Bricklinking Modular Buildings

[sithewok]

I've been ever so slowly getting the parts for Green Grocer and Café Corner -placing small orders over the last couple of years. I am down to only a few pieces needed for CC - maybe 20 bricks. GG, I am down to the modified green 1x2s (I substituted 1x4s for the 1x8s.) and I am terrified of them. lol. When I started the whole process, I (stupidly) hoped that TLG would produce more of the rare sand green parts, but waiting on those has only made it more expensive as the Bricklink price has continued to climb on them. I believe we are going to use a chunk of our tax return this year to buy tiny expensive plastic bricks. It's nice to have a place to say that and not have (too many) people think that I am crazy.

[ronenson]

Stil waiting for the 1x2 bricks with groove to reappear in sand green. If not, I won't order the rest of the parts.

[Sven F]

Same boat here, either they are rereleased or i am not having it, the price is too high. I can use the masonry profile while i wait though.

[TheLegoDr]

It is interesting considering they have recently released that grooved brick in pink and red-brown and tan. Maybe one day they will re-release the sand green version, but it is anyone's guess.

I switched mine to sand blue in 2014 and I couldn't be happier. I don't even like the sand green grocer when I look at it now..but that's just me.

[sithewok]

Do you happen to have photos of the Green Grocer with the masonry profile brick substitution, Sven? I would be interested to see that.

[Sven F]

Mine isn't built yet, but it's been done before. A quick search gives this picture whose owner hopefully won't mind me sharing it

http://cdn.vanillaforums.com/brickset.vanillaforums.com/editor/op/493lc0i8wcxr.jpg

You can also check on page 37 of this topic.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Sven F

[BlockLogo]

I'm substituting the bricks with groove as well. No way I'm paying for those. If you absolutely want to, though, make sure to check the instructions. You really don't need all 50+ of them, since they are not all visible in the finished build. You can easily substitute about a dozen of them for plain 1x2 bricks.

I have 5 orders coming in next week. Just 2 or 3 more and I'll have everything I need...

[Gongoro73]

Yep, I built mine with masonry bricks and it looks good. I used the backwards of the brick (with the horizontal line) on the right part of the building and the mix of the two textures makes it looks even better IMHO. If someday Lego re-releases the groove bricks I guess I will swap them, but I like the way it looks with the masonry ones.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Gongoro73

[sithewok]

I went ahead and ordered enough of the masonry bricks after seeing the images. I will probably continue to slowly acquire the modified 1x2s, but this looks great for the interim.

Am I correct in assuming that you cannot see the hinges in the final build? I don't have the sand green hinges at this point, either, I realized.

[BlockLogo]

You can't see the hinge bricks, no. They're hidden under the crates in the front. Unless you wanna build it exactly, any color will do.

One of the first things I did when I started was go through the instructions and check which parts can be subbed because they're not visible. The sand green hinges, the dark/earth green 2x4 bricks, etc. I just substituted them with pieces I had on hand.

Also remember that some pieces, especially tiles, are cheaper to order directly from LEGO.

[goldengraham09]

has anyone ever changed the main colour of the Town hall from Dark orange?

not sure i want to pay the prices for some of the pieces tbh as it is quite expensive.

would anyone say another colour would suit?

[Sven F]

Does anyone own the original Green Grocer to confirm weather the dark red used for floor tiles and curtains is the old, slightly translucent dark red or the more opaque new dark red? Bricklink doesn't differentiate this color from its older variant, but the difference is very noticeable.

If you shine a light through the brick, the older one will pass light through the plastic, new dark red won't.

Thanks.

[BlockLogo]

Just got a bricklink order with hundreds of sand green and earth/dark green bricks, so I can actually start building some of the walls of the Green Grocer now!

[CrispyBassist]

If you shine a light through the brick, the older one will pass light through the plastic, new dark red won't.

Just checked, looks like it does use the older dark red. I checked it and a known "new" dark red brick and the light came through significantly more with the GG curtain slope.

[Chubbs]

has anyone ever changed the main colour of the Town hall from Dark orange?

not sure i want to pay the prices for some of the pieces tbh as it is quite expensive.

would anyone say another colour would suit?

I've wondered about it in Dark Bley or Reddish Brown - those colours are fairly common so it shouldn't be that hard or expensive to substitute the colour. Anyone have any thoughts about those colour choices?

[Withacee]

A combination of light bluish grey and dark bluish grey sounds like good idea.

It's an old building, that could easily have been built from old stone and marble, like castles.

Also, as you said, parts are readily available.

Not too sure about reddish brown. I checked it in LDD, and it didn't look brilliant. Looks more wood-like, which sort of defies its purpose, I think.

[74bwilliam]

Here's a Green Grocer I bricklinked a couple months ago, using sand green profile bricks. I also made a few substitutions along the way.

Lego Green Grocer by brian williams, on Flickr

[Chubbs]

Can someone refresh my memory about how many lots one is able to order from BnP? I thought it was mentioned somewhere here in this thread but am having difficulty locating it. Thanks in advance

[muffluvin]

@ Chubbs: If I recall it correctly, it was a maximum of 80 pieces. What i did was just generate a list from BnP then imported it to an excel file. I then called Lego customer service and got a CSR to process my order after I emailed him my list.

[Sven F]

Just checked, looks like it does use the older dark red. I checked it and a known "new" dark red brick and the light came through significantly more with the GG curtain slope.

Thanks i appreciate it, started to think nobody would bother checking.

I ordered 150 of one 1x4 brick from b&p, is this not allowed? My order is still in warehouse after 1 week. Maybe that's why.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Sven F

[Gongoro73]

I ordered 150 of one 1x4 brick from b&p, is this not allowed? My order is still in warehouse after 1 week. Maybe that's why.

Yes, it is allowed. You can order 80 different pieces. And you can buy more than 80 (don't know exactly how many) of each different piece in your order. So you shouldn't have any problem with your purchase. Maybe the reason it's still in warehouse is that they're waiting for new stock. Edited March 8, 2016 by Gongoro73

[khemical]

Here's a Green Grocer I bricklinked a couple months ago, using sand green profile bricks. I also made a few substitutions along the way.

Are the masonry bricks just a 1:1 replacement of the 1x2 w/ groove? I've only got an incomplete GG set, not enough parts to try to build it yet. I'm thinking I'll order a bunch of them to build it out.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Rick
Please don't quote images unnecessarily.

[Chubbs]

Yes, it is allowed. You can order 80 different pieces. And you can buy more than 80 (don't know exactly how many) of each different piece in your order. So you shouldn't have any problem with your purchase. Maybe the reason it's still in warehouse is that they're waiting for new stock.

According to Lego Customer Service, there is no limit on the number of lots/elements you can order, but there is a 200 piece limit per lot/element (if you require more than 200 there is a form for a bulk order that needs to be filled out prior to the order). However it seems that people on here have been only able to order a total of 80 lots...I'm not sure if that's a browser/website issue or what exactly.

Are the masonry bricks just a 1:1 replacement of the 1x2 w/ groove? I've only got an incomplete GG set, not enough parts to try to build it yet. I'm thinking I'll order a bunch of them to build it out.

Double the check the instructions but I believe its a 1:1 substitution

[ezaida18]

I've recently completed a sand blue Green Grocer. Am contemplating bricklinking a GE next as the original set on the secondary markets is selling at extraordinary prices (tripled!).

[Chubbs]

I've recently completed a sand blue Green Grocer. Am contemplating bricklinking a GE next as the original set on the secondary markets is selling at extraordinary prices (tripled!).

I looked at BL'ing the GE as well - the number of dark green windows stopped me from doing it - you need a lot of them and they are expensive. So if I ever do it, I'll end up changing the colour so its a little more economical