Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Citromon]

I I would prefer that the hotel occupies the entire area, and the gallery is inside, as it was with the laundry in the Bank set.

[Maple]

59 minutes ago, Faefrost said:

Another thing that stands out. There looks to be almost no sidewalk. Or am I imagining that? 

You are imaging it. It's the same size as the Police Station. Just checked the Brickset pictures.

[bright22]

Good but not great. 

First at least much better than the police station last year - nearly the worst of the whole series

Good thing is looking a creator modular

There would be 3 issues that someone in here is talking about

1) The Art Gallery is too small, and the shape of the Art Gallery looks bad - it's not easy to stuck with other modulars

2) The Hotel shape is not really good, so it's hard to upgrade

3)  If you have Cafe Corner and have been upgraded to a hotel, (like me), will you buy it? that's doubt

I think I would buy it if that's discount for this set, but definitely not the one I would say, "Wow"

Edited December 6, 2021 by bright22

[Vindicare]

5 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Loving the look of this modular. Lots of great techniques and a fabulous overall look. For the record, I LOVE when Lego makes a modular with more than one building/business in it. It makes them feel much more realistic, like a city that developed organically instead of just a bunch of square buildings that are the exact same size.

Anyone else spot the cheeky Galidor reference?

I definitely don’t mind the mix, it just adds to a street & better makes it feel more alive. I don’t mind the cramped interior space as I look at their exterior more. It’s the same with height. Seen a number of comments negatively mention that. Buildings are different heights, so it makes sense. 

[Stuartn]

It looks great in my opinion, but $319.99? Seems very expensive when compared to the ($20 cheaper) police station with only a hundred or so less pieces, especially when other countries have not had a price rise.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Stuartn

[jus1973]

I really like it.  The ‘odd’ angle is a clever twist and although there are compromises to make it work on all floors, i think its a really good twist on the standard square 32x32 baseplate. It’s a shame people can’t just appreciate it for what it is.  The great thing about lego, is that if you don’t like it, either don’t buy it, or buy it and mod it to suit.  I just hope the scalpers don’t beat me to it and the GWP for VIPS.

[Elysiumfountain]

Okay, I think I know what to do. Either two of them to make it mirrored, or two of them and add another middle floor. I personally want to mod the second floor to be a large dining room, and put a door to the terrace on that far window, I think that would be cool. 

[Maple]

24 minutes ago, jus1973 said:

 It’s a shame people can’t just appreciate it for what it is.  

It's a $200, 3000 piece LEGO set that should have went through a review to make sure it fits with the other current modulars. 

All LEGO needed to do is add a 5 stud wide building to the left side. LEGO added a useless sand green building to the police station. They could have done similar here.

[Citromon]

25 minutes ago, Maple said:

LEGO added a useless sand green building to the police station.

One thing I know about Lego, it's that they can't make everybody happy. I'm totally with you on this one, but personally I find The Police Station to be one of the best modulars out there. And on the other side I'm kinda glad I don't like this one so much. Lego had released so many great sets this year and there are more to come the next one, so my budget says: thank you for not a great modular.

[Maple]

Don't get me wrong, I like all the modulars in their own way. The sand green part of the police station is just silly, otherwise I like it.
I really like this modular. I love that LEGO changed everything up and went different, including flesh color. However the left hand side should have never have been allowed. LEGO could have made the back of the building 5 wide bump out and make it the bathrooms or something. Not having it be able to connect decently is insane to me.
 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Maple

[LegoDW]

Feel as others TLG had a opportunity to do better on this set BH.  Looking at AS compared to this one, you really go a lot more for a little more money.  Think TLG had a good idea here, just needed a larger budget and footprint to make it make happen.  That's what's great about Lego, one can remedy what is perceived as any shortcomings.

For the record, I will be getting this set.  No idea what modular I can place next to it?  Same issue with DD, its sits alone in my city.

 

[AFOLguy1970]

I like it and certainly plan on buying it.  The art gallery is definitely smaller than what I thought it would be.  The rooms are about what I expected.  Two on the middle floor, and the "suite" on top.  It does not seem to blend well with the police station or bookshop with the mismatch of floor heights, but I think it could work in other combinations.  It would also appear that Lego forgot to include the pre order button on its website. 

[Maple]

34 minutes ago, LegoDW said:

Feel as others TLG had a opportunity to do better on this set BH.  Looking at AS compared to this one, you really go a lot more for a little more money.  Think TLG had a good idea here, just needed a larger budget and footprint to make it make happen.  That's what's great about Lego, one can remedy what is perceived as any shortcomings.

For the record, I will be getting this set.  No idea what modular I can place next to it?  Same issue with DD, its sits alone in my city.

 

Well to be fair to other modulars that's my problem with most $200 modulars. For $80 more you get so much more with Assembly Square. I've been tempted to skip the Corner Garage and the Police Station (which I did buy) to buy another AS.

[Hippocampe]

8 hours ago, GCO said:

Really like the BH - has a hint of French Riviera! Looks like it will be a fun build with tons of nice details.

I reminds me of a trip to Cannes, a little too long ago before the pandemic…

1 hour ago, jus1973 said:

I really like it.  The ‘odd’ angle is a clever twist and although there are compromises to make it work on all floors, i think its a really good twist on the standard square 32x32 baseplate. It’s a shame people can’t just appreciate it for what it is.  The great thing about lego, is that if you don’t like it, either don’t buy it, or buy it and mod it to suit.  I just hope the scalpers don’t beat me to it and the GWP for VIPS.

I’m so with you on this point ! There are so many possibilities to mod it, Rebrickable will surely lead the way with some ideas…

Also, the Flatiron building is surely not one of the most practical and ergonomic construction inside, but what a landmark ! Style for style in itself, so many pictures would not have been taken if it would not have been built 🥲

Like others have mentionned, I think this is one of the most striking and elegant building since PR and AS. Definitely a day one buy, unfortunately online since I don’t have a Lego store in my city and it would be closed anyway on January 1st in Canada. If it’s like last year, it will be on back order on January 2nd in store…

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Maple said:

Don't get me wrong, I like all the modulars in their own way. The sand green part of the police station is just silly, otherwise I like it.
I really like this modular. I love that LEGO changed everything up and went different, including flesh color. However the left hand side should have never have been allowed. LEGO could have made the back of the building 5 wide bump out and make it the bathrooms or something. Not having it be able to connect decently is insane to me.
 

I was thinking whether the stairs could have been put in that space, but bathrooms is a much better idea. You would get a back office for the reception desk, a bathroom for a second floor bedroom, and maybe a shower for the suite. It would add a load of pieces though, and I suspect they felt this was one of the least worst compromises, to be able to build to the $200 budget.

[Maple]

14 minutes ago, RichardGoring said:

I was thinking whether the stairs could have been put in that space, but bathrooms is a much better idea. You would get a back office for the reception desk, a bathroom for a second floor bedroom, and maybe a shower for the suite. It would add a load of pieces though, and I suspect they felt this was one of the least worst compromises, to be able to build to the $200 budget.

But if you get rid of the pathetic art area that would help on pieces. The first floor could be a patio on the side, and like you said bathrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor. But if they wanted to save on parts, even just decks for the rooms would work okay. Just what they did was the worst way when this is supposed to connect to other sets.

As a stand alone is pretty good though. Plus when was the last time we got a light grey baseplate?

[dragonk1ng]

The angulation and dome color remind me of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The palm tree also gives that Cali vibe.

[Faefrost]

3 hours ago, Maple said:

You are imaging it. It's the same size as the Police Station. Just checked the Brickset pictures.

I really don't think so? Looking at the Brickset pics of the two attached the BH is much closer to the street than the Police Station. It sticks out a full 2 stud past the PS and most other modulars and only has at most 3 studs of sidewalk on the Art Gallery side. The Art Gallery/Art Kiosk whatever it is is almost touching the Police Stations Streetlight. The only thing on the Police Station that sticks out that far is the entry steps. And the Police Station has one of the more crowded sidewalks of the modulars because of those steps. The other side looks to have 5 or 6 studs of sidewalk

[lifeinplastic]

I haven't been particularly impressed by the previous three modular buildings but I am pleased to say I like this a lot and will be definitely be buying this.

I remember 10-year old me in the early 1990s being ecstatic when the Paradisa sets were introduced with new pastel shade pieces as, before then, the colour palette was very limited indeed. I am sure he would think we are very lucky nowadays and, although people always appreciate new brighter colours, the variety of brown colours currently available add so much more variety to more neutral and realistic builds. He'd be livid we still don't have a proper giraffe mould 30 years later though!

This definitely has a 'Hotel Negresco' feel and I'd certainly like to see any MOC attempts to widen the set and add an extra floor or two. I really like the white support columns and the angles and differences between each level would appear to rule out too much repetition during the build. My main criticism is that the luggage trolley isn't very neatly designed and I would be keen to see any attempts to improve this.

[The Stud]

7 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

It's been pointed out by Andrew Barnick over on NewElementary's comment section of their review that something remarkable has been featured in the art gallery.

  Hide contents

To quote Andrew's post: "The cubist art print is very clearly based on set 4040 Nick—not just Nick Bluetooth from the Galidor line, but very specifically the Happy Meal toy version!"

 

I spy references to the 2015 Detective’s Office (Ace Brickman and the scissors), the 2018 Downtown Diner (boxing), the 2014 Parisian Restaurant (the chef review) and maybe the Green Grocer? (The apple I guess.) That saxophone guy might be a connection to the music store in the Assembly Square and maybe a Music Hall could be a future Modular, as someone else pointed out. Also, I LOVE that Galidor reference. It brings me back to discovering this cursed, obscure piece of Lego history on just2good’s channel. (“Bruh, look at this DUDE.”)

 

Does this new building look almost MOC like to you guys? The style reminds me of some of those Modular style sets that get submitted to Ideas.

I do quite like this set, though I’m not as wowed by it as I usually am by new Modular Buildings. (I honestly like the previous two better; both of which I still need to get.) Still, I appreciate Lego trying something new here with the unique setup of the building. I agree that it looks surprisingly small for the piece count but it definitely doesn’t feel overpriced. The figures are nice though I’m not a fan of the kooky glasses print on the Art Gallery figure. I still plan to get a Modular on January 1st, but I might get one of those other two I’m missing instead as I don’t feel as rushed to get this now. We’ll see!

 

I’m also really curious to see the rumored promo. I hope it wasn’t cancelled/a false rumor like the Santa’s Living Room one.

[koalayummies]

41 minutes ago, dragonk1ng said:

The angulation and dome color remind me of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The palm tree also gives that Cali vibe.

That's cause beverly hills people once saw pictures of the French Riviera, Monaco and Ibiza, called up a gold-curtain-rod-architect-bro to mash it all together, diluted it with Fiji bottled water and boom: beverly hills.

[Maple]

1 hour ago, Faefrost said:

I really don't think so? Looking at the Brickset pics of the two attached the BH is much closer to the street than the Police Station. It sticks out a full 2 stud past the PS and most other modulars and only has at most 3 studs of sidewalk on the Art Gallery side. The Art Gallery/Art Kiosk whatever it is is almost touching the Police Stations Streetlight. The only thing on the Police Station that sticks out that far is the entry steps. And the Police Station has one of the more crowded sidewalks of the modulars because of those steps. The other side looks to have 5 or 6 studs of sidewalk

 

Look at the picture you posted. The front of the art shack is EXACTLY at the same spot as the end of the police station steps. The Book Store is wider but house is even smaller than the BH. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Maple

[BrickFit26]

Finally, it's tomorrow.. Wow. Love to color palette used. I agree that the hotel or the art gallery could have been a stand alone modular. But I like the way the BH turned out.

Edited December 7, 2021 by BrickFit26

[dragonk1ng]

3 hours ago, koalayummies said:

That's cause beverly hills people once saw pictures of the French Riviera, Monaco and Ibiza, called up a gold-curtain-rod-architect-bro to mash it all together, diluted it with Fiji bottled water and boom: beverly hills.

Lol, that’s the best explanation of Beverly Hills I’ve heard. This set, though, is more charming 👌

[Citromon]

7 hours ago, LegoDW said:

For the record, I will be getting this set.  No idea what modular I can place next to it?  Same issue with DD, its sits alone in my city.

My DD stays betwen AS and PS, pretty haps with it)