The Jersey Brick Guy

Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

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Finally got to see some of the videos of the BH and I hate that the dumpster is a connection point. Such a waste of space that could have been use to make the hotel a little bigger. But I still love it.

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I love it. Definitely in the top three for me, along with Parisian Restaurant and the Bookstore. The modulars are in my opinion getting more and more advanced when compared to the older modulars (and I'm not just talking about GG or CC). I mean, take Detective's Office for example - a great set, but when compared to the latest sets, it's clearly not as advanced or creative, especially the facade on the blue building. 

I was so disappointed when the Diner and especially Corner Garage came out (even though the Diner has grown on me). However, the last two (and now three) modulars have been a day one purchase for me. 

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Man, the more I look at it connected to the PO, the more I understand it doesn't belong there. A palm-tree patio next to the jail, really?

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Quite a bit to like there, though a few things that stand out as potential improvements / mods.

I agree that the set doesn’t “look” like it should be 3000+ pieces given the footprint of the buildings, though I also think that there maybe isn’t much to be gained from complaining that the set doesn’t fill the baseplate, as it would surely have pushed the piece count up far higher. I think the windows on the “back” wall are probably also necessary for creating a more natural-looking layout for the rooms.

I’ve seen various bits of grousing about there not being more toilets, but I think ultimately Lego does require some suspension of disbelief (none of my minifigures are anatomically correct anyway). That being said, I’m pretty sure the hotel doesn’t deserve the 5 stars indicated by the packaging…

In terms of feasible changes that maintain the overall look, I’ve eyed up three main changes.

1. Raise the height of the building. Ideally by at least a couple of bricks. It should be possible at least to put a layer of bricks beneath the lowest nougat layer on the ground floor. It would be easy to raise the height of the main door step, and raising the window heights would be easy. The grey side steps already have a few irregularly shallow steps, so would be easy to increase their height up 3 plates worth. It would also improve the balance of the intervals between the nougat facade bricks and the band of dark orange plates.

2. Change out the (?) light azure details on the facade of the gallery. At present, the combination with the dark tan and bright blue makes for too many cool shades, and isn’t very pleasing to me. The printed blue sign has to stay, but I’d change the awning to alternating flame yellow and orange bow pieces (plus swap out the azure on the ground), to make the appearance warmer, and fit in more with the style of awnings seen on other buildings.

3. Use plant pieces to give the impression of a climbing plant to fill the ugly gap created by the (?)120 degree angle on the left side.

Edited by DeanLearner
Additional comment about toilets

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12 hours ago, Maple said:

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.

Yes, for the 15 year anniversary set, think most AFOL would have spent a little more for a better version.  I am tempted also to get a second AS set.  Have seen a few nice moc's for AS on Rebrickable.   

5 hours ago, Citromon said:

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

The best I found for my city is next to DO with DD acting as a corner build.  My current city layout will not permit so DD is stilling by itself.  With the addition of the Police Station and soon BH will work DD in somewhere. 

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48 minutes ago, LegoDW said:

Yes, for the 15 year anniversary set, think most AFOL would have spent a little more for a better version. 

I hope we'll see a great, at least 300$ set in 5 years)

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1 hour ago, Citromon said:

I hope we'll see a great, at least 300$ set in 5 years)

In 5 years the prices will go up so much that 300$ won’t even get you a regular modular :iamded_lol:

But yeah, I agree, I hope they’ll make something big for the next anniversary. Like a outdoor mall or a train/ tram/ bus station 

Edited by ddavid

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22 hours ago, Killian said:

 

I feel like I'll want to swap out that weird gold palm tree for a more standard palm tree like the ones you used to get with the classic Pirate sets.

 

Actually I'll replace the weird gold palm tree with the palm tree from set 60290

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What I really want to know is more information on the Gift-with-Purchase. I'm desperate to know more if it's themed around the 15th Modular Anniversary. This might be the first time I actually care about the GWP that comes with a set.

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3 minutes ago, jedisquidward said:

What I really want to know is more information on the Gift-with-Purchase. I'm desperate to know more if it's themed around the 15th Modular Anniversary. This might be the first time I actually care about the GWP that comes with a set.

The only time I bought a modular shortly after it was available was the Detective's Office and only because there was a GWP Flower Cart that tied in with the narrative of the main set.

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1 hour ago, ddavid said:

In 5 years the prices will go up so much that 300$ won’t even get you a regular modular :iamded_lol:

But yeah, I agree, I hope they’ll make something big for the next anniversary. Like a outdoor mall or a train/ tram/ bus station 

I agree! It would have to be a $400 or $500 set in five years.
 

21 minutes ago, jedisquidward said:

What I really want to know is more information on the Gift-with-Purchase. I'm desperate to know more if it's themed around the 15th Modular Anniversary. This might be the first time I actually care about the GWP that comes with a set.

We just see the new set after months of complaining about when it will be revealed and within hours you now want to know the freebie for January? hahaha
I never got the awesome teal car from last January because LEGO is a terrible company that can't stock things correctly.

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So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant. Once put one besides the other, I made a couple of renderings:
 

Spoiler

 

2cuS1Y5.png

lkFPqt0.png

 

 

I may try this with other modulars too, but first my computer needs to cool down before it catches fire  :laugh:

Edited by 1992pb
Adjusted light in the images

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Good points;

Gorgeous colors and very visually striking. It will stand out on the shelf and draw the eye

Build looks to be complex and engaging

Nicely done interior with a good amount of details (and room for some extra tweaks)

The Minifigures seem well matched and distinct. We always complain that a modular needs one more. This one does, but not as much as the Police Station needed a crook. 

 

The Cons

Due to it's unusual shape and it's short terrace on one side it will be difficult to place alongside other modulars. Like I said above for a shelf display it will almost have to be the Right corner. Otherwise the Hotel itself will completely block the more complex art kiosk and terrace area. But you are also a bit restricted in what building you put it next to as that low terrace exposes the adjacent buildings side. So you need something with a clean side without a lot of color clutter. It combines the positioning problems of the Brick Bank and the Parisian Restaurant together. Yay? 

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9 minutes ago, 1992pb said:

So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant. Once put one besides the other, I made a couple of renderings:
 

  Hide contents

 

eTWfsOw.png

uuhvG1U.png

 

 

I may try this with other modulars too, but first my computer needs to cool down before it catches fire  :laugh:

They look really good together. thank you for the effort.

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13 minutes ago, 1992pb said:

[...] I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant.  [...]

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this. I was looking forward to see how they looked together. For my liking, I think they combine very well.

Edited by Pic10

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32 minutes ago, 1992pb said:

So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant. Once put one besides the other, I made a couple of renderings:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

2cuS1Y5.png

lkFPqt0.png

 

 

It looks ok from a high angle but from a lower angle, the restaurant looks taller and the hotel looks like it has been shrunken. Perhaps it's due to mismatch of scaling with the windows. How about adding more middle floors to the hotel to make it taller?

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1 hour ago, 1992pb said:

So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant. Once put one besides the other, I made a couple of renderings:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

2cuS1Y5.png

lkFPqt0.png

 

 

I may try this with other modulars too, but first my computer needs to cool down before it catches fire  :laugh:

Thanks for the effort - looks great in my books and almost a natural match with each other.

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1 hour ago, 1992pb said:

So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online. I then downloaded from the digital forum a .lxf file of the Parisian Restaurant. Once put one besides the other, I made a couple of renderings:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

2cuS1Y5.png

lkFPqt0.png

 

 

I may try this with other modulars too, but first my computer needs to cool down before it catches fire  :laugh:

Fabulous work! They look great together, but the hotel definitely feels a little too small. I don't think it needs to tower over the Parisian Restaurant with another middle floor, but certainly a few extra bricks in height would be good. The ground floor could certainly have an extra brick of height without losing any of the nice detail/scale/aspect ratio. The middle floor might be trickier to do. I wouldn't want to increase the height of the top floor.

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1 hour ago, Maple said:

I agree! It would have to be a $400 or $500 set in five years.
 

We just see the new set after months of complaining about when it will be revealed and within hours you now want to know the freebie for January? hahaha
I never got the awesome teal car from last January because LEGO is a terrible company that can't stock things correctly.

Yes, have missed out on a lot of the GWP sets over they years.  Didn't even know TLG was offering something for the upcoming Modular

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Anyone who has all of the Modulars I would think this an automatic buy. I know for myself, I'll be in line on Sat Jan 1 to get it. 

Due to the varied geometry of my layout, I believe I have the perfect spot to place this. Now I just have to make sure I really have the needed space. 

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12 hours ago, dragonk1ng said:

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

Hah. And I agree, this set is beautiful.

1 hour ago, 1992pb said:

So, since I was curious too, and taking advantage of a slow morning, I created in stud.io a digital model of the exterior of the Grand Hotel. I used as a reference all the photos provided in the various reviews online.

Now that's impressive. Well done.

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 Aanchir has been documenting the floor area space of each modular, and apparently botique hotel has the most floor area out of any modular that's not town hall or assembly square, despite the shape making it appear smaller.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uvy5XSmGY_8Y9iPLYTtqNEsbbF0acRgY0MEhH1RMbhI/htmlview

The first floors actually pretty big.

https://i.imgur.com/DGKDao4.jpg

I guess its easy to forget that even though the older modulars were bigger on the outside, they had things like big holes in the floor on grand emporium, or only having 2 floors on sets like fire brigade

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2 hours ago, LegoDW said:

Yes, have missed out on a lot of the GWP sets over they years.  Didn't even know TLG was offering something for the upcoming Modular

They might not! We never know. LEGO normally does at least one exclusive GWP a month. However BH will most likely sell out before LEGO gives there monthly GWP.

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21 hours ago, Maple said:

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.

Whether it "fits with the other modulars" is largely a matter of opinion, though. For all you know, the designers already did put it through a review to make sure it fits with the other modulars, and reached a conclusion that it does. After all, they clearly had no objection to joining that side of the set to the police station on the back of the box. I understand that your tastes differ, but how well it suits your tastes is not a measure of how much thought or effort went into that aspect of the design.

This is hardly a new complaint either! I remember people raising similar concerns about the left side of the Downtown Diner or the right side of the Parisian Restaurant, which likewise leave the walls of any adjacent building rather exposed. Same with the single-story market pavilion that makes up one half of the Market Street set. But plenty of AFOLs have either warmed up to that aspect of those sets, modded them, or skipped them entirely.

55 minutes ago, chezzymann said:

 Aanchir has been documenting the floor area space of each modular, and apparently botique hotel has the most floor area out of any modular that's not town hall or assembly square, despite the shape making it appear smaller.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Uvy5XSmGY_8Y9iPLYTtqNEsbbF0acRgY0MEhH1RMbhI/htmlview

The first floors actually pretty big.

https://i.imgur.com/DGKDao4.jpg

I guess its easy to forget that even though the older modulars were bigger on the outside, they had things like big holes in the floor on grand emporium, or only having 2 floors on sets like fire brigade

Yep! Yesterday I actually thought I'd done my math wrong at first because the total I was getting for the floor space was so large! But I went back and double-checked today, and unless I made some huge error both times, I seem to have had it about right in the first place.

Part of its spaciousness is no doubt because of how narrow the alley and much of the sidewalk space are compared to other buildings. But the total floor area also benefits from a few other characteristics of the design. For instance, the SNOT-based roof design eats up a LOT less interior space than either the studs-up roof design of the Cafe Corner or the hinged roof design of the Parisian Restaurant. In fact, the top floor interior is almost the same size as the middle floor interior, aside from the front corner being converted to an exterior balcony instead of a bay window.

Another distinction of this set that stands out to me is that the hotel has a LOT more windows than previous corner buildings, since those have generally had few or now windows facing the back of the building. I think this helps it to feel much more "deluxe" than even a fully-furnished version of the hotel from the Cafe Corner would be!

That said, when you exclude the dome and railings, this is also the shortest Modular Building set in terms of frontage. This is largely due to its relatively low ceilings and lack of a decorative parapet wall above the actual roof line.

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