Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Jern92]

So this year they're reissuing the toy shop with minimal changes instead of a new winter village set. Would Lego consider reissuing green grocer with small updates ???

I still hope every day that they would.

[lightningtiger]

Actually if the shops are the same size as the barbers shop then four shops separated by mall and walkways.

[Brandysnaps92]

A shopping arcade would be very cool! I like the way you think lightningtiger! Similar architecture to the green grocer would be nice, could sit next to it and complement both of them and the rest of the street very well

[Aegis1984]

This talk of an arcade might be misleading.......what if it is a shopping arcade ?

Say two shops on the ground floor, two shops on the next floor with a stair case ?

Now that I would buy !

Surprise, they're re-releasing the Grand Emporium!

[lightningtiger]

Surprise, they're re-releasing the Grand Emporium!

Yep, not impressed !

[Agent 86]

YAY! I can build a bigger Grand Emporium. Or at least one which has more levels of shopping.

[Poisso3]

Actually if the shops are the same size as the barbers shop then four shops separated by mall and walkways.

And all four would be a pain to do anything inside them unless your hand is the same size as a child's.

[Off the wall]

There's a significant amount of negative comments concerning 10249 and what amounts to the rerelease of the toy shop in the WV theme. So, care to compare and contrast the rerelease of the WV Toy Shop to how a rerelease of a modular building might fare?

Sounds like an annoying exam question, eh?

[nikhkin]

There's a significant amount of negative comments concerning 10249 and what amounts to the rerelease of the toy shop in the WV theme. So, care to compare and contrast the rerelease of the WV Toy Shop to how a rerelease of a modular building might fare?

Sounds like an annoying exam question, eh?

I think it very much depends on the scenario:

• People wouldn't mind a re-release if there was another WV set coming out. In this case it seems like people are missing out on something they look forward to yearly
  
• There seems to be more demand for access to older modulars than older WV sets, especially when the earliest modulars are for sale for over £1000 on ebay, and the cheapest I have ever seen was £800
  
• If the only modular building next year is a re-release we may well see some similar disappointment, although because the desire for these sets is greater it'll be less common I imagine
  

The other factor seems to be that this is not the WV set most people wanted to be re-released. A lot of comments seem to be people who would rather see the train return instead of the toy shop.

[Herky]

the train, if it is 10173, wasn't really part of the Winter Village line, I saw someone post that TLG was planning on doing away with the line but decided to retro that set, so while that is a rumor, guess a rehashed set is better than nothing...and folks say this thread whines about the modular release, holy moly that is a lot of whine over there.

I think that any of the first 3 rerelease for Modular would be met with enthusiasm by many. The one thing that seems to be consistent is that most folks did not get those sets. Even those that do have them would likely pick up the new ones.

What seems to be the hardest is to know where TLG's mindset is on their lines. Modular, why not 2 a year? There just isn't a press release you can go to in order to know their strategy going forward and even though I know our local store manager decently well, she is kept in the dark for the most part as well.

[Off the wall]

I guess unless we know things like mfg cost, sales numbers, sales rate, profitability, etc. that we'll never know why TLG issues, discontinues or rerelease sets. In other words, we'll probably never have the facts we need to know why TLG acts in a certain way. And, I'm not saying we should have that information. I just saying that without it, I guess one opinion is as good as the next. I would welcome a new modular every two weeks. :-).

And, not to forget, sometimes a vocal minority can make it seem like there's more demand than there really is.

[scottwb2010]

There's a significant amount of negative comments concerning 10249 and what amounts to the rerelease of the toy shop in the WV theme. So, care to compare and contrast the rerelease of the WV Toy Shop to how a rerelease of a modular building might fare?

Sounds like an annoying exam question, eh?

I would be up for a re-release of one of the first 2 Modulars, more so the cafe corner even though I have bricklinked it as I just come out my dark age when it retired so missed the original.

I think it would be best if the re-release came out with a new release if feasible. But if the re-release is the only one in that year and providing it is CC or GG, i think there would be less uproar as there probably wasn't so many AFOL's when CC was originally released than there was when the WV toy shop was released.

My other reason for CC would be so I could get a couple of sets to make one of the enlarged versions that are shown at the end of instruction book 2.

[lightningtiger]

And all four would be a pain to do anything inside them unless your hand is the same size as a child's.

Yeah, but that's the fun of modulars isn't it ?

Be interesting if the arcade is not just shops but a corner building to boot......now that would be a challenge !

[Mutant Orc]

One thing for sure they'd have to add into a re-release of an old set to conform to the new crucial addition to the criteria of making a successful modular....

...play features/story! flick missiles? exploding stairs? swinging axes? hidden trapdoors? bring them on!

In all seriousness I would have no objection to a resurfacing of older modulars, seeing as I only knew of them when the Parisian Restaurant was released and so completely missed the older ones.

If they were to remake them is it possible/probably that they might downscale them in some manner to furnish interiors? (the older ones didn't really have those did they?)

Edited August 19, 2015 by Mutant Orc

[Agent 86]

Re: Re-release of a Modular vs. re-release of the Winter Toy Shop

I'm hopeful that most of the vocal outcry is simply from fans who were looking forward to adding a new Lego set to their Winter Village collection as opposed to fans who are annoyed about the likely decline in the value of one of their sets on the secondary market or who are upset that one of their sets will no longer be as "exclusive" as it once was.

As such, as long as any re-release of a Modular was in addition to the annual, new Modular, then I don't think the uproar would be anywhere near as bad. The fact that any re-release would, more than likely, include at least some substitute and/or alternative colour parts may also help. Lego would also have an opportunity to provide interior details for those earlier Modulars which didn't have any. And, as indicated by the Winter Toy Shop, the minifigures would also presumably be varied from the originals.

Personally, although I have paid well above the original RRP for second-hand versions of the Town Hall and Grand Emporium (and will do the same for the Fire Brigade), I would not be majorly upset if Lego re-released those sets. I would be annoyed at my own impatience and "waste" of money, but I wouldn't begrudge other fans being able to buy their own versions of those Lego sets. And I would probably buy those sets again and use the parts from my existing sets for alternative builds (or even combine the two sets to make bigger versions).

Re: Shopping arcade with four small stores

I like the idea of a shopping arcade, but I would be disappointed with another Modular which has inaccessible interiors because my adult-size hands are too big to fit inside without "breaking" things.

If it was a shopping arcade, I would hope for a bakery and butcher downstairs. And maybe a jewellery store and hat shop upstairs (although the Grand Emporium already sells hats, so maybe it would need to be another "small" retail store).

[Rob1321]

A hot rod garage/motorcycle shop would be cool to see as a modular. The mechanic could live in an apartment up top.

[dr_sarcophagus]

A hot rod garage/motorcycle shop would be cool to see as a modular. The mechanic could live in an apartment up top.

This. Which is why I'm building one of my own.

[Vindicare]

There are some rumors circulating in my LUG that Lego are planning to reissue both Cafe Corner and Green Grocer in the near future, most probably with slight / few improvements. However, please take this with a grain of salt, since it's just a rumor. I personally am quite skeptical about it, but now since the Winter Toy Shop was re-issued, I started to think that it might happen.

*cue Vader when he found out he killed Padme* NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

This better not happen...

Edited August 20, 2015 by Legocrazy81

[jaesroe]

A hot rod garage/motorcycle shop would be cool to see as a modular. The mechanic could live in an apartment up top.

I also wish to see some sort of modular level of scale and attention to detail 'garage' or even CAR theme related modular building would be very very cool as a petrol head... or some sort of "Classic car repair" shop!!!!!!

[Brandysnaps92]

A hot rod garage/motorcycle shop would be cool to see as a modular. The mechanic could live in an apartment up top.

That would be great, A decent sized garage with car jacks, spare bumpers/wheels and tool chests, and then the furniture in the apartment could all be made out of car parts. A real petrol head mechanic

[Naijel]

I think a garage has great potential to be a great modular building.

[AFOLguy1970]

There's a significant amount of negative comments concerning 10249 and what amounts to the rerelease of the toy shop in the WV theme. So, care to compare and contrast the rerelease of the WV Toy Shop to how a rerelease of a modular building might fare?

Sounds like an annoying exam question, eh?

I think a release would go far better as long as it is not the long awaited yearly event. The "ideal" situation would be to release a brand new one in January and then maybe introduce the rerelease later in the year. That way, most people are happy. Those who want a new modular get one and those who missed out on a classic such as CC or GG can own one. A rerelease would likely have some cosmetic changes and updates. That way, if you owned the "original", it would still be that.

It seems like there are two extremes. You either never release something made before, which would dash the hopes of the vast majority of ever owning a CC, GG, Galaxy Explorer, Eiffel Tower, Taj Majal, Grand Carousel, UCS Millenium Falcon, etc. The other extreme would be to redo every popular set, which would stifle shelf space for new ideas. Maybe there is a happy medium in there somewhere. I can see both sides of the argument. Those who already own the sets certainly will not be excited, and might feel cheated that they own something that they perceive might not be as valuable as it once was due to the new and improved version now existing. Then, there are those who recently emerged out of the dark ages or simply were not alive at the time that Lego made that awesome Taj Majal set.

I would personally welcome a "new" CC or GG. At the rate I am going with bricklinking parts for a GG, eventual arthritis will probably prevent me from ever finishing it.

[Agent 86]

Re: Service Station

I'd like to see a service station (with upstairs apartment/s) as a Modular building. Ideally, something like this:

http://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-retail-qld-fortitude+valley-500722007

http://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/property/7698190/for-lease/qld/fortitude-valley/industrial-warehouse

[Withacee]

Actually if the shops are the same size as the barbers shop then four shops separated by mall and walkways.

There's actually a MOC that comes close to this:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=72203

[Naijel]

Ooh, that's nice.