Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Matti]

Interesting build

But it lacks charm

First of all i don't like how the whole theme and story is way too caricatured. An american styled diner is a little old to be honest… Pancakes and roller skating waitresses? its very un-stylish. The 10 other modulars have been pretty good at presenting simple themes in an interesting way.

and I was so sad to se the old faces go.. I absolutely loved the old styled faces in the modulars. It really made sense! Facial expressions on a mini has nothing to do with imagination and how you build a story, and speaking strictly from an aesthetic point of view less is always better. The simple faces were a nice little gesture

[Honbushu]

My first post here, even though I've been following this particular discussion since page 172.

I admit when I first saw the leaked image, I thought it was a cleverly done MOC, but I was puzzled: why the faces if you want to make pretend it's the next modular?!

Anyway, I like it and the official images look really good. There was a really good diner almost 2 years on lego ideas by pix027 (also with a nice(r) pink cadillac !) and I thought it was a pity that project was not approved. Maybe this is the reason why.

We're definitely seem to be moving up in time now. I would love to see this diner next to a 50s style garage/ pump station...

 

 

[blackknightrises]

16 hours ago, Lyichir said:

It already comes in black from Chief O'Hara from the Lego Batman Movie...

You're right! I haven't looked at that figure in a while so it had slipped mind about it already being available.

[Willworkfortoys]

I invite everyone to emote how they feel about the change from the classic mini face by using the classic mini face.  I'll start.  

[MAB]

44 minutes ago, Willworkfortoys said:

I invite everyone to emote how they feel about the change from the classic mini face by using the classic mini face.  I'll start.  

Does smiley mean happy with the change or sad? As you can only smile with the classic face.

[jimim]

I know this totally doesn’t fit in with the others but in typical town at least here in the USA not all the buildings match. I live in the north east pa area so we have lots of old school jersey diners here still. The classic steel front look. I actually just had lunch in one today. I like this piece cause it speaks of where I live a bit. I’m getting it. I’m late the the game. I only have the last 6. 

 

I also like  the classic faces vs new ones though. 

 

 

[Stefaneris]

I skipped the last few modulars, I mean they looked nice and there were some funny details but that was it. On the Diner however I like the streamlined/Art-Deco look. It is something I'd like to build myself a long time ago maybe for a railway or bus station. So from an architectual view this is one of the better modulars for me.

[koalayummies]

2 hours ago, Willworkfortoys said:

I invite everyone to emote how they feel about the change from the classic mini face by using the classic mini face.  I'll start.  

(Yay for the newer city/CMF styled faces.)

[Willworkfortoys]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Does smiley mean happy with the change or sad? As you can only smile with the classic face.

My point exactly!

Just now, jimim said:

I know this totally doesn’t fit in with the others but in typical town at least here in the USA not all the buildings match. I live in the north east pa area so we have lots of old school jersey diners here still. The classic steel front look. I actually just had lunch in one today. I like this piece cause it speaks of where I live a bit. I’m getting it. I’m late the the game. I only have the last 6. 

I also like  the classic faces vs new ones though. 

I agree with disliking not having an architectural variety, even in an extreme sense.  I don't think a lot of folks that live in old old cities that are made up of single style or two requisite to the time period in which it was founded have a feeling of just how architecturally eclectic a lot of American streets in urban areas are.  I regularly frequent streets with architectural styles spanning hundreds of years one after another that generally subscribe to same proportional requirements of Lego modulars in terms of width, height, roof line, etc.  The only major difference that I notice relative to where I live is a lack of the occasional alley.

[Vilhelm22]

Is it just me or does the woman with ginger hair in 10260 have a reversible face (two sided)?

Edited November 30, 2017 by Vilhelm22

[antp]

i think that two-sided faces were confirmed, but with another "expression" on the back, not a classic smile.

[fordtruckin]

I love the DD! Classic 1950's rock n roll. There isn't one modular that I dislike. Like others have said, the diverse architectural styles across the whole line are really common in many mid size and larger US cities.

As for the minifigure faces, I grew up with the classic face but I really disliked the lack of expression. Some of my friends would draw different faces on their Lego but I never did. I really like the modern faces with a wide variety of expressions. The first modular I bought was soley for the building. I didn't even look at the minifigures. And I was quite disappointed when I discovered the classic smiley. I had to check Brickset to make sure I wasn't given the wrong parts!

[fordtruckin]

Just noticed it looks like the singer has the same torso as Dick Grayson from the Lego Batman Movie Scuttler set except without arm printing.

[BrickFit26]

14 hours ago, Myowntrain said:

Is there already a designer video of the DD?

Not yet. Maybe next week.

8 hours ago, Willworkfortoys said:

I invite everyone to emote how they feel about the change from the classic mini face by using the classic mini face.  I'll start.  

[x105Black]

9 hours ago, Willworkfortoys said:

I invite everyone to emote how they feel about the change from the classic mini face by using the classic mini face.  I'll start.  

 

I find it interesting.

So they did 10 Modulars with the classic faces, including the celebratory 10th.  So now, entering a new era of Modulars we have these newer faces, so it feels appropriate.  Also, I remember when I was a child and got my first Castle and Pirates sets with new, different faces, and how it opened up a whole new world of LEGO for me.

But 2018 is also the year to celebrate the classics, and is the 40th anniversary of the minifigure.  In that sense, you would expect to get a classic smile, especially in a line that has traditionally been made up of those classic faces.

So, while I'm excited about the new direction that the Modulars are taking, I also expected at least 1 classic smile face in the set, even as an alternate face.

I'm also apprehensive about the possibility of future Modulars having really nice, exclusive minifigures.  I appreciate the fact that most minifigures in these sets are made up of fairly common parts.  This means they are easy to find and obtain cheaply.  If they start putting out exclusive figures in these sets valued in the $150 range, the secondary market will attach a premium to them and make them very difficult to obtain.  This is a negative thing.  So I hope that doesn't happen.

[Ghostcat]

2 hours ago, x105Black said:

 

I find it interesting.

So they did 10 Modulars with the classic faces, including the celebratory 10th.  So now, entering a new era of Modulars we have these newer faces, so it feels appropriate.  Also, I remember when I was a child and got my first Castle and Pirates sets with new, different faces, and how it opened up a whole new world of LEGO for me.

But 2018 is also the year to celebrate the classics, and is the 40th anniversary of the minifigure.  In that sense, you would expect to get a classic smile, especially in a line that has traditionally been made up of those classic faces.

So, while I'm excited about the new direction that the Modulars are taking, I also expected at least 1 classic smile face in the set, even as an alternate face.

I'm also apprehensive about the possibility of future Modulars having really nice, exclusive minifigures.  I appreciate the fact that most minifigures in these sets are made up of fairly common parts.  This means they are easy to find and obtain cheaply.  If they start putting out exclusive figures in these sets valued in the $150 range, the secondary market will attach a premium to them and make them very difficult to obtain.  This is a negative thing.  So I hope that doesn't happen.

They did 12 modulars with classic faces. It was 10 years but there was 12 modulars in that time (and 13 if you want to count ninjago city)

[MAB]

It's 11 or 12 if you include Market Street. Ninjago City is no more a modular than Haunted House or GB HQ.

[Gorki247]

49 minutes ago, MAB said:

It's 11 or 12 if you include Market Street. Ninjago City is no more a modular than Haunted House or GB HQ.

I get what you're saying; NC is not part of the Modular series. However, it's a lot more modular than those two. They've applied a lot of the modular standards to that build (footprint, peg holes, distance from edge, way the levels can be taken off).

It's modular but not a Modular.

[Sammael]

Market Street did not have classic faces.

[gotoAndLego]

I find it hard to believe that most of us don’t have a couple of classic faces lying around if the set faces bother you; or just budget 1$ extra to buy them from BL. Seems like such a trivial complaint against the set.

Edited December 1, 2017 by gotoAndLego

[Hoth Rebel]

I like the new faces. I always disliked the plain smileyface as it looks so.. plain :p but I understand why people liked them, but I don't think they fit today standards. 

[badbob001]

Regarding the red mailbox in the DD: Post Office Confirmed for 2019! 

[Gorki247]

5 minutes ago, badbob001 said:

Regarding the red mailbox in the DD: Post Office Confirmed for 2019! 

GE had a red mailbox (and the PS town house had a letterbox). The signs have been there since 2010

Edited December 1, 2017 by Gorki247

[Qahne]

1 hour ago, Kevii23 said:

I like the new faces. I always disliked the plain smileyface as it looks so.. plain :p but I understand why people liked them, but I don't think they fit today standards. 

I prefer the timeless, more stylised LEGO look over the detailed caricatures they do now. History has shown that simpler styles age the best, both in art and in other areas of design. The classic minifig is 40 and it's still a design icon; I believe many of the modern designs or the spinoffs like the mini-doll will be dated in the future. The fact that they've redone their philosophy on minifig design so many times in the past 15 years compared to simply adding parts on to the classic face as the 35 years before (a beard, a moustache, an eyepatch, glasses, etc) is a reflection of a more transient design direction that really goes against the whole appeal of LEGO being a simple, timeless toy to me.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Qahne

[8BrickMario]

Just now, Qahne said:

I prefer the timeless, more stylised LEGO look over the detailed caricatures they do now. History has shown that simpler styles age the best, both in art and in other areas of design. The classic minifig is 40 and it's still a design icon; I believe many of the modern designs or the spinoffs like the mini-doll will be dated in the future. The fact that they've redone their philosophy on minifig design so many times in the past 15 years compared to simply adding parts on to the classic face as the 35 years before (a beard, a moustache, an eyepatch, glasses, etc) is a reflection of a more transient design direction that really goes against the whole appeal of LEGO being a simple, timeless toy to me.

 I understand that, but I'm glad they changed the faces now. It's not like LEGO is now using a garish, tacky aesthetic. They're just more detailed. The original smiley is indeed an icon, but the modulars stopped being a perfect place for the older style to reside. The increasingly advanced techniques and the modern printing detail and hairpieces clashed with the classic faces. If they had kept the body pieces in a retro style like the new "think big" sets coming out next year, the aesthetic would have worked, but I think they realized how out-of-place the classic heads looked now. Unfortunately, most kids aren't interested in a simple, timeless toy anymore, so the most LEGO can do is to remain as wholesome as possible while staying with demand.