Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[imvanya]

Brickset published an Interview with Carl Merriam, designer of Star Wars Droid Commander a few weeks ago. One of the things he mentioned was quite interesting and may be relevant for the new Modular as well:

Quote

Once we'd chosen teal we thought it would be fun to add a little nod to the Rock Raiders 20th anniversary so that’s why you can see the brown. On the front of the box you can see this little drill arm and then if you look inside there’s also some orange and other colours referencing the Rock Raiders' colours.

Admittedly, with teal you get the Rock Raiders vibes just looking at it  But there are still both reddish brown and orange on the bed and the bay window couch and some yellow accents elsewhere. Personally, I like little nods to older themes like this. Also, pure guesswork and speculation, but the older gentleman looks slightly like this guy:

Edited December 6, 2019 by imvanya

[FrkW]

I love it! Never bothered to pick up the diner or garage since neither was my style, so I really aprechiate the return to turn of century Europe. The book shop could almost be a Netherlands Chanel house, and the residential building looks very British to me. And separate base plates makes it a lot easier to build a nice display. 

I must say I quite like the interior too. I would have wished for a messier, more cramped book shop but for once all the furniture looks like it actually fits the buildings. No gaudy colours, no doorm room style dwellings in family homes. The grandfather clock and wooden glass cabinet actually looks like what someone living in a house like that might choose. 

Also, new here, hi! Following the discussions here have made the wait for the great reveal that much more enjoyable. 

[Johnnyeebaby]

Interiors look very basic to me, Ive been anticipating this announcement the last 4 weeks, Unfortunately I'm not loving it although ill still be buying two, It looks very small.

[darkhorse00]

The exterior and the interior looks very good. But not sure if you guys feel the same, I think they might have overdone decorating the interior and exterior at some parts, with 1x1 quarter and half circle tiles. e.g. the green steps on stairs, the blue roof. I am thinking it might save quite a number pieces to be used in elsewhere though. 

Edited December 6, 2019 by darkhorse00

[kodlovag]

Absolute hit. The exterior is great, and I don't care much about the interior.

I skipped the last two modulars, but this one is a must buy.

[Perolav]

Wonder when we can pre order the damn thing

[adwind]

Do we know the designer's name?

[Ogist]

The first impression is quite positive. Finally more European-oriented construction, which most reminds me of the Netherlands. Plus my two hobbies are combined here: Lego and books. After two, in my opinion by far the weakest modulars, I will finally look forward to January.

[The Brick Boss]

Welp! Whoever made the wager on the bookstore, I owe them 450 bricks! 

 

[adwind]

Just now, Ogist said:

The first impression is quite positive. Finally more European-oriented construction, which most reminds me of the Netherlands. Plus my two hobbies are combined here: Lego and books. After two, in my opinion by far the weakest modulars, I will finally look forward to January.

Just curious, do you think DD is "weak" because it's not European style? Asking, since to me it's one of the strongest modular...

[smolskc]

To me it doesn't look like the buildings are inherently separable since the sidewalk in the front connects the baseplates. Also I think the house is 17 studs wide and the bookstore is 15. I still like it a lot since its the first one in a while that seems truly upwards expandable without changing the whole feel of the building. 

[Ogist]

It's the only modular I haven't purchased so far( DD ). Don't like the style of this building. And it does not fit with the other modulars. European buildings are something that I like more.

Edited December 6, 2019 by Ogist

[street87]

8 minutes ago, smolskc said:

To me it doesn't look like the buildings are inherently separable since the sidewalk in the front connects the baseplates. Also I think the house is 17 studs wide and the bookstore is 15. I still like it a lot since its the first one in a while that seems truly upwards expandable without changing the whole feel of the building. 

You can clearly see on this link https://itlug.org/forum/topic/9428-novità-2020-creator-expert/?tab=comments#comment-81227 that the buildings are 2 different.

Edited December 6, 2019 by street87

[adwind]

Do you guys think there is a door between the half-floor of the shop and apartment? Hope there is cause they didn't catch it on pictures and it would be funny how customers could enter someone's apartment thinking that it's still a shop... ))

[thenightman89]

I really love the Amsterdam-style exterior of the book shop, but I'll echo other comments here who find the interiors (especially the bookshop) lacking a bit.  I think I would've preferred if they focused entirely on a bookshop or library instead of spreading themselves out.

[LegoSjaak]

Oh, i instantly liked it.....it makes my day way better...??

[adwind]

Just now, LegoSjaak said:

Oh, i instantly liked it.....it makes my day way better...??

"Country: Netherlands" - of course you did :)

[Roebuck]

I told you guys it was 2 buildings

From what I have seen so far it look really good

6 hours ago, adwind said:

New color (blue) of the bird mold? 

Yes and a new colour of chameleon as well A little odd they did not include a second bird And personally I would like to see one or two of the new dogs breeds on the street, but have just gotten 2 new animal colours I will not complain

How many parts in new colours are there in total? Seems like a lot

1. Bird
2. Chameleon
3. scarf
4. leaf?
5. leaf?

2 hours ago, Magnum said:

A mousetrap!? Really...LEGO 

What is wrong with that

 

[smolskc]

36 minutes ago, street87 said:

You can clearly see on this link https://itlug.org/forum/topic/9428-novità-2020-creator-expert/?tab=comments#comment-81227 that the buildings are 2 different.

My mistake. Some of the earlier pictures weren't as clear.

[LegoSjaak]

16 minutes ago, adwind said:

"Country: Netherlands" - of course you did :)

Yes, honestly speaking, if it would have been a chinese restaurant, i would not have been as happy as i am now...?

[jaesroe]

1 hour ago, kodlovag said:

Absolute hit. The exterior is great, and I don't care much about the interior.

I skipped the last two modulars, but this one is a must buy.

i concur ! Interior is important but for modular, after seeing DD and CG, such a level of exterior design of Bookstore is...truly another level, that I could proudly put next to AS.

[Maple]

It's very nice, very European and lovely. The new color scarf is welcomed greatly. I'm glad we seem to be getting a separate house as that's always welcomed. Plus the fact they split makes me happy.

However for the love of LEGO, there are like 200 colors, can they stop using these darn baby diarrhea brown colors?

[Hive]

I really like the overall look and the fact that it's two seperate buildings, like the Pet Store. Leaves so much more room for customizability. I didn't love the two last modulars and see this as an excellent return to form.

I'm a bit disappointed by the colours though, as I would have preferred something that would stand out a bit more compared to the last modulars - which had very similar colouring.

Fun with the new animals, really like those.

[LegoModularFan]

I was just logging to Eurobricks to ask if someone would @ me to notify when we’ll have a photo of the new modular! Now I don’t need that anymore, what a great surprise! 

7 hours ago, adwind said:

Well, it looks amazing to me, but it's more like a someone's MOC to me.

That’s what I instantly thought as well. That two story townhouse looks so unusual for an official modular in my opinion (not in a bad way though). That roof technique, the architectural style chosen... I’m not a huge fan of the macaroni tiles on the third floor of the dark orange building but other than that, I really like this new modular! A lot better than the Corner Garage for sure even if it’s not my favorite modular ever! I’ll try to write a more detailed post about what I think about it when I get back to home. 

 

EDIT: It started growing on me and the third floor of the dark orange building looks a lot better from this angle:

Edited December 6, 2019 by LegoModularFan

[RuffDraft]

I instantly disliked the Corner Garage, but I instantly love this one. I think the town house has a little resemblance to the colours of Pixar's Up house, and the book store is truly delightful. It would have been even better if the interior of the book store had more books etc. but I'll wait for the YouTubers reviews, and see what else is to find in there... as it looks like there's a nice ledge where people can go to read a book too... which is pretty awesome, and similar to a book corner that you'd have in a classroom. 

The details on the edges of the Book Store look great, and I love the facade in general to both buildings. They don't look as nice at the back, but I'd rather there was an imbalance between the front and the back, as we look at the front so much more (unless you have a 360 city). Love the curved staircase outside the town house, and the post here showing multiple layers of them in different colours is pretty amazing... if I had a city, and a tonne of money, I'd buy the bricks to build a row of them for sure. 

Great that we have a tiled floor in the book shop as well, and lots of great story elements overall with the plane and ladders. 

Is there a way to get upstairs in both buildings though?