Big Modular Sets?

[Thrawnseg]

I was thinking about getting a Green Grocer and a Grand Emporium when it comes out, but my wife asked a good question last night - "Will they look ok, or be too big for the platform/city area?"

Right now, my city consists of (still growing) a City Corner (the pizza shop and bicycle store), a few creator houses, a older Train Station (2150) and the farm. Will these new, bigger sets look out of place along side those?

I'd say no, they would be a great addition to the set, making my main street look better. We do agree the the Fire Brigade would look out of place with it's older time look, compared to the other ones.

What do you guys think?

[alex12]

Personally i don't like them together.

I have cafe corner , green grocer and the fire station and they are quite big.

I know its not easily available anymore but the town plan looks a lot better with city corner and the farm.

It may be worth getting one of the mods because they are awesome and see how you feel.

[Ralph_S]

I was thinking about getting a Green Grocer and a Grand Emporium when it comes out, but my wife asked a good question last night - "Will they look ok, or be too big for the platform/city area?"

Right now, my city consists of (still growing) a City Corner (the pizza shop and bicycle store), a few creator houses, a older Train Station (2150) and the farm. Will these new, bigger sets look out of place along side those?

I'd say no, they would be a great addition to the set, making my main street look better. We do agree the the Fire Brigade would look out of place with it's older time look, compared to the other ones.

What do you guys think?

First of all, I don't think that the Fire Brigade looks older. I think it looks much more American than Green grocer or Cafe Corner. The latter two remind me much more of European cities such as Paris or Brussels. Then again, I have read comments from Americans that they resemble buildings you could find in older city centres. I took them apart a few weeks ago, but I had Green Grocer and the Fire Brigade sit side-by-side for a while and they looked fine.

OK, now to the more important point, which basically boils down to whether or not they look good together with creator sets and other city sets. I think that they don't look good directly side-by-side, because the Cafe Corner buildings are bigger and much more ornate than regular city sets. I quite like the design of City Corner, but the buildings are tiny. What could work IMO is if you have the cafe corner buildings grouped together form the part of a city centre, with the other sets representing a more suburban part of town.

Cheers,

Ralph

[WesternOutlaw]

Thrawnseg: why would you post this topic in Train Tech? I've moved to Town.

[Thrawnseg]

Thrawnseg: why would you post this topic in Train Tech? I've moved to Town.

Sorry about that! I was flipping back and forth between the forums and thought I had the Town one.

So, it seems they don't mesh well together, but split up they should be ok. Since I only have City Corner though which would be close, which direction would people go - the bigger mod sets and start your city that way or continue with things like the City Police/Fire HQ and whatnot?

[Big Cam]

Although I don't own any, I've seen alot of setups on EB.

I think they are much larger than your typical set and you need to build custom buildings along side of them, otherwise the standard sets look too small.

That's just my opinion, I say if you love City, to get them, if nothing else, those two could be on a stand of their own.

[Shadows]

So, it seems they don't mesh well together, but split up they should be ok. Since I only have City Corner though which would be close, which direction would people go - the bigger mod sets and start your city that way or continue with things like the City Police/Fire HQ and whatnot?

For me, the modular buildings are a shelf display, literally something I would line a shelf with and gradually add to. I can't imagine trying to bulk a full city up to that level. Think of them like a Hollywood set for filming movies, tall and detailed facades (and now with more internal detail). They would actually be good for some Batman displays accordingly.

On the other hand, I can't picture trying to do a whole city in modular, though I've seen some amazing displays of just that.

In the end I think you have the idea, keep each to it's own. There is certainly nothing wrong with a display of each, I just wouldn't mix them.

As for which to do, only you can decide that. If you want a bigger city, you're better off going with the city sets. If you want more detail but less overall volume, go modular. If you're crazy like me, go with both separately!

[richb]

Opinions differ on this and it really boils down to your preference, your imagination, and your ability to suspend disbelief. Oh, and of course your budget, space, and time!

I do not mix the two because I see them as being essentially incompatible with each other. They are not only in different color palettes and level of detail, but also completely different scale.

City/Classic buildings are typically only 6 bricks per floor high, 6 to 8 studs deep, open back, and constructed from traditional bright colors (yellow, red, blue & white). The modular buildings, on the other hand, are often 10 bricks per floor high, cover a 32x32 base, have closed backs, and are built in neutral or more realistic colors. The Creator houses, as a third category, fall in between these two -- they're generally 6 brick height classic scale yet closed back and with more ornate detailing like modular.

As for which to go with, I like the modular, but this is entirely personal preference. Modular is what got me out of my dark ages and made me an AFoL. Of course, I still buy City sets that interest me either for parts or as vignettes (such as City Corner which I looted for the figs and bus in my modular town), but my town layout is to modular scale. Personally, this is perferable to me due to space concerns over anything else, because at classic town scale a person winds up with a tremendous amount of sprawl and half their LEGO budget sunk in road plates, whereas at modular scale a person may only add a building or two a year, but boy, is there some bang for the buck! I like modular because I want to build UP rather than OUT.

The question is (to me), per $1000 you spend on LEGO, do you want it ...

Taking up only a 50" x 10" shelf?

or

Covering a floor of a room in your home like road tiles are wall-to-wall carpet?

At the start, you will probably mix them, but I personally believe once you have all those modular buildings in a row, you'll want your entire cityscape to look like that, or as your investment in this hobby increases, you will realize you have to go modular and build up because you cannot build out any further.

Having writen all of that, if you're asking for a recommendation of which one you should go with, it would be helpful to know if you have a lot of space, if you plan on this being a permanent fixture like a piece of furniture, if you plan on building custom tables/shelves, and if you have an interest in trains. Trains obviously make it a whole different ballgame when it comes to sprawl and real estate. You mention having the older train station ... do you have trains, intend to have trains, and desire to eventually have a complex track or just run a simple oval?

[Thrawnseg]

Having writen all of that, if you're asking for a recommendation of which one you should go with, it would be helpful to know if you have a lot of space, if you plan on this being a permanent fixture like a piece of furniture, if you plan on building custom tables/shelves, and if you have an interest in trains. Trains obviously make it a whole different ballgame when it comes to sprawl and real estate. You mention having the older train station ... do you have trains, intend to have trains, and desire to eventually have a complex track or just run a simple oval?

Thank you for the response - it was actually very helpful and shed quite a bit on the different styles of the city/mod buildings that I never realized.

My space for Legos is a 10ft x 4ft table, and I do have a train running around the town now, with a few switches for the farm and the train station, but mainly a oval. I have the creator houses on the right side, and was planning on making my city on the left side. I actually stole the basic plans from Flickr and Savatheaggie, but without the engine shed area General Idea of layout. The farm is in the general area of the engine shed on his layout.

So I'm thinking the Pizza Shop/City corner might become a casualty of new construction and go all Mod-type buildings for the city.

[jaredchan]

Hi Thrawnseg, in addition to what have been said by fellow members, which I agree, I think you need to think about the following questions:

1) Do you want modern skyscrapers or classic buildings to be the backbone of your layout?

Apart from the non-compatible-color-tone issue, the buildings from the regular city/creator line are so modern in architectural style that they can't really mix with the classic modular buildings. The scale is just not right, if the classic modular buildings are to be of their current size, the modern city line buildings should be a lot bigger to build a realistic layout. In my opinion, if you love skyscrapers, go for the city line and don't mix them with the modulars or you would drawf them and make them look silly.

2) Do you play with your sets often or do you simply sit back and admire them?

City sets are more about playability while the modulars are more about display value. If you want to play with your sets like a kid, go for City. If you want a dollhouse, a diorama, go for the modulars.

3) Do you build MOCs?

The modular buildings are actually of very great value as parts pack. Compare to the city line, modular sets offer lots of special colored parts and special elements at a comparatively cheap price (They are expensive, but they are all comparatively cheap when you consider the components that they offer). In addition, the modulars offer a lot of interesting techniques and ideas that would help and inspire your doing MOCs.

If you only build with the building instructions, you can easily fill up a large layout considering the massive number of new city and creator sets coming out each year. Conversely, as LEGO releases one Modular Building per year, you need to do your MOC if you want a decent looking street in a short period of time.

I myself is a big fan of modular buildings and as an adult fan, I am not really into playing with my sets. I have a little setup of all the official modular buildings and a few MOCs of my own. I use what the City line offers to supplement my Modular Street (mostly the minifigs as I find the 6 wide vehicles too big even when they placed next to the Modulars) and I am definitely getting the limo that will come out later this year. I admire my street all the time and my non-LEGO building visitors are all fascinated by it. I loved MOC as a kid (something off topic...it was the 90s, and my cousins, my grandma and I built a few huge houses on 48x48 baseplate. My grandma invented the ancient modular building system by stacking baseplates on top of each floor and build on them, and I kept telling her it was "illegal". Now looking back, how genius was she!), but the Modular Buildings make me love MOC even more!

[Jameson42]

The modular buildings are what brought me out of my dark ages. I've been going a bit crazy trying to build as many of them as I can.

But like others have said, the scaling, detail, and polish of Cafe Corner and the like just make classic town look a bit flat and sprawling. My current layout is entirely CC-compatible for the sake of consistency.

EDIT: And I think if you're going for the wow factor, Modular is great for impressing visitors!

Edited February 5, 2010 by Jameson42

[richb]

Thank you for the response - it was actually very helpful and shed quite a bit on the different styles of the city/mod buildings that I never realized.

My space for Legos is a 10ft x 4ft table, and I do have a train running around the town now, with a few switches for the farm and the train station, but mainly a oval. I have the creator houses on the right side, and was planning on making my city on the left side. I actually stole the basic plans from Flickr and Savatheaggie, but without the engine shed area General Idea of layout. The farm is in the general area of the engine shed on his layout.

So I'm thinking the Pizza Shop/City corner might become a casualty of new construction and go all Mod-type buildings for the city.

Silly me. I don't know why I wrote that last paragraph asking if you would have trains, when I notice now your location is Pittsburgh. Of course you're going to have trains.

[Dr Kilroy]

Well, you have got a City town. Modular houses don't fit very well with City buildings. I really love MH's together, but I don't have a tabletown and these are the only buildings on my exposure. ;)

Regards, Dr

[booga-b]

very interesting topic indeed, I started out with the leog city sets and Ive just recently gotten myself into the modular sets. Still hunting for the cafe corner. lol. the city sets are tiny compared to these modular sized buildings but it compliments it well if u split ur sets. the mods can be like a city centre type of thing and gradually scale down to the city sets. btw, if anyone has any info on where i can purchase cafe corner without the $300 price tag. Please feel free to leave me a msg.

[MetroiD]

Funny how even though these topics have been discussed at length here, there's always something new and valuable to add. It's very nice to notice that - and it's also one of the reasons why I love such discussions here @ EB :)

First of all, welcome Thrawnseg! And best of luck with your Modulars - believe me, once you get a hold of the first one, it'll definitely change the way you look at LEGO. On to your question - I personally fully agree with Ralph and Rich here, although it is really a matter of personal choice.

I myself would prefer a display made out of Modular buildings - even if they are not all as big or ornate as the original sets - to a Classic Town set. Such a modular town/display however might not look very "LEGO-like" to some other AFOLs, which is why there's always room for experimenting. At the end of the day, even if for some reason you decide not to display your Modular building(s), you can still build at least a couple of absolutely wonderful Classic buildings out of one modular set. So I really don't understand why there are people who say they "don't like" the modular sets in general and wouldn't buy them - these are some of the best sets in terms of value for money we've ever gotten from TLG.

[Piranha]

Well I like them but yes they are much larger much more detailed scale.

Over the years building styles change, so Town sets from 20 years ago, will be vastly different from todays

That said, Modular buildings are a completely different ball park, they should be their own theme with their own forum

Edited February 6, 2010 by Macoco

[AllanSmith]

I display both City and modular buildings but i usually group them in seperate areas of the layout. But you could put the larger scale modular buildings at the front and smaller scale City buildings at the back, then you would have a Forced Perspective of your city that makes it look deeper

[henryhotspurs]

I have a large city layout. It takes an entire bay of my garage. I have trains, skyscrapers, modular buildings, creator houses and the city corner style sets. I personally think they go great together.

My entire main street is the modulars while around the back is the less ornate city corner sets. The bike shop and pizzaria were slightly modded to bring up their heights but they are still open backed, which is obscured from view by the modular buildings. This entire sity block is enclosed and faces out with road plates all around the block. Large, skyscrapers sit adjacent to the Christmas toy shop. To top off the whole scene a large train yard, with independent loops, runs along the table's length then disappears into tunnels and continues underneath the entire city so that I may store all my trains on sidings and alternately run them while maximizing the space.

I designed my town so every time you walk around it's expanse you see something new. This concept has been well recieved and i get complements from young and old alike.

My new challenge has been to integrate the Toy Story, green army men, which I converted to "humans" by adding yellow hands and heads, into my layout. Perhaps I'll stage a parade to honor these fine vets!

As you can see I think all the sets, old and new, big and small, modded or straight out of the box, work well together. It's how you integrate them and transition to a new scheme which makes or breaks a layout.

[Jasper Joppe Geers]

I think it depends on your own ideas how a lego town should look.

I started when the modular buildings started. I thought and still think

they are the ultimate way to create a LEGO town/street etc.

Therefore i only think modular. The other sets, how nice they may look,

are no match to me. The town plan seem to fit nicely according to some

people, but not me. I have the most fun when everything looks similar

like reality. A real challenge, but good fun!

Take care, and send us the pics!

cheers,

JJ.

[AllanSmith]

I have a large city layout. It takes an entire bay of my garage. I have trains, skyscrapers, modular buildings, creator houses and the city corner style sets. I personally think they go great together.

Any pictures? or a link to pictures.

[Night City Dream]

I was thinking about getting a Green Grocer and a Grand Emporium when it comes out, but my wife asked a good question last night - "Will they look ok, or be too big for the platform/city area?"

Right now, my city consists of (still growing) a City Corner (the pizza shop and bicycle store), a few creator houses, a older Train Station (2150) and the farm. Will these new, bigger sets look out of place along side those?

I'd say no, they would be a great addition to the set, making my main street look better. We do agree the the Fire Brigade would look out of place with it's older time look, compared to the other ones.

What do you guys think?

My personal opinion is that they do not match much. Modular building are way more thought out, they are bigger and higher. But - they can still be integrated in the TOWN or CITY - just create a central street with these mansions, then, a bit of space, and then put other town / city buildings. Like that, I believe, there would be no strange vicinities.

[Henri]

Hello,

We own quite a bit of lego sets and have built a city with all the modular houses and also with the Lego City models, such as town plan and street corner.

What we did was make separate parts in our town, but we also have quite a large space.

Behind the buildings on the picture runs a train track (double track) and behind the carousel is a large construction area where a new bridge and streets are being built.

I'll post some more pictures soon.

Ever since we got the modular houses, I can't stop watching them, rebuild and MOC-ing them.

We can't wait to get the Grand Emporium too.

I would say, get the modular houses, if not for the buildings than for the parts.

Carpe Lego !

Henri