Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Lion King]

3 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

You could get the Ideas treehouse for a really big tree that takes up the space of a building... ;)

You could incorporate the bonsai tree, the apple free from Medieval Blacksmith, or even something custom with the Winnie the Pooh set?

But yes, I agree. It would be nice to get a detailed scaled tree.

Lol, Treehouse, Bonsai and Medieval Blacksmith’s apple tree could work well for Modular Building (although, Treehouse is a bit oversized for street!).

I just think street lamps are so, well, urban. Urban forest, please! :)  

[RichardGoring]

4 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Lol, Treehouse, Bonsai and Medieval Blacksmith’s apple tree could work well for Modular Building (although, Treehouse is a bit oversized for street!).

I just think street lamps are so, well, urban. Urban forest, please! :)  

I have the Ideas Treehouse in my modular line up, nicely paired with the Parisian Restaurant. There's nothing like a tree towering over you to set the mood for the diners! ;)

PXL_20210521_200609105 by Richard Goring, on Flickr

Edited August 16, 2021 by RichardGoring

[noahtheb]

That looks great, I love the flowers that you added. By the way, that Delorean is a nice touch!

[RichardGoring]

Thanks! I wanted to try and incorporate it over the diner and car wash at first, but it's too heavy for anything other than column support, and this was the best place to make it visible. At some point I'll put it on an angle. Probably when we move in a few months.

[Lion King]

On 8/15/2021 at 10:45 PM, RichardGoring said:

I have the Ideas Treehouse in my modular line up, nicely paired with the Parisian Restaurant. There's nothing like a tree towering over you to set the mood for the diners! ;)

PXL_20210521_200609105 by Richard Goring, on Flickr

I like htat!!! Nice idea you came up with! :) 

[Moz77]

On 8/16/2021 at 8:06 AM, DBlegonerd7 said:

Lol, Treehouse, Bonsai and Medieval Blacksmith’s apple tree could work well for Modular Building (although, Treehouse is a bit oversized for street!).

The Treehouse is huge, but I've had a go at incorporating it into my city.  Quite happy with the result.

Treehouse by Moz, on Flickr

[The Brick Boss]

3 hours ago, Moz77 said:

The Treehouse is huge, but I've had a go at incorporating it into my city.  Quite happy with the result.

Treehouse by Moz, on Flickr

Wow! I love how you did it too.  

[RichardGoring]

Looks really nice!

[Seb82dk]

On 8/16/2021 at 4:45 AM, RichardGoring said:

I have the Ideas Treehouse in my modular line up, nicely paired with the Parisian Restaurant. There's nothing like a tree towering over you to set the mood for the diners! ;)

PXL_20210521_200609105 by Richard Goring, on Flickr

Looks great. How did you get hold on the car wash. Would really love to have it in my collection. 

[jonwil]

10 hours ago, Seb82dk said:

Looks great. How did you get hold on the car wash. Would really love to have it in my collection. 

There is at least one listing (unsure if using genuine LEGO parts or knock-off crap) for the model on eBay so its clearly out there.

 

[RichardGoring]

11 hours ago, Seb82dk said:

Looks great. How did you get hold on the car wash. Would really love to have it in my collection. 

I actually originally saw this on AliExpress, along with a few others that were genuinely unique, properly licensed, or just copied, like this. It wasn't until quite a bit later that I saw the original Ideas listing. I managed to get hold of instructions, then I went through it and noted where I wanted to modify it. Both bringing in some of the detail that Bricky_Bricks had in his original Ideas submission and making some changes of my own - most notably increasing the height by several bricks to make it fit better with the other modulars. From there I built up a parts list, and then went about getting them. Honestly, it was a pain, but I love the model so much, and my daughter really loves playing with it. One of the worst parts of it originally was using mostly plain 2x2 tiles for the albums in the music shop, with a few of the Rock & Roll printed tiles. But with Vidiyo, it's now full of amazing album art too! I also find it rather sweet that my daughter, who's five, hasn't really ever seen a CD player or DVD drive. But she knows that record players are from this model, and so all spinning disc things are now records to her!

I did this before it was rejected from the Ideas program, but I'm really hoping that they do a Bricklink version of it. Although the large curved windows have been out of production for a long time, so it would likely have to be modified using either the smaller versions that are still available, or the curved transparent walls that they use in the Downtown Diner. I can PM you more details if you'd like. And please support Bricky_Bricks on Ideas, as his designs are so cool.

Edited August 24, 2021 by RichardGoring

[street87]

So September is knocking on the door. I hope soon we renew the discussion about the new modular. We get one of the fan requests - Police station. I really hope this year we get a Post Office. It will be a good addition to the street.

[24nolf]

On 11/22/2020 at 3:19 PM, theremin said:

I didn't mean to cause trouble. Just wanted to share this information that I got from a private source and that I'm pretty confident about. What I know so far:

- straight three-story modular, on a regular 32x32 baseplate;
- really stylish exterior, with an Italian feeling;
- it is not a single building, yet it can't be divided;
- classical architecture and typical townhouse style are both represented and mixed;
- unprecedented building technique for the roof;
- color scheme is not as "flamboyant" as some latest modulars;
- main theme is art-related, in a "funny" way;
- a secondary business is linked to food;
- primary subject is very prevailing, as well as the bank in the Brick Bank;
- a small vehicle completes the scene;
- six minifigures included, one of them represents a disabled person;
- designer is Jamie Berard, coming back after the Assembly Square;
- no black box distinctive of the adult-oriented series (to be confirmed);
- it will be available in January at a price of 199,99$;
- GWP car included at launch (winner of this contest).

I'm resurfacing this rumor from last year. 

In late 2019 the rumor was we were getting a Police Station but that didn't come until the following year. Given that Lego designs these sets a year or so in advance it's possible a rumor could be correct but off by a year. 

Edited August 31, 2021 by 24nolf

[Vilhelm22]

2 hours ago, 24nolf said:

I'm resurfacing this rumor from last year. 

In late 2019 the rumor was we were getting a Police Station but that didn't come until the following year. Given that Lego designs these sets a year or so in advance it's possible a rumor could be correct but off by a year. 

Still doesn’t tell us what it is though.

These sets are actually more like 2-3 years in development.  This way they are able to have some interaction between them - with a few exceptions, the modulars generally look pretty good next to each other when displayed in order of year of release - 2013-17 do this particularly well.  It was through this method that the car appeared in DD to go with a tow truck in CG - I can bet the car wasn’t originally part of the idea.  

Using this logic, it makes me think that this year’s modular will have a slightly shorter, and possibly set back, left side.  I think the side could be something like the steps to the roof terrace in PR - the DD the following year was considerably shorter on that side to work well with that lowered side.  I’m expecting a similar result from this year’s.

Still hoping for a Post Office.

In the past I and others have mentioned a modular train station but let’s face it - it won’t happen, it would be too short anyway, and is totally unrealistic.  The only real life stations with city street entrances are subway stations, and that can’t be done without raising every single modular.

[SFmuscle73]

1 hour ago, Vilhelm22 said:

Would an old time bus depot do it for you?

Edited September 1, 2021 by SFmuscle73

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Vilhelm22 said:

These sets are actually more like 2-3 years in development.  This way they are able to have some interaction between them - with a few exceptions, the modulars generally look pretty good next to each other when displayed in order of year of release - 2013-17 do this particularly well.  It was through this method that the car appeared in DD to go with a tow truck in CG - I can bet the car wasn’t originally part of the idea.

Not to say that this isn't true as well, but Mike Psiaki has said in interview that the DD was originally going to be a car dealership. The car in the final model was from that original concept.

[jonwil]

I personally want a hospital, that would go on the same "must buy" list the police station did this year (a great set and one I already added to my collection)

 

[Vilhelm22]

8 hours ago, SFmuscle73 said:

Would an old time bus depot do it for you?

Well it's a lot more realistic than a train station as urban bus operations are done at street level.

 

8 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Not to say that this isn't true as well, but Mike Psiaki has said in interview that the DD was originally going to be a car dealership. The car in the final model was from that original concept.

Ah ok - I'd actually forgotten that.  Luckily I never actually bet, because I would have lost my money!

7 hours ago, jonwil said:

I personally want a hospital, that would go on the same "must buy" list the police station did this year (a great set and one I already added to my collection)

 

Agreed.  The Police Station, even if I haven't yet picked it up due to focusing more on retiring sets this past year, is a beauty which I will definitely get next year.  My top three are probably a hospital, museum, and post office.

[jonwil]

An optometrist is something else I would love to see (they could do it similar to how they put a dentist in the AS or a vet in the CG)

The last City hospital had something like that but it wasn't exactly up to the standards of a modular.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by jonwil

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, jonwil said:

An optometrist is something else I would love to see

 

And great puns available with it too!

I enjoyed the Dr Jones no snakes in CG.

[24nolf]

20 hours ago, Vilhelm22 said:

These sets are actually more like 2-3 years in development.  

I'm not saying you're wrong, maybe you have some info I'm not aware of...but I haven't heard of development taking anywhere near that long unless its a new line(Mario, Hidden Side, etc) or they have problems with a model(forgetting the UCS Star Wars set that took 18 months). My understanding is they do sometimes "plan" out future sets...for example the color of Market Street was changed from its original red because they wanted to create a red fire station modular in the future(per Jamie). 

If you look at the output of an expert designer such as Mike Psiaki for example, you can make an educated guess that they probably work on at least 2-3 sets a year(some of which may not come out). As a full time designer it probably makes sense that four months is the actual "development" time for most "expert" sets. Most of the work would be done in the first couple months and then minor tweaking after that which could last a while as colors/molds for the future production year are finalized. Also additional time is almost certainly added if approval is needed by an IP holder(Disney, etc.)

If there is more available info I would love to hear it. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by 24nolf

[24nolf]

20 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

Not to say that this isn't true as well, but Mike Psiaki has said in interview that the DD was originally going to be a car dealership. The car in the final model was from that original concept.

A car dealership makes sense for 2022 if we assume:

1) The problem originally was space (being limited by one baseplate) and they could justify 1 1/2 baseplates for the 15th anniversary set(2022)

2) Lego likes to revisit ideas when they don't originally work

3) Mike seems like the type of person who wouldn't let an idea die*

5) They've had four years to solve the problem

*Mike was promoted to Design Master and probably has significant input in what is green-lit

Edited September 1, 2021 by 24nolf

[Faefrost]

On 8/31/2021 at 8:22 PM, Vilhelm22 said:

Still doesn’t tell us what it is though.

These sets are actually more like 2-3 years in development.  This way they are able to have some interaction between them - with a few exceptions, the modulars generally look pretty good next to each other when displayed in order of year of release - 2013-17 do this particularly well.  It was through this method that the car appeared in DD to go with a tow truck in CG - I can bet the car wasn’t originally part of the idea.  

Using this logic, it makes me think that this year’s modular will have a slightly shorter, and possibly set back, left side.  I think the side could be something like the steps to the roof terrace in PR - the DD the following year was considerably shorter on that side to work well with that lowered side.  I’m expecting a similar result from this year’s.

Still hoping for a Post Office.

In the past I and others have mentioned a modular train station but let’s face it - it won’t happen, it would be too short anyway, and is totally unrealistic.  The only real life stations with city street entrances are subway stations, and that can’t be done without raising every single modular.

If I remember this correctly. (And please correct me if I am remembering it wrong) They revisit and plan out the list of potential subjects for modulars looking 3-5 years ahead. The actual sets don't take that long to develop. They just plan ahead for the next 3-5 sets, and what is next on their discussed todo list. 

[Friscorays]

On 8/31/2021 at 4:59 PM, 24nolf said:

I'm resurfacing this rumor from last year. 

In late 2019 the rumor was we were getting a Police Station but that didn't come until the following year. Given that Lego designs these sets a year or so in advance it's possible a rumor could be correct but off by a year. 

Could be but seems more likely that the guy was just blowing smoke as the hints are all over the place to the point of being almost guaranteed to arguably cover at least part of just about anything that might eventually be released and user posted a few times over a couple of days in November 2020 and then essentially disappeared.

[Citromon]

On 9/1/2021 at 5:38 AM, jonwil said:

I personally want a hospital, that would go on the same "must buy" list the police station did this year (a great set and one I already added to my collection)

 

I would love ho have a hospital, especial as a corner building. They could make an ER entrance on a side. I'm even agreeing to pay more than $200 it they will make it big and detailed.