a set I just did not get, and when the price climbs up. I usually let them go... 

[TheLegoDr]

Something that is funny, that post of mine from 2013 I sounded like an ***hole...yikes :)

Either way, it is true. This topic comes up quite often. Understandably, but frequent.

With that said, when bricklinking a building vs owning the official version, you have to ask yourself, how are you going to use it? This is something I couldn't wrap my head around early on. I wanted the exact copy at first. Then I started fiddling around and built a sand blue GG a few years ago. I also modified it some since I might as well since I am already bricklinking it. I started and stopped CC multiple times because I wasn't in love with it. Then I started thinking, how do I use them? I have them displayed on a shelf. Rarely I will take one down and my daughter will play with it, but usually they just sit there. Meaning, if I want to recreate something, I might as well just make sure the front facade looks similar enough to the original and leave the rest however I can make it work cheaply enough. You really only see the facade if you display them. Sometimes the sides depending on how it is positioned in the shelf, so the sides potentially can be any color. The back wall can be whatever color. Who needs windows on the back? Just make sure the front looks good, and you will likely come out way ahead since most people own some bricks to make do.

But the reverse can be true too. Do you want the official version, then follow the suggestions above and find safe alternatives, buy used (in good condition), etc.

Good luck!

[broomhandle]

I agree. I am the type where I want it exact, but changes are ok. I BL'd this awhile ago. made a few mods because the color is not available, and I thought, why not make it red...

 

[QwikBricks]

I felt the exact same dilemma.  I've only recently liked the look of the modulars, then someone recommended them to me.  So I went out and got the Palace Cinema.  It was amazing.  The thing took me over 4 hours to build and - despite what some say about its lack of detail - I find it absolutely incredible to look at from a distance.  Already planning to go out and get the next modular!  Good luck.