Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[lomis]

My thoughts on 10228: Haunted House (HH)...

The HH was the second purchase of a new LEGO set after coming out of my dark ages.

Since then I've bought close to 75 sets - including 5 Modular Buildings (FB, GE, PS, TH, and PR).

The HH is easily my favorite set out of the 175 sets I've ever owned (as a kid or currently), followed by 10210: Imperial Flagship.

I'm not a fan of horror movies or monsters, and I don't own any of the other sets in the Monster Fighters theme.

But the HH is just so well built and has so many fun features.

The wife and I have built it twice - during the past two Halloweens - and we plan on making it a tradition with our daughter.

Part of it is because it's close to being "Halloween" themed.

But the reality is that it's just fun to put together.

I can't think of any other set that we want to do that with other than the Winter Village sets.

If there is one set out there that I say is a MUST BUY for any fan of LEGO it is the Haunted House.

[sparkz88]

So I am looking to get my next modular this weekend, and after lots of reading, I am still unsure. What would you all recommend? I have the pet shop, but am torn between the Grand Emporium and the Town Hall.

Thanks,

Spark :D

[glendo]

I just hope the next modular is a decent building. Im keen for a multi-story apartment block or a commercial building. I want this one to be a full and complete building this year, unlike the PR where they shaved off the back of it.

as for colour scheme... hmm im very keen to be surprised this year.

[badbob001]

Maybe LEGO should expand the 16x32 building concept it had with the Pet Shop set and produce 16x32 lower-priced modular building sets. I've seen many paintings of streets packed with colorful and distinctive shops and it may be a delight to have a row of these.

I can imagine LEGO releasing two to four of these a year and they can be grouped by location themes (paris, italy, chinatown, new york, etc). As with the recent PR set, architecture is important but more attention is focused on the little details that relate to people's lives and their stories. The smaller sets will allow more details to be packed together. I think having so many varied-styled buildings packed together really gives a sense of change and progress. Maybe some standard can be made so that the upper parts of the buildings can be rearranged with each other.

I was thinking about the set box and it would look a bit weird showing a narrow building where the sides are rather plain. But they could pose the box vertically and show a straight photo of the building that fills the box frame completely. If you then line up other boxes from the theme, it would look like a row of buildings (now you have a reason to keep these boxes). For this effect to work, they probably need to release at least three of these sets together.

Ah, wishful thinking.

Edited April 24, 2014 by badbob001

[TheLegoDr]

I like the idea of more 16x32 buildings, but I don't see LEGO releasing that many in one year. Yes, they may make money on it, but then again they will probably saturate the market and not actually sell as many as they would if they release one per year. I'm multiple Modulars behind, so to release more than one per year would probably mean I'd buy less LEGO elsewhere just to keep up. I don't see that happening.

They are releasing those "smaller" modulars in the CITY line. Even though I don't personally think they fit in at all, a lot of people are clamoring for them.

Creator Expert is a theme in and of itself. It isn't tied to any one style of build, just something more advanced. The carnival type set would fall into that category, not the Modular category. I'm not sure how this isn't getting through to people??

[Faefrost]

Maybe LEGO should expand the 16x32 building concept it had with the Pet Shop set and produce 16x32 lower-priced modular building sets. I've seen many paintings of streets packed with colorful and distinctive shops and it may be a delight to have a row of these.

Ah, wishful thinking.

I think we were all hoping that that is what the new Creator Shops were going to be. Sadly they are way off from Modulars.

Oh and my local Lego store confirmed today that the May VIP is a new Creator Expert set, but it is not a Modular.

[juzo]

So I am looking to get my next modular this weekend, and after lots of reading, I am still unsure. What would you all recommend? I have the pet shop, but am torn between the Grand Emporium and the Town Hall.

Thanks,

Spark :D

They're both great, so there's no wrong decision. I'd probably go the TH first but that's just me.

[Dharkan]

No no no, not more than one modular a year please. And also as TheLegoDr said, It would not help Lego but hurt them probably.

I'm up for more modulars like Pet Shop but then again people will probably complain that the set will be too similar to Pet Shop just because we had a residential building before in Pet Shop. I think we can use a Library of some sort or bookstore, maybe a new cafe. Or a 32x32 residential building with a nice terrace and some balconies.

[Fritzy]

Oh and my local Lego store confirmed today that the May VIP is a new Creator Expert set, but it is not a Modular.

Thanks for sharing. Chances are, it's the Carnival/fair-themed set we've been hearing about.

[rollermonkey]

Thanks for sharing. Chances are, it's the Carnival/fair-themed set we've been hearing about.

Or the Mini Cooper.

[Fritzy]

Or the Mini Cooper.

Yes, that is a possibility as well.

[stevkir]

Maybe LEGO should expand the 16x32 building concept it had with the Pet Shop set and produce 16x32 lower-priced modular building sets. I've seen many paintings of streets packed with colorful and distinctive shops and it may be a delight to have a row of these.

I can imagine LEGO releasing two to four of these a year and they can be grouped by location themes (paris, italy, chinatown, new york, etc). As with the recent PR set, architecture is important but more attention is focused on the little details that relate to people's lives and their stories. The smaller sets will allow more details to be packed together. I think having so many varied-styled buildings packed together really gives a sense of change and progress. Maybe some standard can be made so that the upper parts of the buildings can be rearranged with each other.

I was thinking about the set box and it would look a bit weird showing a narrow building where the sides are rather plain. But they could pose the box vertically and show a straight photo of the building that fills the box frame completely. If you then line up other boxes from the theme, it would look like a row of buildings (now you have a reason to keep these boxes). For this effect to work, they probably need to release at least three of these sets together.

Ah, wishful thinking.

I have had similar ideas for 16x32 baseplate sized modulars and I actually sent an email to LEGO with the idea hoping it "might" get through. This was there response I received back on the 2nd of April.

Dear Steven,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

Your Modular building suggestions sounds great and we're happy you took the time to share your idea with us. You sound like you are an avid LEGO Fan. Your suggestions all make a lot of sense, and I am pretty sure it would be very beneficial for our fans. There a lot of things we take into consideration before we create and price a set.

I know this might be difficult to hear, but at the moment we can’t accept suggestions about what fans want us to make for new LEGO® toys. I'm sure that this rule may seem rigid, especially for someone who simply has a great idea they wish to share with us. However, for legal reasons, we have to follow this policy to avoid confusion about the origin of LEGO toys.

Our experts in Denmark work day and night dreaming up new LEGO sets, themes and toys. This means we might already be working on something like you've suggested. It sometimes takes years to plan everything from the first brick to the last. They have to test their ideas, figure out the best way to build them, get the pieces from the factory, work out what sort of box is needed and then find a way to get the new sets to all the shops in 130 countries. It’s quite a process.

But we really do value suggestions from our fans so I’m happy to tell you we’re already working on a website that will let you share your ideas with us. You’ll also be able to admire the ideas of other LEGO fans and even get votes that could lead to making your idea a reality. When you have some time, check outLEGO.CUUSOO.com. I hope you’ll have some fun there and let your imagination run wild!

​We want to make sure we're doing a good job for you, so we always include the link to a four-question survey in our emails. Please tell us how we did today:

(I removed the survey link)

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Happy building!

In my email I not only suggested the 16x32 baseplate but also an inverted corner building. I would love to be able to do more than just square or rectangle blocks and an inverted corner would do nicely. Yes I could build one myself but I am currently not looking to doing my own MOC's and like to keep my little town as the way LEGO created it.

[nesquik]

With regards to the points made in your email, I think it's important to take a step back and remind yourself of what a 'modular building' actually is. It's great to be enthusiastic, but the bottom-line is that these products make up just one of many sub-themes within the Creator Expert line; the purpose of which is to better merchandise the Exclusives range as advanced Creator products. Modular Buildings are not a product line, but a sub-theme of Exclusives.

As the sales of the these products do not reach the same levels as the company's more evergreen themes, stricter boundaries are put into place so that profits, inventory and timing are worked out with greater focus towards a more mature audience. This has also changed significantly as brand retail (where I work) has become an important part of how the company presents its product range. Before the Creator Expert banner existed, customers had absolutely no idea that the Exclusive range was indeed a separate range, but now its starting to be made more clearer with graphics designed for shelf-space.

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that one of the primary seeds for an Creator Expert product is significance - not system-wide compatibility. The models are designed to be appreciated as individual stories. This is what allows Creator products to generally differ in scale and theme. For example, the upcoming 'Carnival' set is part of a sub-theme simply called 'Fairground', but it is not merchandised as such because the previous product, Grand Carousel, is no longer available. This would limit the customer's perception for how the said product could/could not be integrated with other LEGO products.

So the chances of TLG releasing a 16x32 Modular Building are therefore slim-to-zero, because the only motivation to release such a design would be to please a minority of fans that demand very particular scale/compatibility over the narrative, which is what the design is honed around. The sub-theme works to a price point and this can only be met by offering a large-scale model that fans have now come to expect.

Also, from a merchandising perspective, it would not break the tradition of releasing just one large-scale building a year, but as an individual model, it would be very difficult to promote.

On the other hand, there is no reason why the company won't continue to produce products like the upcoming Bike Shop/Cafe in Creator, as we get a lot of parents and children asking for these in order to extend their City.

Anyway, I didn't wish to burst your bubble, but it's just important to take in account how tightly organised product lines can be

Edited April 25, 2014 by nesquik

[craiggrannell]

I also suspect many people just buy one of these things as an 'event' toy. Each one must therefore stand alone, rather than just being fill-in for an AFOL's set-up. Personally, I'd be happy to see another build similar to Pet Shop, but I imagine Lego's thinking is always to try for something new.

[rollermonkey]

Um... That's the standard form letter e-mail when any product suggestion is submitted outside CUUSOO/Lego Ideas.

[Dharkan]

Yeah, it is probably automated message from mail server :D

[Blakstone]

Dharkan, it would be a canned message. People would read the inbound emails and decide which of the canned emails that were approved by the legal department to send back. In the Historic board we saw a bunch of these where the employees would add a little personnel touch to them. My experience comes from working at a large Internet provider in the pre-broadband days.

Back on topic, the talk of the Haunted House has added it back to my want list. I am uncertain which Modular (or Haunted House) to buy next. It sounds like we are not even sure which of the existing modulars will disappear from the LEGO Store / Shop.LEGO.com next. The only one I have is the Fire Brigade.

[Yocalyptus]

Now my wish list got longer since I started reading here at Eurobricks. I just decided to get the Fire Brigade and Im excited to build it. Hopefully I can pick it up at the seller's place this May 3. Too bad prices here in the Philippines aren't the same, some maybe nearly the same but still it's a lot easier to get sets in UK/US. :/

Next would be either Haunted House/Simpsons/Pet Shop. If I will base my decision on their own retirement, prolly either HH or PS is the best choice. What do you think guys?

Also I am running out of space. I bought 4 cabinets with 3 dividers and they're all full as well as the top part. Haha. I need a room!

[antp]

either HH or PS is the best choice. What do you think guys?

Yes. I personally prefer the PS, but HH is very good too. If you lack of space the PS may be easier to display ;)

I was a little disappointed by the Simpsons house. It is really good for a Simpsons fan, but as a Lego set it is much less interesting IMHO.

Edited April 26, 2014 by antp

[Only Sinner]

Now my wish list got longer since I started reading here at Eurobricks. I just decided to get the Fire Brigade and Im excited to build it. Hopefully I can pick it up at the seller's place this May 3. Too bad prices here in the Philippines aren't the same, some maybe nearly the same but still it's a lot easier to get sets in UK/US. :/

Next would be either Haunted House/Simpsons/Pet Shop. If I will base my decision on their own retirement, prolly either HH or PS is the best choice. What do you think guys?

Also I am running out of space. I bought 4 cabinets with 3 dividers and they're all full as well as the top part. Haha. I need a room!

Hi, Yoca. I prefer the Haunted House to just about any other LEGO set in my collection.

However, the Pet shop as well as the Town Hall will be retiring very soon, so I guess it depends on how soon you want to complete your modular collection, and if you wait longer, you will have to pay quite a bit more.

[Yocalyptus]

Yes. I personally prefer the PS, but HH is very good too. If you lack of space the PS may be easier to display ;)

I was a little disappointed by the Simpsons house. It is really good for a Simpsons fan, but as a Lego set it is much less interesting IMHO.

Thanks for the input! :) If only I can buy both.. it's really hard since I just came out of my shell and started collecting legos, now its harder to catch up especially the GG and CC as well as MS. I do not have any chance to get them since they're all expensive nowadays.

The Simpsons House caught my attention, I really love colorful objects and cute little things. With it's interior, im probably sold!

Hi, Yoca. I prefer the Haunted House to just about any other LEGO set in my collection.

However, the Pet shop as well as the Town Hall will be retiring very soon, so I guess it depends on how soon you want to complete your modular collection, and if you wait longer, you will have to pay quite a bit more.

Im not sure which is retiring first, HH or PS? I just bought 2 modulars this month and last month. Being a student, it's harder to cope up. Haha

[Boettner Builds]

I have the Haunted House and The Pet Shop. While I do really like The Pet Shop, I LOVE The Haunted House. It can be made Modular, is BEAUTIFUL on its own and is going to be STUPID expensive once it retires. The Haunted House is also the ONLY thing left in the Monster Fighter series, so it's a pretty safe bet it's going away soon...

[LOTRfan]

Does anyone have an estimate for how much BLing and PaBing a Green Grocer would cost?

[Yocalyptus]

I read it is near 400$. :)

Does anyone have an estimate for how much BLing and PaBing a Green Grocer would cost?

[glendo]

Does anyone have an estimate for how much BLing and PaBing a Green Grocer would cost?

I did mine a year ago. I had ~20% of the parts myself, and replaced 1x8 sand green bricks with 1x4, and it cost me $320AUD (~$300USD)

it depends on what you have already. grooved sand green 1x2 are going to kill your budget.