Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, Withacee said:

Now, being a nerd, that would suit me VERY nicely!

I wouldn't really mind them heading that direction either, but for more modest-minded fans of the line, I'd kinda be sad for them if that were to be the case, as I'm sure there are many civic institutions and places of business that they'd rather see done soon here.

5 hours ago, Withacee said:

Also, the idea of a 16x32 modular is interesting, but in that case, I would very much prefer a release like Pet shop: two 16x32 buildings in one set.

Sure, but two separate sets at half the price each may mean that they'd each be sold at normal retailers beyond the Lego brand stores.

3 hours ago, Jasper Joppe Geers said:

I think a bowling might be a good one here? :)

A bowling alley would certainly be directly in line with the theme that the Downtown Diner is going for; but, for annual variety, I'd imagine they'd try something else for the following year after the Diner that didn't fall into that vein.

[Bricked1980]

23 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

A bowling alley would certainly be directly in line with the theme that the Downtown Diner is going for; but, for annual variety, I'd imagine they'd try something else for the following year after the Diner that didn't fall into that vein.

I agree. I think a bowling alley is a definite contender for a future set, but maybe not next year as it would be a too similar a theme to downtown diner.

I hope they don't make us wait till November again without so much as a rumor of what the next set will be.

[Digger of Bricks]

7 minutes ago, Bricked1980 said:

I hope they don't make us wait till November again without so much as a rumor of what the next set will be.

As so to counter Lepin and company, I bet Lego will be doing their best from now on to keep any details and/or pictures from leaking too early for many D2C sets. 

[legotownlinz]

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

As so to counter Lepin and company, I bet Lego will be doing their best from now on to keep any details and/or pictures from leaking too early for many D2C sets. 

Lepin can't do an exact copy from a few leaked images. They need the manual.

Nobody wants the low quality Lepin stuff, at least in Europe, unless Lego doesn't satisfy the demand. Lego should be lucky there is no serious competition yet. Modulars based on MOCs, decent-quality bricks and a website that's not as embarrassing as this one and Lego is in serious troubles.

[Overcold]

It will likely be some more months before anything substantial is leaked or revealed based on previous years, so for now there's plenty of time to speculate. :)

It is very likely that Mike will be the lead designer of, or at least be strongly involved in, the next modular building set development. With this in mind, I have a hunch that the next set we will be seeing is a hotel. With the limited information available, the only lead is what mike said: "we need a hotel." In an attempt to predict the future, I speculate that what Mike said was a teaser for the next set. Since that is the only potential hint, it's possible that I'm completely wrong and I'll have to eat my words. However, that's what I'm rolling with for now.

If it is a hotel, there are many architectural avenues that the designers can take. One possibility is a Grand Hotel, which has a lot of different options. Although the architecture could be European, there's also a very strong chance that it will be American based on previous releases, or maybe a mix as we sometimes see. Another idea is something from Las Vegas, which would be unique and an instant buy for me (though I'm not sure if Lego would release a hotel if it was on top of a casino, if their policy of representing gambling in a set is related to how they avoid alcohol).

On a related note, some nice hotel staff torsos were just released in a recent Lego City set, and I would love to see those in a modular building.

[Mattybrick]

Hi everyone!

It is very possible with the new City Centre set that is coming out that includes a small hotel build, that we may get a Modular Hotel and if so it would be great if we could get that.

That being said I wonder if Lego would consider doing Modular expansion sets.. such as how they did with the Ninjago Dock set. If they did a Hotel.. wouldn't it be neat if they could do an add on kit for people that want to build more floors. I know it is unlikely they would.. but it would be great!

I myself like the silly tongue in cheek jokes they have included in the Lego Modular sets such as a laundry mat next to the bank for "money laundering". I think I would be thrilled if they did a Police Station with a Doughnut Shop next to it! I am actually surprised that a Police Modular hasn't been built yet.. considering we have a Fire Station and a Town Hall.

Also I think they could do a Doctors Office, with some sort of sporting good store attached to it. All of those adventuring Lego Minifigs could need to see a doctor after a Kayak accident.. another fun way to connect a few businesses.

 

 

 

 

[Nexogeek]

A police station and doughnut shop modular would be amazing tbh, a police station modular is the perfect excuse to throw in a doughnut shop as part of it, maybe make it a larger modular with maybe 1-2 bays for cruisers and decent cell block. Now that i'm thinking about it crazy to think the detective got a modular before the police department lol

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, Overcold said:

If it is a hotel, there are many architectural avenues that the designers can take. One possibility is a Grand Hotel, which has a lot of different options. Although the architecture could be European, there's also a very strong chance that it will be American based on previous releases, or maybe a mix as we sometimes see. 

Maybe like that of the Grand Hotel Europa in Prague, from which @Pate-keetongu had one of his buildings in his New Century City Block II inspired from? 

 

[Fenghuang0296]

I like the idea of a hotel, but keep in mind that the next Modular is going to be a corner building. And 'hotel' and 'police station' sound like things that would work better as straighter buildings. 

Keeping this in mind, and considering the kinds of corners we've had in the past - a bank, a cinema, a major shopping centre and a cafe - it's pretty clear to see the running theme of public buildings. Whereas things like fire stations and town halls, things that are less accessible to the general public, tend to be straight buildings. Which leads me to conclude that the much-considered bowling alley is entirely likely. Other options that I'd think feasible include the car wash and the sports equipment store. 

To be honest, though? I don't care so much about what it actually is so much as what colour it is. My village suffers from an overabundance of tan and medium dark flesh. It's actually the reason I've been holding off on getting the Downtown Diner - I love the teal, but I really don't want a big slab of tan when it'll be right across the street from another big slab of tan (my modified, expanded Lockwood Estate.) It was great when they did the Parisian Restaurant; taking a rare and disused colour like olive green and making it the core colour of a Modular. Or the Brick Bank, white is such an underappreciated oclour, and the massive, ornate facade the Bank hosts is beautiful. I hope they'll do something like that again. How about purple this time? Or dark brown? Maybe put some of the pastel colours from the Friends line to greater use? I want my city streets to be a brightly coloured rainbow, not a mass of uniform tan and dark flesh, with only spots of blue or red to break it up. 

I hope the designers are reading this. 

[Bricked1980]

8 hours ago, Overcold said:

It is very likely that Mike will be the lead designer of, or at least be strongly involved in, the next modular building set development. With this in mind, I have a hunch that the next set we will be seeing is a hotel. With the limited information available, the only lead is what mike said: "we need a hotel." In an attempt to predict the future, I speculate that what Mike said was a teaser for the next set. Since that is the only potential hint, it's possible that I'm completely wrong and I'll have to eat my words. However, that's what I'm rolling with for now.

I agree with you that it's likely Mike will be lead designer again. I also have a hunch that the next set could be a hotel. I'd also love to see a Post Office or Police Station too.

I don't think anyone guessed that the last set was going to be a Diner though, so chances are they will surprise us all once again. 

[LegoModularFan]

3 hours ago, Feng-huang0296 said:

How about purple this time? Or dark brown?

How about purple and brown in the same time?

 

[jdubbs]

22 hours ago, legotownlinz said:

Lepin can't do an exact copy from a few leaked images. They need the manual.

Nobody wants the low quality Lepin stuff, at least in Europe, unless Lego doesn't satisfy the demand. Lego should be lucky there is no serious competition yet. Modulars based on MOCs, decent-quality bricks and a website that's not as embarrassing as this one and Lego is in serious troubles.

They don't need to do an exact copy of the entire model; they just need to be able to recreate the photos that LEGO releases of the set.

And plenty of people do buy these knockoffs, especially in Asia, which eats into a huge potential market for LEGO. 

[snaillad]

I don't think anyone can say for sure it'll be a straight or cornered, public/pleasure building, I don't believe TLG works to a pattern in this way. TLG has dabbled in buildings with a story for a few releases then a couple without so I expect them to maybe try again with a story MOC/combine it with a license/try something new. They'll probably look at how well the previous modulars sold over a period of time and use that as a benchmark for what style/theme to go with for the future. I think there will probably be less single use buildings in the future such as a fire station and more shoeing in a use for every floor, your can see evidence of this in the last two buildings, the diner has a diner, gym and recording studio. The Assembly square has 8 separate uses over the 8 floor areas.

I can't remember where I read/saw it but I do recall Jamie/Mike or one of the creator expert teams saying that they were looking at styles of architecture that hadn't yet been done in the series. I suspect Art noveau should be the obvious choice with the much bigger selection of curved and arch bricks available compared to even 5 years ago, gothic and modernism should also have their place in the series I say!

As for who designs the building, I think there are many designers who would probably love to have a go at TLG. I'd prefer perhaps someone with an 'artistic' background as aesthetics is the most important thing to me as it is a 100% display piece. I know Mike did the last one according to the designer video, can't say I felt his particular love for modulars from the video but that might be just the way it comes across on video. Don't get me wrong he's obviously very clever and the functions of the new Aston Martin are fantastic, seems like he's be a obvious choice for something like technic since he's into maths and geometry and already made the Beetle and DB5! Our own EB member Marcos Bessa started by making some modular buildings and is now a senior designer, maybe he'll have his own set one day!

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, snaillad said:

I can't remember where I read/saw it but I do recall Jamie/Mike or one of the creator expert teams saying that they were looking at styles of architecture that hadn't yet been done in the series. I suspect Art noveau should be the obvious choice with the much bigger selection of curved and arch bricks available compared to even 5 years ago, gothic and modernism should also have their place in the series I say!

If Art Nouveau could be what we may expect next, man, @LegoModularFan would be simply ecstatic!  I guess I would most certainly too, as I've come to love the style in more recent months in no small part thanks to him! 

[paupadros]

On 7/24/2018 at 4:30 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

Maybe like that of the Grand Hotel Europa in Prague, from which @Pate-keetongu had one of his buildings in his New Century City Block II inspired from? 

That would be such a win. I've aleady made two modulars in shades of yellow as main colour schemes and they never ever get tiring. I would also be interested in them trying something different for the walls. Instead of the usual two-wide wall-window, what if they did a whole façade windowed? Plus, as in the model @LegoModularFan's posted here, they could experiment a lot more in the ground levels, like for my own Klee Corner.

10 hours ago, snaillad said:

As for who designs the building, I think there are many designers who would probably love to have a go at TLG. I'd prefer perhaps someone with an 'artistic' background as aesthetics is the most important thing to me as it is a 100% display piece. I know Mike did the last one according to the designer video, can't say I felt his particular love for modulars from the video but that might be just the way it comes across on video. Don't get me wrong he's obviously very clever and the functions of the new Aston Martin are fantastic, seems like he's be a obvious choice for something like technic since he's into maths and geometry and already made the Beetle and DB5! Our own EB member Marcos Bessa started by making some modular buildings and is now a senior designer, maybe he'll have his own set one day!

Amen! With DD, Mike opened up many interesting ideas, like covering up floor separation gaps forever more and many controversial ones like changing the minifigs. Those are things Jamie would've probably never thought of, which is good, but I agree, Mike just seems uninterested in the modulars. He took a very special concept a puked something just decent on top of it. In a recent interview, Jamie answered the would love to come back to modulars, just like he'd done in 2014 with PR, fresh as ever. I bet this won't be the year, as Mike seems to be tasked all the major Creator Expert sets these days, but it could very easily be in the future (the previous Jamie hiatus was of two models before too). Marcos would be a brilliant option too. I remember being wordless looking at his Villa Maison some years ago. Plus, he knows how to make a hell of a model. The problem is he's lead on Brickheadz and has always been more linked to licensed themes.

I believe the next modular with be made by Mike and that (following the pattern) will be a corner. My bet is they won't follow the classic corner format. All CC, GE, PC and BB have a squarish footprint. I would really like them expermenting with diagonal façades, façades going forwards, covering others... Wishful thinking 

[Digger of Bricks]

By the way, if Lego were to do an Art Nouveau modular in the near future, what sort of place of business do you think should it be? For that matter, do you think it should instead be a residential quarter?

Personally, I was toying with the idea of having such a set be a bridal shop to pair with such an architectural style, perhaps giving us some exclusive minifigures of some gown-adorned mannequins that could be inspired after the work of painter and decorative artist Alphonse Mucha.

[Capparezza]

A bookstore (second-hand?) or maybe an antiques store makes totally sense. This on ground level and living space in the upper floors.

Edited July 30, 2018 by Capparezza

[fred67]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:14 AM, jdubbs said:

They don't need to do an exact copy of the entire model; they just need to be able to recreate the photos that LEGO releases of the set.

And plenty of people do buy these knockoffs, especially in Asia, which eats into a huge potential market for LEGO. 

I am not justifying anything LEPIN does at all - just wanted to get that out before posing this counter: how many people that can afford LEGO are buying LEPIN?

I suspect that's a fairly small percentage of the people buying LEPIN as, I hope, most people realize the much better quality of LEGO.  As a further point, LEGO got in bed with Chinese manufacturing to reap the benefits of cheap Chinese labor and production, so while what LEPIN does is not justifiable, I really think TLG should have seen it coming.  The Chinese knock-off market exploded after TLG started production there.

In any event, I think most of the people who buy LEPIN will still buy LEPIN even if they have to wait a month or two for LEPIN to catch up.  I'm suspecting those purchasers are not the same kind of fans we are.

BACK ON SUBJECT however - I do think we need a police station.  I'm sure some cool "Art Nouveau" architecture would look absolutely amazing if done right, but we have a fire department for our modular cities, and no police station and no hospital.  Not even a doctor.  Perhaps a double 16x32 doctor/dentist would be good, too.

Edited July 31, 2018 by fred67

[Chiaroscuro]

Lenin is quite huge in Asia. And most people there do not know they are building LEGO counterfeits, they are buying building blocks kits. There are a lot of casual buyers that do not know about the copying of sets. If Lepin sells the sets earlier, those people just buy them.

 

on the subject: there is already a dentist on Assembly Square. I do not think an Hospital would fit the Creator Expert line, plus there is the overlapping with the City line, which has an hospital for the first time in years.

 

A police station is a maybe, after all they did a fire station.

 

i would really like an Art Nouveau building.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Chiaroscuro

[paupadros]

4 hours ago, Chiaroscuro said:

Lenin is quite huge in Asia.

I know you meant Lepin, but that just made me laugh! 

I really hope they don't go with Tan nor Medium Nougat again, we've seen too much and they differ too little. Blue is surprisingly a colour very widely used in Modulars; MS, PS, DO, AS and Sand Green got to be the star to two sets in a row BB & AS. I maintain my bet at yellow or orange as interesting colours to build buildings from. I don't know if many other builders have encountered this, but I am running into big trouble trying to come up with unique colour schemes, different from the usual base colour+window colour. I've found white, flame yellow and teal to work brilliantly together, as well as white, flame yellow and dark blue.

[Grrr]

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 3:53 PM, Digger of Bricks said:

As I've speculated eariler, I somewhat feel that the modular line could be taking a turn towards more institutions that are centered around "fun" so to speak. I could very well be wrong, but I sort of could see us getting stuff like pizzerias, videogame arcades, Chinese take-out restaurants, comic book stores, skating rinks, and other geeky institutions, if you will. 

2018 is the year of the Pizzeria if you ask me...

[Chiaroscuro]

4 hours ago, paupadros said:

I know you meant Lepin, but that just made me laugh! .

Damn, I have a communist auto-corrector in my phone!

[Fuppylodders]

21 hours ago, Grrr said:

2018 is the year of the Pizzeria if you ask me...

Too close/similar to Parisian restaurant?

[Fenghuang0296]

22 hours ago, paupadros said:

I know you meant Lepin, but that just made me laugh! 

I really hope they don't go with Tan nor Medium Nougat again, we've seen too much and they differ too little. Blue is surprisingly a colour very widely used in Modulars; MS, PS, DO, AS and Sand Green got to be the star to two sets in a row BB & AS. I maintain my bet at yellow or orange as interesting colours to build buildings from. I don't know if many other builders have encountered this, but I am running into big trouble trying to come up with unique colour schemes, different from the usual base colour+window colour. I've found white, flame yellow and teal to work brilliantly together, as well as white, flame yellow and dark blue.

Thank you! This is a problem that I've been having when constructing my village; too much tan and medium nougat. It's a real pain. 

I'm actually endeavouring to replace all the medium nougat in my modified, Modular-fied Sanctum Sanctorum with dark red. Since there is nothing else in my layout which is that colour, I'm hoping it'll really pop. And it still looks accurate to the source material. 

I've found purple and and light bley to go together nicely, myself. 

[Artifex]

I wonder why a Modular pizzaria has not been released yet. Same about a Police Headquarters. Those are classic sets.

My one hypothesis is that they would be too obvious.