Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Andy D]

Personally I think lego shouldn't re-release cafe corner a lot of people would be very unhappy as they have these older sets as an investment and re-releasing old sets will only lower the price of the older ones

I instead would prefer mini modulars 2

I really don't think LEGO cares what investors think.

I have a BL CC, not as complete as I would like... I would welcome a rerelease of the CC.

Just MHO. YMMV

Andy D

[Hewman]

Anybody have ideas/easy tutorials for some ways to spruce up the interior of the apartments? I was thinking of making it my project when I get the set to deck the interiors out with improved kitchens, bathrooms, living room areas. Does anybody have any ideas for little mini-builds or ways to mod the Pet Shop apartments?

In all seriousness some of the small Friends sets are great for this purpose. You may or may not want to substitute a few colours.

[Mrcool1804]

How is it that we have heard nothing of a new modular? This thread has been MIA for 1 month!

[tafkatb]

How is it that we have heard nothing of a new modular? This thread has been MIA for 1 month!

Um... because it's still nearly eight months away? The absolute earliest we've ever gotten news on new modulars has been maybe six months in advance. Be patient.

[Lego Conductor]

I thought it was agreed that the 2017 Modular would be smaller, cost more and have 3 businesses in it!

[tkatt]

I hear they are going to put the Creator Expert Logo on the Assault on Hoth Set and sell it as the 2017 Modular.

[sebitsena]

I want an anniversary set for the 10th birthday of the modulars!!!

[Boettner Builds]

I want an anniversary set for the 10th birthday of the modulars!!!

That would be awesome as long as it's not market street!

[muscleman]

I want an anniversary set for the 10th birthday of the modulars!!!

A dream!!

[Naptown11]

The only two things that I would like to see in the next modular is

1) The set is 2200 pieces or more. The sets seem to be getting smaller and smaller as they release them, I don't need a TH size set but would like it to be somewhere in the middle.

2)Interior, interior, interior. I love coming here and seeing all types of MOC's/MOD's of buildings and the one thing that TLG has got to get better at is the interiors. The DO is great at having a real flow and delineated spaces but GG you have to walk through peoples apt's to get to the next one which is not really plausible. Also on the DO the Highlander doesn't even have a bar which doesn't seem to be plausible in real life either.

Basically I would like to see something that has all of the bare necessities of a regular building i.e. the DO being the only place that has a bathroom that could be used by the office and barber. The friends sets do a far superior job at cool interiors so TLG really doesn't have an excuse to not build an interior that matches the exterior facades that keep bringing people back. Either way I will continue to buy sets and also MOD them to make them my own. The only set I don't have is MS and that is because I sold it since it really doesn't fit in the modular line as well as the others.

What say you Eurobrick forum, what would you like to see the most in the next modular building?

[sebitsena]

We have enough toilets in the interiors ^^ I would like to see TV, furniture, bathroom is a good idea! A shower would be nice too.

I would like to get a new modular with a car, like Jamie did with the Fire Brigade (the limo in Palace Cinema is not so great), maybe with a garage at the ground floor of a building!

Considering the outside architecture, we had american style (DO, PC, FB), french (PR), british (PS, GE, GC). It would be nice to look at north of France/Belgian/Netherlands style like Arras (FR) buildings : http://pleje.free.fr/Arras/Images/Arras1g.jpg

I especially like the roofs and the arches ;)

But another style would be welcome!

[BlockLogo]

Market street was Dutch/Belgian architecture inspired.

[JanetVanD]

A sweet shop or bakery would be nice, even if we already had winter village and friends versions. It's been a while since a post office set has been released, so that would be a good candidate too. And, of course, it would have been nice to have had a modular library.....

There is certainly plenty more scope for upgrading the interiors even more. I recently did some interior decor in my "Random Rooms" MOC; it was a lot of fun and exteremely satisfying. I think it should be possible to embellish the interiors of future modulars without pushing the prices up too much, since a couple of handfuls of small parts can make a big difference,

[Herky]

I agree get back to the normal size of FB or PS or whatever, the smaller brick bank and DO seem out of place on the street but not all buildings are the same. I would rather go with one business and better quality all around than try to be so chaotic with laundry and bank and all that...just one business, maybe the bakery with apts above, do a good interior and exterior in the 2200-2400 range. Garage in back is a cool idea or at least a delivery door. No more kiddie stories, but I know some like them.

Would also like to see a mid season build that is smaller like a park or some green space for the block, some sort of tie in that would not be as big, but add more aesthetic style to the line.

[Lyichir]

Personally, I'm fine with the latest trends in modular buildings. I love the detailed interiors we've been getting, and I love the organic mixing and matching of buildings as seen in the Detective's Office and Brick Bank. Compared to those earlier buildings, the new buildings actually feel "lived in"—like these buildings have histories of their own, and have been expanded and modified to suit the needs of the occupants over the years, instead of seeming like neat and tidy architectural models that feel like they were developed in a vacuum.

As for size, you just can't have all those other things and stay at the same price point without making sacrifices, especially with factors like inflation at play as well. So given the choice between larger and more monolithic buildings and smaller, more detailed buildings, I definitely prefer the latter.

There are exceptions, of course, depending on what sort of building the sets are supposed to represent. I was quite pleased by how the Pet Shop economized detail by leaving one of the buildings unoccupied, with a family just beginning to move in and repaint the interior. And a building like the Palace Cinema or Grand Emporium obviously has to feature lots of open space by virtue of the business they practice, allowing more of the budget to go toward an impressive facade. But I'd rather not go back to the days where exteriors felt like they were prioritized at the expense of interiors, like the Café Corner, Market Street, and arguably even the Green Grocer.

[Vindicare]

I agree get back to the normal size of FB or PS or whatever, the smaller brick bank and DO seem out of place on the street but not all buildings are the same. I would rather go with one business and better quality all around than try to be so chaotic with laundry and bank and all that...just one business, maybe the bakery with apts above, do a good interior and exterior in the 2200-2400 range. Garage in back is a cool idea or at least a delivery door. No more kiddie stories, but I know some like them.

Would also like to see a mid season build that is smaller like a park or some green space for the block, some sort of tie in that would not be as big, but add more aesthetic style to the line.

I would like to see the single building uses back as well. The recent "two buildings" and the accompanying stories are funny and all, though. I'm not sure where the idea come from, as it seems most Modular buyers don't actually play with them, just display. While building I was entertained by the play features, but that was it.

[ReplicaOfLife]

My take on the interior vs. exterior dissussion: I would like them to do a detailed ground floor interior for the shop, but a less detailed interior for the other floors (take PS as a reference, except for the renovating/just moving in cop-out). While the newer interiors are fun to build and I fully appreciate the detail and thought that goes into them, I hardly ever look at them when the building is done. The ground floor interiors are more important here as they usually have larger windows.

They could use all the pieces they waste on upstairs interior into maing the building as a whole grander.

All that is with keeping in mind that we can't have both - detailed interior throughout and sets on the GG/CC/GE/PS scale modulars should have - withouth a severe price increase. Given those two options, I'd rather have more building than more furniture.

Edited May 18, 2016 by RogerSmith

[temes]

Do you think TLC should stick to the current price range (even if it means smaller buildings like BB) or should they increase the price and release a bigger old modular size buildings with interior details like in the latest modulars?

[TheBeefThief]

Hello everyone!

I have been following this thread since before the release of the Detective's Office, but I have now decided to join the discussion.

After reading everyone's ideas on what could be a good next Modular Building, I quickly drafted a simple façade on LDD.

The building currently looks like a half-baked Lego Ideas project, however it was only made to show how the layout would look. The lower floor (with the large windows) is intended to be a Supermarket, with a staircase to the upstairs apartment, similar to the Green Grocer. The supermarket floor would have foods ranging from the classic breadsticks & apples to more recent additions, which 2016 has given us all an abundance of (such as the new ''quarter circle'' tile with the watermelon & cherry pie printing).

Below are some examples of what could be included to stock the supermarket shelves.

Could it make for an excellent Modular Building? No cutting corners, no ''play-features''. Just complex architecture and rich, detailed interior design.

[cowguy]

I kind of like the Idea of a half modular line to sit along with the full modular line. Imagine, if lego sold the pet store or the town home separately for half the price. I bet they would sell a lot more. I kind of wish sets like the bike shop or even the corner deli were scaled to keep the 1/2 modular (16x32) base plate layout. It would also allow lego to explore more themes (such as a butcher shop or a book store) at a lower prices. The $80 price point would also sit well with the average toy buyer who may be put off with the $160-170 price tag.

[TheLegoDr]

Temes - The problem with that idea is they have already increased the price the last few years and keep making the buildings smaller and more detailed. So to increase the price even further to make them bigger puts them in Town Hall territory and not even that size of building. And we all know how well that set sold.

I don't want them any more expensive. $160 was pushing it for me, so $170 is already out of my range. I know lots can keep buying them no matter the price and good for them, but I know it will also limit their market if they keep going too high and too kid friendly.

[SFmuscle73]

How would folks feel if the interiors were bare (less the stairs or interior walls) and the interior furniture and accessories were a separate booster pack? This could align the modulars' exteriors to the grander of he old days and still give folks the option to furnish the interior.

[scottwb2010]

How would folks feel if the interiors were bare (less the stairs or interior walls) and the interior furniture and accessories were a separate booster pack? This could align the modulars' exteriors to the grander of he old days and still give folks the option to furnish the interior.

I was about to say the same, but if not a separate pack for the interior, maybe at the end of the build instructions there a number of photo's with different alternate interiors, similar to the photo's of the different alternate builds that were in Cafe Corner instructions, but they could also come with a parts list for the interior parts if they didn't think that an interior parts pack would sell well.

[Dan-147]

How would folks feel if the interiors were bare (less the stairs or interior walls) and the interior furniture and accessories were a separate booster pack? This could align the modulars' exteriors to the grander of he old days and still give folks the option to furnish the interior.

I don't know about anybody else but I would certainly be a multi-set buyer if they came up with an interior set. I have a few older modulars that have sparse interiors that I've been wanting to upgrade. Plus it would be a great parts pack.

Dan-147

[ReplicaOfLife]

How would folks feel if the interiors were bare (less the stairs or interior walls) and the interior furniture and accessories were a separate booster pack? This could align the modulars' exteriors to the grander of he old days and still give folks the option to furnish the interior.

All nice ideas, but pretty impropably Lego would do something like that.

All the info we have seems to point towards the modulars selling better and better, so there's no reason for Lego to alter the course they're on.