AFOL Modular Experience Report

[datune]

Not even 3 months ago I got back into lego after many, many years, more than I care to admit ;-) Sure, whenever I was in a toy store I always went to the lego section, but never got back into it. Until I was on a visit in Belgium, and noticed the Horizon Express. During the last 3 weeks I built the VW Camper, Haunted House, Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium and Pet Shop, along with the Technic 9398, but that was only to confirm that Technic really is not my kind of thing ;-)

I have read lots of reviews regarding the modulars, but I am not sure I agree with all of them, so to add to the mix, I thought I would share my experience building them.

Haunted House:

Without a doubt, this was the most fun to build, including a few neat building techniques and the most detailed house of all of them. To me, this set oozes charme, and opening up the house is quite the "Ooooh!" moment for friends and family. I am not going to go into any details of the set, there is excellent reviews available for that (for example this one), but if you, the reader do not have any of the "big" sets yet, I promise you will not be dissapointed with this one. Personally I think this is one of the best sets available right now, and keep in mind, I am not really into monsters at all, that should say a lot!

Fire Brigade:

Another really fun build, with lots of nice techniques, reasonable interiour, a brilliant looking facade, and it even has a car! There is a very nice selection of dark red parts! Without a doubt, this is a safe buy with little chance of dissapointment.

Grand Emporium:

Despite the reviews, this was the most dissapointing and least fun to build. Overall the build is repetitive, and the interiour is very poor, compared to all the other buildings. The first floor is practically empty? To me, it felt like the interiour was more of an after thought, forced, like, we have to put in something...The spinning door is certainly nice, and there are some clever techniques to be learned here. Once it is finished, it is very impressive, no doubt about it. So to summarize, looks great on the outside, and "OKish" on the inside.

Pet Shop:

For reasons completely unknown to me, this appears to be the least popular of the modular series, but I completely dissagree with the general opinion. After the haunted house, these 2 little houses were the most fun to build, and has some very cool techniques (I mean, using 2 skis to decorate the front, how cool is that, the angled windows, very clever!...). I had a lot of fun building them, and I think they look great! If you completely dislike the haunted house, my recommendation would be to get this one first, it's lots of fun to build, the pet shop especially is really nice!

VW Camper

Although this set has nothing to do with houses or modulars, I wanted to share my experience with it anyway. This set is, simply put, incredible. If you like the T1 Camper, you'll certainly like this. The detail is amazing, the build will keep you busy and is never, not once, boring. Obviously ment for displaying, it delivers, boy does it deliver! I liked this set so much, I bought it 4 times! "Nuff said"

I hope this helps someone just getting back into lego, if nothing else, it hopefully provides another POV to consider ;-)

[PsyKater]

I really enjoyed to read your experience and thoughts! I share a lot of your thoughts and can't wait to build my Haunted House for Halloween.

[paostmo]

I agree with you about everything. The Haunted House was one of my all time favorite builds. The Pet Shop is one of my favorite modulars (after Cafe Corner and Green Grocer), and the Grand Emporium is my least favorite. I haven't built the VW camper, because it's not really my theme, but every time I look at it, I spend a few minutes counting the money in my wallet!

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for your insights. I, too, loved the haunted house. They really nailed what one should look like. I do like monsters, but not going to harness houses. Odd I know.

I love the grand emporium actually. The repetitive nature is what those types of buildings were like. It is neat they do interiors, but it doesn't bother me when they are empty.

I plan on getting the VW for Christmas. After watching the designer video I was hooked. Even though originally I wasn't planning on getting it.

[kermit]

I think the fire brigade and the pet shop are the best because they are packed with details both outside and inside. The fire brigade is my favorite though. I also had planne don getting the VW but I just have no space for a set of such size.

[Kivi]

Pet Shop is my least popular modular too, mainly because of its exterior appearance - it looks kind of reworked GG with a touch of CC, while Grand Emporium is one of my favourites. I agree with the rest of your opinions.

If detailed interior is what you like, you should also get and build Town Hall.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Kivi

[Roger_Smith]

Nice to read your report.

I only have Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium as of now, with plans to get Pet Shop next. I have to say, I clearly preferred building Fire Brigade aswell, so your comments make me look forward to Pet Shop even more.

Grand Emporium was extremely repetitive and boring once you got past the ground floor. Plus I don't dig its general design too much anyway. I basically only got it because it's propably gonna be reitred soon. :)

[datune]

I really enjoyed to read your experience and thoughts! I share a lot of your thoughts and can't wait to build my Haunted House for Halloween.

Thank you, you'll have lots of fun!

I agree with you about everything. The Haunted House was one of my all time favorite builds. The Pet Shop is one of my favorite modulars (after Cafe Corner and Green Grocer), and the Grand Emporium is my least favorite. I haven't built the VW camper, because it's not really my theme, but every time I look at it, I spend a few minutes counting the money in my wallet!

If you have the money and are able to get it for less than retail, it is well worth the build experience. This is not really the place to rave about a non related town set, but to me, the actual build experience was heaps of fun, there is just so much detail and love to be found in this build...

Thanks for your insights. I, too, loved the haunted house. They really nailed what one should look like. I do like monsters, but not going to harness houses. Odd I know.

I love the grand emporium actually. The repetitive nature is what those types of buildings were like. It is neat they do interiors, but it doesn't bother me when they are empty.

I plan on getting the VW for Christmas. After watching the designer video I was hooked. Even though originally I wasn't planning on getting it.

My pleasure TheLegoDr! You will not be dissapointed with the VW, I can easily promise you that much ;-)

Pet Shop is my least popular modular too, mainly because of its exterior appearance - it looks kind of reworked GG with a touch of CC, while Grand Emporium is one of my favourites. I agree with the rest of your opinions.

If detailed interior is what you like, you should also get and build Town Hall.

I have the town hall in my closet, it is going to be my next build. Come to think of it, after I build it I might just add the experience to my first post...after Town Hall there is only the Palace Cinema left :-(

Nice to read your report.

I only have Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium as of now, with plans to get Pet Shop next. I have to say, I clearly preferred building Fire Brigade aswell, so your comments make me look forward to Pet Shop even more.

Grand Emporium was extremely repetitive and boring once you got past the ground floor. Plus I don't dig its general design too much anyway. I basically only got it because it's propably gonna be reitred soon. :)

Thank you! I am pretty sure you will enjoy the Pet Shop, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about those 16x32 builds that really appealed to me.

Despite my individual build experiences, I still love and am absolutely hooked to the whole modular building theme ;-) Obviously I would love to have the previously released modulars, but hell is going to freeze over before I pay those alienated prices ;-)

[ALoadOfLEGO]

I agree that the haunted house was incredible, and I'm not really into the rest of the theme at all.

Also agree that the Grand Emporium is boring. The only appeal to me is that it is corner building. Haven't bought it and would rather buy another Haunted house to use as inspiration to build my own corner store.

[lostdriveway]

Having just finished building the Grand Emporium I would have to say it was probably my most favourite to build! Having already built the Fire Station and the Pet Store I really like some of the techniques used in the build.

Looking forward to getting the Town Hall and Palace Cinema over Christmas to compare!

[FuzzyBallz]

I'm getting the VW T1 Camper on Tuesday! I would get the modular buildings if I had room for them. I don't know, I'm just more of a Technic guy. Perhaps I'll switch over to modular in the future. Technic with its gears is just too interesting to me.

[Paperballpark]

I actually found the Grand Emporium a bit boring to build - the 1st and 2nd floors (2nd and 3rd to yanks) were very repetitive.

[sonicstarlight]

Nice little write-up, datune. I agree with most of your opinions.

I just moved, so I took apart all the the modulars and put the pieces in bags rather than try and transport them fully built. I spent the last two weekends rebuilding every modular building and it really proved to me at least just how much more I enjoy the Cafe Corner, Green Grocer, and Fire Brigade than I do all those that came after it. The Fire Brigade in particular I feel is very underappreciated - it has the best interiors, the most advanced building techniques, and looks nearly as good from the back as it does from the front. I still like the Green Grocer a little more stylistically, but the Fire Brigade was easily the most enjoyable build.

I completely agree that the Grand Emporium is a bit dull. Besides a few flags and a chandelier, there are no real differences between the top two floors. There was also no real "ah-ha" moment - some part of the build that uses some technique that is unexpected or clever. Visually it looks very nice, though. My least favorite was actually the Palace Cinema, despite being my first time building it compared to my second time for all the rest. I think it is the only one that looks better in pictures than it does in real life.

I'm also a huge fan of the non-modular buildings LEGO puts out, and many of them are better than the modular line in my eyes. The Haunted House is indeed one of their best efforts, and I absolutely love everything about it. I was also a huge fan of the Medieval Market Village and Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter line and modularized both sets using the official instructions as a jumping off point. Fans of the modular series really need to be sure they branch out beyond those sets, assuming they have the means, as I don't think they have been the most impressive builds for a while now.

[datune]

Well I started building the Town Hall, and though I am still working on the ground floor, it is already very apparent that this has been designed by a talented architect with obvious nodges towards the AFOL. For example, they are using those white round 1x2 bricks with the pattern in it, in places where you will never see them! If this is not a gift to us, I don't know what is! I have no idea where the build is going to take me, but it seems that this might just be the pièce de résistance from the modularsI have built so far. Once I have finished the Town Hall, I will update my original post.

@sonicstarlight

Sadly I don't have the Cafe Corner or Green Grocer, so I can't really say anything about them. I was going to pull the trigger on the medieval market, but backed out last minute. Diagon Alley certainly seems nice enough, but again not worth the money people ask for it (IMHO!). Do you have pictures somewhere of the modularized buildings?

[Roger_Smith]

@sonicstarlight

Sadly I don't have the Cafe Corner or Green Grocer, so I can't really say anything about them. I was going to pull the trigger on the medieval market, but backed out last minute. Diagon Alley certainly seems nice enough, but again not worth the money people ask for it (IMHO!). Do you have pictures somewhere of the modularized buildings?

He has a link to it right in his signature. Just click on the middle picture :)